were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were usually fudai daimyō, but this was amongst the senior administrative posts open to those who were not daimyō.Beasley, William G. (1955). Select Documents on Japanese Foreign Policy, 1853-1868, p. 322. Conventional interpretations have construed these Japanese titles as "commissioner" or "overseer" or "governor."
