Shōrui Awaremi no Rei


Shōrui Awaremi no Rei was the collective name for a series of edicts promulgated under the fifth shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, in the late Edo period, whose stated purpose was to “show compassion for living things.”
The measures aimed to protect abandoned children, the sick, the elderly, and animals. With respect to animals, the scope was broad and included dogs, cats, birds, fish, shellfish, insects, and more.

Reasons given for the policy

A town notice dated 10 October 1687 explained that Tsunayoshi advanced the policy so that “people might cultivate a compassionate heart.” In 1691, the senior councillors reportedly offered the same explanation to officials. Tsunayoshi, who emphasized Confucian learning, sharply curtailed ceremonial practices around falconry immediately after assuming the shogunate and decided not to conduct falconry himself, citing benevolent rule.
Nezaki Mitsuo has also argued that after Tsunayoshi’s son Tokumatsu died of illness at age five in 1683, policies attentive to death and the ritual impurity of blood—such as the promulgation of mourning and abstinence regulations —progressed, and that the child’s death may have further encouraged Tsunayoshi’s thinking toward “compassion for living things.”
An older, widely circulated view held that Tsunayoshi, distressed by the lack of an heir, issued the edicts at the urging of the Buddhist prelate Ryūkō—to whom his mother Keishōin was devoted. However, scholarship has tended in recent years to treat Ryūkō as less central as an origin point. The Ryūkō-origin theory is associated with the text 三王外記, but policies commonly grouped under Shōrui Awaremi began before 1686, when Ryūkō started residing in Edo as an attendant at Chisoku-in.
Tsukamoto Manabu has suggested that the policy should not be reduced to Tsunayoshi’s personal tastes, but understood as one countermeasure to contemporary social conditions.

Beginnings of the “compassion for living things” policies

There is debate over when the series of “compassion for living things” measures began. Tsukamoto Manabu argues that it cannot be dated with certainty, but commonly proposed starting points include the following:
  • October 1682 : an instance in which a person who slaughtered dogs was punished by execution; Tsuji Tatsuya treats this as an early manifestation of the policy. However, even in the 1670s, killing dogs without permission could be punished, and in many domains dog-killing was treated as a serious crime.
  • 1684 : the Aizu Domain received a notice from the rōjū that it need not present hawks as tribute; the notice refers to the period when the shogunate had ordered “matters of compassion for living things.” Nezaki infers that some related policy was being advanced around May–June 1684.
  • February 1685 : an ordinance forbidding the use of firearms without a lord’s permission.
  • 14 July 1685 : an ordinance stating that during a shōgunal procession there was no need to tether dogs and cats. Since around 2005, this has been among the most supported “start” points in the literature.
  • 1687 : an ordinance forbidding the abandonment of sick cattle and horses. For a long time, this was treated as the orthodox “first” edict.
A minority view holds that related measures were already being practiced under the preceding shōgun Tokugawa Ietsuna. The Tokyo Imperial University professor Mikami Sanji placed the “first issuance” of the edicts in 1685.

Enforcement and practice

Yamamuro Kyōko lists 69 cases punished under the edicts, 13 of which resulted in capital punishment, concentrated in the earlier period.
Cases appear in contemporary records such as 鸚鵡籠中記 and 三王外記 and were later quoted in the Tokugawa jikki, but many accounts have questionable evidentiary foundations. 御当代記 reports—explicitly as “one of two rumors”—that a page, Itō Awaji-no-kami, was confined for killing a mosquito; some historical works nonetheless treat this as fact.
Although Tokugawa Ieyasu was known to favor falconry, falconry was prohibited under this policy, and gifts involving falconry prey were also banned.
The policy’s reach extended to the provinces. With respect to horse protection ordinances, the rōjū issued notices to each domain; the Satsuma Domain, in turn, transmitted such instructions to the Ryukyu Kingdom, which it controlled at the time. However, enforcement was not uniformly strict. The Owari retainer Asahi Shigeaki, author of Ōmurochūki, enjoyed fishing and cast-netting; even before the edicts lapsed after Tsunayoshi’s death, he is said to have visited fishing grounds 76 times and repeatedly engaged in “killing”.
In Nagasaki, where pork and chicken were commonly used in cooking, the edicts are viewed as having been difficult to fully implement. The Nagasaki town elders issued notices in 1692 and 1694 urging stricter compliance even among commoners; even so, the notices permitted an exception allowing Chinese residents and Dutch residents to eat pork and chicken. In Edo Castle, the use of birds, shellfish, and shrimp in cooking was banned from 1685, but their use was permitted in dishes prepared for court nobles, apparently reflecting a prioritization of court ritual over the “living things” policy.
The edicts are particularly remembered for the protection of dogs, contributing to Tsunayoshi’s sobriquet “Dog Shōgun”. This has also been linked to the idea that Tsunayoshi was born in the year of the Dog in the sexagenary cycle.

Abolition

In early 1709, as Tsunayoshi lay dying, he reportedly instructed his heir Ienobu to continue the “compassion for living things” policy after his death; nevertheless, within the same month, policies including the abolition of official dog kennels were promulgated, and many restrictions related to dogs, food use, and pets were sequentially repealed. A claim that peasants rejoiced at Ienobu’s repeal has been tagged as needing citation in some contexts.
Some measures continued, including bans on abandoning cattle and horses and provisions related to caring for abandoned children and the sick. The ordinance stating that dogs and cats need not be tethered during a shōgunal procession continued after Tsunayoshi’s death and was later abolished under the eighth shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune. Falconry is likewise described as reviving only under Yoshimune.

Assessments

Because the edicts materially affected everyday life, they have often been described as “the worst laws under heaven”. They became one major factor in lowering Tsunayoshi’s posthumous reputation, and even today the phrase “a modern Shōrui Awaremi no Rei” is sometimes used to deride what critics see as excessively idealistic laws or bills.
After Tsunayoshi’s death, Arai Hakuseki—who participated in the subsequent administration—criticized the policy in works such as 折たく柴の記, and Toda Mosui also criticized it in Gotōdaiki. These appraisals helped intensify negative popular memory; some scholarship argues, however, that Hakuseki and Mosui may have exaggerated facts.
Since the 1980s, research has increasingly re-evaluated the edicts as part of a Confucian “civil governance” program. The Tokyo Metropolitan Archives also presents the policy in the context of Edo urban governance and source-based reading of the period.
In addition, because the “abandoned child prohibition” issued in 1690 continued after Tsunayoshi’s death, the edicts have been interpreted as a turning point from a society in which child abandonment was tolerated to one in which it was not, and as a step toward building institutional mechanisms to protect abandoned children.
Japanese history textbooks long treated the edicts chiefly as “bad law,” but since the late 1990s many explanations have also emphasized their intent to transform society.

Timeline

  • Tenna 3
  • * 3 February: Prohibits the importation of luxury goods such as “living things” and high-grade textiles.
  • * 29 February: “Street guards shall aid sick persons on the road and the intoxicated.”
  • Jōkyō 1
  • * For the Aizu Domain, prohibits presenting hawks as tribute “to show compassion for living things.”
  • * 6 April: Sōemon of Ichiba Village captures birds in a shogunal falconry preserve; executed by rōjū order.
  • * 28 August: Hotta Masatoshi, a tairō opposed to the edicts, is assassinated by the wakadoshiyori Inaba Masayasu.
  • Jōkyō 2
  • * 12 February: Noticeboard posted: indiscriminate gunfire around Edo is prohibited; rewards offered for capture/informing.
  • * 14 April: Two men shoot two cranes; both executed at Shinagawa.
  • * 21 May: A man uses a gun to shoot birds in a prohibited area; executed; head displayed in his village.
  • * 14 July: On the shōgunal procession route, dogs and cats may be left untethered.
  • * 14 July: An employee of Asakusa Kannō captures dozens of dogs, packs them into straw bags, and sinks them in the Sumida River; sentenced to exile. The head priest of Chigaku-in, Tadakata, and the deputy are confined for violating Buddhist law; on 6 August Tadakata is banished.
  • * 18 September: Reiterates the existing prohibition on “stretching” a horse’s tendons.
  • * 7 November: In Edo Castle, prohibits using birds, shellfish, and shrimp in cooking.
  • * 16 December: A hatamoto retainer sets nets and captures ducks in Yoshiwara; dies in prison the next year; the corpse is discarded.
  • * 25 December: Two subordinates of the chief falconer capture cranes on a vegetarian/abstinence day; punished by death; the falconer is ordered to commit seppuku; their superior is dismissed and confined.
  • Jōkyō 3
  • * 3 February: On binding horse tails: in rainy weather, up to double rope is permitted; horses of horse dealers are prohibited as they may be confused with prepared horses.
  • * 7 February: Burning the tip of a horse’s tail is permitted if for treatment; cutting the tail-bone and branding with a hot iron is prohibited.
  • * 6 June: A page, Itō Motosuke, violates mourning/abstinence regulations by killing a mosquito that landed on his cheek while accompanying the shōgun; punished by confinement.
  • * 19 July: Ordinance instructs carts not to run over dogs and cats; reiterates that feeding stray dogs is prohibited and that trading in living creatures is discouraged, and orders officials to act with the spirit of “生類あわれみ”. This is the first ordinance in which the phrase appears.
  • * 1 September: A servant of the Saijō Domain lord stabs a packhorse with a small knife while drunk; imprisoned and banished.
  • * 5 September: A cart kills a dog; the driver is jailed but pardoned after eight days.
  • * 16 December: A retainer’s servant kills a dog while intoxicated; placed in a samurai jail, pardoned on the 24th.
  • Jōkyō 4
  • * 1 January: Prohibits abandoning sick horses.
  • * 28 January: First issuance of the edicts to the domains: reports that if an animal’s illness is severe it is being abandoned before it dies; calls this improper; orders reporting of covert abandonment and promises rewards for informants.
  • * 4 February: The head of the Edo Castle kitchens, Amano Gorōdayū, is exiled to Hachijō-jima. He forgot to cover a well in the main keep; two cats fell in and died; unaware, he used well water for cooking.
  • * 11 February: Orders neighborhoods to record dogs’ coat colors and other identifying features; if a dog goes missing, there is no need to search for it.
  • * 16 February: Prohibits killing in falconry preserves; orders reporting of covert hawking.
  • * 21 February: States that the rōjū had misunderstood; orders that if a kept dog goes missing, it should be searched for; prohibits bringing in another dog to “make up the numbers.”
  • * 21 February: Orders daimyō: birds may be presented once a year in small quantities; live fish and shellfish are prohibited.
  • * 27 February: Prohibits selling live fish and birds for food.
  • * 28 February: Orders that sudden strangling of birds after an edict is improper; prohibits commerce in live fish, shellfish, carp, crucian carp, shrimp, and other live goods; after petitions from shellfish gatherers in distress, clams are temporarily permitted for the Doll Festival.
  • * 26 March: Prohibits raising birds for food; allows keeping chickens, ducks, and “Tō-birds” if they would otherwise starve for lack of feed.
  • * 28 March: A man is caught cutting a dog in Itabashi; banished from Edo on 6 April.
  • * April: Notice: raise abandoned children; report birds and livestock injured by humans.
  • * 7 April: A servant draws a short sword and injures dogs after being bitten and having clothes torn; jailed; pardoned on 4 June as it was sudden.
  • * 9 April: Three people who abandoned a sick horse are exiled to Miyake-jima; seven others also exiled.
  • * 10 April: A servant cuts a dog with a short sword and flees; later turns himself in; exiled to Hachijō-jima. His master is deprived of stipend.
  • * 11 April: Notice includes: abandoned children need not be reported; they may be given to those who want them without payment; injured birds/livestock must be reported unless they are self-injured or sick; it is improper not to feed ownerless dogs so they do not settle—this must not be done; if a kept dog dies there is no need to report absent special circumstances; and compassion toward living beings and people, grounded in mercy, is essential.
  • * Same day: A man injures a dog’s ear while driving off dogs that attacked a palanquin; jailed, then banished within ten ri of Edo on 24 June.
  • * 21 April: Orders that dead dogs/cats must not be discarded; they must be buried.
  • * 23 April: Prohibits trading in live newts and “black-roast”.
  • * 30 April: A gate guard is reprimanded for throwing pebbles to drive away pigeons.
  • * 12 May: A palanquin-bearer kills a dog; imprisoned; dies in prison on 20 October.
  • * 10 June: Two servants run over and kill a duck with a cart; jailed; pardoned on the 24th.
  • * 23 June: A man cuts a packhorse with a short sword; the horse and a farmer are injured; he claims drunken amnesia; pardoned 16 July.
  • * 26 June: A retainer shoots a swallow with a blowgun and feeds it to a sick five-year-old; executed; a colleague who witnessed it is exiled to Hachijō-jima.
  • * 2 July: Prohibits trade in living creatures anywhere in Edo; even keeping insects is forbidden. A “bug seller” in Kyōbashi is jailed. The same day, a man drops a gutter pipe into a well; it strikes and kills a dog; jailed and pardoned on the 6th.
  • * 3 July: A man steps on and kills a chicken; jailed; pardoned 15 August.
  • * 13 September: Orders street guards: if a passerby injures a living creature, have someone accompany the person, confirm the residence, and report to inspectors.
  • * 29 September: A man leaves a collapsed horse and it dies; jailed; exiled to Hachijō-jima on 29 December.
  • * 9 December: If deer or boar cause harm, frighten them with firearms without loading bullets.
  • * 12 December: Notes continuing abandonment of horses; states exile was imposed again and future violations will be punished severely.
  • * 23 December: States that abandoned-horse cases were again punished with exile out of mercy; depending on circumstances, officials and local headmen will be held responsible.
  • * Month unknown: Various punishments recorded: a retainer commits seppuku for killing a dog that bit him; another is banished for slightly cutting a dog; superiors are reprimanded; another loses ration for striking a dog.
  • Genroku 1
  • * 29 January: Prohibits the use of the character “crane” and crane crests in shop names and personal names.
  • * 18 February: Orders the removal of black kite and crow nests, excluding Edo townspeople districts.
  • * 12 April: A man sets nets and catches ducks; jailed; later exiled to the Oki Islands on 12 August the next year.
  • * 29 May: An itinerant candy seller who sold two chickens is executed; intermediaries and buyers die in prison; multiple others executed or die in prison for catching birds; 19 June: orders improvements to prisoner treatment.
  • * 30 May: Three people are banished for ineffective pigeon whistles used to lure pigeons; a carpenter is put in handcuffs; another is banished for throwing pebbles at pigeons at a castle gate.
  • * 19 June: Due to many prison deaths, orders improved conditions at the prison : install lattices to block winter drafts, allow bathing five times a month, provide paper to the homeless, and give extra lined clothing in autumn.
  • * 22 August: A bird-feeder head and his son are exiled to Sado Island; six disciples exiled to Satsuma Province; they had concealed bird-guns.
  • * 27 August: A guard is banished for failing to raise a dumped puppy.
  • * 3 October: A temple in Niiba Village is confined for cutting down a tree where a stork nested; villagers also punished.
  • * 9 October: A travel-magistrate notice: do not abandon sick cattle or horses; give medicine to sick travelers and care for them.
  • * 25 December: A farmer throws a sickle at a dog that barked while he was catching birds; dog slightly injured; jailed; exiled to Kōzu-shima the next year on 27 February.
  • Genroku 2
  • * 9 January: A man is caught slaughtering and plucking a chicken; imprisoned for about two years, then pardoned.
  • * 16 January: A yamabushi injures two dogs; claims drunken amnesia; jailed; banished 6 February.
  • * 2 February: The official in charge of dogs, Kitami Shigemasa, is dismissed and dispossessed.
  • * 27 February: Fourteen samurai and twenty-five farmers who abandoned sick horses are exiled to Kōzu-shima.
  • * 6 March: Three street guards are punished and banished after a dead dog in a waterway is washed away during flooding while they were on watch.
  • * 11 May: People are prosecuted for acts from before the edicts; after custody transfer following an official’s replacement, all are sentenced to death for carp/crucian-carp catching and trading in the moat; some are executed and their heads displayed.
  • * 28 June: Allows shooting boar, deer, and wolves only when they cause harm; orders carcasses to be buried; prohibits selling or eating.
  • * 4 October: An official is confined for not stopping dogs fighting, resulting in a dog’s death.
  • * 9 October: Six men are exiled for boar hunting; one to Oki, others to Satsuma islands.
  • * 10 October: Notice instructs that even sick dogs should be fed.
  • Genroku 3
  • * 18 April: A sake seller kills a horse; banished from Edo and home region.
  • * 25 October: Abandoned child prohibition: “Abandoned children are ever more strictly forbidden; if you cannot raise a child, report it.”
  • * 3 November: Reporting system for children up to age seven: births, deaths, service placements, adoptions, moves, etc., to be recorded in headmen’s registers.
  • Genroku 4
  • * 12 August: A bird-feeder is exiled to the Oki Islands.
  • * 11 August: “A crow that defecated on the shōgun is exiled to Hachijō-jima.”
  • * 12 August: A man is exiled to Oki after about 3.5 years in jail for selling sparrows for ceremonial release.
  • * 13 August: The sparrow seller is exiled to Satsuma; a farmer is exiled for bird-shooting; related case details include repeated imprisonment and illness.
  • * 21 October: Two men are arrested for using snakes to gather customers and selling medicines; one dies in prison; the other is banished the next year.
  • * 24 October: Prohibits snake-handler shows and training dogs, cats, and mice to perform as spectacles.
  • * 22 November: Three servants are executed for killing and eating a heron.
  • Genroku 5
  • * January: Builds dog kennels in Kitami to house sick dogs; also housed sick horses.
  • * 6 February: Two men are jailed for having formerly sold medicines using snakes; later banished on 6 June.
  • * August: A man kills and eats a bear; reported by the Tsugaru Domain to the rōjū; jailed 11 months; exiled to Niijima.
  • Genroku 6
  • * 30 April: Notice: when boar, deer, and wolves cause harm in distant provinces, first fire blanks; if harm continues, suppress with firearms; report afterward to the ōmetsuke; reiterates that the policy aims to instill compassionate hearts.
  • * 9 August: Three outcast persons who dig up and hide a buried boar at Takadanobaba are executed.
  • * August: A prohibition on fishing as a hobby is issued.
  • Genroku 7
  • * 11 March: In the “horse talking” incident, a rōnin is beheaded; a greengrocer sentenced to exile dies in prison; a rakugo performer is exiled to Izu Ōshima; statements are taken from 353,588 Edo townspeople.
  • * 4 July: A man kills a landlord’s cat that ate a chick; jailed; banished within ten ri of Edo on the 12th.
  • * 2 August: A boar hunt is conducted; the official is stripped of office and confined.
  • * 6 August: A retainer who ordered peasants to boar-hunt is executed and displayed; peasants who cut boar meat are exiled; others banished; a peasant who submitted a complaint is paraded through Edo and executed by crucifixion; his son is exiled.
  • * 16 November: Permits releasing Edo goldfish and silverfish into the release pond at Shōjōkō-ji, requiring the number released to be reported to inspectors.
  • Genroku 8
  • * 10 February: Two dogs are found crucified near Senju; a pamphlet complains of “troubling the people under the Dog Shōgun’s authority.” On 9 August, a hatamoto’s second son is executed for “improper behavior” and posting the pamphlet.
  • * 1 June: Dog kennels in Yotsuya and Ōkubo are completed; on 3 June a town notice orders that “rough dogs” in town be sent to Yotsuya; sources state that all female dogs in town were placed in the Yotsuya kennel.
  • * 16 October: In Osaka, ten officials commit seppuku for killing birds with bird-guns and selling them; a rōnin is executed and displayed; his child is exiled; others exiled or banished.
  • * 25 October: A street guard discards a dumped puppy in another place; argues he left it where the mother would come; jailed; executed and displayed in Asakusa on 25 November; four guards are banished.
  • * 14 November: Begins transporting dogs from Edo neighborhoods to the Nakano dog kennels; sources claim it soon reached “one hundred thousand.”
  • Genroku 9
  • * Rewards are paid to informants who report dog abuse.
  • * 7 February: A man strangles a puppy and frames another household by leaving a note; later executed by crucifixion in Asakusa on the 26th.
  • * 18 May: Town notice: levy “dog-raising funds” to feed kennel dogs; on 4 July, sets the rate at 3 bu of gold per year per 20 tsubo of property.
  • * 19 May: A dead duck with an arrow is found; an official is exiled for false testimony; two are banished; perpetrator unknown.
  • * 6 July: A dog is killed; a carpenter’s apprentice is executed by crucifixion; a town notice grants the reporting girl a reward of 50 ryō; other related punishments and reprimands are recorded.
  • * 17 August: Prohibits heavy drinking: “There are those who, drunk, commit improper acts against their will.”
  • * 22 August: Abandoned children are forbidden; pregnancy, birth, stillbirth, miscarriage, and deaths up to age three must be reported to landlords/owners.
  • Genroku 10
  • * 18 May: Reduces the dog-raising fund from 3 bu per year per unit to 1 bu.
  • * 25 May: A servant is executed for shooting and killing pigeons within a hatamoto residence.
  • * 4 July: Two cleaners are jailed in connection with a dog being cut to death; punishment unclear; the daimyō is reprimanded on 13 August.
  • * 27 July: A man who killed with a gun is beheaded in Osaka; a temple petitions via Ryūkō for postponement of exile punishment for the man’s son; granted.
  • * 9 October: Orders all sake brewers nationwide to pay a transport/tax levy.
  • * 13 October: In a case of abandoned dogs at Aoyama-shuku, policemen and street guards are banished.
  • * 26 October: A man who abandoned three foals is paraded through Edo and executed/displayed at Shinagawa.
  • Genroku 11
  • * 15 February: A man kills a dog and is executed by crucifixion at Kozukappara execution grounds. He had injured a dog’s head with a short sword after being surrounded; his mother later erected stone towers at Suzugamori and Kozukappara.
  • * 8 August: A foot soldier of the Shōnai Domain kills a packhorse en route to Edo; due to drunken amnesia, he is banished from Edo and his home region.
  • * The painter and entertainer Hanabusa Itchō is exiled to Miyake-jima. Reasons vary by account; the officially adopted reason is “the offense of fishing.” In this year an additional notice prohibits selling fishing gear.
  • Genroku 12
  • * 2 October: Proposes that twenty villages in Setagaya raise dogs from the Nakano kennels, paying 3 bu per dog per year. The number of villages increases; from Hōei 3 through Hōei 5, the shogunate pays a total of 35,430 ryō to nearby peasants for dog-raising, averaging 11,810 ryō per year; by calculation, 15,747 dogs were being raised.
  • Genroku 15
  • * 13 October: A horse doctor kills a dog that attacked his pet duck; ordered to commit seppuku.
  • Genroku 16
  • * 4 February: In a shogunal territory in Minami-Yamashiro, a horse dealer is executed by crucifixion for abandoning a horse.
  • * 7 December: Due to fires and earthquakes, that year’s dog-raising funds are remitted; on the 18th, half-year funds are returned; remissions continue the next year.
  • Genroku 17 ; from March onward the era name changes to Hōei 1
  • * 18 February: “The spirit of compassion for living things is ever more important; abandoned children, abandoned cattle/horses, and abandoned dogs are strictly forbidden.”
  • * 13 March: Era name changes to Hōei. After the great earthquake, omens, great fires, and deaths among Tsunayoshi’s relatives continued; Tsunayoshi is said to have relied on prayers and issued many edicts.
  • * 14 June: Due to enormous earthquake damage, dog-raising funds are remitted; remissions continue the next year.
  • Hōei 2
  • * 3 June: “Cattle and horses must not be made to carry heavy loads or bulky loads.”
  • * 7 September: Prohibits fishing by anyone other than fishermen; on the 20th, prohibits keeping birds as pets; on the 28th, prohibits keeping animals other than cattle, horses, dogs, and cats; additional items continue to be added.
  • * 6 November: A bird-catcher is banished and confined for throwing sticky-birdlime poles at cormorants, contrary to the policy.
  • * 25 November: A gate guard is stripped of office and confined after a household member catches birds and the guard keeps them.
  • Hōei 3
  • * 18 August: Two inspectors who attended a dog transfer to the Nakano kennels are banished for failing to watch the dogs carefully.
  • * 21 August: A servant kills a duck with a broom while cleaning; exiled. Two inspectors who judged the cause of death as “choking on feed” are also exiled.
  • * 30 August: Prohibits the bird trade and commerce in eels and loaches; reiterates prohibitions on loading cattle and horses with heavy or bulky loads.
  • Hōei 4
  • * 22 February: Prohibits spreading rumors; forbids graffiti and anonymous pamphlets; reiterates bans on heavy loads, keeping birds, and animal/bird commerce.
  • * 11 August: Orders strict ban on bird trade; warns that those selling eel kabayaki under the name “anago” at teahouses will be arrested and jailed.
  • * 27 August: A crane kept at the Koishikawa palace dies; four bird-keepers are punished by severe banishment.
  • Hōei 5
  • * 19 July: Reiterates that, as previously ordered, fishing by non-fishermen, bird trade, and serving eel/loach dishes at teahouses are prohibited.
  • * 29 September: A page is confined for mishandling a horse that fell ill en route.
  • * 27 October: Three guards injure a horse while drunk; one is banished, two are reprimanded.
  • * 16 December: Final edict: notes people leading multiple horses alone; orders one person to lead one horse to prevent problems if the horse becomes sick or injured.
  • Hōei 6
  • * 10 January: Tsunayoshi dies of measles.
  • * 20 January: The prohibitions are lifted. Town magistrate notice: “As for living creatures, henceforth the shogunate will not interfere; nevertheless, you should continue to show compassion.” Releases black kites and crows kept at Koishikawa and the bird residence.
  • * 1 February: Ends animal autopsies and abolishes prohibitions on shogunal-household foodstuffs.
  • * 2 February: Abolishes the Koishikawa wild-crane breeding facility and releases the cranes.
  • * 1 March: Statement before assembled rōjū: “Since mice damage clothing, keep cats to catch mice. Since deer and boar ruin fields and people suffer, kill them; their skins are to be bought and sold, and their meat is to be eaten.”
  • * 2 March: Abolishes the sake levy; lifts bans on trading birds, eels, and loaches; releases persons imprisoned.

Earlier animal-protection measures in Japan

Under the ritsuryō state from the late 7th to the 8th centuries, a number of ordinances can be found that restricted or aimed to prohibit meat-eating and killing animals; these are generally seen as reflecting Buddhist influence against taking life.
  • An edict in the 4th year of Emperor Tenmu prohibited hunting and fishing using traps during the rice-growing season and prohibited eating the meat of cattle and horses used in farming, as well as dogs, chickens, and monkeys. Similar prohibitions were issued during Empress Jitō’s reign.
  • Between 732 and 794, a total of eleven such ordinances were issued.
In the early Edo period as well, a 1612 peasant-control ordinance prohibited killing cattle, and many domains issued similar bans on killing and meat-eating. The Tsu Domain issued an ordinance banning the killing of dogs in 1666.

Similar cases worldwide

In China around the 5th century, a Mahāyāna Buddhist apocryphon, the 梵網経, includes a “meat-eating precept” interpreted as fully prohibiting meat consumption on the grounds of taking animal life. In the Northern Song, Emperor Huizong issued a ban on eating dog meat in 1102.
On the Korean Peninsula, where Mahāyāna Buddhist influence was also strong, similar prohibitions are described as having been promulgated through the Goryeo period.