Azuke (punishment) (預 (刑罰))

Azuke means a way of detention pending trial or punishment in Bukeho (the law system for the samurai society and the military government) in which a person is interned in some private citizen's place such as relatives.

For the reasons of insufficient detention facilities and inappropriateness of interning people of different social status in the same facilities, people of high social status (court noble, samurai family and Buddhist monks) were taken to major gokenin (an immediate vassal of the shogunate in the Kamakura and Muromachi through Edo periods) during the time of the Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), and so this became a custom under the Bukeho in the samurai society in the Kamakura and Muromachi periods. In the Edo period, under the justice system of the Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), azuke came to be conducted for each rank of the society (however, mushuku [homeless and jobless persons] were basically detained in prison).

Regarding samurai, those who had omemie ([the privilege to have] an audience [with one's lord, a dignitary, etc.]) or above, or 500 koku or more, were taken to a Daimyo family (feudal lord family). Also, when kokujihan (political prisoner) or daimyo (Japanese feudal lord) was punished, they were taken to a daimyo family, and there were systems of 'azuke' and 'nagaazuke,' in which there is no remission in lifetime.

If common people committed a minor crime, they were interned according to azuke instead of being retained in prison. Such criminals were imposed tegusari penalty (confinement to one's residence and restraint in behavior with handcuffs on the wrists) and taken to yadoazuke (choazuke) (taken to an inn where people who are on a lawsuit-related business trip stayed) in the city or muraazuke (taken to a village officer's house) in the country. In the former case, criminals were taken to kujiyado (an inn where people who are on a lawsuit-related business trip stayed), machiyakunin (municipal official) or gonin-gumi of the town of residence. In the latter case, criminals were taken to village officer, gonin-gumi, or relatives of the town of residence. A person who was imposed on azuke had to be suspended for a certain period at home or at a specified facility (kujiyado, jishinbanya, etc.). According to "Kujigata-osadamegaki" (the law of Edo bakufu), if a person imposed on azuke who was under detention pending trial ran away, such person was imposed a more severe penalty than the original penalty. Any person who was in charge of azuke or any organization in charge (such as gonin-gumi) was required to seek runaway criminal, and if not found, the person or organization in charge was imposed a fine. In addition, if the person/organization in charge took off the handcuff of a criminal without permission, such person/organization was imposed tegusari penalty (confinement to one's residence and restraint in behavior with handcuffs on the wrists) for a hundred days (when the expected penalty was lighter than fine or 叱, the criminal was not handcuffed when taken to azuke).

Also, when a person under the age of 15 or a person with disabilities (except blind people who belonged to za [a trade association]) was expelled or ento (to be exiled to a remote island), such person was taken to his/her relatives. A person of mushuku who became sick during detention pending trial or a person under the age of 15 who had no relatives was taken to tamari, which was managed by hiningashira (the head of people who belonged to none of the four "classes" of the Edo period and was therefore considered an outcast)..
This was called 'tameazuke.'
Also, a mushuku person who fell sick on the road was taken as tameazuke instead of being given protections.

[Original Japanese]