Jinryo bugyo (神領奉行)

"Jinryo bugyo" was an official post in the Muromachi bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun). It is considered to be the predecessor of Yamada bugyo, one of the Ongoku bugyo (a collective name for the magistrates placed at important areas directly controlled by the government in the Edo Period) in the Edo bakufu.

The Muromachi bakufu proposed the appointment of Tadanobu AISU to Jinryo bugyo, and it was approved by the Imperial court in around 1478.

Prior to that, it was recorded in "Ujitsunekyoki" (a diary of the lord Ujitsune, 1450) that 'the thief Rokuro was arrested at Yamada, and was decapitated somewhere around Ujigaoka Shrine.
This is a new practice for a shrine
Traditionally, an arrested criminal was handed over to the Shugo (provincial constable) by a Dogo Mandokoro (an administrative office), and the Shugo executed the criminal.'

From this description, it can be known that during the Hotoku era (February 1449 to January 1453), the right to judge criminal cases had already been transferred to 'Yoda sanpo' (an autonomous local office autonomously set up by the people in three districts of Yamada, Ise Province in the early 15th century) from 'Saishuke' (the chief Shinto priest family belonging to Ise-jingu Shrine)

In 1469, suffering from frequent internal conflicts between Yoda sanpo, the Muromachi bakufu appointed AISU Iyonokami Tadayuki, who was in a neutral position between the Kokushi (provincial governors) Kitabatake clan and Yoda sanpo, to the post of Jinryo bugyo in order to take charge of Onsengu bugyo (magistrate in charge of rebuilding Ise-jingu Shrine ever 21 years) and restore order in the estate of Ise-jingu Shrine. Later, Yamada bugyo, one of the Ongoku bugyo, was established after this model.

Since Tadayuki AISU, permission by the Imperial Court was not required, and Daikan (local governors) trusted by the Kokushi Kitabatake clan, such as the Sakauchi clan, took the charge as bugyo for the Kitabatake clan.

AISU Iyonokami Tadayuki, who had his home base at Ichinose-jo Castle, Ise Province, having received his appointment to the post of Jinryo bugyo, promptly moved to the Iwade Saishu Yakataato (site of the head priest's mansion in Iwade).

In "Tokitsugu Kyoki" (Diary of Tokitsugu YAMASHINA), written later, there is a description of a Saishu (head Shinto priest) using Iwade-jo Castle as his home base under the dominance of the Kitabatake clan over the Ise-jingu Shrine's estate. This is the historic site of today's Iwade-jo Castle in Iwade Omori, Tamaki-cho, Watarai County, Mie Prefecture.

The old theories about the setup of 'Ise Yamada bugyo' by the Edo bakufu, such as it having been established at the request of the members of Yoda sanpo, or that a Goshuinjo (letter of command with a stamp to show its authenticity) from Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI to Jobu Ecchunokami (Governor of upper-Ecchu Province), was the precedent for Yamada bugyo in the Edo bakufu, are still compatible with the idea of Tadasuke OOKA as Yamada bugyo.

In 'Miyagawa Yawa So' (Night Stories in Miyagawa) written in 1768 by Chobei Yasutadatsugu KATO, the owner of Kokodo in Yamada Ichishikubo-cho (present Ichishi-cho, Ise City, Mie Prefecture), there is a discussion on the 'Jinryo bugyo.'
"Before the Tensho era (1573-1592), it was controlled by Honshu Kokushi (governor of the mainland) Lord Tomonori KITABATAKE." "During the Bunroku era (1592-1596) while Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI was in power, Magistrate Shimotsuke OKAMOTO controlled the Shrine territory, staying at Kameyama-jo Castle, and afterwards, Magistrate Hyogo MAKIMURA, Magistrate Sakon MACHINO, Magistrate Hyobu FURUTA, and Magistrate Kurando INABA, successively assumed control over this territory and lived in Tamaru-jo Castle and Iwade-jo Castle." And this description can be understood to indicate that to conclude that Jinryo bugyo was the antecedent of the Yamada bugyo in the Edo bakufu, although the presence of Jobu Ecchunokami and Jinryo bugyo at Kameyama-jo Castle, Shimotsuke OKASMOTO, is far-fetched.
Reference: Kiyonao KANNAGI, "Tamaru-jo Enkaku Ko" (A study on the history of Tamaru-jo Castle)

[Original Japanese]