“The city of Yedo is a nursery of artists, handicraftsmen, merchants, and tradesmen, and yet everything is sold dearer than anywhere else in the empire, by reason of the great concourse of people, and the number of idle monks and courtiers, as, also, the difficulty of importing provisions and other commodities. “The political government of this city is much the same as at Nagasaki and Ōsaka. Two governors have the command of the town by turns, each for the space of one year. The chief subaltern officers are the Burgomasters, as the Dutch call them, or mayors, who have the command of particular quarters, and the Ottona, who have the inspection and subordinate command of single streets. [Illustration: A CARPENTER SHOP] “The castle and residence of the emperor is seated about the middle of the city. It is of an irregular figure, inclining to the round, and hath five Japanese miles in circumference. It embraces two fore-castles, as one may call them, the innermost and third castle, which is properly the residence of the emperor, and two other strong, well fortified, but smaller castles at the sides, also some large gardens behind the imperial palace. I call these several divisions castles, because they are every one by itself, enclosed with walls and ditches. “The first and outermost castle takes in a large spot of ground, which encompasses the second castle, and half the imperial residence, and is enclosed itself with walls and ditches, and strong, well-guarded gates. It hath so many streets, ditches, and canals, that I could not easily get a plan of it. Nor could I gather anything to my satisfaction out of the plans of the Japanese themselves.[26] In this outermost castle reside the princes of the empire, with their families, living in commodious and stately palaces, built in streets, with spacious courts, shut up by strong, heavy gates. The second castle takes in a much smaller spot of ground. It fronts the third, and residence of the emperor, and is enclosed by the first, but separated from both by walls, ditches, draw-bridges, and strong gates. The guard of this second castle is much more numerous than that of the first. In it are the stately palaces of some of the most powerful princes of the empire, the councillors of state, the prime ministers, chief officers of the crown, and such other persons who must give a more immediate attendance upon the emperor’s person.