During the Edo period, not only in the bakufu, but also in territories controlled by Daimyo (Japanese feudal lord), and from the middle of the period, strong governing systems with the characteristics of a bureaucracy called Han (or Domain) were formed.
江戸時代は幕府はもとより、大名の領国支配においても、江戸時代中期以降、藩と称されるような官僚制的な性質の強い統治機構を形成するようになった。