Social Structure

Alliances

Alliances are the keystone to political power. An alliance is always concluded between a stronger and a weaker party, with a clear understanding between them as to which is which. Allies bind themselves together by:
a) Marriage: A clan lord may present his daughter to another clan lord as a wife. Or he may present a sister, aunt, niece, or even his widowed mother. If his relative is married to a vassal of less importance, he may order him to divorce her so as to cement an alliance by marrying her off. Her former husband may be pressured to become a Buddhist Priest.
b) Hostages: A clan lord may take the wife, children (especially the heir) or mother of his lesser ally as a hostage. A young beautiful hostage may end up marrying or getting adopted into her host family.
c) Transferred territory: A clan lord may present his lesser ally with a more important (larger or more prestigious) territory - and take the old territory, creating a situation where the lesser ally is not secure in his position and must rely more on the greater ally’s protection and advice.

Lesser allies were expected to support greater allies in times of war or political difficulty, with armed forces, money, and advice. They might also be called upon to donate supplies or workmen to building a castle or asked to spend their resources building a temple or shrine. The stronger ally was expected to support his lesser allies against other factions and to favour them with honour, appointments, and revenue next only to his own clan.

Holdings

A strong Emperor or Shogun has a Capitol (a type 10 City) plus one type 6 Castle and two lesser Castles. A medium-strength Emperor or Shogun is a major clan lord. A weak Emperor or Shogun is a minor clan lord.
A major Clan Lord has a Clan Capitol (a type 4 + 1/2 1D10 City) plus a Type 5 Castle, two lesser Castles, and fortified mansions in the Imperial and Shogunate Capitols.
A minor Clan Lord has a Clan Capitol (a type 3 + 1/2 1D10 City) plus a Type 2 Castle, and fortified mansions in the Imperial and Shogunate Capitols.

Castles

Castles	Type 1	Type 2	Type 3	Type 4	Type 5	Type 6
Citadels	1	2	3	4	5	6
		Samurai	Present
In wartime	200	400	800	1400	2 000	3 500
In peacetime	50	100	200	350	500	875

Castle storerooms contain: 1D10 months of food for each wartime samurai and horse
1/2 x 1D10 extra weapons for each wartime samurai (chiefly katana, yari, yumi & arrows, crossbows & bolts) as well as armour, helmets, and fresh clothing for each wartime samurai.

Villages

A peasant village is made up of farmers or fishermen, with an adult population of 1D10 x 25 people. The village is not walled, but its homes are surrounded by a dense circle of trees so it looks like a grove to those who don't know of its existence. The streets are packed dirt. Each village has a meibutsu, a well-known product that is listed in any good guidebook: perhaps a special flavour of rice cakes or sake, perhaps a special pattern of dyeing or wood carving, perhaps a beauty spot featured in ancient poems or paintings.
There is a small Shinto shrine which pays homage to the Ujigami and the local Nushi, as well as to Inari (in a farming village) or Ebisu (in a fishing village). Villagers purify themselves at the shrine before entering the wilderness or re-entering the village. There is also a small Buddhist temple, attached to a small school for the children -- and a graveyard.
The largest house belongs to the local headman, who may be a blacksmith, an innkeeper, a chuja (rich farmer), a man who owns several fishing boats, or a wako (pirate). It's probably the only home with a private bath. The rest of the villagers go to the public bathhouse. On the outskirts of a farming village, outside the circle of trees, is the home of an Eta family that buys the villagers' old animals to eat their meat and make things out of their tanned hides. The tanning pit and refuse pile can be smelled from a distance, and are on the opposite side of the village from the Shinto shrine. Unless the village is near a noted beauty spot, there is unlikely to be an inn. If there is, it will have a view of the beauty spot and cater to upper class travellers.

Cities

Japanese cities looked for protection to their local clan lord, not to mercenaries or militia. Some of the larger cities (types 4 and higher) had ten-foot high dirt walls faced with stones, with a foot deep moat on each side. Gates in this wall were iron-reinforced wood and generally had nearby towers used both by ward guards and by firemen. In addition some of the largest cities (type 8+) were near the outworks of castles, and townsfolk could retreat to the castle in case of attack. The city gates were closed at sunset and only opened for an emergency. (People who lied about an emergency to get the gates opened were sentenced to death.)
The largest cities (type 8+) are divided into wards, each with a population of about 10,000 people. These wards are separated by stone walls like those outside the city with their gates locked at the hour of the Boar - to keep criminals under control. City fires often ran wild until they stopped at a ward's boundary wall.
In the table below, the population is the town's adult citizens (who are roughly 20% fit for combat). A smaller number of trained fighters is listed separately. In addition, some cities have nearby martial Buddhist temples with 2D10 x 2D10 x 5 (20-2,000, average 600) yamabushi warriors.

City Type	Population	Trained Fighters
1	1500	100
2	2000	135
3	3000	200
4	4000	265
5	5000	335
6	10 000	650
7	20 000	1300
8	50 000	3000
9	100 000	6000
10	200 000	10 000

A peasant village has a population of 1D10 x 25 people, with 2D10 trained fighters. It is surrounded by a dense ring of trees, so that it looks like a grove to people unaware of its existence.

The Floating World

Some large cities (type 6+) had a special ward for Kabuki theatres and teahouses, so ward guards could keep a watchful eye on the Outcast entertainers -- and their customers. Anyone entering this ward, even Samurai and Nobles, had to check his weapons, to prevent deadly quarrels. The bridge that led across the moat that separated it from the other wards might be called "the Bridge of Dreams," a reference to The Tale Of Genji, an ancient Japanese novel. Many Samurai came here in disguise to go to the theatre. Many Commoner employees also came in disguise, to carry on a romance with a courtesan or geisha without being noticed by a co-worker. Ronin came, looking for enemies or trying to forget their sorrows. Thieves, burglars, bandits, and wako came to spend their loots. The local gambling gang probably had its headquarters somewhere in this ward.