Kōsatsu

Not to be confused with Kotatsu.

A kōsatsu (Japanese: 高札, literally "High plaque"), also called Seisatsu (Japanese: 制札, literally "Controlling plaque"), was a public notice of the han-lord's or shogun's proclamations earlier in Japanese history.^[1] They were local or nationwide laws written on a wooden plate, placed in the kōsatsu-ba of the shukuba or sekisho (関所), the border between han, where there was frequent traffic.

Several kōsatsu were placed at the kōsatsu-ba in Gose-chō (御所町), Nara Prefecture, Japan

The kōsatsu was used from the late Nara Period until the early Meiji period. One of the kosatsu in the Edo Period was on prohibiting Christianity.^[2]

As the people's literacy rate improved and the modern nation emerged, the kōsatsu was abolished in 1873 and eventually replaced by the Kanpō (Japanese government gazette) and other means of public notice.

See also

• Public notice
• Kanpō
• Bulletin board
• Wall newspaper