Hakodate bugyō (箱館奉行) were officials of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan. Appointments to this prominent office were usually fudai daimyō, but this was amongst the senior administrative posts open to those who were not daimyō. Conventional interpretations have construed these Japanese titles as "commissioner" or "overseer" or "governor." Hakodate is a port city on the southern coast of Hokkaidō island, separated from northern Honshū by the Tsugaru Strait. In 1779, the Tokugawa shogunate exerted direct control over Hakodate, and rapid development in the area soon followed.