While researching the Japanese Edo period, the Samurai class are frequently described as bureaucrats and the government is described as a "sophisticated bureaucracy", often with detailed descriptions of the kind of information collected.
What did the Samurai bureaucracy/paperwork physically look like? I've had trouble finding any details like what I'm looking for. What form did the paperwork take? Were there memorized "forms", prepared stationery, signatures (or chops like in China)? Did the bureaucrats do all the paperwork, or did they also manage paperwork received form ordinary folk (farmers and artisans)? What kind of writing was used?
For example: 90s style Western bureaucracy revolved around flat sheets of paper pre-printed with standard blank, labelled fields to collect data, as well as contracts, which recorded stated legal agreements. These were organized by form type or alphabetically and often stored in colorful folders, then placed in large blocky filing cabinets.