The Shogunate's Reigns

Transformations in China and Japan In both the cases of the Qing Dynasty of China and the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, their rule prospered until the centuries old dynastic systems were overthrown in both countries. In their own ways the Qing and Tokugawa shared similarities yet also displayed many differences in how they were overthrown, their impacts, and the forces that overall led to the change at the end of these systems. Their influential powers from the 1600s to the early 19th century brought great change to their countries that were seen well at first, but the people were not happy with either complete outcome, overall leading to the definite ends of the two powers despite their differences throughout.

The samurai were the feudal warriors of ancient Japan. For thousands of years they upheld the code of bushido, the way of the warrior. Samurai were around for thousands of years, but when did they disappear? Does the code of bushido still exist to this day? Exploring the history of the samurai will give an explanation to what has happened to these formidable warriors.

The societies of feudal Europe and shogunate Japan had many similarities and differences. These society's roughly fell between the time period of 400CE and 1800 CE. Both societies had rich cultures and defined history. Many similarities and differences were found in the social structure, the development of the warrior classes and the religion practiced by both societies.

The social structure of Japan was composed with 7 parts, which includes the shogun, samurai, farmers, artisans, merchants, outcasts and non-humans. Next to the shogun, the samurai is looked at with the most prestigious position in their society. As a samurai, they are taught to act and behave in a certain way. This is called the code of Bushido, which states that “the true warrior must hold loyalty, courage, veracity, compassion, and honor as important, above all else. An appreciation and respect of life was also imperative, as it added balance to the warrior character of the Samurai.”

The Tokugawa shogunate was a very important and stable government in Japanese history. It was the connection of the feudalism and capitalism of Japan. For over two hundred years, challenges to Tokugawa authority were few, and this era was known as the time of Great Peace. In general, its appearance for the populace was grateful, because of a period of freedom from the warfare marked Sengoku, from the middle of 15th century to the end of 16th century. During that period, the chain of islands that makes up Japan was ruled by samurai and warlords. During the late sixteenth-century Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and finally Tokugawa Ieyasu took power in succession and finally united the whole Japan. However, the success of Tokugawa

Tokugawa Japan had similar roots in Confucianism as the political systems in China during Ming and Qing dynasties. However, both Chinese dynasties were administered by a tightly centralised state that was governed through bureaucracy, overseen by Confucian scholars (Murphey, 2015) and was a meritocratic system; whereas in Tokugawa Japan, the ruling class consisted of warrior elites (the samurai). Status depended upon one’s family and its connections. In short, the most significant difference between Tokugawa Japan political rule and the Ming or Qing dynasties of China is class structure, as stated by Declan and Thanaree.

The Tokugawa and Meiji state ruling class and officials wished to impose their ideology onto their subjects. The ruling class and officials hoped that this would assist them in their endeavors. Their goals differed between time periods; however, one constant is the mechanism they used to perpetuate their ideology, mythistory. In Tokugawa Japan, they used mythistory to create an ideology based on many religions to justify the social hierarchy the officials created (1 - professor). The ­Meiji state used mythistory to obtain national support for industrialization and modernization. These ideologies had many adverse effects on the lives of many peasants. In the Tokugawa period, numerous peasants were harshly taxed, even when they did not have

The death of emperor Hideyoshi and subsequent ascension to the throne of Hideyori in 1598 set into motion events that would alter the political landscape in Japan for the next two hundred and fifty years. Tokugawa Ieyasu, in his quest to become absolute ruler of Japan defeated Hideyori loyalists in the battle of Sekigahara and was appointed Shogun by Hideyori in 1603. This military “coup d’état” effectively gave Tokugawa complete control of Japan and reduced the emperor to little more than a figurehead in the governing of Japan. As history would show, the feudal system of government that Tokugawa created ultimately led to

The Samurai were the medieval warriors of Japan and were usually called bushi or buke (Matt Williams, Unknown) but only 10% or less of Japan's population was able to become a Bushi. Although this may sound quite desirable, it managed to improve for Buke when the Tokugawa period came. Their lifestyle changed for the better and they didn't have to worry about death, while still retaining the same position on the hierarchy pyramid. Because of this being a samurai knight in the Tokugawa Period was desirable.

Tokugawa leyasu was born 1543.When leyasu .When leyasu 4 year old, he got the education suitable for a nobleman. In 1605 he received the title of shogun from Emperor Go-Yōzei. After being shogun few years he created the Tokugawa shogunate, which ushered in the Edo period, and was the third Shogunal government. In 1609 leyasu chose to distance Japan from European influence. Few year later leyasu died at age 73 , his tomb was in a pubic place ,people can worship him in there. We can see leyasu was a powerful person in japan.

The first humans arrived to Japan around 35,000 B.C. Japan has a history of being locked out to the outside world, refusing to open its borders to foreigners. In 1633, the Sakoku Policy, issued a “locked country” law that banned immigrants from entering Japan on penalty of death and disallowed Japanese from leaving Japan. The first historic papers mentioning Japan date to around the 5th century, legend holds that Emperor Jimmu was the primary emperor of an imperial line that is still in place today. Archaeological proof gathered by a number of scholars implied the imperial rule started later, the third to seventh centuries AD, during the Kofun period. Tokugawa Ieyasu moved to re-join the country and effectively founded the Tokugawa Shogunate.

During the Meiji Restoration, Japan went through many changes as it was exposed to foreign powers such as Europe. One of the political changes that occurred was that Japan was forced to begin interaction with their foreign peers as they came with their several innovations that were incredibly advanced compared to what Japan could offer at the time. This not only exposed their in ability to compare to their peers, it also revealed that they were technologically backwards in the eyes of their peers. As Japan continued to interact with their neighbors, Japan adopted several sayings that embodied the goals they had in the effort to catch up to and match their foreign peers as well as other changes in the effort of forming a new society that can match their peers. When Japan became open to the world powers like Europe, Japan went through a transformation that modernized Japan and inherently changed their society to reflect something similar to those in European countries.

Between 1968 and 1912, Japan was going through a reformation called Meiji Restoration in order make the country strong as western countries. It had caused changes in many parts of Japan such as society, government, military, etc. Some of these changes still can be seen in the Japanese society today such as emperors are honored by Japanese citizens and seen as a special figure. Since this reformation had a great impact on development of Japan, it can be consider as a very important part of Japanese history.This study will seek to answer the question: To what extent did the Meiji Restoration succeeded to reform and strengthen Japan? In order to answer the question, the investigation will analyze military reform and economic reform caused by

War played a central part in the history of Japanese samurai. As regional clans gathered manpower, resources and struck alliances with each other, they formed a hierarchy centered around a toryo, or chief. This chief was typically a relative of the emperor

The Meiji government’s imperialist and nationalist policies across the era lead Japan from isolation in the Tokugawa era to a modern state and an Asian hegemon. The policies required to institute the vast levels of change increased and in many cases sometimes swayed the political consciousness of the Japanese away from the intentions of the genro and political leaders of the time.