The Tokugawa Shogunate: The History Of Japan

In Japan, during the end of the first millennium, the samurai went to war with the emperor. This war is known as the Genpei War and the Emperor was defeated by the Samurai. This led to the first established shogunate. During the Edo period (1603-1868) or also known as the Tokugawa shogunate, there was an era of stability that led to the rise of shoguns. Shoguns were considered the single ruler of Japan although, the emperor was above the shoguns on the social class. Tokugawa Ieyasu ruled Japan for 15 generations, controlling about 25% of the peoples land, leaving the rest of the 75% to be put into domains, ruled by 275 daimyos. The shogun of Japan controlled government, however, when the Meiji Restoration began in the 19th century, Japans stable society ended and the Shoguns lost all power, due to Matthew Perry. Matthew Perry was a Christian who was seen as a threat to Japan as he wanted to create a divide within Japan. Japan was split into two sections, one being the shogunate and its supporters to remain in power and the Japanese nationalists who wanted the Emperor to regain power. This divide in Japan led to a civil war known as the Boshin war or the

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 Tokugawa period or otherwise known as the Edo period has been recognised as an extremely significant aspect of Japanese history and left history changing effects on the country. In this essay, five primary aspects of the Edo period, which has helped produce present day Japan and had greatly impacted on the nation during this period will be addressed:

The shogunate period was the time in Japan from 794 CE to 1867 CE when the Shoguns ruled. A Shogun is a title that was given by the Emperor to the country’s top military commander. During the Heian period (794CE – 1185CE) the members of the military slowly became more powerful than the court officials and they eventually took control of the whole government. “In 1192 the Emperor appointed the head of the Minamoto clan, Minamoto no Yoritomo, as Shogun, to lead the Japanese armed forces.” (History Alive 8). He established the first shogunate or bakufu at his Kamakura headquarters. For 700 years after that, Japan was mainly ruled by Shoguns whose title had been passed on from father to son. Sometimes the Shogun’s family would become weak and a rebellious leader would seize power from them, after which he would start a new ruling family.

The late nineteenth century culminated centuries of progress for the prominent Asian societies of Qing China and Tokugawa Japan, defining their economic strength and influence in foreign affairs. Each society encountered taxing struggles from internal rebellions to external pressures from outside nations. The Qing dynasty in China survived the crises of the 1850s-1860s, while the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan did not (i.e., collapsed) because of a number of important historical differences. Distinct political, social, and foreign policy differences caused seemingly parallel societies to spiral off in opposite directions. With the aid of a highly centralized government, a stable social and political order, and an amicable nature towards foreign policy, the strength of the Chinese government prevailed against both internal and external challenges. Tokugawa Japan ran a course completely opposite of Qing China and ultimately collapsed in the 1860s. Three significant factors leading to this failure resided in its decentralized government, static and hereditary social order, and hostile nature towards foreign affairs. Reviewed first are the factors

Japan was ultimately beneficial over its time span of its existence because of its many advances and benefits to the people who were a part of the empire. Though there were negative and harmful aspects of its rule, the good of the empire outweighed the bad. The Japanese were among the last to develop a complex society and completely isolated itself from outside influence. An era occurred where they began to borrow many things from China. They adopted their writing and imitated their literature. By the late 1800s, however, an imperial restoration occurred with Commander Perry in charge . In order to stop westernization in Japan, the country adopted western culture. The Empire of Japan emerged and was more reformed than ever. By rapidly expanding under the slogan Fukoku Kyōhei (“Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Army”), Japan began its journey to beginning a world power. Japan began to seek profits overseas increasing their exposure to the outside world and their cultures. With all of these advancements, the overall success and benefit to its people of the empire of Imperial Japan came from its militarization.

To back up my first statement, the Shogunate’s had many large armies around Japan, this did help the Shogunate’s protect their land from the Mongol Empire, who at the time were one of the biggest empires in the world. This compared to the puny Polynesian armies which mostly consisted of twenty to thirty warriors from different tribes on the islands. These small armies could never put up such a fight like the Shogunate’s did and also win. The Polynesian would of been finished as quick as a fire spreading through a dried out forest. The Shogunate armies consisted of about 5,000 to 10,000 footman and cavalry, this let the Shogunate’s attack from different angles and fight in different terrains which helped let them win their wars. The Polynesian’s

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.

Hello everyone, I am Monique Murphy, and I am your tour guide for the latest Cultures of the Medieval World. Today we will be touring the Tokugawa Shogunate, which lasted for over 250 years bringing the first peaceful era to Japan.

During the Tokugawa period, Japan saw many cultural changes; the development of urban areas encouraged communication and market, merchants were having increased social mobility, the perception of samurai was shifting, and the samurai way was idolized.

The Tokugawa Period is often said to be the longest period of peace in Japanese history; as it was a period characterized by economic reform, the celebration of art and culture, and the installation of new social order. Ieyasu Tokugawa, with the aid of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Oda Nobunaga, first established the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603 as a means of reforming Japanese society and government. During this period, significant policies were enforced in order to ensure that power remained in the hands of the Shogunate, and also to negate the possibility of conflict between different domains. With Ieyasu beginning his rule, Japan was ending its Sengoku period; otherwise known as the Warring States period, Japanese society was finally leaving an era marked by social upheaval, suffering political stability, and domanial conflict. In

There were other nations besides European ones that were also experiencing economic gains, cultural influence, and societal growth. This nation was Japan, and from 1603 to 1867, this nation was specifically called Tokugawa Japan. Before Tokugawa Japan, there was civil disorder within the lives of the people living there. For example, daimyos, who were feudal state rulers who had owned a vast amount of land and had a major influence on the economy and state affairs of Japan, had to hire private armies to defend their entities (Tignor et al, 505). These private trained armies were known as samurais, and were a distinctive aspect of Tokugawa Japan. This wasn’t the only set of problems that Japan

The warrior rule began in 1185 began as the previous emperor died and Minamoto no Yoritomo seii taishogun - "the barbarian-subduing great general" usually abbreviated as Shogun. Shogun was the highest rank a Warrior Class person could get and was the official head of the warrior government. The Shogun was the supreme military leader and held a great amount of control over the government such as appointing shugo or military agents in provincial regions and jito or military stewards on estates. The first person to become shogun was Minamoto no Yoritomo who established the Kamakura Shogunate after he consolidated land. He was given power over many military courts and was able to assign people to certain warrior class roles.

Introduction This paper is to research how Tokugawa shogunate could unite Japan. Tokugawa shogunate is an important age of Japanese history, because Tokugawa Ieyasu finished the dispersive Japanese governing of Daimyou to provide sufficient political background to make Japan turn to capitalism. Tokugawa shogunate was the last shogunate of Japan, and it was also a combination between feudalism and capitalism. So researching this period of Japan can also be a way to understand the development and fallen of feudalism during this period around the world.