Tokugawa Shogunate

Tokugawa Ieyasu, the third of Japan’s unifiers, was able to create a stable regime that brought peace to Japan for 250 years. Under his system, “the centralization of feudal state and society went much further than it had in the earlier periods.” (Sources, 121). During this time, Shogun and roughly 260 feudal lords, called daimyos, ruled Japan. According to law, the positions of daimyos were inherited, which meant that a daimyo would be succeeded by one of his sons and this succession would be approved by the Shogun. The Shogun was theoretically selected by the emperor, who fulfilled his role as the “final legitimizing authority in Japan” (sources 121).

Next, the Bushido Code shows how the samurai acted around people. One of the rules in the Bushido Code was, “ ‘men must grudge money, for riches hinder wisdom’ ” This means that anyone who was rich in Japan at this time, had to of acted like they didn’t care about money. Wisdom was one of the most important virtues at this time, so if money obstructed

Japanese Feudalism - a social system founded upon a strict hierarchy with the daimyo at the top, followed by the samurai, then farmers and fishermen, artisans, and finally merchants and shopkeepers.

This representativeness is a result of the author possibly being influenced by the perspective of their culture, which also means that the source does contain a bias. Despite this, it is still relevant due to the thought-provoking modern perspective it offers. The chaos described by Nakasendoway during this period is evident in the image on the board. A primary source by Mitsui Takatoshi, a merchant during both the Sengoku and Tokugawa periods, discusses the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate. He claimed there was “a great peace at hand. The shogun rules firmly and with justice... No more shall we have to live by the sword. I have seen that great profit can be made honourably… we shall prosper”. This source gives a relevant insight into the perspective of a feudal merchant in Japan. This particular insight is quite rare, as there are minimal primary sources available from the Tokugawa period. The perspective of Takatoshi was

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.

Every leadership position was hereditary, passing the same titles down the lines of esteemed Japanese families. Only the Shogun could give favor and titles to families, completely cutting off any chance at social mobility. This strategic move kept daimyo competing with each other to please the Shogun, losing the chance to band together and overthrow the government instead (Lecture, 2013 Feb 12). This decentralized government was inefficient for any kind of domestic and foreign affairs to be handles quickly. There was no sense of nationalism and profits circulated only among the elite, who controlled trade. The large degree of separation between the domains ultimately resulted in civil war, permanently bringing down Tokugawa

The Tokugawa shogunate was a transition period in which Japan began to modernize and began trading due to the arrival of Commodore Perry. Society during this period was based on strict class hierarchy with tight restrictions for social mobility. With urbanization, came an increase reliance on markets and merchants for funds which increased the need and want for trade with the Western nations. The images displayed in chapter two show the progress of events and how the Western nation influenced Japan. It begins with images of how the Japanese viewed the world, moving on towards the arrival of Commodore Perry, to the modernization of the port cities where a lot of trade occurred, to the beheading of the domain lord by anti-foreign Japanese citizens,

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

Tokugawa shogunate lasted from 1603-1868, which was the last feudal Japanese military government. Tokugawa Yoshinobu became shogun after the death of Tokugawa Iemochi in 1866, Yoshinobu was chosen to succeed him, and became the 15th shogun. Tokugawa Yoshinobu was shogun from 1866 to 1868, a time period of merely two years of ruling Japan. Yoshinobu actually made many serious changes in his short

They then would exchange this rice to merchants for currency (1). However, their means of generating wealth were not stable; harsh weather conditions could severely hamper the output of rice that their peasants could produce. This then decreases the number of tax that the Shogun could levy upon their subjects because there is a limit on how much the Shogun can tax his subordinates before they die from starvation. This caused a dilemma: The Shoguns needed to have an immense amount of disposable wealth to be in a position to afford their lifestyle (1). Thanks to the expense of their lifestyle, they forged loans with merchants, without an understanding of how interest rates worked (1). As a result of their loans, many Shoguns increased the tax they imposed onto their subordinates even though many of them barely had enough food for themselves. Therefore, the luxurious lifestyle of the Shoguns coupled with their unstable income resulted in countless hardships inflicted on their peasants.

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

The Pleasure Quarters of Edo was essentially a government sanctioned and regulated area for all manner of prostitution and pleasure, which had specific rules that had to be followed (CITATION). In the social hierarchy enforced during the Tokugawa regime, the military was on top, the farmers in the middle, and the ones who didn’t produce anything (merchants, outcasts, etc.) were lowest (CITATION). Prostitutes produced no tangible good, such as rice, yet they became an idealized figure, often portrayed as tragic in bakufu theater (WEEK 2). Despite, or because of, this lack of

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

He was well thought out to have a high status in the military by this time. In 1582 Oda had been killed leaving tokugawa with more territory, he also allied with Toyotomi Hideyoshi who was Oda’s successor. To control Tokugawa’s increasing strive for independence, Toyotomi sent Tokugawa to control land in the east of Japan. Ieyasu made his headquarters at the small port of Edo (where Tokyo now stands). Toyotomi died in Korea in 1598 leaving Tokugawa to take care of his