TOKUGAWA JAPAN

1400-1800

SETTING THE STAGE 1300s – SHOGUNS (military leaders) struggled to

keep weak Japan unified

1467 – civil war chaos & war result in shogun losing control

territorial lords gaining power over small domains of land

– LACK OF UNITY feudalism

Powerless emperors being controlled by shoguns

SENGOKU PERIOD 1467-1568 – Sengoku :

“Warring States”

SAMURAIS seized control of estates & offer peasants protection for loyalty

strongest samurais became DAIMYO (warrior-chieftains) who want more land & more control

DAIMYO VIPs

ODA NOBUNAGA – seizes Kyoto (capital) in 1568 & Pushes out all rivals with force – 1575 uses firearms for 1st time in Japan

TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI – gains control of country by 1590 & invades Korea in 1592

TOKUGAWA IEYASU A daimyo - unifies Japan in 1600

& gains loyalty of all daimyo Becomes shogun – sole ruler

TOKUGAWA’S ACHIEVEMENTS

moves capital to Edo (became Tokyo)

makes daimyo come to capital every other year to keep them obedient & close to his watchful eye

legal policies reformed

strong central government becomes more important than military actions (rule of law over rule of sword)

founder of Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1867)

WHAT DID THIS DO FOR JAPAN?

Stability, prosperity, & isolation

Food production increases population increases

Merchant class becomes wealthy & powerful, but peasants remain poor & overworked eventually move to cities

CITY LIFE Mid-1700s Japan shifts from rural to

urban society – Edo was world’s largest city

Employment opportunities increase for women in cities (peasants still restricted)

Traditional culture thrived› KABUKI theater gains popularity:

dramas w/elaborate costumes

› HAIKU– poetry that expresses images

EUROPEANS ARRIVE IN 1500’s

Japanese eager to trade w/ Portuguese: clocks, eyeglasses, tobacco, & firearms (for muskets & cannons)

Missionaries want to convert people BUT Tokugawa believed they looked down on Japanese culture/ religion (Shinto & Buddhism)

Eventually missionaries arebanned & Christians are persecuted

Closed all ports except Nagasaki “CLOSED COUNTRY POLICY”