Tokugawa Japan
The Unification of Japan
1600-1867
•12th – 16th Century
Background
•A shogun (military
governor) ruled Japan
through retainers who
received political rights
and large estates in
return for military
services.
•Yamoto emperor was a
figurehead and spent
most of time performing
shinto rights
•After the 14th century, the
ambitions of shoguns and
retainers led to a series of civil
wars in the 16th century.
Tokugawa Japan
•Toward the end of the 16th
century, A series of military
leaders brought about the
unification of the land.
•In 1600 the last of the leaders,
Tokugawa Ieyasu, established
a military government, the
“Tokugawa bakufu” (tent
government).
•Ieyasu and his descendants
ruled the bakufu as shoguns
from 1600 until the end of the
Tokugawa dynasty in 1867.
Shoguns
•The purpose of the
Tokugawa shoguns was to
keep their regions calm and
prevent the return of civil war.
•The shoguns controlled the
daimyo (great names) who
were powerful territorial lords
who ruled most of Japan from
their vast landholdings.
•The 260 or so daimyo
functioned as near absolute
rulers within their domains.
•Each daimyo maintained a
government staff by military
subordinates that were
supported by judiciary, schools,
and paper money.
•Many daimyo established
relationships with European
mariners from whom they
learned how to manufacture and
use gunpowder weapons.
•During the last decades of the
sengoku era, cannons and
personal firearms were
significant in Japanese conflicts.
The Country at War
•From the castle of Edo,
modern-day Tokyo, the shogun
governed his own domain and
tried to control the daimyo in
their territories.
Controlling the
Daimyo
•The shoguns instituted
“alternate attendance,” which
required daimyo to spend every
other year in Edo at the
Tokugawa court.
•This was intended to keep an
eye on the daimyo and
encourage them to spend their
money and lavish homes and
lives in Edo rather than building
armies.
Like Louis XIV and
Versailles
•The shogun closely controlled
relations between Japan and
the outside world.
•They knew that Spanish forces
had conquered the Philippine
Islands in the 16th century.
•They feared that Europeans
might cause serious problems
by making alliances with daimyo
and supplying them with
weapons.
Control of Foreign
Relations
Control of Foreign
Relations
During the 1630’s, the shoguns:
• forbade Japanese from going
abroad,
• prohibited the construction of
large ships,
• expelled Europeans from
Japan,
• prohibited foreign merchants
from trading in Japanese
ports,
• controlled trade with Asian
lands,
• permitted small numbers of
Chinese and Dutch
merchants to trade in
Nagasaki.
Social and Economic Change
• Increased agricultural
production
• New crop strains
• New methods of water control
and irrigation
• Use of fertilize increased rice
yields
• Production of cotton, silk,
indigo, and sake increased.
• Move from subsistence
farming to market production.
• During the 17th century,
Japan witnessed dramatic
population growth.
• However, in order to raise
their standard of living, many
families between 1700 and
1850, practiced
contraception, late marriage,
abortion, and infanticide
(“thinning out the rice
shoots”).
• This practice, which occurred
mostly in rural communities
with strained resources,
resulted in moderate
population gains.
Social Changes
Confucian Social Hierarchy
• Ruling Elites
• Shogun
• Daimyo
• Samurai
• Peasants and Artisans
• Merchants
Class System
Emperor and Imperial Court
Families
Shogun
Daimyo
Samurai
Ronin
Farmers (peasants)
Artisans
Merchants
Outcasts: eta
• The influence of China
continued.
• Formal education began with
the study of Chinese
language and literature.
• In the late 19th century,
Japanese scholars wrote
philosophical, religious, and
legal works in Chinese.
• The common people
embraced Buddhism.
• Confucianism was the most
influential philosophical
system.
Cultural Influences
of China
• Traditional Confucian values
such as filial piety and loyalty
to superiors was emphasized.
• All those who had formal
education (sons of merchants
and government officials)
received constant exposure
to neo-Confucian values.
• By the early 18th century, neoConfucianism had become
the official ideology of the
Tokugawa bakufu.
Neo-Confucianism
Native Japanese
Tradition
• During the 18th century,
scholars of “native learning”
scorned neo-Confucianism
and even Buddhism.
• They emphasized folk
traditions, Japanese
literature, and the indigenous
Shinto religion.
• Many scholars viewed
Japanese people as superior
to others (xenophobic).
Popular Culture
• During the 17th and 18th
centuries, a lively middle
class emerged out of the
merchant class.
• “Floating Worlds,”
entertainment quarters with
teahouses, theaters, brothels
and public baths offered
escape from social
responsibilities.
• Prose fiction, kabuki theater
(bawdy skits), and bunraku
(puppet theater) attracted
many audiences.
Christian Missions
• In 1549, the Jesuit Francis Xavier traveled to Japan
and opened a mission.
• Several powerful daimyo adopted Christianity and
ordered their subjects to do so.
• By the 1580’s about 150,000 Japanese had
converted to Christianity.
• Tokugawa shoguns restricted European access to
Japan for fear Christianity might allow for alliances
between daimyo and Europeans.
• Buddhist and Confucian scholars resented
Christian conviction that their faith was the only true
faith.
• Christian converts became frustrated that they
could not become priests or play leadership roles in
the missions.
Anti-Christian
Campaign
• In 1612, shoguns began
rigorous enforcement of
decrees putting a halt to
Christian missions.
• They tortured and executed
European missionaries who
refused to leave as well as
Japanese Christians who
refused to abandon their faith.
• They often executed victims by
crucifixion or burning at the
stake.
• By the late 17th century, the
anti-Christian campaign had
claimed tens of thousands of
lives.
Dutch Learning
• After 1639, Dutch merchants
became the principal source of
information about Europe and
the world beyond the east.
• A small number of Japanese
scholars learned Dutch in
order to communicate with the
foreigners.
• After 1720, Tokugawa
authorities lifted the ban on
foreign books and Dutch
learning began to play a
significant role in Japanese
life.
• European art influenced
Japanese scholars interested
in anatomy, astronomy, and
botany.