The Tokugawa System
Japanese pronunciation
a, i, u, e, o
Japanese pronunciation
a=
i=
u=
e=
o=
ă (ah)
ē,
oo
ĕ (eh)
ō
ka, ki, ku, ke, ko
ra, ri, ru, re, ro
Long sounds
Ō
Ū
Let’s practice!
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Tokugawa Ieyasu
Fukuzawa Yūkichi
Yamakawa Kikue
Meiji
Geisha
Japanese Names
Family name comes first, given
name second:
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Hidetada
Tokugawa Iemitsu
OUTLINE
• From Imperial State to Feudalism
• Process of Reunification
• Systems of Control
– Rearrangement of domains
– Alternate Attendance System (sankin kōtai)
– Sakoku (“Closed Country”)
– Freezing of the Social Order
The Imperial State
• Centralized form of
government
• Headed by an
emperor
• Imperial capital in
Kyoto
Three Feudal Regimes
Kamakura
Ashikaga
Tokugawa
Shogun: “barbarian quelling generalissimo”
Bakufu = “tent government”
What is Feudalism?
• A political system
• An economic system
Warring States Period
• A century of warfare and disunity (late 15th
to late 16th century)
• Daimyo: feudal lord
• Samurai: retainer
• Bushi: warrior
Oda Nobunaga
• Began the unification process at the end of
the warring states period
Oda Nobunaga
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616)
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Battle of Sekigahara (1600)
Named shogun (1603)
Establishes his capital in Edo
Bakufu: tent government
Shogunate: government of the shogun
Tokugawa Systems of Control
• Rearrangement of domains
• Alternate Attendance System
(sankin kōtai)
• Sakoku (“Closed Country”)
• Freezing of the Social Order
Rearrangement of Domains
Shinpan (Collateral)
Fudai (Inner)
Tozama (Outer)
Alternate Attendance
• Sankin kotai
• Daimyo must reside in Edo every other
year
• Wives and children remain in Edo as
“hostages”
• Half of all daimyo are in residence in Edo
at any given time
Daimyo Procession
• Main roads are
–Nakasendo (naka = middle)
–Tōkaido (tōkai = eastern ocean)
These roads become national
highways that promote travel and
trade
Sakoku (Closed Country)
• Ban on Christianity
• Western powers excluded except for the
Dutch on Dejima
• Nagasaki becomes Japan’s “window to the
world”
Freezing the Social Order: the
Confucian Status System
Shi (samurai)
Nō (peasants)
Kō (artisans)
Shō (merchants)
[Eta]
Main Philosophical and Religious
Traditions
• Confucianism (originated in China)
• Buddhism (originated in India,
brought to Japan via China)
• Shinto (Japan’s indigenous religious
tradition)
Confucianism
• Supported officially by the bakufu
• Emphasized strict hierarchy and
maintenance of social order
Confucian Five Relationships
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Ruler/subject
Parent/child
Older sibling/younger sibling
Husband/wife
Friend/friend
Summary: Four Tokugawa
Methods of Control
–Rearrangement of domains
–Alternate Attendance System
(sankin kōtai)
–Sakoku (“Closed Country”)
–Freezing of the Social Order
Periodization
Early Modern Japan
• Tokugawa Period (feudal)
Modern Japan
• Meiji Period
• Taishō Period
• Shōwa Period
• Heisei Period
1600-1868
1868-1912
1912-1926
1926-1989
1989-