Society in the
Tokugawa Shogunate
Jared Peet
Objectives
• Use the language of comparison and contrast
to note similarities and differences between
feudal Europe and Japan.
• Identify the key people and events associated
with the rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate
Essential Question
• How were the feudal societies of Europe and
Japan similar and different?
Let’s Quantify Some Knowledge!
20 minutes
End
Japan Before 1600
• Warring States Period
– Mid 1400s – 1600
• Battles between
daimyos (local warlords)
• No one power was in
control
Rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate
• 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu
defeats rivals at Battle
of Sekigahara
• Made Shogun – military
commander, ruled over
all of Japan
• Emperor lost all power;
figurehead
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Shogunate
• 1600–1867: relative
peace
• Created a rigid class
system to govern
people (dress, behavior)
• Moved capital from
Kyoto to Edo (Tokyo)
• Closed borders to
almost all trade and
foreign interaction
Edo Castle
Check for Understanding
• What was life like in
Japan before the
Tokugawa Shogunate?
• Describe TWO changes
to life in Japan during
the Tokugawa
Shogunate?
Feudalism
• a system for structuring society around
relationships derived from the holding of land
in exchange for service or labor.
Let’s Compare and Contrast!
Feudal Japan
Emperor
Feudal Europe
Shogun
Pope
King
Daimyo
Duke
Greater
Samurai
Lord
Samurai
Knight
What came next?
• In a land-based, agricultural economy, who
came after the samurai?
– Artisans?
– Farmers?
– Merchants?
Let’s Organize Our Thoughts!
• Use your NOTES and your CHEAT SHEET
• Organize your similarities and differences on
your graphic organizer.
• DO NOT fill out the sentences at the bottom.
How to Compare and Contrast
• Don’t just list items in two separate paragraphs
• Use the terms “similar” and “different”
• Mention both Japan and Europe in SAME SENTENCE.
– Bad: Japan was a feudal society. They had samurai, who were
warriors that supported land-holding lords. They had a code of
honor called Bushido. Europe was a feudal society too. They had
knights, who were warriors that supported land-holding lords.
They had a code of honor called chivalry.
– Good: Both Europe and Japan had feudal societies. Their
societies were similar because both had warriors who lived by
an honor code. In Europe, the warriors were called knights while
in Japan they were called samurai. Knights lived through chivalry
and samurai lived through bushido.
How to Compare and Contrast
• When switching from similarities to differences,
use “on the one hand,” “on the other hand.”
• Bad: On the one hand, Europe and Japan both
had feudal lords who lived in castles. On the
other hand, they both had a warrior class.
• Good: On the one hand, Feudal Europe and Japan
were similar because they both had feudal lords
who lived in castles. But on the other hand,
Feudal Europe and Japan were different because
chivalry made women look weak in Europe while
Japanese bushido asked women to be stong.
Let’s make some awesome compare
and contrast statements!