“Like Western Europe during the Middle Ages, Japan had a feudal society. Local lords,
called daimyo, ruled the land in exchange for military service and loyalty to the chief
general, or shogun. The emperor of Japan was the head of the society but had only
ceremonial and religious significance. In the late 1500s a powerful general, Hideyoshi,
defeated the warring daimyo and took control of all of Japan. When he died, Tokugawa
seized control and became shogun.
Tokugawa created a strong central government, ending feudal warfare and organizing a
government bureaucracy. Tokugawa maintained his control of the daimyo by limiting
their power. He allowed the daimyo to keep their lands, but he required that each daimyo
spend every other year in Tokugawa’s capital city, Edo. In addition, the wives and
families of the daimyo had to live in Edo all the time. The daimyo could not repair their
buildings, select husbands for their daughters, or sign contracts without Tokugawa’s
approval.
The Tokugawa shogunate, established in 1603, lasted over 250 years. The centralized
feudalism that Tokugawa instituted ensured peace and unity. As a result, trade developed
on a national scale during this period.”
(from page 17, GED Scoreboost: Critical Thinking for
Reading, Social Studies, and Science)