Tokugawa shogunate

Following the Sengoku period ("Warring States period"), the central government had been largely re-established by Oda Nobunaga during the Azuchi–Momoyama period. After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, central authority fell to Tokugawa Ieyasu. Daimyō who sided with Ieyasu were rewarded, and some of Ieyasu's former vassals were made daimyō and were located strategically throughout the country. By the Genroku period (1688–1704) Japan saw a period of material prosperity and the blossoming of the arts, such as the early development of ukiyo-e by Moronobu. The reign of Tokugawa Yoshimune (1716–1745) saw poor harvests and a fall in tax revenue in the early 1720s; as a result he pushed for the Kyoho reforms to repair the finances of the bakufu as he believed the military aristocracy was losing its power against the rich merchants and landowners. By the mid-18th century, both the shōgun and daimyō were hampered by financial difficulties, whereas more wealth flowed to the merchant class. Peasant uprisings and samurai discontent became increasingly prevalent. Some reforms were enacted to attend to these issues such as the Kansei reforms (1787–1793) by Matsudaira Sadanobu. He bolstered the bakufu's rice stockpiles and mandated daimyō to follow suit. He cut down urban spending, allocated reserves for potential famines, and urged city-dwelling peasants to return to rural areas. Late Tokugawa shogunate (1853–1867) of the Shimazu clan The late Tokugawa shogunate (Bakumatsu) was the period between 1853 and 1867, during which Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy called sakoku and modernized from a feudal shogunate to the Meiji government. The 1850s saw growing resentment by the tozama daimyōs and anti-Western sentiment following the arrival of a U.S. Navy fleet under the command of Matthew C. Perry (which led to the forced opening of Japan). The major ideological and political factions during this period were divided into the pro-imperialist Ishin Shishi (nationalist patriots) and the shogunate forces; aside from the dominant two groups, other factions attempted to use the chaos of the Bakumatsu era to seize personal power. An alliance of daimyō and the emperor succeeded in overthrowing the shogunate, which came to an official end in 1868 with the resignation of the 15th Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, leading to the "restoration" (王政復古, Ōsei fukko) of imperial rule. Some loyal retainers of the shogun continued to fight during the Boshin War that followed but were eventually defeated in the notable Battle of Toba–Fushimi. == Religious policy ==

Christians under the Shogunate Followers of Catholic Christians first began appearing in Japan during the 16th century. In 1600, when English sailor William Adams and his Dutch colleague Jan Joosten arrived at Japan, they told Ieyasu about the world situation, including that there were many conflicts in Europe, and that the Jesuits and other Catholics (e.g. Portuguese, Spanish), who had been proselytizing Christianity in Japan, and the Protestants (e.g. Dutch, English) were on different sides and were in conflict with each other. Ieyasu reportedly took a liking to them for their frankness and regarded them as trustworthy. While at first tolerant of Christianity, Tokugawa Ieyasu soon began to see it as a growing threat to the stability of the shogunate. His attitude changed after 1613, and persecution of Christians sharply increased, with Ieyasu completely banning Catholicism in 1614. The hostility of Ieyasu towards Catholics was shown when he replaced Jesuit translator João Rodrigues Tçuzu with William Adams in his court in the aftermath of the Nossa Senhora da Graça incident in Nagasaki. This change of attitude is believed to be due to the Okamoto Daihachi incident, where a Catholic daimyō and shogun's official were accused of a series of crimes. The Shimabara Rebellion is often portrayed as a Christian rebellion against violent suppression by Matsukura Katsuie. However the main academic understanding is that the rebellion was mainly by peasants against Matsukura's misgovernance, with Christians later joining the rebellion. The system introduced by the Shogunate to stamp out Catholicism after the Shimabara rebellion was the Danka system, which made affiliation of every Household in Japan to the Buddhist temple compulsory. Ieyasu's ban of Christianity is often linked with the creation of the sakoku seclusionist policies in the 1630s. His successor shoguns followed his policy, compounding upon existing laws by Ieyasu. ==Government==

Shogunate and domains The bakuhan system (bakuhan taisei ) was the feudal political system in the Edo period of Japan. Baku is an abbreviation of bakufu, meaning "military government"—that is, the shogunate. The han were the domains headed by daimyō. The shōgun and the daimyō were all feudal lords with their own bureaucracies, policies, and territories. They were ranked by size, which was measured as the number of koku of rice that the domain produced each year. • The sankin-kōtai ("alternate attendance") system, required daimyō to travel to and reside in Edo every other year, and for their families to remain in Edo during their absence. • The ikkoku ichijyō rei (一国一城令), allowed each daimyōs han to retain only one fortification, at the daimyōs residence. Relations with the Emperor '' by Yoshitoshi depicting the scene when Ieyasu had an audience with Emperor Go-Yōzei Regardless of the political title of the Emperor, the shōguns of the Tokugawa family controlled Japan. The shogunate secured a nominal grant of by the Imperial Court in Kyoto to the Tokugawa family. The shogunate also appointed a liaison, the Kyoto Shoshidai (''Shogun's Representative in Kyoto''), to deal with the Emperor, court and nobility. Towards the end of the shogunate, however, after centuries of the Emperor having very little say in state affairs and being secluded in his Kyoto palace, and in the wake of the reigning shōgun, Tokugawa Iemochi, marrying the sister of Emperor Kōmei (r. 1846–1867), in 1862, the Imperial Court in Kyoto began to enjoy increased political influence. The Emperor would occasionally be consulted on various policies and the shogun even made a trip to Kyoto to visit the Emperor. Government administration would be formally returned from the shōgun to the Emperor during the Meiji Restoration in 1868. == Incomes and trades ==

, After the unification of Japan, the discovery of new silver mines and the improvement of mining techniques, the extraction and export of silver from Japan increased dramatically, particularly to Ming China. Between 1560 and 1600, the annual export of silver ranged from 33 to 49 tons, but due to the Ming ban on trade with Japan, the import of Japanese silver was facilitated by the Portuguese. In the early 17th century, Japanese silver exports continued to rise, with the import of luxury goods such as silk (reaching up to 280 tons per year in the 1630s). Silk was so abundant and inexpensive in Japan that even some peasants were able to afford it, leading to a rise in its popularity among the lower classes. In 1601, the Hokusan region became the domain of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Gold veins in Sado mine were discovered in the same year in the region, and the region served as an important source of revenue for the Shogunate throughout the Edo period. Its peak during the Edo period was the first half of the 17th century. Records indicate that over 400 kg of gold was extracted annually, and 10,000 kan (37.5 tons) of silver was paid to the Shogunate annually, Making it one of the world's largest gold mines at the time.{{cite news|title = 活気づくニッポンの鉱山 本当に「資源小国」なのか Foreign affairs and trade were monopolized by the shogunate, yielding an extremely large profit. Foreign trade was also permitted for the Satsuma and the Tsushima domains. Rice was the main trading product of Japan during this time. Isolationism was the foreign policy of Japan and trade was strictly controlled. Merchants were outsiders to the social hierarchy of Japan and were thought to be greedy. The visits of the Nanban ships from Portugal were at first the main vector of trade exchanges, followed by the addition of Dutch, English, and sometimes Spanish ships. From 1603 onward, Japan started to participate actively in foreign trade. In 1615, an embassy and trade mission under Hasekura Tsunenaga was sent across the Pacific to Nueva España (New Spain) on the Japanese-built galleon San Juan Bautista. Until 1635, the Shogun issued numerous permits for the so-called "red seal ships" destined for the Asian trade. After 1635 and the introduction of seclusion laws (sakoku), inbound ships were only allowed from China, Korea, and the Netherlands. The primary source of the shogunate's income was the tax (around 40%) levied on harvests in the Tokugawa clan's personal estates (tenryō). No taxes were levied on domains of daimyō, who instead provided military duty, public works and corvee. The shogunate obtained loans from merchants, which were sometimes seen as forced donations, although commerce was often not taxed. Special levies were also imposed for infrastructure-building. == Shogunate officials ==

During the earliest years of the Tokugawa shogunate institution, when Tokugawa Hidetada was crowned as the second shogun and Ieyasu retired, they formed dual governments, where Hidetada controlled the official court with the government central located in Edo city, Ieyasu, who now became the Ōgosho (retired shogun), also controlled his own informal shadow government which called "Sunpu government" with its center at Sunpu Castle. The membership of the Sunpu government’s cabinet consisted of trusted vassals of Ieyasu who were not included in Hidetada’s cabinet, including William Adams and Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn, whom Ieyasu entrusted with foreign affairs and diplomacy. The earliest structure of the Edo shogunate’s organization had the Buke Shitsuyaku as its highest rank; the earliest members of this office were Ii Naomasa, Sakakibara Yasumasa, and Honda Tadakatsu. The personal vassals of the Tokugawa shoguns were classified into two groups: • the bannermen (hatamoto) had the privilege to directly approach the shogun; The machi-bugyō were the chief city administrators of Edo and other cities. Their roles included mayor, chief of the police (and, later, also of the fire department), and judge in criminal and civil matters not involving samurai. Two (briefly, three) men, normally hatamoto, held the office, and alternated by month. Tenryō, gundai and daikan The san-bugyō together sat on a council called the hyōjōsho. In this capacity, they were responsible for administering the tenryō (the shogun's estates), supervising the gundai (郡代), the daikan and the kura bugyō (蔵奉行), as well as hearing cases involving samurai. The gundai managed Tokugawa domains with incomes greater than 10,000 koku while the daikan managed areas with incomes between 5,000 and 10,000 koku. The shogun directly held lands in various parts of Japan. These were known as shihaisho (支配所); since the Meiji period, the term tenryō (天領, literally "Emperor's land") has become synonymous, because the shogun's lands were returned to the emperor. In addition to the territory that Ieyasu held prior to the Battle of Sekigahara, this included lands he gained in that battle and lands gained as a result of the Summer and Winter Sieges of Osaka. Major cities as Nagasaki and Osaka, and mines, including the Sado gold mine, also fell into this category. Gaikoku bugyō The gaikoku bugyō were administrators appointed between 1858 and 1868. They were charged with overseeing trade and diplomatic relations with foreign countries, and were based in the treaty ports of Nagasaki and Kanagawa (Yokohama). ==List of Tokugawa shōgun==

Family Tree Over the course of the Edo period, influential relatives of the shogun included: • Tokugawa Mitsukuni of the Mito Domain • Tokugawa Nariaki of the Mito Domain • Matsudaira Katamori of the Aizu branch. • Matsudaira Sadanobu, born into the Tayasu branch, adopted into the Hisamatsu-Matsudaira of Shirakawa. == Notes ==