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History of Japan
Glossary
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The Edo period (江戸時代 Edo-jidai?), also referred to as the Tokugawa period (徳川時代 Tokugawa-jidai), is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868. The written history of Japan begins with brief references in the 1st century AD Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of Chinese historical texts The covers the period from around 100000 to 30000 BC when the earliest Stone tool implements have been found to around 14000 BC at the end of the last Ice-age, which corresponds The is the time in Japanese prehistory from about 14000 BC to 400 BC. The is an era in the history of Japan from about 500 BC to 300 AD. The is an era in the History of Japan from around 250 to 538 The word kofun is Japanese for the type of burial mounds dating from this era The, was a period in the History of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 (or 592-645 although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The of the History of Japan covers the years from AD 710 to 794. The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 by the first Kamakura Shogun The was a period of Japanese history that occurred from 1333 to 1336. The Muromachi period ( Japanese: 室町時代 Muromachi-jidai, also known as the Muromachi era, the Muromachi bakufu, the Ashikaga era The, spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the early years of the Muromachi period of Japan 's history The came at the end of the Warring States Period in Japan, when the political unification that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate took place The Nanban trade ( Japanese: 南蛮貿易 nanban-bōeki, "Southern barbarian trade" or the Nanban trade period ( Japanese: 南蛮貿易時代 are the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate came to an end The, or Meiji era, denotes the 45-year reign of the Meiji Emperor, running in the Gregorian calendar, from 23 October 1868 to 30 July The, also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to enormous changes in Japan 's political and social structure The, or Taishō era, is a period in the History of Japan dating from July 30, 1912 to December 25, 1926, coinciding with the reign Japan participated in from 1914 to 1917 as one of the major Entente Powers, played an important role in securing the sea lanes in South Pacific The, or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa ( Hirohito) from December 25, 1926 to refers to the Ideology in the Empire of Japan that Militarism should dominate the political and social life of the nation and that the strength of the military is At the end of World War II, Japan was occupied by the Allied Powers, led by the United States with contributions also from Australia, British Following the end of the Allied occupation in 1952 Japan emerged as a global Economic power is the current era name in Japan. The Heisei era started on January 8, 1989, just one day after the death of the reigning Emperor Hirohito The economic history of Japan is one of the most studied for its spectacular growth after the Meiji Revolution to be the first non European Power and after the Second World War The history of Education in Japan dates back at least to the sixth century when Chinese learning was introduced at the Yamato court The military history of Japan is characterised by a long period of Feudal Wars, followed by domestic stability and then foreign conquest The naval history of Japan can be said to begin in early interactions with states on the Asian continent in the early centuries of the 1st millennium, reaching a pre-modern peak This is the glossary of Japanese history including the major terms titles and events the casual (or brand-new reader might find useful in understanding articles on the subject The written history of Japan begins with brief references in the 1st century AD Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of Chinese historical texts Year 1868 ( MDCCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. literally bay - Door, " Estuary " edo once also spelled Yedo or Yeddo, is the The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the, and the, was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the Shoguns of is a military rank and historical title in Japan. The Japanese word for "general" it is made up of two Kanji words sho, meaning "commander"  was the founder and first Shogun  of the Tokugawa shogunate The period ended with the Meiji Restoration, the restoration of imperial rule by the 15th and last shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu. The, also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to enormous changes in Japan 's political and social structure Governance relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. Tokugawa Yoshinobu 1st Prince of the Yoshinobu-ke (徳川 慶喜 Tokugawa Yoshinobu (also known as Keiki) October 28, 1837 &ndash The Edo period is also known as the beginning of the early modern period of Japan.

Contents

Rule of shogun and daimyo

Main article: Tokugawa shogunate
Tokugawa Ieyasu, first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate
Tokugawa Ieyasu, first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate

An evolution had taken place in the centuries from the time of the Kamakura bakufu, which existed in equilibrium with the imperial court, to the Tokugawa, when the bushi became the unchallenged rulers in what historian Edwin O. Reischauer called a "centralized feudal" form of government. The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the, and the, was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the Shoguns of  was the founder and first Shogun  of the Tokugawa shogunate is a military rank and historical title in Japan. The Japanese word for "general" it is made up of two Kanji words sho, meaning "commander" The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the, and the, was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the Shoguns of The Kamakura shogunate ( Japanese: 鎌倉幕府 Kamakura bakufu) was a feudal military dictatorship in Japan headed by the Shoguns from The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the, and the, was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the Shoguns of is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial Japan. Edwin Oldfather Reischauer ( Tokyo, October 15, 1910 – September 1, 1990) was the leading U Instrumental in the rise of the new bakufu was Tokugawa Ieyasu, the main beneficiary of the achievements of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.  was the founder and first Shogun  of the Tokugawa shogunate ( June 23, 1534 &ndash June 21, 1582) was a major Daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history Already powerful, Ieyasu profited by his transfer to the rich Kantō area. The is a Geographical area of Honshū, the largest Island of Japan. He maintained 2. 5 million koku of land, had a new headquarters at Edo, a strategically situated castle town (the future Tokyo), and had an additional two million koku of land and thirty-eight vassals under his control. The word million In standard English, the -lli- in million is pronounced with an l-sound followed by a KOKU (1003 FM, "Hit Radio 100" is a Radio station in the United States territory of Guam. literally bay - Door, " Estuary " edo once also spelled Yedo or Yeddo, is the officially, is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. A vassal (also called feodary or fedary) in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudalism of Medieval Europe, After Hideyoshi's death, Ieyasu moved quickly to seize control from the Toyotomi family.

Ieyasu's victory over the western daimyo at the Battle of Sekigahara (1600) gave him virtual control of all Japan. The ( were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings Background and pretext Even though Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan and consolidated his power following the Siege of Odawara in 1590 his ill-fated He rapidly abolished numerous enemy daimyo houses, reduced others, such as that of the Toyotomi, and redistributed the spoils of war to his family and allies. The ( were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings Ieyasu still failed to achieve complete control of the western daimyo, but his assumption of the title of shogun helped consolidate the alliance system. is a military rank and historical title in Japan. The Japanese word for "general" it is made up of two Kanji words sho, meaning "commander" After further strengthening his power base, Ieyasu installed his son Hidetada (1579-1632) as shogun and himself as retired shogun in 1605. was the second Shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623 The Toyotomi were still a significant threat, and Ieyasu devoted the next decade to their eradication. In 1615, the Toyotomi stronghold at Osaka was destroyed by the Tokugawa army. is a city in Japan, located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of the main island of Honshū

The Tokugawa (or Edo) period brought 250 years of stability to Japan. The political system evolved into what historians call bakuhan, a combination of the terms bakufu and han (domains) to describe the government and society of the period. is a military rank and historical title in Japan. The Japanese word for "general" it is made up of two Kanji words sho, meaning "commander" The, or domains, were the Fiefs of Feudal Lords of Japan that were created by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and existed until their For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. In the bakuhan, the shogun had national authority and the daimyo had regional authority. This represented a new unity in the feudal structure, which featured an increasingly large bureaucracy to administer the mixture of centralized and decentralized authorities. The Tokugawa became more powerful during their first century of rule: land redistribution gave them nearly seven million koku, control of the most important cities, and a land assessment system reaping great revenues. A century (from the Latin centum, meaning one hundred is One hundred consecutive Years Centuries are numbered ordinally (e

A yagura, or turret, at Edo Castle in Tokyo.
A yagura, or turret, at Edo Castle in Tokyo. also known as, is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan.

The feudal hierarchy was completed by the various classes of daimyo. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed Closest to the Tokugawa house were the shinpan, or "related houses". is a Japanese term which denotes the status of a domain 's ruler as a recognized kinsman of the Tokugawa shogun. They were twenty-three daimyo on the borders of Tokugawa lands, daimyo all directly related to Ieyasu. The shinpan held mostly honorary titles and advisory posts in the bakufu. The second class of the hierarchy were the fudai, or "house daimyo", rewarded with lands close to the Tokugawa holdings for their faithful service. By the eighteenth century, 145 fudai controlled such smaller han, the greatest assessed at 250,000 koku. The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system Members of the fudai class staffed most of the major bakufu offices. Ninety-seven han formed the third group, the tozama (outside vassals), former opponents or new allies. A was a Daimyo who was considered an outsider by the rulers of Japan. The tozama were located mostly on the peripheries of the archipelago and collectively controlled nearly ten million koku of productive land. Because the tozama were least trusted of the daimyo, they were the most cautiously managed and generously treated, although they were excluded from central government positions.

The Tokugawa not only consolidated their control over a reunified Japan, they also had unprecedented power over the emperor, the court, all daimyo, and the religious orders. The of Japan is the country's Monarch. He is the head of the Japanese Imperial Family. The emperor was held up as the ultimate source of political sanction for the shogun, who ostensibly was the vassal of the imperial family. The Tokugawa helped the imperial family recapture its old glory by rebuilding its palaces and granting it new lands. To ensure a close tie between the imperial clan and the Tokugawa family, Ieyasu's granddaughter was made an imperial consort in 1619.

A code of laws was established to regulate the daimyo houses. The code encompassed private conduct, marriage, dress, and types of weapons and numbers of troops allowed; required feudal lords to reside in Edo every other year (the sankin kōtai system); prohibited the construction of ocean-going ships; proscribed Christianity; restricted castles to one per domain (han) and stipulated that bakufu regulations were the national law. NOTICE TO WOULD-BE ROMEOS ************** A weapon is a Tool used either in Hunting, or attack or defence in Combat for the purpose of subduing enemy personnel or to destroy enemy weapons Sankin kōtai (参勤交代 ("alternate attendance" was a policy of the Shogunate during most of the Edo period of Japanese history. The, or domains, were the Fiefs of Feudal Lords of Japan that were created by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and existed until their Although the daimyo were not taxed per se, they were regularly levied for contributions for military and logistical support and for such public works projects as castles, roads, bridges, and palaces. A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. A road is an identifiable route, way or path between two or more places. A bridge is a Structure built to span a Gorge, Valley, Road, railroad track, River, Body of water A palace is a grand residence especially the home of a Head of state or some other high-ranking Public figure. The various regulations and levies not only strengthened the Tokugawa but also depleted the wealth of the daimyo, thus weakening their threat to the central administration. The han, once military-centered domains, became mere local administrative units. The daimyo did have full administrative control over their territory and their complex systems of retainers, bureaucrats, and commoners. A bureaucrat is a member of a Bureaucracy, usually within an institution of the Government. Loyalty was exacted from religious foundations, already greatly weakened by Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, through a variety of control mechanisms.

From openness to seclusion

Main article: Sakoku
Hasekura Tsunenaga, a Samurai under the Date clan and Japan's first official ambassador to the Americas and Europe, in 1615.
Hasekura Tsunenaga, a Samurai under the Date clan and Japan's first official ambassador to the Americas and Europe, in 1615. Sakoku ( Japanese: 鎖国 literally "country in chains" or "lock up of country" was the Foreign relations policy of Japan under which Early life Little is known of the early life of Hasekura Tsunenaga is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial Japan. The was a lineage of Daimyo who controlled northern Japan (the Tōhoku region) in the late 16th century and into the Edo period.
View of Dejima island as a Dutch trading post in Nagasaki, 1897
View of Dejima island as a Dutch trading post in Nagasaki, 1897

Like Hideyoshi, Ieyasu encouraged foreign trade but also was suspicious of outsiders. was a fan-shaped Artificial island in the bay of Nagasaki that was a Dutch Trading port during Japan 's self-imposed isolation ( Sakoku ( is the Capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. He wanted to make Edo a major port, but once he learned that the Europeans favored ports in Kyūshū and that China had rejected his plans for official trade, he moved to control existing trade and allowed only certain ports to handle specific kinds of commodities. literally bay - Door, " Estuary " edo once also spelled Yedo or Yeddo, is the or Kyushu is the third-largest Island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands.

The beginning of the Edo period coincides with the last decades of the Nanban trade period during which intense interaction with European powers, on the economic and religious plane, took place. The Nanban trade ( Japanese: 南蛮貿易 nanban-bōeki, "Southern barbarian trade" or the Nanban trade period ( Japanese: 南蛮貿易時代 It is at the beginning of the Edo period that Japan built her first ocean-going Western-style warships, such as the San Juan Bautista, a 500-ton galleon-type ship that transported a Japanese embassy headed by Hasekura Tsunenaga to the Americas and then to Europe. Construction San Juan Bautista was built in 1613 by Date Masamune, the Daimyo of Sendai in northern Japan, in Tsuki-No-Ura harbour Units of mass There are three similar units of Mass called the ton: Long ton (simply ton in countries such as the United A galleon was a large multi-decked Sailing ship used primarily by the nations of Europe from the 16th to 18th centuries Early life Little is known of the early life of Hasekura Tsunenaga Also during that period, the bakufu commissioned around 350 Red Seal Ships, three-masted and armed trade ships, for intra-Asian commerce. For the RCA or RCA Victor record series see RCA Red Seal Records Red seal ships (朱印船 Shuinsen) were Japanese Japanese adventurers, such as Yamada Nagamasa, used those ships throughout Asia. Yamada Nagamasa ( Japanese: 山田長政 Yamada Nagamasa; 1590&mdash1630 was a Japanese adventurer who gained considerable influence in Thailand

The "Christian problem" was, in effect, a problem of controlling both the Christian daimyo in Kyūshū and their trade with the Europeans. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth By 1612, the shogun's retainers and residents of Tokugawa lands had been ordered to forswear Christianity. More restrictions came in 1616 (the restriction of foreign trade to Nagasaki and Hirado, an island northwest of Kyūshū), 1622 (the execution of 120 missionaries and converts), 1624 (the expulsion of the Spanish), and 1629 (the execution of thousands of Christians). Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. Finally, the Closed Country Edict of 1635 prohibited any Japanese from traveling outside Japan or, if someone left, from ever returning. This Sakoku Edict ( Sakoku-rei, 鎖国令 of 1635 was the third of a series issued by Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川 家光 shogun (将軍 of In 1636 the Dutch were restricted to Dejima, a small artificial island — and thus, not true Japanese soil — in Nagasaki's harbor. was a fan-shaped Artificial island in the bay of Nagasaki that was a Dutch Trading port during Japan 's self-imposed isolation ( Sakoku An artificial island is an Island that has been constructed by humans rather than formed by natural means

The shogunate perceived Catholic Christianity to be an extremely destabilizing factor, leading to the persecution of Catholicism. The Shimabara Rebellion of 1637-38, in which discontented Catholic Christian samurai and peasants rebelled against the bakufu — and Edo called in Dutch ships to bombard the rebel stronghold — marked the end of the Christian movement, although some Catholic Christians survived by going underground, the so-called Kakure Kirishitan. The was an uprising largely involving Japanese Peasants, most of them Christians, in 1637–1638 during the Edo period. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". is a modern term for a member of the Japanese Roman Catholic Church that went underground after the Shimabara Rebellion in the 1630s Soon thereafter, the Portuguese were permanently expelled, members of the Portuguese diplomatic mission were executed, all subjects were ordered to register at a Buddhist or Shinto temple, and the Dutch and Chinese were restricted, respectively, to Dejima and to a special quarter in Nagasaki. ( is the Capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. Besides small trade of some outer daimyo with Korea and the Ryukyu Islands, to the southwest of Japan's main islands, by 1641, foreign contacts were limited by the policy of sakoku to Nagasaki. Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries a civilization and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. The Ryukyu Islands, in Japanese called the (literally Southwest Islands are a chain of Japanese islands in the western Pacific Ocean at the eastern limit Sakoku ( Japanese: 鎖国 literally "country in chains" or "lock up of country" was the Foreign relations policy of Japan under which

By 1650, Christianity was almost completely eradicated, and external political, economic and religious influence on Japan became quite limited. Only China, the Dutch East India Company, and for a short period, the English, enjoyed the right to visit Japan during this period, for commercial purposes only, and they were restricted to the Dejima port in Nagasaki. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The Dutch East India Company ( Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC in old-spelling Dutch, literally "United East Indian was a fan-shaped Artificial island in the bay of Nagasaki that was a Dutch Trading port during Japan 's self-imposed isolation ( Sakoku ( is the Capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. Other Europeans who landed on Japanese shores were put to death without trial.

Society

Matsumoto Castle in Nagano Prefecture, a National Treasure.
Matsumoto Castle in Nagano Prefecture, a National Treasure. MatsumotoCastleGateMoatjpg|thumb|right|200px|Taiko-mon Gate]] also known as Fukashi Castle is a flatland castle and one of Japan 's historic castles. WikipediaWikiProject Japanese prefectures for guidelines --> is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū The Ministry of Education Culture Sports Science and Technology of the government of Japan designates the most famous of the nation's cultural properties as National

After a long period of inner conflict, the first goal of the newly established Tokugawa government was to pacify the country. It created a balance of power that remained (fairly) stable for the next 250 years, influenced by Confucian principles of social order. Confucianism ( is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the fifth century B Social order is a concept used in sociology history and other social sciences Most samurai lost their direct possession of the land: all land ownership was concentrated in the hands of the about 300 daimyo. is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial Japan. The ( were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings The samurai had a choice: Give up their sword and become peasants, or move to the city of their feudal lord and become a paid retainer. Only a few land samurai remained in the border provinces of the north, or as direct vassals of the shogun, the 5000 so-called hatamoto. A was a Samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. The daimyo were put under tight control of the shogunate. Their families had to reside in Edo; the daimyo themselves had to reside in Edo for one year and in their province (han) for the next. literally bay - Door, " Estuary " edo once also spelled Yedo or Yeddo, is the The, or domains, were the Fiefs of Feudal Lords of Japan that were created by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and existed until their This system was called sankin kotai. Sankin kōtai (参勤交代 ("alternate attendance" was a policy of the Shogunate during most of the Edo period of Japanese history.

The population was divided into four classes in a system known as mibunsei (身分制): the samurai on top (about 5% of the population) and the peasants (more than 80% of the population) on the second level. The four divisions of society refers to the model of Japanese society during the Edo period. Below the peasants were the craftsmen, and even below them, on the fourth level, were the merchants. Only the peasants lived in the rural areas. Samurai, craftsmen and merchants lived in the cities that were built around the daimyo's castles, each restricted to their own quarter. were Fortresses composed primarily of wood and stone They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries and came into their most well-known form in the 16th century

There were a few that were above the system, the kuge, descendants of the Imperial Court in Kyoto. The kuge (公家 was a Japanese Aristocratic class that dominated the Japanese imperial court in Kyoto until the rise of the (IPA /kʲoːto / is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. Although they regained their splendor after the poverty of the war years, their political influence was near zero.

Outside the four classes were the so-called eta and hinin, those whose professions broke the taboos of Buddhism. Burakumin (ja {{linktext 部 落 民}} buraku, tribe + min, people is a term often used to describe a Japanese social Minority group. Eta were butchers, tanners and undertakers. Hinin served as town guards, street cleaners and executioners. Other outsiders included the beggars, entertainers and prostitutes. The word eta literally translates to "filthy" and hinin to "non-humans", a thorough reflection of the attitude held by other classes that the eta and hinin were not even people. Hinin were only allowed inside a special quarter of the city. The actors usually travelled in groups from one village to another, performing in each city then moving to the next. It was completely lawful to kill a hinin for no reason. Sometimes eta villages weren't even printed on official maps.

The individual had no legal rights in Tokugawa Japan. The family was the smallest legal entity, and the maintenance of family status and privileges was of great importance at all levels of society. For example, the Edo period penal laws prescribed "non-free labor" or slavery for the immediate family of executed criminals in Article 17 of the Gotōke reijō (Tokugawa House Laws), but the practice never became common. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another The 1711 Gotōke reijō was compiled from over 600 statutes promulgated between 1597 and 1696. [1]

Economic development

Terakoya, private educational school for girls
Terakoya, private educational school for girls

Economic development during the Tokugawa period included urbanization, increased shipping of commodities, a significant expansion of domestic and, initially, foreign commerce, and a diffusion of trade and handicraft industries. Terakoya (寺子屋 which literally means "temple schools" were private educational institutions that taught writing and reading to the children of Japanese commoners during Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Urbanizationn (also spelled urbanisation) is the physical growth of Urban areas into rural or natural land as a result of population in-migration to an existing Commerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer Handicraft, also known as craftwork or simply Craft, is a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or using only simple tools The construction trades flourished, along with banking facilities and merchant associations. In the fields of Architecture and Civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the Building or assembling of Infrastructure A banker or bank is a Financial institution whose primary activity is to act as a payment agent for customers and to borrow and lend money Increasingly, han authorities oversaw the rising agricultural production and the spread of rural handicrafts. The, or domains, were the Fiefs of Feudal Lords of Japan that were created by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and existed until their Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture

By the mid-eighteenth century, Edo had a population of more than one million, and Osaka and Kyoto each had more than 400,000 inhabitants. The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology is a city in Japan, located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of the main island of Honshū (IPA /kʲoːto / is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. Many other castle towns grew as well. A castle town is a Town or City built adjacent to or surrounding a Castle. Japan had almost zero population growth between the 1720s and 1820s, often attributed to lower birth rates in response to widespread famine, but some historians have presented different theories, such as a high rate of infanticide artificially controlling population[2]. Infanticide is the practice of someone intentionally causing the death of an Infant. Osaka and Kyoto became busy trading and handicraft production centers, while Edo was the center for the supply of food and essential urban consumer goods.

Rice was the base of the economy, as the daimyo collected the taxes from the peasants in the form of rice. Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many Taxes were high, about 40% of the harvest. The rice was sold at the fudasashi market in Edo. Rice brokers, which rose to power and significance in Osaka and Edo in the Edo period ( 1603 - 1867) of Japanese history literally bay - Door, " Estuary " edo once also spelled Yedo or Yeddo, is the To raise money, the daimyo used forward contracts to sell rice that was not even harvested yet. A forward contract is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a specified point of time in the future These contracts were similar to modern futures trading. In Finance, a futures contract is a standardized Contract, traded on a Futures exchange, to buy or sell a certain Underlying instrument

It was during the Edo period that Japan developed an advanced forest management policy. Forest management includes a range of human interventions that affect Forest Ecosystems. [3] Increased demand for timber resources for construction, shipbuilding and fuel had led to widespread deforestation, which resulted in forest fires, floods and soil erosion. In response the shogun, beginning around 1666, instituted a policy to reduce logging and increase the planting of trees. The policy mandated that only the shogun and daimyo could authorize the use of wood. By the 18th century, Japan had developed detailed scientific knowledge about silviculture and plantation forestry. Silviculture is the art and science of controlling the establishment growth composition health and quality of Forests to meet diverse needs and values of the many landowners Forestry is the Art and Science of managing forests tree Plantations and related Natural resources.

Artistic and intellectual development

Wadokei, Japanese-made clockwatch, 18th century.
Wadokei, Japanese-made clockwatch, 18th century. A is a mechanical Clock that has been made to tell traditional Japanese time

During the period, Japan progressively studied Western sciences and techniques (called rangaku, literally "Dutch studies") through the information and books received through the Dutch traders in Dejima. Rangaku ( Kyūjitai: ja {{linktext 蘭 學}}/ Shinjitai: ja {{linktext 蘭学}} literally “Dutch Learning” and by extension “Western learning” is a body of was a fan-shaped Artificial island in the bay of Nagasaki that was a Dutch Trading port during Japan 's self-imposed isolation ( Sakoku The main areas that were studied included geography, medicine, natural sciences, astronomy, art, languages, physical sciences such as the study of electrical phenomena, and mechanical sciences as exemplified by the development of Japanese clockwatches, or wadokei, inspired by Western techniques. A is a mechanical Clock that has been made to tell traditional Japanese time

The flourishing of Neo-Confucianism was the major intellectual development of the Tokugawa period. Neo-Confucianism (/( is a form of Confucianism that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Confucian studies had long been kept active in Japan by Buddhist clerics, but during the Tokugawa period, Confucianism emerged from Buddhist religious control. Confucianism ( is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system originally developed from the teachings of the fifth century B Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices This system of thought increased attention to a secular view of man and society. The ethical humanism, rationalism, and historical perspective of neo-Confucian doctrine appealed to the official class. Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appealing to universal In Epistemology and in its broadest sense rationalism is "any view appealing to Reason as a source of knowledge or justification" (Lacey 286 By the mid-seventeenth century, neo-Confucianism was Japan's dominant legal philosophy and contributed directly to the development of the kokugaku (national learning) school of thought. Kokugaku ( Kyūjitai: 國學/ Shinjitai: 国学 lit National study was a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa

Kaitai Shinsho, Japan's first treatise on Western anatomy, published in 1774.
Kaitai Shinsho, Japan's first treatise on Western anatomy, published in 1774. is a medical text translated into Japanese during the Edo period.

Advanced studies and growing applications of neo-Confucianism contributed to the transition of the social and political order from feudal norms to class- and large-group-oriented practices. The rule of the people or Confucian man was gradually replaced by the rule of law. The rule of law, in its most basic form is the principle that no one is above the law New laws were developed, and new administrative devices were instituted. A new theory of government and a new vision of society emerged as a means of justifying more comprehensive governance by the bakufu. Each person had a distinct place in society and was expected to work to fulfill his or her mission in life. The people were to be ruled with benevolence by those whose assigned duty it was to rule. Government was all-powerful but responsible and humane. Although the class system was influenced by neo-Confucianism, it was not identical to it. Whereas soldiers and clergy were at the bottom of the hierarchy in the Chinese model, in Japan, some members of these classes constituted the ruling elite.

Members of the samurai class adhered to bushi traditions with a renewed interest in Japanese history and in cultivation of the ways of Confucian scholar-administrators, resulting in the development of the concept of bushido (the way of the warrior). is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial Japan. Another special way of life--chōnindō-—also emerged. Chōnindō (the way of the townspeople) was a distinct culture that arose in cities such as Osaka, Kyoto, and Edo. is a city in Japan, located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of the main island of Honshū (IPA /kʲoːto / is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. literally bay - Door, " Estuary " edo once also spelled Yedo or Yeddo, is the It encouraged aspiration to bushido qualities—-diligence, honesty, honor, loyalty, and frugality-—while blending Shinto, neo-Confucian, and Buddhist beliefs. is the native religion of Japan and was once its State religion. Study of mathematics, astronomy, cartography, engineering, and medicine were also encouraged. Emphasis was placed on quality of workmanship, especially in the arts. For the first time, urban populations had the means and leisure time to support a new mass culture. Their search for enjoyment became known as ukiyo (the floating world), an ideal world of fashion, popular entertainment, and the discovery of aesthetic qualities in objects and actions of everyday life, including sex (shunga). Ukiyo ( Japanese: 浮世 "Floating World" described the urban life style especially the pleasure-seeking aspects of Edo Period Japan is a Japanese term for Erotic Pictures Most shunga are a type of Ukiyo-e, usually executed in woodblock print format Professional female entertainers (geisha), music, popular stories, Kabuki and bunraku (puppet theater), poetry, a rich literature, and art, exemplified by beautiful woodblock prints (known as ukiyo-e), were all part of this flowering of culture. or are traditional female Japanese Entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance is a form of traditional Japanese theatre. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate Make-up worn by some of its performers also known as Ningyō jōruri (ja 人形浄瑠璃 is a form of traditional Japanese Puppet theater founded in Osaka in 1684 "pictures of the floating world" is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or Woodcuts) and Paintings produced between the 17th Literature also flourished with the talented examples of the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) and the poet, essayist, and travel writer Matsuo Bashō (1644-94). Chikamatsu Monzaemon ( Japanese: 近松門左衛門 real name Sugimori Nobumori, 杉森信盛 1653 – 6 January 1725) was a Japanese was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan During his lifetime Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form today

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849).
The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849). is a famous woodblock print by the Japanese artist Hokusai. A literal translation of the Japanese name would be "Off Kanagawa the back (or underside of a wave was a Japanese Artist, Ukiyo-e painter and Printmaker of the Edo period.

Ukiyo-e prints began to be produced in the late 17th century, but in 1764 Harunobu produced the first polychrome print. Suzuki Harunobu (鈴木春信 (1724 &ndash 1770 was a Japanese Woodblock print artist one of the most famous in the Ukiyo-e style Print designers of the next generation, including Torii Kiyonaga and Utamaro, created elegant and sometimes insightful depictions of courtesans. (ca 1753 - 1806 (his name was archaically romanized as Outamaro) was a Japanese Printmaker and painter and is considered one of the greatest In the 19th century, the dominant figure was Hiroshige, a creator of romantic and somewhat sentimental landscape prints. was a Japanese Ukiyo-e artist and one of the last great artists in that tradition The odd angles and shapes through which Hiroshige often viewed landscape and the work of Kiyonaga and Utamaro, with its emphasis on flat planes and strong linear outlines, later had a profound impact on such Western artists as Edgar Degas and Vincent van Gogh (see Japonism). This article is about the ukiyo-e artist for the samurai named Kiyonaga see Naito Kiyonaga and Koriki Kiyonaga. (ca 1753 - 1806 (his name was archaically romanized as Outamaro) was a Japanese Printmaker and painter and is considered one of the greatest Japonism, or Japonisme, the original French term which is also used in English is a term for the influence of the arts of Japan on those of the

Buddhism and Shinto were both still important in Tokugawa Japan. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices is the native religion of Japan and was once its State religion. Buddhism, combined with neo-Confucianism, provided standards of social behavior. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Neo-Confucianism (/( is a form of Confucianism that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Although not as powerful politically as it had been in the past, Buddhism was espoused by the upper classes. Proscriptions against Christianity benefited Buddhism in 1640 when the bakufu ordered everyone to register at a temple. The rigid separation of Tokugawa society into han, villages, wards, and households helped reaffirm local Shinto attachments. Shinto provided spiritual support to the political order and was an important tie between the individual and the community. Shinto also helped preserve a sense of national identity.

Shinto eventually assumed an intellectual form as shaped by neo-Confucian rationalism and materialism. is the native religion of Japan and was once its State religion. The kokugaku movement emerged from the interactions of these two belief systems. Kokugaku contributed to the emperor-centered nationalism of modern Japan and the revival of Shinto as a national creed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Kojiki, Nihongi, and Man'yōshū were all studied anew in the search for the Japanese spirit. The, sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. is the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry, compiled sometime in the Nara or early Heian periods The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's Some purists in the kokugaku movement, such as Motoori Norinaga, even criticized the Confucian and Buddhist influences-—in effect, foreign influences-—for contaminating Japan's ancient ways. Motoori Norinaga (Japanese 本居宣長 21 June 1730–5 November 1801 was a Japanese scholar of Kokugaku during the Edo period. Japan was the land of the kami and, as such, had a special destiny.

End of the shogunate

Main article: Late Tokugawa shogunate

Decline of the Tokugawa

The end of this period is particularly called the late Tokugawa shogunate. are the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate came to an end are the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate came to an end The cause for the end of this period is controversial but is recounted as the forcing of Japan's opening to the world by Commodore Matthew Perry of the US Navy, whose armada (known by Japanese as "the black ships") fired weapons from Tokyo Bay. Matthew Calbraith Perry ( April 10, 1794 &ndash March 4, 1858) was the Commodore of the U The Black Ships (in Japanese, 黒船 kurofune) was the name given to Western vessels arriving in Japan between the 15th and 19th centuries Several artificial land masses were created to block the range of the armada, and this land remains in what is presently called the Odaiba district. An artificial island is an Island that has been constructed by humans rather than formed by natural means is a large Artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo.

The Tokugawa did not eventually collapse simply because of intrinsic failures. Foreign intrusions helped to precipitate a complex political struggle between the bakufu and a coalition of its critics. is a military rank and historical title in Japan. The Japanese word for "general" it is made up of two Kanji words sho, meaning "commander" The continuity of the anti-bakufu movement in the mid-nineteenth century would finally bring down the Tokugawa. From the outset, the Tokugawa attempted to restrict families' accumulation of wealth and fostered a "back to the soil" policy, in which the farmer, the ultimate producer, was the ideal person in society. A farmer is a person who raises living organisms for food or raw materials

Despite these efforts to restrict wealth and partly because of the extraordinary period of peace, the standard of living for urban and rural dwellers alike grew significantly during the Tokugawa period. Peace, in the modern usage is a concept defined by the ideal state of relationship as absence of hostility at the international level that of a War. Better means of crop production, transport, housing, food, and entertainment were all available, as was more leisure time, at least for urban dwellers. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one place to another The literacy rate was high for a preindustrial society, and cultural values were redefined and widely imparted throughout the samurai and chōnin classes. traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write or the ability to use Language to read, write, listen, is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial Japan. was a social class that emerged in Japan during the early years of the Tokugawa period Despite the reappearance of guilds, economic activities went well beyond the restrictive nature of the guilds, and commerce spread and a money economy developed. A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade The earliest guilds were formed as confraternities of workers Although government heavily restricted the merchants and viewed them as unproductive and usurious members of society, the samurai, who gradually became separated from their rural ties, depended greatly on the merchants and artisans for consumer goods, artistic interests, and loans. A loan is a type of Debt. This article focuses exclusively on monetary loans although in practice any material object might be lent In this way, a subtle subversion of the warrior class by the chōnin took place.

A struggle arose in the face of political limitations that the shogun imposed on the entrepreneurial class. The government ideal of an agrarian society failed to square with the reality of commercial distribution. An agrarian society is one that is based on Agriculture as its prime means for support and sustenance A huge government bureaucracy had evolved, which now stagnated because of its discrepancy with a new and evolving social order. Bureaucracy is the structure and set of regulations in place to control activity usually in large organizations and government Compounding the situation, the population increased significantly during the first half of the Tokugawa period. Although the magnitude and growth rates are uncertain, there were at least 26 million commoners and about four million members of samurai families and their attendants when the first nationwide census was taken in 1721. A census is the procedure of acquiring information about every member of a given population Drought, followed by crop shortages and starvation, resulted in twenty great famines between 1675 and 1837. Peasant unrest grew, and by the late eighteenth century, mass protests over taxes and food shortages had become commonplace. Newly landless families became tenant farmers, while the displaced rural poor moved into the cities. As the fortunes of previously well-to-do families declined, others moved in to accumulate land, and a new, wealthy farming class emerged. Those people who benefited were able to diversify production and to hire laborers, while others were left discontented. Many samurai fell on hard times and were forced into handicraft production and wage jobs for merchants.

Although Japan was able to acquire and refine a wide variety of scientific knowledge, the rapid industrialization of the West during the 18th century created for the first time a material gap in terms of technologies and armament between Japan and the West (which did not really exist at the beginning of the Edo period), forcing it to abandon its policy of seclusion and contributing to the end of the Tokugawa regime.

Western intrusions were on the increase in the early nineteenth century. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar Russian warships and traders encroached on Karafuto (called Sakhalin under Russian and Soviet control) and on the Kuril Islands, the southernmost of which are considered by the Japanese as the northern islands of Hokkaidō. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending History Japanese settlement on Sakhalin dates to at least the Edo period. Sakhalin (Сахали́н səxʌˈlʲin Japanese:nihongo|樺太|karafuto or; Chinese: 庫頁 Kùyè also Saghalien, is a large elongated The Kuril Islands (ˈkʊrɪl or /ˈkjuˈriˈl/ Кури́льские острова́ əstrʌˈva ru-Latn ''Kuril'skie ostrova'' or Kurile Islands in Russia WikipediaWikiProject Japanese prefectures for guidelines --> formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan 's A British warship entered Nagasaki harbour searching for enemy Dutch ships in 1808, and other warships and whalers were seen in Japanese waters with increasing frequency in the 1810s and 1820s. For other uses see Whalers. A whaler is a specialized kind of ship designed for Whaling, the catching and/or processing of Whalers and trading ships from the United States also arrived on Japan's shores. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Although the Japanese made some minor concessions and allowed some landings, they largely attempted to keep all foreigners out, sometimes using force. Rangaku became crucial not only in understanding the foreign "barbarians" but also in using the knowledge gained from the West to fend them off. Rangaku ( Kyūjitai: ja {{linktext 蘭 學}}/ Shinjitai: ja {{linktext 蘭学}} literally “Dutch Learning” and by extension “Western learning” is a body of "Barbarian" is a pejorative term for an uncivilized person either in a general reference to a member of a nation or Ethnos perceived

By the 1830s, there was a general sense of crisis. Famines and natural disasters hit hard, and unrest led to a peasant uprising against officials and merchants in Osaka in 1837. A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any Faunal species which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional Malnutrition, Starvation A natural disaster is the consequence of a Natural hazard (eg Although it lasted only a day, the uprising made a dramatic impression. Remedies came in the form of traditional solutions that sought to reform moral decay rather than address institutional problems. The shogun's advisers pushed for a return to the martial spirit, more restrictions on foreign trade and contacts, suppression of rangaku, censorship of literature, and elimination of "luxury" in the government and samurai class. Censorship is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable harmful or sensitive as determined by a censor Others sought the overthrow of the Tokugawa and espoused the political doctrine of sonnō jōi (revere the emperor, expel the barbarians), which called for unity under imperial rule and opposed foreign intrusions. is a Japanese Political philosophy and a Social movement derived from Neo-Confucianism; it became a Political slogan in the 1850s and 1860s in The bakufu persevered for the time being amidst growing concerns over Western successes in establishing colonial enclaves in China following the First Opium War of 1839–1842. The First Opium War or the First Anglo-Chinese War was fought between the British East India Company and the Qing Dynasty in China from 1839 More reforms were ordered, especially in the economic sector, to strengthen Japan against the Western threat.

Japan turned down a demand from the United States, which was greatly expanding its own presence in the Asia-Pacific region, to establish diplomatic relations when Cmdre. James Biddle appeared in Edo Bay with two warships in July 1846. Australasia is a Region of Oceania: New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and neighbouring Islands in the Pacific Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting Negotiations between representatives of groups or states James Biddle ( February 18, 1783 - October 1, 1848) of the Biddle family, brother of financier Nicholas Biddle and nephew is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was.

End of seclusion

Bust of Matthew Perry in Shimoda, Shizuoka.
Bust of Matthew Perry in Shimoda, Shizuoka. is a city and port in Shizuoka, Japan, which played an important part in the opening of Japan to the outside world in the 1850s

When Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry's four-ship squadron appeared in Edo Bay in July 1853, the bakufu was thrown into turmoil. Matthew Calbraith Perry ( April 10, 1794 &ndash March 4, 1858) was the Commodore of the U The chairman of the senior councillors, Abe Masahiro (1819–1857), was responsible for dealing with the Americans. (December 3 1819 Edo (now Tokyo) - August 6 1857 Edo was the chief senior councillor ( Rōjū) in the Japanese government at the time Having no precedent to manage this threat to national security, Abe tried to balance the desires of the senior councillors to compromise with the foreigners, of the emperor who wanted to keep the foreigners out, and of the daimyo who wanted to go to war. National security is the entire scope of measures undertaken by the Governments of Nation-states in providing assurance of national Sovereignty The ( were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings Lacking consensus, Abe decided to compromise by accepting Perry's demands for opening Japan to foreign trade while also making military preparations. In March 1854, the Treaty of Peace and Amity (or Treaty of Kanagawa) opened two ports to American ships seeking provisions, guaranteed good treatment to shipwrecked American sailors, and allowed a United States consul to take up residence in Shimoda, a seaport on the Izu Peninsula, southwest of Edo. On March 31, 1854, the or was concluded between Commodore Matthew Perry of the U is a city and port in Shizuoka, Japan, which played an important part in the opening of Japan to the outside world in the 1850s The is a Peninsula to the west of Tokyo on the Japanese island of Honshū. A commercial treaty, opening still more areas to American trade, was forced on the bakufu five years later.

The resulting damage to the bakufu was significant. Debate over government policy was unusual and had engendered public criticism of the bakufu. In the hope of enlisting the support of new allies, Abe, to the consternation of the fudai, had consulted with the shinpan and tozama daimyo, further undermining the already weakened bakufu. In the Ansei Reform (1854–1856), Abe then tried to strengthen the regime by ordering Dutch warships and armaments from the Netherlands and building new port defenses. In 1855, a naval training school with Dutch instructors was set up at Nagasaki, and a Western-style military school was established at Edo; by the next year, the government was translating Western books. Opposition to Abe increased within fudai circles, which opposed opening bakufu councils to tozama daimyo, and he was replaced in 1855 as chairman of the senior councillors by Hotta Masayoshi (1810–1864). ( August 30, 1810 - April 26, 1864) was the Shogun's advisor ( Rōjū) from 1837 to 1843 and again from 1855 to

At the head of the dissident faction was Tokugawa Nariaki, who had long embraced a militant loyalty to the emperor along with antiforeign sentiments, and who had been put in charge of national defense in 1854. Tokugawa Nariaki (徳川 斉昭 Tokugawa Nariaki, April 4, 1800 - September 29, 1860) was a prominent Japanese Daimyo who The Mito school—based on neo-Confucian and Shinto principles—had as its goal the restoration of the imperial institution, the turning back of the West, and the founding of a world empire under the divine Yamato Dynasty. The of Japan is the country's Monarch. He is the head of the Japanese Imperial Family.

In the final years of the Tokugawa, foreign contacts increased as more concessions were granted. The new treaty with the United States in 1859 allowed more ports to be opened to diplomatic representatives, unsupervised trade at four additional ports, and foreign residences in Osaka and Edo. It also embodied the concept of extraterritoriality (foreigners were subject to the laws of their own countries but not to Japanese law). Hotta lost the support of key daimyo, and when Tokugawa Nariaki opposed the new treaty, Hotta sought imperial sanction. The court officials, perceiving the weakness of the bakufu, rejected Hotta's request and thus suddenly embroiled Kyoto and the emperor in Japan's internal politics for the first time in many centuries. When the shogun died without an heir, Nariaki appealed to the court for support of his own son, Tokugawa Yoshinobu (or Keiki), for shogun, a candidate favored by the shinpan and tozama daimyo. "Heir" and "Heiress" redirect here For the men and women fragrances endorsed by Paris Hilton see Heiress (fragrance. Tokugawa Yoshinobu 1st Prince of the Yoshinobu-ke (徳川 慶喜 Tokugawa Yoshinobu (also known as Keiki) October 28, 1837 &ndash This article about a judge in sumo For a kind of a feudal domain in the Edo period see Shinpan (daimyo. A was a Daimyo who was considered an outsider by the rulers of Japan. The fudai won the power struggle, however, installing Tokugawa Yoshitomi, arresting Nariaki and Keiki, executing Yoshida Shoin (1830–1859, a leading sonnō-jōi intellectual who had opposed the American treaty and plotted a revolution against the bakufu), and signing treaties with the United States and five other nations, thus ending more than 200 years of exclusion.

Bakumatsu modernization and conflicts

Main article: Late Tokugawa shogunate
Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last Shogun, in French military uniform, c. 1867
Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last Shogun, in French military uniform, c. are the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate came to an end Tokugawa Yoshinobu 1st Prince of the Yoshinobu-ke (徳川 慶喜 Tokugawa Yoshinobu (also known as Keiki) October 28, 1837 &ndash 1867
Kanrin Maru, Japan's first screw-driven steam warship, 1855.
Kanrin Maru, Japan's first screw-driven steam warship, 1855. Japanese embassy to the US See also Japanese Embassy to the United States (1860 Five years later the Bakufu sent Kanrin Maru on a mission to the United

During the last years of the bakufu, or bakumatsu, the bakufu took strong measures to try to reassert its dominance, although its involvement with modernization and foreign powers was to make it a target of anti-Western sentiment throughout the country. are the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate came to an end

The army and the navy were modernized. A naval training school was established in Nagasaki in 1855. ( is the Capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. Naval students were sent to study in Western naval schools for several years, starting a tradition of foreign-educated future leaders, such as Admiral Enomoto. Viscount was a Japanese Navy admiral faithful to the Tokugawa Shogunate, who fought against the new Meiji government until the end of the Boshin French naval engineers were hired to build naval arsenals, such as Yokosuka and Nagasaki. is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. It is located at the mouth of Tokyo Bay in the Miura Peninsula, and the city stretches across ( is the Capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. By the end of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1867, the Japanese navy of the shogun already possessed eight Western-style steam warships around the flagship Kaiyō Maru, which were used against pro-imperial forces during the Boshin war under the command of Admiral Enomoto. is a military rank and historical title in Japan. The Japanese word for "general" it is made up of two Kanji words sho, meaning "commander" The was a Civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the Viscount was a Japanese Navy admiral faithful to the Tokugawa Shogunate, who fought against the new Meiji government until the end of the Boshin A French military mission was established to help modernize the armies of the bakufu. Jules Brunet (2 January 1838-12 August 1911 was a French officer who played an active role in Mexico and Japan, and later became a General and Chief of

Revering the emperor as a symbol of unity, extremists wrought violence and death against the Bakufu and Han authorities and foreigners. Foreign naval retaliation in the Anglo-Satsuma War led to still another concessionary commercial treaty in 1865, but Yoshitomi was unable to enforce the Western treaties. The Bombardment of Kagoshima, also known as the, took place on 15-17 August 1863 during the Late Tokugawa shogunate. A bakufu army was defeated when it was sent to crush dissent in the Satsuma and Chōshū Domains in 1866. The Satsuma domain ( 薩摩藩 Satsuma Han) was one of the most powerful feudal domains in Tokugawa Japan, and played a major role in the The was a Feudal domain of Japan during the Edo period (1603-1867 occupying the whole of modern day Yamaguchi Prefecture. Finally, in 1867, Emperor Kōmei died and was succeeded by his minor son Emperor Meiji. ( July 22, 1831 - January 30, 1867) was the 121st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession The (3 November 1852 — 30 July 1912 or Meiji the Great was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession reigning from 3 February

Keiki reluctantly became head of the Tokugawa house and shogun. Tokugawa Yoshinobu 1st Prince of the Yoshinobu-ke (徳川 慶喜 Tokugawa Yoshinobu (also known as Keiki) October 28, 1837 &ndash He tried to reorganize the government under the emperor while preserving the shogun's leadership role. Fearing the growing power of the Satsuma and Chōshū daimyo, other daimyo called for returning the shogun's political power to the emperor and a council of daimyo chaired by the former Tokugawa shogun. Keiki accepted the plan in late 1867 and resigned, announcing an "imperial restoration". The Satsuma, Chōshū, and other han leaders and radical courtiers, however, rebelled, seized the imperial palace, and announced their own restoration on January 3, 1868. Rebellion is a refusal of obedienceIt may therefore be seen as encompassing a range of Behaviours from Civil disobedience and mass Nonviolent resistance is the imperial main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in Chiyoda Tokyo close to Tokyo Station and contains various buildings Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Year 1868 ( MDCCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap

Following the Boshin war (1868–1869), the bakufu was abolished, and Keiki was reduced to the ranks of the common daimyo. The was a Civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the Resistance continued in the North throughout 1868, and the bakufu naval forces under Admiral Enomoto Takeaki continued to hold out for another six months in Hokkaidō, where they founded the short-lived Republic of Ezo. Viscount was a Japanese Navy admiral faithful to the Tokugawa Shogunate, who fought against the new Meiji government until the end of the Boshin WikipediaWikiProject Japanese prefectures for guidelines --> formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan 's Background After the defeat of the forces of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the Boshin War (1868&ndash1869 of the Meiji Restoration, a part of the

Events

The Edo period in popular culture

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Lewis, James Bryant. This article is about a self-operating machine For other uses of Automaton see Automaton (disambiguation or Automata (disambiguation. (2003). Frontier Contact Between Choson Korea and Tokugawa Japan, p. 31-32.
  2. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=QGEECT7R75IC
  3. ^ Diamond, Jared. 2005 Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Penguin Books. New York. 294-304 pp. ISBN 0-14-303655-6

References

< Azuchi-Momoyama period | History of Japan | Meiji era >

The came at the end of the Warring States Period in Japan, when the political unification that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate took place The written history of Japan begins with brief references in the 1st century AD Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of Chinese historical texts The, or Meiji era, denotes the 45-year reign of the Meiji Emperor, running in the Gregorian calendar, from 23 October 1868 to 30 July
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