Tokugawa Japan

Midterm Question—1

Tokugawa Ieyasu was a great samurai fighter and cunning politician. In battle of Sekigahara Tokugawa defeated his major rivals and established Tokugawa government. His headquarter was established in village of Edo away from the imperial families in Kyoto. Ieyasu and successors choose to rule as shoguns, or feudal lords, demanding loyalty from the daimyo and exercising direct control only over their own territorial domains. The people saw the emperor as divine descent of sun goddess Amatersau, however, established the emperor as the ultimate source of political authority and surrounded the imperial throne with thicket of taboos that protected it from usurpation.

Tokugawa and his politicians created some policies to keep japan from rebelling and try to control over the society. They divided the feudal lords into three categories: Fudai, Shimpan and Tozama daimyos.

The fudai daimyo, descended from members of the original tokugawa vassal band or men who had been made daimyo by Ieyasu and his successors, identified most closely with the interests of bakufu. Their territories frequently abutted Tokugawa lands, protecting their flanks, and the bakufu’s highest officials were drawn from their ranks.

The Tozama daimyo were descended from allies of Ieyasu too strong to be considered his direct vassals or from daimyo that submitted to his suzerainty only after battle of Sekigahara. Their domains were large, on average twice the size of the fudai daimyo, and usually located on the periphery of the archipelago.

The shimpan daimyo was newly created by the family, their houses were branch houses set up to placate the sons of elderly shoguns who did not inherit the office and to provide collateral successors to the main line.

In 1615, Tokugawa pass the law for military housing. Ieyasu created Sankin-Kotai or alternate attendance system. This required that each lord of daimyo to spend 6 months year spent in Edo. Policy kept daimyo lords on move and made them financial unstable. Tokugawa basically kept the lords in hostage while they were on move; this kept them from plotting against him. His government established Kyoto deputy. No one could visit the Tokugawa without the deputy’s approval. Marriage between imperial and emperor was to be approved by deputy too.

There was class system that divided people into four categories: samurai, farmers, artist and merchants. Only samurai were allowed to carry the swords. When high-ranking officials walked down the street all the peasants had kneel to give him respect.