Unit 3.1 Tokugawa Japan

Tokugawa Japan (1450-1750)
APWH Unit 3

Background on Early Japan

• Lagged behind China and India due to geographic separation.

• Borrowed heavily from China: writing system, Confucianism, medical practices, military tactics.

• Attempted but failed to implement a centralized bureaucracy under an emperor.

• Developed a decentralized feudal system with local authorities holding power.

Multiple Choice

Why did Japan lag behind China and India? (1450-1750)

• Japan had superior technology and trade routes.
• Japan's geographical seperation

• Japan was a major colonial power during this period.
• Japan experienced significant population growth and urbanization.

Multiple Choice

What kind of government formed due to Japan's failure to implement a centralized bureaucracy under an emperor?

• Democracy
• Oligarchy
• Feudalism
• Monarchy

Political structure:

• Emperor (figurehead)

• Shogun (military ruler, real power)

• Daimyo (territorial lords)

• Samurai (warrior class)

• Peasants, artisans, merchants (strict social hierarchy)

Feudal Japan and the Rise of the Shogunate

Multiple Choice

What is a figurehead?

• A figurehead is a decorative statue on a ship.
• A figurehead is a powerful leader who makes all the decisions.
• A figurehead is a symbolic leader with little real power.
• A figurehead is a type of government official with full authority.

Multiple Choice

Who was the figurehead in feudal Japan?

• Emperor
• Daimyo
• Samurai
• Shogun

Multiple Choice

Who had the most power in feudal Japan?

• Shogun
• Emperor
• Samurai
• Merchant

Bushido: Unwritten Samurai code emphasizing loyalty, honor, and martial skill.

Began in 9th century CE (influenced by Neo-Confucianism, Confucian, Shinto, and Zen Buddhism)

Ended when Japan entered a state of peace.

​

Samurai: Bushido

Multiple Choice

What caused the use of Samurai to end?

• Japan entered a state of peace

• The establishment of the samurai code of honor.
• Increased trade with Western nations.
• The rise of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Conquered half of Japan’s provinces and destroyed Buddhist monasteries.

Oda Nobunaga

Tokugawa Ieyasu

​Unification of Japan

Toyotomi Hideyoshhi

Unified Japan, attempted and failed to conquer Korea.
Persecuted Christians

Defeated rivals, established the Tokugawa Shogunate

Multiple Choice

United half of Japan and destroyed Buddhist Monasteries

• Oda Nobunaga

• Tokugawa Ieyasu

• Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Multiple Choice

From peasant to ruler - Persecuted Christians - Failed to conquer Korea

• Oda Nobunaga

• Tokugawa Ieyasu

• Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Multiple Choice

Defeated rivals, established the Tokugawa Shogunate

• Oda Nobunaga

• Tokugawa Ieyasu

• Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Tokugawa Shogunate & Centralization

• Established a strong centralized government with:

  • A large bureaucracy.

  • The "alternate attendance system": Daimyos spent every other year in Edo, leaving families as hostages to ensure loyalty.

  • Secret police to monitor unrest.

• Capital moved from Kyoto to Edo (Tokyo).

• Social hierarchy strictly enforced.

Tokugawa Shogunate & Centralization

Economic Changes

• Political stability led to agricultural growth (water control, irrigation, fertilizer use).

• Population increased but was controlled through birth control and delayed marriages.

• Merchants became wealthy due to increased trade, but remained socially low-ranked.

• Limited resources and mountainous terrain made expansion difficult.

Multiple Choice

Why did Japan control population?

• To expand territorial boundaries.
• To promote cultural homogeneity.
• To manage limited resources and ensure economic stability.

• To increase military power.

-Honda Toshiaki

We should be grateful that for the first time in the history of Japan the country is as peaceful as it now is. The people rejoice in the benefits of this fortunate condition, and the expression ‘the joys of good government’ might well be used of these times. It is this entirely to be expected that the population, should show a tendency to increase in numbers steadily. There will then be insufficient food to supply the nation’s wants unless food production increases in direct proportion to this growth of the population. For this reason, the entire land of Japan must be developed, even the waste areas and remote mountain-regions, and converted into farmland which can produce grain and fruit. If these measures prove inadequate and there is still not enough food to meet the needs of the people, some of them will starve in years of poor harvest or famine. Since most of those who starve will be farmers, the amount of farm produce will be still further reduced, and there will be disturbances in the country. 

​Excerpt from A Secret Plan for Managing the Country (1798)

Tokugawa Shogunate & Centralization

Cultural & Religious Developments

• Buddhism arrived in Japan in the 6th century; Mahayana Buddhism became popular.

• Shintoism: Native belief system centered on nature worship and kami (spirits).

• Neo-Confucianism influenced elite culture.

• Arts & Literature:

  • Kabuki theater and Bunraku (puppet theater) became popular.

  • High literacy rates due to printing advancements.

  • Notable female poet: Izumi Shikibu.

Multiple Choice

What was Japan's Native religion?

• Shinto
• Confucianism
• Taoism
• Buddhism

• Japan’s most famous female poet

• Wrote about scandalous love affairs and spiritual pursuits

• Married a provincial governor at 20, but had affairs with two different princes

• Divorced her husband and continued to have multiple scandals

Izumi Shikibu

​I thought to pick

 

I thought to pick

the flower of forgetting

for myself,

but I found it

already growing in his heart

- Izumi Shikbu

" If the one I've waited for
came now, what should I do?
This morning's garden filled with snow
is far too lovely
for footsteps to mar. " 

​If The One I've Waited For

Multiple Choice

Japan's most famous female poet

• Murasaki Shikibu
• Yosano Akiko
• Kikuchi Kan
• Izumi Shikibu

Tokugawa Shogunate & Centralization

Foreign Relations & Isolationism (Sakoku)

• Europeans (Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English) arrived in the 16th century.

  • Brought Christianity and gunpowder weapons.

  • Christianity grew to 300,000 converts but was seen as a threat.

  • 1637 Christian rebellion led to brutal crackdowns.

  • Christians communities were wiped out

  • Missionaries and Japanese Christians were executed (some were crucified)

Multiple Choice

What happened to the Christian missionaries in Japan?

• Christian missionaries established a permanent base in Japan.
• They converted a large number of Japanese people without any opposition.
• They were welcomed and allowed to spread their teachings freely.
• Christian missionaries were persecuted, banned, and many were executed or expelled from Japan.

Tokugawa Shogunate & Centralization

Foreign Relations & Isolationism (Sakoku)

• All Europeans expelled except the Dutch (traded at Nagasaki).

• Banned Christianity and Western books.

• Japanese forbidden from traveling abroad.

• Limited trade with China, Korea, and SE Asia.

• Japan remained closed to foreign influence for 200 years (1650-1850).

Multiple Choice

What happened as a result of Japan's isolation?

• Japan became a major global power immediately after isolation.
• Japan adopted Western culture and technology extensively.
• Japan experienced significant economic decline due to isolation.
• Japan maintained a distinct culture and society with minimal foreign influence.