1 Seclusion and Social Control

Like Hideyoshi, Ieyasu encouraged foreign trade but also was suspicious of outsiders. He wanted to make Edo a major port, but once he learned that the Europeans favored ports in Kyushu 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.

The "Christian problem" was, in effect, a problem controlling both the Christian daimyo in Kyushu and trade with the Europeans. By 1612 the shogun's retainers and residents of Tokugawa lands had been ordered to foreswear Christianity. More restrictions came in 1616 (the restriction of foreign trade to Nagasaki and Hirado, an island northwest of Kyushu), 1622 (the execution of 120 missionaries and converts), 1624 (the expulsion of the Spanish), and 1629 (the execution of thousands of Christians). Finally, in 1635 an edict prohibited any Japanese from traveling outside Japan or, if someone left, from ever returning. In 1636 the Portuguese were restricted to Dejima, a small artificial island — and thus, not true Japanese soil — in Nagasaki's harbor.

The Shimabara Rebellion of 1637-38, in which discontented 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 Christians survived by going underground. 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. 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 to Nagasaki.

Japanese society of the Tokugawa period was influenced by Confucian principles of social order. At the top of the hierarchy, but removed from political power, were the imperial court families at Kyoto. The real political power holders were the samurai, followed by the rest of society. In descending hierarchical order, they consisted of farmers, who were organized into villages, artisans, and merchants. Urban dwellers, often well-to-do merchants, were known as chonin (townspeople) and were confined to special districts. 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.

2 Government

2.1 Shogunate and Han

The bakuhan taisei (幕藩体制) was the feudal political system in the Edo period of Japan. Baku, or "tent," is an abbreviation of bakufu, meaning "military government" — that is, the shogunate. The han were the domains headed by daimyo.

The system was feudal. Vassals held inherited lands and provided military service and homage to their lords. However, the system also resembled the bureaucratic and modern politics as well, an aspect that is not seen in the European feudalism.

Unlike feudal systems found in the medieval history of Europe, in the system, two levels of governments existed: the shogunate in Edo and provincial domains throughout Japan; the domains had a certain level of sovereignty and were allowed an independent administration in the han in exchange for loyalty towards the Shogun while the shogunate was responsible for foreign relations and national security. The shogun and lords were both daimyo, feudal lords with their own bureaucracies, policies and territories. The shogun was the foremost, strongest and largest among them; thus, it was primarily responsible for its own territory, the fief of the Tokugawa house, just as were other domains. Taxes were collected and the economy was conducted separately in each domain.

Besides its duty as the daimyo, the shogunate was also concerned with controlling the social classes, maintaining order if disorder went beyond the power of the domain, and making policies across Japan.

The shogunate had the power to discard, split and transform domains--those were essential tools for controlling the domains. The sankin-kotai system of alternative residence in Edo required daimyo to leave hostages such as heirs and wives in Edo and alternate between the han and attendance in Edo in alternate years. This imposed a huge expenditure on the domains and was another important tool in controlling the daimyo.

The number of han varied during the Edo period, with 250 being an approximate figure. They were ranked by size, which was measured as the number koku, or bales of rice, that the domain was said to produce. The minimum number for a daimyo was ten thousand; the largest, apart from the shogun, was a million.

Along with size, another way of classifying daimyo and their han was according to their relationship to the shogun. Fudai daimyo were hereditary vassals of Ieyasu, as well as of his descendants. Tozama, or "outsiders," became vassals of Ieyasu after the battle of Sekigahara. Shimpan, or "relatives," were collaterals of Tokugawa Hidetada. Early in the Edo period, the shogunate viewed the tozama as the least likely to be loyal; over time, strategic marriages and the entrenchment of the system made the tozama less likely to rebel. However, in the end, it was the great tozama of Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa that brought down the shogunate.

2.2 Shogun and Emperor

Despite the establishment of the shogunate, the emperor in Kyoto was still the legitimate ruler of Japan. The administration (taisei, 体制) of Japan was a task given by the imperial Court in Kyoto to the Tokugawa family, which they returned to the court in the Meiji restoration.

The shogunate appointed a liaison, the Kyoto Shoshidai, to deal with the emperor, court and nobility.

2.3 Shogun and Foreign Trade

The foreign affairs and trade were monopolized by the shogunate. Trade yielded a huge profit to the shogunate. Foreign trade was also permitted to the Satsuma and the Tsushima domain .

3 Institutions of the Shogunate

3.1 Roju and Wakadoshiyori

The roju (老中) were the senior members of the shogunate. They supervised the ometsuke, machibugyo, ongokubugyo and other officials, oversaw relations with the Imperial Court in Kyoto, kuge (members of the nobility), daimyo, temples and shrines, and attended to matters like divisions of fiefs. Normally, four or five men held the office, and one was on duty for a month at a time on a rotating basis. They conferred on especially important matters. In the administrative reforms of 1867, the office was eliminated in favor of a bureaucratic system with ministers for the interior, finance, foreign relations, army, and navy.

In principle, the requirements for appointment to the office of roju were to be a fudai (hereditary) daimyo and to have a fief assessed at 50 000 koku or more. However, there were exceptions to both criteria. Many appointees came from the offices close to the shogun, such as soba yonin, Kyoto shoshidai, and Osaka jodai.

Irregularly, the shoguns appointed a roju to the position of tairo, great elder. The office was limited to members of the Ii, Sakai, Doi, and Hotta clans, but Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu was given the status of tairo as well. Among the most famous was Ii Naosuke, who was assassinated in 1860 outside the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle.

The wakadoshiyori were next in status below the roju. An outgrowth of the early six-man rokuninshu (1633–1649), the office took its name and final form in 1662, but with four members. Their primary responsibility was management of the affairs of the hatamoto and gokenin, the direct vassals of the shogun.

Some shoguns appointed a soba yonin. This person acted as a liaison between the shogun and the roju. The soba yonin increased in importance during the time of the fifth shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, when a wakadoshiyori, Inaba Masayasu , assassinated Hotta Masatoshi , the tairo. Fearing for his personal safety, Tsunayoshi moved the rojo to a more distant part of the castle. Some of the most famous soba yonin were Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu and Tanuma Okitsugu.

3.2 Ometsuke and Metsuke

The ometsuke and metsuke were officials who reported to the roju and wakadoshiyori. The five ometsuke were in charge of monitoring the affairs of the daimyo, kuge and imperial court. They were in charge of discovering any threat of rebellion.

Early in the Edo period, daimyo such as Yagyu Munefuyu held the office. Soon, however, it fell to hatamoto with rankings of 5000 koku or more. To give them authority in their dealings with daimyo, they were often ranked at 10 000 koku and given the title of kami (an ancient title, typically signifying the governor of a province) such as Bizen-no-kami.

As time progressed, the function of the ometsuke evolved into one of passing orders from the shogunate to the daimyo, and of administering to ceremonies within Edo Castle. They also took on additional responsibilities such as supervising religious affairs and controlling firearms.

The metsuke, reporting to the wakadoshiyori, oversaw the affairs of the vassals of the shogun. They were the police force for the thousands of hatamoto and gokenin who were concentrated in Edo. Individual han had their own metsuke who similarly policed their samurai.

3.3 San-bugyo

The san-bugyo ("three administrators") were the jisha, kanjo, and machi bugyo. The jisha bugyo had the highest status of the three. They oversaw the administration of Buddhist temples ("ji") and Shinto shrines ("sha"), many of which held fiefs. Also, they heard suits from several land holdings outside the eight Kanto provinces. The appointments normally went to daimyo; Ooka Tadasuke was an exception.

The kanjo bugyo were next in status. The four holders of this office reported to the roju. They were responsibile for the finances of the shogunate.

The machi bugyo were the chief city administrators of Edo. Their roles included mayor, chief of the police (and later also 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.

Three machi bugyo have become famous through the jidaigeki, Ooka Tadasuke and Toyama Kinshiro as heroes, Torii Yozo as a villain.

The san-bugyo together sat on a council called the hyojosho. In this capacity, they were responsible for administering the tenryo, supervising the gundai, the daikan and the kura bugyo, as well as hearing cases involving samurai.

3.4 Tenryo, Gundai and Daikan

The shogun directly held lands in various parts of Japan. These were known as bakufu chokkatsuchi; since the Meiji period, the term tenryo has become synonymous. In addition to the territory that Ieyasu held prior to the Battle of Sekigahara, this included lands he gained in that battle, and as a result of the Summer and Winter Sieges of Osaka, and by the end of the seventeenth century had reached four million koku. Such major cities as Nagasaki and Osaka, and mines, including the Sado gold mine, also fell into this category.

Rather than appointing a daimyo to head the holding, the shogunate placed administrators in charge. The titles of these administrators included gundai, daikan, and ongoku bugyo. This last category included the Osaka, Kyoto and Sumpu machibugyo, and the Nagasaki bugyo. The appointees were hatamoto.

4 List of the Shoguns

1. Tokugawa Ieyasu ( 1542- 1616) (r. 1603- 1605)
2. Tokugawa Hidetada ( 1579- 1632) (r. 1605- 1623)
3. Tokugawa Iemitsu ( 1604- 1651) (r. 1623- 1651)
4. Tokugawa Ietsuna ( 1641- 1680) (r. 1651- 1680)
5. Tokugawa Tsunayoshi ( 1646- 1709) (r. 1680- 1709)
6. Tokugawa Ienobu ( 1662- 1712) (r. 1709- 1712)
7. Tokugawa Ietsugu ( 1709- 1716) (r. 1713- 1716)
8. Tokugawa Yoshimune ( 1684- 1751) (r. 1716- 1745)
9. Tokugawa Ieshige ( 1711- 1761) (r. 1745- 1760)
10. Tokugawa Ieharu ( 1737- 1786) (r. 1760- 1786)
11. Tokugawa Ienari ( 1773- 1841) (r. 1787- 1837)
12. Tokugawa Ieyoshi ( 1793- 1853) (r. 1837- 1853)
13. Tokugawa Iesada ( 1824- 1858) (r. 1853- 1858)
14. Tokugawa Iemochi ( 1846- 1866) (r. 1858- 1866)
15. Tokugawa Yoshinobu ( 1837- 1913) (r. 1867- 1868)

Other influential figures in the shogunate include:

• Tokugawa Mitsukuni - Mito domain
• Tokugawa Nariaki - Mito domain

5 See also:

• Cloistered rule
• History of Japan
• Keian uprising
• Lists of incumbents
• Shogun

6 Reference

• This article incorporates public domain text from the Library of Congress Country Studies. - Japan
• http://hkuhist2.hku.hk/nakasendo/tokupols.htm

Japanese history Shoguns

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