In Return For The Centralization

In return for the centralization, peace among the daimyos were maintained; unlike in the Sengoku
period, daimyos no longer worried about conflicts with one another. [11] In addition, hereditary
succession was guaranteed as internal usurpations within domains were not recognized by the
shogunate.[11]
Classification of daimyos[edit]
The Tokugawa clan further ensured loyalty by maintaining a dogmatic insistence on loyalty to
the shōgun. Daimyos were classified into three main categories:[14]
 Shinpan ("relatives" 親藩) were six clans established by sons of Ieyasu, as well as certain
sons of the 8th and 9th shoguns, who were made daimyos. [14] They would provide an heir to the
shogunate if the shogun didn't have an heir.[14]
 Fudai ("hereditary" 譜代) were mostly vassals of Ieyasu and the Tokugawa clan before
the Battle of Sekigahara.[14] They ruled their han (estate) and served as high officials in the
shogunate, although their han tend to be smaller compared to the tozama domains.[14]
 Tozama ("outsiders" 外様) were around 100 daimyos, most of whom became vassals of the
Tokugawa clan after the Battle of Sekigahara. Some fought against Tokugawa forces, although
some were neutral were even fought on the side of the Tokugawa clan, as allies rather than
vassals.[14] The tozama daimyos tend to have the largest han, with 11 of the 16 largest daimyos
in this category.[14]
The tozama daimyos who fought against the Tokugawa clan in the Battle of Sekigahara had their
estate reduced substantially.[14] They were often placed in mountainous or far away areas, or placed
between most trusted daimyos.[14] 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. In the end, however, it was still the
great tozama of Satsuma, Chōshū and Tosa, and to a lesser extent Hizen, that brought down the
shogunate. These four states are called the Four Western Clans, or Satchotohi for short.[15]
Relations with the Emperor[edit]
Social class during the Shogunate with the Emperor as the nominal ruler
Regardless of the political title of the Emperor, the shōguns of the Tokugawa family controlled
Japan.[16] The shogunate secured a nominal grant of administration (体制, taisei) by the Imperial
Court in Kyoto to the Tokugawa family.[15] While the Emperor officially had the prerogative of
appointing the shōgun and received generous subsidies, he had virtually no say in state affairs.
[13]
The shogunate issued the Laws for the Imperial and Court Officials (kinchu narabini kuge
shohatto 禁中並公家諸法度) to set out its relationship with the Imperial family and the kuge (imperial
court officials), and specified that the Emperor should dedicate to scholarship and poetry. [17] 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. [18] The Emperor would
occasionally be consulted on various policies and the shogun even made a visit to Kyoto to visit the
Emperor.[citation needed] Government administration would be formally returned from the shogun to the
Emperor during the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
Shogun and foreign trade[edit]

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Dutch trading post in Dejima, c. 1805

Foreign affairs and trade were monopolized by the shogunate, yielding a huge profit. Foreign trade
was also permitted to 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, inbound ships were only allowed
from China, Korea, and the Netherlands.
Shogun and Christianity[edit]

Main article: Kirishitan
Christian prisoners in Edo, 17th century
Followers of Christianity first began appearing in Japan during the 16th century. Oda
Nobunaga embraced Christianity and the Western technology that was imported with it, such as the
musket. He also saw it as a tool he could use to suppress Buddhist forces. [19]
Though Christianity was allowed to grow until the 1610s, Tokugawa Ieyasu soon began to see it as a
growing threat to the stability of the shogunate. As Ōgosho ("Cloistered Shōgun"),[20] he influenced
the implementation of laws that banned the practice of Christianity. His successors followed suit,
compounding upon Ieyasu's laws. The ban of Christianity is often linked with the creation of the
Seclusion laws, or Sakoku, in the 1630s.[21]
The Shogunate's income[edit]

The primary source of the shogunate's income is the tax (around 40%) levied on harvests in the
Tokugawa clan's personal domains (tenryō).[14] No taxes were levied on domains of daimyos, who
instead provided military duty, public works and corvee.[14] The shogunate obtained loans from
merchants, which were sometimes seen as forced donations, although commerce was often not
taxed.[14] Special levies were also imposed for infrastructure-building. [14]
Institutions of the shogunate[edit]

The personal vassals of the Tokugawa shoguns were classified into two groups:
 the bannermen (hatamoto 旗本) had the privilege to directly approach the shogun; [14]

 the housemen (gokenin 御家人) did not have the privilege of the shogun's audience. [14]
By the early 18th century, out of around 22,000 personal vassals, most would have received
stipends rather than domains.[14]
Rōjū and wakadoshiyori[edit]

The rōjū (老中) were normally the most senior members of the shogunate. [14] Normally, four or five
men held the office, and one was on duty for a month at a time on a rotating basis. [14] They
supervised the ōmetsuke (who checked on the daimyos), machi-bugyō (commissioners of
administrative and judicial functions in major cities, especially Edo), ongoku bugyō [ja] (遠国奉行, the
commissioners of other major cities and shogunate domains) and other officials, oversaw relations
with the Imperial Court in Kyoto, kuge (members of the nobility), daimyō,
Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, and attended to matters like divisions of fiefs.
Other bugyō (commissioners) in charge of finances, monasteries and shrines also reported to the
rōjū.[14] The roju conferred on especially important matters. In the administrative reforms of 1867
(Keiō Reforms), the office was eliminated in favor of a bureaucratic system with ministers for the
interior, finance, foreign relations, army, and navy.
Sakuradamon Gate of Edo Castle where Ii Naosuke was assassinated in 1860
In principle, the requirements for appointment to the office of rōjū were to be a fudai daimyō and to
have a fief assessed at 50000 koku or more.[14] However, there were exceptions to both criteria.
Many appointees came from the offices close to the shōgun, such as soba yōnin [ja] (側用人), Kyoto
Shoshidai, and Osaka jōdai.
Irregularly, the shōguns appointed a rōjū to the position of tairō (great elder).[14] The office was limited
to members of the Ii, Sakai, Doi, and Hotta clans, but Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu was given the status of
tairō as well. Among the most famous was Ii Naosuke, who was assassinated in 1860 outside the
Sakuradamon Gate of Edo Castle (Sakuradamon incident).
Three to five men titled the wakadoshiyori (若年寄) were next in status below the rōjū.[14] An
outgrowth of the early six-man rokuninshū (六人衆, 1633–1649), the office took its name and final
form in 1662. Their primary responsibility was management of the affairs of
the hatamoto and gokenin, the direct vassals of the shōgun.[14] Under the wakadoshiyori were
the metsuke.
Some shōguns appointed a soba yōnin. This person acted as a liaison between the shōgun and
the rōjū. The soba yōnin increased in importance during the time of the fifth shōgun Tokugawa
Tsunayoshi, when a wakadoshiyori, Inaba Masayasu, assassinated Hotta Masatoshi, the tairō.
Fearing for his personal safety, Tsunayoshi moved the rōjū to a more distant part of the castle.
Some of the most famous soba yōnin were Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu and Tanuma Okitsugu.
Ōmetsuke and metsuke[edit]

The ōmetsuke and metsuke were officials who reported to the rōjū and wakadoshiyori.[14] The
five ōmetsuke were in charge of monitoring the affairs of the daimyōs, kuge and imperial court. They
were in charge of discovering any threat of rebellion. Early in the Edo period, daimyōs such
as Yagyū Munefuyu held the office. Soon, however, it fell to hatamoto with rankings of 5,000 koku or
more. To give them authority in their dealings with daimyōs, 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 ōmetsuke evolved into one of passing orders from the
shogunate to the daimyōs, 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 shōgun.[14] 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.
San-bugyō[edit]
The san-bugyō (三奉行 "three administrators") were the jisha, kanjō, and machi-bugyō, which
respectively oversaw temples and shrines, accounting, and the cities. The jisha-bugyō 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 lawsuits from several land holdings outside
the eight Kantō provinces. The appointments normally went to daimyōs; Ōoka Tadasuke was an
exception, though he later became a daimyō.[citation needed]
The kanjō-bugyō were next in status. The four holders of this office reported to the rōjū. They were
responsible for the finances of the shogunate. [22]
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.[23]
Three Edo machi bugyō have become famous through jidaigeki (period films): Ōoka
Tadasuke and Tōyama Kage

In Return For The Centralization

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In Return For The Centralization

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In return for the centralization, peace among the daimyos were maintained; unlike in the Sengoku

Relations with the Emperor[edit]

Shogun and foreign trade[edit]

Dutch trading post in Dejima, c. 1805

Shogun and Christianity[edit]

The Shogunate's income[edit]

Institutions of the shogunate[edit]

 the bannermen (hatamoto 旗本) had the privilege to directly approach the shogun; [14]

Rōjū and wakadoshiyori[edit]

Ōmetsuke and metsuke[edit]

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