The Tokugawa Shogunate
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After forcing Toyotomi Hideyoshi's son into battle (to later commit sepupuku) around 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu started a new powerful shogunate, in (at the time) a small fishing town called, "Edo". This town would later become known as, "Tokyo" to become the capital city of Japan. In Tokugawa Japan, Life was peaceful. But there was major thing about Tokugawa at the time, they were heavily controlled by the shogunal government. After having a century of chaotic warfare, the Tokugawa Peace was a much-needed harmony. For the samurai warriors however, the change from Sengoku meant that they were forced to work as bureaucrats in the Tokugawa administration.
The samurai although, were not the only sector in Japan that faced changing life-styles or livelihoods under the Tokugawa Shogunate. All of the sectors of society were confined to their traditional roles much more strictly than in the past, beginning in the time of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The Tokugawas began to continue this harsher imposition of the four-tier class structure, imposing and enforcing rules, that were about small details. An example of this was which classes could use luxurious silks for their clothing or tortoiseshell for hair-pins.
Japanese Christians, who had been converted by Portuguese traders and missionaries in previous years, were banned for the first time from practicing their religion in 1614 by Tokugawa Hidetada. To help enforce this law, the powerful shogunate required all citizens to register with a local Buddhist temple. Anyone who refused were considered disloyal to the, "bakufu". The Shimabara Rebellion, made up mostly of the Christian peasants, flared in 1637-1638, but ended up being stamped out by the shogunate. Afterward, Japanese Christians were exiled, executed or driven underground, and Christianity faded from the country, as part of the cruel shogunate's decisions.
Despite some heavy-handed tactics, the Tokugawa shoguns presided over a long period of peace and relative prosperity in Japan. In fact, life started to seem so peaceful and unchanging, that it sparked the creation of the ukiyo, or "Floating World," among urban samurai, wealthy merchants, and geisha girls.
One of the main highlights of the Tokugawa Shogunate period, was the time of when any Christians in the country were persecuted.
The samurai although, were not the only sector in Japan that faced changing life-styles or livelihoods under the Tokugawa Shogunate. All of the sectors of society were confined to their traditional roles much more strictly than in the past, beginning in the time of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The Tokugawas began to continue this harsher imposition of the four-tier class structure, imposing and enforcing rules, that were about small details. An example of this was which classes could use luxurious silks for their clothing or tortoiseshell for hair-pins.
Japanese Christians, who had been converted by Portuguese traders and missionaries in previous years, were banned for the first time from practicing their religion in 1614 by Tokugawa Hidetada. To help enforce this law, the powerful shogunate required all citizens to register with a local Buddhist temple. Anyone who refused were considered disloyal to the, "bakufu". The Shimabara Rebellion, made up mostly of the Christian peasants, flared in 1637-1638, but ended up being stamped out by the shogunate. Afterward, Japanese Christians were exiled, executed or driven underground, and Christianity faded from the country, as part of the cruel shogunate's decisions.
Despite some heavy-handed tactics, the Tokugawa shoguns presided over a long period of peace and relative prosperity in Japan. In fact, life started to seem so peaceful and unchanging, that it sparked the creation of the ukiyo, or "Floating World," among urban samurai, wealthy merchants, and geisha girls.
One of the main highlights of the Tokugawa Shogunate period, was the time of when any Christians in the country were persecuted.
Location of Tokyo in Japan