Edo Castle

Absolutism means that the sovereign power or ultimate authority in the state rested in the hands of a king who claimed to rule by divine right the idea that kings received their power from God and were responsible to no one but God. Catherine The Great and Tokugawa Ieyasu were both known as prominent absolute rulers but, Ieyasu was a more effective absolutist ruler. Tokugawa controlled his country by reasonable means that wouldn’t cause uprisings and distrust while still being the only one to…

Many social and economic changes took place in the middle and late Edo period that gave rise to such developments as “Pictures of the Floating World.” The steady commercial growth, albeit an entirely domestic one as a result of Japan’s isolationist policy, and peace that were established by the Tokugawa shogunate eventually led to a highly prosperous merchant class. Regarded as the lowest rank in the social hierarchy, some of the townspeople were even more affluent than the samurai, who occupied…

The Edo period (Tokugawa Shoganate period) was a self-efficient society based on a principle of total utilization of finite resources. It was officially established on March 24th 1603 and ended with the Meji Registration on May 3rd 1868. At this time, peace and prosperity roamed throughout Japan. The Tokugawa Shoganate period was the last primitive Japanese government which lasted between 1603 and 1867. The leaders of this government were the shogun and each shogun was a part of the Tokugawa…

Western civilization and made the greatest impact within the Japanese culture. He established universities, newspapers, publishers, taught commercial and political undertakings, while doing his best to practice them. Fukazawa wrote a few books during the Edo period and Meiji Period, which have inspired the Japanese culture. His autobiography explains his roots and how he journeys through life from Tokugawa to Meiji. Fukuzawa was the youngest, born into the low-ranking samurai of the Okudaira…

Topic: The function of Bakufu system in history of Japan Nowadays, people pay more attention to the historical event, and some historical event are unique in the whole world, such as the Chinese emperor control whole china so long time, or the peculiar system at Japan called “the Bakufu system”, this system began at 1185. At 1185, the family of “Taira” fought with the family of “Minamoto”, this two family are the Samurai family at that period, this battle during late Heian-period, and this…

published in 1686. These different novels have been around for 330 years now and has since been a very popular book as age increased. Ihara was able to really understand the modern world. He was a writer during the Genroku period, which was the Edo era and known as the golden age. Saikaku born in 1642 and is a son of a wealthy merchant in Osaka. He had a wife and three kids, one of which is blind. He learned how to do haikai poetry and comics, but it was not until his wife died at a…

Three cities thrived during the Tokugawa period: Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka. “Edo boasted over a million people by 1700, half of whom were the bureaucratic samurai: this made it, potentially, the largest city in the world at the time. The tax money collected by the daimyo and the Tokugawa regime fueled Edo’s economy.” (Langrill) In addition to Edo, both Osaka and Kyoto had between three and four hundred thousand inhabitants at one time; while dwarfed by Edo, both cities had more people than had lived…

Musui’s Story The Bushido code can be witnessed in Musui’s Story, which is an autobiography of Tokugawa Samurai. This autobiography documents the life of Katsu Kokichi, who was a samurai in Japan’s late Tokugawa period. This story gives excellent examples of how Katsu Kokichi broke and disrespected the Bushido code along with disrespecting himself from early childhood till his death. Some of the behavior that Kokichi did to disrespect the Bushido code was lying, cheating, and stealing. For…

During the Edo period in Japan, society was divided into 4 major classes consisting of Samurai, Farmer, Artisan and Merchant. There was the ideal version of social organization that we preferred by the Tokugawa Government however this format did not really match the reality of Edo period life. In the article, Tokugawa Period/Edo Period: Economy and Society, it says that, “the merchant class, officially at the bottom of the Tokugawa social structure, benefited greatly from the period’s economic…

1. The Tokugawa period is that from 1600-1868 while the Meiji period is from 1868-1912. During the Tokugawa period, there were various levels of class including Samurai, Farmer, Artisans, Merchants, and outcasts (aka hinin or burakumin). The Samurai and burakumin were especially important matters during that time as Samurai’s served as retainers for Daimyos and other government bodies within the domains of Japan. The Tokugawa period was a time of harsh punishment and fear. Much of the…