Tokugawa shogunate
Also called: Edo shogunate · Topic: Paths to Modernisation: Japan, China, Korea · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 3 "Changing Traditions"; Class 11, Ch 7 "Paths to Modernisation"
Meaning
The Tokugawa shogunate was the military government of Japan led by shoguns from the Tokugawa family, from 1603 to 1867. Tokugawa Ieyasu founded it, and it ruled from Edo in the emperor's name. It controlled more than 250 domains under the daimyo (regional lords), along with the major cities and the mines. It kept the samurai as the ruling elite. From the 1630s it limited trade with Western countries to the Dutch only. It gave Japan more than two centuries of peace and commercial growth.
Example
Under this shogunate, Edo became the most populous city in the world by the mid-17th century. The system came under pressure after Commodore Perry's "black ships" arrived in 1853. It ended when the shogun was removed and the Meiji emperor was restored in 1868.
Don't confuse with
- Meiji government: The Tokugawa shogunate was rule by the shogun in the emperor's name, before 1868. The Meiji government came after 1868 and ruled through the emperor himself, together with a modern bureaucracy and army.