The nature of change: the Tokugawa order and sakoku
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Flip to reveal answersWho really ruled Tokugawa Japan, and from where?
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Question
Who really ruled Tokugawa Japan, and from where?
Answer
The shogun (the Tokugawa military dictator), from Edo (modern Tokyo). The emperor stayed a powerless figurehead in Kyoto.
Question
What was the bakuhan system?
Answer
The Tokugawa structure of a central shogunate (bakufu) ruling over around 250 semi-independent domains (han) governed by daimyo.
Question
Define daimyo.
Answer
A powerful regional lord who governed his own domain (han) under the authority of the shogun.
Question
What was sankin-kotai and what did it achieve?
Answer
'Alternate attendance': daimyo spent every other year in Edo and left families there as hostages. It kept them loyal and drained their money.
Question
Name the four classes of Tokugawa society, top to bottom.
Answer
Samurai (ruling warriors), farmers, artisans, then merchants at the bottom. You were born into your class for life.
Question
What was sakoku?
Answer
The 'closed country' policy from the 1630s: most foreigners expelled, Japanese banned from leaving, and foreign trade cut to a tiny trickle.
Question
Under sakoku, who could trade and where?
Answer
Only the Dutch and Chinese, and only at the port of Nagasaki. The Dutch were confined to the artificial island of Dejima.
Question
What was the Shimabara Rebellion (1637-1638)?
Answer
A revolt of mostly Christian peasants driven by taxes and persecution. The shogunate crushed it brutally, killing almost all the rebels.
Question
Why did the Tokugawa suppress Christianity?
Answer
They saw it as a threat: it demanded loyalty above the shogun and could be a doorway to European conquest.
Question
What was the Pax Tokugawa?
Answer
Over 250 years of near-total internal peace under the Tokugawa, which let agriculture, roads, cities and merchant wealth grow.
Question
What cultural change came with Tokugawa peace?
Answer
A lively urban culture in cities like Edo (kabuki theatre, woodblock prints, novels), enjoyed by ordinary townspeople.
Question
What role did Neo-Confucianism play?
Answer
It was the official state ideology, teaching order, hierarchy and obedience — justifying the frozen class system and the shogun's rule.
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Topic 9.3 hub
Case study 2 — Tokugawa Japan (Asia and Oceania)
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