*Sengoku period*
After the Onin war, Shogunate lost power and so called Sengoku period (Warring States period) started. Daimyos (Sengoku Daimyo) ruled their provinces not by endorsement of the Shogunate power but by their force. Representative examples of Sengoku Daimyo are Hojo Soun, Mori Motonari, Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Among them, Oda Nobunaga made a major progress in unifying the whole country. He overthrew Muromachi Shogunate in 1573 and defeated adversaries with new arms Teppo (gun). But in the midst of unifying the country, he was died because his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide betrayed him and attacked him at Honno-ji in 1582 (Honnoji Incident).
After Nobunaga died, Hashiba Hideyoshi, Nobunaga's retainer, defeated Mitsuhide and took over Nobunaga's work of unification. He was appointed Kanpaku (the chief adviser to the Emperor) in 1586 and given the name Toyotomi (Toyotomi Hideyoshi) in 1587 by imperial court. Then he defeated the Hojo clan in 1590, and eastern Daimyos such as Date Masamune swore allegiance to him. He achieved unification.
[Edo period]
After Hideyoshi died, Daimyos divided into two groups: pro-Toyotomi clan group and pro-Tokugawa Ieyasu group. Tokugawa Ieyasu was one of the most powerful Daimyo based on Edo, which is now called Tokyo. Ieyasu defeated pro-Toyotomi group at Sekigahara in 1600 (Battle of Sekigahara) and was appointed Shogun in 1603 (Edo Shogunate).
And he defeated Toyotomi clan in 1615. Japan was unified under Tokugawa clan.
* Bakuhan system *
We call the ruling system of Tokugawa Shogunate (or Bakufu) and Daimyos Bakuhan system. Han means Daimyo's territory or its ruling system.
* Governing by suppression *
Shogunate ruled by suppression from the reign of the first Shogun Ieyasu to the third Shogun Iemitsu. Shogunate issued Laws for Military Houses in 1615 and cracked down Hans. If they broke the laws, their fiefdoms could be confiscated (Kaieki), cut (Genpou) and exchanged (Kunigae).
In 1612 Shogunate issued Anti-Christian Edicts, because it saw Christianity as a menace for it. This was followed by ban on traffic and restriction on trade with foreign countries (Sakoku) to crack down on Christianity more perfectly.
* Governing by law and Confucianism *
As Shogunate confiscated many Han's fiefdoms, there were many masterless samurais (Ronin). Yui Shosetsu, a military strategist, took advantage of them and attempted coup in 1651. Although the coup failed, the affair made Shogunate change its way of governing from by suppression to by law and Confucianism.
* Reforms of the shogunate government *
Shogunate finances depended on rice. But money economy developed in the latter half of the seventeenth century. So, merchants became wealthy, on the other hand, Shogunate faced financial difficulities. Shogunate made political reforms to tackle the problems. Kyoho reforms (by Tokugawa Yoshimune, the eighth Shogun), Kansei Reforms (by Matsudaira Sadanobu, the member of the Shogun's Council of Elders) and Tempo reforms (by Mizuno Tadakuni, a member of the Shogun's Council of Elders) are regarded three reforms in Edo period. But the reforms didn't necessarily succeed.
(To be continued)
A brief outline of Japanese history (1)
A brief outline of Japanese history (2)
A brief outline of Japanese history (3)
A brief outline of Japanese history (4)
