Japanese Feudalism

Rise of the Ashikaga

• 1333: Came to power
  • Ashikaga Takauji
• Two emperors

Ashikaga Governing System

• Three tiered structure
  • Shogun, Shugo, Samurai

Ashikaga Technology and Economy

• Contact with mainland
• Merchant trade/piracy
• Technology and foreign and domestic economy on the rise

Onin War

• 1467-1477
• Japan becomes fully feudalized

Gekokujo

• Gekokujo: "the lower defeat the upper"
  • Century of war follows close of Onin War
• Rise of Daimyo
• Introduction of matchlock muskets

Merchants, Peasants, and Religion

• Merchants increase in power
• Peasant uprisings: ikki
• Religious sects: Ikko
  • Ikko-ikki
  

Rise of Tokugawa

• Oda Nobunaga
  • 1568: seized Kyoto
  • 1573: deposed Ashikaga Shogun
  • 1582: assassinated
• Hideyoshi
  • 1590: brought Japan under unified political government
  • 1591: class immobility ordered
  • 1590's: war with Korea
  • 1598: Hideyoshi died
• Tokugawa Ieyasu
  • 1600: Battle of Sekigahara
  • 1603: took title of Shogun
  • Based out of Edo

Tokugawa Land Policy

• Quarter System
  • Shogunate
  • "Related" daimyo
  • Fudai ("hereditary") daimyo
  • Tozama ("outer") daimyo

Tokugawa Government

• Supervised whole nation
• Administrative posts
  • Cities, financial positions, religious institutions...
• Councils
  • Elders: national affairs
  • Junior Elders: Shogunal realm
• Shogun's personal military force
  • 5,000 Hatamoto (elite)
  • 18,000 foot soldiers
• Class structure
  • Samurai-rulers, Peasants, Artisans, Merchants

Contact With West

• 1543: Portuguese reach Japan
• 1549: Jesuits
• Christianity
  • Popular
  • Opposed by Buddhists
  • 1587: Christianity banned
  • 1597: beginning of persecutions
• 1616: Europeans restricted to Nagasaki and Hirado
• All but the Dutch expelled
• Foreign travel by Japanese restricted

The Peaceful Years

• Mid-17th to mid-19th centuries
• Increase in agriculture and economy
• Prosperous merchants
• Increased standard of living

Change in the Samurai Class

• Feudal fief holders to urban based
• Warrior to administrator
• Wealth of Samurai class declined
• Bushido: "the way of the warrior"

New Modes of Thought

• Confucianism
  • Emperor as ruler
    • "Dutch learning"

Tokugawa Decline

• July 1853: Commodore Matthew Perry and "Black Ships" sail into Tokyo Bay
  • American demands Japan open trade relations
• Western military technology superior
• Conservative resistance vs. realist acquiescence
• February 1854: Tokugawa government signs treaty with U.S.A.
• British, Dutch, and Russian treaties

Fall of Tokugawa Shogunate

• Ronin attack Western officials
• Choshu and Satsuma domains back emperor against Tokugawa Shogun
• 3 January 1868: Choshu-Satsuma forces seize imperial court
• Tokugawa government overthrown
• Figurehead emperor installed as leader of Japan