Unification of Japan

• Late 1400’s- Collapse of Ashikaga Shogunate

• Period of the Warring States

• Unification occurred under three powerful figures: Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa

Unification of Japan

• Oda Nobunaga• Seized Kyoto and

placed reigning shogun under his rule

• Battle of Nagashino - use of gunpowder weapons

• Nobunaga murdered by one of his generals

Oda Nobunaga

Unification of Japan

• Toyotomi Hideyoshi - succeeded Nobunaga

• Extended lands to include Kyushu and Shikoku

• Two attempts to invade Korea

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Unification of Japan

• Both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi used gunpowder weapons to gain power

• Both unable to totally subjugate daimyo

• Both had to create alliances with daimyo to gain power and hold / administer territory

A gathering of Daimyo

Unification of Japan

• Tokugawa Ieyasu took control after death of Hideyoshi in 1598

• Tokugawa powerful daimyo of Edo

• Claimed title of Shogun in 1603

• Tokugawa Shogunate most powerful and longest-lasting (1868) Tokugawa Ieyasu

Shogun viewing heads of enemies

Interaction with the West

• First contact by Portuguese in 1543

• Arrival of Jesuit missionaries 1549- Francis Xavier

• Focus on top down conversions

Interaction with the West

• Foreigners welcomed at first• Novelty items- clocks, eyeglasses, and

tobacco• Jesuit missionaries converted many local

daimyo to Christianity. By 1600, much of Kyushu and Shikoku were Christian.

• Christianity used to offset power of Buddhists

Interaction with the West

• Daimyo interested in gunpowder weapons

• Gunpowder influenced architecture- as daimyo built stone castles

• Eventual banishment of gunpowder weapons and return to the cult of the sword

Interaction with the West

• Missionaries destroyed Japanese shrines and temples

• Christians persecuted by Hideyoshi- banned by Tokugawa

• Japanese Christian revolts ruthlessly suppressed

• Dutch only Western nation allowed to trade with Japan- limited basis at Nagasaki

Tokugawa Shogunate

• Tokugawa shogun ruled over Japanese semi-feudal system

• Shogun set policy for the emperor

• State separated into 250 provinces called Hans. Each Han ruled by a daimyo.

Tokugawa Shogunate

• Two levels of Daimyo: Fudai – (inside) lesser nobility directly

subordinate to the shogun Tozama – (outside) greater and more

independent nobilty, usually residing at greater distance from shogun

Tokugawa Japan

• Shogun controlled nobility through hostage system

• Peace under shogun lessened need for warrior class

• Many samurai became managers of daimyo estates

Samurai

Commerce

• Peace under shogunate allowed expansion of commercial sector

• Business beneath them, but many daimyo forced to promote sale of goods to bring in revenue

Japanese market

Commerce

• Banks formed

• Use of paper money

• Establishment of guilds to regulate the markets

Samurai

• Did not benefit from peace

• Barred from commerce by tradition

• Relied on rice lands for income

• Many debt-ridden

Samurai

• Many samurai released from service- became masterless or ronin

• Ronin became problem due to plots and revolts

Agriculture

• Farmers did not benefit from peace

• High taxes forced many from their lands

• Tenant farming• Wage laborers• Revolts- 7,000 revolts

in Tokugawa period

Rice farming

Tokugawa Japan

• Japan chose isolation

• Neo-Confucianism replaced by the School of National Learning- philosophy based on native Japanese culture

Tokugawa Japan

• Unlike scholar-gentry, Japanese did not ignore outside world

• Kept informed of outside events through Dutch trade at Nagasaki

Japanese scribe