3. Shogun
• What is a “Shogun?”
– The military ruler of Japan
– Most powerful person in Japan
– Although the emperor technically ruled the land,
the shogun really held all the power
– The first shogun in Japan was Tokugawa Ieyasu
• He became shogun in 1603 after winning the Battle of
Sekigahara
4. Battle of Sekigahara
• Battle between rival daimyo’s
• Ieyasu defeated the rival daimyo’s and their
generals
• Three years after their defeat, Ieyasu was
made shogun (1603)
5. Tokugawa Ieyasu
• Became Shogun in 1603 after his victory at the
Battle of Sekigahara
• Unified Japan
• Won power through military strength
• Planned on creating a long-lasting and stable
government
– To do this he needed to control the daimyo
through means of alternate attendance, sharing
power, and strict laws.
6. Alternate Attendance
• Every second year the daimyo were forced to live in
Edo
– Every other year they would live in their own
homes
– The cost of keeping two homes, and constantly
moving would be enough to keep the daimyo
from forming a revolt
7. Sharing Power
• Set up a new system of government known as
the bakuhan system.
– This system had two levels of government:
• The shogunate – this is equivalent to the federal
government in Canada.
– They had control over important matters such as foreign
trade and relations
• The daimyo – they controlled local affairs in their
territory
8. Strict Law
• These controlled many aspects of the
daimyo’s lives, from the way they dressed to
marriage
• The daimyo was required to pay for projects
(road building) in order to restrict their wealth
9. Roles in Society
• Rules regulated dress for everyone from the
emperor to the lowest member of society
– Example – an upper class woman had to wear 12
silk kimonos with an exact number of colors
showing
• Peasants weren’t allowed to wear silk, even if they
were silk farmers
– Rules dictated how low each person should bow.
10. Samurai
• The most respected warrior class (like the knights in
Europe)
• Lived in castle towns controlled by the daimyo they
served
• Carried two swords, a large one for battle, and a
small one that was used for committing sepuku
• Lowest rank of samurai were the ronin (samurai
without masters)
• They were forbidden to be involved in trade or
commerce
• The samurai code of honour dictated that they live
simple and thrifty lives
11. Peasants
• Farmers were very important because they
produced the food that sustained society
• Every aspect of their lives were controlled by
laws
• Forbidden to smoke tobacco or drink rice wine
• They needed special permission to travel
outside of their district
12. Artisan
• Also known as craftspeople
• Lived in towns and cities
• An artisans son was not only restricted to the
class of his father but also to the particular
craft that his father practiced
– For example, if the father was a carpenter, the son
would have to be one too
• Their status was lower than that of the
peasants because their work depended on
materials produced by others
13. Merchants
• Merchants bought goods from the artisans to
sell or trade with others
• Because they didn’t produce anything they
were officially at the bottom of the social
order
14. Women in Edo
• The class that women were born into
determined their responsibilities
• If a woman was born into the samurai class
she would be expected to give her son a
proper samurai upbringing
• Women in rural areas had more freedom than
upper class women
• They worked in their homes and in the fields
• Women were still considered lower than men
in the social hierarchy, even though the did
equal amounts of work
15. The “Southern Barbarians”
• The Portuguese first stepped foot on the
banks of Japan in 1543
• They wanted to trade with Japan
• Because they came from the south they
became known as the Southern Barbarians
• They were followed by Spanish, Dutch, and
British traders
16. Francis Xavier
• First Jesuit missionary in Japan
• Arrived in 1549
• Wanted to convert the upper classes,
the daimyo, and the samurai to
Christianity
• All the missionaries were expelled when
Ieyasu became shogun
