CHAPTER FIVE:
TOKUGAWA JAPAN
Japan in the 16th century emerged
as a regional force, and clearly demonstrated the potential to play an
important role in Asian relations and trade. However, before that potential was
fully realized, before Japan
could present a real challenge to European presence in Asia,
this civilization consciously turned inward. As with Ming China, this is
a decision that needs to be examined and understood.
FEUDAL JAPAN
Japan
from the 12th century to the 16th century was a feudal
based society. Feudalism refers to a situation where political and military
power is divided into local, private hands. Admittedly, at first glance Japan does not appear to fit the definition of a
feudal society since Japan
had an emperor. Dating back to the 6th century, the Yamato family held
imperial power; this family line was in fact viewed as semi-divine and
untouchable. Traditional beliefs emphasized that this imperial family traced
its lineage to the sun goddess, Amateratsu. However, the significance and power
of the emperor was only symbolic and spiritual, not truly military or
political. While the Japanese revered their emperor as a link to the gods and
to the past, the reality was that real power over law, taxes and military power
came from the swords of the military elite - the daimyo. Daimyo families
(warlords) held local power based on extensive land holdings and their private
military force made up of loyal samurai (warriors).
Japan was in fact a dyarchy - a two
headed political system. The emperor was the spiritual head of the society; actual
power was in the hands of the daimyo, the feudal leaders. Periodically,
during this long period of military based rule, one clan was able to establish
military dominance over other families and received from the emperor the title
of Shogun. Recognize, however, even under Shogunates such as the Kamakura and Ashikaga, there
still was not a true state. While the Shogun military leaders
could demand taxes and limited military support from local leaders (daimyo),
these Shogunates did NOT directly control the populace through a state military
or through centralized legal and bureaucratic control. The local
warlords, the daimyo, retained their private regional control. (see description)
For centuries, Japan was mired
in this divided, feudal situation. Fragmented into
dozens of private military-based entities, Japan suffered the costs of almost
constant violence and limited economic growth. The lack of central unification
hampered Japan's abilities
to participate in broader Asian relations, preventing competition with Asian
mainland powers Korea and China.
PERIOD OF NATIONAL UNIFICATION
This feudal situation
changed in a dramatic and bloody fashion in the 16th century.
A succession of ambitious and effective warlords undertook to bring the Japanese
islands under the effective rule of one leader. This centralization was
achieved through brutal warfare and suppression of local power known as the "Period
of National Unification" - 1568 to 1600.
Oda Nobunaga
(1534-1582) began the process. Through military defeat and use of infamous
violence, he destroyed the independent power of the daimyo, and also subjugated
the independent, wealthy Buddhist monasteries. It was a bloody process, but by
1582 when Nobunaga was assassinated (lived by the sword - died by the sword)
almost half of the Japanese islands were under one ruler.
Nobunaga's work was carried
on by his able general and successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi
(1536-1598). Under Hideyoshi, the central power begun by Nobunaga continued to
evolve. First, Hideyoshi came close to completing the task of
unification. By 1598, when Hideyoshi died, virtually all of Japan was under
central control. Hideyoshi is also credited with building the necessary structures
of state power. Recognize, to create a "state", it is not enough
to conquer competing local leaders; true and lasting central power is sustained
only through effective bureaucratic methods of control. Hideyoshi instituted
these changes, for example, conducting a survey (census) to identify and
document population and property; what followed (of course) was a new and improved
tax system, and the drafting of Japanese subjects for labor and military
service. While not completely eliminating the daimyo class as an important
presence, Hideyoshi took important steps to replace feudal systems of power
with formal state control.
Hideyoshi also established
an important direction in relations with Europe.
European expeditions initiated sea-based trading relations with Japan in 1543,
when the Portuguese appeared on its shores. During the following decades,
Hideyoshi enacted policies that reflected a mixed reaction to the increased
presence of the West. There were some restrictions on interactions and the
scope of Western presence, a natural wariness on the part of a traditional,
insular society. However, there was also clear interest in learning from these
strangers/"barbarians"; Hideyoshi imported Western guns, and other
military and naval technology. Japan
began to modernize its military power and to build a navy.
What followed from this
build-up were early indications of Japanese expansionary ambitions; Hideyoshi
launched invasions into the Korean peninsula in 1592 and 1597. Under Hideyoshi, Japan
showed an interest in acquiring technical expertise from the West, and a desire
for empire-building. Based on this early policy of borrowing from the
West, Hideyoshi built up an impressive naval force - the 16th century Japanese
invasions of Korea
were in fact the largest naval invasion fleets launched in the 16th
century! Using knowledge and abilities borrowed from the West, Japan was
making its presence felt as an Asian naval power.
National unification was
completed by Hideyoshi's successor Ieyasu Tokugawa (1542-1616). In fact,
it was Tokugawa who completed the process by defeating the last independent
daimyo in 1600, thus achieving a unified state for the first time. Three years
later, Tokugawa received the title of Shogun from the emperor. Thus it was
Ieyasu's family name that was given to the new state - the Tokugawa
Shogunate. This Shogunate, however, unlike previous Shogunates, possessed real
state power. Tokugawa Shoguns led Japan from 1603 to 1868.
THREATS TO STABILITY
Recognize - this newly
unified state was not secure.
Not only did the divided geography represent an obvious challenge to
maintaining centralized rule, but the descendants of Ieyasu had to worry about
two very real threats to the Shogunate.
ONE: The daimyo were a very real threat
to the Shogun leadership. Based on obvious anger at being stripped of
most of their power, the danger of conspiracy and an uprising from these
powerful families could never be ignored. In fact, many Tokugawa policies
were aimed primarily to keep the daimyo class in check. For example, the
Shogunate required daimyo families to maintain two residences - one in their
home region and one in the Tokugawa capital city of Edo
(Tokyo). Daimyo
were required to alternate their time between these two homes during the year,
or on alternate years . Maintaining two residences drained their financial
resources, thus they were less able to finance the build up of their personal
power. The mandated period for living in Edo
also enabled Shogunate spies the chance to discover any pending plots of
rebellion. And when daimyo were allowed to return to their home provinces,
their families were often required to stay in Edo
as hostages. Other Tokugawa policies to limit the potential power of the daimyo
included destruction of castles (castles represent independence) and Shogunate
control over marriages to prevent dangerous alliances between powerful
families.
TWO: The other danger to the new
and fragile Tokugawa state was from the outside - specifically the West.
As mentioned above, Japan
benefited from Western influence in particular in the area of military
technology. However, the growing influx of Westerners and Western culture, in
particular missionaries and the spread of Christianity, made Japan's new
central leaders uneasy. Loyalty to a foreign religion, and especially a foreign
based church, was not something an insecure central leadership wanted to see spread.
Further, a common belief in Christianity and shared membership in that
community created the kind of alliances and unified presence the Shogunate was
working so hard to prevent.
In fact, these fears of the
disruptive influence of outside traditions proved valid. In 1637, there was a
rebellion launched by close to 30,000 Christian Japanese. The reaction of
the Tokugawa Shogunate was immediate, brutal and effective. Western influences
were to be eliminated.
SAKOKU - CLOSED COUNTRY POLICY
As the start of this
anti-Western policy, Tokugawa leaders took measures to eradicate the foreign
religion. Christianity was outlawed, foreign missionaries were expelled under
threat of execution and Japanese converts were forced to renounce their
religion or face execution. Tokugawa leaders successfully suppressed
Christianity; they then instituted a set of policies aimed at preventing
further disruption from all Western culture and Westerners themselves. A number
of laws were imposed between 1636 - 1641 which virtually eliminated Western
presence; these restrictions taken together represented the basis of Japanese
foreign policy - the mandate of sakoku – the closed country policy.
Some other key stipulations of the sakoku policy were:
~ Trade with the West was
severely restricted. All ports were closed to Western ships with
the sole exception of Nagasaki.
The island of Deshima,
in the harbor of the southern city of Nagasaki,
was the only area were European ships could enter. And only one
European power was allowed to trade through Deshima - the Dutch - since they
appeared to be the least aggressive and least interested in spreading religion.
However, the Dutch were only allowed to trade with Japan once a year. This extreme
limitation of trade was a dramatic change from the past and reduced the degree
of Western influence in Japan
to a trickle.
~ Foreigners were not to
enter Japan
- period. There were to be no diplomats, no missionaries, no
sailors, and no travelers from the West allowed into Japan. And Japanese citizens could
not travel abroad in the West. Even Japanese travel to mainland Asia was restricted to those few who could obtain the
permission of the Shogunate. Travel to and from Japan was severely decreased and
regulated.
~ All open sea vessels were
destroyed, and no more were built. This was, in essence, the end of the
Japanese movement to build a navy and an end to earlier efforts at
expansion. Fishing ships and short range vessels were permitted.
The impressive effort at building up naval power evident under Hideyoshi was
ended, thereby destroying Japan's
fledgling naval power and potential to exert regional power.
These measures were extreme,
as were the results. Japan
was semi-isolated as long as this policy was in effect - which was for a period
of over 200 years! Sakoku was in place by 1641, and was not lifted until
after 1853. The results of this self-imposed isolation were
mixed.
EFFECTS
There were beneficial
results of sakoku. Tokugawa Shoguns achieved the stability they desired. The
Shogunate created a state leadership capable of maintaining over two hundred
years of relative peace, quite an accomplishment considering the tremendous
violence the Japanese had experienced in previous centuries. In addition,
sakoku resulted in centuries of protection from outside cultural intrusion -
the Japanese were free to cultivate their traditional arts, beliefs, and
practices. Japanese cultural life was rooted, rich and complex. Economically, Japan developed
an economy based on agriculture, and not dependent on the goods or money of
outside powers. This self-sufficiency was increasingly rare in the evolving
world of global trade and colonial control.
However, this period of
peace and self-sufficiency came at a high price. When sakoku was finally ended,
it was not by choice. Tokugawa leaders in 1853 were forced to end sakoku - at
the point of a gun. Specifically the Tokugawa Shogunate in the 19th
century was forced to end sakoku through pressure exerted by the superior might
of the United States
navy. During the centuries Japan
was cultivating its internal development, dramatic changes were taking place in
the West. Europe in the 1600-1800's was
undergoing the dramatic transformations of the Scientific Revolution and discovering the powers of industrialization
by the 19th century. New states such as the United States
emerged and expanded. Japanese culture simply did not keep pace with these
developments, falling behind in many areas but in particular in terms of
economic and technological development. The price of this policy of isolation
will be painfully clear in the 1800's (which we cover later in the course).
It is an interesting
question to contemplate - what if Japan had not turned inward but had
instead continued the path of borrowing, modernizing and expansion initiated by
Hideyoshi? What more prominent role might Japan have played earlier in Asian
politics and economic control, in competition with fledgling European control
in this region?
Instead, driven by internal
desire for political and cultural stability, Japan shut its doors and virtually
ignored the activities and discoveries of the West. It was not until the 19th
and 20th centuries that Japan was forced to open up, and
then scrambled to catch up with the powerful achievements of the West, to
assert its place in Asian power relations.
UNIT SUMMARY
By the 16th and
17th centuries, the direction of global power was clear. Although
the means to pursue a dramatically expanded role in trade and empire
building was available to several powers, it was Western European powers that
had the driving motives, seized the initiative, created the bases of a global
presence, and reaped the benefits in terms of wealth, cultural dominance,
political control, and increased knowledge. The repercussions of this turning
point are still felt today. Societies throughout the Americas,
Africa and Asia had to confront this new force
and in most cases, the effects were dramatic, permanent, and devastating. Even
in regions where Europeans were more limited in their impact, international
economic and political relations were permanently transformed.
In the next Unit, we
focus on events taking place in Europe,
specifically the explosion of an Age of Revolution. And while the focus appears
to be only on Europe, be clear - these are
global topics. Because of the global reach of Western European powers,
revolutionary changes in this region not only transformed European societies,
they touched all corners of the world. The Age of Revolution had its
epi-center in Europe, but the repercussions
and (continued) aftershocks were and remain global in their scope and impact.
Interesting
Related Web Sites
INTERNET EAST
ASIAN HISTORY SOURCEBOOK
TOKUGAWA
JAPAN
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