Tokugawa Bakufu

Tokugawa shogunate
徳川幕府 Edo bakufu 江戸幕府
1603–1867
Flag Crest
Capital		Edo
Languages		Japanese
Religion		Buddhism, Shinto
Government		Feudal
Emperor
•	1600–1611	Go-Yōzei
•	1867–1868	Meiji
Shogun
•	1600–1605	Tokugawa Ieyasu
•	1867–1868	Tokugawa Yoshinobu
Rōjū
•	1600–1614	Ōkubo Tadachika
•	1868	Tachibana Taneyuki
Historical era		Edo Period
•	Battle of Sekigahara	21 October 1603
•	Siege of Osaka	8 November 1614
•	Sakoku Edict	1635
•	Treaty of Peace	31 March 1854
•	Treaty of Commerce	29 July 1858
•	Meiji Restoration	3 January 1867
Currency		Ryō
Preceded by Succeeded by Azuchi-Momoyama period Tokugawa clan Empire of Japan Republic of Ezo
Today part of		Japan

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the Tokugawa bakufu (徳川幕府^?) and the Edo bakufu (江戸幕府^?), was the last feudal Japanese military government, which existed between 1603 and 1867. The head of government was the shogun, and each was a member of the Tokugawa clan. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo Castle and the years of the shogunate became known as the Edo period. This time is also called the Tokugawa period or pre-modern (Kinsei (近世^?)).

Following the Sengoku period ("warring states period"), the central government had been largely re-established by Oda Nobunaga during the Azuchi–Momoyama period. After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, central authority fell to Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Society in the Tokugawa period, unlike the shogunates before it, was supposedly based on the strict class hierarchy originally established by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The daimyō (lords) were at the top, followed by the warrior-caste of samurai, with the farmers, artisans, and traders ranking below. In some parts of the country, particularly smaller regions, daimyō and samurai were more or less identical, since daimyō might be trained as samurai, and samurai might act as local rulers. Otherwise, the largely inflexible nature of this social stratification system unleashed disruptive forces over time. Taxes on the peasantry were set at fixed amounts which did not account for inflation or other changes in monetary value. As a result, the tax revenues collected by the samurai landowners were worth less and less over time. This often led to numerous confrontations between noble but impoverished samurai and well-to-do peasants, ranging from simple local disturbances to much bigger rebellions. None, however, proved compelling enough to seriously challenge the established order until the arrival of foreign powers.

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Wikipedia