The Tokugawa shogunate was the military government of Japan founded by Tokugawa Ieyasu after his victory at Sekigahara, when the emperor gave him the title of shogun. It ruled from Edo, today's Tokyo, for more than 250 years, a period of relative peace known as the Edo period. Society was organized in a strict hierarchy of samurai, farmers, artisans and merchants, and regional lords were required to spend alternate years in Edo. A policy of national seclusion limited foreign contact, though Dutch and Chinese merchants traded at Nagasaki. Culture flourished, with kabuki theater, woodblock prints and haiku. The arrival of Commodore Perry in 1853 forced the opening of the country, and the shogunate gave way to imperial rule in the Meiji Restoration.
Before and after
- from 1602 to 1799Founding of Dutch East India Company
- 1602Publication of Hamlet
- from 1603 to 1868Edo period
- 1603Birth of Abel Tasman
- from 24 March 1603 to 9 November 1867Tokugawa shogunate
- 24 March 1603Death of Elizabeth I of England
- 1604Siege of Ostend
- October 1604Kepler's Supernova appears in the constellation Ophiuchus
- 8 October 1604SN 1604
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- from 18 January 1701 to 9 November 1918Kingdom of Prussia
- from 1 May 1707 to 1 January 1801Kingdom of Great Britain
- 1744Rise of House of Saud
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 17th century.