Tokugawa Bakufu (feb 1, 1600 – sep 1, 1867)

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After an era of Sengoku in Japan, Tokugawa Leyasu established the Tokugawa Bakufu, or military government, which he and his successors ruled as Shoguns. The Shoguns were preoccupied with controlling the Daimyo who were powerful territorial lords who controlled most of Japan through their vast holdings. Daimyo maintained their own government staffed by military subordinates, supported an independent judiacary and established schools while also circulating paper money through the economy. Some also established relations with European mariners and so learned how to manufacture and use gunpowder weapons. In order to curb their power, Shoguns established a policy of alternate attendance in which the Daimyo had to maintain their families at Edo and spend every other year at the Tokugawa court. The Shoguns also issued a number of edicts that prevented foreign travel and trade, the construction of large ships, expelled European and Christian missionaries from Japan, and banned foreign books. However, they still allowed limited trade with China and Netherlands at the port of Nagasaki.

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