Tokugawa Shogunate, (Japan)
(1603 to 1868)
What happened?
The Tokugawa shogunate is also known as the Edo shogunate. The Tokugawa were a dynasty of shoguns who gave their name to this form of government. This period was preceded by the Sengoku Period. The Tokugawa family ruled Japan from 1600, after the Battle of Sekigahara, until the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
From the beginning, the Tokugawa regime focused on reestablishing order in social, political, and international affairs. The Edo shogunate was a feudal military government of Japan, established after the civil wars of the Sengoku period following the collapse of the Ashikaga shogunate. They governed Japan from Edo Castle in the eastern city of Edo (Tokyo in 2021) under the strict Tokugawa class system and banned most foreigners under the isolationist policies of Sakoku to promote political stability. Severe persecution of Christians took place in Nagasaki in 1612. Missionaries were excluded and they issued a complete ban on Christianity in Japan. This was to guard Japan from external influence. For the same reason, they also prohibited foreign trade with Western nations and prevented Japanese merchants from trading abroad. The Act of Seclusion of 1636 effectively cut off Japan from Western nations, except for a small Dutch outpost in Nagasaki.
The dominant faith in this shogunate was Confucianism, a relatively conservative religion with a strong emphasis on loyalty and duty. The Tokugawa Period recognized only four social classes: warriors (samurai), artisans, farmers, and merchants. Mobility between the classes was officially prohibited.
The Tokugawa clan ruled along with the daimyo lords of the samurai class, administering a han (= feudal domain). The Tokugawa bound all daimyos to the shogunate and limited any individual daimyo from acquiring too much land or power. Many samurai became bureaucrats or took up a trade. At the same time, they were expected to maintain their warrior pride and military preparedness.
Farmers were forbidden from engaging in non-agricultural activities, this ensuring consistent income for landowning authorities. Japan experienced rapid economic growth and urbanization. Japan’s commerce and manufacturing industries expanded, leading to the rise of an increasingly wealthy merchant class and in turn to the growth of Japanese cities. The merchant class and Ukiyo culture rose. Samurai and daimyo did not fare as well as the merchant class. Despite efforts at fiscal reform, mounting opposition seriously weakened the Tokugawa shogunate from the mid-18th to mid-19th century. The Treaty of Kanagawa opened Japanese ports to American ships, in exchange for not bombing the capital Edo.
During the Bakumatsu period, the Tokugawa shogunate declined. They were overthrown by supporters of the Imperial Court in the Meiji Restoration in 1868. This was the beginning of modern Japanese culture, politics, and society.
Rare Large with Family Mon Leaf Design. Found: Japan (JN0300)
Antique Japanese Jingasa
± 1850
Kasa is the term for Japanese traditional hats. When "kasa" is preceded by a word describing the type of hat, it becomes "gasa", i.e., jingasa (literally: camp hat). Kasa is also used for umbrella in Japanese. It was the kind of hat that Japanese warriors wore when traveling or camping. Almost all hats are painted and mostly they were black. It was used for low rank samurai.
In the 15th and 16th century the war techniques of the samurai developed very quickly. A form of infantry called ashigaru (= foot soldier) was introduced. The arrival of the Europeans to Japan introduced new weapons such as the arquebuses for the samurai. A jingasa, the war hat, almost always has mon marks. This is a Japan symbol or emblem that is specific to a family and is therefore compared to European heraldry (decorations on knights' equipment). Most mon are depicted in a single color. Usually, it is a stylized animal or plant within a decorated circle.
The samurai class in feudal Japan, as well as their keepers and foot soldiers, used different types of jingasa, made of iron, copper, wood, paper, bamboo, or leather. In the middle of the Edo period, all families, including lower classes, began to use their own mon. The mon became a sunken cultural object, and no longer the privilege of nobility and bourgeoisie. It was also depicted on utensils and kimono.
During the Edo period, the samurai gradually lost their military function. By the end of the period, the samurai had become a kind of government officials. Their swords performed only a ceremonial function.