In the seventeenth century, Japan was recovering from the Warring States period, a period of war and strife. The Tokugawa clan, after seizing power at the start of the century, soon embraced isolationism as their social policy, a policy that historians later called “sakoku,” or “closed country” policy. Under sakoku policy, Japanese natives were forbidden to leave the country unlicensed, and foreign trade was restricted, with European trade cut out entirely (Ohno). Tokugawa Iemitsu installed the policy due to the growing Christian population in Japan, as a way to limit its influence. Sakoku policy in the seventeenth century largely succeeded in preventing Europeans from becoming involved in their country by reducing the religious influence of …show more content…
After Ieyasu's death, his descendant, Tokugawa Iemitsu, enacted the Tokugawa Edict of 1635, an edict that began the seclusion of Japan. The edict forbade Japanese ships or people from leaving the country, as well as ordered a direct investigation into any Christian places of learning or worship (Lu 221-222). Yukihiro Ohashi, professor at Waseda University in Tokyo, writes the following about the anti-Christian edicts:
The Christian prohibition was enforced because quite simply, in the eyes of the Bakufu, the Christians posed a threat. The established view holds that the Christian threat was twofold: firstly there was the fear of the 'colonisation' of Japan through the military might of Portugal and Spain on whom the Christian missionaries were seen to rely, and secondly there was fear of the outbreak of popular uprisings inspired by Christians (Yukihiro 46).
The first reason the edicts were made, then, was to stop the spread of religion from the Spanish and Portuguese, and to a lesser extent, the Dutch. With the Edict of 1635, also called the Seclusion Act, the Spanish and Portuguese were banned entirely from trade and relations, effectively cutting off relations with the Europeans for the next two centuries
Throughout the years, both Japan and Europe turned into a Chaotic mess, around the same time. In the late 400’s the Roman empire had fallen, leaving Divided and weekend kingdoms. On the other side of the world, Japan was having some similar issues. The Japanese emperors and the Imperial Court we're both challenged by the rise of Clans. Despite religion, Samurai and knights are more similar than different.
Such strict rules in the Tokugawa period on the Dutch stopped the Dutch from influencing the Japanese culture although they have helped tremendously, helping to interact with the
Japan didn’t open to foreigners until the mid-19th century. Japan quickly realized the situation and began to modernize and westernize as fast as possible. Japan wanted to be strong enough to resist domination of western imperialists who wanted Japan for their own. Japan also wanted to become the strongest Asian country. Japan’s tactics of rapid modernization succeeded, and kept the country and government independent of foreign control.
After trade was cut off with Japan, it was thought that it would stop Japan’s expansion, and everything would return to normal. The opposite happened. The trade being cut off led Japan to hold their ground,
Feudalism was a key component of life for those in both Western Europe and Japan. The two systems developed independently from each other yet still held a multitude of similarities. However, their many differences out shadow the unique parallels they shared. The major discrepancies between the two are found in each’s code, structure and regulations. Documents nine and ten, break down the feudal structures of Western Europe and Japan.
The importance of Tokugawa Leyasu taking control included the fact of the Tokugawa shogonate being established bringing along with it 264 years of peace and order. Huge changes which occurred during the reign of the tokugawa family including the introduction of a strict class system and the control of the ruling daimyo families which also made maintaining peace in Japan very easy. Japan 's increased trade and tourism contributed positively to the wealth and success of Japan. These rapid economical and social changes in Japanese society helped to prepare for fast modernization in the following time period. Tokugawa Leyasu had a significant impact on Japan as he established the tokugawa shogunate which brought wealth, peace and education to Japan.
Japanese empires did not want to trade with other foreign empires and they did not even let their merchants travel to sell their goods. The Tokugawa government believed that Roman Catholic priests could colonize Japan by converting them into
At this time Spain and Portugal were being enforced with a powerful royal government and religious orthodoxy by exploiting the Muslims and Jews. They were
Japan’s rich history of power, wealth, and influence had many remarkable eras. One of the more notable periods in Japanese history was that of the Tokugawa Period (1600-1868). The Tokugawa Period was talked about in Musui’s Story, an autobiographical book, written by Kokichi Katsu. (Katsu ix) Katsu wrote Musui’s Story for three main reasons: to share how he had transformed from a low-ranking samurai to a well-known hero, to show his sense of self, and to serve as a cautionary tale for his descendants.
There are many nations that are continuously changing. Japan is one of the nation that is continually changing not only economy, but also the culture. According to the book, “the Western world was increasingly impinging upon Japan..” which result isolation from Europe and American. In the document 19.1 it stated, “We have issued instructions on how to deal with foreign ships on numerous occasions up to the present”. This have shown that the Japanese have isolated from foreign.
In the early 1900s, due to Imperial Japan’s struggling transition from the feudal era to the modern era, Japanese immigrants were flooding into the West coast of America. Fearful of the rising number of Japanese immigrants, Americans would proceed to try and eradicate the “yellow peril”, leading to prejudiced exchanges and racist encounters with the Japanese-Americans. These encounters would drastically affect the Japanese-American community and ultimately lead to their internment during WWII. Because of Imperial Japan’s struggle to come into the modern age, its economy was increasingly worsened. The first Japanese-Americans, or Issei, came to America in the early 1880s, looking for work and adventure.
People from Japan began migrating to the U.S. in significant numbers following the political, cultural, and social changes stemming from the 1868 Meiji Restoration. Large numbers went to Hawaii and to the West Coast. In 1907, the "Gentlemen 's Agreement" between the governments of Japan and the U.S. ended immigration of Japanese unskilled workers, but permitted the immigration of businessmen, students and spouses of Japanese immigrants already in the U.S. The Immigration Act of 1924 banned the immigration of nearly all Japanese. The ban on immigration produced unusually well-defined generational groups within the Japanese-American community.
Although the close-off from the world had resulted in relative peace, the shogun also had other policies highly criticized by others. As stated in Document 1, “The shogun rules firmly and with justice at Edo.”
In Japan, Europeans traders and missionaries were welcomed at first. But due to the disrespect of the new christian
“To guard against external influence, they also worked to close off Japanese society from Westernizing influences, particularly Christianity. When the Tokugawa shogunate grew increasingly weak by the mid-19th century, two powerful clans joined forces in early 1868 to seize power as part of an “imperial restoration” named for Emperor Meiji.” This restoration was the beginning of the end of feudalism, or the way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour, in Japan. The Tokugawa regime acted to exclude missionaries because of suspicion of foreign intervention and colonialism. Eventually, they issued a complete ban on Christianity in Japan.