Edo period
Japan, 1603–1868.
The Tokugawa shoguns ruled from Edo (Tokyo) through more than 250 years of peace. Japan limited contact with the outside world, and a rich urban culture grew in its cities.
Seat of power: Edo
Rulers
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Shogun, 1603–1616
Won the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and founded the last shogunate. He controlled the daimyo lords by carefully placing their domains, and his successors made them spend every other year in Edo.
Portrait of Tokugawa Ieyasu: Kanō Tan'yū, Public domain, file
Tokugawa Yoshimune
Shogun, 1716–1745
Repaired the shogunate's finances in the Kyoho Reforms, encouraged new crops and relaxed the ban on Western books, which opened the way to 'Dutch learning'.
Portrait of Tokugawa Yoshimune: Kanō Tadanobu, Public domain, file
Culture
- Matsuo Basho perfects the haiku in the late 17th century.
- Kabuki and bunraku puppet theatre draw crowds in Edo and Osaka.
- Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa (about 1831) becomes an icon of ukiyo-e prints.
Picture
Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, a woodblock print from about 1831.
Image: Katsushika Hokusai, Public domain, file
