What Accounts For The Stability of the Tokugawa Regime? :: essays research papers fc

What Accounts for the Stability of the Tokugawa Regime?In the first half of the Seventeenth century, the regime perfected by Ieyasu Tokugawa and his successors was based on the accepted system of daimy domains which Nobunaga and Hideyoshi had been developing prior to Ieyasus rule. It was so basically feudal in structure, but it represented a exceedingly organised and stable stage of feudalism, unlike Europe ever experienced. The reasons for the stability of such a regime are quite numerous, and demonstrate the bakufu governments capability of maintaining a time of peace for the better part of two centuries. They maintained this peaceful era by the strict regulation of the other powers of Japan, and thus there own influence was an omnipresent force throughout the nation.After the battle of Sekigahara in 1600, by which Ieyasus total control of Japan was attained, in order to achieve quick stability, as stated, he made use of the thoroughly familiar Daimy System. Upon achieving this rapid yet superficial form of stability, he endeavoured to make believe various improvements so as to solidify the permanence of his own power, and subsequently Tokugawa rule in general.This first method which he adopted to secure his baffle was by the division of land post-Sekigahara. The shgun reserved for themselves a huge realm consisting of a quarter of the agricultural land of the country, located largely some their Kanto head canton in Edo and the old capital region around Kyoto, but also including all the major Japanese cities, ports and mines. The other three quarters of the land was divided between three types of daimy. Firstly, there were the related daimy which consisted of various branches of the Tokugawa family, most notably the three large domains of Wakayama, Mito and Nagoya. Then there were the mevery fudai ( genic) daimy, who had been Ieyasus vassals pre 1600, with their rather small fiefs in central Japan. Finally there were the tozama, who, during the battle o f Sekigahara, had either been Ieyasus enemies or powerful allies and still represent a threat to his rule. These tozama held relatively large fiefs at the western and northern ends of the islands, far form the strategically important central part of the country. Thus the Tokugawa nuclear fusion of shgun, related daimy, and hereditary daimy (both of which were loyal to the shgun), held well over half the agricultural land and virtually all the central and most strategic regions, and so any potential threat to Tokugawa rule was minimised.