Edo period

The Edo period (Japanese: ????, Edo-jidai) is a division of Japanese history running from 1600 to 1867. The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa Shogunate which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period ended in 1867 with the restoration of the Imperial rule by the 15th and last shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu. The Edo period is also known as the beginning of the early modern period of Japan.

From openness to seclusion

The beginning of the Edo period coincides with the last decades of the Nanban period, during which intense interaction with European powers, on the economic and religious plane, took place. It is at the beginning of the Edo period that Japan built her first ocean-going Western-style warships, such as the San Juan Bautista, a 500-ton galleon-type ship that transported a Japanese embassy headed by Hasekura Tsunenaga to the Americas, which then continued to Europe. Also during that period, the bakufu commissionned around 350 Red Seal Ships, three-masted and armed trade ships, for intra-Asian commerce. Japanese adventurers, such as Yamada Nagamasa, were active throughout Asia.

Related Topics:
Nanban period - ''San Juan Bautista'' - Galleon - Hasekura Tsunenaga - Red Seal Ships - Yamada Nagamasa

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The shogunate perceived Christianity to be an extremely destabilizing factor, leading to the persecution of Christians, and then to the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637–1638. The Edo bakufu reacted by progressively closing the country to Western influence. By 1650, Christianity was almost completely eradicated, and external political, economic and religious influence on Japan became quite limited. Only China and the Dutch East India Company enjoyed the right to visit Japan during this period, but for commercial purposes only, and they were restricted to the Dejima port, in Nagasaki. Other Europeans who landed on Japanese shores were put to death.

Related Topics:
Shimabara Rebellion - China - Dutch East India Company - Dejima - Nagasaki - Europeans

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