Tokugawa Government Collapse

The Tokugawa state collapsed because, in its failure to carry out regular and meaningful reforms, the immense structural economic and social changes that took place during its two-hundred-sixty-eight years of rule undermined the system to the point where revolution was inevitable. The foreign crisis brought on by the demands of western powers acted as a catalyst and worsened these domestic problems. An ideological shift occurred with many movements focusing on the Emperor, not the Shogun, as the legitimate source of authority. Many of the problems of Tokugawa continued into Meiji, with unrest still present. However the Meiji government can be seen to have taken steps to address the causes of these problems, resulting in Japan emerging as a

Urbanisation that began at the start of the Tokugawa period had profound implications for Japanese agriculture. The growth of castle towns following the samurai's removal from the countryside caused the gradual growth of a market economy. These new consumption centres provided a market for peasants' surplus goods, leading to commercialisation and specialisation in agriculture . The extent of this transformation away from subsistence farming is shown by how at the end of the Tokugawa period between a half and two-thirds of agricultural produce was

Much of this discontent was down to their declining relative prosperity and perceived loss of status. Samurai, prevented from engaging in the emerging commercial sector, did not experience the benefits of the growing economy . This was compounded by the rise of a wealthy merchant class following urbanisation, whose prosperity generated bitterness amongst samurai. There was psychological poverty amongst samurai who felt they were being deprived of the lifestyle their elite status deserved . The samurai were further alienated by cuts, often as much as fifty percent, to their annual stipends. This was a result of bakufu and daimyo expenditure being much higher than revenues. Revenues were low with the kokudaka rice tax being highly ineffective due to peasant resistance preventing any lasting increases . Daimyo expenditure was very high due to the demands of the alternate attendance system which, designed as a tool of political control, was a huge financial burden, taking up three-quarters of most daimyo's revenue by the nineteenth century . Beyond economic concerns, many samurai of middle and lower rank were also disaffected by the hereditary nature of the Tokugawa political system. Despite Confucian theory being that appointment of officials should be determined on merit, in reality they were