Tokugawa Ieyasu's Impact On Japanese Society

Tokugawa Ieyasu was one of the most influential people in Shogunate Japan. He began the Tokugawa shogunate, which was a period of peace in Japan that lasted for over 250 years, after centuries of war between territories and allowed for development in law and social structure. He lived from 1543 until 1615 and ruled as Shogun between 1603 and 1605. He also ruled as Ōshogo from 1605 until his death and he had a huge impact on Japanese society in both roles.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was born in 1543, during a period of war in Japan, as different daimyo (powerful families or warlords) battles for power, resources and territory. His father was one of these daimyo and his constantly shifting enemies and alliances caused Ieyasu and his family to be held

His time as shogun and ōshogo in Japan began a period of peace and stability that lasted for over 250 years and allowed for law, urbanization and social structure to develop. Ieyasu passed a law called the Buke Shohatto in 1615, which contained an outline of the social construct used in Japan throughout the Tokugawa Shogunate. It was a very military based system; the highest on the social hierarchy was the shogun, then the daimyo, then samurai and then commoners, which made up around 90% of the population and were made up of peasants, farmers, fishers and artisans, as well as merchants, although merchants were generally considered as lower in status than the other groups. The last on the social hierarchy were the outcasts, who were usually beggars and criminals. The Buke Shohatto also required that daimyo spend at least half their time in Edo, meaning many of their servants and workers, as well as family members moved to live in Edo full time. This was one of the reasons behind the urbanization of Japan, as well as his encouragement of businessmen and artisans to move into the cities. Another major impact that Ieyasu had on Japan was beginning its period of isolation during the shogunate. Although Ieyasu wasn’t completely opposed to foreigners, unlike some of his successors, he was suspicious of them, and he banned practicing Christianity throughout Japan. The peace Ieyasu bought to Japan, as well as the urbanisation resulted in significant population growth, from around 18 million in 1603 to 30 million in 1720. Clearly Tokugawa Ieyasu had an enormous effect on medieval Japanese