10. Azuchi-Momoyama period
(1573-1600)
・The country was reunited by the three powerful
warlords, “Sengoku Daimyos”, who grasped the
hegemony through many battles and coalitions .
• They were Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi,
and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
• The period was named after the sites of two castles,
Nobunaga’s Azuchi castle(in Shiga Pref.) and
Hideyoshi’s Fushimi castle at Momoyama in Kyoto.
Azuchi castle
Fushimi castle
1
Oda Nobunaga became the most influential
• Nobunaga entered Kyoto, and
installed shogun Ashikaga
Yoshiaki, who was a figurehead.
• Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who
tried to hold real power, was
driven into exile by Nobunaga
<the fall of the Muromachi
Shogunate>
• Just before achieving
unification of Nippon,
he was killed by his own
vassal, Akechi Mitsuhide,
in Honnoji
The battle in
Nagashino
2
Oda Nobunaga ⇨ Toyotomi Hideyoshi
• After Nobunaga’s sudden death, his
vassal Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified
Nippon in 1590.
• He obtained the lofty aristocratic
positions of “kampaku” (imperial
regent) and “dajo daijin”(grand
minister of state) from Tenno.
• Hideyoshi declared a sword-hunting
decree, prohibiting the change of
status and did the land surveys.
Osaka castle
3
Toyotomi Hideyoshi ⇨ Tokugawa Ieyasu
• Hideyoshi attempted to rule Korea, in vain.
• Two invasions of Korea tortured Korean people
and weakened Hideyoshi’s rule of Nippon
• After Hideyoshi died,
Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was
the most powerful in the
Kanto district, defeated the
west Nippon’s allied powers
led by Ishida Mitunari in
the battle of Sekigahara in
Gifu pref.
4
Nanban Culture
• In the Azuchi-Momoyama period Nippon was
exposed to Western culture through contact with
European traders and missionaries.
• “Nanban people” (Literally, southern barbarian)
mean Western people, in particular, the Portuguese
• Matchlock muskets (1543)
• Christianity (1549)
• Astronomy, medicine, navigation,
western painting etc.
• Articles and words from
Portuguese; Pão (bread), tabaco,
carta (card game)
5
Momoyama Culture
Himeji
castle
Kabuki dancing
Painting on
the folding
screen by
Kano
Eitoku
Sen
The Teahouse
no
Rikyu
Arita
yaki
6
11. The Edo period (1600∼1867
• After the victory of the battle,
Tokugawa Ieyasu was appointed
“seii-tai-shogun” (shogun) by
Tenno, and established the Edo
shogunate in 1603.
• Since then Nippon enjoyed
freedom from warfare at
home and abroad for more
than 2 centuries.
• It witnessed the stabilization
of the system of local rule by
military lords(daimyo) under
the strong shogunal authority.
Tokugawa Ieyasu
7
Edo castle
Bakuhan system
• The “Bakuhan”(“baku”shogunate and “han”domain)
system was created by Ieyasu; the Edo shogunate
directly controlled Edo,Osaka,Kyoto and the heartlands
as well as main mines, while the“daimyo”(warlords)
governed the each “han”(domain).
・Ieyasu classified
a lot of the daimyos into three groups; the fudai
(hereditary retainers), the shimpan (collateral or cadet daimyo)
and the tozama (outside daimyo). And he placed them into the
domains appropriately.
・The shougun’s most effective control device of the daimyo was the
sankinkotai or alternate attendance requirement.
• Ieyasu and his successors were able to maintain a strong
centralized feudal structure by balancing the daimyo domains.
8
Daimyo’s procession for “Sankinkotai”
• 9
9
Separation of classes and external policy
• “Shi-no-ko-sho” (warrior-peasant-artisan-merchant);
A four-class concept with its origins in Confucian principles
• This separation of classes gave rise to quite different
expectations and styles of life for each segment of society.
• An edict prohibiting Christian missionary activity was issued
in 1612, and after the Shimabara Uprising of 1637-38, antiChristian policy was reinforced.
• Sakoku”(National
Seclusion) was completed.
All Westerners except the
Dutch were prohibited
from entering Nippon
The small island of Dejima in Nagasaki
10
Ｉsssues after the end of the 18th c.
• Until the middle of the 18th c. the Edo shogunate was stable
under strong authority.
• Since the end of the 18th c. various issues, which shocked and
led to weaken the the shogunate, took place
• Between 1782 and 1787, Temmei famine took place, and
peasant uprisings and urban riots occurred with increasing
frequency.
• Mt. Asama erupted, causing about 20,000 deaths in 1783.
• Since the beginning of the 19th c., Russian and British ships
appeared in Nippon’s waters frequently. Facing an external
threat, the shogunate issued the Order for the repelling of
foreign ships.
• A large scale of famine, “the Tempo Famine” began in 1833,
and peasant uprisings and urban riots increased rapidly.
11
Arrival of the warships and reaction of the shogunate
• In 1853 four warships of the US, commanded by Commondore
Matthew Perry, arrived in Edo Bay, demanding Nippon to open
trade with the US.
• Two decisions that the Edo shogunate made then signaled the
end of Tokugawa power.
1. The shogunate consulted among the “daimyo” (warlords) on how
to handle the American request for the opening of Nippon’s ports.
2. The shogunate encouraged the daimyo to build up their own
coastal defenses.
• These decisions meant the
abandonment of the shogunate’s
prerogative of determining
foreign polcy, and the weakening
of shogunate’s power to control
domain’s military strength.
12
The end of National Seclusion
• The Treaty of Peace and Amity between the United States
and Nippon signed in 1854; similar treaties were concluded
with Great Britain (1854), Russia (1855), and the Netherlands
(1856). <National Seclusion ended.>
• The Commercial treaties between the shogunate and the
United States, the Netherlands, Russia, Great Britain, and
France were concluded despite Tenno’s disapproval. (1858)
• Tarrif Convention signed with the United States, the
Netherlands, Great Britain and France. (1866)
These treaties (1858,1866) were unequal;
Extraterritoriality of the foreign countries and no
tariff autonomy to Nippon
13
The fall of the Edo shogunate
• Against the management of the external affairs by the shogunate,
anti-shogunate ideology and forces grew rapidly.
• Anti-Tokugawa domains “Satsuma-han” and “Choshu-han were
drawn into alliance by young activist samurai.
• “Taisei Hokan”(Return of Political rule to Tenno); in 1867 the last
shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned from the position of
shogun. The Edo shogunate had fallen.
• Two months after “Taisei Hokan,” the representatives of these
anti-Tokugawa domains made Tenno’s court declare in Tenno’s
name “Osei Fukko” (Restoration of Tenno’s rule) in the absence
of Tokugawa Yoshinobu.
14
Rising of the merchants in the economy
・During the Edo period, economic activities developed greatly.
・Ａ lot of towns sprang up in the urban areas throughout
Nippon, and various kinds of commercial facilities were
made up to serve the city life.
・ Large cities, especially Osaka, became the central places
where the merchandise such as tributes and staples of
the domains were traded.
Osaka port
15
• In Osaka, and later Edo, some merchants, engaged in wholesale and
exchange business, forming the “Kabunakama”, guild of the comrade,
tied with the shogunate and the domains, became richer and very
powerful.
• Other merchants provided “samurai” and “chonin” in the towns with
the goods for lives.
• In spite of the low rank in the class hierarchy, merchants began to be
more influential.
Mercer in Edo
16
“Chonin” culture
• New cultural elements were added to Japanese culture. many of
them were generated by the emerging bourgeois in towns, and
called “Choniin” culture.
• It was brought to the first flowering in Osaka and Kyoto during
the Genroku era (1688-1704), and flourished mainly in Edo during
the Bunka and Bunsei eras.
◇ Kabuki
◇ Joruri; puppet theater
◇ Haiku; the 17-syllable form of
light verse
◇ Ihara Saikaku’s fiction
◇ Chikamatsu’s scenarios of
Kabuki and Joruri
◇Ukiyo-e
Matsuo Basho
Sumo event
17
Hokusai
Joruri
Hiroshige
Sharaku
18
A Kabuki theater
Education during the Edo period
• “Shoheiko; school for the shogunate’s feudatory
under the direct control of the shogunate.
• “Hanko”; schools only for samurai’s children,
which were set up by “Han”(domains)
• “Terakoya” (Literally, temple house); private
elementary schools; there were more than 100,000
terakoya all over Nippon then
19
12. The Meiji period
(1868-1912)
• The Meiji period started with the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate
and the sweeping reforms attendant upon the restoration of the
Tenno’s reign.
• The period saw Japan’s transformation from a feudal polity into a
modern industrial state, along with its emergence from the external
isolation into the rank of major world powers.
• It was activist samurai of antiTokugawa domains, mainly Satsuma
and Choshu, and anti-Tokugawa
nobles in the court that became the
leaders of the government under
Meiji Tenno.
20
Meiji Tenno
Politics during the Meiji period (1)
• A series of reforms at the beginning of the Meiji period
were called “Meiji Ishin”(the Meiji Restoration).
• The new government issued the Charter Oath in 1868;
the respect of public opinion, the intention to open Japan
to the world, the abolishment of feudalism etc.
• Edo was renamed Tokyo;
literally, eastern capital. The
government and Tenno moved
to Tokyo, and the capital was
formally transferred from
Kyoto to Tokyo
Tenno entered Edo21
Politics during the Meiji period (2)
• “Hanseki hokan (1869)” (Formal return of domains
registers to Meiji Tenno); then all daimyo were appointed
governors of their former domains by the government.
• “Haihan Chiken (1871)” (Establishment of prefectural
system); the government dismissed daimyo governors and
dispatched the new governor.
Centralization of administrative power
• Modernization of education, defense and taxation
The Education Order (1872)
Military Conscription Ordinance (1873)
Land Tax Reform Law (1873) The Battle
of Seinan
22
Politics during the Meiji period (3)
• Two slogans “A Rich Country and a Strong Military” and
“Civilization and Enlightenment”
Desire to construct strong and civilized Nippon
which cannot be incorporated into the imperialism
of western countries
• The Meiji Constitution was promulgated as a constitution
granted by Tenno. (1889)
• First session of the Imperial Diet was convened. (1890)
The appearance of the first
parliamentary government in Asia
23
Politics during the Meiji period (4)
• Anglo-Japanese Commercial Treaty was signed.
(1894); <the first treaty revision of the unequal Tariff
Convention of 1866>
・ The abolishment of extraterritoriality and the
restoration of partial tariff autonomy to Japan.
・ Similar treaties with other powers soon followed
The minister of
foreign affairs
Mutsu
Munemitsu
A ball
24
Wars against China and Russia
• “Sino-Japanese war” (1894-1895) made Japan the first
non-western modern imperial power in the world.
• “Russo-Japanese war” (1904-1905) proved that a
western power could be defeated by a non-western state.
The results of these
wars left Japan the
dominant power in
the Far East, and led
to Japan’s annexation
of Korea as a colony
in 1910.
Prince of Korea
and Ito Hirobumi
Russia and Nippon
25
Development of industries
• A lot of national factories with western technology and
equipment were constructed for the manufacturing industry.
• The government-run factories were disposed to the private
entrepreneurs at lower cost.
• The light industry of textile developed rapidly and grew to
become the main export industry.
• The iron and steel industry was given a major boost by the
government’s establishment of the “Yahata” works in North
Kyushu in 1901.
a mill of
cotton textile
26
Yahata Iron and
Steel works
Young women workers
in a raw silk mill
27
Science and Culture during the Meiji period
• The establishment of universities; Tokyo
University(1877), Keio Gijuku university etc.
• The import of Western science
• The start of original research; Noguchi Hideyo, Kitasato
Shibasaburo (medicine), Nagaoka Hantaro (physics) etc.
• The usage of colloquial speech in
literature; Futabatei Shimei,
Tsubouchi Shoyo
Fukuzawa
• The import of Western art;
Yukichi
Kuroda Seiki etc.
• Renewed appreciation of
traditional art; Okakura Tenshin
28
13. The Taisho period
(1912-1926)
• Nippon entered World War I on the side of Great
Britain and its allies. (1914); at the peace conference
at Versailles in 1919, Nippon was officially
recognized as one of the “Big Five” of the new
international order.
• “Taisho Democracy”; in the late1910s Nippon
progressed toward a democratic system of government.
• The Tokyo earthquake
occurred (1923); more
than 100,000 deaths
29
Taisho Culture
• The popularization of culture; the increase of the educated
urban middle classes.
• The appearance of new kinds of mass media; large circulation
newspapers, general monthly magazines and radio broadcasts.
• Nishida Kitaro (philosopher)
• Yanagida Kunio (folklorist)
Radio broadcast
Tokyo in the Taisho period
before the earthquake
30
14. The Showa period
(1926- )
• US stock market crashed;
prolonged depression began. Showa Tenno
(1929)
• Showa depression began (1930); confusion in economics
seriously shook public confidence in the government.
• During the late 1920s and 1930s military leaders became
increasingly influential.
• Manchurian Incident (1931); the conquest of Manchuria by
the Japanese Kwantung army began.
• Kwantung army established the state of Manchukuo. (1932)
• As a result of international condemnation of the incident,
Japan resigned from the League of Nations. (1933)
31
From Sino-Japanese War to World War II
• After the Manchurian Incident, several similar incidents
were brought about by the expansion of military.
• The second Sino-Japanese War began. (1937)
• Japan allied with Germany and Italy. (1940)
• The US began an embargo on petroleum products
etc.(1940)
• Japan tried to go to Southeast Asia to acquire petroleum
etc. But this action inevitably led to the conflict with the
US, Great Britain, the Netherlands and France.
• The Pacific War began. (1941)
• Air raids were made on Japan’s main cities; over 200,000
people were killed and over 2,000.000 houses were burnt
down.
32
• Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.(1945)
33