History 150a
 
 
From Warring States to the Tokugawa Shogunate
 
Reunification
Oda Nobunaga (1523-1582)
Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598)
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616)
 
Key Daimyô Territories
Area of contention: central Honshû
Key players in mid-16th century
Uesugi (blue)
Takeda (yellow)
Imagawa (purple)
Hôjô (red)
Oda (green)
Tokugawa (brown)
 
The Rise of Oda Nobunaga
Nobunaga as family head in 1551
Threatened by alliance of Imagawa, Takeda, and Hôjô in 1554
Oda territory key because on the way to Kyôto
 
Re-establishing the Center
Invitation to Kyôto in 1567
1568 Nobunaga entered Kyôto with men-at-arms to install Yoshiaki as last of the Ashikaga shôgun
Tensions between Nobunaga & Yoshiaki
From 1570, Yoshiaki sought out warlords to take down Nobunaga
Anti-Nobunaga forces:
Former allies Asai and Takeda
1569 resistance in Sakai
1571 monks of Mt. Hiei offer support for enemy daimyô
1573 resistance to demand for tribute from Kyôto (fire raids on the city and Yoshiaki driven out)
By time of death, Oda and his generals laid claim to holdings in 31 provinces of Japan
1582 brought down through betrayal by Akechi Mitsuhide
 
Reconsolidation Under Oda
Acceleration of violence part of the process of breaking down Warring States era structures of alliances
Nobunaga sought to rule Japan as a daimyô (turn Japan itself into a fief)
 
Hideyoshi
(1536-1598)
1558 said to have served Nobunaga as sandal holder
Became one of N’s top generals, known for swift attacks, patient sieges, readiness to negotiate
1582: Hideyoshi first on the scene to avenge N’s death
Assumed leadership of Oda alliance, defeating all others including son of Nobunaga
Careful campaigns from 1582-1587 to finish consolidation
Truce with Tokugawa Ieyasu after several inconclusive battles
 
Secret of His Success
Did not present an absolute challenge to the territorial autonomy of other daimyô
Willing to negotiate end of hostilities and reconfirm holdings
In distributing rewards after conquest, often rewarded recent allies/former enemies more generously than himself or inner circle of associates
If moved someone (like Tokugawa Ieyasu) from former base, gave them larger territory than before
 
Hideyoshi Policies
Model of centralized feudalism
Granted autonomy to daimyô within own territories
Reserved certain rights as supreme lord
Instituted various programs on national level
Separation of samurai and commoners
1586: decree forbidding commoners from moving
1588: Sword Hunt: “the possession of unnecessary implements [of war] makes difficult the collection of taxes and dues and tends to foment uprisings”
1591-2: Tightening class laws and census regulations
 
Mad Ambition
From 1587, talk of conquering China
1592:  invasion of Korea as a first step
Two years of negotiations with Ming:
2nd J. invasion in 1597, 140,000 troops
 
Tokugawa Ieyasu
(1542-1616)
Hideyoshi moved Ieyasu to Kantô in 1590 to distance Ieyasu from capital
Avoided Korean campaigns
1600: Battle of Sekigahara
Who “protects” Hideyori
Officers v. administrators
“East” v. “West”
 
The Baku-Han System:  
Tokugawa Balancing Act
The Tokugawa shogunate as a government that ruled a confederation of daimyô (lords)
Shogunate governed public existence of daimyô
The daimyô each ruled a domain (han) largely impervious to the outside
Villages at base of hierarchy that stopped at daimyô
Imperial Court lent sanction to shogunate in return for support, honor and protection
Formerly contesting ruling elites all benefit from social stability = stable income from taxes
 
Centralized Control: Tokugawa Shogunal Prerogatives
Control Foreign Relations
Control Access to Imperial Court
Control 3 Major Cities: Edo, Osaka, Kyoto
Control Major Mines
Control Highways and Shipping Routes
Could Requisition Material Support from any Daimyo for Construction or Military
 
Controlling Foreign Relations
1587 Hideyoshi ordered missionaries to leave and prohibited various practices associated with Westerners, like slave trade
1610s: corruption scandal involving Christian daimyô
1612-1614 strict anti-Christian decrees
1637-38 Shimabara Rebellion of 37,000 commoners
 
Did Sakoku Mean Isolation?
Monopolization and Control
Shogunate managed trade with Dutch and Chinese in Nagasaki
Shogunate authorized and kept eye on trade with Korea via Tsushima
Shogunate authorized Satsuma invasion of Ryûkyûs in 1609
Shogunate authorized, then controlled, trade with the Ainu in Hokkaidô
All others to be denied access to Japan
Japanese forbidden to go abroad
 
Controlling the Daimyô: Alternate Attendance
Daimyo must alternate living one year in Edo (shogunal capital), one year in home domain
Travel to and from domain must be by land
No. of troops, porters, horses, etc. and visible spectacle carefully determined according to the total productivity of the home domain
Wives and children must remain in Edo as hostages
All daimyô must build a permanent residence in Edo
Travel & Edo residence consumed 65% of income (money NOT spent on building up army and fortifications)
 
Transformation of the Warrior Class
Daimyô go from territorial warlords to urbanized elite proprietors & governors
Formal hierarchy: obligation to support regulated numbers of samurai retainers
Despite worries about the decreasing martial abilities of samurai, why was this in the shogunate’s interests?
 
Solving the Problems of Peace
What is a warrior without wars to fight?
Loyalty to lord directed to institution or figurehead rather than to personal leader
Bulk of laws concerned management of samurai to stabilize rank and prestige
Enforced distinctions between different levels
 
Regulating the Warrior Class
Oaths
Buke shohatto 1615
Buke shohatto 1629
Buke shohatto 1635
Buke shohatto 1663
Buke shohatto 1683
Buke shohatto 1710
Shoshi hatto 32
Shoshi hatto 36
Shoshi hatto 63
 
“47 Ronin”
Unauthorized, secret vendetta completed in 1702
Debates illustrate transformational tensions
 
Issues
Rank and hierarchy
Dimensions of shogunal bureaucracy
What is the way of the warrior?
 
 
 
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Lecture 17: Warring States to Tokugawa