|
Japan Seclusion and Social Control
Like Hideyoshi, Ieyasu encouraged foreign trade but
also was
suspicious of outsiders. He wanted to make Edo a major
port, but
once he learned that the Europeans favored ports in Kyushu
and that
China had rejected his plans for official trade, he moved
to
control existing trade and allowed only certain ports to
handle
specific kinds of commodities.
The "Christian problem" was, in effect, a problem
controlling
both the Christian daimyo in Kyushu and trade with
the
Europeans. By 1612 the shogun's retainers and residents of
Tokugawa
lands had been ordered to foreswear Christianity. More
restrictions
came in 1616 (the restriction of foreign trade to Nagasaki
and
Hirado, an island northwest of Kyushu), 1622 (the
execution of 120
missionaries and converts), 1624 (the expulsion of the
Spanish),
and 1629 (the execution of thousands of Christians).
Finally, in
1635 an edict prohibited any Japanese from traveling
outside Japan
or, if someone left, from ever returning. In 1636 the
Portuguese
were restricted to Deshima, a man-made islet--and thus,
not true
Japanese soil--in Nagasaki's harbor.
The Shimabara Rebellion of 1637-38, in which
discontented
Christian samurai and peasants rebelled against the
bakufu--
and Edo called in Dutch ships to bombard the rebel
stronghold--
marked the end of the Christian movement. Soon thereafter,
the
Portuguese were permanently expelled, members of the
Portuguese
diplomatic mission were executed, all subjects were
ordered to
register at a Buddhist or Shinto temple, and the Dutch and
Chinese
were restricted, respectively, to Deshima and to a special
quarter
in Nagasaki. Besides small trade of some outer
daimyo with
Korea and the Ryukyu Islands, to the southwest of Japan's
main
islands, by 1641 foreign contacts were limited to
Nagasaki.
Japanese society of the Tokugawa period was influenced
by
Confucian principles of social order. At the top of the
hierarchy,
but removed from political power, were the imperial court
families
at Kyoto. The real political power holders were the
samurai,
followed by the rest of society. In descending
hierarchical order,
they consisted of farmers, who were organized into
villages,
artisans, and merchants. Urban dwellers, often well-to-do
merchants, were known as chonin (townspeople) and
were
confined to special districts. The individual had no legal
rights
in Tokugawa Japan. The family was the smallest legal
entity, and
the maintenance of family status and privileges was of
great
importance at all levels of society.
Data as of January 1994
|
