Specialized Agencies - Harvard Model United Nations

Shogunate Council of 

Tokugawa Ieyoshi, 1853 

Table of Contents 

Japanese Terminology 5 

Introduction 5 

Structure and Function of the Council 6 

Topic Area 7 

Historical Background7 

Current Situation 17 

Timeline of Significant Events18 

Major Questions19 

Questions A Position Paper Must Answer20 

Suggestions for Further Research 20 

Position Paper Requirements21 

Closing Remarks21 

Endnotes21 

Bibliography23 

Specialized Agencies

Shogunate Council of Tokugawa Ieyoshi, 1853 

Harvard Model United Nations 2013 

A Letter From the Secretary-General 

Dear Delegates of HMUN 2013, 

Stephen Ethan Lyle 

Secretary-General 

Ainsley E. Faux 

Director-General 

Miranda M. Ravicz 

Under-Secretary-General 

Administration 

Da-Bin Ryu 


Business 

Alexandra M. Harsacky 

Comptroller 

William R. Gorman 


Innovation and Technology 

Julia A. Solomon-Strauss 


General Assembly 

Lisa L. Wang 


Economic and Social Council 

Samuel H. Leiter 


Specialized Agencies 

It is my distinct honor and high privilege to welcome you to the Sixtieth Session of Harvard 

Model United Nations. Our entire staff of 215 Harvard undergraduates is eager to join with you 

this January at the Sheraton Boston for an exciting weekend of debate, diplomacy, and cultural 

exchange. You and your 3,200 fellow delegates join a long legacy of individuals passionate about 

international affairs as well as the pressing issues confronting our world. 

Founded in 1927 as Harvard Model League of Nations, our organization has evolved into one 

of America’s oldest, largest, and most international United Nations simulations. Drawing from 

this rich history, Harvard Model United Nations has strived to emphasize and promote the 

unique impact of the UN and its mandates in the eradication of humanity’s greatest problems. 

The United Nations is truly a global body with representation from 193 member states and is 

the closest the world has ever achieved to a “Parliament of Man.” 

HMUN 2013 is ambitious in its scope: our committees will jump from the Iroquois Confederacy 

in 1775 to the dawn of the year 2015 and the complex problems it will bring for the world 

economy. Our committees are diverse not only in time, but also in topics, with discussions on 

international security, human rights, development, managing a world-reknowned corporation, 

technology, and many pressing regional issues just to name a few. At HMUN, we also strive to 

emphasize international diversity within our community. To that end, HMUN 2013 is proud to 

welcome students from over 40 countries to share in this incredible experience. 

At Harvard Model United Nations, we set out to tackle meaningful issues that world leaders 

have struggled mightily to resolve. Our challenge is considerable. And yet, HMUN 2013 will be 

one of the fondest memories we will come to share. Meeting friends—old and new—hailing 

from different cities, states, and continents is a profound experience. I wish you the best of luck 

in your preparations for HMUN, and please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions 

or concerns you may have along the way. Opening Ceremonies will be here before you know it. 

Get ready. 

Sincerely, 

Ethan Lyle 



59 Shepard Street, Box 205 

Cambridge, MA 02138 

Voice: 617-398-0772 

Fax: 617-588-0285 

Email: info@harvardmun.org 

www.harvardmun.org 

2 Specialized Agencies



A Letter From the Under-Secretary-General 

Dear Delegates, 








Da-Bin Ryu 


Business 


Comptroller 







Lisa L. Wang 






Welcome to the Specialized Agencies! My name is Samuel Leiter and I am honored to serve as 

your Under-Secretary-General at this sixtieth session of Harvard Model United Nations. Ours is 

truly an elite organ, united in excellence by a love for rigorous debate, inspiring diplomacy, and 

thrilling crises. For several decades, we have built our reputation on the fact that no two iterations 

of the Specialized Agencies are alike: new committee offerings are introduced, standard offerings 

are revisited in new ways, and crises evolve in their sophistication, novelty, and realism. In this 

sixtieth session, we aim not to break the benchmarks set in 2012, but rather to shatter them. 

As you embark on your journey toward HMUN, I strongly encourage you to go beyond this 

study guide in your research and preparation. The sources cited and recommended by your 

director are excellent jumping-off points, but they are just that. Your school or public library 

and reputable websites will also serve you well as your prepare to assume the role of a country 

or person with whom you may be unfamiliar. In committee, you must be prepared to take risks 

(without wandering off policy) and be bold (but willing to compromise)! HMUN 2013 is an 

opportunity: seize it. 

Only with your active participation will your committee be a success. Delegates of the Specialized 

Agencies are not granted the luxury of passivity. You will represent some of the most powerful 

individuals that the world has ever known, you will negotiate with Presidents and Prime Ministers, 

and you will decide matters of peace and war and life and death. The formalities of parliamentary 

procedure and resolutions will be left behind as the world reacts to your decisions and you too 

react to a changing world, perhaps even late into the night as other delegates sleep soundly… 

Personally, I cannot wait to see what you will accomplish! I hope that you are as excited as I am 

to change the world forever – or at least for four days – and if you have any questions at all, 

please do not hesitate to contact me. Otherwise, I look forward to seeing you in Boston in just 

a few short months. 

Until then, 



Voice: 617-398-0772 

Fax: 617-588-0285 




Under-Secretary-General for the Specialized Agencies 


sa@harvardmun.org 


3



A Letter From the Director 

Dear Delegates, 








Da-Bin Ryu 


Business 


Comptroller 







Lisa L. Wang 






It is with the utmost pleasure that I welcome you to the Shogunate Council of Tokugawa Ieyoshi. I look 

very much forward to bringing my fascination with Japanese history and politics to life at Harvard Model 

United Nations 2013. I expect many aspects of Early Modern Japan to be new to most of you, and I 

hope to have you all catch the same feverish interest for this time period that I have developed. I chose 

this topic as a director for exactly this reason – people everywhere find ancient samurai, ninja, geishas, and 

shoguns to be exotic and thrilling, but they know little of their lives, their society, and how it all changed 

in fewer than two decades. In delving into this far-off world, I hope to give you the MUN experience of 

your lives (and mine). Instead of usual MUN thesis-length resolutions, we’ll have fast-paced directives that 

react to continual crises that will affect the Japanese state. Instead of national governments with bickering 

diplomats, we’ll have local daimyo lords. And instead of NGO testimonies we’ll take advice and garner 

information from castaways, prostitutes, and the shogun’s network of ninja spies. 

For one weekend in January 2013, you will be transported into the most critical period of Japanese history. 

The Shogunate Council of Tokugawa Ieyoshi is a simulation of the bakumatsu period of Japan, where 250 

years of peace, stability, and isolation abruptly shattered and a government and social system desperately 

attempted to evolve in order to survive. The council, headed by (yours truly as) shogun Tokugawa Ieyoshi, 

has the opportunity to alter the course of history at this watershed moment with swift and clever action. 

What route will you choose for Japan to take into the uncertain future? 

At Harvard, I’m a sophomore in Adams House majoring in History with a minor in French Literature. I’m 

from here in Boston but have spent extensive time in France and Italy. Like with most kids, my interest in 

Japanese history and society started with cartoons on the TV. From there I explored deeper into the lives 

of samurai, my interest leading me to take a course on Early Modern and Meiji Japan last year. Outside 

of MUN, at Harvard I am President of the fencing club, an editor for the history journal and the satire 

magazine, and an active member of the Half-Asian club (yes, such a thing exists here, and yes, it is awesome). 

Do not hesitate to contact me at any point if you have questions about preparing for committee or if you 

just want to introduce yourself. I cannot wait to begin this committee and I am already plotting dastardly 

schemes and diabolical machinations to thwart your best-laid plans with my trusty sidekick, high school 

buddy, and Crisis Director, Michael Chilazi. I hope you all arrive with original, creative, and bold ideas… 

because you’ll need them to survive what we have in store. Looking forward to meeting all of you! 

Sincerely, 



Voice: 617-398-0772 

Fax: 617-588-0285 



Stefan Poltorzycki 

Director, Shogunate Council of Tokugawa Ieyoshi, 1853 


shogunate@harvardmun.org 



Japanese Terminology 

Note about Japanese Names: Unlike in the West, in Japan the family name is 

placed first. Thus, with Tokugawa Ieyoshi, Tokugawa is the family name while 

Ieyoshi is the given name. Throughout the guide, unless referencing a member 

of the Tokugawa dynasty, family (i.e. first) names are used as references. Hence 

Oshio Heihachiro will be referred to as Oshio, while Tokugawa Ieyoshi will be 

referred to as Ieyoshi. For the sake of simplicity, I have omitted all macrons from 

names and terms. 

Shogun: “Barbarian-subduing generalissimo,” the head of a warrior 

government. Current shogun is Tokugawa Ieyoshi. 

Daimyo: Regional lord. Types of daimyo are tozama, fudai, and shimpan. 

Samurai: The warrior class of pre-modern Japan. 

Ronin: A samurai without a lord. 

Bushido: The way of the warrior, or the samurai code. 

Junshi: To follow one’s lord in death. Part of bushido. 

Seppuku: Ritualized and honorable samurai suicide. 

Shishi: “Men of high purpose.” Radical samurai who follow sonno joi. 

Eta/Hinen: Outcastes 

Kakure Kirishitan: “Hidden Christians.” Driven underground by 17 th 

century ban. 

Bakufu/Shogunate: Interchangeable terms meaning the centralized 

government under a shogun. Bakufu literally means “tent government.” 

Koku: The amount of rice one man can be expected to consume in 

a year. Peasants are taxed based on expected rice yield in koku and 

samurai are paid in koku. 

Sankin kotai: “Alternate attendance.” A control placed on daimyo by 

the shogunate. 

Shinto: The native Japanese belief system. 

Kokutai: The “national essence” that the Emperor is said to embody 

by Mitogaku. 

Kokugaku: “National learning.” The set of uniquely Japanese rituals, 

customs, and beliefs. 

Rangaku: Dutch studies in Japan. 

Mitogaku: Learning that comes out of the Mito domain. 

Sonno joi: Philosophy espoused by radical shishi. Sonno (Revere the 

Emperor) + joi (Expel the barbarian). 

Sekigahara: Battle in 1600 that established the supremacy of the 

Tokugawa clan. 

Sakoku: “Closed country.” The prevailing philosophy during the years 

1825-1842. 

Tempo era: Era of “Heavenly Protection.” 1830-1842. 

Bakumatsu: “End of the shogunate.” The period of Japanese history 

from 1853 to 1868. 

Yukaku: The red-light districts of Japanese cities. 

Yonaoshi: World renewal gods created by peasants during Tempo crisis. 

Okage Mairi: Mass pilgrimages by peasants to the Ise shrine. 

Ee ja nai ka: “What the?!” Tumultuous, spontaneous, and sometimes 

violent peasant dance parties. 


Introduction 

The territory of Japan consists of a 1,200-mile long island chain one 

hundred miles from the Korean peninsula and five hundred miles from 

China. The four main islands of Japan are Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, 

and Ezo. Honshu, the largest island, contains the capitol city of Edo, 

the imperial city of Kyoto, and the merchant city of Osaka. Shikoku 

contains the powerful Choshu domain, while Kyushu contains both 

the large Satsuma domain and the port city of Nagasaki. Ezo, to the 

north, is sparsely populated by Japanese and contains many of the 

indigenous Ainu. Other important islands include Tsushima near 

Korea and the Ryukyu islands, which are controlled by the Ryukyu 

Kingdom, a vassal state of the Satsuma domain. 1 

Since the introduction of Buddhism and Confucianism from China 

more than a millennium ago, Japan has existed in relative isolation. The 

last attempted invasions of Japan occurred in the 1200s by the Mongol 

chief Kublai Khan, and currently the only nation with which Japan 

maintains official diplomatic relations is Korea. While Japan has had a 

single emperor from a continuous line since the sixth century, political 

power has rested in a number of military dictatorships, or shogunates. 

The current Tokugawa shogunate has existed for over two centuries, 

dating back to 1603, and maintains control of Japan through a highly 

organized status system and a rice-based economy. 2 

Tokugawa era Japan—Tokugawa and fudai domains are in blue, 

shimpan domains in orange, and tozama domains in pink 

While peace and order have characterize the two centuries of 

Tokugawa rule, the last few decades have seen a disturbing breakdown 

of this order, with peasant rebellions, merchant opulence, samurai 

discontent, and Western encroachment all threatening to undermine 

the Tokugawa regime. In order to ensure its survival, the shogunate 

will have to make prudent decisions and walk a fine line between the 

competing factions of mid-19 th century Japan. 

5


Structure and Function of the Council 

My Honorable and Esteemed Compatriots, 

As you all know, since 1603, a group of over 240 fractured domains have been under the relatively 

peaceful and stable rule of a shogun of the house of Tokugawa. The shogun, ruling from the 

metropolis of Edo, controls national diplomacy, trade and defense. Each local domain rests under 

the control of a lord, or daimyo, who swears allegiance to the shogun in return for stability and 

protection. The shogun is generally advised by a small group of trusted shimpan and fudai daimyo. 

The 23 shimpan daimyo are relatives to the shogun, while the fudai daimyo are the loyal hereditary 

vassals of the Tokugawa house. They generally control small domains near the shogun’s base in Edo 

and act as administrators of the realm. 

However, due to extraordinary circumstances, the revered shogun Tokugawa Ieyoshi has called for your 

counsel. You represent a diverse group of the Japanese political elite, not only shimpan and fudai 

daimyo, but also powerful tozama daimyo, who control large domains far from Edo and are generally 

wary of Tokugawa authority. Some of you are also important military advisors, leading intellectuals, 

imperial representatives, and even members of the ascendant merchant class. The shogun, fifty-nine 

years-old and in his seventeenth year of rule, has called together this council to advise him on the 

pressing issues. 

Together, this eclectic group must navigate the mounting challenges to Tokugawa authority. The 

political dominance of the shogunate wavers as the feudal economy and social system carefully 

established by Ieyoshi’s illustrious ancestors erode. Spies report that some tozama daimyo are illegally 

establishing foreign trade without Tokugawa authority. The previously heroic and daring warrior 

samurai, who receive a fixed stipend from ten to 10,000 koku, either languish in bureaucratic 

positions or remain unemployed. Low-level samurai chafe under a system lacking in social mobility 

and meritocratic principles, where they barely scrape by while rich merchants live in luxury and gain 

the favor of their daimyo. Many of them are beginning to turn to the philosophies of Mitogaku and 

sonno joi, which espouse dangerously subversive principles. A small group of merchants are establishing 

enormous monopolies that wield a disturbing level of influence on society. Additionally, a series of 

poor harvests has struck Japan, resulting in widespread famine. Many peasants, interpreting their 

misfortune as an ill omen, create new gods and some even proclaim a world renewal. Isolated peasant 

uprisings begin to increase in frequency and violence, concerning many daimyo. Finally, Western 

powers are increasingly encroaching on the sovereignty of Japan, which has closed itself to almost all 

Western contact since the 1600s. 

The Ieyoshi shogunate will have to deftly navigate these issues, and has called upon you for advice. The 

decentralized Tokugawa state set up over two centuries ago offers both advantages and disadvantages to 

the shogunate at this time. While the shogun can deftly manage the competing factions in Tokugawa 

society, the shogunate itself wields great influence but little direct power on individual domains, 

which retain considerable fiscal autonomy. While the shogun makes the final decision on all matters 

brought before the council, each of you will use your own expertise to advise the great Ieyoshi. 

In order to ensure you are all up to date regarding issues at hand, expert Tokugawa scholars have 

meticulously labored for many hours to produce this guide for each of you. I ask that you all read it 

carefully in order to properly prepare yourselves for the council. We will meet shortly. 

- Abe Masehiro Jan. 1853 

rojo shuseki of Tokugawa Ieyoshi 



The Unification of Japan 

Topic Area 

Historical Background 

For most of the 16 th century, political chaos engulfed Japan. 

Groups of warring states vied for control but could not establish 

hegemony, disintegrating like dust before the wind. However, 

beginning in 1570, three great warlords unified Japan and within 

thirty years established a new shogunal dynasty. The first unifier 

was Oda Nobunaga, a regional lord whose tactical mastery of the 

firearm, a recent import from the West, allowed him to establish 

control over a large portion of Japan. 3 

After Nobunaga’s death, his chief general, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, 

continued the process of unifying Japan. Hideyoshi issued 

a number of reforms in an attempt to consolidate control. 

Hideyoshi instituted the status system of samurai, peasants, 

artisans and merchants (to be discussed in depth later). Hideyoshi’s 

social engineering separated peasants, who could no longer carry 

weapons, from warriors, who could no longer work the land. 4 

Hideyoshi also carried out Japan’s first cadastral survey to measure 

the estimated rice yield of every domain in terms of koku (the 

amount of rice one man would be expected to eat in a single year). 

Other important events of Hideyoshi’s rule include the building 

of the enormous Osaka castle and his two failed invasions of 

Korea, which were Japan’s last military involvement with a foreign 

nation. 5 

The final unifier, Tokugawa Ieyasu, inherited and made peaceful 

the land unified by his two predecessors. In 1600, the divine Ieyasu 

defeated his last real threat, the traitor Ishida Mitsunari, at the battle 

of Sekigahara; and in 1603 the Emperor of Japan conferred the 

title of seii tai shogun, or “barbarian-subduing generalissimo,” onto 

Ieyasu. The settlement at Sekigahara marginalized the Emperor 

from politics and left the Tokugawa clan with the sole duty of 

maintaining order in society. Ieyasu ruled for two years before 

installing his third son, Tokugawa Hidetada, as shogun. The first 

three shoguns, Ieyasu, Hidetada (r. 1605-23), and Iemitsu (r. 1623- 

51), consolidated Tokugawa hegemony and established a complex 

social and economic system that remained relatively untouched 

until recently. 6 

Methods of Tokugawa control 

The first three shoguns worked to pacify and consolidate the 

realm. The Tokugawa bakufu controlled commerce, public works, 

defense, and religion throughout Japan. They ruled from Edo, 

which saw an explosion in population during the early-Tokugawa 

period, becoming the largest city in the world by the 18 th century 

with over a million people. 7 

The shogunate managed diplomacy and limited trade throughout 

the realm. To prevent subversive elements from entering Japan, 

the shogunate strictly controlled foreign relations, restricting the 

import of foreign weapons and ideas (particularly Christianity). 

All foreign trade was conducted either on Tsushima (with Korea) 

or Nagasaki (with China and the Netherlands). While rice was 

the national currency, the shogunate minted coins in gold, silver, 

and copper, with the gold ryo being the largest denomination, 

and strictly controlled the value of gold and silver to a 5/1 ratio. 

Domains and merchants independently issued paper currency, 

redeemable for bakufu-issued coins. 8 

Tokugawa Ieyasu pacified his realm and began the Tokugawa 

dynasty. He was later deified by his grandson, Iemitsu 


The shogunate’s greatest concern was in controlling the unruly 

daimyo. There were five main methods with which the bakufu 

kept the daimyo in check. The first method was the confiscation 

and politics of space. After Sekigahara, the Tokugawa shogunate 

rewarded his loyal retainers with generous land holdings near 

7


the capitol of Edo. Daimyo that had opposed Ieyasu had their 

holdings confiscated, or were dispossessed into smaller domains 

on the outskirts of the realm. The shogunate maintained the 

ability to award or confiscate land from any daimyo, although the 

practice grew increasingly rare after the 17 th century. The second 

method of control was a law that limited each domain to a single 

castle, preventing any single domain from bolstering its defenses. 

The third method was the Tokugawa inspectors, essentially a 

network of spies that monitored the behavior of shogunal 

officials and daimyo and reported back to the administration in 

Edo. The fourth method of control was marriage. The shogun 

had to approve of all daimyo marriages, and could therefore 

prevent particularly powerful marriage alliances from forming 

while marrying his own children into powerful domains. 

The Status System: SPAM 

The shogunate’s most effective and widespread method of 

control was the status system, established by Hideyoshi in 

the late 16 th century. The status system split almost the entire 

population into four groups: samurai, peasants, artisans, and 

merchants (you can remember this as SPAM). The Neo- 

Confucian texts of Hayashi Razan provided the philosophical 

basis behind the status system. Razan believed that social 

hierarchy is a part of natural order, writing, “if we can 

understand the meaning of the order existing between heaven 

and earth, we can also perceive that in everything there is an 

order separating those who are above and those who are 

below.” 10 

With hierarchy framed as a virtue, the status system became 

the dominant value system in Japan, and every member of 

society needed to know his relative place in the system. With 

such a system in place, the shogunate could delegate most of 

the responsibility of administration to these social containers. 

The status system was the center of Tokugawa rule and 

Japanese society. With the duties of rule mostly farmed out 

through the status system, the Tokugawa shogunate acted as 

the head of a decentralized yet hierarchically integrated state. 

Daimyo 

Sankin Kotai, or alternate attendance, was the shogunate’s primary method of 

keeping the daimyo in check 

The final method of control, established by Iemtisu, was by far 

the most important and effective. Called sankin kotai, or alternate 

attendance, it stipulated that all daimyo must spend alternate 

years in Edo. This system, in which Daimyo had to maintain 

residences both in Edo and their domain, caused a major drain 

on domain resources. In an effort to outdo one another, daimyo 

organized elaborate processions to and from Edo. Sankin kotai 

was also a hostage system, in that the wives and children of all 

daimyo stayed permanently in Edo. At any threat of rebellion, the 

shogun could threaten a daimyo with the lives of those dearest 

to him. This system not only made it difficult for the daimyo to 

maintain their administrations at home, being absent half the 

time, but also detached future generations from their realms. The 

children of daimyo, having spent their entire lives in Edo, would 

not be equipped to handle the challenges of their domains, nor 

would they have established a rapport with their people. Sankin 

kotai remained an extremely effective check on domainal power 

throughout the Tokugawa era. 9 

The 240-295 daimyo, the highest-level samurai, lorded over 

domains of at least 10,000 koku, with the largest domains at 

around one million koku. Daimyo controlled three-quarters 

of the land in Japan, while the Tokugawa house directly ruled 

the rest (mostly Edo and its surroundings, Osaka, Kyoto, and 

Nagasaki). These daimyo made an oath of direct loyalty to 

the shogun, who offered them protection and peace in return. 

Daimyo paid their loyal samurai vassals a stipend of anywhere 

from 10 to 10,000 koku. 11 The 23 shimpan daimyo, all related 

to the shogun, controlled large holdings on Honshu. The 

fudai daimyo usually controlled small domains near Edo and 

acted as a buffer between the Tokugawa base and the tozama 

daimyo. The tozama daimyo had fought against Ieyasu at 

Sekigahara and were punished with the loss of holdings and 

dispossessions to the corners of the domain. 12 While the 

original goals of these dispossessions had succeeded – putting 

dangerous elements away from Edo, decreasing tozama 

influence in affairs, and removing daimyo from their power 

bases – the remote nature of the tozama domains allowed them 

to become semi-independent states, and sometimes covertly 

act against Tokugawa orders. Additionally, tozama domains, 

having lost lands after Sekigahara, had a disproportionately 



large number of samurai. While this made it more difficult 

to feed the entire population, tozama daimyo could establish 

greater control over their land by placing samurai in rural 

villages to watch over peasants. 13 Three of the most important 

domains of the time period were the tozama domains of 

Satsuma and Choshu and the shimpan domain of Aizu. 

Many of the daimyo who had opposed Ieyasu at Sekigahara were severely 

punished and became lords of tozama domains 

Satsuma and Choshu, among the largest and most powerful 

domains, were also bitter rivals with each other. However, they 

both shared a similar disdain for the Tokugawa shogunate. 

Because of land concessions after Sekigahara, Satsuma, ruled 

by the Shimazu clan, had the highest percentage of samurai 

out of any domain, with close to 25% of the population 

belonging to the samurai class. 14 However, Satsuma was one 

of the few domains on the losing side whose daimyo did not 

have to relocate to a different region, thereby allowing Satsuma 

to remain powerful throughout the Tokugawa era. The large 

number of samurai in Satsuma put extra strain on the peasants, 

who were worked notoriously hard, cultivating in particular 

a type of potato unique to the domain. Satsuma received 

additional revenue by having a monopoly on trade with the 

Ryukyu islands, which brought the valuable commodity of 

sugar into the domain. Additionally, Satsuma had been using 

its contact with the Ryukyu islands to skirt trade restrictions 

with the Chinese for decades. Satsuma was able to use its 

size and power to receive a number of accessions from the 

Tokugawa regime, notably being allowed to have multiple 

castles and more relaxed sankin kotai requirements. 15 

Choshu’s daimyo, meanwhile, had led the opposing forces at 

Sekigahara, which led to severe punishment by the shogunate. 

However, Choshu, ruled by the Mori clan, was able to regain 

its financial footing during the Tokugawa era through strict 

(and often unpopular) economic reforms and entrepreneurial 

endeavors. 16 

While the ruling families of these two domains were not 

friendly towards each other, they shared a similar resentment 

over Sekigahara that carried into the 19 th century. Every year 

at the anniversary of the battle, Satsuma samurai would don 

their armor and meditate over the defeat. However, Satsuma 

was not openly anti-bakufu, and often worked to establish 

strong ties with the administration to advance its own interests. 

Choshu, on the other hand, never ceased to fume with antibakufu 

dioscontent. By the mid-19 th century, Choshu had 

become a center of subversive activity and a constant concern 

to the shogunate. 

In contrast to Satsuma and Choshu, the shimpan domain of 

Aizu epitomized loyalty to the Tokugawa regime. The founder 

of the house, the son of Tokugawa Hidetada and a concubine, 

wrote a code for Aizu samurai in 1668, which was read every 

year. The principle doctrine of the code was to “serve the 

shogun with single-minded devotion. Do not measure your 

loyalty by the standard of other domains. If any Aizu daimyo 

is disloyal to the Tokugawa house, he is no descendant of 

mine, and on no account are you to obey him.” 17 The Aizu 

domain, ruled by one of the Matsudaira clans, was one of four 

domains that the shogunate entrusted to handle the coastal 

defense of Tokugawa lands. 18 However, Aizu, like many of 

the shimpan and fudai domains, struggled economically 

throughout its history. Aizu daimyo began to increasingly 

borrow from merchants to finance lavish lifestyles, leading to 

higher taxes on the peasants. In 1749, one of the most violent 

peasant rebellions in Japanese history occurred in Aizu. 

Following a series of poor harvests, Aizu peasants voiced 

their discontent by looting merchant houses and rioting in 

the capitol. The daimyo, forced to lower taxes in response, fell 

even further into debt. Aizu’s financial woes continued into 

the 19 th century, yet it remained an influential domain. 19 

Samurai 

Whereas Japanese daimyo are not dissimilar from feudal 

European barons, the samurai differ considerably from the 

knight. Unlike the knight, the samurai do not own land; his 

power is purely bureaucratic. In the late 16 th century, when 

smallholdings consolidated under a few lords that became 

the daimyo, the samurai were stripped of their fiefs, which 

the daimyo converted into a annual stipends. Forbidden by 

the status system from working the land or managing money, 

samurai work as governmental officials. This was a result of the 

Tokugawa shogunate’s concerted effort to “tame the samurai” by 

transforming them from rural warriors to urban bureaucrats. 20 


9


The philosophy of the feudal samurai is best found in 

Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s Hagakure (“Hidden Leaves”). 

Yamamoto, prohibited from committing seppuku, or ritualized 

suicide, by the bakufu after his daimyo’s death in 1700, retired 

as a ronin, or samurai without a lord, and wrote one of the 

first texts to attempt to codify bushido, or the way of the 

samurai. Yamamoto espoused, “the Way of the Samurai is 

found in death,” and advocated the practice of junshi, or 

following one’s lord in death. 21 Yamamoto also stated that a 

true samurai is unwavering in his loyalty to his master and 

completely renounces self-interest. 22 

“an underemployed and unproductive elite” would eventually 

create serious economic and social problems in society and 

lead to the birth of a frustrated and impoverished samurai 

underclass. 23 

Samurai make up around seven percent of the population, 

although this figure varies considerably among domains (by 

comparison, the nobility of pre-Revolutionary France made 

up less than 1% of the total population). 24 The samurai status 

accords certain privileges in society, including the ability to carry a 

sword (most samurai carry two), as well as the distinctive topknot 

hairstyle and samurai clothing. 25 Except for those samurai directly 

loyal to the shogun, samurai serve only their daimyo, who pays 

each samurai a hereditary stipend in koku. Each daimyo, in turn, 

serves the shogun. This complex pyramidal allegiance system has 

caused problems throughout the Tokugawa era, most famously 

with Ako vendetta (discussed later). 

Peasants 

Peasants are the most numerous members of society, making 

up over 80% of the population. While rice is the staple crop of 

Japan, other grains, soy, potatoes, cotton, and tobacco are grown 

in smaller amounts. 26 Peasant life is centered in the village, which 

is the basic building block of Tokugawa society. Villages, rather 

than individuals, pay taxes. Taxes, paid in koku, are based not 

on the actual yield, but rather a fixed volume of the expected 

yield for the land. 27 Therefore, peasant communities with more 

efficient or innovative techniques could manage to accumulate 

disposable income. However, this system also meant that years 

of bad harvests hit peasants particularly hard, as we will later see 

with the Tempo crisis. Each village has a governing council with a 

respected elder headman, who acts as the main link between the 

lord and the village. 

Only samurai could carry swords, although they had largely become symbolic to 

the Tokugawa era samurai bureaucrats 

However, the Tokugawa era marked a fading of this samurai 

spirit. Separated from the land, the samurai followed their 

daimyo into cities, severing their connections from their 

hometowns. By forcing the samurai to put down the sword 

and pick up the brush, the shogunate eliminated a major 

threat to societal order. However, as we will see in the section 

on the Tempo era, the transformation of the samurai into 

The shogunate has enacted numerous measures to suppress the 

peasant population. Peasants are rooted to their land, and cannot 

move to a different domain, or even a different village, without 

official permission. To enforce this rule, the shogunate requires 

all peasants to register with their local Buddhist temple. 28 While 

social mobility has been essentially stagnant for all members of 

Tokugawa society, this is particularly true of the peasants, where it 

is almost impossible to improve one’s lot. The brutal tax burden 

suppresses most any hopes of advancement. Kamio Harunaka, 

a minister of finance during the reign of Tokugawa Yoshimune 

(r. 1716-1745), uttered the famous phrase that embodied burdens 

placed on peasants in Tokugawa Japan: “with peasants and sesame 

seeds, the more you squeeze them the more you get out.” 29 



Peasants, however, do have recourse for their struggles. Village 

headmen can petition samurai officials. The most famous of 

these petitions was by Sakura Sogoro, a village headman from 

the mid-1600s. Sakura led a group of headmen in petitioning 

daimyo officials when taxes led to mass starvation among 

the peasants. However, after their demands were consistently 

rebuffed, Sakura took the unprecedented step and petitioned 

the shogun directly. For daring to disrespect the shogun with 

his presence, Sakura and his family were crucified, but the 

daimyo remitted the high taxes out of embarrassment. Hailed 

as a peasant martyr, Sakura has become a symbol of resistance 

and the patron saint of protests. Shrines to Sakura sprung up 

in many villages. 30 As we will later see, during the Tempo era 

the nature of peasant protests would take a violent turn. 

of laying down his sword and becoming a merchant. He opened 

a brewery and a pawnshop, and his son Tokatoshi followed 

him by opening a branch store in Edo. The Edo shop grew to 

become Japan’s first department store, Echigoya, which invented 

advertising in Japan. It eventually became Japan’s largest store, 

also opening numerous branches. The Mitsui family became 

one of the wealthiest in Japan, and far more rich and influential 

than they ever were as a samurai family. 33 The story of Mitsui 

reveals the transformation of an agrarian economy into a market 

and exchange economy, unraveling the status system that the 

shogunate’s founders so carefully put in place. This issue becomes 

acute during the Tempo crisis, as we will later see. 

Sakura Sogoro became a folk hero for the sacrifice he made to petition the shogun 

Artisans and Merchants 

During the Tokugawa era, the merchant class, which approximately 

equals the samurai in numbers, has achieved an incredible 

ascendancy. Based mostly in Osaka and Edo, merchants have 

established a monetized market economy on top of the 

national rice economy by creating a futures market based on rice. 

Merchant and artisan guilds also maintain government-sanctioned 

monopolies by paying a yearly fee, much like the corporations of 

Early modern Europe. 31 Many merchants change rice into coinage 

and lend to samurai and daimyo, who often go deep into debt. 

Although an individual merchant has no legal means to enforce 

proper repayment of loans, negligent daimyo and samurai can 

be blacklisted by merchant guilds. Many merchants become 

extremely wealthy, drawing the ire of the samurai. The samurai, 

who devotes his life to public service, often struggles in poverty, 

while the dishonorable moneymaker lives in ease in elegance and 

often receives special treatment from the daimyo. 32 

One of the most remarkable examples of merchant ascendancy 

during the Tokugawa era is the case of the Mitsui family. In the 

early 1600s, samurai Mitsui Sokubei took the unprecedented step 


The Mitsui families Echigoya shop had a great effect on Tokugawa society 

Groups Outside the Status System 

While the vast majority of the population was sorted into the 

status system, the imperial court, outcasts, priests, doctors, monks, 

foreigners, and, to a certain extent, women, live outside the status 

system. We will briefly discuss a few of these groups. 

The early Tokugawa shogunate had largely marginalized the 

imperial court and Emperor. While the Emperor officially 

appointed each shogun and gave power to the house of Tokugawa 

with the imperial seal, this act was nothing but a formality to give 

further justification to Tokugawa rule. 34 The Imperial dynasty 

was established in the early 6 th century, although a mythological 

line extends back a further 1200 years to the sun god Amaterasu. 

While the idea of the emperor is important to the Japanese, the 

position itself has been powerless since the 9 th century and the 

Emperor remains uninvolved with the daily life of the Japanese 

people. The Emperor and his court convene at Kyoto, and serve 

two major functions. First, the Emperor controls all the mines in 

Japan. Second, the Emperor serves as a scholar and head of the 

Shinto belief system. Shinto is not a powerful or unifying ideology, 

nor a true religion, but a series of rituals for the imperial court 

11


and a disorganized local belief system throughout Japan. 35 The 

organization of Shinto would not begin until the Tempo era saw 

the rise of Mitogaku and the beginning of the sonno movement. 

a spurred merchant class and the growth of the markets. The 

fifth was improved transport and communication. 

The two groups of outcasts are called Eta and Hinen. Together 

they comprise about 4% of Japanese society. Outcasts 

perform functions forbidden of those inside the status system. 

The Eta label is hereditary, and includes all professions 

that handle carcasses, such as butchers, tanners, morticians, 

and executioners. They live in segregated villages. 36 Hinen 

(“non-human”) is a non-hereditary label applies to actors, 

fortunetellers, beggars, and prostitutes. While discrimination 

against outcasts exists, they perform vital functions in society 

and are often respected individuals. 37 

It is impossible to place women either inside or outside the 

status system. A Tokugawa era woman is responsible for 

childrearing and household management, but peasant women 

also help with the harvest and merchant women assist with 

bookkeeping. Samurai women often receive formal education. 

Some women instead enter the life of a geisha, and live and 

work in specialized yukaku (red-light) districts. Japanese 

society does not consider the geisha’s work disgraceful, but 

rather another necessary role in society. In fact, a well-trained 

geisha would also master art, dance, and gossip. 38 

The bustling Yoshiwara district in Tokyo was the most famous of the yukaku 

red-light districts 

Developments of early Tokugawa era 

A major development of the early Tokugawa era was the 

transformation of domainal castle towns into cities. This 

urbanization led to six major developments that affected 

Japanese society. The first development was the consolidation 

of lordly status on the daimyo, leading to the ascendancy of the 

daimyo in society. The second was a consolidation of control 

in each domain, which had a stabilizing effect. The third was 

the urbanization of the samurai, which allowed the daimyo 

to keep them under control and monitored. The fourth was 

The famous revenge of the 47 ronin is often called final act of the medieval 

samurai 

The last, and perhaps the most important, development was 

the bureaucratization of the samurai and the loss of samurai 

independence and spirit. This development can be best seen 

in the Ako Vendetta of 1701, often deemed the last gasp of 

the feudal samurai spirit. In the Ako Vendetta, a group of 47 

ronin set about revenging their deceased lord by launching a 

surprise attack on another daimyo. The ronin acted exactly 

according to proper samurai behavior, following their moral 

principle, and displaying loyalty to the house of their lord. 

And according to the pyramidal structure of society, where 

the non-samurai population was submissive to the samurai 

class, the samurai submissive to their daimyo, and the daimyo 

submissive to the shogun (and the shogun, theoretically, 

submissive to the Emperor), the ronin had acted properly. 

However, according to the laws of the bakufu, the ronin had 

disrupted order in society. The shogunate placed the values 

of law and order above medieval samurai values and ordered 

the ronin to commit honorable seppuku. 39 The Ako Vendetta 

exemplifies the shogunate’s successful social and political 

containment of the samurai, achieved by excluding them 

from the land and reorganizing them into the bureaucratic 

hierarchy. As the shogunate has promoted the values of the 

modern samurai (duty, obligation, responsibility, and loyalty 

to the law), over those of the medieval samurai (pride, honor, 

violence, and loyalty to one’s master), the Tokugawa era has 

witnessed a fading of the samurai spirit. 



Foreign Affairs and the West 

The shogunate alone carries responsibility for foreign relations 

and national defense, a limitation that acts both as a strength 

and a liability. Until 1543, Japan only had contact with the 

East. Chinese monks imported Buddhism and Confucianism 

in the 500s. 40 Both quickly became central elements of 

Japanese culture and evolved their own schools of thought 

within Japan. In the last foreign invasion of Japan, a series 

of storms prevented a Mongol invasion led by Kublai Khan 

twice in the late 1200s. Japan maintains official diplomatic 

relations with only Korea, and only the daimyo of the island 

of Tsushima handles trade with the country. 41 Restricted trade 

with China, mostly the exchange of silver for silk, occurs in 

the city of Nagasaki, although Satsuma often has used the 

Ryukyu islands as an intermediary to skirt this regulation. 

Other than in Satsuma, Tsushima, and Nagasaki, foreign 

trade is forbidden throughout Japan. Officials throughout 

the centuries have dreamt of overseas expansion into Korea 

and China, but after Hideyoshi’s debacle in the late 1500s, the 

bakufu has made no further attempts at foreign incursion. 

Japan maintains administration over Ezo, the northernmost 

of the four main islands, but except for the southern tip, 

native Ainu tribes populate the island. 42 

The first Western contacts with Japan were Portuguese and 

Spanish Catholic missionaries. The Portuguese arrived in 1543, 

bringing arms and the Gospel into Japan. 43 Christianity spread 

from the port city of Nagasaki, whose daimyo had converted, 

throughout southern Japan. By 1600, hundreds of thousands 

had converted to Christianity. However, these southern daimyo 

also joined the opposing side at Sekigahara, and divine Ieyasu 

became extremely suspicious of the foreign religion. 44 A 1612 

decree banning Christianity remained relatively unenforced until 

the last major anti-bakufu revolt of the Tokugawa era. In 1637, 

peasants in Shimbara and surrounding regions rose up against 

the government before being quashed by shogunal forces. When 

great Iemitsu learned that many of the leaders of the rebellion 

were Christian, he reacted swiftly. To combat the subversive 

ideologies entering Japan, Iemitsu decreed a seclusion order in 

1639 that severely limited foreign contact. Japanese were forbidden 

to travel abroad, all foreigners were expelled, and the practice of 

Christianity became punishable by death. Thereafter, all foreigners 

shipwrecked on Japan were required to trample on a crucifix to 

prove they were not missionaries. Many Christians gave up their 

faith, but legend says the rest went underground. These Kakure 

Kirishitan, “Hidden Christians,” are thought to secretly practice 

their beliefs in the areas around Nagasaki, but have never been 

discovered by shogunal inspectors. 45 


With China’s defeat in the Opium Wars, Japan realized the might of Western 

military technology 

Japan, however, did not completely close up to the West. 

Having convinced the bakufu that their aims were purely 

financial, the Dutch are permitted to trade with the Japanese 

on the tiny island of Dejima in Nagasaki. 46 The bakufu limits 

trade with the Dutch to a trickle, and there is very little contact 

with them outside of the island. The Dutch make one official 

visit to Edo every four years to present gifts and produce 

a report on global news. Through the Dutch, the bakufu 

administration has become fairly well informed about world 

affairs and technological advances, although the rest of the 

country remains completely ignorant. However, the Dutch 

also occasionally feed false information in order to maintain 

their trading monopoly with the Japanese. The bakufu also 

questions castaways, both foreigners and Japanese returned by 

other governments, to gain intelligence on the West. 47 

The Japanese fear of Christianity prevents almost any other 

Western knowledge from entering Japan. Books imported 

by the Dutch are sent to Edo and stored in the shogun’s 

castle, for fear of subversive Christian elements. One of 

the only Western imports that the Japanese have responded 

positively to is Western painting. The use of perspective 

had not yet been discovered in Japan, and many Japanese 

artists have incorporated Western techniques after seeing 

one of the few pieces artwork imported by the Dutch. A few 

translators have slogged through a couple books on medical 

and scientific learning, but it was not until 1789 that the first 

Dutch language school opened in Nagasaki. 48 Starting in the 

1800s, a few Japanese began to learn French, Russian, and 

English in addition to Dutch. However, Rangaku, or Dutch 

Studies, has oscillated between periods of popularity and 

official clampdown. In 1839, a purge of “barbarian scholars” 

occurred and study of the West fell out of favor. 49 

13


However, it was only a matter of time before the major 

Western imperial powers began to encroach on Japanese 

sovereignty. The Russians, having reached Siberia, were 

expanding through the Pacific from the North, and became 

the first to contact the Japanese. The explorer Adam Laxman 

arrived in Ezo in 1792, alarming the shogunate. When Japan 

refused the Russian request to open trade relations, Russian 

warships mounted two raids on Japanese communities in an 

attempt to coerce them by force. The attempt failed, but the 

Russian behavior showed the shogunate both its own military 

deficiency against the cannons of the West, and instilled a 

deep mistrust of Westerners. 50 When Russia established a 

(short-lived) Japanese language school, the shogunate was 

put on high alert, thinking the Russians were preparing for an 

invasion of Japan. 51 In order to combat Russian encroachment, 

the shogunate made efforts to establish a presence in Ezo and 

settle more Japanese on the island. 

The next power to make contact with the Japanese was the 

British Empire. While Britain is not currently viewed as 

having colonial aspirations for Japan, it sees the island as a 

strategic point in the Pacific. The first British ship, Phaeton, 

entered Nagasaki in 1808 to search for enemy Dutch vessels. 

Demanding supplies, the governor of Nagasaki could 

only reluctantly acquiesce due to the superior firepower of 

the English ship. 52 Later, in 1818, the British requested to 

establish trade with the Japanese and were rejected. In 1824, 

men from a British ship off the shore of Kagoshima arrived 

on the mainland to steal supplies. Fighting broke out between 

the sailors and the Japanese. 53 In response to this incident, 

the shogunate, infuriated and concerned about Western 

encroachment, enacted the “Shell and Repel” edict of 1825. 

This edict stipulated that any Western vessels seen in Japanese 

waters would be attacked with cannon fire. Distressed vessels 

would be refused aid. The period this edict was in place, from 

1825-1842, is often called the sakoku, or closed country, 

period. The bakufu revoked the edict in response to the First 

Opium War. 

The First Opium War (1839-1842), a conflict between Britain 

and China, resulted in the first of China’s embarrassing 

defeats to Western nations in the late 19 th century. Chinese 

concessions to Britain included the loss of the territory of 

Hong Kong, revoked tariff autonomy, extraterritoriality for 

the British (meaning that British citizens were not subject to 

Chinese laws when on Chinese soil), and most favored nation 

status. For China, the regional power that Japan had looked 

to in awe for centuries, to lose a conflict so handily to the 

West was extremely unsettling to the bakufu. The shogunate 

revoked the edict, realizing that provoking the West could 

result in a disastrous war for Japan. The Opium War confirmed 

bakufu beliefs that Westerners were violent barbarians, but 

Japan needed time to build up its defenses if it wanted to try 

to resist the West. 54 

During the 1840s, the French also established contact 

with Japan, although these encroachments took place at 

Tsushima and the Ryukyus rather than attempted visits to 

the mainland. 55 However, the last and most aggressive power 

to reach Japan was America. There were sporadic sightings 

of American whaling vessels off the Japanese coast, but the 

first ship to attempt trade with the Japanese was the Morrison 

in 1837, which the Japanese met with cannon fire. 56 In 1846, 

the bakufu turned away from Edo two ships captained by 

Commodore James Biddle. However, these ships were not 

fired upon (in accordance with the revocation of the Shell 

and Repel Edict), an encouraging sign for the Americans. The 

Japanese were dismayed to see that the two American vessels 

vastly outgunned the sparse and antiquated coastal cannons 

around Edo. 57 When America acquired California after the 

Mexican-American War (1846-1848), the Pacific opened up 

to American traders. As early as 1849, American businessman 

Aaron Palmer advocated opening trade relations with Japan as 

a supplying and coaling center for whaling vessels. 58 

It is only a matter of time until America attempts once again 

to open Japan, which, without even a navy, is in no state to 

resist. There are two conflicting opinions among the bakufu 

administration for how to respond to the West. One group 

advocates a buildup of coastal defenses, while the other 

pushes simply for an avoidance of conflict. 59 The shogun’s 

chief advisor, Abe Masahiro, ordered for the buildup of 

coastal defenses in Tokugawa lands in 1845, and for domains 

in 1850. Abe took the unprecedented step of calling on 

domains to raise peasant militias, an action in direct conflict 

with the status system. 60 Desperate times call for desperate 

measures. 

Tempo Era (1830-43) 

Heading into 1830, things were looking bright in the Land of 

the Rising Sun. Scholars had declared the year the beginning 

of the Tempo (“Heavenly Protection”) era. The last set of 

Tokugawa reforms occurred during the Kansei era in the 

1790s. Shogunate advisor Matsudaira Sadanobu responded 

to an erosion of Tokugawa authority by attempting to return 

to tradition. The shogunate further restricted foreign trade, 

placed restrictions on merchants, cancelled some samurai 



debts, removed corrupt officials, reorganized the governance 

of Edo, increased government censorship, and officialized the 

shogunate’s Confucian doctrine. All these measures increased 

the shogunate’s control on society and placed tradition at 

the forefront of bakufu thought. After these reforms, Japan 

experienced a series of particularly good years for crops, 

leading to a period of social tranquility. 61 

This period, however, did not last for long. In the Tempo era, 

poor crops and a debased currency led to a sharp rise in the 

price of rise, with disastrous consequences. In this period 

of unrest and crisis, the social and economic system set up 

by the three unifiers unraveled. In 1833 began a period of 

abnormally cold weather that caused massive crop shortages 

and famines. Some peasants were even forced to eat their 

straw raincoats to survive. 62 For the samurai, rising inflation 

decreased the value of their stipends; cash-strapped daimyo 

even permanently reduced some stipends. In an attempt to 

keep up appearances despite lessening purchasing power 

and reduced stipends, samurai increasingly borrowed from 

merchant moneylenders, going further and further into debt. 

Some desperate samurai even sold their samurai status to 

wealthy merchants. Exacerbating these problems, in 1843 

Tokugawa Ieyoshi, the 12 th shogun, went on a pilgrimage 

to the shrine of the divine Tokugawa Ieyasu (who had been 

deified by great Iemitsu in the 17 th century). His personal 

escort numbered between 150 and 200 thousand. The sheer 

size of this entourage caused complete chaos, and incurred 

extraordinary costs to the daimyo hosting the shogun along 

his route. 63 

Peasant protests began as petitions for redress, but during the Tempo era they 

often escalated into violence 


Societal reaction to this crisis was unprecedented levels of 

popular protest. Unrest occurred in both urban and rural areas 

as inequality and injustice became more palpable. Villages 

began to act politically as the deference to authorities that 

underpinned the status system eroded. Peasants increasingly 

revolted. New and unsanctioned peasant religions, worshipping 

yonaoshi, or “world renewal” gods, spread rapidly as peasants 

desperately tried to find hope in the future. 64 

The height of Tempo era peasant rebellion was the 1837 

Osaka riot. Oshio Heihachiro, a low-level samurai and 

Tokugawa inspector, saw the peasants’ plight and grew tired 

of inaction by authorities. He penned a manifesto deriding 

commercialism, which had turned the social order on its head, 

and called the suffering peasants to arms. Oshio and a peasant 

army razed over a quarter of Osaka to the ground before the 

rebellion was put down. 65 Oshio’s rebellion set a dangerous 

precedent – with strong leadership and a desperate peasant 

population, discontent could dangerously boil over. Merchant 

wealth incurred the wrath of both samurai and peasants, and 

any collaboration between the two would have threatened 

national security. However, Oshio was an extraordinary 

exception. His manifesto, calling for unity between classes to 

overthrow the merchant stranglehold on society, reads like a 

call for socialist revolution. Not all samurai are as modern in 

thought as Oshio, and the vast majority is much too proud 

to associate themselves with lowly peasants. Nevertheless, 

Tokugawa society, so obsessed with maintaining order, turned 

into a powder keg. 

The shortcomings of the shogunate became evident in its 

response to the crisis. The shogunate began with its usual 

response to crop shortages – reducing taxes, securing food 

for cities, quelling riots forcefully, and debasing the currency. 

These measures, which had offered relief in less acute crises, 

did nothing to alleviate the situation. Only in 1841 did the 

shogunate finally attack the crisis with the Tempo reforms. 

The brainchild of Mizuno Tadakuni, there were three main 

aspects to the Tempo reforms: moral regulation, economic 

stabilization, and the reassertion of Tokugawa authority. 

Mizuno’s moral regulations attempted to curb excesses and 

return the country to an imagined past of moral righteousness. 

The shogunate taxed and regulated the “immoral” luxuries of 

the samurai, such as prostitution, gambling, tattoos, theater, 

alcohol, and pornography. 66 Additionally, the shogunate decried 

the “excesses” of the peasantry, a particularly ill-advised move 

considering the mass starvations at this time. The attempts 

at economic stabilization worked to curb efforts by rural 

15


entrepreneurs and ambitious daimyo from skirting the Osakabased 

market and rice economy, efforts that were weakening 

Tokugawa finances by decentralizing the economy. When the 

shogunate debased the currency, leading to runaway inflation, it 

abolished merchant guilds, thinking that a freer market would 

drive down prices. However, when inflation continued, the 

shogunate quickly reinstated the guilds. The shogunate did 

decide to force rich Osaka merchants to “contribute” large sums 

to the Tokugawa treasury. Lastly, the shogunate attempted to 

reestablish Tokugawa prestige and reassert its power in society. 

The shogunate placed restrictions on domainal currency and 

seized land around Edo and Osaka. 67 An attempt to strip three 

daimyo of their titles was rescinded after loud protests from 

other daimyo. 68 Whereas Iemitsu confiscated and reorganized 

hundreds of realms, in the intervening two centuries the daimyo 

had grown to view their domains as a right, and attempts to 

remove them were viewed as nothing but empty threats. A major 

check against daimyo insubordination had become toothless. 

The reforms of Mizuno proved largely unsuccessful, but the 

Tempo crisis eventually subsided due to improved weather in the 

1840s. However, the crisis had a number of lasting effects. The 

confiscation of land around Tokugawa metropolitan centers 

and the threat of unseating daimyo alienated the lords from the 

shogunate. A climate of mutual suspicion had been created, as 

the daimyo suspected the shogunate of plotting to unseat them 

and the shogunate suspected the daimyo of secretly breaking 

laws and undermining the shogunate. Tokugawa Nariaki, the 

shimpan daimyo of the Mito domain, emerged as an opposition 

figure for those opposed to the shogunate 

actions. The bakufu finances were in an 

extremely poor position, while a number 

of the large tozama domains (Satsuma in 

particular) had weathered the crisis much 

better. Efforts against samurai luxury were 

massively unpopular in the metropolis of 

Edo. 69 

The strengths of the Tokugawa system 

– dividing up society and space and 

controlling foreign relations – also 

proved to be weaknesses as the status 

system began to fall apart and foreigners 

increasingly violated Japanese sovereignty. 

Major concerns have surfaced over 

the bakufu’s military preparedness, 

particularly after the difficulty of putting 

down Oshio’s riot. The samurai, having 

not fought a major battle in Japan 

since 1637, have grown complacent. The increasingly literate 

peasants (by the Tempo era, 40% of all Japanese men and 10- 

15% of women were literate) 70 begin to demand things of their 

rulers, and, with the rise of the merchants, the appearance of 

a difference between status and class has created a social basis 

for revolution. A disconnect has appeared between the image 

of the world under the status system and reality. 

At the end of the crisis, the conciliatory and prudent Abe 

Masahiro replaced the proactive Mizuno as chief advisor of 

the shogunate. The Tempo crisis set the stage for the current 

situation facing the council. But before we delve into these 

issues, we must briefly look at the philosophical development 

of Mitogaku and the sonno movement. 

Philosophical Developments 

Tokugawa Nariaki became one of the shogunate’s 

staunchest critics 

Beginning in the late 1700s, intellectuals began to probe the 

idea of restoring imperial rule in Japan. The bakufu cracked 

down on these renegade individuals with tight censorship. 71 

However, this all changed with the 1825 publication of 

Aizawa Seishisai’s New Theses. Aizawa was the philosopher 

of Tokugawa Nariaki’s court in the Mito domain. The New 

Theses, when originally published, provided grounding for 

bakufu sovereignty. Aizawa wrote the intensely anti-Western 

New Theses (Aizawa’s bias was clear: “America is located at 

the rear end of the world, so its inhabitants are stupid and 

incompetent) 72 to praise the Shell and Repel edict, providing 

philosophical reasoning for isolation and a justification for 

the Tokugawa system. However, as 

Tokugawa isolationism relaxed and the 

status system unraveled, the New Theses 

have become increasingly co-opted by 

anti-bakufu forces. 

The New Theses advocates three major 

reforms to society. First, it supports 

restoring reverence for the Emperor. It 

states that the Emperor is the essence 

of the nation (called kokutai) and a 

way to create national unity and loyalty. 

Following Neo-Confucian philosophy, 

it calls on the duty of all Japanese to be 

loyal to the Emperor through the shogun. 

It also calls for a reinvigoration of the 

Shinto faith and an attempt to separate the 

foreign Buddhism from Shinto. Aizawa 

believes a renewed faith in Shinto would 

help in resisting the West, the second 



major change advocated in the New Theses, writing, “What 

better way to spark the samurai spirit and cow the barbarians 

into submission?” 73 Aizawa views the West as an ideological 

threat to Japanese traditions that must be met forcefully. To 

better prepare all of Japan from potential dangers, Aizawa 

recommends that the shogunate give some military control back 

to the domains, which would become responsible for defending 

their realm. Lastly, Aizawa advocates the promotion of men of 

ability amongst the samurai. Meritocracy would create just and 

capable leadership that would both be fair and ensure Japan 

would be ready to confront its Western enemies. 74 

The New Theses formed the basis of Mitogaku, or the 

learning of the Mito domain. Mito’s daimyo Nariaki has 

become a national figure and a constant thorn in the side 

of the shogunate. He demands a return to Shell and Repel 

and greater domainal autonomy for defense. Nariaki heads 

one of the three branch families from which a shogun could 

be chosen if the main line produced no heir, making him a 

particularly bitter and contentious rival. 75 

Danger at Home 

Domestic issues include a status system eroding under 

economic and social change as the dichotomy between status 

(SPAM) and class (with some merchants as the wealthiest 

non-daimyo in Japan and even some peasants out-earning 

low-level samurai) widens. The Neo-Confucian belief in 

benevolent government is crumbling under an increasingly 

disintegrating system. With young daimyo unprepared to rule 

after growing up in Edo under sankin kotai, the relationship 

between the samurai vassal and his lord is becoming distant, 

formal, and administrative, a far cry from the warrior loyalty 

shown by the 47 ronin or by Yamamoto Tsunetomo. Samurai 

secretly copy the New Theses and send them around Japan to 

stir up anti-bakufu sentiment. 

Aizawa’s treatise appeals especially to frustrated, lowlevel, 

unemployed, or underemployed samurai, who feel 

trapped in a system that prevents social mobility and angry 

at merchants who live much more comfortably than they. 

Mitogaku combined with kokugaku (“national learning,” the 

set of traditions and legends that make up Japanese culture) 

and Shinto to birth the proto-nationalist sonno (“revere the 

Emperor”) movement. The Mito domain has become the 

center of this movement, and hundreds of intelligent and 

discontented samurai flock to study in Mito. 


Current Situation 

At this point, in the beginning of 1853, Japan contains 

approximately 27 million people, with approximately 20 

percent residing in urban areas. Over a million live in Tokyo, 

while around 400 thousand reside in Osaka and Kyoto. 76 

Tokugawa Ienari, the previous shogun, had the longest reign 

in Tokugawa history. An unprecedented level of personal 

luxury characterized his fifty-year rule. Ienari’s lavish tastes, 

particularly his harem of 40 consorts and his 55 children, 

taxed government coffers. 77 To make financial matters worse, 

the shogunate conducted its last cadastral survey in 1700. The 

system of expected yield upon which taxes are based is over 

150 years old. 78 With a poor financial climate, a crumbling 

status system, the rise of subversive philosophies, and 

Western encroachment, the troubles of 1853 can be placed 

in two categories: danger at home and trouble from abroad. 

The enormous Edo castle looms over the metropolis 

Peasants are becoming increasingly literate and mobile. While only 

samurai have universal formal education, merchant academies 

in Osaka and Edo teach children of wealthy merchants, and the 

formal teaching of commoners, which had begun in the Mito 

domain, is spreading throughout Japan. At the same time, the 

nature and frequency of peasant protests is shifting. Instead of 

submitting a petition or fleeing an oppressive domain, protests 

are becoming more frequent, more violent, and more destructive. 

New religions and collective behaviors appear among the peasants. 

Increasingly mobile peasants are making Okage Mairi, or mass 

pilgrimages to the sacred Ise shrine, with ever more frequency. 

Lastly, a new craze called Ee ja nai ka (“What the hell?!”) has swept 

certain peasant groups. When magic talismans appear to fall from 

the sky (most likely dropped from roofs by mischief-makers), 

peasants spontaneously break into dance and celebration, a mob 

17


that occasionally leads to the looting and destruction of buildings. 

Ee ja nai ka has no political purpose, nor is it led by anyone in 

particular. It is a spontaneous grassroots movement arising out of 

a population that is becoming increasingly agitated. 79 

To make matters worse, in July of 1852 a wing of Edo Castle 

was lost to an accidental fire. The reconstruction, which began 

immediately, is enormously expensive and still ongoing. It is 

estimated that repairs will amount to approximately an entire 

year’s budget for the shogunate, which cannot afford such a cost. 80 

Troubles from Abroad 

The full title of the shogun is “barbarian-subduing 

generalissimo.” The bakufu is, at its core, a warrior 

government. If the shogunate cannot control the barbarian 

threat, its legitimacy is fundamentally challenged. In the West, 

the development of the steamship has shortened the trip 

from California to Japan to a mere fourteen days. Rumors of 

an official American mission to Japan reach the shogunate 

through the Dutch. Advisors are wondering whether to take 

preemptive action against such a mission. Additionally, the 

daimyo of Satsuma, Shimazu Nariakira, has requested to 

build warships to patrol the Ryukyu islands. 81 This would 

amount to the first Japanese navy since Hideyoshi’s failed 

invasion of Korea, but the shogunate is worried about giving 

additional authority to what is already the most powerful and 

independent domain in Japan. 

Within Japan, three competing factions begin to form. The 

first faction contains Tokugawa hardliners, who support 

a reassertion of shogunal authority throughout Japan and 

exclusive authoritarian rule by top bakufu leaders. Shogunate 

advisor and daimyo Ii Naosuke leads this group. The second 

faction contains moderate imperialists. While not directly 

opposed to Tokugawa rule, they all have individual gripes with 

the bakufu and many support an increased role of the imperial 

court in society. This group contains the Mitogaku founders 

Tokugawa Nariaki and Aizawa Seishisai, the representatives 

from the Satsuma domain, and many of the tozama daimyo. 

This group is not at all unified and the other two factions will 

try to persuade its individual actors to their side. The third 

group is a radical splinter group of nativist samurai called 

shishi (“men of high purpose”). This small group, containing 

the more radical samurai of the Mito and Choshu domains, 

rapidly grows in number. Shishi are mostly frustrated lowlevel 

samurai who have embraced the sonno movement. They 

are all virulently anti-West. 

Having to contend with these three factions are the shogun 

and his chief advisor, Abe Masahiro. Abe, who has called 

this council together, is an astute politician and political 

maneuverer, who attempts to achieve consensus, although 

sometimes at the expense of results. The council members, 

while advising the shogunate, will all fall into one of these 

three groups, who will compete both in the council chamber 

and behind closed doors for the future of Japan. 

Timeline of Significant Events 

* 1543 : Portuguese missionaries arrive at Japan 

* 1570-1603 : Unification of Japan under Oda Nobunaga, 

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu 

* 1600 : Battle of Sekigahara 

* 1603-1605 : Rule of Tokugawa Ieyasu (1st shogun) 

* 1605-1623 : Rule of Tokugawa Hidetada (2nd shogun) 

* 1623-1651 : Rule of Tokugawa Iemitsu (3rd shogun) 

* 1639 : Beginning of isolationism after Shimbara revolt 

* mid-1600s : Martyrdom of Sakura Sogoro 

* 1701 : Ako Vendetta (47 ronin) 

* early-1700s: Publication of Hagakure 

* 1787-1837 : Rule of Tokugawa Ienari (11th shogun) 

* 1789 : First Dutch language school opens 

* 1790s : Kansei reforms 

* 1792 : Adam Laxman initiates Russian contact with Japan 

* 1808 : First British contact with Japan 

* 1825-1842 : Shell and Repel edict and sakoku period 

* 1825 : New Theses published 

* 1830-1843 : Tempo Era 

* 1837 : Oshio Heihachiro’s Osaka riot 

* 1837 : Beginning of rule of Tokugawa Ieyoshi (12th shogun) 

* 1839-1842 : First Opium War 

* 1846 : Commodore Biddle attempts to land at Edo 

* 1852 : Edo castle catches fire 

* 1853 : Abe Masahiro calls council together 



Major Questions 

A number of immediately pressing issues face this council. The 

council must find a way to improve the shogunate’s finances 

while the restoration of Edo castle saps important resources. 

The shogunate is also slowly improving its coastal defenses, 

and the council must decide how to continue. Should the 

council form the peasant militias suggested by Abe, continue 

on the current track, or decide to spend its funds more wisely? 

The shogunate must also decide how to deal with the tozama 

daimyo, who are still angered by the Tempo reforms. Should 

the council attempt to placate the daimyo, or crack down on 

illegal trade? The council must respond to Satsuma’s request 

to construct and form a navy. A naval presence would deter 

Western nations, but agreeing to Satsuma’s naval request 

might give too much power to the domain. 

The council needs to address growing samurai discontent. 

How can the shogunate ease the plight of unemployed and 

indebted samurai? Many of these samurai have espoused 

the nativist Mitogaku. The growing numbers of violent 

and radical shishi concerns the shogunate. And the critical 

Tokugawa Nariaki remains a destabilizing force, gaining the 

support of samurai opposed to Tokugawa policies. Many 

hardliners in the Tokugawa administration are also concerned 

that Nariaki is maneuvering for his favored son, Hitotsubashi 

Keiki, to become a future shogun. Ieyoshi’s heir, the 29 yearold 

Tokugawa Iesada, is sickly and childless. If Iesada does 

not bear an heir, forces supporting Nariaki will push to install 

Hitotsubashi Keiki as shogun. 

Other issues of concern to the shogunate are peasant unrest 

and merchant influence. While peasant unrest has decreased 

since the Tempo crisis, increased mobility and literacy create 

a climate ripe for peasant unrest, and the recent Ee ja nai ka 

craze is a concerning sign. Additionally, merchant influence 

destabilizes society, undermining the rice-based economic 

system and incensing the samurai and peasants. Should the 

council keep the merchants in check, or use their influence 

and wealth to serve the shogunate? 

At this watershed moment, the council has a chance to outmaneuver 

both domestic and foreign opposition and rewrite history with 

swift and clever action. During this period of Japan, the bakumatsu 

(“end of the shogunate”) period, six major historical “what ifs,” 

failed opportunities by the shogunate, create an opportunity for 

this council to change the course of history. The council has the 

opportunity to play with all six of these possibilities in an attempt 

to ensure the continuance of the Tokugawa shogunal dynasty. 


Komei (born 1831) is the Emperor of Japan in 1853. Little is known about him 

The first “what if ” is the response to foreign pressure. The 

council must choose carefully how to deal with Western 

intervention in Japan. The second is the force of bakufu 

reaction to domestic unrest. Should the shogunate placate 

opposition and reform or vigorously nip unrest in the bud? 

The third is the exploitation of internal discord amongst the 

opposition. How can the shogunate play opposing forces, 

particularly the Satsuma and Choshu domains, off each 

other? The fourth is the response to peasant uprisings. Can 

the shogunate use peasant unrest to its advantage? The fifth is 

military preparedness. How can the bakufu bolster its defenses 

against both internal and external threats? Can the shogunate 

use Western military technology to its advantage? And the 

final “what if ” of the bakumatsu period is the manipulation 

of the Emperor. How can the shogunate use the Emperor as 

a symbol to its advantage, and prevent the opposition from 

doing the same? The Emperor resides in Kyoto, officially in 

Tokugawa territory but over 200 miles away from its base in 

19


Edo. If the council can use some of these six opportunities 

to the shogunate’s advantage, it may be able to bend without 

breaking, weathering the buffets of historical change to 

emerge from the mid-nineteenth century intact. 

Questions A Position Paper Must Answer 

Before you set out on writing your position papers, you will 

be assigned an important historical character from bakumatsu 

Japan. Your character may be a shogunal advisor, a daimyo, an 

intellectual, a merchant, or an influential samurai commander. 

Thus, each of you will bring a unique angle to your position 

paper, which should be written from the perspective of your character. 

Solutions to major issues outlined in this study guide and 

discovered in your research should be proposed, focusing on 

the area of expertise of your assigned character. For example, 

while a tozama daimyo might focus on ways the council 

could repair relations with the domains, an expert in Rangaku 

might focus on how the council should respond to the West. 

Your advice and potential solutions should align with your 

character’s political views and affiliations. If your character 

is a samurai, what level is his stipend? If your character is a 

daimyo, which of the three kinds is he? 

Your position paper should not rehash all the issues put 

forward in the study guide. Briefly review the situation, but 

focus on providing new details and insight. Your paper should 

be focused on two areas: providing information on your 

character, and offering solutions to current issues. 

Regarding the first focus area, provide background on your 

character that might influence his views and decisions in the 

council. What has he done in the past that defines his views? 

What does he feel about the shogunate and the Tokugawa 

dynasty? Is he a Tokugawa hardliner, a sneaky opportunist, a 

sworn enemy? Look at his relationship and views towards the 

Emperor and the imperial court. Ask, what is his opinion of 

the West? How does he feel about recent Western incursions, 

and what would he think of Western involvement in Japan? 

Look for guidance both in his past actions and his aspirations 

for the future. This is the crux of the second focus area. What 

does he hope for Japan’s future? Does he support the status 

quo? If so, how can the council work to preserve tradition, if 

not, what kind of change does Japan need? Propose specific 

solutions to address the issues of the time period. Be creative, 

but remember your character’s views and interests. 

The goal of this council is to ensure the strength and survival 

of the shogunate, but many of you are opposed to these goals. 

Play with this. What can your character propose in committee 

to further his goals, and how can he also work behind the 

scene to ensure them? For this committee to be successful, 

there should be plots, conspiracies, scheming, and subterfuge. 

Who can your character work with on specific issues, and who 

are his natural enemies? What can he do to form coalitions in 

his side, and keep his enemies off-balance? Having both a set 

of proposed solutions for advising Ieyoshi in committee as 

well as a set of personal goals and aspirations will be essential 

to prepare for the committee. 

Suggestions for Further Research 

To review material and for a more in-depth look at Tokugawa 

Japan, there are three books I highly recommend: The 

Cambridge History of Japan, Andrew Gordon’s A Modern History 

of Japan, and Marius Jansen’s The Making of Modern Japan. 

While Cambridge’s goes into much more factual depth and 

features perspectives from a variety of authors, Gordon has 

chapters on interesting cultural elements not included in this 

study guide. Jansen’s is a mixture of the two approaches. 

There are a number of primary sources from the period I 

also recommend. Anti-Foreignism and Western Learning in Early- 

Modern Japan provides primary text and analysis of the New 

Theses. This book would be great if your character espouses 

Mitogaku (especially if you are Aizawa himself!). The Hagakure 

can be found online in translation and provides a wonderful 

look into the samurai spirit that underwent a slow death in the 

Tokugawa era. Japan: A Documentary History is a great collection 

of primary sources, including Oshio Heihachiro’s single page 

manifesto, which I suggest everyone read. Lastly, Musui’s Story 

is the biography of a low-level samurai struggling through life 

during the Tempo crisis. It’s a romp through Tokugawa Japan, 

as the author challenges others to duels, hires prostitutes until 

he falls deep into debt, extorts peasants, and cheats, steals, 

and lies his way through society. Musui’s account provides a 

first-hand look at the problems facing a nineteenth century 

samurai: debauchery, unemployment, attempting to keep up 

appearances, debt, and a loss of prestige. Musui’s son, unlike 

his deadbeat dad, becomes a prominent figure in bakumatsu 

Japan and a member of this council. This is a very enjoyable 

read while also providing information relevant to the 

committee. 

If you are more into films, three can provide a sense of the 

time period. Twilight Samurai looks at a low-level samurai 

struggling to provide for his demented mother and two young 

daughters. This movie provides a glimpse at samurai struggles 



in bakumatsu Japan, differences between ranks of samurai, 

and their increasingly distant relationship to the daimyo. It’s a 

superb film, and the most historical of the three. Seven Samurai 

is a classic, set in the warring states period just before the three 

unifiers. It gives a good sense of the medieval samurai spirit as 

well as the relationship between samurai and peasants. Lastly, 

The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe, 

is set over twenty years after the date of the council, but 

prominently features council member Saigo Takamori, often 

called the last samurai of Japan, as he makes one final stand 

for samurai values in the face of Western modernization. 

Please do not take this movie to be historical fact. 

Position Paper Requirements 

HMUN requires delegates to adopt the position of a specific 

person or country during debate. This is a key element of the 

“international” experience of Model UN as it forces delegates 

to examine perspectives, problems, and policies that they do 

not necessarily share. Consequently, crafting a position paper 

is often also one of the most difficult aspects of Model UN: 

students must confront the inherent biases of their own 

national perspectives. Nonetheless, position papers are the 

focus of positional preparation before the conference, and we 

ask you to spend time and effort on researching and writing 

them. 

Each position paper should be at least three pages, singlespaced, 

twelve-point Times New Roman font (approximately 

1500 words). Your name(s), country or character name, school, 

and committee should be stated in the upper right hand corner. 

Closing Remarks 

By this point, you are all well-versed in the major events, 

politics, and figures leading up to the bakumatsu period, which 

should provide you with guidance in counseling Shogun 

Ieyoshi. Knowledge of the issues outlined in this paper will 

be essential in addressing the crises brought before you in 

committee. However, this study guide provides only a big 

picture of Early Modern Japan and its issues. The best advisors 

will be able to provide solutions from the perspective of their 

characters based on crucial historical details and precedents 

beyond what is provided in the guide. I highly encourage you 

to conduct additional research, focusing especially on your 

personage and those of his status. However, I advise against 

studying events in Japanese history after 1853. While all of 

you will doubtless learn about the Perry Mission and the Meiji 

Restoration in your studies, extensive research into these 


events will not only take some of the novelty and fun out of 

the committee for you personally, but will more likely than 

not become a hindrance in dealing with the crises that will 

come up in committee, where intuition, creative originality, 

and knowledge of current events is key. 

I would like to make clear that all events leading up to the start 

of committee excepting the survival of Tokugawa Ieyoshi 

are codified history. However, from this point onwards, I 

challenge you to sway the course of Japanese history as you 

desire, according to the beliefs, opinions, and interests of 

your characters. Your actions in committee will dictate Japan’s 

future; do not assume that history will follow the same course. 

I am extremely excited to see you in committee and hear of 

all the solutions that will make my (Ieyoshi’s) life easier, my 

legacy stronger, my wealth grander, and maybe even my harem 

a little larger. I certainly wouldn’t complain. For 96 hours, we 

will be Japanese living in the last great feudal state. Embrace it. 

And, while I cannot guarantee that dropping a quote from The 

Last Samurai will guarantee you an award, strings can be pulled. 

After all, the shogun does have the final say in all matters. Best 

of luck, and see you in the Land of the Rising Sun! 

1 Gordon 3 

2 Ibid 12-3 

3 Brown 39 

4 Jansen 23 

5 Ibid 20 

6 Gordon 14-15 

7 Hellyer 26 

8 The Cambridge History of Japan 286 

9 Gordon 15 

10 Ibid 37 

11 Ibid 14-6 

12 Ibid 15 

13 Hellyer 28 

14 Ibid 

15 Cambridge 328 

16 Jansen 38 

17 Shiba 4 

Endnotes 

21


18 Mitani 71 

19 Shiba 5 

20 Totman xvii 

21 Yamamoto 17 

22 Ibid 20 


24 Jansen 105 

25 Ibid 101-2 

26 Ibid 111-2 

27 Ibid 8-10 

28 Gordon 17 

29 Shinzaburo 34 

30 Walthall 35-75 


32 Smith 136 

33 Jansen 119-20 

34 Ibid 99 

35 Gordon 5-8 

36 Lehmann 100-1 

37 Jansen 122-3 

38 Lehmann 94-5 

39 Sources of Japanese Tradition 440-458 

40 Gordon 6 

41 Mitani xxxi 

42 Auslin 31 

43 Gordon 5 

44 Auslin 17 

45 Shinzaburo 27-8 

54 Gordon 49 

55 Hellyer 152, 168 

56 Gordon 49 

57 Brown 73; Mitani 62-3 

58 Duus 67-70 

59 Mitani 41 

60 Ibid 69-70 

61 Cambridge 52-62 

62 Ibid 117-8 

63 Ibid 50-2 

64 Ibid 217-8 

65 Japan: A Documentary History 280-1; Gordon 54 


67 Ibid 149-153 

68 Ibid 

69 Ibid 148-64 

70 Gordon 28 

71 Brown 58 

72 Wakabayashi 149 

73 Ibid 209 

74 Ibid 215 


76 Gordon 22-3 


78 Jansen 228 


80 Mitani 113 

81 Ibid 114 

46 Keene 17 


48 Keene 30 


50 Brown 64 

51 Keene 48 

52 Brown 67 

53 Ibid 



Bibliography 

Auslin, Michael. Negotiating with Imperialism : The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese Diplomacy. Cambridge: Harvard 

University Press, 2004. Print. 

Brown, Delmer. Nationalism in Japan; an Introductory Historical Analysis. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1955. Print. 

Duus, Peter. The Japanese Discovery of America : A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. Print. 

Ed. de Bary, William Theodore, Carol Gluck, and Arthur Tiedemann. Sources of Japanese Tradition. 2nd ed. New York: Columbia 


Ed. Hall, John Whitney, Marius Jansen, Madoka Kanai, and Denis Twitchett. The Cambridge History of Japan. Cambridge 

England ;New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Print. 

Ed. Lu, David John. Japan : A Documentary History. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 1997. Print. 

Gordon, Andrew. A Modern History of Japan : From Tokugawa Times to the Present. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 

2009. Print. 

Hellyer, Robert. Defining Engagement : Japan and Global Contexts, 1640-1868. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009. Print. 

Jansen, Marius B. The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000. Print. 

Keene, Donald. The Japanese Discovery of Europe : Honda Toshiaki and Other Discoverers, 1720-1798. London: Rutledge and K. Paul, 

1952. Print. 

Lehmann, Jean-Pierre. The Roots of Modern Japan. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1982. Print. 

Mitani, Hiroshi. Escape from Impasse : The Decision to Open Japan. Tokyo: International House of Japan, 2006. Print. 

Shiba, Goro. Remembering Aizu : The Testament of Shiba Goro. Trans. Teruko Craig. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999. 

Print. 

Shinzaburo, Oishi. Warrior Rule in Japan. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Print. 

Smith, Thomas. Native Sources of Japanese Industrialization, 1750-1920. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988. Print. 

Totman, Conrad. The Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu, 1862-1868. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1980. Print. 

Wakabayashi, Bob. Anti-Foreignism and Western Learning in Early-Modern Japan : The New Theses of 1825. Cambridge: Harvard 


Walthall, Anne. Peasant Uprisings in Japan : A Critical Anthology of Peasant Histories. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991. 

Print. 

Yamamoto, Tsunetomo. Hagakure : The Book of the Samurai. New York: Kodansha International, 2002. Print. 


23


Appendices 

Appendix 1: Rural Disorder in Tokugawa Japan: Peasant Uprisings 

Period Total Annual rate 

1601-1650 209 4.2 

1651-1700 211 4.2 

1701-1750 422 8.4 

1751-1800 670 13.4 

1801-1850 814 16.3 



Appendix 2 


25

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