I.

Introduction

Edo Period or Tokugawa Period, period of Japanese history that lasted from 1603 to 1867, when the Tokugawa dynasty of shoguns (military dictators) ruled Japan. It is named after the Tokugawa capital of Edo (modern Tokyo) and is also known as the Tokugawa period.

Tokugawa supremacy began with the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, in which Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated several rivals for power, and was formalized in 1603 by the emperor of Japan. The period ended in 1867, when the last Tokugawa leader resigned, and was followed by the Meiji Restoration, which restored the emperor to power. Following centuries of civil war, the Edo period brought more than 250 years of peace, prosperity, and progress to Japan. Throughout the period, however, Japan remained closed to outside contact and constricted by a rigid class hierarchy.