The Establishment of the Edo Shogunate and the Bakuhan System

From the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, through the opening of the shogunate in 1603, to the Summer Campaign of Osaka in 1615, Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Edo shogunate after making careful preparations. This marked the beginning of an era of peace that lasted about 260 years.

Basic Knowledge

Tokugawa Ieyasu(1543-1616) was born in Mikawa (Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture). He was held hostage by the Imagawa clan → allied with Oda Nobunaga → submitted to Hideyoshi → became a great feudal lord with 2.5 million koku in the Kanto region. After Hideyoshi's death, he seized actual power as the senior member of the Council of Five Elders.
1600: Battle of Sekigahara — In Sekigahara, Mino, the Eastern Army (Tokugawa Ieyasu, about 80,000) and the Western Army (Ishida Mitsunari, about 100,000) clashed. The Eastern Army won after Kobayakawa Hideaki changed sides. It is called the “battle that decided who would rule Japan.”
1603: Opening of the Edo Shogunate — Ieyasu was appointed shogun and established a shogunate in Edo.
1605: Transfer of the Shogun's Office — After only two years, Ieyasu transferred the office of shogun to his son, Tokugawa Hidetada, and ruled as Ogosho (retired shogun) (clearly establishing hereditary succession in the Tokugawa family).
1614-1615: Osaka Campaigns — The Winter Campaign (1614) and Summer Campaign (1615) destroyed Toyotomi Hideyori and Yodo-dono, ending the Toyotomi family.
1615: Laws for the Military Houses (during Hidetada's reign, drafted by Ieyasu) and the Laws for the Imperial and Court Nobility were enacted.
1616: Ieyasu's Death (aged 75); he was enshrined at Nikko Toshogu as Tosho Daigongen.
Bakuhan System: A system of rule consisting of shogunate lands (tenryo) directly governed by the Edo shogunate and about 260 domains (daimyo lands).
Categories of daimyo:
・Shinpan=members of the Tokugawa family (headed by the Three Tokugawa Houses of Owari, Kii, and Mito)
・Fudai=daimyo who had served the Tokugawa before Sekigahara
・Tozama=daimyo who submitted after Sekigahara (such as the Shimazu, Mori, and Date), kept away from important locations

Further Study (Background and Effects)

Governing structure of the Edo shogunate:
・Shogun (the top of the government)
・Roju (the highest political officials, 4-5 members)
・Wakadoshiyori (assistants to the roju)
・Tairo (a temporary highest office, selected from certain families such as the Sakai, Ii, Doi, and Hotta families)
・Three Commissioners=Commissioner of Temples and Shrines (temples, shrines, and areas outside the eight Kanto provinces)・Municipal Commissioner (Edo administration and justice)・Finance Commissioner (finances and shogunate lands)
・Kyoto Shoshidai (monitoring the imperial court and western daimyo)
・Osaka Castle Commissioner (military affairs in western Japan)
Sankin-kotai (institutionalized in 1635 by the third shogun, Iemitsu) was a system that required daimyo to keep their wives and children in Edo and to travel between their home domains and Edo every other year. Officially, it was service to the shogun, but in reality its purposes were to cause financial exhaustion of the daimyo and prevent rebellion. As a result, post towns along the five major highways developed.
The Laws for the Military Houses were the basic laws for controlling daimyo. They prohibited repairing castles, private marriages, forming political groups, and so on. Violators were severely punished, and attainder (confiscation of domains) and transfers of domains were frequently carried out.
For control of the imperial court, the Laws for the Imperial and Court Nobility(1615) were enacted, limiting the authority of the emperor and court nobles to scholarship and rituals. The Kyoto Shoshidai monitored them.

Points of Caution (Easily Confused)

① Sekigahara (1600)=Ieyasu vs. Mitsunari; Osaka Campaigns (1614-1615)=Ieyasu vs. Hideyori. Distinguish the two. ② Distinguish the roju (permanent highest office, several members) from the tairo (temporary office, from certain families). Ii Naosuke (Sakuradamon Incident) was a tairo. ③ Distinguish the Three Tokugawa Houses (Owari, Kii, and Mito) from the later Three Tokugawa Branch Houses (Tayasu, Hitotsubashi, and Shimizu)(established by the eighth shogun, Yoshimune). ④ Strictly distinguish shinpan, fudai, and tozama. Tozama were daimyo who submitted after Sekigahara and were not placed at important locations (near Edo).

Practice

1. Give the names of the commanders-in-chief of the Eastern and Western Armies at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.
2. Give the names of the three domains (feudal families) that made up the Three Tokugawa Houses.
3. Give the name of the system in which daimyo traveled between Edo and their home domains every other year, and the name of the shogun who institutionalized it.