Editing Edo period (section)

==End of the shogunate==
{{main|Bakumatsu}}

===Decline of the Tokugawa===<!-- This section is linked from [[Emperor Ninkō]] -->

[[File:DaiRokuDaiba.jpg|thumb|right|''Dai-Roku Daiba'' (第六台場) or "No. 6 Battery", one of the original Edo-era battery islands]]
[[File:Shinagawa Baidai cannon.jpg|thumb|One of the cannons of Odaiba, now at the [[Yasukuni Shrine]]. 80-pound bronze, bore: 250mm, length: 3830mm]]

The end of this period is specifically called the [[bakumatsu|late Tokugawa shogunate]]. The cause for the end of this period is controversial but is often recounted as resulting from the forced [[Convention of Kanagawa|opening of Japan to the world]], by [[Matthew Perry (naval officer)|Commodore Matthew Perry]] of the [[United States Navy|US Navy]], whose [[Naval fleet|armada]] (known by the Japanese as "[[Black Ships|the black ships]]") fired weapons from [[Edo Bay]]. Several [[artificial island|artificial land masses]] were created to block the range of the armada, and this land remains in what is presently called the [[Odaiba]] district.

The Tokugawa did not eventually collapse simply because of intrinsic failures. Foreign intrusions helped to precipitate a complex political struggle between the ''[[Tokugawa shogunate|bakufu]]'' and a coalition of its critics. The continuity of the anti-''bakufu'' movement in the mid-19th century would finally bring down the Tokugawa. Historians consider that a major contributing factor to the decline of the Tokugawa was "poor management of the central government by the ''shōgun'', which caused the social classes in Japan to fall apart".{{attribution needed|date=February 2018}}<ref>{{Harvnb|Jansen|2002|pp=289–292}}</ref> From the outset, the Tokugawa attempted to restrict families' accumulation of wealth and fostered a "back to the soil" policy, in which the farmer, the ultimate producer, was the ideal person in society.

The standard of living for urban and rural dwellers alike grew significantly during the Tokugawa period. Better means of crop production, transport, housing, food, and entertainment were all available, as was more leisure time, at least for urban dwellers. The literacy rate was high for a preindustrial society (by some estimates the literacy rate in the city of Edo was 80 percent), and cultural values were redefined and widely imparted throughout the samurai and ''[[chōnin]]'' classes.

Despite the reappearance of [[guild]]s, economic activities went well beyond the restrictive nature of the guilds, and commerce spread and a money economy developed. Although government heavily restricted the merchants and viewed them as unproductive and usurious members of society, the samurai, who gradually became separated from their rural ties, depended greatly on the merchants and artisans for consumer goods, artistic interests, and [[loan]]s. In this way, a subtle subversion of the warrior class by the ''chōnin'' took place.

A struggle arose in the face of political limitations that the ''shōgun'' imposed on the entrepreneurial class. The government ideal of an [[agrarian society]] failed to square with the reality of commercial distribution. A huge government bureaucracy had evolved, which now stagnated because of its discrepancy with a new and evolving social order. Compounding the situation, the population increased significantly during the first half of the Tokugawa period. Although the magnitude and growth rates are uncertain, there were at least 26 million commoners and about four million members of samurai families and their attendants when the first nationwide census was taken in 1721. Drought, followed by crop shortages and starvation, resulted in twenty great famines between 1675 and 1837. During the Tokugawa period, there were 154 famines, of which 21 were widespread and serious.<ref>{{Citation|last=Turkington|first=David|author-link=David Turkington|title=A Chronology of Japanese History|work=Edo Period (1603-1868)|url=http://www.shikokuhenrotrail.com/japanhistory/edohistory.html|access-date=May 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625110809/http://www.shikokuhenrotrail.com/japanhistory/edohistory.html|archive-date=June 25, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Great Tenmei Famine Map Artwork.png|thumb|upright|Starving peasants during the [[Great Tenmei famine]]]]
The [[Great Tenmei famine]] (1782 until 1788) was the worst famine in the Edo period.<ref name="tenmei"/> Many crops were damaged due to bad weather, serious cold and the [[1783 eruption of Mount Asama]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=天明3年（1783年）浅間山噴火 {{!}} 利根川水系砂防事務所 {{!}} 国土交通省 関東地方整備局 |url=https://www.ktr.mlit.go.jp/tonesui/tonesui00023.html |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=www.ktr.mlit.go.jp}}</ref><ref name="tenmei"/> A worsening factor of the Great Tenmei famine was a drop in global temperatures due to the eruption of the [[Iceland]]ic volcano [[Laki]] in 1783.<ref name="tenmei"/> The spread of the famine was largely due to mismanagement of the Shogunate and the clan.<ref name="tenmei">{{cite web |website=Nikkei |title=江戸の飢饉に巨大噴火の影 気温低下で凶作、人災も |date=April 30, 2022 |url=https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOCD13AD20T10C22A4000000/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220505023044/https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOCD13AD20T10C22A4000000/ |archive-date=May 5, 2022}}</ref>

Peasant unrest grew, and by the late 18th century, mass protests over taxes and food shortages had become commonplace. Newly landless families became tenant farmers, while the displaced rural poor moved into the cities. As the fortunes of previously well-to-do families declined, others moved in to accumulate land, and a new, wealthy farming class emerged. Those people who benefited were able to diversify production and to hire laborers, while others were left discontented. Many samurai fell on hard times and were forced into handicraft production and wage jobs for merchants.

Although Japan was able to acquire and refine a wide variety of scientific knowledge, the rapid industrialization of the West during the 18th century created a material gap in terms of technologies and armament between Japan and the West, forcing it to abandon its policy of seclusion, which contributed to the end of the Tokugawa regime.

Western intrusions were on the increase in the early 19th century. Russian warships and traders encroached on [[Karafuto]] (called [[Sakhalin]] under Russian and Soviet control) and on the [[Kuril Islands]], the southernmost of which are considered by the Japanese as the northern islands of [[Hokkaidō]]. A British warship entered Nagasaki harbour searching for enemy Dutch ships in 1808, and other warships and [[whaler]]s were seen in Japanese waters with increasing frequency in the 1810s and 1820s. Whalers and trading ships from the United States also arrived on Japan's shores. Although the Japanese made some minor concessions and allowed some landings, they largely attempted to keep all foreigners out, sometimes using force. ''[[Rangaku]]'' became crucial not only in understanding the foreign "[[barbarian]]s" but also in using the knowledge gained from the West to fend them off.

By the 1830s, there was a general sense of crisis. Famines and [[natural disaster]]s hit hard, and unrest led to a peasant uprising against officials and merchants in Osaka in 1837. Although it lasted only a day, the uprising made a dramatic impression. Remedies came in the form of traditional solutions that sought to reform moral decay rather than address institutional problems. The ''shōgun''{{'}}s advisers pushed for a return to the martial spirit, more restrictions on foreign trade and contacts, suppression of ''rangaku'', censorship of literature, and elimination of "luxury" in the government and samurai class.

Others sought the overthrow of the Tokugawa and espoused the political doctrine of ''[[sonnō jōi]]'' (revere the emperor, expel the barbarians), which called for unity under imperial rule and opposed foreign intrusions. The ''bakufu'' persevered for the time being amidst growing concerns over Western successes in establishing colonial enclaves in China following the [[First Opium War]] of 1839–1842. More reforms were ordered, especially in the economic sector, to strengthen Japan against the Western threat.

Japan turned down a demand from the United States, which was greatly expanding its own presence in the Asia-Pacific region, to establish [[diplomacy|diplomatic]] relations when [[James Biddle (commodore)|Commodore James Biddle]] appeared in [[Edo Bay]] with two warships in July 1846.

===End of seclusion===
[[File:Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry.jpg|thumb|[[Matthew C. Perry|Matthew Calbraith Perry]]]]
[[File:Commodore-Perry-Visit-Kanagawa-1854.jpg|thumb|Landing of Commodore Perry, Officers and Men of the Squadron To meet the Imperial Commissioners at ''Kurihama [[Yokosuka]]'' March 8th, 1854]]

When Commodore [[Matthew C. Perry]]'s four-ship squadron appeared in Edo Bay in July 1853, the bakufu was thrown into turmoil. The chairman of the senior councillors, [[Abe Masahiro]] (1819–1857), was responsible for dealing with the Americans. Having no precedent to manage this threat to [[national security]], Abe tried to balance the desires of the senior councillors to compromise with the foreigners, of the emperor who wanted to keep the foreigners out, and of the ''daimyo'' who wanted to go to war. Lacking consensus, Abe decided to compromise by accepting Perry's demands for opening Japan to foreign trade while also making military preparations. In March 1854, the Treaty of Peace and Amity (or [[Treaty of Kanagawa]]) opened two ports to American ships seeking provisions, guaranteed good treatment to shipwrecked American sailors, and allowed a United States consul to take up residence in [[Shimoda, Shizuoka|Shimoda]], a seaport on the [[Izu Peninsula]], southwest of Edo. The Treaty of Amity and Commerce Between the U.S. and Japan ([[Harris Treaty]]), opening still more areas to American trade, was forced on the ''bakufu'' five years later.

The resulting damage to the ''bakufu'' was significant. The devalued price for gold in Japan was one immediate, enormous effect.<ref name="Gordon2008p51">{{Harvnb|Gordon|2008|p=51}}</ref> The European and American traders purchased gold for its original price on the world market and then sold it to the Japanese for triple the price.<ref name="Gordon2008p51" /> Along with this, cheap goods from these developed nations, like finished cotton, flooded the market forcing many Japanese out of business.<ref name="Gordon2008p51" /> Debate over government policy was unusual and had engendered public criticism of the ''bakufu''. In the hope of enlisting the support of new allies, Abe, to the consternation of the ''fudai'', had consulted with the ''shinpan'' and ''tozama daimyo'', further undermining the already weakened ''bakufu''. In the [[Ansei Reform]] (1854–1856), Abe then tried to strengthen the regime by ordering Dutch warships and armaments from the Netherlands and building new port defenses. In 1855, a naval training school with Dutch instructors was set up at Nagasaki, and a Western-style [[Military academy|military school]] was established at Edo; by the next year, the government was translating Western books. Opposition to Abe increased within ''[[fudai]]'' circles, which opposed opening ''bakufu'' councils to ''[[Tozama daimyō|tozama daimyo]]'', and he was replaced in 1855 as chairman of the senior councilors by [[Hotta Masayoshi]] (1810–1864).

At the head of the dissident faction was [[Tokugawa Nariaki]], who had long embraced a militant loyalty to the emperor along with anti-foreign sentiments, and who had been put in charge of national defense in 1854. The [[Mito school]]—based on neo-Confucian and Shinto principles—had as its goal the restoration of the imperial institution, the turning back of the West, and the founding of a world empire under the divine [[Imperial House of Japan|imperial house]].

In the final years of the Tokugawas, foreign contacts increased as more concessions were granted. The new treaty with the United States in 1859 allowed more ports to be opened to diplomatic representatives, unsupervised trade at four additional ports, and foreign residences in Osaka and Edo. It also embodied the concept of extraterritoriality (foreigners were subject to the laws of their own countries but not to Japanese law). Hotta lost the support of key ''daimyo'', and when Tokugawa Nariaki opposed the new treaty, Hotta sought imperial sanction. The court officials, perceiving the weakness of the ''bakufu'', rejected Hotta's request and thus suddenly embroiled Kyoto and the emperor in Japan's internal politics for the first time in many centuries. When the ''shōgun'' died without an [[heir]], Nariaki appealed to the court for support of his own son, [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] (or Keiki), for ''shōgun'', a candidate favored by the ''[[shinpan]]'' and ''tozama daimyo''. The ''fudai'' won the power struggle, however, installing Tokugawa Yoshitomi, arresting Nariaki and Keiki, executing [[Yoshida Shōin]] (1830–1859), a leading ''sonnō-jōi'' intellectual who had opposed the American treaty and plotted a revolution against the bakufu, and signing treaties with the United States and five other nations, thus ending more than 200 years of exclusion.

Recently{{when|date=November 2016}} some scholars{{who|date=November 2016}} have suggested that there were more events that spurred this opening of Japan. Yoshimune, eighth Tokugawa ''shōgun'' from 1716 to 1745, started the first [[Kyōhō reforms]] in an attempt to gain more revenue for the government.<ref name="Gordon2008p42">{{Harvnb|Gordon|2008|p=42}}</ref> In 1767 to 1786 [[Tanuma Okitsugu]] also initiated some unorthodox economic reforms to expand government income.<ref name="Gordon2008p42" /> This led his conservative opponents to attack him and take his position as he was forced from government in disgrace.<ref name="Gordon2008p42" /> Similarly, [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]] launched the [[Kansei Reforms]] in 1787–1793 to stabilize rice prices, cut government costs, and increase revenues.<ref name="Gordon2008p42" /> The final economic reform of the [[Tenpō]] era of 1841–1843 had similar objectives. Most were ineffective and only worked in some areas. These economic failings would also have been a force in the opening of Japan, as Japanese businessmen desired larger markets. Some scholars also point to internal activism for political change. The Mito school had long been an active force in demanding political changes, such as restoring the powers of the Emperor. This anger can also be seen in the poetry of Matsuo Taseko (a woman who farmed silkworms in the Ina Valley) from [[Hirata Atsutane|Hirata Atsutane's]] School of National Learning:
{{Poem quote|text=It is disgusting
the agitation over thread
In today's world
Ever since the ships
from foreign countries
came for the jeweled
silkworm cocoons
to the land of the gods and the Emperor
Peoples hearts
awesome though they are,
are being pulled apart
and consumed by rage.|sign=Matsuo Taseko|source=Gordon 2008, p.&nbsp;52}}

This inspired many anti-Tokugawa activists as they blamed the bakufu for impoverishing the people and dishonoring the emperor.<ref name="Gordon2008p52">{{Harvnb|Gordon|2008|p=52}}</ref>
[[File:Yoshinobu Tokugawa 2.jpg|thumb|[[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] in later life]]

===Bakumatsu modernization and conflicts===
{{main|Bakumatsu}}

During the last years of the ''[[Tokugawa shogunate|bakufu]]'', or ''[[bakumatsu]]'', the ''bakufu'' took strong measures to try to reassert its dominance, although its involvement with modernization and foreign powers was to make it a target of [[anti-Western sentiment]] throughout the country.

The army and the navy were modernized. A naval training school was established in Nagasaki in 1855. Naval students were sent to study in Western naval schools for several years, starting a tradition of foreign-educated future leaders, such as Admiral [[Enomoto Takeaki|Enomoto]]. French naval engineers were hired to build naval arsenals, such as [[Yokosuka]] and Nagasaki. By the end of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868, the Japanese navy of the ''shōgun'' already possessed eight Western-style steam warships around the flagship [[Japanese battleship Kaiyo Maru|''Kaiyō Maru'']], which were used against pro-imperial forces during the [[Boshin War]] under the command of Admiral [[Enomoto Takeaki|Enomoto]]. A [[Jules Brunet|French military mission]] was established to help modernize the armies of the ''bakufu''.[[File:Kanrinmaru.jpg|thumb|[[Japanese warship Kanrin Maru|''Kanrin Maru'']], Japan's first screw-driven steam warship, 1855|left]][[File:Modern Costumes of Japanese Officers Shogunate Army 1866.png|thumb|Samurai in western clothing of the Tokugawa Shogunate Army (1866)]]Revering the emperor as a symbol of unity, extremists wrought violence and death against the Bakufu and Han authorities and foreigners. Foreign naval retaliation in the [[Anglo-Satsuma War]] led to still another concessionary commercial treaty in 1865, but Yoshitomi was unable to enforce the Western treaties. A ''bakufu'' army was defeated when it was sent to crush dissent in the [[Satsuma Domain|Satsuma]] and [[Chōshū Domain]]s in 1866. Finally, in 1867, [[Emperor Kōmei]] died and was succeeded by his underaged son [[Emperor Meiji]].

[[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] reluctantly became head of the Tokugawa house and ''shōgun''. He tried to reorganize the government under the emperor while preserving the ''shōgun''{{'}}s leadership role. Fearing the growing power of the Satsuma and Chōshū ''daimyo'', other ''daimyo'' called for returning the ''shōgun''{{'}}s political power to the emperor and a council of ''daimyo'' chaired by the former Tokugawa ''shōgun''. Yoshinobu accepted the plan in late 1867 and resigned, announcing an "imperial restoration". The Satsuma, Chōshū, and other ''han'' leaders and radical courtiers, however, [[rebellion|rebelled]], seized the [[Japanese imperial palace|imperial palace]], and announced their own restoration on January 3, 1868.

Following the [[Boshin War]] (1868–1869), the ''bakufu'' was abolished, and Yoshinobu was reduced to the ranks of the common ''daimyo''. Resistance continued in the North throughout 1868, and the ''bakufu'' [[navy|naval forces]] under Admiral [[Enomoto Takeaki]] continued to hold out for another six months in [[Hokkaidō]], where they founded the short-lived [[Republic of Ezo]].

Although the Edo Period would soon end, [[Bushido]] values would continue to influence Japanese society long after the samurai ceased to exist.

The Edo Period would also have a lasting impact on modern art and culture. The Edo Period lives on in plays, books, anime, and especially [[jidaigeki]] (historical period dramas), such as the classic samurai films of [[Akira Kurosawa]]. Kurosawa's films would influence Spaghetti Westerns, and even Star Wars.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jpbound.com/what-was-the-edo-period-era-in-japan/|title=An Overview of the Edo Period (Era) in Japan -|date=August 22, 2023|website=JPbound |first=James |last=Fujita}}</ref>