Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
sociate of both Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, his predecessors. Under Hideyoshi, he had held
the east of Japan, having a fortress at Edo (the present-day capital, Tokyo). When he form-
ally became Shogun in 1603, it was to Edo that he transferred the seat of his government,
partlysothatitshouldbesurroundedbyhissupportersandpartlybecause,likesomemilit-
ary rulers of earlier times, he considered that the atmosphere of the capital, Kyoto, with its
devotiontothefineartsanditssophisticated living,wouldcorruptthesimple virtuesofhis
followers.
AfterthedeathofHideyoshi'ssoninhisstrongholdofOsakaCastle,takenin1615,the
greatest immediate threat to Ieyasu's power was removed. He died the next year, but mem-
bers of the Tokugawa family succeeded one after another in the position of Shogun (which
in effect became a hereditary one), having full control of all the land of Japan. Whatever
threats there remained to this control, whether from the Emperor, religious groups, or mil-
itary lords, were met with cunning and ruthless efficiency, the government being above all
determined to keep the country at peace.
The Emperor in his court at Kyoto was theoretically the source of power, and indeed it
washewhogavetheShogunhistitle.Thisancienttitle,anabbreviationofalongerexpres-
sion with the meaning of “Commander-in-Chief for quelling the barbarians,” was in effect
equivalent to military dictator of the country. Once the Tokugawas had taken over the reins
of government, the Emperor's duties were confined to bestowing this title and to confer-
ring lesser titles on such persons as the Shogun nominated. His time was to be spent in
literary and ceremonial pursuits; his needs, and those of his courtiers, were met by a grant
of land to provide them with an income. His activities were supervised by the Kyoto De-
puty, a government official, so that he was a mere figurehead, albeit one widely respected
throughout the country. At no time did there cease to be an emperor, lip-service continued
to be accorded him, and it was round his person that final revolt against the Tokugawa ré-
gime was centered.
Another potential source of opposition was to be found in the Buddhist temples and
shintō
shrines; some of the former had played a considerable role in earlier civil wars. The
Shogun kept them under control by a number of Superintendents of Temples and Shrines,
and their incomes were allotted to them from central or local sources, which could be cut
off if necessary. One Buddhist sect—the Shin sect—of which the Shogun was particularly
suspicious was dealt with by a characteristic piece of Tokugawa “divide and rule” tactics;
in the preceding era members of this sect had caused trouble for the military authorities by
setting up autonomous communities of commoners, and to prevent this happening again
Ieyasu ordered the sect to be split into two branches so that it would have to support separ-
ate groups of temples, kept apart and weakened by rival jealousies.
However, such threats as these were very minor compared with that from the hostile
militarylords.TheTokugawarulerallottedterritoriesinexchangeforanoathofallegiance,
