Political Features of Shogunate Japan
The Tokugawa Political system, which consisted of a hierarchy; the highest class: Emperor, the shogun, the daimyo and the samurai retainers in Japan, this hierarchy was made to govern their areas and keep piece amongst the societies.
This system was called the Bakuhan system. The whole system was a fight to gain more land, more wealth and above all, more power. Baku comes from the word Bakufu, which was the government the Tokugawa leaders used to run their own private affairs in their own areas. Han means domain and refers to the 250 plus domains that existed through the Tokugawa or Edo period. This government consisted of separate independent governments in each area. These classes all worked together to make a functional political system.
In the Tokugawa system there was a daimyo, which was a retainer of the shogun. This system was not federal or even a centralized hierarchy of political authorities, it was a system in which two levels of government existed with a high level of independence. Although the Emporer had a higher class than the shogun, the shogun still had rule over the Emporer as the shogun ran the government. The emperor was somewhat like a puppet as it’s strings were pulled by the shogun, he had very little power and was known to be more like a religious leader. This was because the emperor’s were the only people known to be able to communicate with the gods. The shogunate had the most rule as it controlled the samurai class, collecting taxes (mainly on agriculture), protecting civil order, defending the area, controlling the cities, encouraging business and manufacturing which were needed in those areas.
Therefore, the main ruler of the Tokugawa Period was the shoguns as they had rule over all of the classes below them and had the power to maintain that area as well. The only class higher than the shogun was the Emporer who was known as the religious leader of the area.
This system was called the Bakuhan system. The whole system was a fight to gain more land, more wealth and above all, more power. Baku comes from the word Bakufu, which was the government the Tokugawa leaders used to run their own private affairs in their own areas. Han means domain and refers to the 250 plus domains that existed through the Tokugawa or Edo period. This government consisted of separate independent governments in each area. These classes all worked together to make a functional political system.
In the Tokugawa system there was a daimyo, which was a retainer of the shogun. This system was not federal or even a centralized hierarchy of political authorities, it was a system in which two levels of government existed with a high level of independence. Although the Emporer had a higher class than the shogun, the shogun still had rule over the Emporer as the shogun ran the government. The emperor was somewhat like a puppet as it’s strings were pulled by the shogun, he had very little power and was known to be more like a religious leader. This was because the emperor’s were the only people known to be able to communicate with the gods. The shogunate had the most rule as it controlled the samurai class, collecting taxes (mainly on agriculture), protecting civil order, defending the area, controlling the cities, encouraging business and manufacturing which were needed in those areas.
Therefore, the main ruler of the Tokugawa Period was the shoguns as they had rule over all of the classes below them and had the power to maintain that area as well. The only class higher than the shogun was the Emporer who was known as the religious leader of the area.