How Did Tokugawa Shape Japan

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“Little bird, if you do not sing, I will wait for you,” this is a quote that depicts Tokugawa Ieyasu’s way of ruling. The quote portrays Tokugawa’s characteristics and actions towards leading the people of Japan. He was patient and tolerant. To him, time was not an enemy, it was a friend; he had used time to his advantage to win over the people of Japan. He did not rush things that did not need to be rushed. Because of his patience, he was popular with the residents of Japan. Tokugawa began his time ruling in a period of violence and conflict, but he had the intentions of bringing peace to Japan. During the Tokugawa shogunate, there were achievements as well as disasters, many of which helped shape Japan’s society as of today. At the beginning…show more content…
Increased agricultural production and population was the core to the growth of trade. Trade also developed because of new and advanced transportation. At one stage, the Tokugawa clan used most of their money to improve transportation. By doing so, transportation networks were much more reliable and effective. In particular, the road system was enhanced under Tokugawa’s rule. Shipping networks on the sea routes also expanded, which meant that trade became more efficient because traders were able to get from one place to another with ease. Trade and marketing was further enhanced when Tokugawa and his colleagues established a system that involved the use of coins as currency. By this point under Tokugawa’s rule, Japan’s national economy had reached its highest peak in shogunate…show more content…
For instance, in the eighteenth century, there were many peasant protests due to the authorities’ failure to provide assistance during times of crop failure and food shortage. Another struggle Tokugawa had was communication with the rest of the world. Tokugawa had his head set on uniting Japan, which encouraged him to cut off any contact with the outside world. His decision to isolate Japan caused a range of disasters, such as prohibiting trade with other countries, which decreased the amount of resources they offered in their markets. Another negative that evolved from isolating Japan was that they had less knowledge about what was occurring around the world. Because of this, the people of Japan lacked in education about other cultures, but they particularly missed out on technology advances and new scientific research. In result of this, during most of the Tokugawa ruling era, Japan was falling behind in society. Despite the few negatives that came from isolating Japan, a positive would be that Japan could enrich their own culture by experimenting with the different resources within their own islands, and subsequently creating unique inventions including food such as sushi, which without doubt are one of the most popular foods in today’s
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