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<!--Elements on nation-building and the shogunate's establishment-->Having defeated the armies of his enemies, and been named Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu began the process of establishing the legitimacy and stability of his clan's rule. It was not a rapid process, and many of these policies and structures were put into place by Ieyasu's successors over the course of several decades.  

<!--Elements on nation-building and the shogunate's establishment-->Having defeated the armies of his enemies, and been named Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu began the process of establishing the legitimacy and stability of his clan's rule. It was not a rapid process, and many of these policies and structures were put into place by Ieyasu's successors over the course of several decades.  

Ieyasu divided the [[provinces of Japan]] into several hundred feudal domains, called ''[[han]]''. Some areas, including [[Edo]], [[Kyoto]], [[Nagasaki]], and [[Osaka]] after its fall in 1615, were administered directly by shogunal representatives called ''[[Shoshi-dai]]'' in Kyoto and ''[[Machi bugyo|Machi bugyô]]'' in the other cities. [[Nara]], [[Sunpu]], [[Nikko|Nikkô]] were also among the cities administered in this way<ref>Sansom, George. ''A History of Japan 1615-1867''. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1963</ref>, with the port of [[Niigata]] joining them in [[1843]].<ref>Hellyer, 139.</ref> The ''han'' were then divided among members of the Tokugawa family, Tokugawa retainers, and other clan heads, who thus became ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]''. This patchwork of shogunal, domainal, ''hatamoto'', Imperial, and religious lands covered the entire archipelago; however, in some places, multiple jurisdictions overlapped, such that a given village might fall within the territory of both a religious authority and a ''hatamoto'', for example. [[Mark Ravina]] counts twelve villages where this was the case, and two where three authorities overlapped. This occurred chiefly in and around the major cities; in the 1840s, the five square ''[[Japanese Measurements|ri]]'' surrounding Osaka included areas under 165 different authorities.<ref>Ravina, ''Land and Lordship'', 17.</ref>

Ieyasu divided the [[provinces of Japan]] into several hundred feudal domains, called ''[[han]]''. Some areas, including [[Edo]], [[Kyoto]], [[Nagasaki]], and [[Osaka]] after its fall in 1615, were administered directly by shogunal representatives called ''[[Shoshi-dai]]'' in Kyoto and ''[[Machi bugyo|Machi bugyô]]'' in the other cities. [[Nara]], [[Sunpu]], [[Nikko|Nikkô]] were also among the cities administered in this way<ref>Sansom, George. ''A History of Japan 1615-1867''. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1963</ref>, with the port of [[Niigata]] joining them in [[1843]].<ref>Hellyer, 139.</ref> The ''han'' were then divided among members of the Tokugawa family, Tokugawa retainers, and other clan heads, who thus became ''[[daimyo|daimyô]]''. This patchwork of shogunal, domainal, ''hatamoto'', Imperial, and religious lands covered the entire archipelago. In each locale, peasants and commoners paid taxes only to the one authority that controlled that territory, whether it be a ''daimyô'' house, the shogunate, or a religious institution. The shogunate only collected taxes from its own territory, the ''tenryô'', and did not gain any tax revenues directly from the ''daimyô'' or their domains; rather, what the shogunate got from the ''daimyô'' domains was service, in the form of corvée labor, funds and materials for construction projects, and formal attendance in the form of ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]''.

 

However, in some places, multiple jurisdictions overlapped, such that a given village might fall within the territory of both a religious authority and a ''hatamoto'', for example. [[Mark Ravina]] counts twelve villages where this was the case, and two where three authorities overlapped. This occurred chiefly in and around the major cities; in the 1840s, the five square ''[[Japanese Measurements|ri]]'' surrounding Osaka included areas under 165 different authorities.<ref>Ravina, ''Land and Lordship'', 17.</ref>

Descendants or other close relatives of Ieyasu granted land were known as ''[[shinpan]]'', ''kamon'', or "collateral houses."<ref>The term ''shinpan'' is more common in scholarship today, but was not used at the time; ''kamon'' was somewhat more typical in the Edo period. Ravina, ''Land and Lordship'', 234n5.</ref> Ieyasu gave his sons the provinces of [[Owari province|Owari]] (Nagoya), [[Kii province|Kii]], and [[Echizen province|Echizen]], and  [[Mito han|Mito]] in [[Hitachi province|Hitachi]] in the [[Kanto|Kantô]] Plain. Important Tokugawa retainers were made ''[[fudai]] daimyô'' and given territories in the Kantô or [[Kinai]] (the center of the country), or in strategic locations, such as overseeing important points along the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] highway, or watching over the last group of ''daimyô'', the ''[[tozama]] daimyô''<ref>Sansom. p3.</ref>. The ''tozama'' were those who had not been retainers of Ieyasu at Sekigahara, whether they had supported him or not. Many of them held the largest, wealthiest and most powerful territories, and most were allowed by the shogunate to keep their lands in exchange for their loyalty. (One sometimes reads that the ''tozama'' were enemies of Ieyasu at Sekigahara, but that is a mistake.)

Descendants or other close relatives of Ieyasu granted land were known as ''[[shinpan]]'', ''kamon'', or "collateral houses."<ref>The term ''shinpan'' is more common in scholarship today, but was not used at the time; ''kamon'' was somewhat more typical in the Edo period. Ravina, ''Land and Lordship'', 234n5.</ref> Ieyasu gave his sons the provinces of [[Owari province|Owari]] (Nagoya), [[Kii province|Kii]], and [[Echizen province|Echizen]], and  [[Mito han|Mito]] in [[Hitachi province|Hitachi]] in the [[Kanto|Kantô]] Plain. Important Tokugawa retainers were made ''[[fudai]] daimyô'' and given territories in the Kantô or [[Kinai]] (the center of the country), or in strategic locations, such as overseeing important points along the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] highway, or watching over the last group of ''daimyô'', the ''[[tozama]] daimyô''<ref>Sansom. p3.</ref>. The ''tozama'' were those who had not been retainers of Ieyasu at Sekigahara, whether they had supported him or not. Many of them held the largest, wealthiest and most powerful territories, and most were allowed by the shogunate to keep their lands in exchange for their loyalty. (One sometimes reads that the ''tozama'' were enemies of Ieyasu at Sekigahara, but that is a mistake.)

The Tokugawa state has been described as a "compound state"<ref>Ravina, Mark. "State-Building and Political Economy in Early-Modern Japan." ''Journal of Asian Studies''. 54:4 (Nov 1995). p1017.</ref>, not a single unified state under a central government with absolute powers. The shogunate exerted direct control over roughly 15 percent of the archipelago, or roughly four million ''[[koku]]'' worth of lands. The ''[[hatamoto]]'' (direct vassals of the shogunate) controlled roughly ten percent, while about 500,000 ''koku'' worth of land was controlled by the Imperial family, major temples, and other such groups. The remaining 75 percent of the archipelago was controlled by the ''daimyô'', who enjoyed a considerable degree of independence in the internal affairs of their domains (''han'').<ref>Ravina. "State-Building." p1000.</ref>. Within a domain, the ''daimyô'' had more authority, or rather more direct authority, than the shogunate, which very rarely made efforts to directly impose or enforce policy within a domain. For this reason, a variety of systems were established to ensure the peace and to prevent ''daimyô'' rebellion.

The Tokugawa state has been described as a "compound state"<ref>Ravina, Mark. "State-Building and Political Economy in Early-Modern Japan." ''Journal of Asian Studies''. 54:4 (Nov 1995). p1017.</ref>, not a single unified state under a central government with absolute powers. The shogunate exerted direct control over roughly 15 percent of the archipelago, or roughly four million ''[[koku]]'' worth of lands. The ''[[hatamoto]]'' (direct vassals of the shogunate) controlled roughly ten percent, while about 500,000 ''koku'' worth of land was controlled by the Imperial family, major temples, and other such groups. The remaining 75 percent of the archipelago was controlled by the ''daimyô'', who enjoyed a considerable degree of independence in the internal affairs of their domains (''han'').<ref>Ravina. "State-Building." p1000.</ref>. Within a domain, the ''daimyô'' had more authority, or rather more direct authority, than the shogunate, which very rarely made efforts to directly impose or enforce policy within a domain. For this reason, a variety of systems were established to ensure the peace and to prevent ''daimyô'' rebellion.

Each ''han'' was ordered in 1615 to destroy all but one castle in its territory<ref>Sakai, Robert. "Feudal Society and Modern Leadership in Satsuma-han." ''Journal of Asian Studies'' 16:3 (May 1957). pp366-7.</ref>, and was not allowed to make repairs or expansions upon the domain's defenses without shogunate approval. Samurai were restricted to the [[castle town]]s, so as to prevent them from organizing rebellions or building armies in the countryside, and marriages between ''daimyô'' clans, which could represent the beginnings of alliances, were similarly forbidden without shogunate approval<ref>Sansom. pp7-8.</ref>. The ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' system was another key element of these restrictive measures. Initially voluntary, the system was made mandatory in 1635; ''daimyô'' were obligated to maintain a residence in Edo, where members of their close family would reside as hostages against the ''daimyô's'' disobedience or rebellion. The ''daimyô'' were also obligated to make annual journeys to Edo<ref>Sansom. p20f.</ref>, and to reside there for half of each year; the massive expenses associated with these journeys served to place limits on even the wealth of the most powerful ''daimyô''.

Each ''han'' was ordered in 1615 to destroy all but one castle in its territory<ref>Sakai, Robert. "Feudal Society and Modern Leadership in Satsuma-han." ''Journal of Asian Studies'' 16:3 (May 1957). pp366-7.</ref>, and was not allowed to make repairs or expansions upon the domain's defenses without shogunate approval. Samurai were restricted to the [[castle town]]s, so as to prevent them from organizing rebellions or building armies in the countryside, and marriages between ''daimyô'' clans, which could represent the beginnings of alliances, were similarly forbidden without shogunate approval<ref>Sansom. pp7-8.</ref>. The ''sankin kôtai'' system was another key element of these restrictive measures. Initially voluntary, the system was made mandatory in 1635; ''daimyô'' were obligated to maintain a residence in Edo, where members of their close family would reside as hostages against the ''daimyô's'' disobedience or rebellion. The ''daimyô'' were also obligated to make annual journeys to Edo<ref>Sansom. p20f.</ref>, and to reside there for half of each year; the massive expenses associated with these journeys served to place limits on even the wealth of the most powerful ''daimyô''.

The early decades of the Edo period were also marked by extensive foreign trade and cultural exchange. Continuing a system established by [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], the shogunate sent formally licensed ships called ''[[shuinsen]]'' (vermillion seal ships) throughout East and Southeast Asia. The region's seas were overrun with pirates and raiders, known as ''[[wako|wakô]]'' throughout the Sengoku period and the 17th century<ref>Arano, Yasunori. "The Entrenchment of the Concept of 'National Seclusion'". ''Acta Asiatica'' vol 67 (1994). p98.</ref>; in theory, these licenses helped foreign authorities distinguish legitimate traders from ''wakô''.

The early decades of the Edo period were also marked by extensive foreign trade and cultural exchange. Continuing a system established by [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], the shogunate sent formally licensed ships called ''[[shuinsen]]'' (vermillion seal ships) throughout East and Southeast Asia. The region's seas were overrun with pirates and raiders, known as ''[[wako|wakô]]'' throughout the Sengoku period and the 17th century<ref>Arano, Yasunori. "The Entrenchment of the Concept of 'National Seclusion'". ''Acta Asiatica'' vol 67 (1994). p98.</ref>; in theory, these licenses helped foreign authorities distinguish legitimate traders from ''wakô''.