Tokugawa Government Essay -- Government, Tokugawa Politics

Tokugawa government had belonged to the Shoguns and was successful in forming and keeping an affordable system that had lasted two and a half centuries (Pg.3). Tokugawa government’s goal was to maintain â€Å"under the centralized power in the context of a feudal system, in which the various lords (daimyo) could retain their autonomy (Pg.3).† Tokugawa Shogun had his castle in Edo and he had also established the Shogun government in Edo and it is now presently known as Tokyo. The Edo government of the Tokugawa was known as bakfu (Pg.3). The Tokugawa policy relied on maintaining the status quo and their power. The status quo was based on Confucian’s principles which were made accordance to the need of a feudal Japanese society and sanctions by the Tokugawa rulers (Pg.4). In this paper, it will discuss Tokugawa bakfu policies which had given a rise to the culture of floating world through the various roles of samurai warriors, the merchants and the courtesans. The Tokugawa bakfu had a control system called â€Å"alternate attendance† that expected the Daimyo to reside in Edo and at their domains (Pg.241). Edo was mostly consisted of the male population (Pg.245). The Daimyo had to leave their wives and children in Edo as hostages (Pg.241). Tokugawa society was divided into four categories: the samurai warriors, the peasants, the artisans and the merchants. The samurai warriors were the masters of agriculturalists, artisans and merchants and they were not allowed to be rude or disrespectful towards the samurai (Pg.5). The official merchants were in charge of supplying goods to Samurai’s in which made Edo a consumer capital (Pg.241). The power of merchants had formed most of the wealth for their feudal lords. The Tokugawa merchant officials ... ...world through the different roles played by the samurai warriors, the merchants and the courtesans. The Samurai warriors had the power of mastering and ruling over the merchants. The merchants were in the duty of supplying goods to the Samurai’s and most of the wealth was produced by the merchants (Pg.241). The merchants were given leisure time and through this time they were able to meet wealthy customers in order to keep Edo a consumer capital. The leisure time was spent in the gay quarters located in Edo and men were entertained by famous actors and courtesans. The courtesans and the actors had created a fantasy world which was filled with colour, beauty and creative spirit that had led to expand culture of the floating world (Pg.9). Overall, it can be said that the practices and decorum of Tokugawa bakfu had allowed to create the culture of the floating world.