18 Facts About Edo period

1.

Edo period maintained two million koku of land, a new headquarters at Edo, a strategically situated castle town, and had an additional two million koku of land and thirty-eight vassals under his control.

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2.

Edo period rapidly abolished numerous enemy daimyo houses, reduced others, such as that of the Toyotomi, and redistributed the spoils of war to his family and allies.

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3.

Edo period wanted to make Edo a major port, but once he learned that the Europeans favored ports in Kyushu and that China had rejected his plans for official trade, he moved to control existing trade and allowed only certain ports to handle specific kinds of commodities.

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4.

Edo period society had an elaborate social structure, in which every family knew its place and level of prestige.

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5.

Edo period passed on a vital commercial sector to be in flourishing urban centers, a relatively well-educated elite, a sophisticated government bureaucracy, productive agriculture, a closely unified nation with highly developed financial and marketing systems, and a national infrastructure of roads.

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6.

Economic development during the Tokugawa Edo period included urbanization, increased shipping of commodities, a significant expansion of domestic and, initially, foreign commerce, and a diffusion of trade and handicraft industries.

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7.

Osaka and Kyoto became busy trading and handicraft production centers, while Edo period was the center for the supply of food and essential urban consumer goods.

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8.

System of sankin kotai meant that daimyos and their families often resided in Edo period or travelled back to their domains, giving demand to an enormous consumer market in Edo period and trade throughout the country.

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9.

Edo period raised taxes, denounced luxuries and tried to impede the growth of business; he failed and it appeared to many that the continued existence of the entire Tokugawa system was in jeopardy.

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10.

High rates of urban literacy in Edo period contributed to the prevalence of novels and other literary forms.

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11.

One estimate of literacy in Edo period suggest that up to a third of males could read, along with a sixth of women.

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12.

The best-selling books in this Edo period were Koshoku Ichidai Otoko by Ihara Saikaku, Nanso Satomi Hakkenden by Takizawa Bakin and Tokaidochu Hizakurige by Jippensha Ikku and these books were reprinted many times.

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13.

Confucian studies had long been kept active in Japan by Buddhist clerics, but during the Tokugawa Edo period, Confucianism emerged from Buddhist religious control.

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14.

Edo period was characterized by an unprecedented series of economic developments and cultural maturation, especially in terms of theater, music, and other entertainment.

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15.

Over this Edo period, women adopted brighter colours and bolder designs, whereas women's and men's kimono had been very similar.

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16.

End of this Edo period is specifically called the late Tokugawa shogunate.

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17.

Edo period'storians consider that a major contributing factor to the decline of the Tokugawa was "poor management of the central government by the shogun, which caused the social classes in Japan to fall apart".

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18.

Edo period tried to reorganize the government under the emperor while preserving the shoguns leadership role.

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