Professional Documents
Culture Documents
• Established his
government base in
Edo.
• Finalized unification
of Japan
Why did Japan Isolate itself?
• At the beginning of the Edo period Japan
was trading with many countries.
• Tokugawa Ieyasu didn’t want Japanese
exposed to Western ideas. He saw
Europeans establishing colonies in many
areas they explored. He decided that
foreign ships could only land at one port:
the island of Deshima.
Spread of Christianity
• Roman Catholic missionaries came on ships
wanting to convert the Japanese to
Christianity.
• Between 1549-87 150,000 Japanese
converted in the Nagasaki Area.
• Bakufu (military govt.) were concerned that
new Christians wouldn’t view the shoguns as
their ultimate authority.
• Shoguns decided to isolate Japan, primarily
from the Western world.
The National Seclusion Policy
• The Bakufu passed edicts to control the
influence of foreigners. Some of these were:
– Japanese ships forbidden to travel to foreign
countries.
– Any Japanese who attempt to go abroad will be
executed.
– Any Japanese returning from overseas will be
put to death.
– Any Westerners teaching Christianity will be put
in prison.
– No single trading city is permitted to purchase
all merchandise brought by foreign ships.
– Portuguese ships are banned from Japanese
ports. Ships will be destroyed and passengers
executed.