Edo Japan
isolation under the shoguns
The Road to Sekigahara
Hideyoshi dies, Sekigahara is fought, Ieyasu builds Edo and extinguishes the Toyotomi
1582–1615
The Tokugawa System
the bakuhan structure, the sankin-kotai system, and the four-class hierarchy
1603–1651
Sakoku and the Christian Purge
the Christian century ends, the Shimabara Rebellion is crushed, and the country closes
1549–1641
Genroku Culture
the floating world, kabuki, Bashō's haiku, and the world's first futures market
1680–1709
The 47 Rōnin
Asano draws his sword, Ōishi waits a year, and bushido finds its definitive story
1701–1703
Rangaku and the Knowledge Trickle
Sugita's anatomy text, Inō's coastal survey, and the hidden infrastructure of modernization
1720–1850
The Long Decline
fiscal crisis, peasant uprisings, the Tenmei famine, and the foreign-ship problem
1700–1853
The Black Ships and the End
Perry arrives, the shogunate cracks, and the Meiji Restoration ends 265 years of Tokugawa rule
1853–1868