Tokugawa Ieyasu
Statue of Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Tōshō Shrine in Nikkō, Japan.
Tokugawa period
Japanese history
Also known as: Edo period
Quick Facts Tokugawa period, (1603–1867), the final period of traditional Japan, a time of internal peace, political stability, and economic growth under the shogunate (military dictatorship) founded by Tokugawa Ieyasu. As shogun, Ieyasu achieved hegemony over the entire country by balancing the power of potentially hostile domains (tozama) with strategically placed allies (fudai) and collateral houses (shimpan). As a further strategy of control, beginning in 1635, Tokugawa Iemitsu required the domanial lords, or daimyo, to...