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#26 SAKOKU -exclusionism of the Edo shogunate-
Click here to go to YouTube video In his masterpiece “Moby-Dick, or The Whale” the 19th-century American author Herman Melville described Japan as a “double-bolted land”. This is because, in the Edo period (1603-1867), Japan was closed to the rest of the world for more than 200 years, keeping American whalers away. In this episode, we will look at how the exclusionism of the Edo shogunate began. At the beginning of the Edo period, Tokugawa Ieyasu was active in foreign trade. Merchant ships with Ieyasu’s permits were actively traveling to and from Thailand, Vietnam, and other Southeast Asian countries, and a number of Japanese towns were established in port cities…
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#25 The Edo Shogunate
Click here to go to the YouTube Video As you know, the current capital of Japan is Tokyo. With a population of 14 million, Tokyo is a world-class metropolis and the political, economic, and cultural center of Japan. In this episode, we will look at how the Edo period (1603-1867) began, which triggered the development of Tokyo. ご存知のように東京は現在の日本の首都です。14,000,000 人の人口を持つ世界的な大都市で、日本の政治、経済、文化の中心です。今回は東京の発展のきっかけとなった江戸時代がどのように始まったのかを見ていきましょう。 After the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, based in the Kanto region, rose to power and came into conflict with Ishida Mitsunari, who was trying to protect the Toyotomi regime. In 1600, the two sides clashed in the Battle of Sekigahara, which Ieyasu won. Then in 1603, the Imperial Court…
