POLITICAL AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN JAPAN DURING THE ERA OF THE TOKUGAWA SHOGUNA

Abstract

In the period from 1603 to 1868, Japan was ruled by the Tokugawa shogun dynasty, which not only managed to unite the divided country into a single political monolith, but also carried out a number of political and social transformations in the country. The period under study saw the “closure” of Japan, which protected it from the penetration of colonizers and deprived it of external cultural influences, so that Japanese culture was formed and developed separately, acquiring specific features and unique traits. The article analyzes the management activities of the Tokugawa shogunate. Two aspects of the shoguns’ activities are distinguished, namely in the context of service to the nation, including: the diminishing role of the emperor in political and social life and the departure from traditional Japanese Shintoism and the new religion of Christianity and the transition of Japanese society to Confucianism, which, on the one hand, influenced the Japanese mentality and approach to life, and on the other hand, did not contain the traditions of emperor deification, as it was in Shintoism, and thus affirmed the power of the shoguns. The authors of the article emphasize the clear social hierarchy introduced during the Tokugawa shogunate and analyze its features and evolution. It is the social and political transformations that took place in Japanese society during the shogunate period that became the basis for the further development of Japan, having a significant impact on its culture and mentality of the nation.