Tokugawa Ieyasu, << `TOH` koo GAH wah ee yeh YAH soo >> (1542-1616) founded the Tokugawa bakufu (warrior government), also known as the Tokugawa dynasty, which governed Japan from 1603 until 1867. He was the shogun (military ruler) of Japan from 1603 until 1605, when he turned the title over to his son. However, he continued to hold power until his death.
Ieyasu was born in Okazaki. He was the son of a military lord who governed a small area in central Japan. When Ieyasu was 17, he entered the service of a prominent regional lord. He built up a huge personal domain in central Japan. In the 1590’s, he became a high-ranking ally of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the country’s most powerful figure. When Hideyoshi died in 1598, Ieyasu became one of five regents governing on behalf of Hideyoshi’s heir, Hideyori. In 1600, the regents fought a battle among themselves at Sekigahara. Ieyasu’s forces won, sweeping aside Hideyori. Three years later, the emperor gave Ieyasu the title of shogun.
Ieyasu established his government in Edo (now Tokyo). He personally controlled the country’s largest army, and about a fourth of its productive land. In response to the perceived threat posed by European Roman Catholic missionaries, he imposed a system of national isolation known as sakoku. His edicts (public orders) fostered a nationwide system of law and morality. His descendants ruled for some 250 years after his death. Ieyasu’s splendid mausoleum stands north of Tokyo, in Nikko. See Tokugawa shogunate.
See also 47 Ronin; Japan (Tokugawa period).
