1603–1868 (Edo period)Reputable sourceWell documented
The Tokugawa Shogunate and the Closed Country
On the timeline · around 1603–1868 (Edo period) · Feudal Japan
What happened
Tokugawa Ieyasu founded a shogunate at Edo (Tokyo) that would rule Japan for over 250 years of internal peace. To preserve stability and block European influence, the government expelled missionaries, banned Christianity, and closed the country (sakoku) from the 1630s — cutting off nearly all foreign contact for two centuries.
Why it matters
The Tokugawa peace brought booming cities, a vibrant merchant culture, and rising literacy, even as isolation held Japan apart from a rapidly changing world — a gap that would prove momentous when the isolation finally broke.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Edo Period · Reputable source