The Tokugawa Shogunate was founded by Ieyasu Tokugawa, named Shogun in 1603. For years he led his military clan as an ally of Nobunaga, and then his succesor Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After years of maneuver and dissembling, he turned upon his allies and defeated the last Hideyoshi loyalists at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. The victory left the Emperor Go-yozei no choice but to appoint Ieyasu military ruler, or shogun. The Tokugawa held power in Japan until 1867, when the Meiji Restoration began.
Ieyasu's birth name was Matsudaira Takchido, born 1543 of the Matsudaira clan, and was a descenant of Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, late 10th century/early 11th century leader in the Zenkunen and Gosannen wars.
Ieyasu fixed social conditions in Japan, dictating that farmers must stay on their land and that Japanese could not change their class of society. The classes were samurai, farmers, craftspeople and traders. There was a fifth class considered outside society, the eta, people who worked at trades which cut them off from others as unclean (tanners, etc.). People were forbidden to travel outside Japan, foreigners were expelled and Christianity was forbidden (although some powerful southern samurai families continued to be Christian).
There were 15 Tokugawa shoguns, the last being Yoshinobu. Like the Emperors, shoguns used one name during their lifetimes and were referred to by another after death. Ieyasu's reign is termed that of Toshogu.
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