During the Edo period, the city of Edo functioned as a vast economic center. Its economy was sustained by a complex system of consumption, supply, trade, rental, and resource circulation, shaped by both high-status samurai and townspeople (chōnin, 町人).
Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa shogun, chose Edo (present-day Tokyo) as Japan’s new capital, and it became one of the largest cities of its time and was the site of a thriving urban culture.
The Edo period refers to the years from 1603 until 1868 when the Tokugawa family ruled Japan. The era is named after the city of Edo, modern-day Tokyo, where the Tokugawa shogunate had its government.
A vibrant urban culture developed in the city of Edo (today’s Tokyo) as well as in Kyoto and elsewhere. Artisans and merchants became important producers and consumers of new forms of visual and material culture.
Tokugawa period (德川時代, Tokugawa jidai), also called Edo period (江戸時代, Edo jidai), from 1603 to 1867, the final period of traditional Japan, a time of internal peace, political stability, and economic growth under the shogunate (military dictatorship) founded by Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Tokugawa Period / Edo Period (1600-1867) - Japanese Studies - Subject ...
Imagine a time in Japan when peace reigned, arts flourished, and society was strictly ordered. This was the Edo period, also known as the Tokugawa period. It was a time of significant transformation that shaped modern Japan in ways still evident today. The Edo period spanned from 1603 to 1868.
Despite the relative stability that the removal of Ieyasu’s main rival brought about, something still needed to be done to address the fragility of rule in a newly unified Japan. To this end, the Tokugawa shogunate began to consolidate power in Edo.