America discovered Japan’s feudal past from watching the 1980 television miniseries Shogun. For today’s World History Moment, historian John Schmidt takes us back to March 24, 1603, when Japan formed ...

The samurai were a preeminent class defending Japan for centuries. But as the Tokugawa shogunate ushered in an era of stability, the need for them faded, forcing these warriors to find a new way of ...

Sir George Sansom’s history of Japan was first published in 1932 and used in U.S. college classrooms into the 1980s. In it, he described the Tokugawa period (1603-1868) as an era of oppressive “feudal ...

Ruthlessness, resolve, and luck all brought Tokugawa Ieyasu to power in 1603 as he unified Japan after centuries of samurai strife and civil war. Guardian statues can be seen at the Tosho-gu shrine ...

Teachers are encouraged to read “Tokugawa Japan: An Introductory Essay,” by historian Marcia Yonemoto prior to conducting this lesson. The introductory essay may also be assigned to students with ...