The Transformation of Japanese society under the Tokugawa shoguns
Japan transformed a huge amount during the time of the Tokugawa shoguns. Before the Tokugawa shoguns, the whole of Japan was in civil war, but during the Tokugawa period, peace was spread over Japan and the people of Japan were not in danger any more. Because the Tokugawa shogun is very powerful, no one will begin a war unless it is sent forward by the shogun at the time. This was very beneficial for Japanese people seeing as they could focus on other things like agriculture and fishing, gathering food for their families. But there are also some negatives because of this. Samurai's and the fighting class could not maintain their standards because there are no battles to fight. Even though samurai's always have to dress differently and carry two swords at their side, most of them were not taught how to fight from when they were a child. When Alternate Attendance was invented, local peasants and merchants became quite rich because of the money they got from Daimyo's who want food, water and shelter on their trip. This became quite a big problem because the merchants and peasants who became rich wanted to be moved up in class because some became as wealthy as some of the nobility. They could also afford to be taught how to read and write like higher class people. The security in Edo became very strict also because of the amount of people going in and out of Edo at one time. Everyone was required to have a passport-like sheet of paper to show who you were and what you were planning to do in Edo. This made it very inconvenient for people to move in and out of the main city.