The Tokugawa Shogunate, also known as the Tokugawa Bakufu and the Edo Bakufu, was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa clan. This period is known as the Edo Period and derives its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was changed in 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo Castle from 1603 until 1868, when it was abolished during the Meiji Restoration.

Society in the Tokugawa Period, unlike the shogunates before it, was supposedly based on the strict class hierarchy originally established by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The daimyo, or lords, were at the top, followed by the warrior-caste of samurai, with the farmers, artisans, and traders ranking below. In some parts of the country, particularly smaller regions, daimyo and samurai were more or less identical, since daimyo might be trained as samurai, and samurai might act as local lords...

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