The Edo Period (江戸時代, Edo jidai?), or Tokugawa period (徳川時代, Tokugawa jidai?), is a division of the history of Japan when it was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. Characterized by strict social orders, isolationist foreign policies, and an increase in both environmental protection and the creation and popular enjoyment of arts and culture, Japanese society during this period was controlled by the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional Daimyo.
The Tokugawa shogunate was officially established in Edo on March 24, 1603 by the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. The Tokugawa shogunate was overthrown by the Meiji Restoration on May 3, 1868, with the fall of Edo and the restoration of the Tenno's rule after the reign of the fifteenth and last shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu.
A revolution took place in the centuries from the time of the Kamakura shogunate, which co-existed in equilibrium with the Tenno's court, to the Tokugawa, when the bushi became the unchallenged rulers in what historian Edwin O. Reischauer called a "centralized feudal" form of government. Instrumental in the rise of the new bakufu was Tokugawa Ieyasu, the main beneficiary of the achievements of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Already powerful, Ieyasu profited by his transfer to the rich Kantō area. He maintained 2.5 million koku of land, new headquarters at Edo, a strategically situated castle town (the future Tokyo), and also had an additional two million koku of land and thirty-eight vassals under his control. After Hideyoshi's death, Ieyasu moved quickly to seize control from the Toyotomi family.
Edo (江戸, Edo?, literally "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo. It was seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868. During this period it grew to become one of the largest cities in the world and home to an urban culture centered on the notion of a "floating world".
From the establishment of the Tokugawa bakufu's headquarters at Edo, although Kyoto remained the formal capital of the country the de facto capital was now Edo; it was the center of political power. Edo grew from what had been a small, little-known fishing village in 1457 to a metropolis with an estimated population of 1,000,000 by 1721 (the largest city in the world at the time).
Edo was repeatedly devastated by fires, with the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 (in which an estimated 100,000 people died) the most disastrous. During the Edo period there were about 100 fires (most begun by accident, often quickly escalating and spreading through neighbourhoods of wooden machiya which were heated with charcoal fires. Between 1600 and 1945, Edo/Tokyo was leveled every 25–50 years or so by fire, earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic eruptions or war.
Tokugawa Yoshinobu (徳川 慶喜?) (also known as Keiki; October 28, 1837 – November 22, 1913) was the 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. After resigning in late 1867, he went into retirement, and largely avoided the public eye for the rest of his life.
Tokugawa Yoshinobu was born in Mito, Hitachi Province, the seventh son of Tokugawa Nariaki, daimyo of Mito. Mito was one of the gosanke, the three branch families of the Tokugawa clan which were eligible to be chosen as shogun.
Born with the name Matsudaira Shichirōma, he was brought up under strict, spartan supervision and tutelage. He was taught in the literary and martial arts, as well as receiving a solid education in the principles of politics and government.
At the instigation of his father, Shichirōma was adopted by the Hitotsubashi-Tokugawa family in order to have a better chance of succeeding to the shogunate. He became family head in 1847, coming of age that year, receiving court rank and title, and taking the name Yoshinobu. Upon the death of the 13th shogun, Shogun Iesada, in 1858, Yoshinobu was nominated as a potential successor. His supporters touted his skill and efficiency in managing family affairs. However, the opposing faction, led by Ii Naosuke, won out. Their candidate, the young Tokugawa Yoshitomi, was chosen, and became the 14th shogun Iemochi. Soon after, during the Ansei Purge, Yoshinobu and others who supported him were placed under house arrest. Yoshinobu himself was made to retire from Hitotsubashi headship.
We must be better off, we must be better off alone,
Than stuck here in this clever mess of a life.
But the ties we share are too strong to sever,
And it looks like we'll be together.
The story, the story has been around forever.
You just don't get it, you just don't get it at all,
It's less about you and more about the way that we say goodbye before we even say hello.
We even start to believe that it's the way that it should be,
Just ignore those thoughts of reason in the back of our heads.
(Forget them, forget them, forget them all)
You left me with nothing, you left me with nothing but the fast,
Beating of my heart.
Racing in the back, as your glance caught mine in the car,
That collided with mine.
Let's see how fast we can go.
You just don't get it, you just don't get it at all,
It's less about you and more about the way that we say goodbye before we even say hello.
We even start to believe that it's the way that it should be,
Just ignore those thoughts of reason in the back of our heads.
Show me the way you move,
I cant get enough of you,
You leave me gasping for more air.
Take My advice: and don't change a thing.
Tell me if it would be OK if I took away the gravity that keeps us here!
Cuz I got some big ideas,
and four wheels of mine that will set our dreams in motion.
Tell me just how you feel
and where this is going.
She said I got something to say to you.
I need you close to me and I will be yours
it seems,
Just close your eyes and hold my hand.
Close your eyes now and hold my hand,
If a promise is a promise,
I have no intention of breaking the ones we have,
Just hold me close and don't let me go.
The last time I checked I was staring at your wall,
and singing out your name.
Tell me just how you feel
and where this is going.
She said I got something to say to you.
I need you close to me and I will be yours
it seems,
Just close your eyes and hold my hand.
Hold my Hand
I didn't see this at first,
but your a girl that caught me by surprise,
And you could tell me anything you wanted,
And I could see it in your eyes:
You couldn't wait till we were alone,
To pass the time together.
Tell me just how you feel
and where this is going.
She said I got something to say to you.
I need you close to me and I will be yours
it seems,
Just close your eyes and hold my hand.