60 Tokugawa Iemitsu Ieyasu became shougun in the 2nd month of the 8th year of Keichou (1603), and passed the office on to Hidetada in the 4th month of the 10th year of Keichou (1605). Hidetada held the office for nineteen years, until the 7th month of the 9th year of Genna (1623), when he turned it over to Iemitsu. Iemitsu was the oldest son of Hidetada. In his own mind, and in the public eye as well he was more suited for the position as he was the grandson of Ieyasu, not just because he was Hidetada's son. (an omission) The most important event that took place during Iemitsu's tenure was the Shimabara Rebellion. The "important" here was the outcome. In the 16th year of Kan'ei (1639), the Expulsion Edict, closing the nation to all foreign intercourse, was enacted. We must retrace history to the Mongol Invasion to the time when the name "Japan" became known in the West. That is, to the Italian traveler Marco Polo (1254-1324), who visited the Mongol empire of China and learned of Japan. Since introducing Japan in his book under the name "Zipang," saying it was an island with abundant gold and silver, he incited great interest in Japan among Western people, so much so thst Christopher Columbus' (d. 1506) discovery of America in 1492 was based on that interest. The first appearance in Japan by a foreigner was actually rather late - in the 12th year of Tenbun (1543) - when some Protuguese came ashore on the island of Tanegashima. Traders and missionaries came, and with them came the matchlock arquebus which brought with it a revolution in the ways of making war. Also with them came the spread of Christianity, which acquired many converts. It was St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552), one of the founders of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit order), who first brought Christianity to Japan. He arrived in Kagoshima in the 18th year of Tenbun (1549) and after about forty days of studying the language he began preaching. He did missionary work Yamaguchi and made his way to Kyouto. He made the trip barefoot and shouldering a traveler's load while running behind horses. It was a very difficult journey and he didn't spare himself any of it which impressed people, so the number of believers gradually grew. Two years later, he left Japan, and the next year he died on the island of Sancian near Kantong, China. He was forty-six. After Xavier, many missionaries came to Japan to preach. In these missionaries' reports they write detailed information on what the Japan of those days was like, as well as the character of the people. In a letter of Xavier, he wrote, "There are no people in the world who hate thievery as much as do the Japanese." In reports from other missionaries, we can observe what they thought to be special characteristics of the Japanese: that the Japanese respected their parents, and if they were unfilial toward them, they believed that they would certainly receive punishment from heaven; that they placed great value on honor; that they hated avarice; that they were brave and had great endurance; that they didn't despair even after a natural disaster; that they didn't flinch in the face of danger; that regardless of whether they wee happy or upset, they didn't show it on their faces; that they didn't like chattering and preferred those of few words; and so on. In the nearly forty years from the 18th year of Tenbun (1449), when Xavier came to Japan, to the 15th year of Tenshou (1587), many of the so-called nanbanjin (that is, Europeans; literally, "southern barbarian," the term being connected to the arrival of the foreigners from the south) came to Japan, and along with the gowth of trade came the spread of Christianity, and the numbers of believers rose. Especially in Kyuushuu, the daimyou Ohtomo Sourin and Arima Yoshisada believed fervently in the new religion, but in central Japan daimyou like Takayama Ukon, Hosotawa Tadaoki, Konishi Yukinaga, and others also became believers. As slready mentioned, at the pacification of Kyuushuu in the 15th year of Tenshou (1587), Hideyoshi realixed Christianity was spreading, so he put a ban on Christianity, and ordered that the missionaries were to be expelled from Japan. This ban, however, was only on the propagation of the faith; commerce was warmly allowed to carry on, so in reality the number of the faithful continued to gradually increase. Since Ieyasu's policies welcomed trade, at first he was openminded about Christianity, but upon hearing that the Portuguese had some political ambitions, he took precautions agaist them. In the 17th year of Keichou (1612), the cathedral in Kyouto was demolished and mission work was forbidden. In turn, Hidetada limited the trade ports to Nagasaki and Hirado, and began the oppression of Christians. The opposition to this oppression was the Shimabara Rebellion in the 14th year of Kan'ei (1637). (an omission) The most important thing to come out of the Shimabara Rebellion was that the shogunate learned from its experiences and heardened its policies of closing of the country to outsiders. The Portuguese were expelled from Nagasaki and forbidden to ever return. Thereafter, only Chinese who had no relationship with Christianity, and the anti-Roman Catholic Dutch who were interested solely in commerce, were allowed to enter and trade. Then the Dutch factory was moved from Hirado to Nagasaki. For thirty-three years Hirado had been important port for Dutch trade, but in the 18th year of Kan'ei (1641), that importance was transferred to Nagasaki. As a result of foreigners being forbidden from coming to Japan (save the Dutch and Chinese) and Japanese being forbidden from going abroad, Japan was unable to expand overseas and was in the dark about the situation in the world outside. In Siam during the Genna-Kan'ei years (1615-1644), Yamada Nagamasa of Suruga helped the king of Siam and rose through his military exploits. When the Ming themselves were on the verge of being defeated by the rising power of the Chin, despite urgent entreaties to Japan, the shogunate kept its its eyes closed to foreign affairs and sent no assistance. The government was following a policy of total non-involvement, continuing to respect Ieyasu's influence, and intent on safeguarding domestic peace. This system was completed under the third Tokugawa shougun, Iemitsu. After him were to come the splendor to the Genroku era under the fifth shougun, Tsunayoshi, and the austerity of the Kyouhou era under the eighth shougun Yoshimune. Changes both large and small would follow the shogunate through to the bakumatsu period, when the shogunate came to an end. In that 268-year span of time, there would be 15 shougun before the age of the Tokugawa would come to an end. (Rest omitted)

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