Japan's Closed Country Edict (1635)
About the Author
Just who the author or authors of this document were is hard to know. The edict was issued under the rule of the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604–1651). Although it is highly unlikely that he wrote it (common practice was to have learned advisers or high officials draft edicts), he no doubt had a large say in what was in it. Like the other early Tokugawa shoguns, Iemitsu was a personal ruler who took an active role in establishing policy and laying down laws. Iemitsu differed from his two predecessors, however, in that he was the first shogun to have no experience in battle. Probably for this reason he did much to establish the bureaucratic structure of the Tokugawa bakufu, shifting it away from the military organization that had characterized it under his father and grandfather. In this sense, the Closed Country Edict was appropriate to him. Accordingly, it is fair to say that the content reflected Iemitsu's concerns and ideas and that it had been...
