Ordinary Peasant in the Tokugawa Period Japan

The ordinary peasant in the Tokugawa period (1609-1868) observed many years of gradual change in their feudalistic society. When we consider the political, economic and social roles they have held within their society, we can see how vital the peasants were to the Tokugawa Shogunate. Peasants were everything from self sufficient farmers and pioneers of new and useful technology, to impoverished workers that would often suffer famines. Many times peasants would not even be able …

…bloodshed’. This transformation is what began the steady shift from peasant to farmer. The change towards the modern age, and the gradual segregation of Tokugawa traditional values and political structure would prove to be a step forward for the ordinary peasant. The end of the Tokugawa shogunate eventually came in 1868, in the wake of the Meiji Restoration which brought on a modern nation-state, improved taxation, and in general a better life for the ordinary peasant.