Tokugawa Tsunayoshi
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was the fifth shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, ascending to power after the death of his brother Tokugawa Ietsuna in 1680. Tsunayoshi, who had previously gained confidence as a daimyo of Tatebayashi, faced the challenge of ruling during a time marked by both economic prosperity and hardship. Unlike his passive predecessor, Tsunayoshi initially demonstrated administrative vigor and relied on the advice of his councilors, particularly Hotta Masatoshi. However, after Hotta's death in 1684, Tsunayoshi's governance became increasingly erratic.
One of the most notable aspects of his rule was his commitment to Neo-Confucian philosophy, which he infused into his policies, particularly through his Edicts on Compassion for Living Things. These edicts aimed to protect animals, especially dogs, reflecting Tsunayoshi's personal affinity for them. However, the extreme nature of these laws, including severe penalties for animal cruelty and restrictions on hunting and hawking, generated widespread unpopularity among the populace.
While Tsunayoshi's reign is often characterized by extravagance and fiscal irresponsibility—such as the debasement of currency leading to inflation—his moral legislation did not incite rebellion. His tenure ultimately left a complicated legacy, with economic challenges that successors like Tokugawa Ienobu and Tokugawa Yoshimune would later grapple with. Tsunayoshi's unusual focus on animal rights, juxtaposed with financial mismanagement, paints a complex picture of a ruler who sought to impose a unique moral order but faced significant pushback from the realities of governance.
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Subject Terms
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi
Japanese shogun (r. 1680-1709)
- Born: February 23, 1646
- Birthplace: Edo (now Tokyo), Japan
- Died: February 19, 1709
- Place of death: Edo (now Tokyo), Japan
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was the fifth Tokugawa shogun. His reign coincides roughly with the Genroku period of Japanese history, a period of flowering for literature, the arts, and urban culture. Despite this fact, however, Tsunayoshi is remembered mostly for his eccentric policies, including the laws protecting animals that earned him the nickname The Dog Shogun.
Early Life
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (toh-koo-gah-wah tsoo-nah-yoh-shee) was the fourth son of Tokugawa Iemitsu , the shogun who presided over what is considered by many scholars to have been the height of power of the Tokugawa shogunate. Iemitsu is famous for his ruthless persecution of Christians and for enacting a policy of national seclusion—two acts designed to enforce Tokugawa rule. Iemitsu was initially succeeded by his eldest son, Tokugawa Ietsuna, who governed between 1651 and 1680. Tsunayoshi was five years old when his brother came to power. He was well cared for as a member of the shogun’s household, and upon coming of age, Tsunayoshi was given control of the fief of Tatebayashi, in central Japan. His experience as a daimyo gave him confidence, and when Ietsuna died without an heir in 1680, Tsunayoshi became shogun.
Life’s Work
Unlike his father Iemitsu, Tokugawa Ietsuna was a weak and indecisive ruler who relied mostly on his councilors for decision making. After Ietsuna’s death, Tsunayoshi also relied on councilors’ advice, particularly that of the tairo (great elder) Hotta Masatoshi, in deciding matters of government. Unlike Ietsuna, however, Tsunayoshi did not allow himself to be dominated and instead showed considerable energy as an administrator during the first part of his time in power. His relationship with Hotta was more of a partnership, but it is clear that Tsunayoshi relied on the old man for advice.
When Hotta died in 1684, just four years into Tsunayoshi’s reign, the shogun’s policies and administrative initiatives began to become more erratic. Tsunayoshi devoted less and less time to the business of government and what major administrative decisions he did make in the years following 1684 were mostly reactionary. For example, in response to a financial crisis facing the shogunate as a result of overspending, Tsunayoshi ordered the debasement of gold and silver coinage as a solution to the central government’s financial woes. This debasement caused massive inflation and general instability in prices, trade, and commerce. The period of Tsunayoshi’s rule is generally considered by scholars to be a period of prosperity, but economic hardship existed as well, and the decisions of the central administration, often designed as a quick fix, did little to lead Japan toward economic prosperity. Tsunayoshi also increased land taxes, a move that increased hardship in the countryside and caused general discontent.
Tsunayoshi’s relative apathy for matters of government can be contrasted with his strong interest in philosophy, education, and learning. Since the early Tokugawa period, the shoguns had demonstrated an interest in using the philosophical system of the Chinese Neo-Confucian thinker Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi; 1130-1200) as a guiding principal of government. The Neo-Confucian system of thought supported the hierarchical class system that the Tokugawa rulers put into place. Tsunayoshi, though, was sincerely interested in Neo-Confucian philosophy on a personal level, not just as a means of justifying the form of social organization promoted by Tokugawa law.
The first of Tsunayoshi’s Neo-Confician-inspired moral precepts was promulgated in 1685, just one year after the death of his adviser, Hotta. Tsunayoshi issued the first of his Edicts on Compassion for Living Things. The main focus of these edicts was to prevent cruelty to animals, particularly dogs. Tsunayoshi was born in the year of the dog, and as a result, he felt that he had a karmic duty to care for the animals. His affinity for them led him to make killing a dog a capital offence. Not surprisingly, these edicts were widely unpopular because of the extreme penalties prescribed for offences that were considered trivial by the majority of the population. Coupled with the economic turmoil brought about by Tsunayoshi’s policy of currency debasement and his increase in land taxes, his edicts protecting dogs made him a very unpopular ruler.
From the perspective of the common people, Tsunayoshi’s moral precepts became even more ridiculous. Applying leashes to cats and dogs was prohibited. Hawking, a favorite pastime of the warrior class, was banned, and hawkers were forced into other occupations. Hunting was severely limited, which adversely affected the livelihoods of many. Eventually, Tsunayoshi devised a complex system of prohibitions of the eating of animals and fish and the use of certain animal parts; leather, too, was banned by his decree. In 1695, Tsunayoshi went even further, when he used the funds of the shogunate—which were already low because of irresponsible spending—to build tremendous kennels to house stray dogs at several sites in Edo. The largest of these buildings was eventually expanded to house more than 100,000 animals. The climate in Edo degenerated to the point where some peasants began to address dogs as oinu-sama or “honorable lord dog” out of fear of the authorities.
These moral regulations continued to be maintained until Tsunayoshi’s death in 1709. He failed to produce a son and was succeeded by his nephew, Tokugawa Ienobu. Ienobu immediately repealed most of Tsunayoshi’s widely unpopular legislation. Ienobu’s reign was short: He came to power in 1709 and died in 1712, and he is most well known for incorporating the ideas of Confucian scholar Arai Hakuseki into government. As a result, Tsunayoshi’s legacy of moral precepts is generally considered to have been completely undone shortly after his death.
Significance
When assessing Tokugawa Tsunayoshi’s significance, scholars have typically considered the negative aspects of his reign. His erratic moral legislation increased popular discontent but did not foment rebellion. He weakened central government in other ways, however. The currency debasement that he sponsored, despite the fact that it caused runaway inflation and chaotic prices through the Genroku era and beyond, did little to settle the Tokugawa government’s financial problems. Overspending, particularly on luxury and ceremony, were to blame for the excesses of the shogunate, and these problems only became worse during Tsunayoshi’s reign. The more extravagant side of his moral reforms, such as feeding more than 100,000 dogs with white rice and fish, a luxurious diet that the majority of the Japanese peasantry could never hope to enjoy, did nothing to help government finances.
While Tsunayoshi’s fiscal irresponsibility did not bring the shogunate to ruin, undoing the economic damage he caused through both extravagance and neglect proved to be a challenge for his successors. Both Tokugawa Ienobu and Tokugawa Yoshimune would struggle with the finanacial legacy of Tsunayoshi. In short, the excessive spending and currency debasement carried out by Tsunayoshi’s regime, coupled with the fact that toward the end of the seventeenth century there was a shortage of new cultivatable land in the more populous regions of Japan, led to significant economic stagnation in the eighteenth century. While Tsunayoshi’s policies were not solely to blame for this stagnation, they did much to exasperate an already declining situation.
Bibliography
Nishiyama, Matsunosuke. Edo Culture: Daily Life and Diversions in Urban Japan, 1600-1868. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997. A history of urban culture with a strong focus on the Genroku period, which coincided roughly with Tsunayoshi’s time in power.
Sansom, George. A History of Japan, 1615-1867. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1963. Sansom’s three-volume history of premodern Japan is still the most authoritative coverage of the subject in English. Includes detailed coverage of Tsunayoshi’s time in power.
Totman, Conrad. Early Modern Japan. Berkeley: University of California, 1993. The most comprehensive single-volume treatment of the Edo period of Japanese history in English. Includes a comprehensive discussion of Tsunayoshi’s time in power and the lasting effects of his reign.
Tsukamoto, Manabu. Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1997. A biography of Tsunayoshi focusing on his philosophical interests and moral reforms.