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Urbanization of Japan

Japan became significantly more urbanized during the 1600s. but this dramatic change was largely an unintended effect of policies designed to strengthen the new rulers, the Tokugawa clan. When the Tokugawa clan defeated its rivals in the battle of Sekigahara (1600), it.became the dominant family in Japan. To gain further legitimacy for his government. the Tokugawa leader obtained the emperor's endorsement to become shogun the supreme military authority in Japan, Formally, the emperor, who ruled Japan as part of a two-thousand-year-old dynasty, was above any military and political battles. However, the shogun held all practical power, and the emperor had little choice but to acknowledge Tokugawa's rule

To ensure the loyalty of their allies and the weakness of their rivals, the Tokugawa required all of the lords of rival clans to attend the Tokugawa court in the capital at Edo (today's Tokyo) every other year in a system called alternate attendance. The Tokugawa policies aimed to weaken the lords' ties to their home region. Because regional powers were always potential challengers to the shogun's government. each clan was required to maintain a residence in the capital, and the lords families were required to remain at Edo even when the lords were in their home regions, called domains. Within the primary domains there were usually smaller domains loyal to lesser lords. who owed loyalty to the primary lord. The main lord of the domain and many of the lesser lords would have a castle as their main residence. However. to further weaken local resistance, the Tokugawa prohibited the existence of more than one castle in each primary domain. This new restriction forced lesser lords to give up their castles, most of which were disassembled. The lords and their samurai (warriors) migrated to the single remaining castle in the domain, resulting in the rise of castle towns, whose populations grew rapidly. Trades and services grew along with the population, turning the castle towns into cities like Kanazawa and Osaka, which are important urban centers in modern Japan.

Along with these castle towns, other cities developed as a consequence of the alternate attendance system's mandatory travel schedule. Travel between the capital and the home domains was carefully regulated in an attempt to both exhaust the resources of the lords and monitor their activities. The processions of each lord could be immense as large as four thousand attendants, many mounted on horseback-and had to follow a precise schedule and route, stopping at stations a day's joumey apart Any deviation from the schedule would arouse immediate suspicion and perhaps punishment. At each stop. services sprang up to serve the lords' entourages (groups of accompanying attendants). Inns, teahouses, stables, and restaurants thrived. These new towns experienced a dramatic shift in wealth and power. With Japan at peace, the samurai and lesser lords were deprived of the spoils of war on which their income depended Samurai were officially forbidden from holding jobs, as this would distract them from serving their lords, but over time this prohibition was ignored, as samurai needed to supplement the dwindling payments by their lords. The commercial and merchant classes, on the other hand, grew in importance as they served the needs of the travelers along the Japanese highways. The shoguns also aided commerce. standardizing currency, weights, and measures as well as developing coastal navigation and the highway system.

Urbanization overturned Japan's traditional social structure, in.which samurai held the highest status as the embodiment of martial values. followed by the peasants and artisans, while merchants. who were seen as simply profiting from the labor of others, were at the bottom. However, with commerce flourishing and the country at peace, merchants became richer than warriors. When the two groups met-in theaters. for instance-samurai were often embarrassed because their simple clothes paled beside the elaborate silk robes merchants wore. The govemment even passed a law to prevent this.requiring all outer garments to be made from simple blue cotton, but merchants often circumvented it by having omate silk linings for their jackets, which were visible when the jackets were hung up. By the nineteenth century. Japan was among the most urban societies in the world. and its commercial classes among its most prosperous.

The word "Formally in the passage is closest in meaning to

AOfficially

BOriginally

CClearly

DGenerally

Paragraph 1 suggests which of the following about the emperor of Japan in the 1600s?

AHis status was mostly symbolic and gave him little real power.

BHis primary role was to serve as the country s supreme military authority.

CHe came to power after winning the battle of Sekigahara.

DHe was able to limit the real power of the Tokugawa.

The word potential in the passage is closest in meaning to

APowerful

BPossible

CConstant

DDirect

According to paragraph 2, which of the following was one of the requirements of the policy of alternate attendance?

AThe lords of rival clans had to live in the capital city for at least half of each year.

Blesser lords had to five at the primary lord's castle every other year.

CThe Tokugawa court had to house itself in a different domain each year

DClose family members of the lords of rival clans had to live in the capital city at all times

Why does the author provide the information that "The processions of each lord could be immense as large as four thousand attendants, many mounted on horseback"?

ATo indicate how powerful the lords were

BTo contrast the way castle towns developed with the way other cities developed

CTo support the claim that travel to the capital was designed to exhaust the resources of the lords

DTo provide evidence that Japanese society was experiencing a dramatic shift in wealth and power

Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

ASamurai were officially forbidden from holding jobs. because lords found that samurai became distracted by needing to supplement their income

BOver time many samurai found it necessary to take other jobs as lords ignored their needs

CAlthough samurai were officially forbidden from holding jobs.many lords paid them for the services they performed

DAs their lords paid them less and less, samurai eventually had to take on other jobs. something that was officially forbidden

Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 3 as contributing to increased commercial activity?

AThe regulation of professional conduct for commercial and merchant classes

BThe development of services to meet the needs of travelers

CThe development of highways and waterways for transport

DThe establishment of standard weights and measures

According to paragraph 4, which of the following was true of Japan's traditional social structure?

AMerchants were highly regarded.

BSamurai were at the top of the social hierarchy.

CArtisans had a lower status than merchants.

DPeasants had the lowest social status.

To ensure the loyalty of their allies and the weakness of their rivals, the Tokugawa required all of the lords of rival clans to attend the Tokugawa court in the capital at Edo (today's Tokyo) every other year in a system called alternate attendance. The Tokugawa policies aimed to weaken the lords' ties to their home region. Because regional powers were always potential challengers to the shogun's government. each clan was required to maintain a residence in the capital, and the lords families were required to remain at Edo even when the lords were in their home regions, called domains. Within the primary domains there were usually smaller domains loyal to lesser lords. who owed loyalty to the primary lord. The main lord of the domain and many of the lesser lords would have a castle as their main residence. [■] However. to further weaken local resistance, the Tokugawa prohibited the existence of more than one castle in each primary domain. [■] This new restriction forced lesser lords to give up their castles, most of which were disassembled. [■] The lords and their samurai (warriors) migrated to the single remaining castle in the domain, resulting in the rise of castle towns, whose populations grew rapidly. Trades and services grew along with the population, turning the castle towns into cities like Kanazawa and Osaka, which are important urban centers in modern Japan.[■]

Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage

An unforeseen consequence of these changes was urbanization

Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.

Urbanization in Japan in the 1600s arose largely out of the Tokugawa leader's gaining power after becoming shogun.

AAfter the Tokugawa leader gained full control of Japan, he required the emperor to step down as dynasty head and occupy a residence outside the capital at Edo

BThe dangers of travel along precise routes between their domains and the capital at Edo led lords to employ samurai to protect them along the way.

CThe government introduced laws to maintain the peace and prosperity of the country, which helped Japan to become one of the world's most urban societies as early as the nineteenth century.

DThe policy of alternate attendance required all rival lords to stay in the capital with their families, with the lord alone being allowed to return to his home domain every other year.

ELesser lords were forced to move their households and attendants to the domain's single permitted castle, creating castle towns, and other towns grew up along the lords' migration routes.

FPeace, increasing urbanization, and commerce greatly changed the social structure, allowing merchants to become quite rich, while warriors lost much of their wealth and eventually some social status.

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