The last Japanese shogunate (1603–1867). Tokugawa Ieyasu, its founder, ensured supremacy by imposing severe restrictions on the daimyo (feudal lords). To avoid the effects of European intrusion, Christianity was proscribed in 1641 after the suppression of the Christian Shimabara rebellion and all foreigners except a few Dutch and Chinese traders at Nagasaki were excluded. Japanese were forbidden to go overseas. Interest in European science and medicine increased during the rule of Tokugawa Yoshimune.

There followed 250 years of almost unbroken peace and economic growth. An economy based largely on barter became a money economy. An influential merchant class emerged whilst some daimyo and their samurai were impoverished; some married into commercial families. The shogunate was faced with growing financial difficulties but under its rule educational standards improved dramatically.