Account for the economic development of the Tokugawa period Essay

Account for the economic development of the Tokugawa period - Essay Example Japan had a very unsteady history with periods of civil wars and not much progress. The country was divided with poor developmental progress. But the scenario was greatly altered after Tokugawa Ieyasu took over the country. He provided for a new beginning in the history of Japan. The period during which he ruled was known as the Tokugawa period. It was also referred to as the Edo period because the capital of the country was moved to Edo after Ieyasu took over. The Tokugawa period was a period of modernization, expansion and progress for the country and thus was also given the name of the Modern Period. This period lasted for approximately two and a half centuries. It started from 1603and ended in 1868. During this entire episode the country was ruled by Tokugawa and then his family and hence the entire phase was given the name of the Tokugawa period. In the Tokugawa period, there was not much technological advance in the country but the economy of the country flourished. In this period Japan isolated itself from the rest of the world which can be a reason for its lesser technological advances. This period laid the foundations for today’s economically stable Japan. This period was a golden era. The population of the country remained constant for these two and a half centuries. According to a first population consensus which was conducted in 1720 the population of the country was thirty million which stayed almost the same during the entire period. It has been seen that now Japan depends greatly upon imports from other countries particularly for food and energy. But in the Tokugawa period Japan was very self sufficient in all its resources. Though Japan is not very rich in natural resources but it was seen in the late Modern Period that salt was produced from coal and still there was no shortage of the fossil fuels. Reasons that have been provided for this are that because of the isolation from the rest of the world, there was a realization