Why did Tokugawa Iemitsu close Japan's borders?

The motivation for Iemitsu's restrictions on contact with foreign countries is not completely clear. It seems most likely that he wanted to prevent rival daimyo families from seeking foreign support in rebelling against the Tokugawa.

Tokugawa Iemitsu Timeline

Q: What did Tokugawa Iemitsu do?

Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-1651) implemented the sankin kotai system that required daimyo to spend alternate years in Edo and their own territory and introduced exclusion edicts that restricted contact between Japan and foreign countries.

Definition

Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604-1651) governed Japan as the third shogun of the Edo period. He implemented a number of important policies that not only consolidated his family's hold on power but also greatly impacted Japanese society for several centuries. These included formalizing the sankin kotai system that required daimyo to spend alternate years in Edo and their own territory and the exclusion edicts that restricted contact between Japan and foreign countries.

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