4.The Brief History of Japan      (till the Meiji Period)
Originally the emperor reigned Japan and all the people and the land belonged to him. A piece of land was given to each individual and the tax was levied on the harvest from the land.
But with the increase in population this system began to crumble. Then rich farmers and local officials cultivated new land for their use and they became powerful by getting more land. At last to protect their land they armed themselves. This was the appearance of the samurai class. It was about 900 A.D. From 1192 to 1869 the samurai class controlled the country. And then the emperor was just a figure head. He had no power at all and stayed in old capital cities like Kyoto and Nara. All the samurai wanted to control the country and there were so many battles among them. The war period lasted for 100 years.
At last in 1600 we had a big civil war called Sekigahara Battle. The battle was fought between two powerful samurai families, the Tokugawas and the Toyotomis. The Tokugawa Family won the battle and the head of the family, Ieyasu was appointed to be the Shogun. He started his government in Edo (the present Tokyo). The period under the dictatorship of the shogunite system was called Edo Period or the Tokugawa Period . The Shogun was a temporary title given by the emperor to the commander-in-chief of an expeditionary army but after the civil war in 1600 it developed into an official title of the state. The Shogun was really a dictator and nobody could rebel against him. Then Japan seemed very peaceful under the dictatorship of the shogunite system.
The Shogun in Edo was afraid of some rebellions in the western part of Japan. The Toyotomi Family still lived in Osaka Castle and there were so many feudal lords and samurai who had been on the Toyotomi's side even after the civil war. So the Shogun posted very trustworthy lords to Himeji Castle. Himeji was very close to Osaka and the best place to attack Osaka Castle from the rear side. When the lord was sickly or too young, the Shogun replaced the lord immediately. For that reason there were 31 lords sent to Himeji by the Shogun but not all of them were great.