Sakoku | Japan, Edict, History, Facts, & Isolation (2024)

sakoku, (Japanese: “closed country”) a Japanese policy consisting of a series of directives implemented over several years during the Edo period (also known as the Tokugawa period; 1603–1867) that enforced self-isolation from foreign powers in the early 17th century. The directives included banning the religion of Christianity and prohibiting Japanese people from making or returning from trips overseas. There were also directives that restricted foreign trade with various countries. The concept of sakoku largely stemmed from Japan’s mistrust of foreigners. Foreign powers were almost entirely banned from any diplomatic and trade relations with Japan in the early years of the Edo period, with the exception of the Dutch and the Chinese, and they were kept out until the mid-1800s, when Japan was forcibly reopened.

The Tokugawa period is often remembered as a time of lasting internal peace for Japan. However, Christianity had been propagated throughout Japan since the Jesuit Francis Xavier’s visit to Japan in 1549, and the Tokugawa shogunate viewed this as a threat to the stability of its rule. Japan’s persecution of Christians started in the late 1500s, and the religion was ultimately banned in 1614, though some Japanese Christians continued to practice their religion in secret. In efforts to further stamp out Christian and foreign influence, in 1635 Tokugawa Iemitsu banned Japanese people from making overseas voyages or returning to Japan from overseas. This religious persecution resulted in the Shimabara Rebellion (1637–38), an uprising of Japanese Roman Catholics that deepened the shogunate’s distrust of foreign influence. When the rebellion was put down by the shogunate, all Japanese people were required to register with a Buddhist temple, a measure intended to completely eradicate Christianity in Japan. The final sakoku order was completed in 1639, when Portuguese ships were forbidden to trade with or visit Japan—Spain had been expelled in 1624—adding to the list of Western countries that had been expelled.

Despite the sakoku policy that was in place, Japan remained in limited contact with foreign powers. For instance, the Dutch were allowed to remain in Japan, although after the Christian rebellion their presence was limited to a small artificial island in the Nagasaki harbour called Dejima (also known as Deshima). In addition, Dejima was walled and guarded at night. As a result, the number of Dutch ships sailing to Japan annually vastly decreased. Regardless, Japan was still influenced by the Western country, as “Dutch studies” (known as rangaku; the study of Western medicine and military science) became an important field of scholarship after the study of Western books resumed in 1716 under Tokugawa Yoshimune. The field was so important that the Tokugawa shogunate itself created an agency to translate Dutch works in order to facilitate learning of Western technology, medicine, and military science, though Japanese traditionalists continued to criticize Western studies.

In addition to maintaining some contact with the West, Japan was heavily influenced by China. Students in higher education were expected to achieve mastery of the Chinese language and have an understanding of classic literature. Confucianism gained influence in Japan, and Tokugawa Ieyasu himself founded a Confucian school. Seeking to set an example for the people, the samurai developed the Bushidō code, which was heavily influenced by Confucian values. At the same time, there was a reaction against the growing Chinese influence in the form nationalist thought. The school of National Learning was founded to help students gain a better understanding of Japanese history and to promote a purely Japanese culture.

The policy of sakoku started to be threatened in the 18th century as other countries, most notably Russia, attempted to establish contact with Japan. The foreign powers were often driven away by force, and in 1825 the shogunate implemented the Edict to Repel Foreign Vessels, which increased the armed defense of the Japanese coastline. It was China’s defeat in the first Opium War in 1842 and the subsequent massive Western presence in China that made the Western threat more immediate for Japan. China’s opening up to the West also signified the beginning of the end of the sakoku policy.

In the mid-19th century, the United States became interested in Japan as a trading partner and as a docking point for American ships en route to China. A mission under the command of Commodore James Biddle arrived in Japan in 1846 but was unsuccessful in achieving its goal of establishing relations. The United States returned with a show of force in 1853, when Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrived in Japan with four U.S. warships. Perry presented a list of demands to Japan—such as opening Japanese ports to U.S. ships to provide supplies and protecting wrecked and stranded U.S. ships—and returned to Japan the next year with an even larger military force. At first many of Japan’s daimyo (feudal lords) under the shogun were against accepting foreign demands. However, the shogunate was financially constrained, and it could not build a strong defense against the United States. When Perry returned in 1854 with nine ships, the Tokugawa shogunate signed the Treaty of Kanagawa (also known as the Perry Convention) with the United States. Other Western countries would soon sign similar treaties with Japan. Ports were opened, Western countries were granted extraterritoriality, and low tax rates on foreign imports were established. Japan fully opened to the West, and the shogun’s position was severely weakened as a result. These events contributed to the collapse of the shogunate in 1867.