Feudal Japan                  

Throughout the history of Japan leading up to the latter parts of the 19^th century, Japan had established a closed-door policy to the rest of the world.  This closed-door policy effectively denied foreigners entry into most of the island, and strictly limited foreign interactions and trade. Some trade was allowed, but was strictly supervised by government officials; traders were not allowed within the country absent of government escort.  Similarly, residents of the island were prohibited from traveling to other countries under penalty of death.

Japan was effectively cut-off from the rest of the world, a conscious decision on their part.  The Japanese had witnessed foreign interaction in China and several other parts of the world, and felt that their society was superior to that of other lands.  In the 13^th century Christian missionaries arrived from Spain and Portugal and infiltrated the island, they managed to convert some 300,000 Japanese to Christianity, however, the Shogun eventually brought an end to Christianity in Japan, and would become weary of anything foreign.

Prior to 1868, Japan was run by a system that loosely resembled the feudal systems of Europe in the middle ages.  The system derived from a time of civil wars in the fifteenth century, when men of military power carved out large landholdings amongst themselves.  The men who owned these lands would come to be known as Samurais, and would enjoy hereditary control of their parcel of land.  The Samurai would then partition his land into smaller plots that were worked by peasant farmers.  The peasant farmers would provide the Samurai with a portion of their agricultural production in exchange for a plot of land to work, and military security.  However, the Samurais were held accountable to the Shogun, who resided in Edo (later to become Tokyo).  The Samurais would provide the Shogun with a portion of their profit that would finance the Shogun’s expenses.

Under the Shogun system Japan situated themselves into a system of almost total isolation from the rest of the world, and because of this isolation Japan enjoyed several centuries of peace and prosperity.  Despite missing out on the benefits of the industrial revolution, arts and industry flourished in Japan.  Without foreign intervention it is likely that the Japanese would have continued with their system of isolation.