We should be on guard, however, against some common errors about this
important period in Japan’s history. The term “hermit nation” must
not be taken too literally. Seclusion was not complete. Through the
Dutch settlement on Deshima, ideas from Europe filtered into Japan.
A small group of Japanese scholars studied the Dutch language. In
1745 they prepared a Dutch-Japanese dictionary, and in 1774 a Dutch
textbook on anatomy was translated. Of course, Japan did not keep
abreast of Western technical progress during the Tokugawa epoch. But
valuable beginnings were made, especially in language study, medicine,
geography, map-making and military science.
Another common error associated with the idea of a “hermit nation” is
that Tokugawa Japan remained static for two hundred years. In reality
great internal changes occurred during this period, some of which were
fundamental. By 1850 Japan was a very different country from what it
had been in 1650.
The seeming lack of development was most evident in the Tokugawa
political system. Its broad outlines did not, in fact, change very
much. The Emperor and his court were kept secluded at Kyoto. The
real center of government lay in Tokyo, where the Shoguns and their
ministers ruled. Most of the land was owned by the Tokugawa family and
the great feudal lords (_daimyo_) closely associated with it. About
three-eighths, however, was owned by the “outer lords,” such as Choshu
and Satsuma. These “outer lords” were viewed as potential rebels, and
were denied posts in the central administration. All of the feudal
lords had to spend certain months in attendance on the Shogun at Tokyo,
and had to leave their families there as hostages when they went back
to their own lands.