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Tokugawa Shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate was the government of the Tokugawa family who were shoguns, or hegemons, and dominated Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868). The shogunate was strictly speaking the private government of the Tokugawa which governed their lands, but it also implies the system of controls by which the Tokugawa maintained peace and stability throughout the country without directly ruling all territories directly.