1.The Edo Monogatari—Tokugawa Shogunate Rule Crisis 江戶物語——德川幕府的統治危機
Restoration.Following the Sengoku Period of“warring states”（also known as the“Sengoku Jidai”or“Warring States Era”），central government had been largely re-established by Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the Azuchi-Momoyama period.After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600，central authority fell to Tokugawa leyasu who completed this process and received the title of shogun in 1603.In order to become shogun,one traditionally was a descendant[4]of the ancient Minamoto clan.
Society in the Tokugawa period,unlike the shogunates before it,was supposedly based on the strict class hierarchy originally established by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.The daimyo,or lords,were at the top,followed by the warrior-caste of samurai,with the farmers,artisans,and traders ranking below.In some parts of the country,particularly smaller regions,daimyo and samurai were more or less identical,since daimyo might be trained as samurai,and samurai might act as local lords.Otherwise,the largely inflexible nature of this social stratification[5]system unleashed disruptive forces over time.Taxes on the peasantry were set at fixed amounts which did not account for inflation or other changes in monetary value.As a result,the tax revenues[6]collected by the samurai landowners were worth less and less over time.This often led to numerous confrontations between noble but impoverished samurai and well-to-do peasants,ranging from simple local disturbances to much bigger rebellions[7].None,however,proved compelling enough to seriously challenge the established order until the arrival of foreign powers.
Toward the end of the 19th century,an alliance of several of the more powerful daimyo,along with the titular Emperor finally succeeded in the overthrow of the shogunate after the Boshin War,culminating in the Meiji Restoration.The Tokugawa Shogunate came to an official end in 1868，with the resignation of the 15th Tokugawa Shogun,Tokugawa Yoshinobu and the“restoration”of imperial rule.
德川幕府，也稱江戶幕府，是由德川家康建立，以德川家族為主的日本封建政權。因德川幕府的首都位於江戶，所以這一時期被稱為江戶時期。江戶，1868年後改名為現在的東京。德川幕府的統治從1603年持續到了1868年，最終在明治年間被推翻。在戰國後期的安土桃山時代，織田信長和豐臣秀吉已經基本上重新建立了一個統一的中央集權政府。1600年關原之戰後，中央的權力被德川家康獲得。1603年，德川家康以源氏後裔的身份接受任命，成為了幕府將軍，開創德川幕府。日本通常的傳統認為，將軍必須是源氏家族的後裔。
德川幕府時代的社會結構與之前的幕府時代不同，據說是基於豐臣秀吉建立的等級森嚴的社會結構而建立起來的。在這個等級製社會下，大名或領主，位於社會的頂端，其次是武士，然後是農民、手工業者，最後是商人。在一些地區，特別是較小的地區，大名和武士們之間的身份已經非常接近，因為大名可以被訓練成武士，而武士則可以成為當地的領主。然而隨著時間的推移，這個社會體係過度僵化的弊端引發了嚴重的矛盾。對農民的稅收在沒有考慮到通貨膨脹或其他改變貨幣價值的情況下，被規定為固定數額。因此，武士和領主因土地而得到的稅收隨著時間的推移變得越來越少。這導致高貴但貧困的武士與富裕但低賤的農民之間產生了諸多矛盾，包括局部地區大規模的起義和叛亂。然而，這些還不足以挑戰德川幕府現有的統治秩序，直到外國侵略者的到來。
19世紀後期，幾個強大的地方大名所組成的聯盟（倒幕四強藩），與名義上的最高統治者——天皇，在戊辰戰爭後，終於成功地推翻了江戶幕府，開始了明治維新。1868年，以15代德川幕府將軍德川慶喜“大政奉還”並辭去將軍職務為標誌，德川幕府時代正式結束。
[1]Tokugawa n.德川（創建日本德川幕府的德川家族）
[2]shogunate n.〈日〉將軍職位，將軍政治，幕府時代
[3]abolishe vt.廢除，廢止
[4]descendant n.後代，後裔
[5]stratification n.分層
[6]revenue n.收入，收益；財政收入，稅收
[7]rebellion n.對政府的（尤指武裝）反抗；造反
2.Meiji Restoration 明治維新
The Meiji Restoration,also known as the Meiji lshin,Revolution,Reform or Renewal,was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868.The Restoration led to enormous[1]changes in Japan\\u0027s political and social structure,and spanned both the late Edo period（often called Late Tokugawa shogunate）and the beginning of the Meiji period.
The Meiji Restoration accelerated industrialization in Japan,which led to its rise as a military power by the year 1905，under the slogan of“Enrich the country,strengthen the military”.The Meiji oligarchy that formed the government under the rule of the Emperor first introduced measures to consolidate their power against the remnants[2]of the Edo period government,the shogunate,daimyo,and the samurai class.
In 1868，all Tokugawa lands were seized and placed under“imperial control”，thus placing them under the prerogative of the new Meiji government.In 1869，the daimyo of the Tosa,Hizen,Satsuma and Cheung chau domains,who were pushing mostfiercely against the shogunate,were persuaded to“return their domains to the Emperor”.Other daimyo were subsequently persuaded to do so,thus creating,arguably for thefirst time,a central government in Japan which exercised direct power through the entire realm.