The Tokugawa government affected ordinary people in Japan as follows:
The population was divided into four classes: the samurai at the top (about 5% of the population), the villagers or farmers (more than 80% of the population) at the second level. Below the villagers were the craftsmen, and below these, on the fourth level, the merchants. Only the villagers lived in rural areas. Samurais, artisans and merchants lived in cities that were built around the daimyo castles, each having a specific part of the city to reside. Although this was the social division determined, in practice the social situation was somewhat different. Merchants were usually the richest class and sometimes the samurai were in debt to stay on top and compete with merchants.
Explanation:
The Tokugawa government was a period in the history of Japan that was ruled by the Tokugawa shoguns from March 1603 to May 1868, established by Tokugawa Leyasu (the first shogun of this era) in the then city of Edo (present-day Tokyo) three years after the battle of Sekigahara.
The Tokugawa period (1600-1867) left a vital trading sector in the expanding urban centers, a relatively well-educated elite (albeit with limited knowledge of European science), a sophisticated government bureaucracy, productive agriculture, a unified country with financial systems and of developed markets, and a national highway infrastructure. The growth of industry during the Meiji period to the point where Japan aspired to be a world power was an important prelude to postwar growth from 1955 to 1973 and provided a pool of experienced workers after World War II.
