Less commonly, *Tokugawa jidai 徳川時代. The Edo period, the time in which the Tokugawa Shogunate (Tokugawa bakufu 徳川幕府) controlled Japan from its capital in Edo (present-day Tokyo).
Though the founder of the dynasty, Tokugawa Ieyasu 徳川家康 (1542-1616), won an important victory at Sekigahara 関ヶ原 in 1600 and was named shōgun 将軍 in 1603, it was not until 1615 that he was finally able to destroy the Toyotomi 豊臣 family and gain complete hegemony. And since the influence of the art of the previous Momoyama period was still strong at the beginning of the Edo period, art historians also use 1615 as the starting year of the Edo period. For more than 250 years (fifteen generations of Tokugawa shōgun) Japan enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity.
Various art forms flourished during the period. Kano school artists *Kano-ha 狩野派 continued to dominate important shogunal commissions in the first half of the 17th-century Nijōjō 二条城 (1624-26), and Tokugawa Ieyasu's mausoleum Nikkō Tōshōgū 日光東照宮 (1636) were rebuilt and refurbished with grand artwork by Kano Tan'yū 狩野探幽 (1602-74) and members of his painting atelier. The Rinpa school, *Rinpa 琳派, traces its ancestry back to Sōtatsu 宗達 of the Momoyama period, but it flourished in the early Edo period under Ogata Kōrin 尾形光琳 (1658-1716) and the patronage of the wealthy merchant class. Other important schools and artistic tends developed in the 18th and 19th century. Western style painting *yōfūga 洋風画 was popularized by Hiraga Gennai 平賀源内 (1728-80) and Shiba Kōkan 司馬江漢 (1747-1818). The Maruyama Shijō school, *Maruyama-Shijō-ha 円山四条派, was founded by Maruyama Ōkyo 円山応挙 (1733-95) and noted for its development of realism.
Japanese scholars and intellectuals, enamored with the Chinese idea that calligraphy and painting were accomplishments suited to a literate and moral person studied Confucian texts, literature, poetry and practiced calligraphy and painting. Such art was termed *nanga 南画 or *bunjinga 文人画 and was engaged in by a great many artists, including Gion Nankai 祇園南海 (1677-1751), Yanagisawa Kien 柳沢淇園 (1704-58), and Sakaki Hyakusen 彭城百川 (1697-1752). They were followed by Ike no Taiga 池大雅 (1723-76) and Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 (1716-83). Although it was traditionally accepted that such artists in China did not paint for money, in Japan many literary artists made their living by selling their work becoming, in a sense, professional painters.
Paintings and woodblock prints of courtesans and *kabuki 歌舞伎 actors were popular among both merchants and samurai. Called *ukiyo-e 浮世絵, such work was produced by a plethora of artists including Hishikawa Moronobu 菱川師宣 (1618-94), Torii Kiyonobu 鳥居清信 (1664-1729), Suzuki Harunobu 鈴木春信 (1725-70), Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849 ), and Andō Hiroshige 安藤広重 (1797-1858).
The limitation of foreign influence due to the government's seclusionist policy was compensated for by the rise of the merchant class and its energetic demand for articles of beauty. Government patronage during the period was also significant. 1867 marks the beginning of what has become modern Japan.
Chronology of the Edo period:
Early Edo period:
1) 1615-51 [*Kan'ei bunka 寛永文化]
2) 1652-87 (Kanbun 寛文 era: 1661-73)
3) 1688-1715 [*Genroku bunka 元禄文化]
Late Edo period:
4) 1716-ca. 1750 (Kyōhō 享保 era: 1716-36)
5) ca. 1750-ca.1800 (Kansei 寛政 era: 1789-1801)
(1804-30) [*Kasei bunka 化政文化]
6) ca. 1800-67 (bakumatsu 幕末)