The Reestablishment of National Unity
[ 81
policy even in the early decades of the seventeenth century.
The Tokugawa, like the Minamoto before them, rejected the idea of rule from the old central district around Kyoto and established their new military capital at their castle in Edo, which they expanded into one of the greatest fortresses man has ever created. It was protected by wide moats, high embankments, and massive castle walls, arranged in a series of concentric circles with an overall diameter of slightly more than two miles. Today, the inner circles of the great castle form the beautiful imperial palace grounds in the heart of Tokyo.
The central part of Japan, including the Kanto Plain on the east and the old capital district in the west, was held directly by the Tokugawa themselves, by various branches of the family, and by the feudal lords and warriors who had backed Ieyasu in the great battle for supremacy in 1600. This central area was strategically the heart of the country. It contained most of the larger plains and much of the best agricultural land of Japan, and also a large proportion of the commercial towns and cities. Three great cadet families of the Tokugawa were established at three key points, the town of Mito, east of Edo; Nagoya, near the geographic center of the Tokugawa domains; and Wakayama, a few miles south of Osaka in the west. Most of the remainder of the central area was divided into fiefs held by other members of the family and by old and loyal allies of the Tokugawa. Holders of large fiefs were called “hereditary Daimyo,” signifying their early support of Ieyasu, and the lesser vassals were