Last Shogunate, 1864

Director

Moderator

Crisis Manager

Topic Brief: Click here to download PDF

The Tokugawa Shogunate, recognizing that it is running out of political support and the extent of the Western threat, is convening to plan a course of action as a unified body. However, power constantly shifts under a shogunate and authority was often ambiguous, thus the committee must delineate its own powers and limitations before it can even address the ostensible crises. The members of the committee must determine how to meet the West’s ‘gunboat diplomacy’ and whether or not to accept their demands for universally lower tariffs, open ports, and payment of a three million dollar indemnity. The Last Shogunate must also address the larger issue of reuniting fragmented Japan.