<P> Society during the Edo period, also called Tokugawa period (1603 and 1868 CE), in Japan was ruled by strict customs and regulations intended to promote stability . Confucian ideas provided the foundation for a system of strict social prescriptions . At the top of the social order, although below the Emperor, the shōgun, daimyōs (lords), and the samurai were the ruling class . The peasants (heimin) lived in villages and produced agricultural goods . Increasing urbanization and rising consumerism created merchant and artisan classes in towns and cities . Social mobility during this period was highly limited . As wealth became concentrated outside of the samurai class, conflicts between class arose and the social order became increasingly challenged . </P> <P> The Tokugawa government intentionally created a social order called the Four divisions of society (shinōkōshō), that would stabilize the country . This system was based on the ideas of Confucianism that spread to Japan from China . By this system, society was composed of samurai (侍 shi), farming peasants (農 nō), artisans (工 kō) and merchants (商 shō). Samurai were placed at the top of society because they started an order and set a high moral example for others to follow . The system was meant to reinforce their position of power in society by justifying their ruling status . Peasants came second because they produced the most important commodity, food . According to Confucian philosophy, society could not survive without agriculture . Third were artisans because they produced nonessential goods . </P>

What role did samurai play in japanese society