<P> After a long period of inner conflict, the first goal of the newly established Tokugawa government was to pacify the country . It created a balance of power that remained (fairly) stable for the next 250 years, influenced by Confucian principles of social order . Most samurai lost their direct possession of the land: the daimyōs took over their land . The samurai had a choice: give up their sword and become peasants, or move to the city of their feudal lord and become a paid retainer . Only a few land samurai remained in the border provinces of the north, or as direct vassals of the shogun, the 5,000 so - called hatamoto . The daimyōs were put under tight control of the shogunate . Their families had to reside in Edo; the daimyōs themselves had to reside in Edo for one year and in their province (han) for the next . This system was called sankin kōtai . </P> <P> The individual had no legal rights in Tokugawa Japan . The family was the smallest legal entity, and the maintenance of family status and privileges was of great importance at all levels of society . The 1711 Gotōke reijō was compiled from over 600 statutes promulgated between 1597 and 1696 . </P> <P> During the Tokugawa period, the social order, based on inherited position rather than personal merits, was rigid and highly formalized . At the top were the emperor and court nobles (kuge), together with the shogun and daimyōs . Below them the population was divided into four classes in a system known as mibunsei (身分 制): the samurai on top (about 5% of the population) and the peasants (more than 80% of the population) on the second level . Below the peasants were the craftsmen, and even below them, on the fourth level, were the merchants . Only the peasants lived in the rural areas . Samurai, craftsmen and merchants lived in the cities that were built around the daimyōs' castles, each restricted to their own quarter . </P> <P> Outside the four classes were the so - called eta and hinin, those whose professions broke the taboos of Buddhism . Eta were butchers, tanners and undertakers . Hinin served as town guards, street cleaners, and executioners . Other outsiders included the beggars, entertainers, and prostitutes . The word eta literally translates to "filthy" and hinin to "non-humans", a thorough reflection of the attitude held by other classes that the eta and hinin were not even people . Hinin were only allowed inside a special quarter of the city . Other persecution of the hinin included disallowing them from wearing robes longer than knee - length and the wearing of hats . Sometimes eta villages were not even printed on official maps . A sub-class of hinin who were born into their social class had no option of mobility to a different social class whereas the other class of hinin who had lost their previous class status could be reinstated in Japanese society . In the 19th century the umbrella term burakumin was coined to name the eta and hinin because both classes were forced to live in separate village neighborhoods . The eta, hinin and burakumin classes were officially abolished in 1871 . However, their cultural and societal impact, including some forms of discrimination, continued into modern times . </P>

Where did the shogun live during the edo period