Tokugawa Yoshimune's Investigations of the Qing Dynasty and Their Implications for Japan

When Tokugawa Yoshimune became shogun in 1716, he launched investigations into Qing China, commissioning reports based on testimony from Lūchū delegations. The resulting Record of Customs of the Great Qing provided detailed comparisons of politics, education, bureaucracy, military drill, and social order. Yoshimune&s;s enquiries reveal both curiosity and unease, but above all a desire to measure Japan against external models. Isoda highlights how the reports circulated cross-cultural knowledge that shaped domain reforms and broadened horizons. Far from isolationist, Yoshimune&s;s inquiries exemplify early modern Japan&s;s global awareness, showing how governance and reform could be informed through structured knowledge of others.