At the end of the 18th century, Russians, English, and American ships started coming to Japan. They asked the bakufu to open the country to them because they wanted to trade with Japan.
But the bakufu rejected their requests and stuck to a policy of isolation. In 1853, when Commodore Matthew Perry came from America to Uraga port near Edo with his squadron of four modern steam ships, the bakufu aslo rejected his request . But when they showed their military force by firing warning shots from cannons on their ships, the bakufu realzed that it couldn't avoid conflicts unless their requests were accepted. It finally adecided to change the policy of isolation which had lasted over 200 years. That was the beginning of modern Japan.
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Maybe if the Bakufu had not enforced isolation on Japan for the previous 200 years, the Bakufu may be would have survived longer. But to survive longer, the Bakufu would have to have included the Outside Domains, Tozama Daimyo, such as Satsuma and Choshu, in the central government.
Thanks for your comment. The Bakufu ruled Japan for 200 years,and it's rather a long period of time, I guess. I think that such a long control was possible because of the isolation policy. Without it, Japan might have been colonized at an earlier stage in history.
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