The Tokugawa family seized power in Japan in 1603 and established the Tokugawa shogunate. The Tokugawas were determined to end civil wars that had troubled Japan for years and restore order to Japanese society. Under Tokugawa rule, Japan was divided into about 250 regions, each headed by a lord who swore allegiance to the shogun.<NP> The Tokugawa government believed that contact with the outside world must end to keep order in Japan. In the early 1600's, the Tokugawa rulers ordered all Christian missionaries to leave Japan. Japanese Christians who refused to give up their new faith were persecuted or killed. During the 1630's, the Shogunate cut Japan's ties with almost all other nations, and nearly all European traders had to leave the country.<NP> For more information, see the section <I>Tokugawa period</I> in JAPAN.
