ABSTRACT
With the establishment of Iyeyasu's power the Edo Age took the place of Momoyama, the name originating from the Tokugawa capital whence all laws were issued. Edo, being at first merely the castle residence of the Tokugawa family, had no special civilization worth mentioning in history, but in the course of time it became the centre of learning, arts, and customs, and, creating a new civilization, displayed the so-called " Edo colour," the characteristics of which remained even after the total collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate 300 years later. Examining the history of Edo, it appears there was a certain Edo family during the latter part of the Heian Dynasty, but there are no documents to prove it, and, according to the Adzuma-Kagami, the standard history of the Hojo Age at Kamakura, it seems as if the Edo family lived here until toward the Nanboku-cho Age (the age of North and South Dynasties), and their mansion occupied the place where is now the Imperial Palace, for there is mention of the name of a local magnate called Edo in the Adzuma-Kagami. In 1358 (3rd year of Enbun), when Hatakeyama Dosei enticed Nitta Yoshioki, the loyal leader to the Nancho (Southern) Dynasty, into his domains and killed him on the ferry of Yaguchi, there was a certain Edo Totomi-no-kami among the traitors whose territory was said to be Inage, showing that the Edo family had already left Edo by this time and moved to Inage. When Ota Dokwan removed there from Shinagawa and constructed a castle the name Edo began to appear in history, and the castle at that time occupying the site of the present Imperial Palace in Tokyo, and being a valuable strategical point, it changed hands several times. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi came to Odawara in his campaign against the Hojo family, Edo Castle was held by Toyama Saemon-no-suke Kagemasa, one of the chief Hojo retainers, who, later, surrendered to Iyeyasu when he invested the castle by order of Hideyoshi.
