in Edo. Many samurai became administrators, others married into the merchant class.
The social-political structure of Tokugawa era Japan was based upon feudal origins from the Warring States period from which Tokugawa Ieyasu emerged victorious as shogun. Centralizing the government, breaking the power of the feudal overlords with whom he had previously been allied or opposed, Ieyasu and succeeding shoguns successfully destroyed the base of that feudal society - along the way inadvertently subverting the feudal customs that legitimized their power. In part to maintain order, the Tokugawa shoguns and their ideologues converted Confucian ideals into Bushido terminology: "The sole basis of the entire moral teaching of Japan may be said ... to consist of the spirit of unselfishness: ... humility ... reserve ... self-sacrifice ... submission to authority" (Takaishi, pp. 11-12).
Systemized by the government in Edo, these ideals utilized Confucian concepts of government and social interaction to simultaneously undercut local loyalties to individuals a
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