The Fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Japan in the mid-19th century was characterized as being feudal.
It was of course feudalistic but there were also some more primitive tribalistic elements to Japanese society. In the four-tiered social hierarchy of Japan the military class was at the top, the common peasant farmers were next below them, and the artisans and craftsmen were below the peasant and the commercial class was at the bottom. Internet History Sourcebooks. The rise of modern Japan - Linda K. Menton. Edo culture: daily life and diversions in urban Japan, 1600-1868 - Matsunosuke Nishiyama, Gerald Groemer.