Abraham Lincoln to the Shogun of Japan 14 November 1861

Letter of Napoleon III to the Japanese Shogun to introduce Leon Roches in replacement of Duchesne de Bellecourt

Actually spelled "tycoon" during its brief usage in English language diplomatic notes in the 1860s, is an archaic

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

term of respect derived from Chinese ''

I Ching The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zh ...

'', which once referred to an independent ruler who did not have an imperial lineage. Its literal meaning is "Great Lord/Prince" or "Supreme Commander". In the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

, this word was used as a diplomatic title designating the ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamaku ...

'' of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

in relations with foreign countries, as an attempt to convey that in fact not the

Japanese Emperor The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the w ...

, but rather the ''shōgun'' was the point of call in relations with foreign countries. The official name is . For purposes of foreign relations, the term was first used by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

in an attempt to extricate Japan from the Sino-centric system of relations. The ''shōgun'' certainly could not call himself the , but he also could not use the term . As formal language is extremely important in diplomacy, the connotations of most alternative terms were found to be inappropriate, and so ''taikun'' was chosen to best represent the ''shōgun'' in formal diplomatic communications. Still going back 1,000 years and more in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, of Japan and predecessors are said to have had the title (大和大君), read " Yamato Taikun". The word has entered the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

as ''

tycoon A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

'', where it has assumed the meaning of "a person of great wealth, influence or power". The term is notable as a Japanese word in English that comes from a different meaning in

Japanese culture The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Historical overview The ances ...

. Still, a "tycoon" is a person of great influence without formal title, whereas a "taikun" was a ruler without imperial lineage.

References

{{reflist Edo period Japanese honorifics Titles of national or ethnic leadership