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In Ronald P. Toby’s article Reopening the Question of Sakoku: Diplomacy in the Legitimation of the Tokugawa Bakufu, the authors’ main argument is that the foreign relations of Japan was established to express the legitimacy of the Tokugawa Bakufu. He points out that Japan never intended to seclude itself from the rest of the world. Iwao Seiichi regards that “seclusion was a necessary precondition to the stability of the Bakuhan State. Throughout the duration of the article the author offers various examples as evidence to support his thesis.