sentences:  The Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan in the Edo period established itself by subjugating warlords ("daimyō"), militant religious groups (ikki) and other violent groups; their control was predicated on a forcibly imposed peace.As a result, these sorts of noble house disputes, which often came quite close to erupting into outright battle and which often took place among the powerful "tozama" families, posed a serious threat to the stability of the "bakuhan" (shogunate-fiefdom) political system.These events were thus taken very seriously by the government, but also became very popular tales among the people, and were regarded as being quite interesting and exciting, due to the political and physical conflict involved.