the internal war for control of japan was won by tokugawa ieyasu who defeated his rivals at the battle of sekigahara in october 1600. three years later, he established the tokugawa shogunate, a powerful entity that would maintain peace, stability, and prosperity in japan for the following 250 years. this is known as the edo period (1603–1868). from the mid 17th century, japan decided to close itself to interaction with the west (except for the dutch) through its policy of sakoku. contrary to popular belief, this did not lead to japan "giving up the gun." if anything, the gun was used less frequently because the edo period did not have many large-scale conflicts in which a gun would be of use. often the sword was simply the more practical weapon in the average small-scale conflicts. isolation did not eliminate the production of guns in japan—on the contrary, there is evidence of around 200 gunsmiths in japan by the end of the edo period. but the social life of firearms had changed: as the historian david l. howell has argued, for many in japanese society, the gun had become less a weapon than a farm implement for scaring off animals. with no external enemies for over 200 years, "tanegashima" were mainly used by samurai for hunting and target practice, the majority were relegated to the arms store houses of the various feudal lords ("daimyōs").