STRASBOURG - For over 200 years, Japan prospered as a feudal society under the authoritarian rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Emperors of Japan still held influence as divine heads of state, but physical power was in the hands of the Shoguns - the military rulers of the country. At the beginning of their reign, the Shoguns had imposed the policy of sakoku, or closed country, which, under the penalty of death, prohibited foreigners from visiting Japan and any Japanese from leaving the country. Having done so, the indigenous Japanese culture flourished, untouched by foreign influence. However, the 19th century would be the theatre of events that would force the Land of the Rising Sun to either modernise or perish into history.