Tokugawa Yoshimune
During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate discouraged inventions in order to preserve the stability of the feudal society. In fact, Tokugawa Yoshimune, the eighth "shōgun" of the Tokugawa dynasty, decreed in 1721 the "Ban on Novelty" (新規御法度 "shinki gohatto"), which was intended to prohibit everything novel, especially clothing of rich design.