Early Japan and KoreaChapter 8, Section 3

The Geography of JapanFour main islands:

Hokkaido (hah-KY-doh)Honshu (HAHN-shoo)Kyushu (kee-OO-shoo)Shikoku (shih-KOH-koo)

Mountainous [volcanic in origin](11% can be farmed)

Isolation

Rise of the Japanese StateFirst clans settled in the modern cities of

Osaka and Kyoto.Clans

Local ruler offered protection in exchange for a share of the harvest [FEUDALISM]

Yamato clan leader achieved supremacy over all.

Chinese InfluencesShotoku Taishu (574-622)

Prince who wanted to unify clans to resist the Chinese invaders.

Learned about the Chinese structure of government and brought those ideas back to Japan. Centralized government with a supreme ruler.

To limit the power of the aristocrats. Ruler was a divine figure and symbol of Japanese

nation. New tax system Village was the basic unit of government Farmland belonged to the state.

The Nara PeriodFujiwara clan brings changes:

New capital @ Nara.Emperor began to use the title “son of Heaven”Aristocrats became stronger.

They kept the taxes for themselves.

The Heian Period794 capital moved to Heian [HAY-ahn]

(Kyoto).Real power was with the Fujiwara clan.

Powerful families had the power. [FEUDALISM] Used military force to protect their interests.

Samurai (“Those who serve”)Resembled knights.Lived by a strict warrior code = BUSHIDO

“Way of the warrior” Loyalty to his lord.

The Kamakura Shogunate, 1192-1333

Minamoto YoritomoDefeated rivals and set up his power near Tokyo.Centralized government

Shogun = general Shogunate – emperor remained ruler in name only.

Kublai Khan invaded Japan with 150,000 men.Almost the entire fleet was destroyed by a

typhoon. http://www.historytoday.com/blog/2011/10/13th-century-mongolian-invasion-ship-discovered-under-

japanese-seabed

1333 overthrown by another family.

Collapse of Central RulePower of aristocrats grew during the 14th –

15th centuries.Daimyo

Heads of important families. Controlled the land; owed no taxes

By 1500 there was a lot of chaos.Onin War, 1467-1477Central authority disappeared.Armies burned temples and palaces in Kyoto .

Life in Early JapanJapanese made the most of limited resources:

Farmed limited land available.Trade grew; markets appeared in larger

towns.

The Role of WomenCertain level of equality with men.

Inheritance, could divorce if abandonedSubordinate to men.Aristocratic women at court.Often appear in paintings of the period.

Religion in Early JapanWorshipped spirits, called kami

In trees, rivers, streams and mountains.Believed that sprits of ancestors were present in

the air around them.Shinto: “The Sacred Way” or “the Way of the

Gods”Divinity of the emperorSacredness of the nation

Some followed Buddhism which Buddhist monks brought to China in 6th century A.D.Zen was very popular (became part of Samurai code).

Different ways to achieve enlightenment.