Japan

1
Japan
2
Japan

• Japan consist of four main islands off the coast
  of Asia
• Because Japan was an island nation it was
  relatively isolated with limited exchange of
  ideas and goods
• Little is known of Japan prior to 400 C.E.
• Japan was influenced by China and Korea
• The Yamato Clan was the first and only clan to
  rule Japan (They still rule today)

3
Japan

• Shinto
• The way of the gods
• Worshipped kami
• Nature and all the forced of nature seen and
  unseen
• Under Shinto the idea is to become one with kami
• Uses ritual and customs
• Encourages obedience and proper behavior
• The belief that the emperor was a descendent of
  the sun god-thus divine

4
Japan

• Chinese Influence
• The Chinese had a tremendous influence on
  Japanese
• Art
• Architecture
• Literature
• Religion
• Both Confucianism and Buddhism arrived in Japan
  by the 700s
• Japan soon became the center for Eastern Asia
  study of Buddhism
• Most Japanese adopted Buddhism while still
  practicing Shinto

5
Japan

• Japan borrowed the legal codes of the Tang
  Dynasty called the Taika Reforms
• Japan also built their capital city modeled after
  the Tang Capital
• However the Japanese rejected Confucianism and
  the civil service exams

6
Japan

• Class Question
• Why would the Japanese reject Confucianism and
  the civil service exams?

7
Japan

• It placed too much importance on education.
• In Japan your rank at birth was more important to
  your status as a person
• Class systems in Japan were based on heredity

8
Japan

• The Fujiwara
• By the early 800s the Emperor wanted to break
  free of the Buddhist influence
• The capital was moved to Heian
• Japanese consciousness developed
• Aristocratic families began to increase
• One aristocratic family who through
  intermarriages with the emperors families gained
  power were the Fujiwara

9
Japan

• Fujiwara
• Began to run the affairs of the country
• Power shifted from the emperor to the Fujiwara
  family
• The emperor was seen as only a figurehead
• Under the Fujiwara there was Golden Age of
  Japanese
• Art, literature
• Women were also seen as having rank in Japan
• Some women were nobles

10
Japan

• Taira-Minamoto War
• While the Fijiwara had increased Japanese culture
  they had neglected the military
• They had delegated military matters to various
  clans
• These clans became powerful and began fighting
  for land and power
• A civil war broken out between two of the
  strongest clans
• Taira
• Minamoto
• The Taira at first won and controlled the
  government however the Minamoto rose up, defeated
  the Taira in a five year civil war and took
  control of the government calling it a
• Shogunate

11
Japan

• However by the 12th century with the large influx
  of noble families everyone was fighting for land
  in Japan
• Japan would develop a feudal system like Europe

12
Japan

• Feudal System
• The feudal system in Japan developed at the same
  time as the feudal system in Europe-however
  neither had knowledge of the other
• As stated before the Emperor was only a
  figurehead
• In 1192 Yoritomo Minamoto was given the title of
  Shogun or chief general
• Below the Shogun were the daimyo
• Below the Shogun were the Samurai
• Below the Samurai were the Peasants

13
Japanese Classes
Samurai
Daimyo
Shogun Ashikaga Takauji 1305 - 1358
14
Feudal Japan v. Feudal Europe

• Japan
• Emperor figurehead
• Shogun
• Chief General
• Daimyo
• Landowner
• Samurai with noble blood
• Samurai
• Warriors who held small pieces of land
• Peasants
• Enough said

• Europe
• King usually a figurehead
• Lord-L
• Large landowner
• Noble blood
• Knights
• Warriors who held small pieces of land
• Peasants
• Enough said

15
Feudal Japan v. Feudal Europe

• Similarities
• Peasants
• Worked to support the upper classes
• Each hierarchy was based on land for loyalty
  exchange

• Differences
• Women in Japan were treated with higher
  respect-some were nobles
• The land ownership contract in Europe was based
  on law
• The land ownership contract in Japan was based on
  group identity and loyalty
• I am what I am a samurai and I know my place in
  society
• Both systems were based on culture

16
Japan

• Important Shogunates
• Kamakura Shogunate
• 1200-1300
• Kept Khubiliai Khans Yuan China from invading
  Japan
• Ashikaga Shogunate
• 1336-1573
• Developed a strong sense of Japanese culture
• Painting, music, philosophy, landscaping
• Strong economic trade
• Zen Buddhism
• Tea Ceremony
• Lost power when it was unable to stop a series of
  civil wars
• Japan would be divided in civil wars from 1573 to
  the middle 1600s

17
Japan in Chaos

• By the age of feudalism in 1338 the daimyo seemed
  to reject the ideas of peace of Zen Buddhist
  religion and began to warring among themselves.
• They soon destroyed the Ashikaga Shogunate, the
  city of Kyoto and the order and structure that
  once was Japan.
• The Emperor was seen as just a figurehead, a
  symbolic leader of the Shinto religion.

18
Japan in Chaos

• New warlord formed alliances with merchants who
  were bringing raw materials from China.
• Soon this influx of trade caused the competing
  warlords to war against each other.
• Soon this lead to a civil war.
• In the 1580s one warlord Hideyoshi will gain
  control of Japan and attempt to spread beyond
  Japan into Korea, Manchuria and China.

19
Tokugawa-Edo Period

• When Hideyoshi dies in 1598 his successor
  withdraws from the Asian territories and begins
  to work on centralizing Japan.
• In 1603 Tokugawa Ieyasu will become Shogun and
  place the Tokugawa Shogunate in power of Japan
  until 19C.

20
Tokugawa

• The Tokugawa will allow the daimyo to still keep
  local power while the Tokugawa will retain
  central authority.
• They will establish Edo (Modern day Tokyo) as the
  capital.
• The Tokugawa will establish trade routes (Rice
  Routes) throughout Japan.
• By 1700 Edo will have 1 million people

21
Tokugawa

• There will be an economic boom in Japan.
• Major urban centers will grow all through Japan.
• Manufacturing such as steel making, pottery,
  lacquer and porcelain will develop.
• Trade with China will be curtailed.
• Piracy will be encouraged.

22
Tokugawa Isolation

• Trade with foreigners
• In 1543 Portuguese will arrive and will bring
  firearms to Japan
• By 1570s the Japanese who took a great interest
  in the weapons had now made copies and were using
  them to fight in the civil wars.
• When the Tokugawa take control they will strictly
  control the trade with the Dutch, Spanish,
  Portuguese
• Porcelain was the chief export while the Japanese
  care little for the European goods.

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Tokugawa Isolation

• The Dutch and Chinese were restricted to trade on
  the island of Deshima.
• Silver and copper were restricted.
• Western books were banned.

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Tokugawa Isolation

• Christianity
• Japanese are going to learn of the new religion
  from Jesuit missionaries.
• The religion holds great interest in Japan and by
  the 1600s about 300,000 convert
• The Tokugawa feared that the new religion would
  destabilize the country and by 1614 there was an
  edict forbidding the practice of Christianity.
• Punishment was crucifixion or beheading

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Tokugawa Isolation

• Christianity
• By the late 1600s the practice of Christianity
  was all but over.
• The government also forced the people to show
  proof of their attendance to their Buddhist
  temple and their obedience to the shougunate.

26
Tokugawa Isolation

• With the cutbacks in trade and the elimination of
  Christianity all Europeans were banned from Japan
  except for the Dutch.
• The Tokugawa also faced internal problems with
  the rapid population growth and how to balance
  economic problems with food supply and work.
• Lack of warfare also posed a problem
• Daimyo and the samurai had little function in
  society.

27
Tokugawa Isolation

• Japan was beginning to develop as a manufacturing
  society.
• The merchant class was ever growing and pushed
  Japan into a period of economic and social
  growth.
• Kabuki Theater
• Artistic expression
• Woodblock prints
• New shops and restaurants.

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Tokugawa Isolation

• Merchants also controlled the money and started
  to develop lines of credit.
• Merchants gave credit to the daimyo and samurai
  whose income was based on rice trade.
• The rice trade declined due to the lack of
  farmers and the difficulty in producing rice.
• Merchants also disregarded the laws and would
  raise and lower the price of rice to suit their
  needs and not the needs of the samurai.
• Now the daimyo and samurai were financially under
  the control of the merchant class.

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Tokugawa Isolation

• Confucian Ideas
• Like China, Korea and Vietnam Japan also accepted
  the idea that agriculture should be the basis of
  state wealth.
• Merchants were seen as morally corrupt.
• However the decentralized government of Japan
  could not regulate all merchant activities and
  the merchant class began to dictate society.
• Merchants enjoyed freedoms and influence.

30
Tokugawa Isolation

• The Tokugawa
• While the government remained very traditional
  the society around them was becoming very
  commercial and progressive.
• Old traditional ways were being cast aside and a
  more modern Japan was developing while the
  Tokugawa shogun was still living in the past.
• During the late period the Tokugawa also had to
  deal with a series of natural disasters which
  further drained the economy.

31
Tokugawa Isolation

• In 1854 The United States would arrive on the
  shores of Japan and with the U.S.s new military
  might would force the Tokugawa to make a decision
  to open up trade and ports.
• The Tokugawa would have no alternative and opened
  up trade to the U.S.
• It would be the end for Japanese isolationism and
  the beginning of a new and modern Japan.