Japan: From Nara to Heian

The Nara Empire In 710, a Chinese style empire was created It was based out of the city Nara which was being built in the checkerboard format of the Tang Dynasty The empire was physically and politically dominated by Buddhists

The Heian Empire In 794, a new emperor decided to build a new capital city in Heian (now Kyoto) in order to escape Buddhist domination It would remain Japan’s capital until 1868

Sinification of Japan During this period Japan became very similar to China The land was split into sections led by nobles People were taxed off the land Men were now dominate Later Japan would be Americanised….

Pressures on the Environment: Farming In the year 550 Japan had a population of around 2 million, by the year 1000 the population was 5 million This led to an increase in farming and destroyed Japan’s soil This lead to increased irrigation and the use of night soil

Pressures on the Environment: Deforestation The Japanese began to rapidly cut down their forests for: Land to farm Ship Building Housing Buddhist Temples Fires for iron and heat

Consequences of Deforestation In order to conserve wood, the Japanese began making walls of rice paper instead of wood Floors were covered by grass mats High quality timber was reserved for ship building