Early Japan Shoguns and Samurai Life in Medieval Japan Chapter 5: Japan Early Japan Shoguns and Samurai Life in Medieval Japan

Japan’s Geography Japan’s mountains and islands isolated Japan and shaped its society Because of Japan’s mountains, only 20% of its land can be farmed The rugged terrain forced many Japanese to turn to the sea for a living The vast ocean around Japan kept it isolated and as a result, Japan developed its own intensely independent society with its own religion, art, literature, and government

The First Settlers of Japan The Yayoi people were the early settlers of Japan Around 300 CE the Yayoi organized themselves into clans A clan is a group of families related by blood or marriage During the 500’s a clan called the Yamato became strong enough to rule all of Japan Yamato chiefs claimed they were descendents of the Sun God and the emperor of Japan today is a descendent of these ancient rulers

Prince Shotoku’s Reforms Around 600 CE, a Yamato prince named Shotoku took charge of Japan He wanted to create a strong government so he looked to China as an example of what to do Shotoku created a constitution and gave all power to the emperor The emperor had the power to appoint all of the government officials Government officials were sent to China to study Chinese art, medicine, government, Buddhism, and philosophy (much which came from Korea) Shotoku ordered Buddhist temples and monasteries to be built throughout Japan In 646 CE the Yamato began the Taika, or Great Change They divided Japan into provinces and they were all run by officials who reported to the emperor These reforms created the first strong central government in Japan

The Shinto Religion of Japan The Japanese religion called Shinto was based on nature spirits They believe that all things in nature have their own spirits This idea is called animism Nature spirits are called kami The word Shinto means “way of the spirits”

Buddhism During the same time the emperor’s government was growing strong, Buddhism became popular Buddhism became a major religion in Japan and had an important role in government

Samurai Nobles formed private armies to protect their land To create their armies they gave land to warriors who agreed to fight for them These warriors were called Samurai Samurai lived by a code of conduct called Bushido A Samurai would rather die in battle than betray his lord

Shogun By the early 1100’s the most powerful Japanese families had begun fighting each other using their Samurai armies In 1192, Yoritomo, the leader of a powerful family, was given the title of shogun The shogun is the commander of all of the emperor’s military forces The military government was known as the shogunate Japan’s government was run by a series of shoguns for the next 700 years In 1274 and 1281, the shogunate successfully held off attacks by the Mongols

The Daimyo Divide Japan As the shogun’s power weakened, Japan broke into warring kingdoms run by rulers known as daimyo The daimyo pledged loyalty to the emperor and the shogun, but they ruled their lands as if they were independent kingdoms To protect their lands they created their own local armies made up of Samurai warriors Samurai became vassals when they pledged to serve their daimyo in times of war and in return the daimyo gave them land This bond of loyalty between a lord and a vassal is known as feudalism

Japanese Religion and Culture Buddhism and Shinto shaped much of Japan’s culture These religions affected Japanese art, architecture, novels and plays The arts of Japan revealed the Japanese love of beauty and simplicity The art of folding paper, know as Origami, was invented in Japan Calligraphy, the art of writing beautifully, was much admired in Japan Japan’s oldest form of poetry was the tanka Tanka was an unrhymed poem of five lines Tanka poems capture nature’s beauty and the joys and sorrows of life By the 1600’s, tanka poems changed into a new form called haiku Haiku consisted of 3 lines of words with a total of 17 syllables The oldest type of Japanese plays were called Noh and they were written to teach Buddhist ideas Some Japanese nobles, merchants, and artisans grew wealthy during the shogun period, but the lives of women remained restricted in many areas of life