1. Japan
Chapter 8

2. Geography and Early Japan

3. Geography shapes life in japan
The islands of Japan are the tops of undersea mountains and volcanoes

4. Only 20% of the land is flat
Most people live on the coast where it is flat

5. Due to the nearness of the sea the Japanese diet has consisted of seafood for thousands of years

6. Due to its separation from the rest of Asia Japan created its own:
Culture,
Religion and
Social structure

7. Early japanese society
The Ainu
Looked different and spoke different than other people of Japan

8. They lost their fights with other people and were driven to the island of Hokkaido
Over time their culture disappeared

9. THE FIRST JAPANESE Lived in small farming villages ruled by clans
Had to obey and respect members of the clan
The chief was both the political and religious leader

10. The traditional religion in Japan is Shinto
Teaches that everything in nature has kami

11. KAMI Kami – divine entity
It was believed that kami kept them safe from harm

12. THE FIRST EMPERORS
Some clans were larger and more powerful than others
They built armies to conquer their neighbors

13. Clans

14. The Yamato clan of Honshu conquered their island in this way
Believed they were the descendants of the most powerful kami
The goddess of the sun
They called themselves the emperors of all Japan

15. Japan learns from china and korea
The Japanese wanted to learn from other cultures so they sent representatives to China and Korea
Also invited people to move to Japan so they could teach new way of working and thinking

16. Japan didn’t have a written language
They used Chinese characters to represent sounds

17. Prince Shotoku brought Confucianism to Japan to outline how families should live
Fathers rule the families
Wives obey their husbands
Children obey their parents
Younger brothers obey older brothers

18. Art and culture in heian

19. Japanese nobles create great art
Nobles that lived with the emperor created a court
Court – a group of nobles who live and serve or advise a ruler

20. “DWELLERS AMONG THE CLOUDS”
Nobles were so removed from reality they called themselves “dwellers among the clouds”

21. FASHION Nobles wore elaborate outfits of silk robes and jewelry
Women wore layers of colored silk and carried delicate decorative hand fans

22. LITERATURE
Women wrote diaries and carefully chose words to make their writing more beautiful
Men wrote in Chinese

23. Lady Murasaki Shikibu wrote the first full-length novel in history
The Tale of Genji

24. POEMS Poems had five lines Followed a specific structure of syllables
Written about love or nature

25. Visual ARt The most popular forms of art were: Painting,
Calligraphy and
Architecture

26. painting
Used bright colors and created painting that told stories

27. calligraphy
Calligraphers spent hours making decorative writing

28. architecture Many buildings were modeled after Chinese buildings
Ssurrounded them with gardens and ponds

29. Performing arts
People often gathered to watch musicians, jugglers and acrobats
Later performances became more serious dramas called Noh
Noh – combined music, speaking and dance

30. Buddhism changes Pure Land Buddhism Zen
Chanting the Buddha’s name over and over to achieve an enlightened state
Zen
Neither faith nor good behavior led to wisdom
Wisdom comes from self-discipline and meditation

31. Growth of a military society

32. Samurai and shoguns take over japan
Daimyo – Japan’s large landowners
Hired samurais to defend their property

33. Samurai Samurai means to serve
Samurai served their lords who were loyal to the emperor
So samurai were required to be loyal to the emperor

34. Samurai came from noble families
Inherited their positions
Samurai wore light armor and fought with swords and bows

35. Many nobles were unhappy with the way the government was being run
So noble clans tried to take power

36. Minamoto clan Became the most powerful clan in Japan
They took over and ruled the country

37. The emperor The emperor was kept as a figurehead
Figurehead – a person who appears to rule even though real power rests with someone else

38. Shogun
Minamoto ruled in the emperor’s place and took the title of shogun
Shogun – a general who ruled Japan in the emperor’s name
Passed titles down to their children

39. Samurai live honorably
All samurais had to follow a strict code of rules that taught them how to behave called Bushido
Bushido – the way of the warrior

40. Bushido Code

41. Samurai also participated in peaceful rituals that required great concentration
Created:
Intricate flower arrangements,
Grew miniature bonsai trees
Held tea ceremonies

42. Honor was the most important thing in a samurai’s life
If a samurai did anything to lose honor he was expected to commit suicide rather than living with the shame

43. Shame included:
Disobeying,
Losing or
Failing to protect his lord

44. The Bushido code’s idea of honor and loyalty still exist in Japan today

45. Order breaks down
Twice the Mongols tried to invade Japan and twice they failed
Warring nobles set aside their difference to stop the invasions

46. Many nobles were unhappy
Didn’t think the shoguns gave them enough credit for their part in the fighting

47. Daimyo
Daimyo fought against the shoguns in the 1400s to take back their power
Shoguns lost power and the daimyo controlled their own territory

48. Strong leaders take over
In the 1600s Tokugawa Ieyasu conquered his enemies
This was the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate, or rule by shoguns of the Tokugawa family

49. Tokugawa Shogunate Tokugawa opened Japan to the outside world
Not all shoguns who followed liked contact with the world

50. In the 1630s the ruling shogun closed japan off from the rest of the world

51. They also banned guns