1. Japan (A QUICK OVERVIEW)

2. Where is Japan? in the northern Pacific Ocean
directly to the east of North Korea, South Korea, and Russia

3. What are some of the geographical characteristics of Japan?
made up of more than 3,000 islands
four largest islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu
covered with mountains (188 of these are volcanoes)
lots of earthquakes
only about 20% of the land can be farmed
oceans kept Japan isolated from the rest of Asia

4. What is the religion of Japan?
Shinto
all natural things have spirits (including winds, mountains, and rivers)
nature spirits are called kami
to honor the kami, the Japanese worship at shrines
followers believe that the kami will help you if you are pure
Shinto means “way of the spirits”

5. Who were the Samurai? During the 800’s, there were no strong emperors.
Instead, many nobles took control of the land.
If you wanted to keep your land, you needed your own personal army.
Warriors who agreed to fight for a daimyo, or noble, (in exchange for some land of their own) were called samurai.
Samurai means “one who serves.”

6. Who was the Shogun?
Violence between the two strongest families led to the Gempei War.
The emperor at the time decided to put one person in charge of all the samurai to avoid this in the future.
This meant there were two leaders: the emperor (who was in charge in name only) and the shogun (who was really in charge).

7. What did Japan look like in 1890?