1. Culture, Religion, and Feudalism in Europe & Japan

2. Japan & China
Prior to the 700s, Japan was a de-centralized area of mixed independent clans
645 CE, they sent monks and scholars to China to log and copy Chinese
culture and style of government (Taika Reforms)
They attempted to adopt a centralized, imperial
government at Kyoto, with an emperor, just as China had
They also adopted Buddhist ideals, but added (syncretized) their local beliefs
in the form of deifying kamis (venerated spirits and ancestors) to form Shinto Buddhism

4. Japanese Feudalism
Despite being a world apart, Japan developed an identical system to the Europeans
Owing to their independent past, they were unable
to centralize like China and broke down into a feudal system
At the top were military leaders called shoguns
(kings) whose vassals were the daimyos (noble/lords)
Below the daimyos (nobles) were the samurai (knights),
and the peasants and merchants (last) were at the bottom