1. Japan

2. Japanese geography Japan lies to the east of China
“Land of the Rising Sun”
4,000 islands make up the Japanese archipelago but most Japanese live on the four largest ones
Spans 1200 miles
Land is mountainous and only 15% is arable
Natural resources scarce

3. Early Japan
Japan first mentioned in 300 as a set of clans that were not united
Shinto- Japanese religion- “way of the gods”
No rituals or philosophy
Respect of nature
Ancestor worship
Believe in kami, divine spirits that dwell in nature

4. Yamato Emperors 5th C Yamato clan became leading clan
7th C claimed to be emperors of Japan
Japan had an emperor who was a figure head and a power behind the throne that actually ruled

5. The Japanese Adapt Chinese Ideas
Koreans travel to Japan during 6th C and bring Chinese ideas with them
Mid-700s Japanese court adopted Buddhism
Japanese did not give up Shinto even though most Japanese became Buddhist
Instead Buddhist rituals became Shinto rituals and some Shinto gods were worshipped in Buddhist temples

6. Cultural Borrowing from China
607 Prince Shotoku sent missions to Tang China to learn about Chinese ways
Japanese adopt Chinese system of writing
Artists painted landscapes similar to Chinese artists
Cooking, tea drinking
Government- strong central government
Attempted to introduce exam system for government officials but it failed and noble families remained in control
Late 9th century missions ended along with the heavy borrowing

7. Life in the Heian Period- 794-1185
794 members of imperial court move capital to Heian (modern day Kyoto)
Highly refined period
Rituals and art filled the days of the nobility
Etiquette extremely important
Everyone at the court was expected to write poetry and paint
Lady Murasaki- wrote the Tale of the Gengi, an account of imperial life
First novel in any language

8. Decline of Central Power
For most of Heian period the rich Fujiwara family held power in Japan but by the 11th C most of the family members were interested in luxury and other pursuits, rather than governance
Large landowners began setting up private armies
Life became dangerous so many farmers traded parts of their land to strong warlords for protection
Lords began to acquire more power and the feudal period began

9. Samurai Warriors Samurai = one who serves
Lords surrounded themselves with samurai
Lived according to bushido- code of conduct “the way of the warrior”
Courage, fairness, generosity to those weaker
Dying an honorable death more important than living a long life

10. The Kamakura Shogunate
late 1100s two powerful clans fought for power
Minamoto clan emerged victorious
Emperor gave Minamoto leader the tile of Shogun, which was basically a military dictator with everyone under his power
Emperor was still in Kyoto but had no real power
Military headquarters were at Kamakura and the 1200s are called the Kamakura Shogunate
Under early shoguns local lords still had power
Shoguns strengthened military control by assigning a military governor to each province- these were called daimyo