JAPAN
Periods 3-6
Period 3-Isolation
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Geography- rocky, island- isolated from mainland
 Language
separate from Chinese
 Religion- Shintoism-animistic that emphasized
nature/spirits (kami) that inhabit objects in nature
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Developed aristocratic clans
Some trade with Tang (China)
Yamato Clan took over introduced Buddhism
Period 3-Fujiwara Rule/Heian Age
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Culture
Melding of Shintoism, Confucianism & Buddhism
 Mastered Chinese building styles
 Aristocracy appreciated poetry
 Tale of Genji- (c1000 CE)

written by a noblewoman (Murasaki Shikibu)
 First book written in Japanese
 Described court life
 Ironic that women were not encouraged to be educated!
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Japanese dynasties rarely changed (unlike China) since
emperor had little power
Government- entrusted to warriors
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Shogun- military governor who ruled in place of emperor
Period 3-Minamoto Clan
est Bakufu –military government

Like Europe-developed feudalism
 Regional
lords controlled land and economic powers
 Unlike Fujiwara aristocracy-valued military skills rather
than poetic skills
 Local Lords supported by warriors-Samurais
 Samurais
provided military services in exchange for food,
clothing and housing
 Lived by Bushido code (code of the warrior)-complete loyalty
to lord
 If violated code, committed seppuku (suicide by knife to the
guts)
 Political
instability-period characterized by much fighting
among lords
Feudalism in Japan vs Europe
Japan
Europe
Both decentralized, lack of bureaucracy,
strong ties between lords and vassals,
peasants provide labor
Both decentralized, lack of bureaucracy,
strong ties between lords and vassals,
peasants provide labor
Honor Code- no written codes
Lasting effects today in the loyalty codes
of Japanese businesses
Based on written agreements or contracts
(think Magna Carta or Cannon Law and a
history of written agreements in Europe)
Led to development of Parliaments
Samurai granted USE of land not
ownership
Effect—Samurai always below their
landowning lord- clear social distinction
Knight/Vassals GIVEN land so could
change in status and rival their lord
Period 4

Government decentralized Daimyos
held local power
 even though pledged allegiance to emperor, they acted
independently
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late1500s civil war leads to Toyotomi Hideyoshi taking
power
 Attacked
Korea—Korean ironclad “turtle boats” defeat
Japanese navy—stopped Hideyoshi from attacking Chinese
Ming Dynasty
Period 4-Isolation

Tokugawa Shogunate (aka bakufu)-1603-1867

Government centralized

To control daimyo- created alternate attendance requiring daimyo to spend
every other year at court-weakened daimyo
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Economics- increased agricultural production (like China)—led to problems in
population control (Japan had limited space)
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Limited trade with west and China—limited to one entry (similar to Canton System)
Culture
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economically by requiring them to keep two houses
politically because could not plot revolts while at court
Similar system to Louis XIV in France of having his nobles live at Versailles with him
Faith-rooted in combination of Shintoism, Buddhism & Confucianism –based on
hierarchies
Christian missionaries expelled 1580s
Theatre-Kabuki, poetry
Social Structure- strict hierarchy but agricultural production sees rise in
merchant wealth and status—Samurai became idle elites who fell in to debt
Period 5

Tokugawa Shogunate still in power
 USA
(Matthew Perry/black ships) demands Japan open
trade – like the Chinese had just done for Great Britain
 Shogun agreed to Unequal Treaty-treaty of
Kanagawa-similar to Chinese treating granting trading
privileges
 As a result of unequal treaties, Daimyos (local lords)
rebel and start a new government
Period 5-Meiji Restoration
Japan becomes equal to west
 Oligarchy
(rule by a few) takes power but had a figurehead
emperor
 Oligarchy wants to make TOTAL reforms (unlike China where no consensus)
 Culture/Education
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Increase literacy with primary schools for all
Increase science and technology training home and abroad
Keep Japanese moral codes/censor texts ( based on Shintoism)
 Government
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Westernize military based on draft (conscription) new technology-defeat
Russia in Russo-Japanese War 1904
Broader taxes, eliminate money to Samurai, fill bureaucracy by merit
 Economics
(one of last to industrial but very successful)
Industrialize- government banks, railroads, mines, shipyards, steel
factories, textiles-promote private enterprise and social mobility!
Period 6-World War II
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Invaded Manchuria then China
1940 Signed Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy
War in Pacific
 Took
European colonies in SE Asia-GB and US cut off shipments
of oil and steel to Japan
 Dec 7, 1941 attach Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) and bring US into
WWII
 Japan takes Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines,
Malaya by 1942
 Lost to US at Battles of Coral Sea and Midway-US began
“island hopping” capturing key islands in Pacific
 US drops atomic bomb on Japanese ports Hiroshima &
Nagasaki-Japan surrenders
Atomic Bomb
Pros
Immediate surrender of
Japan- saved lives of
military invading Japan
Cons
Total War- hundreds of
thousands of civilians dead
or burned to suffer effects
of radiation
Use of technology can save US starts Atomic Age/Arms
military lives
race that continues through
Cold War
Definitive end to WWII
Changes environment of
unlike ending of WWII
Japan