 Please
grab the reading “primary
account from the slave trade”
 Read and answer the questions on a
separate sheet of paper.
 Setting
the stage:
• 1467-1568: “Warring States” period.
• Daimyo: warrior-chieftains who employed
samurai
• The daimyos fought each other for control of the
country
 Oda
Nobunaga: seized the imperial
capital Kyoto
• Used firearms effectively during battle for the
first time in Japan
• Committed seppuku after betrayed by his own
general.
 Toyotomi
Hideyoshi: Nobunaga’s best
general
• Through force and alliances he controlled most
of Japan
• He invaded Korea and began long campaign
against Korea and Ming dynasty in China
• Died without being victorious
 Tokugawa
Ieyasu: ally of Hideyoshi who
unified Japan
• Defeated enemies at the Battle of Sekigahara.
• Became shogun (leader) of Japan
• Moved his capital to Edo, which later became
Tokyo
 Reforms:
• Forced daimyo to spend every other year in
Tokyo
• Had to leave their family in Edo as hostages
• Result was rule of law over rule by sword
 Peace
meant greater production of food.
 Merchants class became rich but peasant
farmers still led difficult lives.
 Confucian
ideas were important in Japan
but led to different results than in China
• Farmers were heavily taxed, and people flocked
to cities
• Cities grew, and Edo’s population was greater
than one million in 1600.
 Culture:
• Kabuki: elaborate costumes, dance, mime
concerned with urban life
• Haiku: poetry that presented ideas. It had a
very particular structure.
 Basho: greatest Haiku poet.
 1543:
Portuguese sailors wash up onto
Japan. Japan is interested in the
outsiders.
• Portuguese traders bring eyeglasses, tobacco,
and clocks to Japanese markets
• Daimyo were interested in European firearms
and cannons.
 Christian
missionaries arrived alongside
merchants
• Francis Xavier: led the first mission to convert
Japanese
• The missionaries were successful: 300,000
converts by 1600.
 Ieyasu
reacts to the success by banning
Christianity in 1612.
 In
1637 there was a rebellion by peasants
against the government
• Many of the peasants were Christians therefore
the government persecuted Christians
eliminated the religion in Japan.
 Japan
eventually closes off their country
to outsiders
• One port (Nagasaki) is left open to Chinese and
Dutch ships
• Japanese government has monopoly on foreign
trade
• This isolation exists for over 200 years