Feudal Japan
Starting in the 1300s AD (CE), Japanese society had a system called Feudalism. Like the Caste system in
India, feudalism had different levels of people based on their jobs. The levels determined how honorable and
respected somebody was. At the top was the emperor. He was the most respected and honored person in
Japan, but he was not very powerful. Below him were the shogun and daimyo (the large landowners). They
had the second most respect and honor, but had the most power. Below them were the samurai warriors.
Below them were the peasants (poor laborers) and artisans (craftsmen), who made up
about 90% of the whole population. Finally at the bottom were the merchants. They were at
the bottom because while the peasants farmed and the artisans created goods, the
merchants just sold everything. They didn’t produce anything useful for society, so they
had the least respect and honor.
Label your own pyramid according to this description.
Emperor
The emperor was the most honored and respected because
many centuries earlier, many people believed that the emperor and his family
were descendants of (related to) the sun goddess. Even when the emperor
didn’t actually rule the country, he was still treated with respect and honor
because of the tradition started with those first divine (godlike) emperors.
1. Why was the emperor in Japan treated so honorably?
2. Was he important? Why or why not?
Daimyo and Shogun
The daimyo were large landowners (nobles) who hired samurai warriors to protect them. Smaller landowners
and peasants would pay them taxes for the right to farm the daimyo’s land. In exchange, the daimyo used
their samurai to protect these poorer landowners and peasants. This means the daimyo
were rich, had a lot of people loyal to them, and were well-protected. All this added up to
power. The most important daimyo was the shogun. He was a large landowner and a
major military leader. The emperor trusted this person to carry out his decisions. This is
why the shogun was the most powerful person in Japan.
3. How did the daimyo obtain (get) their power in the feudal system?
4. Were they important in the feudal system? Why or why not?
The Samurai
The samurai, which means “those who serve,” were the highly skilled warriors in
ancient Japan. They were well-educated, especially in the arts, and well trained.
Even though the daimyo paid them for protection, the samurai didn’t just go
protect whoever paid them the most. Once they worked for a certain daimyo, they
stayed loyal to him and his family. They were even more loyal to their daimyo
than to their own family, and they would protect their daimyo to the death. The
samurai lived under a strict code called bushido, which means “the way of the
warrior.” Bushido meant three things:
1. loyalty (stick with that person no matter what)
2. duty (do what you have to do no matter what)
3. honor (do what is right or be shamed)
A samurai who broke bushido would often take his own life in an act called seppuku. This involved sitting on
his knees and cutting open his own stomach with a samurai knife.
5. Was the samurai important in the feudal system? Why or why not?
6. Why was bushido (the code) so important for a samurai’s job?