Japan: From Earliest Days to Feudal Japan
WHAP/Napp
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“Officially, Japanese elites recognized the emperor as the head of Japan, but, in fact, he
was little more than a figurehead; real power belonged to those behind the throne. Bloody
struggles for control of the court in Japan brought Nakatomi no Kamatari to power in 645.
He took the name Fujiwara, and under this name his family dominated the politics of
Japan for centuries to come. Fujiwara adopted Chinese culture, religion, and government
as the way to centralize and unify Japan and to assert his own control. He proclaimed the
Taika (“great change”) reforms in 646, consolidating provincial administration and
constructing an extensive road system.
In 710, two acts further consolidated centralized rule. First, a new capital, modeled on
Chang’an was built at Nara. Second, the Japanese ruler now claimed to rule through
divine mandate, although, unlike the Chinese ‘Mandate of Heaven,’ it could never be
revoked (to this day, the same family occupies the imperial throne, although after World
War II, its divinity was officially repudiated).
The emperor served as the chief priest of Japan’s Shinto faith, but as Shinto is a religion
that worships the gods of nature – streams, trees, rocks – it can be practiced anywhere.
Buddhism, by contrast, provides a more centralized form of organization, through
monasteries and temples. Many new Buddhist temples were, therefore, constructed in
Chinese form at Nara to centralize worship in Japan. From this time onward Buddhism
and Shinto have coexisted in Japan, with millions of Japanese declaring themselves
devotees of both faiths.
As centuries passed and Japan became more secure in its own political organization and
cultural identity, the reliance on Chinese models declined. But in the centuries when its
basic cultural and political identity was formed, Japan had followed carefully and
devotedly the hegemonic examples of China, without compulsion or force of any sort.”
~ Adapted from The World’s History
1- What did the Japanese elites officially recognize the emperor as?
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2- Yet why was the emperor of Japan a figurehead?
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3- How did Nakatomi no Kamatari change Japanese history?
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4- Why did Fujiwara adopt Chinese culture, religion, and government?
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5- What were the Taika?
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6- Describe the capital at Nara.
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7- How did the Japanese view of divine mandate differ from the Chinese view?
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8- Identify facts about religion in Japan.
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I. Geography
A. Consists of four main islands (archipelago) off coast of mainland Asia
1. Relatively isolated for thousands of years
2. Diffusion, particularly from China, but selective borrowing
3. Mountainous but not separating cities rather less arable land
II. Yamato Clan
A. Little is known of early cultures in Japan prior to 400 C.E
B. First important ruling family emerged in fifth century; only dynasty
III. Shinto
A. Means “the way of the gods” – earliest religion; a kind of Japanese animism where
people worshipped kami, which refers to forces of nature
B. Yamato clan claimed emperor was a direct descendent of the sun goddess
IV. Influence of China
A. In 522, Buddhist missionaries went to Japan but did not replace Shinto
B. Prince Shotoku borrowed bureaucratic and legal reforms, which were modeled on
T’ang Dynasty in China (7th Century)
C. Reforms enacted after his death as the Taika Reforms (645 C.E.)
D. But largely rejected civil service examination
E. Birth and social class that were more important than merit
V. Fujiwara (a powerful noble family controlling emperor)
A. In 794, capital moved to from Nara to Heian (Kyoto)
B. Emperor remained as a figurehead, but real power had shifted to Fujiwara
D. Experienced a golden age, literature: Lady Murasaki (Tale of Genji) – first novel
E. By 12th century, fighting among noble families led to feudalism
VI. Feudalism in Japan
A. In 1192, Yoritomo Minamoto given title of chief general, or shogun
B. Residence in Kamakura (Kamakura Shogunate)
C. Feudal hierarchy: shogun, daimyo (landlords), samurai, peasants
D. Merchants were probably seen as an unpleasant – a disreputable sector
E. Merchants did not fit neatly into feudal hierarchy (based on land-ownership)
F. Ronin were samurai without masters: considered a dishonor
G. Ronin-hard to control, defiance could weaken bakufu (military government)
H. Samurai followed a strict code of conduct known as the Code of Bushido which was
similar to chivalry in Medieval Europe (loyalty, honor, courage)
I. Samurai failed to meet obligations; expected to commit suicide
VII. Women in Feudal Japan
A. Women in Japan were not held in high esteem whereas in Europe, noblewomen had
few rights but adored for beauty
VIII. The Ashikaga Shoguns
A. The Kamakura shoguns jolted by General Ashikaga who overran Kamakura:
shoguns moved back to Heian-Kyobut let rest of the country go its own way
IX. Tokugawa Shogunate
A. In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu established Tokugawa Shogunate
B. Strict and rigid government that ruled Japan until 1868
C. By 1635, a National Seclusion Act prohibited Japanese from traveling abroad, and
prohibited most foreigners from visiting Japan
1- Identify two significant facts about Japan’s geography.
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2- How did Japan’s geography allow the Japanese to selectively borrow from China?
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3- How did Japan’s mountainous topography affect it?
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4- What does Shinto mean?
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5- What do practitioners of Shinto believe?
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6- What did Japan’s first ruling family, the Yamato, claim about the emperor?
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7- How did the Japanese view of the emperor differ from the Chinese view?
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8- How did Prince Shotoku change Japan?
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9- Why did the Japanese reject the Chinese civil service examination?
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10- Why was the emperor a figurehead during the Fujiwara era?
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11- Identify an accomplishment of Lady Murasaki.
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12- What title was Yoritomo Minamoto given by the emperor?
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13- Identify the feudal hierarchy of Japan.
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14- Why did merchants not fit into the feudal hierarchy?
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15- Why were ronin a problem for the bakufu?
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16- How was the Code of Bushido similar to the Code of Chivalry?
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17- How did the Code of Bushido differ from the Code of Chivalry?
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18- Why was the status of women in feudal Japan lower than in Western Europe?
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19- What problem occurred during the Ashikaga Shogunate?
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20- What Shogunate restored order in 1603?
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21- Describe the Tokugawa Shogunate.
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22- What was the National Seclusion Act?
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23- How did the National Seclusion Act affect Japan?
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1. The isolationism of the Tokugawa
government included
(A) Forbidding Japanese from going
abroad
(B) Forbidding Chinese and Dutch
merchants from trading at Nagasaki
(C) Forbidding scholars of neoConfucianism from teaching in Japan
(D) Banning all foreign religions such as
Confucianism and Buddhism
2. When the emperor moved his
government from Nara to Heian (Eighth
Century C.E.),
(A) Shintoism was formally suppressed.
(B) Buddhism ceased to play a major role
in Japanese society.
(C) The scholar-gentry was able to assert
itself through the examination system.
(D) Buddhism was formally suppressed.
(E) The aristocracy took over most of the
positions of the central government.
3. During Japan’s feudal period
(A) the emperor was the symbolic head of
the country
(B) the shogun held effective power
(C) the samurai class was transformed
into a new aristocracy
(D) all of the above
4. Which contemporary society most
closely mirrored feudal Japanese patterns
of decentralized rule, an economy based
on agricultural peasant labor, and
emergence of the warrior elite following a
distinct code of honor?
(A) Inca
(B) Western European
(C) Russian
(D) Islamic
5. Despite extensive modeling of the
Chinese imperial system, how did
Japanese civilization hew to established
tradition in the postclassical era?
(A) Aristocrats doubled as military
officers.
(B) Strict codes of behavior
governed noble classes in court
life at the imperial center.
(C) Examination systems were not a
part of the selection process for
the imperial elite.
(D) Poetry was a highly valued art
form among the elite.
(E) A capital city served as the
nerve center of the empire.
6. Where in the world did the literary form
of the novel emerge?
(A) United States
(B) Japan
(C) France
(D) England
(E) India
7. Under the shogunates of Japan
(A) Real power still rested with the
emperor
(B) Power rested with Buddhist
monks
(C) The emperor’s power was
largely symbolic
(D) The shoguns were the religious
priests
(E) None of the above
Thesis Practice: Comparative
Analyze methods of political rule in feudal Japan and feudal Europe.
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