JAPAN
“LAND OF THE RISING
SUN”
JAPAN
• ARCHIPELAGO—chain of islands
• 100 miles east of the Asian mainland
• Four main islands—Hokkaido, Honshu,
Shikoku and Kyushu plus 3,000 smaller ones
• About the size of Montana
• Climate similar to eastern United States
JAPAN
• Only 20% of the land is suitable for farming
• Very mountainous
• Most people settled in narrow river valleys
and along coastal plains
• Used terracing to farm sides of mountains
• Japanese also turned to the sea for food
(protein)
Japan
• Seas also protect Japan—seas kept Japan mostly
isolated from the Asian mainland
• Japan close enough to Korea and China for trade
• Far enough away not to be conquered
• Seas served as trade routes
• Japan located the “Ring of Fire”—earthquakes
and volcanic eruptions
• Cause tsunami
Early Japanese Traditions
• Early Japanese society divided into clansfamily groups that trace their origins to a
common ancestor
• Yamato clan will gain control around 500 CE
• Yamato set up Japan’s first and only dynasty
• Claimed descent from the Sun Goddess,
Amaterasu and the rising sun became the
Yamato symbol
Early Japanese Traditions
• Traditional religion of Japan is Shinto means
“way of the gods”—based on the worship and
respect for nature—no sacred text
• Created out of the worship of Kami—word
means spirits—natural forces found in all
things
• Shrines built to honor nature usually around
waterfalls, mountains, grove of ancient trees
Early Japanese Traditions
• Japanese language similar to Korean but
totally different from Chinese
• Korea and Japan in constant contact—
migrations and warfare a constant in early
centuries CE
• Buddhist missionaries from Korea introduced
religion to Japan around 500 CE
Chinese Influence
• Prince Shotoku will be very influential in
spreading Chinese culture and Buddhism
• Sent missions to Tang China to gather
knowledge of Chinese ways
• Many more missions will follow over next 200
years
• Returned and spread Chinese art, technology,
thought and ideas on government
Chinese Influence
• Japanese emperor built new capital at Nara–
modeled on the Chinese capital
• Nobles spoke Chinese—dressed Chinese—ate
Chinese foods
• Tea drinking and tea ceremony introduced
• Chinese became official writing system of
officials and scholars
• Chinese influence only reached small group
In architecture the Japanese adopted the pagoda
style
Buddhist monasteries were built—very powerful
Confucian ideas took root in Japanese society
Chinese Influence
• Japanese will later begin selective borrowing
• Will never adopt Chinese civil service exam
• Relied upon inheritance to fill government
positions—educated sons of nobles
• Japan produced its own unique civilization
• Added kana (phonetic symbols representing
syllables) to Chinese writing
Heian Period
• 794 to 1185 Heian period saw Chinese
influence reach it’s peak and then decline
• Capital located in Heian (present-day Kyoto)
• Fujiwara family in control of the throne
• Small population of nobles controlled society
• Emperors were figureheads (religious
ceremonies)
• Feudalism introduced during this period
Heian Capital
Heian Period
• Court etiquette governed society—beauty
important (what made one a good person)
• Noblewomen/men blackened their teeth and
powdered their faces—men faint moustache and
thin goatee
• Noblewomen wore hair to ankles, dyed clothing
to match seasons (12 layered silk robe), eyebrows
plucked or shaved and redrawn higher up on
forehead
• Everyone in court expected to write
poetry/paint
Heian Literature
• Women produced the most important
literature of the period (women were
forbidden to learn Chinese)—wrote in kana
• Sei Shonagon wrote The Pillow Book
• Lady Murasaki the best known writer of the
period wrote The Tale of Genji (1010) which is
considered by many to be the world’s first
novel
Zen Buddhism
• New Buddhist sect will win widespread
acceptance called Zen
• Zen means meditation and stresses devotion
to duty
• Values peace, simplicity, love of beauty and
reverence to nature
• Did not conflict with Shinto
• Landscape gardening and painting
Artistic Traditions
• Two types of drama will become popular
• No (Noh) drama—performed on wooden stage
without scenery—men wore mask (1300s)
• Kabuki drama included comedy and melodrama
(1600s)—violence and emotion—portrayed
family and historical events—popular with
townspeople
• In poetry Japanese created the haiku—miniature
poem (3 lines 17 syllables in Japanese language)
• Woodblock printing art form (1600s)
Japanese Feudalism
• Feudal system developed in Japan during the
Heian period
• Warrior aristocracy dominated Japanese
society
• Warlords had men under their command loyal
to them not to the central government
• In theory the emperor was at the head of the
country but actually he was powerless
Feudal Japan
• Power in the hands of the Shogun or supreme
military commander
• Gave land to vassals—great warrior lords
called Daimyo
• Lesser warriors called samurai “those who
serve”—fighting force in feudal Japan
• Ronin were samurai who had lost their master
Feudal Japan
• Samurai followed the code of Bushido which
means way of the warrior
• Loyalty to lord put above all other things
• Betray their code then they were expected to
commit seppuku, ritual suicide
• Dying an honorable death better than living a
long life that was dishonorable
Kamakura Shogunate
• 1100s two powerful clans Taira and
Minamoto fought for control—lasted 30 years
• Minamoto emerged victorious and in 1192
Yoritomo Minamoto took title of shogun
• Emperor still ruled in Kyoto but real power
with shogun
Kamakura Shogunate
• Mongols launched two unsuccessful naval
invasions of Japan during this period
• Mongol ruler was Kublai Khan (grandson of
Genghis Khan) who sent fleets in 1274 and
1281
• Japan saved both times by typhoons which
the Japanese called “kamikaze” or divine wind
Civil War Period
• Period between 1467 and 1568 known as the
Sengoku or “warring states” period
• Powerful daimyo controlled this period
warring amongst themselves for control
• Saw the arrival of the first Europeans to Japan,
the Portuguese brought their religion as well
• Oda Nobunaga will eventually defeat all
rivals—used firearms for the first time
effectively in Japan during a battle
Civil War Period
• Nobunaga will never unite all of Japan
• Toyotomi Hideyoshi will succeed Nobunaga
and will control most of country by 1590
• Failed expeditions against Korea kept him
from uniting all of Japan
Tokugawa Shogunate
• The unification of Japan will be completed by
Tokugawa Ieyasu
• Defeated his rivals at the battle of Sekigahara
in 1600
• In 1603 he took the title of Shogun
• Moved the capital to Edo (present-day) Tokyo
Tokugawa Shogunate
• Required daimyo to spend every other year in
the capital—
• Family had to stay at Edo at all times
• Ieyasu will ban Christianity
• Kicked all Westerners out of Japan with the
exception of the Dutch
• Dutch allowed to come to Nagasaki to trade
once a year
Tokugawa Shogunate
• Shoguns able to control daimyo by setting up
a strong central government
• Brought peace and prosperity
• Orderly society because they put restrictions
on social classes