JapanChapter 14:ivb

[Image source: http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/places/images/photos/photo_lg_japan.jpg]

Japan is also knownas Nippon or Nihon, which means “source of the sun.”

Japan is an archipelago consisting of four main islands –Honshu,Shikoku, Kyushu,and Hokkaido – and over 4,000thousandsmaller ones.

[Image source: http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/h/J/japan.jpg]

Since only 20% of the land is arable (easyto farm), the

Japanese have had to rely

on the sea to supplementtheir diet.

[Image source: http://www.museum.cornell.edu/HFJ/permcoll/asia/img_jap/fishman_l.jpg]

The sea has also served as a natural barrier, preventing invasion from the mainland.

[Image source: http://www.gsi.ie/NR/rdonlyres/1875D6E7-60A3-4812-8DF0-FBF8EF67F7DC/0/tsunami.gif]

According to legend, a divine

brother and sister gave birth to thesun goddess Amaterasu Omi-kami.

The sun goddess

Amaterasu gave birth to further life forms.

According to legend, Jimmu Tenno, a great-

great-great-grandson of

Amaterasu Omi-kami, became the

first emperor (Mikado) of Japan

circa 660 B.C.[Image source:

http://img331.imageshack.us/img331/5941/image012pk9.jpg]

The early inhabitants

of Japan probably

migrated to the islands from other

parts of Asia.

[Image source: http://www.fieldmuseum.org/research_collections/anthropology/anthro_sites/boone/ainu/ainu_map/ainu_map1.html]

Japan was occupied

by hunter-gatherers from the

Asian mainland ca. 10,000 years ago.

Subsequent invaders from Asia introduced the islanders to agriculture.

[Image source: http://www.lacma.org/art/images/NewAcq/fourseasons.jpg]

The early inhabitants were dwelling in farming villages by 200 B.C.

Present-day Japanese are probably descended from the Yayoi, a village-dwelling people who lived along streams and on the coastal plains and grew rice in irrigated fields.

[Image source: http://brian.hoffert.faculty.noctrl.edu/TEACHING/FoundationsOfJapaneseCivilization.html]

Japan was invaded

between 200 and 300 by horseback-

riding, iron-clad warriors.

[Image source: http://www.orientaloutpost.com/ancient_ch

inese_warrior_yue_fei_wall_scroll.php]

Some scholars believe these

invaders were the ancestors

of the aristocratic

warriors and imperial family.

[Image source: http://www.geocities.com/normlaw/brig-chn.gif]

Before therewas an emperor, regions of Japan

were ruled by separate clans.(A clan is an

group of families claiming descent from a common

ancestor.)[Image source: http://www.zanshin-kai.co.uk/Aikido.html]

Shintoism

Shintoism

• means “way of the gods”

• only known indigenous religion of Japan

• emphasizes sacred spaces and time

Kami

• “divine spirits”

• can be found in nature and in the processes of creation, disease, and healing

Practices

• vary in local communities• rituals often honour ancestors

and the forces of nature• emperors considered kami at

one time-worshipped as divine before World War II

Traditional Japanese prayer cardsleft at a Shinto shrine in Japan.

By A.D. 400, the Yamato

Clan emerged as the

dominantclan in Japan.

[Image source: http://horse.shrine.net/samurai/image/yamato_samurai.jpg]

By the A.D. mid-500s the emperor had become a ceremonial figure,

performing intercessory rituals tothe gods on behalf of the people.

The Soga family

emergedas the real political power in Japan.

[Image source: http://library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/guac/japan_04/hiroshige_soga.jpg]

Buddhism arrived in

Japan from

Korea in A.D. 552.

Four Noble Truths

1. Life is full of suffering.

2. Suffering is caused by desire.

3. Eliminate desire to eliminate suffering.

4. Seek union with Brahma.

Union with Brahma is nirvana.

The only way to end the painful cycle of reincarnation.

Death

Birth

Zen was a variant of Buddhism favoured by Japanese warriors.

Over the next four centuries,

Japan developed close ties with

China, adopting and adapting

many elements of Chinese

culture, suchas art, . . .

[Image source: http://home.flash.net/~cameron/japanese_painting/shikishi_tanzaku/chikuu_landscape.jpg]

. . . medicine, . . .

[Image source: http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2007/07/kyushu-medical-books-two.html]

. . . astronomy, . . .

[Image source: http://www.crystalinks.com/orionjapanwoman.jpg]

. . . and writing system.

The Japanese ruling class adopted a

strong central government based on the principles of

Kung Fu-tzu.

The teachings of Kung Fu-tzu

adopted by the Japanese included:

• ancestor worship• respect for elders and

those in positions of authority

Five Confucian Relationships

Ruler - Ruled

Husband - Wife

Father - Son

Older Brother - Younger Brother

Homeboy - Homeboy

After becoming the leading court

official in A.D. 593, Prince Shotoku

encouraged further learning

from Chinese civilization.

[Image source: http://www.baxleystamps.com/litho/ogawa/kokka_gallery_jp3-1.jpg]

Inspired by Confucian ideas on government, Prince Shotoku

set forth the general principles

of Japanese government in the Seventeen

Article Constitution.[Image source:

http://www.sarudama.com/history/images/shotoku.jpg]

The Fujiwara clan seized power in the name of the emperor, following the

death of Prince Shotoku.

Taika Reforms

A.D. 646

• Taika means “great change”• initiated by Tenji Mikado

Tenji Mikado

• proclaimed himself ruler and landlord of all Japan

• established a bureaucracy to carry-out government duties-centralized taxation and land distribution

In lieu of a civil service examination system, officials gained their posts through family ties.

[Image source: http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat2/sub2/item1077.html]

Much of Japan continued to

remain under the control of regional clan

leaders.

Japan built its first permanent capital in A.D. 710 at Nara – a smaller version of China’s Changan.

[Image source: http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/japan/Architecture/Asuka3.jpg]

Buddhist fervor reached its peak durirng the Nara Period with the completion of the Todaiji Temple in A.D. 752.

[Image source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/Todaiji_temple_in_Nara_Japan_2.jpg/800px-Todaiji_temple_in_Nara_Japan_2.jpg]

During the Nara Period the Japanese produced their first written literature,

when scribes composed histories combining myths

with actual events, and other writers

compiled collections of poetry.

[Image source: http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=42866&rendTypeId=4]

The Japanese established a new capitalat Heian (present-day Kyoto) in A.D. 794.

[Image source: http://www.taleofgenji.org/images/heian_jingu_east.jpg]

Kyoto remained the capital ofJapan for more than 1,000 years.

[Image source: http://hinamatsuri.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/k42.jpg]

The focus of Heian court life among

the “dwellers among the

clouds” was the pursuitof beauty.

[Image source: http://www400.sos.louisiana.gov/archives/dolls/i-d-e2.JPG]

Japan’s first piece of great

prose literature – The Tale of Genji – was written by

Lady Shikibu Murasaki circa

A.D. 1010.[Image source:

http://www.egeltje.org/archives/blah/Murasaki-thumb.jpg]

Heian aristocrats – distracted by their search for beauty – neglected important government tasks.

[Image source: http://www.japanesesearch.com/japans-heian-period-from-794-to-1185/]

Warlike provincial leaders increasingly ignored imperial officials, running their

estates as independent territories.

[Image source: http://www.jsri.jp/English/Honen/LIFE/Tendai/turmoil.html]

Heian officials eventually lost control of the empire.

[Image source: http://www.jref.com/history/heian-period/]

JAPANESE SOCIAL ORDER

circa 1600 to 1867

Social Order Under The Shogun

• very rigid• intended to maintain social

order and limit rivals• members not allowed to

perform tasks belonging to another class

Emperor

• believed to be descended from the sun-goddess Amaterasu-omi-kami

• wielded very little political power• developed elaborate court rituals• patronized the arts• primary duty was scholarship

Shogun

• “commander-in-chief”• the real ruler of Japan• set-up a military government• managed large estates• were the major patrons of the arts

Daimyo

• nobles and lords• controlled vast rural estates• built castles• protected peasants and land

by hiring warriors

The Samurai, or warrior

class, was the second largest class in Japan,

comprising5% of the

population.

Samurai means “to serve.”

Samurai often served as administrators.

Samurai were the only people in feudal Japan

allowed to carry swords.

Bushido

A code of conduct that values honor over life.

Artisans and Merchants laid the foundation

for modern Japan by

developing resources and establishing

trade networks.

[Image source: http://www.baxleystamps.com/litho/brink_15/brink_deluxe_7-5a.jpg]

Peasants formed the

largest social class in feudal Japan, making up 80% of the

population.

Peasants in feudal Japan were often extremely poor.

• farmed plots smaller than 2.5 acres

• usually did not own land they farmed

-Kamio Harumaka

“With peasants and sesame seeds, the more you squeeze them the more you get from them.”

Religion and the Arts

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