Day 6 Japans Military

Day 6 Japans Military

Japan developed a military society led by generals called shoguns. 

Samurai and Shoguns Take Over Japan 

• By the late 1100s, Heian was the great center of Japanese art and literature. But in the rest of Japan, life was very different.

• Powerful nobles fought each other overland. Rebels fought against imperial officials.

The Fights

• This fighting destroyed land, which made it difficult for peasants to grow food.

• Some poor people became bandits or thieves.

• Meanwhile, Japan’s rulers were so focused on courtly life, they didn’t notice the many problems growing in their country. 

Samurai's 

• With the emperor distracted by life in his court, Japan’s large landowners, or daimyo (DY-mee-oh), decided that they needed to protect their own lands.

• They hired samurai (SA-muh-ry), or trained professional warriors, to defend them and their property. The samurai wore light armor and fought with swords and bows. Most samurai came from noble families and inherited their positions from their fathers. 

Multiple Choice

What are Japan’s large landowners called?

• Damian

• Dissident

• daimyo

The Samurai

The word samurai comes from the Japanese word for servant. Every samurai, from the weakest soldier to the most powerful warrior, was supposed to serve his lord. Because all lords in Japan were supposed to serve the emperor, all samurai were required to be loyal to him.

An army of samurai was expensive to support. Few lords could afford to buy armor and weapons for their warriors. As a result, lords paid their samurai with land or food.

Only the most powerful samurai got land for their service. Most of these powerful samurai didn’t live on the land they received, but they did profit from it. Every year, the peasant farmers who worked on the land gave the samurai money or food. Samurai who received no land were given food—usually rice—as payment. 

Open Ended

Describe a samurai?

Shoguns Rule Japan 

Many of the nobles outside Heian were unhappy with the way Japan’s government was being run. Frustrated, these nobles wanted a change of leadership. Eventually, a few very strong noble clans decided to try to take power for themselves.

Two of these powerful clans went to war with each other in the 1150s. For almost 30 years, the two clans fought. Their fighting was terrible, destroying land and property and tearing families apart.

In the end, the Minamoto clan won. Because he had a very powerful army, and because the emperor was still busy in Heian, the leader of the Minamoto clan was the most powerful man in Japan. He decided to take over ruling the country. 

Multiple Choice

Many of the nobles outside Heian were unhappy with the way Japan’s government was being run. So what did they do?

• Fight the emperor

• Take over Heian

• Fight each other for power

Shoguns Rule Japan 

• The emperor was kept as a figurehead, a person who appears to rule even though real power rests with someone else.

• As a samurai, the Minamoto leader was supposed to be loyal to the emperor, but he decided to rule in the emperor’s place. In 1192 he took the title shogun, a general who ruled Japan in the emperor’s name.

Open Ended

How did the shogun rise to power in Japan?

What happened when the Shogun died?

• When he died, he passed his title and power on to one of his children. For about the next 700 years, one shogun would rule in Japan. 

Multiple Choice

What is it called when the ruling position is passed down from family member to family member?

• Shogunism

• Dynasty

• Emperor

Samurai Live Honorably 

• Under the shogun, who were military rulers, samurai warriors became more central to Japanese society.

• Samurai enjoyed many social privileges. Common people had to treat the samurai with respect. Anyone who disrespected a samurai could be killed.

Multiple Choice

What is a positive to being a samurai?

• Common people had to give the samurai their extra food.

• Common people had to treat the samurai with respect.

Samurai Restrictions

• At the same time, tradition placed restrictions on samurai.

• For example, they couldn’t attend certain types of entertainment, such as theater, which were considered beneath them.

• They also couldn’t take part in trade or commerce. 

Multiple Choice

What was a negative to being a samurai?

• They couldn’t attend certain types of entertainment.

• They couldn’t leave their lords property.

Bushido

• More importantly, all samurai had to follow a strict code of rules that taught them how to behave.

• The samurai code of rules was known as Bushido (BOOH-shi-doh). This name means “the way of the warrior.”

• Both men and women from samurai families had to follow Bushido rules. 

Multiple Select

The samurai code of rules was known as

Pick 2

• Bushido

• “the way of the warrior”

• "To Keep Calm and Carry on"

• Bindi

Self-Discipline

• Samurai were expected to live simple, disciplined lives. They believed that self-discipline made them better warriors.

• To improve their discipline, many samurai participated in peaceful rituals that required great concentration.

• Some grew miniature bonsai trees. Many also adopted Zen Buddhism, which stressed self-discipline and meditation. 

Loyalty

• More than anything else, Bushido required a samurai to be loyal to his lord. Each samurai had to obey his master’s orders without hesitation, even if it caused the samurai or his family to suffer. One samurai expressed his duties in this way: 

Open Ended

Why do you think they believed that self-discipline made them better warriors?