Early Japan

Early & Medieval Japan

I can explain the rise of early Japan. I can explain the development of medieval Japan.

Geography & Settlement

• Japan is an archipelago, east of Korea and China in Asia.

• Archipelago - a chain of islands

• The islands of Japan are actually the tops of mountains that rise from the ocean floor.

Multiple Choice

What continent is Japan part of?

• Australia

• Africa

• Asia

• Europe

Geography & Settlement

• The first people in Japan came from northeast Asia thousands of years ago.

• At that time, Japan was connected to the mainland of Asia.

Geography & Settlement

• The Yayoi are the ancestors of the Japanese people. They were skilled farmers, potters and metalworkers.

Geography & Settlement

• The Yayoi were organized into clans.

• Clans - groups of families related by blood or marriage.

• Yayoi practiced animism - believing all things have a spirit called kami.

• Yayoi also worshipped the spirits of their ancestors.

Multiple Choice

What group of people are considered to be the ancestors of the Japanese?

• Chinese

• Yayoi

• Yamato

• Koreans

The Yamato

• Powerful clan leaders started to emerge and small kingdoms were established.

• Each kingdom was ruled by a different clan.

• The Yamato were one of the clans that became very powerful.

Multiple Choice

Who were the Yamato?

• A Japanese army that came from China.

• A leader and his people who ruled Korea for hundreds of years.

• A Japanese clan that became very powerful.

The Yamato

• The Yamato ruled beginning in the AD 500's.

• Chiefs claimed to be descended from a sun goddess.

• Jimmu, the legendary first emperor of Japan, took the title "emperor of heaven."

Prince Shotoku

• Prince Shotoku became regent of Japan around AD 600.

• Regent - rules a country on behalf of another

• Prince Shotoku admired Chinese civilization and wanted the Japanese to learn from it.

Multiple Choice

Who admired Chinese civilization and wanted his people to learn from it?

• Chinese

• Prince Shotoku

• Jimmu

• Yamato

Prince Shotoku

• Prince Shotoku was a devout Buddhist.

• He had Buddhist temples built and introduced other Chinese ideas.

Multiple Choice

What religion was brought from China to Japan by Prince Shotoku?

• Hinduism

• Sikhism

• Islam

• Buddhism

Prince Shotoku

• Created a constitution based on the ideas of Confucius.

• Constitution - a written plan of government

• The constitution stated that the emperor was all-powerful.

• Prince Shotoku sent officials and students to China to learn about Buddhism, art, philosophy, and medicine.

Multiple Choice

The first Japanese constitution stated that the emperor was all-powerful.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Which of the following did the Japanese NOT borrow from China?

• Writing

• Government

• Buddhism

• All of the above

• None of the above

Horyu-ji

• One of Japan's oldest temples and the world's oldest surviving wooden structure.

• Pagoda - tiered (stacked) tower of a Buddhist temple

The Nara Period

• Nara became the capital city in the early AD 700's.

• It was designed to look like a Chinese city.

The Nara Period

• Emperors gave government jobs to nobles from powerful families.

• Emperors also gave land to the nobles to ensure their loyalty.

• Controlling land gave the emperor great power.

Multiple Choice

How did the emperor ensure loyalty from his government officials?

• Gave them land.

• Threatened them with the sword.

• Forced them to sign a constitution.

Samurai & Shoguns

• Capital moved in AD 794 to Heian-kyo (called Kyoto today).

• Emperors continued to rule, but were weak.

• Nobles ruled the land under their control.

Samurai & Shoguns

• Nobles gave land to warriors called samurai who agreed to fight for them.

• Samurai - "to serve"

• Samurai lived by a code of conduct called Bushido.

• Bushido - "the way of the warrior"

• Samurai were to be loyal to their masters, courageous and honorable.

Samurai & Shoguns

• AD 1100's, nobles used samurai to fight one another over land.

• The Genpei War was a civil war between the two most powerful clans in Japan.

Samurai & Shoguns

• The Minamoto family won and the commander was given the title of "shogun."

• Shogun - military commander of Japan

• The emperor appointed Minamoto Yoritomo as shogun to avoid being overthrown.

Samurai & Shoguns

• Two governments now existed in Japan:

• 1. The emperor in Heian-kyo

• 2. The Shogunate (military government) in Kamakura

Multiple Choice

What was the job of the shogun in Japan?

• rule over the emperor

• leader of small territories of land

• military leader of Japan

Samurai & Shoguns

• After a series of weak rulers, Japan divided into small territories headed by powerful military lords known as daimyo.

• Daimyo were loyal to the emperor & shogun.

• Daimyo governed land as independent states.

• Daimyo created personal armies of samurai.

Samurai & Shoguns

• Many samurai became vassals of a daimyo.

• Daimyo gave vassals land in exchange for loyalty & military service.

• This bond of loyalty between a lord and a vassal is called feudalism.

Multiple Choice

The system of loyalty between daimyo and vassal is known as

• constitution

• shogunate

• vassalism

• feudalism

Samurai & Shoguns

• Shogun, daimyo, and samurai continued to control Japan until the mid-19th century.

• The last shogun stepped down in 1868 and full power was restored to the emperor.