Japanese History and Culture Quiz

What did mountains in Japan do to the available farmland?

• c. Had no effect

• d. Made it fertile

• b. Limited it

• a. Increased it

Where did the ancestors of the Japanese people probably come from around 20,000 years ago?

• a. Southeast Asia

• b. Northeastern Asia

• d. Africa

• c. Europe

What did the Yayoi introduce to Japan?

• c. Metalworking

• b. Rice farming

• d. All of the above

• a. Fishing techniques

What is animism?

• a. Belief in multiple gods

• b. Belief in the afterlife

• c. Belief that all things in nature are alive and have their own spirits

• d. Belief in a single creator god

Who were the kami in Japanese culture?

• a. Nature spirits

• d. Elemental spirits

• b. Ancestral spirits

• c. Animal spirits

What were the influences of Shinto on Japanese culture?

• d. Promoting a nomadic lifestyle

• c. Encouraging people to strive for simplicity, cleanliness, and good manners

• b. Contributing to the Japanese love of urban life

• a. Encouraging people to strive for complexity

What did Prince Shotoku create to strengthen the power of the emperor?

• c. A military force

• b. A constitution

• a. A new religion

• d. A trade agreement

What was the Taika reforms initiated by the Yamato?

• a. A military campaign

• b. A cultural revival

• c. A great change dividing Japan into districts ruled by officials who reported to the emperor

• d. A religious movement

What characterized the city of Nara during the Nara Period?

• c. Buddhist temples and small homes

• a. Narrow streets and small public squares

• d. Broad streets, large public squares, Buddhist temples, and Shinto shrines

• b. Large public squares and Shinto shrines

Where did Buddhism come to Japan from?

• d. Tibet

• c. Korea

• b. India

• a. China