Notes: - The 100 years from the end of the 15th century to the end of the 16th century is known and the warring states period or sengoku jidai - The shogun government was unstable because it often depended on deputies to look after the shogun’s interests in the provinces - This became ineffective when the bonds between the Shogun and the deputies started to loosen which meant this system was no longer effective - The deputies were military governors with small holdings and appointed one son, not always the oldest to inherit the holdings - Then they appointed local warriors as the military officers and recruited peasants as the soldiers - The nature of war soon changed in this period and instead of small combat between the local land owners
Japan’s economic development had been shaped in various ways, including Japanese internal forces, and external forces from other countries. Although during the Tokugawa era, the Japanese were very closed off from the world for 250 years, once Commodore Perry and the rest of America threatened Japan with war Japan was forced to open ports for trade. Due to the Japanese lack of weapons the trading environment was very biased on the side of America with unequal trade. The shogun was once a Samurai and is now almost in control of Japan.
Tokugawa Japan + Medieval Europe Medieval Europe and Tokugawa Japan lived in seclusion to each other, and yet there were many uncanny similarities between Tokugawa Japan and Medieval Europe. In Medieval Europe there were many key features of the social system that were introduced at the time. The social system of Medieval Europe was called Feudalism. Feudalism puts the King in charge of everything and everyone, with barons and nobles underneath him. The nobles provide loyalty and knights to the king in return for land to control.
The societies of Tokugawa Japan (c.1603-1867C.E.) and medieval Europe (c.1000-1500C.E.) had two things in common; a feudal system. A feudal system is something that features hierarchies or social structures. The feudal system normally starts with a religion, which is at the very top of the social pyramid, then it’s the King or monarch for Europe and the shogun for Japan, then there are the nobles for Europe and the daimyos for Japan. As we go down the pyramid there are the warriors, like the knight in Europe and the samurai in Japan, then there are the peasants. The peasants were included in both eras and are at the lowest part of the pyramid.
There are many nations that are continuously changing. Japan is one of the nation that is continually changing not only economy, but also the culture. According to the book, “the Western world was increasingly impinging upon Japan..” which result isolation from Europe and American. In the document 19.1 it stated, “We have issued instructions on how to deal with foreign ships on numerous occasions up to the present”. This have shown that the Japanese have isolated from foreign.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi influenced the Japanese society in many ways One of the biggest ways Toyotomi Hideyoshi changed society is that he unified the whole of Japan. But where it all stared was when he was sent out of his home when he was a boy and became a page to a retainer of the daimyo in the province Tōtōmi. Toyotomi Hideyoshi first rise to power was when he overthrew two powerful daimyos and became the lord of Nagahama. This was a key part to his life because if he didn’t overthrow the daimyos he would still be a page. He then went on to invade the Bitchū province, which gave him a massive place to set up his empire.
1. Why did the Tokugawa shogunate close Japan to foreign influence? Type your answer here. Tokugawa shogunate closed Japan to foreign influence to avert the spread of Christianity.
On the website It states that “,Japan was dominated by a delicately-balanced, feudal-military system led by daimyos.” This shows that for five centuries Samurais kept the large landowners safe. Without them Daimyos would have had to pay taxes and the Shoguns would not be ruling.
Japan’s rich history of power, wealth, and influence had many remarkable eras. One of the more notable periods in Japanese history was that of the Tokugawa Period (1600-1868). The Tokugawa Period was talked about in Musui’s Story, an autobiographical book, written by Kokichi Katsu. (Katsu ix) Katsu wrote Musui’s Story for three main reasons: to share how he had transformed from a low-ranking samurai to a well-known hero, to show his sense of self, and to serve as a cautionary tale for his descendants.
“To guard against external influence, they also worked to close off Japanese society from Westernizing influences, particularly Christianity. When the Tokugawa shogunate grew increasingly weak by the mid-19th century, two powerful clans joined forces in early 1868 to seize power as part of an “imperial restoration” named for Emperor Meiji.” This restoration was the beginning of the end of feudalism, or the way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour, in Japan. The Tokugawa regime acted to exclude missionaries because of suspicion of foreign intervention and colonialism. Eventually, they issued a complete ban on Christianity in Japan.
Tokugawa started withdrawing Japan into seclusion, away from outside influences (pg. 381). Some new members of the Franciscan Order tried getting into Shogunate’s internal affairs and he acted by putting the Christian missionaries out, and by putting pressure on the Christian Japanese to convert back to Buddhism (pg. 383). Per the textbook on page 383, true power in both a military sense remained with shogun and a political member of the Tokaugawa clan acted in the name of the Emperor.
The main focus of the book “Japan’s Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism” is how the creation of Manchukuo contributed to shape the culture and a new type of imperialism in Japan from 1931 to 1941. Young calls the Japanese imperialism as “total empire” to describe the empire that has “the mass and multidimensional mobilization of domestic society” (13). Scholars often talk about how the state controlled people and those people were not responsible for the Japanese imperialism (9). However, Young describes state-society relations “the state wields power in its ordering of society, while society exercises power in its shaping of the state” (8) and argues that people were also deeply involved in the process of creating
Youssef Marakby ID:900130817 Instructor: Richard Byford Rhet 1020 The Samurai’s affect on Japan’s culture For many years, the legendary Japanese samurai warriors showed that they are the most well known class of ancient Japan and also known with their supremacy of honor, service, and duty which the Japanese society still have today. The samurai helped lay the foundations of Japan 's culture.
Tokugawa Period The Tokugawa Period, also referred to as the Edo Period, took place from 1603 to 1868 in Japan. It was an era of artistic growth, intellectual development, strict foreign policies, and set social order. Under the shogunate leader, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japan became isolated from all outside influence. The main religion was Confucianism, as Christianity/ Catholicism was banned.
Imperialism in Japan Background: Japan prior to the Meiji restoration was ruled in a hierarchy very similar to other European countries. The hierarchy was that of lords, samurai and then peasants. The Japanese equivalent to a king at the time was a military dictator called a shogun. During this time the capital was Kyoto and the shogun was part of the Tokugawa clan. That is why this period is referred to as the Tokugawa Shogunate.
