More handpicked essays just for you.
Similarities and differences between the japanese and european feudal systems
Similarities and differences between the japanese and european feudal systems
Samurai culture in modern japan
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Japanese emperors had courts and capital cities like the ancient imperial centers of China. The rulers wanted to build a peasant army and use legal codes and a landholding system which was similar to what was used in
During this time the Daimyo owned an extensive amount of land in Japan and were the highest in the social hierarchy, being right under the Shogun. Their duty was to govern an area of Japan and provide justice and to serve the Shogun. Many of the Daimyo were members of the Tokugawa family, others were “fudai” who were long time supporters of the Tokugawa cause, some were also family of the Tokugawa clan. There were other Daimyo who were accepted by the Tokugawa after
Although the close-off from the world had resulted in relative peace, the shogun also had other policies highly criticized by others. As stated in Document 1, “The shogun rules firmly and with justice at Edo.”
Minamoto no Yoritomo is a significant individual and how his actions impacted Japanese society during the period of Shogunate rule. Minamoto no Yoritomo did this through his military and political control. Minamoto no Yoritomo impact Japanese society through his power. Source 7 by Cartwright M (2019) states “Replacing the dominance of the Japanese Emperor and the imperial court, the new system saw Yoritomo distribute land (which was often confiscated from defeated rivals) to his loyal followers and allies in return for their military service and confiscated support.”
Feudalism was a key component of life for those in both Western Europe and Japan. The two systems developed independently from each other yet still held a multitude of similarities. However, their many differences out shadow the unique parallels they shared. The major discrepancies between the two are found in each’s code, structure and regulations. Documents nine and ten, break down the feudal structures of Western Europe and Japan.
The Meiji period played a important role in Japan. The Meiji period was an important part of Japan’s changing western ways. According to the book The Meiji Restoration was a period of pollical and social revolution in Japan. Japan chose to remake themselves through
But the class that was most affected was the elite warrior class also known as the SHOGUNS. They lost all of their power and were replaced by emperor. The reason for this was that Japan, after letting America use their trade ports, realized that they were behind in military technology alongside other things like social structure, vehicles etc... so they began to become modernized. They started industrializing and becoming more modern in all aspects. This resulted in the immediate fall of the shoguns and the rise of the emperor and a more democratic government.
All of this leads to an impact on military, feudalistic society and Japan’s history. To commence, Samurai’s are important in Japanese history because they helped start feudalism and the Shogun’s rule. It all started when the central government had no authority over the large landowners. The Daimyo refused to pay their taxes, so when the Jurisdiction came to collect, the daimyo had this huge army of Samurais.
Tokugawa was a highly influential historical figure in Japan because of the Tokugawa era government administration's foreign trade policies, contributions to the growth of Edo, trade policies, influence over class structure and culture, the longevity of his family's reign in Japan, and his control over religion that still affect modern Japan. A new era of peace was brought in 1603 when Tokugawa Ieyasu became the most powerful diaym in Japan and the imperial court declared him Shgun. When he was shogun, Tokugawa quickly set out to ensure his position as Shgun remained securely in his family's control. He did this by assigning land holdings, minting coins, courting imperial favor through gifts, and ritual deference, which led to his administration brokering a delicate peace when the imperial courts elected him as the first shogun in 1603. To ensure that power remained in the hands of the Tokugawa family and avoid turmoil in the country, they set up systems that implemented themselves into the everyday lives of Japanese citizens, including religion.
(History.com, “Edo”) The people of Edo followed a strict caste system, greatly impacted by the Chinese Confucian values. The Feudal Japanese Society, people of Edo, was divided into four different castes: the Nobles, the Samurai, the Peasants, and the Chonin. The nobles included: the emperor; the figurehead of society, the shogun; the most powerful military lord, and the daimyos; lords who controlled their own region of Japan. The samurai were the professional warriors who were bound by a code of loyalty and honor to a daimyo.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the shogun who finished what the previous shogun, Oda Nobunaga, was unable to complete. He was able to unite the whole of Japan. At the age of 62, he passed away left his 8 year old son to be his heir. He appointed 5 regents to rule Japan for his son for the current time as he was close to death. When he finally passed away, the 5 'leaders ' caused japan to be in a power struggle, which caused japan to be desperate for a supreme leader.
His time as shogun and ōshogo in Japan began a period of peace and stability that lasted for over 250 years and allowed for law, urbanization and social structure to develop. Ieyasu passed a law called the Buke Shohatto in 1615, which contained an outline of the social construct used in Japan throughout the Tokugawa Shogunate. It was a very military based system; the highest on the social hierarchy was the shogun, then the daimyo, then samurai and then commoners, which made up around 90% of the population and were made up of peasants, farmers, fishers and artisans, as well as merchants, although merchants were generally considered as lower in status than the other groups. The last on the social hierarchy were the outcasts, who were usually beggars and criminals. The Buke Shohatto also required that daimyo spend at least half their time in Edo, meaning many of their servants and workers, as well as family members moved to live in Edo full time.
Shogun law described the classes more specifically to include more defined roles. Again, hierarchically, people were classified as daimyo, court nobility, samurai, priests, peasants, townsmen, outcasts, and non-persons who were categorized as prostitutes and beggars(1,355). A unique aspect of this class structure is that peasants are noticeably high on the list and merchants are very low. This is because in this society the peasants were recognized as valuable and necessary for the sustainability of the society. (1, 356)Merchants on the other hand were looked at as greedy people who only took and did not give.
The Kamakura period, which saw the emergence of samurai as a specific class, began the practices and code of samurai. Seppuku, a form of ritual suicide and one of the more widely known samurai practices, also developed during this time (Pletcher). The Kamakura period brought the concept of feudalism to Japan and established the rank of shogun: the military leader of Japan. The shift to a military government was reasoning behind the samurai class and evident through the loyal and honorable, yet stoic and disciplined, culture of this time (“Kamakura Period”). The bushido code faced much outside influence, but core emphasis was placed on living frugally, upholding honor, and honing athletic and mental strength in order to remain fearless during battle.
The Edo period was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after the Sengoku Period of “warring states”. That was the time of nation-wide stability coupled with stringent social order adopted from China to prevent social chaos of previous years. This led to the creation of a Shinokosho class system which was the “theory classifying people into four major functional categories. In order of importance, they were the samurai, peasants, artisans and the merchants. Movement between classes was restricted and ‘status was hereditary’
