Medieval Japan Research Paper

Medieval Japan Medieval Japan, also known as Feudal Japan, was a period of time from circa 1185 to 1600, when the Japanese imperial authority was weak and Samurai warriors played an important role in governing society. The Kamakura shogunate (1185-1333) and the Muromachi shogunate (1336-1573) were the first two warrior governments in ancient Japan. Warfare and destruction characterized that era, as well as being known as the age of the warrior, the rise of Buddhism, and two monumental events, the repulsion of two Mongolian invasions. The Samurai warriors became the rulers of the land during the medieval times. The political power transferred from the noble families to warrior families. While the emperor and his court remained in place, they

The Kamakura age was the time of greatest growth for Buddhism; the religion flourished. There were two new paths, the Zen school and the Pure Land movement. The Zen school had its base in meditation. It rejected all temporal and scriptural authority and stressing moral character over intellectual achievements. It was very appealing to the military class, hence the Samurai warriors gravitated towards the Zen Buddhism. Growing numbers of Samurai even turned into Zen masters. The Pure Land movement took a new path and was based on unconditioned faith and devotion to Buddha Amida. This new movement found followers in every walk of life throughout the country. The success and vigor of these two paths certainly did not go unnoticed by the old school monks. At first they tried to exile the advocates and new teachings, and when that undertaking failed, they decided to exclude the followers of the new teachings from their older schools and forced them to establish their independence. All the while, the older Buddhist schools experienced a revival as well

The first invasion attempt was in 1274. The Mongolian army was strong and with its artillery (catapults, missiles, bows, arrows) and sheer number certainly superior to Japan’s Samurai army that was accustomed to one-on-one combat. However, nature had other plans and ended the fighting early by the sudden onset of a typhoon, also called “divine wind” or “kamikaze”. After the first invasion had failed, the Mongols attempted to invade Japan a second time in 1281. Yet again, another typhoon struck wiping out the entire Mongolian fleet. The old Shinto priests, credited both defeats to the “kamikaze” and took it as a “sign of heaven’s special protection of Japan” (www.shsu.edu). Despite the unsuccessful invasions, Japan’s economy took a hard hit. The wars drained the funds and new taxes had to be imposed to fund other defensive measures for the future. No rewards were gained from the wars, only debt. The invasions also caused disaffection among those who expected to be paid for helping defeat the Mongols. Those frustrated and unpaid Samurai started terrorizing peasants for the owed money and eventually drove the Kamakura shogunate from power. The Muromachi shogunate that followed rose to power briefly, but failed to maintain