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European and Japanese Feudalism

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European and Japanese Feudalism
European and Japanese Feudalism

Feudalism was not only a European invention, the Japanese created their form of feudalism also at its height in Europe. These two feudalistic societies had their own similarities and some differences. But through this, feudalism had a great effect on Feudal Europe and Japan. European and Japanese feudalism systems both had the same general idea. This was for powerful landholders to establish and lead a class of warriors for protection. Ownership of land defined both forms of feudalism. If you had a lot of land you were considered to be wealthy and powerful. Both feudalistic systems acted as a type of government. For instance they both had an established pyramid but with different figureheads, and classes. Another thing they also had in common was they both were created as a response to the need of security and stability. Feudalism came at a time for Europe when they were getting invaded by the Vikings. And a time for Japan when it’s former political system fell in to decline. Feudalism proved to be a success in both Europe and Japan. These two feudalistic systems differed in so many ways. European feudalism descended from the Roman Empire and Germanic tribes. While Japanese feudalism came from Chinese Confucian law and the Buddhism. In Europe they had kings who had nobles, nobles provided knights mounted warrior, or infantry solders and under them were serfs. Japan was much more complex. They had an emperor, who had a shogun who had a daimyo that had samurais. Under samurais were merchants, peasants, farmers, and craft workers. Japanese samurais’ servants did didn’t tend to their land like in the case of the serfs of European knights. European feudalism was quite older than Japanese feudalism. The European system was more centralized than the Japanese system, because the Japanese emperor had no full control of the local aristocracy. Feudal Europe and Feudal Japan had more differences than similarities.

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