Japanese Feudal System Essay

The two feudal systems of Japan and Europe rose after several invasions and war-torn years. Based around agriculture, protection, loyalty, and honor, this system benefitted a wide variety of people living in a period that lacked stability, peacefulness, and hope. Although the feudal systems were efficient at the time for both locations and had several similarities, including an agriculturally-based economy, highly respected and important warrior classes, and a “caste system” that was nearly impossible to advance up, the two were otherwise unlike in the cases of the vassals, their warriors’ outlook on death, their leaders, and their views on gender and the roles of women outside of the house; all of these similarities and differences helped
In both Japan and Europe’s feudal systems, the warrior class was highly important and well respected. Both offered protection to the land and a rigid code dictated their lives. In Europe, the knights went by a code of chivalry, and the samurais in Japan followed the bushido to their last breath. In the age where invasions and battles were common for both locations, the knights and samurais were highly ranked in the feudal system. The classes that made up the different hierarchies also closely mirrored each other, with peasants, serfs, and warriors appearing in both the Europe and Japanese systems. The peasants and serfs made up the bottom, merchants along with them. Warriors, as stated above, were ranked highly, due to the protection they lent out to the others. Finally, both arrangements were based around agriculture; wheat and the like was grown in Europe, with the serfs farming the lands constantly. Rice was a staple to grow in Japan, and like in China and Vietnam, farming the crop was labor intensive and a steady source of food. Even though the two systems were hundreds of miles away and created for different purposes, both systems had features that strongly resembled the