Preview

Medieval Japan During The Middle Ages

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
770 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Medieval Japan During The Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, Japan was known for its art, the different roles of its people, and its successful economy. Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media , including pottery , sculpture in wood and bronze, ink painting on silk and paper, calligraphy , ceramics , architecture , oil painting , literature , drama and music. Medieval Japan had warfare and destruction, characterizing the medieval era in which samurai warriors became the rulers of the land. The similarities as well as the differences in historical patterns of medieval Japan and medieval Europe are of interest to historians. In the Japanese economy, merchants became more and more powerful and wealthy as commerce boomed. The most honorable classes of the daimyos and samurai were paid in a currency of rice, they relied heavily on banker and broker merchants, this ended up causing a disruption in the hierarchy since the samurai were at the mercy of the merchants. To prevent any more animosity between the …show more content…
The samurai, members of a powerful military caste in feudal Japan, began as provincial warriors before rising to power in the 12th century with the beginning of the country’s first military dictatorship, known as the shogunate. As servants of the daimyos, or great lords, the samurai backed up the authority of the shogun and gave him power over the mikado (emperor).What I am trying to say is that the samurais would protect their region. Japan has been a constitutional monarchy since the Meiji constitution of 1890. In 1947, a new constitution was drafted by advisers to the Allied occupation forces and adopted by the parliament. This constitution guarantees equality of the their feminine , extends suffrage to all adult citizens, underscores the emperor's postwar renunciation of claims to divine status, and assigns the emperor a symbolic role as head of state.They still had laws and reinforcements to join them and help them out

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the 1450s, Japan was a place of turmoil and unrest. Angered by the high rents they had to pay, peasants began revolting against their lords. To quell this chaos, the lords began hiring samurai to put down the rebellions. Taking advantage of the situation, the samurai began making demands of these lords so that by the end of these revolts, most of the new daimyo were former samurai. With these new daimyo in power, they began to clash with one another. This infighting erupted into a civil war that eventually ended with no apparent victor. This became known as the “Era of Independent Lords”.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It led to not enough taxes being collected and the government not being able to supply the powerful exempted families with military protection. The leaders formed their own armies consisting of soon to be samurais. These often consolidated to huge estates under powerful military lord (Daimyo). Former owners managed former land for protection.…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Analyze major changes and continuities in the political and economic structure of Japan from 1600…

    • 640 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Samurai lived by the code of Bushido, which emphasized on the rule that they should respect and honor those above them on the social class. And they should obey all the commanders. On the contrary, the reality is a large percentage of samurai become jobless and homeless at the end of Tokugawa Era. Less of governmental offices can provide them occupations as the long period of peace for 200 years. So without war, the samurai’s role and life style dramatically changed since there was no more…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The strucure of the japanese fuedal system and its structure is based off of a heiracy system, the Emporer being at the top, then the shogun, then the samurais, below them are the peasents and finaly the merchants. The Emperor was at the top of the Japanese feudal system and was the person that all of the people looked up to as the supreme ruler. However, the Emperor was a figurehead and held little political power compared to the Shogun who was probably the most important person in Japanese society. Although the Shogun was below the Emperor in the feudal system, but he was the one who put in the most work and effort. The Shogun was the military leader and was in charge of making the decisions for the armies, battles, etc. The Daimyos served the Shoguns and were the next class in the Japanese feudal system. The Daimyos were powerful figures who…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    At first, Japan was not in a good position to defeat the strong countries that surrounded it. However, after realizing that Japan itself needed a better and stronger status, Emperors in Japan started to focus on strengthening the Imperial rule. Therefore, with the influences from China and Korea, Emperors learned ways to protect themselves better. A good defense of military affairs, strong religion belief in Shinto and Buddhism, changes in locations of capitals and people, and a systematical legal affair could be the important features that resulted in a powerful state without being frightened by external threats. These factors lead Japan to become a more successful country and had the ability of strengthening the imperial rule resulting in not being easily defeated.…

    • 1955 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The samurai (or bushi) were the soldiers of premodern Japan. They later created up the ruling military category that eventually became the best ranking social caste of the Edo amount (1603-1867). Samurai used a variety of weapons like bows and arrows, spears and guns, however their main weapon and image was the arm.…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Economics on the other hand, was much different between Japan and Western Europe, using a vast number of differing farming equipment and trade. Western Europe turned the Three- Field system while Japan did not. Knights and Shanghais were to protect and fight for both women and Christianity. Art of the time period was solely based on religion, though it was primarily Buddhist in Japan, western European art displayed the strength of Christianity in their society.…

    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Since Japan had an emperor, feudalism developed because the emperor united the clans. Before feudalism, Japan was inhabited by many different clans. Clans fought each other frequently. Lives were lived in fear of attack. People were unhappy before feudalism and they started fighting for land. Feudalism gave samurai land. Rich landowners gave land for labor and crops. Feudalism is the bond of loyalty between a lord and those to whom he has given land.…

    • 115 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Japan and Europe during the middle ages had both been affected by agriculture, social classes, and lack of power from the king/emperor. However, there had been major differences such as the role of women, and the different beliefs for a warrior between Chivalry (knights) and the Bushido code (samurais).…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why Was Samurai Important

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Samurai are important because of bravery in sacrifice and honor within the Japanese culture.The Samurai lived a simple life under the rule of the “Daimyo”. The Samurai pledge their allegiance to the leader of his social level. or They were taught, trained, and disciplined in the “Way of the samurai”; called Bushido (boo-shi-do). Women made up a good portion of warriors and sometimes even fought beside the men. Once a Samurai has lost his honor he had option to regain it by killing themselves as a form of sacrifice called Seppuku, but as for the women they stabbed…

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    - Each lord surrounded himself with a body guard of loyal warriors called samurai. They were expected to show reckless courage, reverence for the gods and dying an honorable death was judged more important than living a long life.…

    • 7725 Words
    • 31 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Religion and Economy in Medieval Europe and Japan Social Hierarchy after Urbanization Religion did not have as much of an impact on daily life and the overall development of Japan as it did Europe. For instance the maximum of the wars were fought for wealth or power, not religion, but what it did do was influence certain features. The people in Japan stuck to their original Shinto religion when Buddhism was involuntary forced on them, but soon after they discovered Zen Buddhism; a practice that was more focused on a personal experience and enlightenment. This new religion created a general focused awareness in Japan, but also influenced culture and the arts, for example Noh Theater, which was known for its precise and restricted movements. After the Mongol attacks, Japan began to cast-off anything Chinese, which was peculiar because of the large influence China had on Japan. From this time, Japan was remote, however during the second half of the Ashikaga period, Japan thrived. There was a rise of production of goods and trade with China. The Japanese learned how to make European muskets when a Portuguese ship’s reached at one of their ports. This altered Japanese warfare. People changed to Christianity to increase trade, but was soon blocked, and once more Japan went into remoteness that lasted 200 years. There was however limited external trade, and the arts once again succeeded. The government of Japan became attentive in land recovery projects, and would limit taxes of people who supported it. This ended up creating semi-independent states, which developed the feudalism in Japan. Religion and Economics both part take a huge role in the growth of Medieval Europe and Japan. In this case, they come in hand because one typically triggered the other. These two things influenced the growth of Europe and Japan because religion and tradition was a very vital aspect to both places, and trade and economy was a huge part of success.…

    • 1305 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Yesterday December 13th 2012 in the Capulet Monument, two star-crossed lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet both took their lives out of their love for each other. Due to the harsh realities of the ancient family feud, the two loves we sworn to never be together, bringing their lives to a tragic ending.…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    encountered, therefore meaning that any consequences of a chosen action are the fault of the…

    • 1683 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays