The document summarizes the history of Japan from the Asuka period to the Tokugawa shogunate period. It discusses how early Japan adopted Chinese culture, the rise of the samurai class, the development of feudalism, and the eventual unification of the country. It then describes the isolationist Tokugawa shogunate that closed Japan off from foreign influence and centralized power.

1. Feudal Japan Mr. Rey Belen PAREF Southridge Afternoon School

2. Asuka Period: 300-710 “ Great Kings” era Began promoting the adoption of Chinese culture: Confucianism. Language ( kanji characters). Buddhist sects. Chinese art & architecture. Government structure.

3. Kanji ( 漢字 ? ) are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with hiragana ( ひらがな , 平仮名 ), katakana ( カタカナ , 片仮名 ), Arabic numerals , and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet (also known as Rōmaji). The Japanese term kanji ( 漢字 ) literally means "Han characters".

4. Prince Shotoku: 573-621 Adopted Chinese culture and Confucianism. Buddhist sects allowed to develop. Created a new government structure: 17 Article Constitution in 604. 

5. Promulgated in 604 by Prince Shotoku, it is considered the first Japanese written law. Based on Buddhism and Confucianism, it recommends state officials to work in harmony for a good of the nation. Though called "constitution", the naming is fortuitous and it has no relationship with the constitution of a modern nation.

6. Heian Period: 794-1156 Characteristics : Growth of large landed estates. Arts & literature of China flourished. Elaborate court life [highly refined] ETIQUETTE. Personal diaries The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon [10c] Great novel The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki Shikibu [1000 pgs.+] Moving away from Chinese models in religion, the arts, and government.

7. Heian Period: Cultural Borrowing Chinese writing. Chinese artistic styles. Buddhism [in the form of ZEN]. BUT, not the Chinese civil service system!

8. Heian Court Dress

9. The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon (diary)

10. The Pillow Book ( Makura no Sōshi ) is a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shōnagon during her time as court lady to Empress Sadako during the 990s and early 1000s in Heian Japan. More generally, a pillow book is a collection of notebooks or notes which have been collated to show a period of someone or something's life.

11. The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon (diary)

12. Tale of Genji ( first novel)

13. The work recounts the life of a son of a Japanese emperor, known to readers as Hikaru Genji , or "Shining Genji". Neither appellation is his actual name: Genji is simply another way to read the Chinese characters or the real-life Minamoto clan, to which Genji was made to belong. For political reasons, Genji is relegated to commoner status (by being given the surname Minamoto) and begins a career as an imperial officer. The tale concentrates on Genji's romantic life and describes the customs of the aristocratic society of the time.

14. Tale of Genji Scroll (first novel)

15. Lady Murasaki Shikibu She contributed much to the Japanese script known as kana , while men wrote with Chinese characters, kanji .

16. Kana are the syllabic Japanese scripts, as opposed to the logographic Chinese characters known in Japan as kanji (Japanese: 漢字 ) and the Roman alphabet known as rōmaji. There are three kana scripts: modern cursive hiragana ( ひらがな ), modern angular katakana ( カタカナ ), and the old syllabic use of kanji known as man'yōgana that was ancestral to both.

17. Minamoto Yoritomo Founded the Kamakura Shogunate : 1185-1333

18. In Japanese it was known as bakufu which literally means "tent office", and originally meant "house of the general", and later also suggested a private government. Bakufu could also mean "tent government" and was the way the government was run under a shogun. The tent symbolized the field commander but also denoted that such an office was meant to be temporary. The shogun's officials were as a collective as the bakufu , and were those who carried out the actual duties of administration while the Imperial court retained only nominal authority.

19. Feudal Society The emperor reigned, but did not always rule!

20. Feudalism A political, economic, and social system based on loyalty, the holding of land, and military service. Japan: Shogun Daimyo Daimyo Samurai Samurai Samurai Peasant Peasant Peasant Peasant Land - Shoen Land - Shoen Protection Loyalty Loyalty Food

21. Code of Bushido Fidelity Politeness Virility Simplicity

22. Seppuku: Ritual Suicide Kaishaku – his “seconds” It is honorable to die in this way.

23. Seppuku ("stomach-cutting") is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai honor code, seppuku was used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies, as a form of capital punishment for samurai who have committed serious offenses, and for reasons that shamed them. Seppuku is performed by plunging a sword into the abdomen and moving the sword left to right in a slicing motion.

24. Full Samurai Attire

25. Samurai Sword

26. Early Mounted Samurai Warriors

27. Underpinnings: Basic Steps in Self Defense A COTTON BREECH CLOUT that extended up over the chest was the basic undergarment of a samurai’s costume A SHORT SLEEVED KIMONO , or “armor robe,” was tied snugly at the waist with a special knot (lower right)

28. BILLOWING PANTALOONS, worn over the armor robe, fitted loosely in the legs to allow freedom of movement STURDY SHINGUARDS of cloth or leather were reinforced with strips of iron to give protection from the front AN EXQUISITE BROCADE , richly worked with a design of peonies, was one of the extravagant materials used in an armor robe that may have been made for a 14 th Century imperial prince

29. Samurai Charging

30. Modern-Day “Samurai Warriors”

31. Feudalism A political, economic, and social system based on loyalty, the holding of land, and military service. Europe: King Lord Lord Knight Knight Knight Peasant Peasant Peasant Peasant Land - Fief Land - Fief Protection Loyalty Loyalty Food

32. Code of Chivalry Justice Loyalty Defense Courage Faith Humility Nobility

33. European knight Samurai Warrior vs. Medieval Warriors

34. Knight’s Armor Samurai Armor vs. Medieval Warriors

35. Zen Buddhism A Japanese variation of the Mahayana form of Buddhism, which came from India through China. It reinforced the Bushido values of mental and self-discipline.

36. Mongol “Invasions” of Japan 4,400 ships and 140,000 men, but kamikaze winds stopped them.

37. Ashikaga Age: 1338-1573 Shoguns fought for power. Laws are unclear. Less efficient than the Kamakura. Armies of samurai protected the country. 

38. C A S T L E S

39. Osaka Castle

40. Main Gate of Hiroshima Castle

41. Caernorfon Castle, Wales

42. Warwick Castle, England

43. R O E N S

44. The Age of the Warring States: ( 1467 - 1568) Castles built on hills in different provinces. Power shifts from above to below. Europeans arrive in Japan  bringing firearms & Christianity. Christianity & foreign trade flourish.

45. Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582) Banishes the last Ashikaga shogun. Unifies a large part of Japan.

46. Catholic Jesuits in Japan St. Francis Xavier [First Catholic Missionaries in Asia]

47. Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) Becomes suspicious of European territorial ambitions. Orders all European missionaries expelled from Japan. Tries to invade Korea, but fails.

48. First Christian Martyrs (1597): Shrine in Nagasaki Today

49. Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) Appointed shogun by the Emperor. Four-class system laid down with marriage restricted to members of the same class! Warriors. Farmers. Artisans. Merchants.

50. Tokugawa Shogunate Period Japan closed off to all trade [except to the Dutch and Chinese]. The Dutch were restricted to a small island in Nagasaki harbor. Japanese Christians persecuted and Christianity is forbidden. The government is centralized with all power in the hands of the shogun. Domestic trade flourishes. Towns, esp. castle towns, increase. Merchant class becomes rich! New art forms haiku poetry, kabuki theater.