This document summarizes everyday life in feudal Japan, including housing, food, workdays, and social classes. Peasants lived in straw houses and slept on mats or straw beds, eating a simple diet of rice, fish and vegetables. Samurai ate a wider variety of food including meat, fruits and seafood. The feudal social structure was led by shogun and daimyo lords, with farmers and fishermen producing food, craftsmen making weapons, and the emperor serving as a figurehead without real political power. People's daily routines depended on their social class.

1. Sources
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• Kallie Szczepanski, Four-Tiered Class
System of Feudal Japan thought.com,
https://www.thoughtco.com/four-tiered-
class-system-feudal-japan-195582
• Japan under the Shogun , https://
shogunjapan1.weebly.com/way-of-life.html
• Medieval Samurai Lifestyle: The Way Of The
Warrior Aug 31, 2015 jpninfo.com.
Conditions
Houses:
Japanese styled houses were made of
straw. The richer people would sleep on a
beds of straw as well, with blankets made
out off animal skin. Peasants would sleep
on mats made of straw.
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Food:
Peasants ate vegetables, rice and fish,
which was used to make pottage. Pottage
is a thick soup or stew containing mainly
vegetables and sometimes meat. They
gave their first amounts of the meal to the
upper class, and on a good day they would
eat about
twice a day.
On a bad
day they ate
basically
nothing.
Samurai
warriors ate
rice, beans,
fruit, soy
products,
vegetables,
seafood, meats, and Fu. Fu is also known
as wheat gluten. Since the upper class was
very wealthy they could afford many
different types of food. They had tempura,
miso, zoni, sushi, and many other meals.
Sake and tea were popular drinks for the
emperor, shogun, daimyo, and samurai.
Everyday Life in
Feudal Japan
By Tobey Miner, Maya Segal, Jacob Weiner

2. Different Classes
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Feudal Japanese society was dominated by the
samurai warrior class. Although they made up
only about 10% of the population, samurai and
their daimyo lords wielded enormous power.
Their workdays depended on the different
classes.
The Emperor and the figureheads would not do
very much they were considered to be
influences, but did not have very much say on
how to run the country. The Warrior class were
the real leaders of Japan and did most of the
work running the country. The farmers and
fisherman provided food for Japan and would
spend their days harvesting and fishing. The
craftsmen would build weapons for the
soldiers.
Work Days
_______________________________________________
Their workdays depended on the different
classes. The Emperor and the figureheads
would not do very much they were
considered to be influences but did not have
very much say on how to run the country.
The Warrior class were the real leaders of
Japan and did most of the work running the
country. The farmers and fisherman
provided food for Japan and would spend
their days harvesting and fishing. The
craftsmen would build weapons for the
soldiers.
Animals
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The wildlife in feudal Japan includes many
natural habitats. The islands of Japan
stretch a long distance from north to south
and cover a wide range of climatic zones.
This results in a high diversity of wildlife,
despite Japan's isolation from the mainland
of Asia.
In the north of the country, there are many
subarctic species which have colonized
Japan from the north. In the south there
are south-east Asian species, typical of
tropical regions. Between these areas lies
the temperate zone which shares many
species with China and Korea. Japan also
has many endemic species that are found
nowhere else.
Daimyo Farmers & Peasants
Artisans &
Craftsmen
Merchants