Miles Geraldine A.

Navarro
2CA2

The Origins and the Early History of Japanese

Racial and Cultural Heritage

I. Racial Origin: Malay, Korean, Chinese, Mongolian, and aboriginal Ainu blood
II. Chinese Cultural Influence:
a. Chinese have deep-seated pride in their culture
b. Japanese have shown a readiness to throw theirs aside, for value
c. China tutored Japan in arts, letters, government, religion, and philosophy
III. Age of the Clans
a. Origin of Clan Rule
 110 BC, Ainu inhabitants were pushed northward out of Kyushu and southern Honshu
 Japan was divided into independent clans
b. Jimmu Tenno, First Emperor
 Yamato clan was able to bring the other clans into subjection
 Kojiki (712AD) and Nihongi (720AD), Jimmu Tenno – first Yamato Chiefman – became first
emperor
c. Rise of Soga Clan
 Early 6th century AD, Soga Clan succeeded in defeating the imperial clan
 Chief was able to make himself O-omi or hereditary Great Imperial Chieftain
 This began a pattern of dual government which is repeated many times in Japanese history
d. Expansion into Korea
 5th and 6th centuries AD, Japanese extended their sway over portions of Korea depite clan
warfare at home
 Japanese emperor boasted of his rule over several Korean kingdoms
e. Clan Age Culture
 Beginning, Japanese culture was primitive
 No written language, scarce arts, craft – more advanced than late Neolithic
 Prince Shotokul led their subordinates to learn to read and write
f. Shinto
 Religion of the early Japanese was a combination of nature worship and primitive polytheism
 Shinto (Way of the Gods)
 Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, ancestress of the imperial clan
 No clear distinction between deities and the defied dead, all were kami. No central
organization.
 Sun Goddess at Ise  focal point at Shinto as a national religion
 Sword, jewel, and the mirror, most sacred objects  handed down by the Sun Goddess to her
Grandson, Jimmu Tenno
IV. Era of Reform
a. Regency of Shotoku Taishu
 Result of the assassination of the emperor by a Soga chief, rule passed to Shotoku Taishi
 Introduced Chinese political theory and Buddhism
 604AD, issued code of moral laws which have been erroneously called Japan’s first
constitution
 Shotoku sought to unify the Japanese people by changing their allegiance from clan to
emperor, and his encouragement of Buddhism contributed to this end.
b. Taikwa (Great Reform)
 645 AD, Kamatari, founder of the Fujiwara clan, overthrew the Soga
  Taikwu or Great Reform  attempted to transplant to Japan the political and economic
institutions of the contemporary T’ang dynasty of China
c. Land Redistribution
 Theory: all land was owned by the emperor
 The Taikwa recalled all land for redistribution by the emperor
 Land was divided into new administrative units governed by imperial appointees
d. Taiho
 701 and 704AD, another series of reform edicts, Taiho (Great Treasure)
 Taiho involved political reorganization of Japan, establishing a series of ministries of state
e. Failure of Taiho
 Japan overlooked the fact that Japan lacked an educated class to direct an elaborate
bureaucracy in feudal
 Japanese aristocrats  demanded and received high state offices though they lack education
to administer effectively
f. Reform in Japanese Culture
 Wholesale adoption of Chinese literate and art forms
 Sui and T’ang introduction
 Interchange between scholars and artists between China, Korea, Japan
g. Nara Era
 Prior to the Great Reform, Japan had no fixed capital
 First permanent capital was established at Nara in 710
 10 years later the capital was moved to Heian, now called Kyoto
V. Influence of Chinese Culture
a. Chinese literature and art were introduced
b. Nihongi and Kojiki were compiled
VI. Heian Era
a. Rise of the Fujiwara
 Court nobles (kuge) were distracted from their duties, while the provincial nobles (buke)
becomes richer and powerful at the expense of the small farmers
 858, the Fujiwara gained dominance
 Imperial clan did not lose the throne
b. Child Emperors
 A child of the imperial clan was made emperor and takes a Fujiwara girl as his bride
 When emperor reached maturity, he was unseated and succeeded by one of his infant children
 Retired emperors usually become monks
c. Displacement of Fujiwara
 Taira and Minamoto, fell into battling between themselves for supremacy
 The Minamoto chief took the title of Sei-i-tai Shogun (barbarian-defeating great general) and
so founded the first shogunate or military dictatorship
d. Culture in the Heian Era
 9th and 10th centuries, life at the Japanese court reached extremes of luxury and dilettantism
rarely equaled in any age
 Genji Monogatori (The Tale of Genji)

Age of the Feudal Barons: The Shogunates

I. Kamakura Shogunate (1185-1333)

a. Shogun’s capital  Kamaruka
b. Imperial capital  Kyoto
II. Government by Indirection
a. Yoritomo, the first Kamakura shogun, was a strong ruler, but his son was not able to control
the other powerful families
 b. Fell under the domination of the leaders of the Hojo clan
c. Hojos gave japan a better government than it had seen for centuries
III. Buddhism
a. Kyoto remained the cultural center, Kamakura court produced little great art
b. Tendai and Shingon (True Word) also appealed primarily to the educated nobels
c. Zen strongly influenced the Bushido (Way of the Warrior)  guide of samurai
IV. Ashikaga Period (1336-1568)
a. Never able to attain complete domination of Japan
b. Neglected emperors were reduced to extreme poverty
c. Ashikaga Culture
 Established culture during the Heian period
 China continued to influence the art
V. Oda Nobunaga (1568-1582)
a. Anarchy of the late Ashikaga period was terminated by the rise of a military triumvirate led
by Oda Nobunaga, a minor feudal lord
b. 1568, Nobunaga with the aid of Tokugawa leyasu, his general Toyotomi Hideyoshi  gained
control of the central government
VI. Hideyoshi (1582-1598)
a. Nobunaga had extended his control over more than half of Japan
b. Named kwampahu (death)
VII. Invasion of Korea
a. Hideyoshi envisioned the creation of a world empire including Korea, China, Philippines,
Inda
b. 1592, invasion in Korea not met with stiffer resistance than was expected on land, but also
encountered a very strong Korea navy which at the time contained the first-iron clad warship
known.
c. Hideyoshi died

Tokugawa Shogunat (1600-1868)

I. Foundation of the Shogunate: two years after Hideyoshi’s death, Tokugawa leyasu rebelled,
was named by the emperor. Ieyasu spend the next 15 years to complete his domination of Japan.
II. Tokugawa Wealth: Ieyasu confiscated the lands of the vanquished feaudal lords
III. Tokugawa Rule: actual power rested in the institution of the shogunate
IV. Hierarchy of Rule
a. Emperor
b. Shogun
c. Privy Council and Samurai
d. Daimyos
e. Samurai
V. Tokugawa Economy: Almost agrarian
VI. Diversification of the Economy: it encouraged development of a money economy despite the
shogun’s efforts to discourage trade, partly in an effort to make Japan self-sufficient
VII. Rise of Industrial Class: luxury and peace encouraged the transition of a money economy
VIII. Merging of Classes: Merchants bought their way into the aristocracy by intermarriage or
adoption
IX. Results of Social and Economic Change: Rise of middle class weakened the Tookugawa
shogunate, and the tax system geared
X. Exclusion Policy: ordered a rigid policy of exclusion of foreign commerce and influences; the
dutch were the only Europeans permitted to trade with Japan
XI. Revival of Rival China: Only the cooperation between serval clans could the Tokugawa be
overthrown; luxuries are relaxed and the Tokugawa military efficiency to weaken
 XII. Revival of Learning: Samurai in time of peace maintained their fighting efficiency by constant
practice of warlike games; tokugawa shoguns encouraged scholarly pursuit; highest loyalty was to
the emperor
XIII. Spread of Culture: The rise of the middle class  result was dilution
a. Japanese art lost forms some of their delicate refinement in the hands of the business class
b. Haiku form increasingly drew the middle class wit
XIV. Western Learning: eight shogun repealed the prohibition of foreign books in 1720, Japanese
began to study western sciences and learning

Christianity in Japan

I. Early Reception of Christianity: Japan was the last throes of the feudal anarchy of the Ahikaga
when the Portuguese accidentally discovered Japan in 1542
a. 50 years of Portugese monopoly of trade with the islands, Christianity was introduced and
flourished
b. 1549, Francis Xavier came to preach
II. Expansion Under Nobunaga: Oda Nobunaga, fighting his way to power against feudal lords and
armies of Budhist monks, he found Christians strong enough to be aid in suppressing Buddhis
opposition to his rule
III. Suppression Under hideyoshi: 1587, for reasons not definitely known he suddenly issued an
edict accusing the Christian priests of illegal conduct and ordering them to depart on short notice
IV. Arrival of the Spanish: 1591, Hideyoshi sent a letter to the Spanish governor of the Philippines
demanding submission to Japan’s suzerainty
a. Governor de Marianes  used this as pretext foe sending an embassy including including
Spanish missionaries
b. Pope lifted his restriction to legalize preaching by non-Jesuit priests
V. Tokugawa Opposition
a. Ieyasu Tokugawa first favored Christianity as a means of encouraging Christians traders
b. Suspected the missionaries of being spearhead of armed invasion by the Spanish or
Portuguese and in 1612 he proscribed Christianity
VI. Growth of Exclusion Policy
a. Persistence of Catholic clergy and their native followers increased the shogun’s fears
b. 1624, Ieyasu’s son ordered the departure of all Spanish from Japan
c. 1636, third Tokugawa shogun forbade all Japanese to trade abroad on penalty of death
VII. Shimabara Revolt: cause is the bloody persecution of the Christians of southern Japan, seems to
havce been one of the major causes of the Shimabara revolt in 1637
VIII. Complete Exclusion: Shimabara revolt further edicts in 1638, increasing the restrictions and
penalties
IX. Dutch at Deshima: Duth continued to do business at Hirado 1641, their operations were forcibly
removed to Deshima.