Amaterasu – Sun

Goddess
 Japan’s Geography
• Japan is a series of islands—the group
consists of over 3000 islands of which
600 are inhabited.
• The four main islands, Honshu, Kyushu,
Shikoku, and Hokkaido dominate Japanese
history, however.
• The largest island is Honshu, but the
overall geographical area of the inhabited
islands is less than California.
Hokkaido
Shikoku
Kyushu
Honshu
 Japan’s Geography

• The climate is pleasantly moderate, for the

islands lie in the path of the Black
Current which flows north from the
tropics.
• All the islands are mountainous and subject
to a variety of natural disasters, especially
earthquakes and tsunamis.
 Satellite Photos of Japan,
Before and After the Quake
and Tsunami
 Japan’s Geography

• All the islands are mountainous and subject

to a variety of natural disasters, especially
earthquakes and tsunamis.
• The mountainous terrain leaves its mark on
Japanese culture; since the mountains
provide natural and difficult barriers,
political life in Japan centered around
regional rather than national governments.
 Japan’s Geography

• The earliest flowering of Japanese history

took place in the low-lying plains on the
island of Honshu, especially the Yamato
plain in the south—a region that gave its
name to the first official name for Japan,
Yamato.
• There the very first Japanese kingdom
arose and provided the basis of future
Japanese civilizations.
 Japan’s Geography

• This island status has also protected Japan

from foreign invasions.
• Only twice in Japanese history has the
island been successfully overrun by
foreigners: in the third century BC by the
wave of immigrations from the Korean
peninsula, and in 1945 by the United
States.
 Japan’s Geography
• The areas of Japan which have shown the
most cultural change are those, as you
might imagine, that are closest to the
mainland of Asia.
• The southern island of Kyushu and the
southwestern peninsula of Honshu lie close
to the Korean peninsula.
 Japan’s Geography

• It is in this region that the Japanese first

immigrated into Japan in the third century
BC, and it is in this region that the first
state in Japan was established: the
Yamato State on the Yamato peninsula
(the southwestern most peninsula on
Honshu).
 Japan’s Geography

• Despite the late arrival of Japan into

written history, the beginnings go
back ten thousand years to a
mysterious people which would
eventually produce a unique and vital
culture, the Jomon.
 Japan’s Early Development

• Japan does not appear in history until 57

AD when it is first mentioned in Chinese
histories, where it is referred to as Wa.
• The Chinese historians tell us of a land
divided into a hundred or so separate tribal
communities.
• The Japanese do not start writing their
histories until around 600 AD.
 Japan’s Early Development
• In order to get a handle on ancient Japanese
history, it helps to consider that it is driven by
outside influences.
• The first involved the settlement of Japan by a
group of peoples from the Korean peninsula in the
third century BC.
• Overnight they transformed the stone-age culture
of Japan into an agricultural and metal-working
culture.
• These early immigrants are ultimately the origin
of Japanese language and culture.
 Japan’s Early Development

• The second great push in Japanese history

was contact with China from 200 AD
onwards.
• From the Chinese, who demanded that
Japan be a tribute state to China, the
Japanese adopted forms of government,
Buddhism, and writing.
• The bulk of Japanese culture is forged
from the Chinese
 Japan’s Early Development

• Japanese believed a different spirit

protected each clan
• Emperor was godlike and very well
respected
 Clan Life in Japan

• The people of Japan lived in clans, which

were held together by their common
descent from a single ancestor.
• These clans were ruled by a powerful
chief, who was also the religious priest of
the group.
 Clan Life in Japan

• Members of each clan practiced a form of

ancestor worship known as Shinto.
• Clan members believed that the spirit of
the common ancestor from whom they all
descended still inhabited their village, and
that it protected them, and worked to help
better their lives.
• They worshiped this ancestor and prayed to
it for help and guidance.
 Clan Life in Japan

• The clan chief also acted as the

military leader, and directed the
efforts of the clan to protect
themselves against outsiders, and
against other neighboring clans.
 Yamata Clan
• By the late A.D. 300s one clan in
particular began to stand out among all the
rest in political power and influence.
• This clan was known as the Yamato Clan.
• The Yamato Clan was known for their
bravery in battle, and their superior
fighting techniques.
• As a result, all other clans within Japan
became subject to them. The chief of the
Yamato Clan became the first emperor of
Japan.
 Yamata Clan

• As a result, all other clans within

Japan became subject to them. The
chief of the Yamato Clan became the
first emperor of Japan.
• Local clans still ruled their own lands,
but they owed their loyalty to the
emperor, who by A.D. 400 had
become very powerful.
 China’s influence on Japan

• Japanese first told about Chinese by the

Koreans – 1st Century CE
• Mid CE 500’s – Chinese missionaries
arrived in Japan
• Brought Buddhism, customs, law, dress,
architecture, art, and manners
 China’s influence on Japan

• Taika Reforms – (CE 645)

• Established a system of government for
Japan
• Based on the Chinese government
• Japanese adapted some of the laws to meet
their own needs
• Emperor of Japan now became more of a
political leader rather than just a religious
figure
• Feudalism:
• A political, economic, and social
system based on loyalty, the holding
of land, and military service.
• Japan fell into a feudal system similar to
that of Europe. Landowning warriors known
as samurai pledged their allegiance to lords
known as daimyos, and fought to protect
their lands.
• In A.D. 1336 civil war broke out in
Japan. Both the shogun and the
emperor remained in office, but both
became nothing more than figure
heads, having no real political power.
 The emperor
reigned, but did Feudal
not always rule!
Society
 Minamoto Yoritomo

Founded the Kamakura Shogunate: 1185-

1333
 Samurai
• The samurai (or bushi) were the members
of the military class, the Japanese
warriors.
• Samurai employed a range of weapons such
as bows and arrows, spears and guns; but
their most famous weapon and their symbol
was the sword.
• After a defeat, some samurai chose to
commit ritual suicide (seppuku) by cutting
their abdomen rather than being captured
or dying a dishonorable death.
 Samurai
• Samurai were supposed to lead their
lives according to the ethic code of
bushido (the way of the warrior).
• Strongly Confucian in nature, Bushido
stressed concepts such as loyalty to
one's master, self discipline and
respectful, ethical behavior.
Code of Bushido
* Fidelity
* Politeness
* Virility
* Simplicity
 Samurai
• After a defeat, some samurai
chose to commit ritual suicide
(seppuku) by cutting their abdomen
rather than being captured or
dying a dishonorable death.
Full Samurai Attire
Samurai Sword
 Early Mounted
Samurai Warriors
 Underpinnings: Basic Steps
in Self Defense

A COTTON BREECH CLOUT that A SHORT SLEEVED KIMONO,

extended up over the chest was the or “armor robe,” was tied
basic undergarment of a samurai’s snugly at the waist with a
costume special knot (lower right)
BILLOWING
PANTALOONS,wor
n over the armor
robe, fitted loosely
in the legs to
allow freedom of
movement

AN EXQUISITE
BROCADE, richly
STURDY worked with a design
SHINGUARDS of of peonies, was one
cloth or leather of the extravagant
were reinforced materials used in an
with strips of armor robe that may
iron to give have been made for
protection from a 14th Century
the front imperial prince
Samurai Charging
Modern-Day “Samurai Warriors”
Code of Chivalry
* Justice
* Loyalty
* Defense
* Courage
* Faith
* Humility
* Nobility
 Medieval Warriors

vs.

European knight Samurai Warrior

 Medieval Warriors

vs.

Knight’s Armor Samurai Armor