What duties did the shogun have in Japanese society? What duties did the samurai have? (Ch. 14-2)…
During the Tokugawa period of Japan a singular map consisted of numerous feudal towns and villages each ruled by individual daimyo lords. The list of individual domains was enormous, so too was the list of cultures, traditions, and material goods specific to the domains and feudal families that lived within the domain’s borders. The right to govern each domain was given to a daimyo lord by the Tokugawa Shogunate; in return, each ruling vassal was required to complete a “form of feudal service.” Known as alternate attendance the Shogun imposed this requirement as a means of political and economic control which restricted individual daimyo rule and reinforced the overall power of the Shogunate. While alternate attendance was a mechanism of political control that promoted peace throughout Japan, Constantine Nomikos Vaporis illustrated the unintentional effects of the hegemon’s policy in Tour of Duty. Vaporis argued that alternate attendance, while considered a “disciplinary institution” by other Japanese scholars, was nevertheless “instrumental in producing a population with a high level of shared culture and experience.”…
Even before the Kamakura period the Japanese warrior had begun his ascent to a higher social status. During the Heian period collateral branches of the imperial line, the Minamoto and Taira clans, represented two of the greatest warrior associations. Wars and battles that broke out during the eleventh century in the Kanto area presented the local warriors and the powerful clans with the chance to continue to build up their power (Schirokauer 181). During Kamakura period the provincial warrior class had managed to consolidate political power at the expense of the nobility. Under the Minamoto clan leader, Yorimoto, the Taira clan was defeated in the Gempei War, a bakufu or "tent government" was established which demonstrated the military origins of his power - and the emperor named him shogun. The shogun had delegated power under the control of the emperor which by this time was merely theoretical and would represent an institution in Japanese politics that would last until the nineteenth century (Schirokauer 289). The shogun maintained his power through the loyalty of vassals - warriors who vowed service to a lord in exchange for military protection and land rights. This loyalty would become the characteristic ideal of the samurai warrior.…
Two dominant families fought each other, and Minamoto won. Yoritomo, the leader, declared himself shogun and set up a military government in Kamakura. They basically controlled japan, because they appointed vassals as regional governors and stewards who pledged their loyalty. Then conflict raged between vassal warlords, shoguns, and the vassals loyal to him. By 1300 Ashikaga shogun controlled ¼ japan, the sumarai and vassals were jelouse, and went to gain own domain to create new types of daimyo. They set up mini independent kingdoms and improved land. By the 1500s all of their power weakend by fighting and the tokugawa took about 200 under control. The daimyos now served as vassals for shogun and pledged loyalty and military services in return.…
with the industrialized world, but throughout this process, many aspects of Japanese policy and culture…
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…
This caused the shogunate to place foreigners under tighter restrictions. Ultimately, they forced them all to leave and barred all relations with the outside world except for severely restricted Dutch and Chinese merchants. This was extremely important because Japan’s isolation enabled them to progress as a country and become informed on what is new around the world. It also did not allow them to create new opportunities and just made them stay…
Strengthening the power of the imperial family is the most essential element to show authority to other countries. However, a country must have a well-organized system, a strong defensive ability, and a cleaver ruler as the most important features to rule a country. This paper is going to focus on the actions that Emperor Temmu and his successors take in order to reveal the power of authority and enrich the status of Japan during the 7th and 8th century. First, this paper will discuss…
With the arrival of the Tokugawa shoguns, came a more centralized government. While the shoguns allowed the daimyo to rule their local areas, the shoguns still had complete control over the daimyo. This meant that the authority of the shogun extended from lord to peasant.…
European and Japanese feudalism were similar in that they had a similar political structure of a hereditary caste system. The Japanese classes were the shogun (similar to a king in Europe), who held all the power. Then the daimyo, who owned the land, (similar to the lords and nobles in Europe), divided their land to the lesser samurais (similar to the European knights), and the same to the peasants, artisans, farmers, and merchants (similar to the serfs in Europe). In both Europe and Japan, the hierarchy was held together as a land-for-loyalty exchange. Both Japanese and European feudalism was based on mutual obligation, but the Japanese problems of internal attacks led to them begin using a feudal system for military aspects, while the Europeans foreign invasions led to them begin using a feudal system to protect and economically grow.…
The country was eventually reunited within the late 1500s, and a rigid social class structure was established throughout the Edo amount that placed the samurai at the highest, followed by the farmers, artisans and merchants severally. throughout now, the samurai were forced to measure in castle cities, were the sole ones allowed to possess and carry swords and were paid in rice by their daimyo or social structure lords. uncontrolled samurai were referred to as ronin and caused minor troubles throughout the 1600s.…
Tokugawa focus for Japan was stability and unity .in 1605, he had his son take over as he retired from his reign; Tokugawa Shogunate sought a centralized political system, strongly dependent on rice for transactions, a rise in the merchant class, strict control of trade with other nations, tried to limit influence and power of merchants. They controlled Japan three main cities Kyoto, do and Osaka. Ieyasu unified Japan after hundreds of years of war and strife during which rival lords or daimyo fought for power. They were aware of the Spanish in the Philippines to the south so they were trying to end it in Japan, from 1612-1614 they were afraid that Christianity could bring more foreign in Japan, they began enforcing laws and expelling European…
men already above the rest of their societies and made them candidates for rulers. Tokugawa was…
Before the seclusion laws, Japan was split into several ununified regions led by Daimyos. In 1603, the Tokugawa Shogunate unified Japan into one state, and later enacted the Sakoku seclusion laws. These laws were a large turning point for the state, because that essentially meant that they would have very limited contact Europe and the New World. After limiting contact with other states, Japan had successfully become an independent state which affected how they changed politically and socially for several years…
During the Tokugawa era in Japanese history, the country was ruled by the shogun, or highest military official, in the name of the emperor. Under him were a number of regional lords, the daimyo, each of whom employed a contingent of samurai warriors. All of these military elites were expected to follow the code of bushido - the "way of the warrior." Among the demands of bushido were loyalty to one's master, and fearlessness in the face of death.…