Medieval Japan

7.5.37.5.6

Growth of a Military Society

The Big Idea

Japan developed into a military society led by generals called shoguns.

• Main Idea 1:

– Samurai and shoguns took over Japan as emperors lost influence.

• The emperor of Japan was often distracted by life at the court.

• The noble landowners of Japan were called the daimyo. Many daimyo were frustrated with the inability of the emperor, and decided that they needed to protect their clans land.

Shoguns Rule Japan

emperor

daimyo

• To defend their property, many daimyo hired samurai, who were trained and professional warriors.

Shoguns Rule Japan

Show me the

money!

A daimyo with a Samurai on each side

Shoguns Rule Japan

• For 30 years, two powerful clans fought for control of Japan. The Minamoto clan won the war.

• The Minamoto became the rulers of Japan, but decided to keep the emperor as a figurehead.

– A figurehead is a person who appears to rule even though real power rests with someone else.

Woo-hoo!

Emperor

Shoguns Rule Japan

• The Minamotos became shoguns. The shogun generals ruled Japan in the emperor’s name.

• Shoguns ruled Japan for 700 years. I’ve got the power!

Shogun Emperor

13. Emperors had the most power in

medieval Japan.

A. True

B. False - Emperors had very little power. Shoguns had the most power.

Emperors Shoguns

14. The daimyo were…

B. figureheads who did not really have any power.

C. the warriors on often rode on horseback and protected Japan.

D. the noble land owners who gave some of their land to samurais.

A. the military leaders who really ruled Japan.

15. Who best fits the description of a

figurehead?

C. the samurai

D. the Minamotos

A. the daimyo

B. the emperors of Japan

Samurais

• Main Idea 2:– Samurai warriors

lived honorably.

Samurai

• The word samurai comes from the Japanese word for “servant.”

• Armies of samurai were expensive to support.

– Samurai were paid with land or food.

Samurai

• They followed a strict code of rules called Bushido, which taught them how to behave.

Bushido

• The word Bushido means “the way of the warrior.”

• Obeying their lord (the daimyo) was the most important thing for the Samurai sense of honor.

What is thy bidding my

master?

Bushido

• Samurai lived simple and disciplined lives.

• Both men and women of samurai families learned how to fight, but only men went to war.

– Women learned to fight in order to protect their homes from robbers.

An Inside Look at Himeji

Castle in Japan

A samurai warrior usually lived in a large castle of the lord, or daimyo, he served.

Castles were built mainly for defense, but they also served to administer the lords land. Many different activities went on at a castle like this.

16. The word samurai means honor.

A. True

B. False - Samurai means servant

17. Bushido was a code of conduct for the samurai

and literally means

B. the way of the katana.

C. the way of honor.

D. the way of the warrior.

A. the way of Japan.

• Main Idea 3:–Order broke down when the power of the shoguns was challenged by invaders and rebellions.

• Foreign invasions by the Mongol-Chinese threatened the empire & caused chaos.

• The shoguns sent troops to fight the Mongols.

• The samurai withstood the invasion attempts, but many daimyo thought the shoguns did not give them enough credit for their part in the fighting and were mad.

Shogun

• After that, an internal rebellion occurred when the emperor tried to regain his power that had been lost to the shoguns.

• Daimyo, who owned most of the land, were also mad at the shoguns, fought to break away from the shoguns’ power. Small wars broke out all over Japan.

Emperor

Daimyo

I am the law!

• In the end, the shoguns lost most of their power and authority. The emperor was still largely powerless, and the different daimyo ruled their own separate territories– Japan was no longer unified under one

ruler

Daimyo

• Main Idea 4:– Strong leaders took over and reunified

Japan.

• Oda Nobunago was the first leader to try to reunify Japan.

– Efforts continued to try to reunify Japan after Oda died.

• By 1603, Japan was finally reunified. It became ruled by shoguns from one family, the Tokugawa.

Tokugawa Shogunate

• The rule by the Tokugawa clan lasted until 1868.

• During their rule, Japan traded with other countries and let Christian missionaries live in Japan.

Tokugawa Shogunate

• Later shoguns closed off Japan from the rest of the world and banned guns.

– This helped extend the samurai period in Japan until the 1800s.

Japanese Buddhism

• Zen Buddhism stressed spiritual and physical discipline as the path to enlightenment– The samurai related well to this idea

• They went through tough physical training• Some couldn’t read too, which wasn’t an

issue with Zen