Japan

= = =  = =**(JAPAN)** =  CM HD MC

**Vocabulary Terms**: **Bushido** -  The traditional code of the Japanese samurai, stressing honor, self-discipline, bravery, and simple living. **Feudalism** - A political and economic system based on the holding of all land in fief or fee and the resulting relation of lord to vassal and characterized by homage, legal and military service of tenants, and forfeiture. **Haiku** - A Japanese lyric verse form having three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables, traditionally invoking an aspect of nature or the seasons. **Kabuki** - A type of popular Japanese drama, evolved from the older No theater, in which elaborately costumed performers, nowadays men only, use stylized movements, dances, and songs in order to enact tragedies and comedies. **Samurai** - A member of a powerful military caste in feudal Japan. **Shinto** - A religion native to Japan, characterized by veneration of nature spirits and ancestors and by a lack of formal dogma. **Shogun** - The hereditary commander of the Japanese army who until 1867 exercised absolute rule under the nominal leadership of the emperor.

-MC

=Important Concepts for JAPAN =

Bushido

 * The Code of the Samurai
 * <span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);">"The Way of the Warrior"
 * <span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 128);">Included: Duty & Loyalty, Morality, Complete Sincerity, Compassion, Justice, Polite Courtesy, Heroic Courage, and, most importantly, HONOR

<span style="color: rgb(190, 25, 63);">Japan's geography had strong influences on its culture

 * <span style="color: rgb(234, 26, 224);">Japan was fairly isolated from the outside world, being an archipelago of 4,000 islands
 * <span style="color: rgb(234, 26, 224);">Like Greece, the many islands of Japan prevented it from having one central government
 * <span style="color: rgb(234, 26, 224);">Japan selectively borrowed from Chinese culture (ex:Chinese system of writing, hairdressing, tea, gardening, Buddhism, cooking, imperial court, painting styles, etc.)
 * <span style="color: rgb(234, 26, 224);">Japanese food included lots of rice and fish
 * <span style="color: rgb(234, 26, 224);">Japanese clothing reflected the diverse climate
 * <span style="color: rgb(234, 26, 224);">Shinto reflected the geographic features in Japan

<span style="color: rgb(214, 120, 31);">Japan developed a feudal system
HD
 * <span style="color: rgb(16, 177, 177); font-size: 110%;">Feudalism <span style="color: rgb(210, 59, 30);">- <span style="color: rgb(159, 15, 88);"> A political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service, and protection of the people who live on the land.
 * <span style="color: rgb(159, 15, 88);">Europe's Middle Ages also experienced the feudal system between nobles who gave their land to serfs who were not permitted to leave
 * <span style="color: rgb(150, 19, 98);">Under the feudal system Japan never had a central government, because smaller rulers were always fighting each other <span style="color: rgb(255, 36, 147);">
 * <span style="color: rgb(159, 15, 88);">Under the feudal system, Japan experienced a stable government

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**Top Ten Concepts**:
 * 1) Japan has <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">few natural resources (farming land, iron, coal, oil), in part because of its abundance of mountains.
 * 2) The first Japanese religion was called <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">Shinto, or "way of the gods." It focused on respect for nature and one's elders. The respect the religion has for <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">nature originated in the abnormal amount of natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons Japan was and is subjected to.
 * 3) Japan's <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">emperor was a figurehead ; a second ruler (in feudal Japan, usually a <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">shogun ) controlled the country.
 * 4) Japan's <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">proximity to China allowed them to adopt many of China's ideas as its own, including <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">Buddhism, the Chinese system of <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">writing, etiquette , and <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">art.
 * 5) Japan's relative <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">isolation protected it from invaders.
 * 6) Like European knights, Japanese samurai were a class of elite warriors that followed a <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">code of honor.
 * 7) The first Japanese <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">dynasty of rulers was the Yamato dynasty. -MC
 * 8) Feudalism allowed Japan to have structure and <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">order in society.
 * 9) Japan is an <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">archipelago of 4,000 islands, and this influenced their culture.
 * 10) Japan's <span style="color: rgb(54, 255, 0); background-color: rgb(109, 0, 255);">Heian period took place from 794 to 1185, during which the upper class was especially refined.

Pagoda with Mt. Fuji in the background.

-MC

<span style="color: rgb(0, 255, 0); font-size: 150%; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(DBQ Question) <span style="color: rgb(238, 114, 172); font-size: 150%; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

Read the Samurai Death Poem and explain how it relates to the element of honor in the Code of Bushido. <span style="font-size: 150%; color: rgb(2, 0, 255); font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<span style="color: rgb(200, 47, 14); font-size: 220%;">SAMURAI DEATH POEM

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Tokugawa Ieyasu** 1542-1616

Whether one passes on or remains is all the same. That you can take no one with you is the only difference. Ah, how pleasant! Two awakenings and one sleep. This dream of a fleeing world! The roseate hues of early dawn! <span style="color: rgb(238, 114, 172); font-size: 150%; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

CM <span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|Regents Prep - Feudalism] [|Regents Prep - Japan's Golden Age] -MC
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