MEDIEVAL JAPAN

Japan has around 4,000 islands Honshu Shikoku Kyushu Hokkaido

Most of Japan is extremely mountainous. Therefore only a small portion of the land is arable. This forced the Japanese to rely heavily on the sea for food.

Shinto Considered the native religion of Japan Animistic and polytheistic religion that centers upon love and reverence for nature Worshiped spirits known as kami (everything has its own kami)

Japan borrows from the West Buddhism introduced by Koreans Japanese borrowed a lot from China Writing Landscape art Cooking Gardening Medicine Japanese always made it their own

The Tale of Genji Written by Lady Murasaki Believed to be the world’s first novel

Japanese Emperors The Yamoto clan began claiming to be emperors of all Japan during the 7th century despite not controlling even a majority of the land. The idea stuck and the Yamotos were never thrown out of power However, the strongest warlord would actually hold the power, but rule in the emperor’s name

Japanese Feudalism By the twelfth century, small landowners were giving portions of their land to powerful warlords in return for protection. The warlords built up armies of warriors called samurai (they create a warrior class in Japan) The most powerful warlords were known as daimyo

Bushido Code Way of the warrior Stressed bravery, self-discipline, loyalty, fairness, and generosity to those weaker than himself Stressed living with honor and encouraged an honorable death

Geishas Professional entertainers Performed classical music and dance

The Kamakura Shogunate In the late 12th century, the two most powerful clans fought with each other. The emperor declared the leader of the winning clan (the Minamoto family) to be the Shogun or “supreme general of the emperor’s army.” Essentially the Shogun ruled as a military dictator over all of Japan