1. Age of Emperors

3. Early History 300BC Settlers arrive from Asia Native religion – Shinto
Mainly farmers
Grew rice, Japan’s most important crop
Country divided into many clans
Native religion – Shinto
gods and spirits found in all natural objects
Thousands of shrines throughout Japan

4. Japan’s Imperial Family
Between AD one clan emerged as the strongest
Yamato Clan
Claimed to be decedents of the Sun Goddess
Prince Shotoku gains popularity and unites Japan (593)
admired Chinese and Korean societies
Wealthy Japanese traveled to China to learn about literature, art and philosophy

5. Prince Shotoku
Prince Shotoku wanted government officials chosen based on ability as in China
Created a constitution
Based on Confucian and Buddhist ideas
Wanted to create a strong emperor
Used Buddhism to weaken clan leaders
Sent officials to China to study Chinese ways

6. Cultural Diffusion
Cultural Diffusion: The Spread of cultural ideas from one culture to another.

7. Chinese Ideas Ancient Japanese was only a spoken language
Overtime Japan adopted Chinese characters to their own language
Japan now has three alphabets – Kanji, Katakana, Hiragana
Japanese kanji look the same as Chinese characters but they are said differently
Japanese poetry is also modeled after the style of Chinese literature.

8. Korean Influences
Japan’s original religion was Shinto – based on respect for nature and worshiping nature spirits
Buddhism started in India, spread (diffused) to China and then spread again to Korea. A Korean king sent a Japanese emperor a statue of the Buddha along with monks, prayer books and gongs
Emperor adopted the religion
Shinto and Buddhism blended together into a unique combination in Japan

9. Art – Korea and China New techniques and ideas for subjects
These ideas originated from India
Carvings of the Buddha moved from India to China, then Korea and from there reached Japan
Temple designs originated in India and moved east to Japan
China had bell shaped roofs – Japan adopted this into the pagoda
Shinto shrines began to build structures like Buddhist temples

10. China Korea Japan

11. China Japan

12. Music Japan imported music from Asia, mostly from China
Original music in Japan was in the form of chants and prayers
Gagaku – Chinese court music that arrived in Japan in the 6th century
New kinds of music required new instruments