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JAPANESE CIVILIZATION

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Mainland Asia influences Japanese Culture

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Yayoi Culture

By about the second or third B.C.

The Japanese people of Yayoi culture were growing rice in irrigated fields and working with bronze and iron. Their technology and agricultural methods had probably come from China and Korea.
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Yuhi-style iron halberd taken from the Kadota ruins in the city of Kasuga, Fukuoka Prefecture (Source: Yayoi Iron Culture and Its World exhibit, Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Archaeology)

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Kofun/Tomb Culture

By the third century A.D, they began to build huge mounts of earth as tombs for their rulers. The way of life of these mound-builders has been Kofun or tomb culture.

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The burial mounds were often surrounded by thousands of haniwa, clay statues of horses, and other animals , boats, houses and people, including knights in armor.

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Inside the burial chamber of Shougunyama kofun (a reconstruction), Saitama Prefecture

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Nature worship is a part of early Japanese Culture

The most ancient belief of the Japanese were based from reverence & awe for the forces of nature , which were seen as spirit, called kami.

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Kami means God, the Supreme Being. Yokai carries the meanings of "monster", "ghost" or "spirit", Akuma means more to a devil or demon that likely originates from Hell.
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Tanu ki

SHISHI LIONS

EBISU

Yamabushi Tengu

KITSUNE

Drago ns ON I Tengu

Hachima n

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Maneki Neko

Kapp a

Legend Surround Imperial Family

According to myth and tradition, in about 7th century B.C, the grandsonof Amaterasu (Ninigi-no-Mikoto), the Sun Goddess , descended from earth w/ three sacred objects: a bronze mirror representing Amateresu, iron sword of her brother the storm god (Susanoo) and a 1/20/13

Amaterasu, human like form

(Ninigi-no-Mikoto)

Susanoo slaying Ymato Orochi

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A later descendant of Amaterasu, known as Jimmu is traditionally regarded as first emperor of Japan and founder of the imperial army. 1/20/13

Emperor Jimmu

About the middle of the 6th century, the Japanese imperial court officially admitted Buddhism to Japan over the objection of some powerful clan who were strong Shintoist. In 592, Prince Shotoku became chief of adviser to his aunt, the empress of Suiko . Shotoku 1/20/13 began to reorganize the

Japan borrows institution in Mainland

Empress Suiko

Prince Shotoku
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In 604 he made his ideas official in the Seventeen Article Constitution. It declared the supremacy of the emperor and took away the inherited offices held by member of the clans. Instead government officials were appointed by merit , following the Confucian principle. They learned about Chinese arts Shotoku also began the custom of sending diplomatic mission to China. With the mission went to study the culture and technology of China.

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Taika Reform

Prince Shotokus policy was continued in mid- 600s by the Taika Reform. The purpose of these reform was to establish a strong central government . It includes a new tax system, a network of roads, and the reorganization of the country into provinces headed by the governors appointed by the imperial government. 1/20/13

Japanese Culture flourishes at Heian

The new capital was given the name Heian the capital of peace and tranquility. The city itself had broad tree-lined parkways. Houses were set with large gardens beautifully landscaped with lakes and water falls. Later it was renamed Kyoto, the city renamed the Japanese capital until nineteenth century. 1/20/13

The Tale of Genji

The most famous court novel was still read today is the Tale of Genji . Often called the first novel of in the world literature, it was written by Lady Murasaki Shikibu,lady in wating to a wife of the emperor.

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Lady Muraski Shikibu

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Nobles Challenge the imperial Court

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Military leaders assume political power

Two powerful warrior families the Taira and the Minamoto, struggled for power for 30 years. In the 118o full-scale war broke out them. The Minamoto family defeated the Taira in an epic naval battle on Inland Sea.

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The young emperor Antoku was drowned, and the imperial sword ( one of the symbols of imperial power) was lost. The victorious Minamoto leader, Yorimoto established his government in his town of Kamakura, 1/20/13 where it would be

In theory, the shogun ruled over military matters in the name of the emperor. In practice, the shogun was the real ruler, and his descendants inherited his title. To secure the loyalty of the provincial warrior nobles, Minamoto Yorimoto appointed a noble as protector of each 1/20/13

Honor and loyalty are the way of the warrior.

A class of warriors called samurai dominated the society in feudal Japan. The chief symbols of every samurais honor were his two swords - one long, one short. A samurais 1/20/13 life was devoted

The samurai code came to be called Bushido or the way of the warriors. It called for a life of discipline , duty and self control, on and off the battlefield.

Honor was 1/20/13 supremely

Seppuku

Seppuku is popularly called hara-kiri, which means bellysitting.

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As samurai were often away fighting, samurai women managed the estates. Some women , such as Masako, the wife of Yorimoto, were active politically.
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Zen Buddhism

A very different form of Buddhism, known as, was brought from China by Japanese monks around the year 1200. Zen emphasized enlightenment through meditation and included some elements of Taoism. It stressed simplicity and discipline. Zen Buddhism had an immediate appeal for the samurai. Its discipline helped 1/20/13 them develop qualities they

By the late 1200s, China had become part of the growing Mongol Empire. The Mongol ruler, Kublai Khan demanded that Japan also accept his rule. When his demand was refused, he sand a fleet to invade Japan in 1274.The samurai fought off the invading Mongolian horsemen , helped by a fierce 1/20/13 storm the that forced the fleet to

A divine `wind saves Japan From Mongol conquest.

Seven years later, a Mongol invasion force of about 140, 000 men again attacked Japan. Again, a storm swept out of the Pacific . The raging winds and towering waves of the typhoon wrecked many Mongol ships and left thousands of soldiers stranded in Japan. Believing that the typhoon had been sent by the kami to protect them , the 1/20/13 Japanese named the storm

The victory over the Mongols proved to be expensive for the Kamikura shogunate and for the samurai. For some samurai had spent so much in the war that they could no longer afford to maintain horses and weapons. The shogun had no new lands to give them. Discontented samurai and nobles deserted the shogun to support an ambitious emperor 1/20/13 who wanted more political

Civil war broke out , and the Kamakura shogunate ended in 1333 with the suicide of the last shogun and his entire family and staff. Local lords take power away from the central government. The nobles who joined with the emperor did not in fact give power back to the imperial family, but claimed it 1/20/13

One warlord, Ashikaga Tokauji , had himself made shogun in 1338., establishing his family as Japans second line of military rulers. From the start, however , the Ashikaga leaders lacked the support of most samurai.
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Local Lords take power away from central Government

The last hundred years of the Ashikaga shogunate (1467- 1567) are sometimes called the Age of the Country at War. The central government had almost collapsed and neither the shogun nor the emperor was in control.

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Zen Buddhism inspires artistic brilliance

The Ashikaga shogun and most samurai followed Zen Buddhism, and the great Zen monasteries influenced politics , trade, and the arts. A brilliant period of Zen inspired art began in the fifteenth century. Certain arts are typical of this Zen style:The tea ceremony , the simple arrangements of Japanese gardens, and landscape paintings done with a few brush strokes. Each uses the ideas of simplicity and attention to detail that are a part of the Zen approach. Artist at shoguns court also developed the Noh 1/20/13 of drama , which became the classic style

Tea Ceremony

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Ikebana

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Noh style of theater

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The Portuguese introduce European ideas.

The arrival of European traders and missionaries influenced events in Japan in several ways. About 1542 a Portuguese ship landed near Kyushu, and soon many Portuguese traders were visiting Japan regularly. In 1549 the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier began his mission to take Japan the first Christian country in Asia. His descriptions of Japan were so 1/20/13 enthusiastic that other

The Portuguese introduce European ideas.

. The Jesuits at first made many converts to Christianity. By 1582, it was estimated that there were about 150,000 Christians in Japan (in a population of about twenty million). By 1600 there were about 300,000.

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Nobunaga begins to unite Japan

Nobunaga an ambitious local lord , took advantage of European weaponry and missionary support. He began his conquests 1551, at the age of nineteen. By 1568, through almost constant warfare , he had captured the capital at Kyoto as well as the lands of the other daimyo. The last 1/20/13 Ashikaga shogun was

Nobunaga was determined also destroy the military power of the warrior-monks in Buddhist monasteries and he ordered several brutal massacres. Because of his hatred for Buddhism, Nobunaga welcomed the Jesuits to Kyoto and allowed them to live and preach there.

Oda_Nobunaga_swivel_breech_loadin 1/20/13 g_gun

Nebelwerfer_15cm_6_ba rrels

Akechi Mitsuhide

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Hideyoshi unites the country

Nobunagas best general , Hideyoshi claimed leadership after Nobunagas assassination in 1582. Within 10 years, he had brought all of Japan under his control. Hideyoshis ambition was unite all Asia in a great empire. The conquest of China was 1/20/13 main goal, but two his

Hideyoshi then sought to restore peace and stability in Japan by eliminating anything he feared he might cause unrest. He ruled with absolute control but gained the support of the imperial court by rebuilding the palace and giving the emperor income. The daimyo in theory continued to rule their own territories. To lessen their influence , however, Hideyoshi sometimes moved powerful daimyo into areas far 1/20/13 from the capital or gave them

The power of the Buddhist monasteries had been broken. Hideyoshi now began to worry about Jesuits influence and the loyalty of Japanese Christians.

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Japans last shogunate begins

A power struggle among daimyo began when Hideyoshi died in 1598., leaving his five-year-old son as his heir. Another of Nobunagas generals , Tokugawa Ieyasu , settled the conflict by winning a decisive victory at the town of Sekigahara in 1600. The Tokugawa family established Japans last shogunate, which 1/20/13 remained in power until 1868.

As shogun, Ieyasu began to reorganize the daimyos lands to make his rule more secure. His own headquarters were at village of Edo (which grew into the modern city of Tokyo), where he built a huge fortress castle . Near Edo were the 1/20/13 Tokugawa familys house

Those daimyo whom Ieyasu trusted less were sent away to domains in remote parts of the country . Ieyasu gave his son the title of shogun in 1603. but continued to rule until his death until 1/20/13 1616, at the age of 73.

Christianity is suppressed in Japan

In 1614 Ieyasu ordered the missionaries of and some Japanese converts to leave the country. His successors increased the persecutions and by the 1630s, Christianity was openly practiced only 1/20/13 around trading town of

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In 1637 the peasants near Nagasaki, many whom were Christians, rebelled against the local lords heavy tax. The incident turned into the final defense of Christianity in feudal Japan. More than 20,000 people the last group of Japanese Christians- were massacred when the shogun army

Popular arts flourish in the cities

Life in the fast growing cities was busy and exciting for the merchants, business people , and samurai adopted city living. Literacy in Japan was high, and books of fiction and poetry widely read. Two 1/20/13 popular new forms of

In the bunraku, or puppet theater, large puppets acted out exciting historical dramas or realistic plays. The live actors of kabuki theater portrayed exciting stories against a background of colorful 1/20/13 costumes and scenery.

A new type of poetry , the haiku also became popular with all classes of people. A haiku is very short three lines to- taling seventeen syllables and gives the reader an instant image or picture.

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