<b>The Japanese (500 to 1340)<b>

Located 100 miles off the mainland of Asia, at its closest point, Japan was a land
of mystery at the edge of civilization. Isolated at first by geography and later by
choice, the Japanese developed a distinctive culture that drew very little from the
outside world. At the beginning of what were the Middle Ages in Europe, the
advanced culture of Japan was centered at the north end of the Inland Sea on the
main island of Honshu. Across the Hakone Mountains to the east lay the Kanto, an
alluvial plain that was the single largest rice-growing area on the islands. To the
north and east of the Kanto was the frontier, beyond which lived aboriginal
Japanese who had occupied the islands since Neolithic times.

Some believe that by the fifth century AD the Yamato court had become largely
ceremonial. Independent clans, known as <i>uji,<i> held the real power behind the
throne. Clan leaders formed a sort of aristocracy and vied with each other for
effective control of land and the throne.

In 536 the Soga clan became predominant and produced the first great historical
statesman, Prince Shotoku, who instituted reforms that laid the foundation of
Japanese culture for generations to come. In 645, power shifted from the Soga clan
to the Fujiwara clan. The Fujiwara presided over most of the Heian period (794 to
1185). The new leadership imposed the Taika Reform of 645, which attempted to
redistribute the rice-growing land, establish a tax on agricultural production, and
divide the country into provinces. Too much of the country remained outside
imperial influence and control, however. Real power shifted to great families that
rose to prominence in the rice-growing lands. Conflict among these families led to
civil war and the rise of the warrior class.

Similar to the experience of medieval western Europe, the breakdown of central

authority in Japan, the rise of powerful local nobles, and conflict with barbarians
at the frontier combined to create a culture dominated by a warrior elite. These
warriors became known as Samurai, ("those who serve"), who were roughly equivalent
to the European knight. A military government replaced the nobility as the power
behind the throne at the end of the twelfth century. The head of the military
government was the Shogun.

Samurai lived by a code of the warrior, something like the European code of
chivalry. The foundation of the warrior code was loyalty to the lord. The warrior
expected leadership and protection. In return he obeyed his lord's commands without
question and stood ready to die on his lord's behalf. A Samurai placed great
emphasis on his ancestry and strove to carry on family traditions. He behaved so as
to earn praise. He was to be firm and show no cowardice. Warriors went into battle
expecting and looking to die. It was felt that a warrior hoping to live would fight
poorly.

The Kamakura period (1185 to 1333) was named after a region of Japan dominated by a
new ruling clan that took power after civil war. The Mongols attempted to invade
Japan twice, in 1274 and 1281, but were repulsed both times. A fortuitous storm
caused great loss to the second Mongol invasion fleet.