Retrieval chart

Position Describe role/duties in society(Consider whether role is primarily political,

economic, military, religious/ceremonial)

Contacts with other groups/individuals in the social

hierarchy and nature of the feudal relationship

Three interesting facts about group/individual

Emperor

Shogun

Daimyo

Samurai

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Position Describe role/duties in society(consider whether role is primarily political,

economic, military, religious/ceremonial)

Contacts with other groups/individuals in the social

hierarchy and nature of the feudal relationship

Three interesting facts about group/individual

Peasant Farmers

Artisans

Merchants

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Group 1: The emperorAccording to tradition, emperors have ruled Japan since the 4th century. The first clan to exercise real control over other clans was the Yamato clan, whose chief was ultimately recognised as emperor. However, there is little concrete evidence about these early ‘emperors’. The first emperor officially recognised is Emperor Jimmu who ruled during the 7th century.

The position of emperor was hereditary; that is, it was handed down from one generation to the next.

In times of war, the emperor would appoint a general to conduct military campaigns or negotiate peace. By the 12th century, these generals, or shoguns, had become so powerful that the emperor had little real power. The emperor reigned over Japan but did not rule.

However, Emperors were the spiritual leaders of Japan. They were believed to be descended from Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. The official religion they promoted was Shintoism. This religion promotes a belief in the existence of non-human spirits (kami) which inhabit the natural world. Priests conducted ceremonies to honour these spirits and the emperor was the chief Shinto priest. It was believed that he could converse with (i.e. talk to) the gods; hence, he held a particularly important position in the religious beliefs of the Japanese.

The emperor resided mainly in Kyoto whilst the political capital was wherever the shogun lived. From the early 17th century this was Edo, later called Tokyo, and the shoguns came from the Tokugawa clan. That era became known as the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Tokugawa built new and impressive imperial palaces for the Emperor and increased the ceremonies conducted by the Emperor, but none of this involved any power for the emperor.

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http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emperor_Kammu_large.jpg

Group 2: The shogunThe word shogun literally means ‘commander in chief’, although, as enemies tended to be referred to as ‘barbarians’, the shogun was also referred to as the ‘general who defeats barbarians’.

The shogun was originally appointed by the emperor to deal with military issues in Japan and the position was meant to be temporary.

The first permanent shogun was Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1192 (pictured here), at the beginning of what is called the Kamakura period. He established a military administration (bakufu).

During the period of shogunate Japan, the emperor became merely a figurehead with all power held in the hands of the shogun. The emperor briefly reclaimed power in 1333 but it lasted for only three years.

A new clan, called Ashikaga, asserted its control and took over the shogunate in 1336. The shogun relied on other clan leaders, daimyo, to administer the country under the shogun’s control. The shogun came from the warrior class. The last clan to rule as shogun was the Tokugawa clan. The Tokugawa shoguns ruled Japan for over 250 years until the restoration of the emperor in 1868.

In theory, the shogun was granted his position by the emperor, but by the time of the Tokugawa shogunate, the shogun was so powerful that he performed most of the duties formerly associated with the emperor, apart from those duties related to religion and ceremony.

The shoguns lived in luxury in castles and palaces situated in their own regions. Towns grew up around these castles and became the capitals during the rule of the particular shogun. The Tokugawa shoguns established their capital at Edo (Tokyo).

Shoguns were followers of Shintoism like the emperor, but they also embraced other philosophies. Confucianism, in particular, appealed to them. Confucianism had its origins in China and its particular appeal to the shoguns was the ordered approach to society. Confucianism outlined five essential relationships which defined how people should relate to one another. These relationships were:

ruler-subject parent-child husband-wife elder brother-younger brother friend-friend.

Basically, the superior person in the relationship looked after the lower person and in return the lower person was loyal and obedient. This system suited a feudal society like Japan under the shoguns as it supported the feudal concept of mutual obligations.

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http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Minamoto_no_Yoritomo.jpg

Group 3: DaimyoThe word, daimyo, means ‘large private land’.

Daimyo were the local lords or clan leaders who owned large landed estates in their regions. They were expected to administer their region of Japan for the shogun and to be loyal to the shogun, their feudal lord.

The daimyo belonged to the warrior class and used samurai as paid retainers (attendants/ servants) to protect them and help administer their domains. Local residents in the domain paid taxes in rice to the daimyo. The daimyo, in turn, were expected to send a portion of these taxes to the shogun and they paid their samurai retainers in rice.

The daimyo became very wealthy and powerful in their regions and at times rebelled against the shogun. During the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunates, rebellions by local daimyo and their samurai retainers challenged the shogun’s power. At times, even the daimyo faced rebellions from their own samurai. The 150 years leading to the Tokugawa Shogunate thus became known as the Period of the Warring States — sengoku jidai.

In the Tokugawa era, in order to curb the power of the daimyo, the Tokugawa shoguns ordered the daimyo to spend alternate years in Edo, the Tokugawa capital, and their wives and children were required to live there permanently. This system, called sankin kōtai, allowed the shogun to keep a close eye on the daimyo and increased his power over them. The daimyo entourages’ regular trips to Edo stimulated the economy. Roads had to be built to convey this traffic, and inns and commercial enterprises sprang up along the routes to Edo. Some diamyo had to travel great distances, so food stalls and places to stay became widespread. The large numbers of servants and samurai who accompanied the daimyo also had to be accommodated.

During the Tokugawa shogunate, the daimyo were allowed a level of independence in their own domains and even permitted to devise their own legal codes for those areas. However, not all daimyo were of equal status, those daimyo from clans with close ties to the Tokugawa being more privileged and holding larger portions of land.

As part of the tightly controlled Tokugawa feudal system, daimyo had particular obligations besides providing their share of the taxes. They were expected to pay for infrastructure (like roads and bridges) in their own domains, and this sometimes became a financial burden on them. This, added to the expense of travelling to Edo every second year, placed some daimyo under significant financial duress. This too entrenched the shogun’s power over them because daimyo had few resources left to wage war against the shogun.

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http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Daimio_paying_a_state_visit-J._M._W._Silver.jpg#file

Group 4: SamuraiThe word samurai means ‘one who serves’ and underlines their role in Japan’s feudal society.

The samurai were originally conscripted peasant farmers (i.e. they were forced into service) who were trained as warriors to serve in the Emperor’s army. The development of the shogunate after the 12th century resulted in a more permanent role for samurai as protectors of the shogun and the daimyo, but a samurai was not allowed to own land under Tokugawa Shogunate policy.

The samurai were the military force of the daimyo (feudal lords) and a source of much daimyo power. The daimyo had originally used the samurai to guard their lands while the daimyo participated in Japanese politics in the capital. However, during the Tokugawa shogunate, the shogun required the samurai to live in Edo (Tokyo) near the residence of their daimyo or in the castle towns of the daimyo.

Not all samurai were equal. Those who could afford horses, the two expensive swords and the military armour were considered above those who fought on foot. There was little gain or honour for a samurai warrior to defeat a warrior of lower status and it became a practice for samurai to announce themselves to their opponent to make clear exactly what status each fighter was.

As daimyo began to experience financial hardship, many began to shed their samurai retainers as they could no longer afford to pay them their rice allowance. Those samurai who had not retrained as bureaucrats in peaceful times and then were no longer attached to a daimyo roamed the countryside with no source of income, becoming known as ronin — masterless samurai.

A special code of behaviour developed among the samurai. At the heart of this special code (bushido or ‘Way of the Warrior’) was absolute devotion to one’s feudal lord. To fail one’s master was a disgrace, the expected outcome being seppuku or ritual death by self-disembowelment.

A strong sense of personal discipline and personal courage that scorned death were also part of the samurai code. This explains the ready acceptance by samurai of Buddhism, with its emphasis on personal meditation to calm one’s mind and individual growth to reach a state of enlightenment.

Samurai were generally highly educated and became patrons of the arts and even writers and poets. They embraced such cultural practices as the tea ceremony, at first a Buddhist religious ceremony, and many samurai became devoted to this highly ritualised practice of preparing green tea.

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http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Samurai_on_horseback0.jpg

Group 5: Peasant farmersFarmers were the largest, and arguably the most vital, class in feudal society because they produced food for the rest of the population.

Peasant farmers made up about 90% of the population and were important enough to be placed immediately below the samurai in the class system. The Confucian idea of worthiness being based on practical contributions to society ensured the peasant farmers were recognised as an essential part of the feudal structure of Japan.

Confucianism is a religion originally from China which teaches virtuous and ethical behaviour, and acceptance of social place in life.

During pre-shogunate times, peasant farmers were conscripted as soldiers to fight in the Emperor’s army. One in every four farmers was expected to serve in the army. Gradually, a warrior class of armed retainers, samurai, replaced these farmer soldiers.

The Tokugawa shoguns were determined to remove any possible opposition to their rule and ordered all farmers to hand over any weapons they might have in the Great Sword Hunt.

The main crop farmed in Japan was rice, which became a symbol of wealth and the essential currency throughout Japanese feudal society. Farming villages paid taxes in rice to the local feudal lord, the daimyo, and kept what was left for their members. However, during the Tokugawa shogunate, farmers were ordered to hand over their whole rice crop to the daimyo who then ‘gave’ back what he thought they needed.

Peasant farmers lived in villages and the tax they had to pay was a tax on the whole village. Leaders in the village organised the collection of the tax from each village household and paid it to the daimyo. This promoted a sense of collective responsibility, and the strong Japanese emphasis on the responsibility of individuals to their group was particularly evident in the village collective. However, peasants, some influenced by Christian missionaries, at times revolted against the increasing impost of taxes. This resulted during the Tokugawa Shogunate in tightened regulations governing the lives of peasant farmers.They were not permitted to travel freely. This was designed to keep them on their farms and away from towns.

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http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kisokaido07_Konosu.jpg

Group 6: ArtisansArtisans, also known as craftsmen, created the physical goods used in everyday Japanese life. Most artisans were poor but some rose to great prominence and became wealthy because of their special skills.

All artisans began their careers as apprentices at a young age. They would live in the home of their master artisan who was expected to teach them the skills of the craft.

In a warrior society like Japan during the shogunate, sword-makers were particularly admired. The ability to craft a sword worthy of a samurai was a highly prized skill. Often, highly skilled swordsmiths actually lived in the castle of the daimyo or even the shogun and worked exclusively for them.

The sword also had religious significance. It was believed that Shinto gods carried swords, and before a battle a warrior would make an offering of a sword at a Shinto shrine to ensure victory in battle.

During the rule of shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684–1751), a catalogue of famous swords was drawn up. This listed all those swords that had been used in special battles or in special circumstances. The swords were ranked according to their features, which included, among other things, their design features and cutting ability.

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http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/11636/Women_Dressmaking_left_and_Artesans_at_Work_right

Group 7: MerchantsMerchants were traders and moneylenders and were at the bottom of the social scale because, according to Confucian ideas, they produced nothing. The Confucian idea of worthiness being based on practical contributions to society ensured the merchants were not recognised as an essential part of the feudal structure of Japan. (Confucianism is a religion originally from China

which teaches virtuous and ethical behaviour, and acceptance of social place in life.) Generally despised in early shogunate Japan, those merchants who lent money for profit were particularly disdained.

The Tokugawa shoguns closed Japan to almost all foreign contacts in 1650 and trade with most outside countries was forbidden. Japanese were forbidden to travel outside Japan on pain of death, so merchants were limited to conducting business inside Japan. The only outside contact allowed was with the Dutch who were restricted to a small island in Nagasaki harbour, and with selected Korean and Chinese traders whose goods had to come through Nagasaki.

The Tokugawa Shogunate controlled Japan mostly peacefully for 250 years, thus providing conditions that allowed merchants to trade freely without being hindered by war. Many merchants became wealthy amidst a flourishing town life which developed around the castles of the daimyo and in particular in Edo (later Tokyo), the Tokugawa Shogunate’s capital.

Merchants increasingly lived lives of luxury and were able to become better educated. The shoguns regularly passed laws restricting the luxury of the merchants, such as forbidding them to wear silk, but these laws were largely ineffective. The shoguns also periodically forgave debts owing from daimyo and masterless samurai to merchants, but merchants gradually became essential to the life of the upper classes. Whilst the strict class system of feudal Japan meant they could not move up in the class structure, their economic links to the daimyo and samurai allowed them to break down some of the social barriers.

Many of the more powerful merchant houses, along with enterprising daimyo, created corporations which organised distribution and held monopolies over a certain product (that is, only a particular merchant corporation or business could sell the product).

Merchants often sponsored theatre and literature and they patronised the many tea houses springing up in the growing towns. As a result, particularly in the Tokugawa shogunate, Japanese artistic culture flourished because of the prosperity of merchants.

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http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/121658/View_of_Nihonbashi_Tori-itchome_Nihonbashi_Tori-itchome_Ryakuzu_No._44_from_One_Hundred_Famous_Views_of_Edo