Japan Notes

How has geography influenced Japan’s history?

• Island nation- protected from invasion.

• Culture very influenced by China & Korea.

• Adopted Chinese writing, calendar, clothing, etc.

What was Japanese feudalism?

• It was a lot like feudalism in Europe.

• Nobles gave land to people below them to help defend their entire territory.

• Land for loyalty!

• Eventually, one family took more power than other nobles and the emperor.

• He was called the Shogun. He was a military dictator.

Emperor

Shogun

Daimyos

Samurai

Peasants & Artisans

What were samurai?

• Basically Japanese knights.

• Different than European knights because they believed in education & being cultured.

• They were fierce warriors, but also wrote poetry.

• Followed bushido, which is like chivalry in Europe.

Why did Japan shut itself off from the world?

• The shoguns were afraid of European influences on Japan.

• They didn’t want to lose power.

• From the mid-1600s to the mid-1800s, Japan was isolated.

Why did Japan open up?

• Japan realized that if they didn’t open up, they would end up like China.

• A group overthrew the shogun and made the Emperor the most powerful person in Japan.

• The Meiji Restoration made Japan modern very rapidly.

• It took Europe centuries to modernize, Japan took decades.

Japan & WWII

• Japan became an imperial power like the Europeans in the Pacific.

• They attacked Pearl Harbor to try to knock the US out as a Pacific power.

• They lose the war.

• The Emperor has to give up being a god.

• Japan gives up its military as well.

What about Japan today?• After WWII, Japan becomes economic power

instead of military power.

• In the 1950s & 1960s, Japan builds up its businesses.

• The US wrote a democratic constitution for Japan that they still use today.

• Japan is the world’s 2nd largest economy.

• Many famous companies: Sony, Mitsubishi, Nikon, Toyota, Honda, Nintendo, etc.