Japan/ChinaSSWH15c, d

Japanese Feudalism• Feudal warfare

swept Japan in the 1400s

• Emperor ruled in Heian as rival clans fought for the countryside• People pledged

loyalty to clans rather than the central government

• Emperor was just a figurehead of government; real power belonged to the shogun

• Shogun – supreme military commander

Japanese Shogunates• Minamoto Yoritomo appointed shogun in 1192• Sets up the Kamakura Shogunate

• Kamakura Shogunate falls after failed Mongol invasions

• Oda Nobunaga united central Japan by 1582 by using military force

• Tokugawa Shogunate established centralized feudalism• Led to strict feudal relationships, central authority and

economic prosperity• Daimyo forced to split time between their homes and the

capital of Edo (Tokyo) • Daimyos’ families had to live in Edo full-time; allowed

shogun power over the whole family• Daimyos could not marry or even repair their castles

without permission from the shogun

Japanese Isolation• Tokugawas closed Japan to

foreigners and forbade Japanese people to travel outside the country for 200 years.

• During isolation:• Internal commerce expanded and cities

grew BUT…• Daimyo suffer financial hardship

(wealth was in land rather than cash)• Samurai lacked money to live as well as

urban merchants• Merchants resented their place at the

bottom of the social ladder• Peasants suffered heavy taxes• Almost NO ONE was happy with the

system of isolationism

• By the 1800s, shoguns were no longer powerful and corruption was common

Japan Opens Up• Imperialism (the building of empires) was rampant

throughout the rest of the world.• Japanese officials feared imperialism would reach

Japan• Commodore Matthew Perry sails to Tokyo and

demands Japan to open up trade with America (1853)

• Treaty of Kanagawa (1854) – Japanese shogun agrees to open two ports for American ships

Meiji Restoration• Emperor Mutsuhito comes

to power in 1867 and takes the name Meiji (“enlightened rule”)

• Leads the Meiji Restoration (1868-1912)• Strengthened Japan by modernizing, industrializing and learning Western ideas

• Adopt a German model of government• All citizens are equal before the law• Emperor still had absolute authority

Emperor Meiji

Russo-Japanese War• As Japan’s military grew, the

country’s desire for imperialism increased.

• Imperialist rivalries developed between China, Russia and Japan with sights on Korea

• Korea practiced limited isolationism and maintained contact with China and Japan

• First Sino-Japanese War – Japan defeats China for control of Korea

• Russo-Japanese War (1905) – Japan defeats Russia in Manchuria • First time an Asian country humbled a European country!

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:• Create a timeline of events using all of the dates

listed in this lecture.• For each date, describe what happened and why that event was important in Japan’s history.• If the event affected Japan’s relationship with Western Powers (Great Britain, France, Russia, the US, etc.), explain the significance of that event.

• YOUR ASSIGNMENT WILL BE DUE AT THE END OF CLASS. FAILURE TO COMPLETE THIS ASSIGNMENT FULLY BY THE END OF CLASS OR FAILURE TO SUBMIT IT WILL RESULT IN LOSING 10 pts OFF YOUR DAILY ESSENTIALS PARTICIPATION GRADE!!!