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WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU THINK
OF JAPAN?
If you are like most Americans, you might
think of….
lots of imported productsand ideas like…
But what do we know about Japan?
Look at the map on page 199 in the text.
Where is Japan located?
Japan has it’s own creation story
THE CREATIONTHE CREATION
A mythical story is told about the beginning of the islands known as Japan. Long ago the islands of Japan did not even
exist, only ocean. A god and goddess looked down from the heavens upon the
beautiful ocean and saw a long and colorful rainbow streaking over the ocean.
The rainbow formed a splendid bridge and the god and goddess decided to
walk across it. Pausing in the center of this stretch of color, the god lowered his jeweled spear into the ocean. He swirled the spear around and around
and lifted it from the water. Tiny water drops fell from the tip of the spear, and as they hit the ocean they turned into land. This became the country known
as Japan.
The god and goddess descended to their newly created land where the
goddess gave birth to Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun and the first ruler
of this land. The great-great grandson of Amaterasu is thought to be the great
Jimmu, founder of Japan’s imperial family. Every emperor of Japan, from
Jimmu’s time to present day, have been directly related to Jimmu and, therefore, a desendent of the gods.
Jimmu carried with him the proof he needed to verify his divine ancestry. Three treasures, handed down by the
gods, were always to be kept in possession of Japan’s emperors.
The first was a mirror that belonged to the sun goddess, representing the
emperor’s relation to the gods.
The next treasure was a special sword, representing the emperor’s strength.
The third treasure was a jewel, said to actually have been taken from the
steps of heaven, representing the great wisdom the emperor possesses.
With such evidence, no one could ever doubt that Japan’s emperors were truly
related to the gods.
Jimmu was, most likely, an actual person. The mythical beginnings of Japan is a story still enjoyed by the
Japanese. Emperor Hirohito’s heritage can be directly traced to Jimmu. Today
his son is the emperor of Japan.
The islands of Japan are really just the tops of
undersea mountains and volcanoes sticking up out of
the ocean.
Where is Japan located?
• Please refer to the map on page 199 in your text to answer the following questions.
• What are Japan’s four main islands?
According to the map, are most of
Japan’s major cities
in the interior or
on the coast?WHY?
How do you think the geography of Japan affected
the Japanese people?
FOOD, CULTURE & LANGUAGE
Early Japanese Society
• Early Japan was home to two different cultures– The Ainu– The Japanese
• The Ainu were probably from Siberia
• They fought with the Japanese for land but eventually were driven to a single island
• Page 200
The Japanese• Lived in small
farming villages ruled by powerful clans, or extended families.
• Clan chiefs had political powers and religious duties
• People believed the chiefs were descended from nature spirits called kami
• Page 200 in book
Shinto
• Clan chiefs led the clans in rituals to worship their kami ancestors
• These rituals developed into the traditional religion of Japan- Shinto
Shinto Beliefs
• Shinto teaches everything in nature has kami
• Shintoists believe that some kami help people live
• They build shrines to these kami and perform ceremonies to ask the kami to bless them
Where is Japan located?
Where is Japan located?
• Please refer to the map on page 199 in your text to answer the following questions.
• What are Japan’s four main islands?
• Are most of Japan’s major cities in the interior (in the middle) or on the coast?
• Why do you think this is so?
Where is Japan located?
• Please refer to the map on page 199 in your text to answer the following questions.
• What are Japan’s four main islands?
According to the map, are most of
Japan’s major cities
in the interior or
on the coast?WHY?
