Japan Activities

Japan Class System

Unlike European feudal society, in which the peasants (or serfs) were at the bottom, the Japanese feudal class structure placed merchants on the lowest rung. Confucian ideals emphasized the importance of productive members of society, so farmers and fishermen had higher status than shop-keepers in Japan.

At the top of the heap was the samurai class.

The Samurai Class:

Feudal Japanese society was dominated by thesamurai warrior class. Although they made up only about 10% of the population, samurai and their daimyo lords wielded enormous power.

When a samurai passed, members of the lower classes were required to bow and show respect. If a farmer or artisan refused to bow, the samurai was legally entitled to chop off the recalcitrant person's head.Samurai answered only to the daimyo for whom they worked. The daimyo, in turn, answered only to theshogun.

There were about 260 daimyo by the end of the feudal era. Each daimyo controlled a broad area of land, and had an army of samurai.

The Farmers / Peasants:

Just below the samurai on the social ladder were the farmers or peasants.

According to Confucian ideals, farmers were superior to artisans and merchants because they produced the food that all the other classes depended upon.

Although technically they were considered an honored class, the farmers lived under a crushing tax burden for much of the feudal era.

During the reign of the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, farmers were not allowed to eat any of the rice they grew. They had to hand it all over to their daimyo, and then wait for him to give some back as charity.

The Artisans:

Although artisans produced many beautiful and necessary goods, such as clothes, cooking utensils, and woodblock prints, they were considered less important than the farmers.

Even skilled samurai sword makers and boatwrights belonged to this third tier of society in feudal Japan.

The artisan class lived in its own section of the major cities, segregated from the samurai (who usually lived in the daimyos' castles), and from the lower merchant class.

The Merchants:

The bottom rung of feudal Japanese society was occupied by merchants, both traveling traders and shop-keepers.

Merchants were ostracized as "parasites" who profited from the labor of the more productive peasant and artisan classes. Not only did merchants live in a separate section of each city, but the higher classes were forbidden to mix with them except on business.

Nonetheless, many merchant families were able to amass large fortunes. As their economic power grew, the restrictions against them weakened.

People above the Four-Tier System:

Although feudal Japan is said to have had a four tier social system, some Japanese lived above the system, and some below.

On the very pinnacle of society was the shogun, the military ruler. He was generally the most powerful daimyo; when the Tokugawa family seized power in 1603, the shogunate became hereditary. The Tokugawas ruled for 15 generations, until 1868.

Although the shoguns ran the show, they ruled in the name of the emperor. The emperor, his family and the court nobility had little power, but they were at least nominally above the shogun, and also above the four tier system.

The emperor served as a figurehead for the shogun, and as the religious leader of Japan. Buddhist and Shinto priests and monks were above the four-tier system, as well.

DAIMYO AND SHOGUNS

From the 12th century to the 17th century, Japan was dominated by a delicately-balanced, feudal-military system led by daimyos who controlled competing semi-autonomous domains. Daimyos were essentially warlords whose power was based on the strength of their private armies. They rose from a class of rural military chieftains and lived like rich feudal lords. There were about 260 daimyo at the peak of their power.

If a daimyo was powerful enough to dominate all the other daimyo he was declared shogun ("military leader"). The governments of the shoguns were essentially military dictatorships. During times of the peace, daimyo were noblemen under the shogun. During times of war they fought among themselves and formed alliances in efforts to become shogun or support the eventual shogun.

The Shoguns

During the Heian period (794-1192) the landowning members of the military gradually became more powerful than the imperial court officials, and eventually they took control of the whole government. In 1192, a military leader called Minamoto Yoritomo forced the Emperor to appoint him shogun; he set up his own capital in Kamakura, far to the east of the Emperor's capital in Kyoto, near present-day Tokyo. This was the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate—the first Shogunate of Japan (there were three).

The word "shogun" is a title that was granted by the Emperor to the country's top military commander. They were military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns were the actual rulers of Japan even though they were appointed by the emperor. The emperor was just a figurehead. The shoguns were the people who actually controlled the political power of Japan. They controlled this power by military force—they controlled huge samurai armies.

For almost 700 years after the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate, Japan was ruled mainly by a succession of shoguns, whose titles were usually passed on from father to son. Sometimes the shogun's family would become weak, and a rebel leader would seize power from them, after which he would be named shogun and would start a new ruling family. The three Shogunates of Japan were Kamakura (1192-1333), Ashikaga (1336-1573), and Tokagawa (1603-1868).

The shoguns imposed a strict class system, with the samurai (warriors) at the top, followed by peasant farmers, then artisans, and finally, merchants. Directly under the shoguns were lords with the title of daimyo, each of whom ruled a part of Japan. The shogun was the most powerful daimyo.

Tokugawa Ieyasu, who founded the Tokagawa Shogunate in 1603 in present-day Tokyo.

In 1868 the fifteenth Tokugawa shogun, Yoshinobu, was forced to give up his position and return his power to the Emperor's court. This was called the Meiji Restoration. The Emperor

moved from Kyoto to Edo the following year, and his government swept away most of the systems established by the shogunate.

Photo:The Iyeyasu and Mikawa Samurai Museum

The SamuraiThe samurai were the warriors of Japan. They made up the ruling military class that

eventually became the highest ranking social class. Samurai employed a range of weapons such as bows and arrows, spears and guns, but their main weapon and symbol was the sword.

Samurai were supposed to lead their lives according to the ethic code of bushido ("the way of the warrior"). Strongly Confucian in nature, bushido stressed concepts such as loyalty to one's master, self-discipline and respectful, ethical behavior. Many samurai were also drawn to the teachings and practices of Zen Buddhism.

The samurai trace their origin to the Heian Period, when more and more warriors were hired by wealthy landowning clans that had grown independent of the imperial government and built armies for their own protection. The two most powerful of these landowning clans, the Minamoto and Taira, eventually challenged the central government and battled each other for supremacy over the entire country. Minamoto Yoritomo emerged victorious and set up a new military government in 1192, called the Kamakura Shogunate (led by the shogun or supreme military commander). The samurai would rule over Japan for most of the next 700 years. During the chaotic era of warring states in the 15th and 16th centuries, Japan splintered into dozens of independent states constantly at war with one another. Consequently, warriors were in high demand. Many of the famous samurai movies by Kurosawa are set during this era. The country was eventually reunited in the late 1500s, and a rigid social caste system was established during the Edo Period that placed the samurai at the top, followed by the farmers, artisans and merchants respectively. During this time, the samurai were forced to live in castle towns, were the only ones allowed to own and carry swords and were paid in rice by their daimyo or feudal lords. Masterless samurai were called ronin and caused minor troubles during the 1600s. Relative peace prevailed during the roughly 250 years of the Edo Period. As a result, the

importance of martial skills declined, and many samurai became bureaucrats, teachers or artists. Japan's feudal era eventually came to an end in 1868, and the samurai class was abolished a few years afterwards.

Seppuku

Seppuku is a ritual suicide and considered as an honorable death. Seppuku was part of bushido. Hara-kiri means literally "stomach-cutting" and was the practiced form of seppuku. When done outside a battle, it was performed in a formal ceremony. Spectators attended the event. The act was a painful one. The person doing hara-kiri had to slice up his abdomen. When finished he stretched out his neck. An assistant was waiting behind him and had to behead the suicide with one stroke of his sword.

Reasons for committing seppuku were connected to honor and disgrace. One occasion for committing seppuku was the death of the lord. It was an expression of grief at one's master's death and was the utmost form of loyalty to the lord. Other reasons were punishment. Seppuku could also be a way of showing a disagreement with one's master. A frequent reason for committing hara-kiri was in a lost battle to avoid the disgrace of falling into the hands of an enemy.

The ritual suicide was actually not supported by all high-ranking Japanese. In 1603 and again in 1663 the practice was largly forbidden. But it continued nevertheless.

The idea that an honorable death is better than a life of disgrace continues in modern Japan. Japan has the highest rate of suicides in the world. Japanese kill themselves for failing in business or for not passing an exam.

The Samurai Helmet

The Samurai warriors often fought hand to hand in the battle field. The winner of the engagement would decapitate its oponent and take the head home as a trophy. This ritual gave birth to the Samurai helmet. The helmet was built of riveted pieces of iron and had a heavy duty neck protection. In many cases, a metal mask would also be attached to the head gear. Once together, the helmet had a very ferocious appearance.

The Samurai had a very strict set of conduct during battle. When faced with an opponent, the Samurai would yelled out his name, ancestry and previous deeds of heroism to identify himself before the fight. After defeating his enemy, the Samurai would pay complements to the dead soldier prior to severing his head. Before battle, each warrior would burn incense in his helmet so that in the event that he lost, the adversary would have a pleasant smell after severing the head.

Samurai War Tales

The richest source of knowledge about warriors in this ancient age and also in early medieval times, beginning in the late twelfth century, is a genre of literature called the war tales. These war tales are a mixture of fact and fiction, but they tell us in very vivid, detailed, graphic terms the behavior of these warriors. We see them on their horses in their battles. We see them striving for honor, seeking fame, and horrified at the prospect they might be subjected to shame. Losing a battle would shame a samurai. Samurai preferred death over losing. Many committed suicide rather than experience the shame of losing a battle. This was called seppeku.

The following is an excerpt from the Tale of The Heike:

“Seeing that his father was in danger...Kanetsuna...came to his aid. He galloped back and forth, fighting desperately so that his father would be able to retire in peace...Now as he fought an arrow from the bow of the Captain of the Imperial Guard...grazed the edge of his helmet and struck him in the forehead. As Kanetsuna staggered from this, Jiro-maru...whipped his horse toward him. As they passed each other, they grappled and fell heavily to the ground. The wound inside Kanetsuna's helmet was deep, but he was a man of great strength. He seized young Jiro-maru...and struck off his head. Kanetsuna rose to his feet, but fourteen or fifteen mounted soldiers...fell upon him, and finally he was slain.”Hiroshi Kitagawa and Bruce T. Tsuchida, trans., The Tale of the Heike, pp. 270-271.

Buddhism in Japan

Buddhism in Japan didn't begin in the medieval period. The Japanese aristocracy (in the imperial court) first became acquainted with Buddhism at the end of the sixth century.

After some struggle with the believers in Shintô, the two religions came to co-exist and most Japanese believed in both of them at the same time. What is important in the medieval period is that Buddhism in Japan used to be a religious discipline started by mainly scholars and upper society. During the feudal period, Buddhism finally became the religion of many common people who turned to religion for comfort in times of despair.

Buddhism offered much. It ultimately offered to all the people release from a life of suffering. In the medieval period there was a lot of suffering for the common people. Medieval Japan was almost constantly in a state of warfare which began at the end of the twelfth century. In this time people who saw their houses destroyed, whole cities destroyed in warfare had to believe in something that would comfort them and offered them an escape from this suffering. Buddhism held ultimate rewards--release from this suffering, entering into Nirvana, entering into a state of bliss.

4 Types of Buddhism became popular in Japan:

1) Pure Land or AMIDA BuddhismThis denomination of Buddhism said that there was an afterlife that all believers could go to where they could escape the suffering of life on earth and practice reaching enlightenment. Pure Land Buddhism had followers from all different social classes since its theories were simple and based on the principle that everybody can achieve salvation by strongly believing in the Buddha Amida.

2) Zen

In 1191, the Zen sect was introduced from China. Its complicated theories were popular particularly among the members of the military class. According to Zen teachings, one can achieve self-enlightenment through meditation. The goal was mental and physical discipline.

3) Shignon According to Shingon Buddhism, there are "secrets" of the body, speech, and mind which a person must explore and understand in order to achieve their buddha-nature. These secrets cannot be written down or taught to large groups; instead, they must be passed directly from master to student on an individual basis.

4) Nichiren or ONE TRUE WAY BuddhismNichiren believed that the other sects of Buddhism in Japan --  Shingon, Pure Land and Zen -- were corrupted and no longer taught the true dharma. In one of his early essays, The Establishment of Righteousness and the Security of the Country, he blamed a series of earthquakes, storms and famines on these "false" schools. The Buddha must have withdrawn his protection from Japan, he said. Only the practices he, Nichiren, prescribed would return the Buddha's favor.

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