Medieval Japan

TASK: What are the differences and similarities in the lives and the way in which the society worked of those who lived in Medieval Europe to that of those who lived in Medieval Japan?

The role of tradition within religion in medieval Japanese society was of great significance. Shinto and Zen Buddhism were two of the major religions practiced in medieval Japan. Shinto was mainly concerned with daily life, while Zen Buddhism prepared the people for the life to come. The samurai also followed an important code called Bushido, a form of warrior philosophy. The ancient Japanese religions helped people understand the universe and also provided a connection between the physical world on earth and the spiritual world.

Throughout history, the system of feudalism is used several times in different areas in the world. Because of this form of government, the European lifestyle changed dramatically as the Japanese culture began to form. Although feudalism in Europe had started earlier, the feudal systems of Japan and Europe are somewhat alike. However, they are much more different than they are comparable.

The samurai were the feudal warriors of ancient Japan. For thousands of years they upheld the code of bushido, the way of the warrior. Samurai were around for thousands of years, but when did they disappear? Does the code of bushido still exist to this day? Exploring the history of the samurai will give an explanation to what has happened to these formidable warriors.

When people think of “Medieval”, they often relate this to Europe. However, there was once a Medieval Japan too, and this time stretched from 1185-1868 CE. During this period, Shoguns ruled Japan, and they defined it as “Medieval” because, just like Europe society in Japan at this time was feudal in structure. Medieval Europe lasted from the 5th to the 15th century, and was often referred to as Christendom, because most civilians were Christians. Although they didn’t have any direct contact with one another, there were many similarities and differences in these two times. The ones this essay will focus on are; castles, health and hygiene and the social structure.

starts of with the emperor. The emperor is at the top with his family. The emperor is an important religious figure, he swapped lands swapped land with nobles exchange for their support for he couldn't handle all the land far far away from him. In the shogunate period the emperor didn't have much power for the shoguns had basically controlled the government.

The Tokugawa period or otherwise known as the Edo period has been recognised as an extremely significant aspect of Japanese history and left history changing effects on the country. In this essay, five primary aspects of the Edo period, which has helped produce present day Japan and had greatly impacted on the nation during this period will be addressed:

Today, the Mongols are looked at as barbaric savages that decried education, but that is in fact incorrect. During Khubilai Khan’s rule over China, he set up many centers of education and strongly stimulated learning and knowledge. During China’s Warring States period, a man named Confucius spread his ideas and beliefs about how one must act and how one must learn. His ideas were passed down throughout history and is still used today. One of Confucius’s main beliefs was the importance of education and how it should not be taken for granted.

"They started their training in their childhood." Girls also received some martial arts training."While knights don’t become knights until they are 21."… knight's training began at age 4 or 5." This reveals that although knights and samurai started their training at a young age, them becoming actual warriors were at different ages. Also, women seemed weak and useless in Europe, so only knights received training. Knights became squires at 14 and if they became approved they became real knights. Samurai went straight from training to samurai. To add on, Samurai and knights were distinct because of their armor. Document 3 shows that "Samurai did not wear armor on their right arm so they could easily draw their bow." While for knights the entire body was covered with the armor. This is important because the samurai used multiple weapons, unlike the knights. But the samurai had a disadvantage because they had less armor and protection. " As weapons grew… knights began to wear suits of plate armor." Furthermore, samurai and knights were diverse because they had different religious beliefs about death. Document 5 reveals that samurai believed in Zen Buddhism. Their belief

Throughout this century, as more and more intellectual developments occur the increase in education becomes more important than ever. Thankfully the Enlightenment period and the French Revolution brought along with them the development of the educational system. The new forms of printing lead to an increase of available books which overall produced a larger reading public. At one point of time education was only a privilege of the upper class, but as the 18th century rolled in and changes were made education became available to all classes. As Europe continued to advance surrounding countries like japan would try to copy and recreate the same types of evolution in their country to keep up with the rest of the world, some the same and others not so much.

The small samurai began practicing the basics of fencing with wooden swords at the age of 3, being given a real weapon, a mamorigatana sword for self-defence, between the ages of 5 and 7. A child was required to be able to protect itself from surrounding dangers, family enemies, robbers and vagrants, with his father and male relatives providing early combat training. The boys were sent to be raised by relatives or to the home of a fencing instructor, where they were taught military skills, archery, riding, handling a spear and unarmed combat, jujutsu, i.e. yawara. Attention also contributed to the development of intellectual virtues. There wasn’t a special school for Samurai daughters, who learned how to be good wives and housekeepers from their mothers. These young women also had to learn how to write Japanese syllabic symbols and read classic Japanese literature and poetry, while also receiving weapons training, e.g., in using the naginata spear. The knight’s childhood started with them becoming a Page.The Medieval Page of the Middle Ages was little more than a child. But his training commenced from the age of seven. The duties of a knight were seen as the combat duties and those duties were similar to serving the lords and ladies. The Knighthood training began in earnest as a Page when all their games and sports were geared towards learning skills related to horsemanship, the two-handed sword, battle axe,

During the pre-war education period, the curriculums showed how nationalistic one country's schools could become. In addition, the fact that during the pre-war period elementary school (grades 1-6) was the only compulsory and free schooling in Japan. This shows that at the time school was not there for the purpose of enlightenment, but for creating machines. The curriculum for elementary school consisted of citizenship (morals, Japanese language, Japanese history and geography), science (science and arithmetic), physical training (physical education and the martial sports of Judo and Kendo) and the arts (drawing, calligraphy and handicrafts). During the higher levels of elementary school, domestic science was added for girls.

In 1868, provincial rebels overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan and the new leaders called the regime the “Meiji Restoration.” This was just the beginning for soon-to-be modernized Japan. A stronger military, new ideas, technology, and laws would be all used to transform Japan into a modern industrial nation. Because of these, modernization had a great effects on Japan’s society and the nation as a whole from 1850 to 1950. One effect modernization had was strengthening international presence and relations for Japan as a whole. This helped to keep them active on global terms and impacted them in a positive manner. Another effect modernization resulted in was the transformation of the internal society of Japan. The changes in the society all provided great benefits for Japan.

Between 1968 and 1912, Japan was going through a reformation called Meiji Restoration in order make the country strong as western countries. It had caused changes in many parts of Japan such as society, government, military, etc. Some of these changes still can be seen in the Japanese society today such as emperors are honored by Japanese citizens and seen as a special figure. Since this reformation had a great impact on development of Japan, it can be consider as a very important part of Japanese history.This study will seek to answer the question: To what extent did the Meiji Restoration succeeded to reform and strengthen Japan? In order to answer the question, the investigation will analyze military reform and economic reform caused by

Education is a two-character long word in Chinese and can be explained separately. Shuowen Jiezi (literally:"Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters") written by Xu Shen,an early 2nd-century Chinese dictionary from the Han Dynasty. From this dictionary, education is adults’ impact to children or the upper class’s impact to the lower class. And its purpose is to make the educated be good, usually by imitation. That is, education is the activity of influencing with the purpose of those with upper status (monarch, parents, teachers, etc.) on those in a lower status (courtiers, children, students, etc.).