Social Structure In Medieval Japan

While ongoing change became the status quo in late-Tokugawa era Japan the ideals of the samurai—and the respect they receive—endured. And, because samurai could still fall back on the prestige their class represented, members of society still

The Japanese warrior, known as the samurai, has played a significant role in Japan's history and culture throughout the centuries. Their ancestors can be traced back to as far as can be remembered. Some stories have become mysterious legends handed down over the centuries. In this report you will learn who the samurai were, their origins as we know them, how they lived and fought and their evolution to today. It will be clear why the samurai stand out as one of the most famous group of warriors of all times.

The European and Japanese Feudalism shared a ruler.Both cultures had a king and queen at the top of the class system. The king and queen were the most wealthy in their country. In European feudalism had political control. The king and queen usually lived in a castle.One the other hand, Emperor and Empress in Japan is very similar to the king and

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.

In 1159, Kiyomori of the Taira clan was victorious over the Minamoto clan. Kiyomori murdered all the adults of the Monamoto clan and forced the children into exile. The emperor rewarded Kiyomori victory by giving him an advisor position in the government. This event was significant because Kiyomori was the first warrior in Japan’s government. Like the Fujiwara family, Kiyomori desired a royal bloodline within the Taira clan. So the Taira clan consorted with the imperial family in efforts to secure an imperial bloodline. Later, Kiyomori obtain a higher government position and more importantly a grandson was born and is heir to the throne. Feeling cheated an imperial prince sought the exiled Minamoto to overthrow the Taria clan. In 1180, Yoritomo of the Minamoto clan formed an army and battled with Taira clan that is known as the Genpei War. Eventually, Kiyomori died and the Taria clan shortly declined after him. During these battles warriors ran amok pillaging the Japan’s cuntryside. To end the chaos and violence the imperial turned to Yoritomo. Yoritomo in return raise an army of samurais and took complete control of the government and transformed it into a military government. The Kamakura government consisted of the emperor, shogun, and the house men. The emperor served merely as a figurehead, he little to no control of his government. The shogun had

The young warriors were taught to sacrifice everything for the emperor or lord. In Japan, the emperor represented the laws and the state and was considered divine. Loyalty was an ethical demand stemming from this political theory. A samurai was obligated to appeal to the wisdom of his lord by committing seppuku.

Feudal Japan and Ming China were two times in history within these similar countries, that have been around since ancient times. These countries have similar and different traditions, a way of doing things, that have defined them as a civilization and a world power. The Japanese and Chinese had times where select families or people were in control, dynasty, because of their ranks and their abilities, in addition their social classes were similar in the way they treated people, and how people treated other people depending on their jobs and their status. There were the shoguns,a hereditary commander-in-chief in feudal Japan, and in China there were the emperors, the ones ruling the empire (land), these were the people that were at the top

The Japanese social structure was a lot more complicated than the Europeans simple and permanent one. They were a lot more specific on who went where, and they had several levels of peasants. This structure was determined by looking at how much you contributed to the society, and the more you did, obviously the more important on the ranking you were. The Eta and Hinin were considered “unhuman” because they did work which went against the laws of Buddhism. In medieval Europe, the social structure was simple; if you were a peasant, there was no changing that. You were a peasant! The King was only answerable to the Pope, as during this time the Catholic Church was extremely powerful, having their say in practically everything. The difference between these two is that the Japanese simply had a ruler (the emperor), and although of course they were swayed by their religion, the Emperor had a strong say, whereas the European

The Japanese society was divided into four classes: samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants. The samurai was a class of warriors, emerged from Japan during the constant

Shogun - a Japanese military dictator, appointed by the emperor who had little other power

Now we will further explore their Social Position in samurai and knights nations. Well first let's look at a social pyramid on a knight social pyramid, in order it goes, Pope, King, Lords, Lesser Lords, Knights etc. (Document A Social Pyramid) Now let's look at Japan, in order, Emperor, Shogun, Daimyo, Samurai, etc. (Document A Social Pyramid) As you can see they had two very different social positions the knight was 5 places down while the samurai was 4 making the samurai more respected. In (Doc B by Catherine Bloomberg) it tells us of the relationship between warrior and lord. In Japan the relationship is truly

By the 900’s, the Japanese government began losing control over rural areas due to its weak ruler and the samurai warrior class stepped in to take control. This was due to a civil war called the “Hogen Rebellion” in 1156. This rebellion was due to conflicts regarding Imperial Japanese succession and unexpectedly laid the groundwork for the samurai clans to gain dominance. With both “would-be emperors” losing the Hogen Rebellion, the imperial government of Japan lost all of its remaining power. This led to the Heiji Rebellion in 1160 which was fought between two samurai clans, the Minamoto and Taira. With the victory of the Taira clan, the first samurai-led government (Shogunate) was formed. This type of government was controlled by the samurai clans, and the Emperor of Japan was only used as a figurehead to the government.

Feudal Europe and Feudal Japan were two different civilizations, with two different social structures. Although both used the Feudal system, they used altered versions of it. Feudal Japan differs from Feudal Europe by its social classes.     To begin, the leaders in the two civilizations had different roles. The Feudal Europe King had to rule his country, and had all the authority.

Emperor gained control of the government and shogun and daimyos lost their power. Also, emperor were seen became the commander of the military and head of shintoism. He was seen as a god-figure.

War played a central part in the history of Japanese samurai. As regional clans gathered manpower, resources and struck alliances with each other, they formed a hierarchy centered around a toryo, or chief. This chief was typically a relative of the emperor