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26 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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1. Jomon Period |
Between 14,500 BCE – 300 BCE. Pottery important for sedentary life. Behind in agricultural tech compared to China. |
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2. Yayoi Period |
300 BCE – 200 CE. People spread North and East from Kyushu area. Became agricultural. Organized into villages. Pottery resembles Korean pottery. Slave society with POW. Lack of patriarchal system at this time. Matrilineal and uxorilocal. |
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3. Early Japan’s Connections with China and Korea |
During Yayoi Period, skeletons were either derived from the Jomon period, or were similar to Koreans. China/Korea brought over wet field rice farming, irrigation, serf farming, burial mounds, Mahayana Buddhism. |
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4. Himiko |
Sorceress queen. Sent a tribute mission to China in 239 CE to gain alliance, help, etc. Oversaw an alliance of 30 chieftains. Lived in a palace. Buried with 100 of her attendants. Performed rituals to win the favor of her followers. |
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5. Yamato Period |
250 CE – 710 CE. Iron forging tech. Increased relations with China through tributary missions. Japan adopts philosophy and government from China. Introduction of Buddhism in 550 CE, which becomes the state religion. Centralization of Japan begins. |
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6. Prince Shotoku |
574 CE – 652 CE. Established a real central government with a hierarchy. Brings together Buddhism and Confucianism. Organized tax system. Supporter of all things Chinese. Created a distance between the ruled and the ruler. |
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7. The 17 Articles of Prince Shotoku |
Stated in general terms. Offers moral guidance rather than detailed laws (Confucian influence). Urges people to accept imperial rule to achieve social harmony. Ministers and officials are to always put the public above private interests. |
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8. Taika Reforms |
Based on Confucianism and the Chinese system, to strengthen the rulers. Divided Japan into provinces, counties and towns through censuses and land surveying, which improves taxation. Articulates importance of Buddhism, with the state owning Buddhism, temples, and controls salaries and funding of monks. Only allows government officials (and their militia) to carry weapons. |
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9. Nara Period |
710 CE – 794 CE. Furthered the centralization and synthesis of Confucianism and Buddhism. Established Heiankyo as capital city. |
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10. Buddhism in early Japan |
State religion of Japan. Strongly influenced and merged with Confucianism. Government controls the funding of temples and monks. |
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11. Heian Period |
794 CE – 1080 CE. Bureaucratic government, with violence-free land. Kanmu is the ruler of the time. Establishes Kyoto. Quells the power of the clergy. Kanmu kept a close-knit council to advise him. Didn’t micromanage the land by establishing provincial governors who had tax quotas. Commoners policed themselves. Followed by the Kamakura Shogunate after political strife. |
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12. Minamoto no Yoritomo |
Founded the Kamakura Shogunate, ruled from 1192 CE – 1199 CE. Establishes a feudal system of vassal and lord, and a military comprised of samurai. Constant fear of losing power; all of his supporters signed an oath of allegiance. Offered protection of their claims to land and offices in return. The event that legitimizes his power is his creation of the Jitou office (“head seward of land protection”), which managed land. |
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13. Joei Code |
Issued by Joujou Yasutoki in 1232 CE. Made up of fifty-one (51) articles. Intended as a guide for the conduct of the STATE. Also started the development of Warrior Law, distinct from court law and estate law. Provided standards for warrior behavior. Was not a formal set of laws, rather establishing certain rules and identifying categories of legal concern. |
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14. Shogun |
A hereditary military ruler who oversaw portions of land. |
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15. Kamakura Shogunate |
Founded by Minamoto no Yoritomo. From 1293 on, they exiled those who defied the Shogunate, and did away with the council of advisors. Began the practice of partible inheritance, which contributed to its downfall by increasing the size of the warrior class but shrinking inheritance. The Kamakura Shogunate became reluctant to protect land rights, leading to lawlessness. |
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16. Samurai |
Came about possibly through people who took policing into their own hands due to lax local laws, or the monarchy encouraged new forms of military organization in the form of mercenaries to protect localities, who eventually became the samurai warrior class. Were above commoners. |
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17. Mongol Invasions |
The two invasions (1271 CE and 1281 CE) occurred during the Kamakura Period. Samurai were able to drive them back, showing the development of their power by this time. Both times, a typhoon struck, destroying much of the Mongol forces. Kamikaze. Was very expensive, and the state took a lot of money from Buddhist temples, straining relations between clergy and shogunate. |
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18. Japan’s Middle Ages (1330 CE – 1600 CE) |
Shogunate, Buddhist Temples, State Gov’t, and commoner law still main players. Trade going well across land and with Korea. Conflict arises between the samurai and Court in Kyoto. |
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19. Kenmu Code |
Addresses issues Kyoto was facing in 1336 as the city grew. Because Kyoto now housed both the court and the shogunate, there was a rise in lawlessness. Reminiscent of Shotoku’s 17 Articles and the Joei Code in some parts. Covered topics such as controlling extravagant spending, drinking in crowds, gambling, sporting women, etc. Calls for offices to be filled by those of merit rather than nepotism or by birth. |
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20. Emperor Go-Daigo |
Led a Restoration from 1330 CE – 1333 CE. Saw the Kamakura was declining and wanted to restore power to monarchy. Convinced his father to give him more powers prior to taking office to preemptively shift power to himself. Recruited administrators to help him strengthen the monarchy. The Shogunate finds out about Go-Daigo’s plans to topple them and exiles him. |
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21. Ashikaga Takauji |
Was pro-monarchy at first, but eventually questions authority, amasses his own strengths, and forms the Muromachi Shogunate, becoming rule of Japan in 1338. Comes to power by attacking the Kamakura Regime and weakening them. Brings Go-Daigo back from exile, but turns on him when the Emperor tries to force him to share his spoils of war. Drives Go-Daigo out of Kyoto, and makes his own HQ in the Muromachi section of Kyoto to keep an eye on the emperor’s supporters. Spreads the Kenmu Code. |
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22. Oda Nobunaga |
Powerful samurai who comes into power in 1563. Tries to unify Japan. Brutal, purged his competitors, including his family. Talented at building support, and brought Ashikaga’s regime to an end. Anti-Buddhism to reduce their power, supported Christianity’s spread for this reason. Designed new economic and social policies, tried to stabilize exchange rates, minted his own coins. Committed suicide after a general betrayed and wounded him, and was succeeded by Hideyoshi. |
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23. Toyotomi Hideyoshi |
Continued Nobunaga’s rule and centralization of Japan. Strove for stability and order. Conducted land surveys to determine amount of arable land. Wanted to distinguish samurai and commoners, only samurai could carry two swords (1588 CE). Samurai were in service for life. Many of the changes he made were kept till the end of the Meiji Period. Claimed he wanted to take over China, and mobilized two separate attacks on them. First drove the Korean king out of Seoul, and devastated Korea until a capable Korean admiral pushed Hideyoshi’s forces back in naval combat. Second attempt failed because China supported Korea. Birthed son at 60, kills adopted son. Succeeded by Tokugawa Ieyasu. |
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24. Edo Period |
Europeans in Japan, starting with Portuguese (1593 CE), then Spanish, Dutch, and British. By early 1600s, Ieyasu tries to close Japan off from missionaries. Could only trade at certain places (Nagasaki). Buddhism was still the most popular religion despite Nobunaga’s efforts. |
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25. Tokugawa Ieyasu |
Made Edo (Tokyo) Japan’s capital. Changed how the Shogunate worked; daimyo were at the mercy of the Shogun and could be relocated at whim. Ieyasu banned Japanese from traveling overseas, as well as foreign books. |
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26. Tokugawa Shogunate |
Established certain national responsibilities. Shogunate itself was responsible for overseeing renovation of roads, keeping guns out of Edo. Developed coastal shipping routes, took over precious metal mines, nationwide system to encourage and revisit Buddhism. Established SANKIN KOUTAI, where daimyo spent half of the year in Edo so Tokugawa could keep an eye on them. Sankin koutai pushed daimyo to become entrepreneurs. Made the Matsumaya clan deal with Ainu for contract labor for fishing. Overall, survived due to its military domination over its people. Areas like Edo thrived, but outer areas of Japan struggled. Kyoto grew to a metropolis for luxury goods, Osaka was the heart of trading, and Edo the capital. Publishing and literacy grew, kabuki and hairdressing, accompanied by brothels. |
