Understanding Japan’s Culture
Culture is the collection of all the physical and intangible manifestations of human knowledge and achievement of a society or societal subgroup (Chapter 9, n.d.). Culture can include art and artistic knowledge, for example. All cultures share several fundamental characteristics in common. Culture is shared – passed from person to person and group to group in a variety of ways. Culture is learned – children and adults are taught culture by others, through both formal and informal methods. Culture is symbolic. It makes use of symbols to stand for complex meanings, for its own dissemination, and for the observation and practice of related rituals. Culture is integrated, suffused throughout every component of a group …show more content…
During the Genpei War, the head of the Minamoto clan took power and the title of shogun. In the early fourteenth century, the end of the Kamakura shogunate led to the disintegration of the shogunates power and gave rise to regional warlords named daimyos (Totman, 2002). This period, known as the Muromachi period, was the beginning of a period of civil war. During this period, Portuguese traders made contact with the nation, establishing lines of trade with the Western world. The late sixteenth century saw the rise of the daimyo Oda Nobunga, who reunited the Japanese islands, recommencing a period of centralized rule. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, the ruling Tokugawa shogunate imposed a policy known as Sakoku – an isolationist policy that saw Japan restrict access from the outside world (Totman, …show more content…
This period saw Japan become globally influential, launching a number of invasions of, and engaging in several military conflicts with, other nations, as well as developing the rudiments of a democracy. However, ultimately throughout most of the beginning of the twentieth century, the military maintained great authority, often overriding the civil government (Totman, 2002). In 1931, the Japanese military invaded Manchurian; six years later that initial conflict had blossomed into a full-blown war with China. Japan’s infamous bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II ultimately led to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that led to Japan’s unconditional surrender to the Allied forces in 1945 (Pape, 1993). After seven years of occupation, Japan implemented a constitution that established the nation as a constitutional monarchy. After several years, Japan began to experience a sustained period of high economic growth, during what was known as the Showa period. The current Heisei period, which began in 1989 is known for diminishing economic growth and economic stagnation. Despite this, it remains one of the top five largest economies in the world (Baron,
Culture is the collection of all the physical and intangible manifestations of human knowledge and achievement of a society or societal subgroup (Chapter 9, n.d.). Culture can include art and artistic knowledge, for example. All cultures share several fundamental characteristics in common. Culture is shared – passed from person to person and group to group in a variety of ways. Culture is learned – children and adults are taught culture by others, through both formal and informal methods. Culture is symbolic. It makes use of symbols to stand for complex meanings, for its own dissemination, and for the observation and practice of related rituals. Culture is integrated, suffused throughout every component of a group …show more content…
During the Genpei War, the head of the Minamoto clan took power and the title of shogun. In the early fourteenth century, the end of the Kamakura shogunate led to the disintegration of the shogunates power and gave rise to regional warlords named daimyos (Totman, 2002). This period, known as the Muromachi period, was the beginning of a period of civil war. During this period, Portuguese traders made contact with the nation, establishing lines of trade with the Western world. The late sixteenth century saw the rise of the daimyo Oda Nobunga, who reunited the Japanese islands, recommencing a period of centralized rule. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, the ruling Tokugawa shogunate imposed a policy known as Sakoku – an isolationist policy that saw Japan restrict access from the outside world (Totman, …show more content…
This period saw Japan become globally influential, launching a number of invasions of, and engaging in several military conflicts with, other nations, as well as developing the rudiments of a democracy. However, ultimately throughout most of the beginning of the twentieth century, the military maintained great authority, often overriding the civil government (Totman, 2002). In 1931, the Japanese military invaded Manchurian; six years later that initial conflict had blossomed into a full-blown war with China. Japan’s infamous bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II ultimately led to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that led to Japan’s unconditional surrender to the Allied forces in 1945 (Pape, 1993). After seven years of occupation, Japan implemented a constitution that established the nation as a constitutional monarchy. After several years, Japan began to experience a sustained period of high economic growth, during what was known as the Showa period. The current Heisei period, which began in 1989 is known for diminishing economic growth and economic stagnation. Despite this, it remains one of the top five largest economies in the world (Baron,