Geographic and Historical Factors Shaping Japanese Culture and Society, Lecture notes of Japanese

Download Geographic and Historical Factors Shaping Japanese Culture and Society and more Lecture notes Japanese in PDF only on Docsity! Geographic Factors Influencing Japan Location • Consists of four major and many smaller islands in the northern Pacific, with a land area about the size of California; • The islands extend in an arc-like shape off the Asian mainland, some 100 miles from Korea and 500 miles from China. • Even before modern transportation Japan was close enough to China to be affected by its history and culture. • But Japan was still distant enough from China for the Japanese to remain a homogenous people able to develop a distinct way of life and retain a sense of isolation. Good Harbors Because Japan has numerous good harbors on its long irregular coastline, many Japanese have turned to the sea for their livelihood. They developed an interest in fishing and overseas trade – two activities that have typified Japan’s economic life. Japan remains a major seafaring nation. Many Ports Black: LNG terminal for ocean tankers Blue: LNG terminal for coastal tankers Hakodate lachinohe Kawagoe Okayama Shin-Minato Ohgishima Higashi-Ohgishima Sodegaura Yanai Tobata ee eqishi Fukuhoku * Sadeshi 9 Chita, Chita Joint LNG, Chita Midorihama Yokkaichi (Chubu, Toho} Nagasaki Kagoshima e? = Senboku 1, 2 Mountains • The mountains of Japan provide great natural beauty but restrict the farming area to less than 20% of the land surface. • This lack of farmland limited the number of Japanese who could earn a living from farming. • It also compelled those who did farm to expand land areas suitable for crops by building terraces. These are a series of flat areas, rising one above the other , created by digging into the mountainside. • Except for a meager supply of coal, Japan is poor in mineral resources. In the 19th century, when Japan turned to industry, the country had to depend heavily on imports for foodstuffs and basic raw materials. History of Japan Earliest Times • Little is known about Japan’s early history because the Japanese developed writing at a late date. • Until the 6th century A.D., the Japanese had no accurate written records. • According to legend, the gods created Japan, and their descendant, Jimmu, became the first emperor of Japan in 660 B.C. Earliest Times The modern Japanese were probably immigrants who came in prehistoric times from northeastern Asia by way of Korea. Also, some early immigrants probably came from southern China and the Malayan Peninsula. These early Japanese formed a number of small states, each headed by a ruling family, or clan. By the 4th century A.D., the Yamato clan established a vague leadership over the other clans and became Japan’s first imperial family. Buddhism in Japan www.japanese-buddhism.com Japan Adopts Chinese Culture C. Writing and Literature: The Japanese adapted the complex Chinese writing system to the Japanese spoken tongue. Also, they shared in China’s rich literary heritage and imitated Chinese writings: poetry, history, and the Confucian classics. Japan Adopts Chinese Culture D. Government: Following the example of Tang China, the Japanese • exalted the position of the emperor; • established a centralized government, and • adopted a modified civil service examination system. Feudalism • As in all feudal societies, land is important; all wealth based upon the production of rice; • Clan leader received land from a provincial governor; • Provincial governor appointed by emperor or Shogun to rule over a specific region of Japan; • Theoretically, the emperor ruled over all of Japan; Samurai The warrior class of Japan; for more than 700 years, they were the soldiers, peacekeepers and rulers of Japan; The samurai lived violent, exciting and often short lives; In war, fierce fighters, battling to the death in the service of their masters; In peacetime, gentlemen who appreciated poetry, philosophy, and finely crafted works of art; Samurai Samurai • used a variety of weapons, including bows and later, even firearms, but it was their swords that made a samurai a samurai. • What most people broadly refer to as a “samurai sword” is called a katana (long sword). Each katana was made by hand, handed to a specific samurai in a coming-of-age ceremony, named, and expected to become part of him for life. • Samurai always carried a second, shorter sword called a wakizashi. Wakizashi were designed for close quarter combat, and were often used to deliver the killing blow to an enemy already struck by the katana. • Finally, many samurai also carried a tanto, a type of dagger, often concealed and used in surprise attacks and as a last-ditch defensive weapon. Weapons Samurai • The concept of honor is deeply embedded in bushido, and every samurai was expected to understand that life itself was a journey seeking the right way, time and place to die. • Many samurai died by their own hand, suicide, known as seppuku. The term hara-kiri, popular in the West, is considered vulgar and crude, more akin to the English word “gutting” than anything as elegant as honorable death. • Seppuku can be either a voluntary act or ordered as a punishment for some sin so egregious that it cannot be forgiven. Nonetheless, the act itself is the same, properly carried out only one of two ways. • The practitioner uses his short sword to pierce his stomach, moving the blade left to right until he has disemboweled himself. An attendant then quickly decapitates the disemboweled samurai to forestall an extremely long and painful death. Rival Samurai Clans • Two large Samurai clans – the Minamoto and Taira - had helped the emperor defeat clans threatening the government. In return for their service, the emperor rewarded these clans with large amounts of land; • These clans became rivals for power and influence; • The Gempei War (1180-1185) Minamoto clan is victorious and becomes the strongest clan in Japan; breaks away for the imperial government and forms its own government; the leader is more powerful than the emperor – the shogun; Shogun The Shogun now owned all of the land; Land loaned by the Shogun to powerful smaurai known as shugo; The shugo, in turn, loaned land to less powerful samurai who served under them; As long as the Shogun was strong enough to control the shugo, he could control al of the samurai of Japan. Frequent Warfare From 12th to 17th centuries, samurai from different clans struggled to gain power over one another. Hard to keep control over the shugo and their samurai. Shogun often keeps family members of shugo as hostages. Shogun forced many shugo to live at his capital cityevery other year; Foreign Relations Important Foreign Developments of Feudal Japan. 1. Withstood the Mongols. In the late 13th century, Japanese warriors withstood two separate Mongol invasion attempts. The second invasion fleet was destroyed in 1281 with the help of a typhoon. Hailing this typhoon as the “protector of the sacred homeland,” the Japanese named it the “divine wind,” or kamikaze. 2. Failed to Conquer the Mainland Hideyoshi, a feudal general, gained control of Japan in the late 16th century and determined to conquer China. As a first step, Hideyoshi invaded Korea, but his death soon ended Japan’s first attempt at overseas conquest. 3. First Welcomed, Then Excluded Western (European)Influence