4.+Japan's+History

GEOGRAPHY OF JAPAN

Unlike most other countries, Japan is a country that is made up entirely of islands, and its borders are set by the sea. The mountainous islands in the Pacific Ocean are about 100 miles across the Sea of Japan from Korea and about 500 miles across the sea from China. For centuries the sea protected Japan from invaders. But the sea also was a highway for the Japanese to help them travel between islands. Because Japan is so isolated, the Japanese developed a very different way of life for themselves. We still see many of these traditions in Japan today.

Castles of Japan



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3/7/12 JAPAN'S HISTORY About 900 years ago, warriors called the **samurai** rose to fame and power in Japan. The word samurai means "those who serve". Samurai swore an oath to serve their leaders. They followed a code of rules called **bushido**. They obeyed these rules without question. Honor meant more to a samurai than did wealth or even their life. A samurai would rather die than shame himself. Why did Japan need warriors if the sea protected them from invaders?

To understand why a warrior class like the samurai were needed, it's important to understand Japan's history. For centuries emperors ruled Japan from the city that is now called **Kyoto**. Over time rich families created large private estates in the country and gained a lot of power. Between the years 1000 and 1200, the emperor lost more and more power. Estate owners were called **daimyo**. The daimyo became more independent. They hired bands of samurai to protect them and to protect the peasants who farmed their land from rival daimyo who might want to invade and take over their estates.

As the independent daimyos gained power, a new political and military system came about in Japan. Under this system, the samurai promised to obey and be loyal to their daimyo. A samurai's loyalty to his daimyo was stronger than his loyalty to his own family. He was expected to gladly give his life in the service of his daimyo. Peasants were at the bottom of the social class, then the samurai (warrior class), then the daimyo. People who controlled the daimyos were called **shoguns**. They were very powerful warlords. For years Japan was divided between powerful shogun families who fought to gain control of the country. Powerful shoguns could bring long periods of peace to Japan, but when the shoguns were not good leaders, the daimyo and their samurai bands were always at war with each other.

By the late 1200's, Kublai Khan and the Mongols from the mainland of Asia tried to invade Japan several times but were not successful as they had been in China. The Japanese were left alone for nearly 300 years until the 1500's when Portuguese sailors were blown off course and landed in Japan. The Japanese were very interested in their guns (this was the first time they were introduced). This was a period in the world's history know as the "Age of Exploration", and many explorers from Europe were seeking new trade routes around the world. Soon after that, many European traders and Christian missionaries arrived. The Japanese began trading with the outside world, and many Japanese became Christians.

In 1603, a powerful shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu took power. He wanted to end the fighting among the warring samurai bands and restore order to Japan. He divided Japan into 250 regions and put one daimyo in charge of each region. The daimyos promised to serve the shogun and swore loyalty to him.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was afraid that the Europeans might try to conquer Japan and he did not like the influence that European culture was having on the Japanese. So he decided to isolate Japan from the rest of the world like it had been before. He outlawed Christianity and forced European traders to leave the country. Most travel and trade outside of Japan was forbidden by law. He closed Japanese ports to outsiders. They stopped building large ships that could travel great distances. This isolation lasted for 250 years, until 1853.