Feudal System: Japan's vs. Europe's

The Japanese had a similar but different feudal system when compared to the Europeans feudal system. They both had the same structure of a pyramid.
The Europeans feudal system was one that you would probably expect. At the bottom of the pyramid was the peasants while at the top you had the king. Right below the king were the nobles who were basically the assistants to the kings and queens and they were highly respected people in society. Below the nobles and above the peasants was a very important group the knights. Knights were men, normally born into some type of nobility of high middle class family, and they were trained from a young age to be a knight. Knights were known for their code of chivalry that they followed. Chivalry is the term used to describe the code of conduct in which knights were to follow and it included the ideas of knightly virtues, honor, and courtly love. That was the basic structure of the feudal system in Europe at the time, at the bottom peasants, one step up knights, then nobles, and at the very top kings. But their was one more group even more powerful than the kings and queens that was their and this was religion. By religion we mean God, and that everyone in the feudal system believed strongly in religion and looked up to God for everything. So you could say that God ruled over everything even though you cant physically see or touch him they believed he was there.
The Japanese feudal system was very similar to the European feudal system. At the bottom of the pyramid was the peasants just like the Europeans had. At the top was the shogun, which is basically equivalent to a general. Below the shogun was the daimyo. The daimyo was basically the same thing as a lord like in the European feudal system. Once again there was a very important group below the daimyo and above the peasants. This group was the Samurai. The Samurai were fierce warriors and their job in society was to protect the daimyo and the showgun but even more than that the emperor. The emperor was like God in European feudal times but in Japan the emperor was a real person and not a realistic figure. In Japan everyone looked up to the emperor and would do anything to protect the emperor and show their respect to him. The Samurai like knights followed a code of conduct but their code was called bushido and its meaning is way of the warrior. The central point of bushido was to show complete loyalty towards the lord, the daimyo.
As you can see Japanese feudal system was almost the same and European feudal system there was just a couple changes in name and in like code of conduct and worship.

Samurai and Native American Treatment

The Samurai and the Native Americans were treated very similarly for their beliefs. The Native Americans were very similar to the Samurai and they believed in keeping to their traditional ways. The Native Americans were people who lived in groups called tribes throughout the United States. They lived off the land and depending on where they lived they would adapt to the land there and live off the natural resources. Native Americans believed in respecting the land and that the land gave them many gifts. They became very proficient farmers, hunters, and fishers and they would build their homes out of any natural resources they could find. Native Americans also had clothing that they all wore and they mostly wore feather headdresses, small pieces of cloth (they typically did not wear much clothing), and paint that they made from the land on their faces. While in battle the Native Americans used spears and bows and arrows, so when other countries modernized they stuck to their traditional weapons making them weaker. Like the Samurai the Native Americans resisted change and wanted to keep to their traditions and as the Samurai were the Native Americans were attacked. They were attacked and a great deal of them died including women and children.
The Samurai were like the Native Americans and had very strong beliefs that they did not want to go against. The Samurai believed the strongest in their code of the warrior called bushido. They believed strongly in never giving up and never loosing a battle to your enemy, which was considered weak. The Samurai even believed in having an honorable death to the extent that they would commit suicide if it meant that they would have an honorable death. Samurai had their traditional clothing that they wore and during battle they wore the same armor they had always worn and only used swords. This shows they were very much against modernizing and they didn’t want to change their ways of fighting even though other countries were acquiring new weapons to fight with. Japan eventually turned on the Samurai’s and attacked them because they would not change their ways. But because of the Samurai’s lack in powerful weapons when compared to the Japanese, who had modernized and had all sorts of guns and cannon type things, they were very weak and could easily be wiped out. And this came to be true when the Japanese army attacked the Samurai and wiped out the Samurai warriors once and for all.
The Samurai and the Native Americans were both not really respected for trying to stick to their traditional ways. By not wanting to modernize they both paid the price and were attacked and many were killed on both sides.

Japanese Industrialization

“I belong to the warrior in whom the old ways have joined the new.”

At first the Japanese were against the idea of industrializing but they soon became more willing to embrace the idea of industrializing. One factor that changed the idea of the Japanese was when Commodore Matthew Perry brought its Naval fleet into Tokyo Harbor. The Japanese were astounded by the massive ships and the military power of the Americans and realized if they were to go into battle with the Americans they would have demolished them. Perry then delivered a threatening message to the Japanese emperor and this caused the Japanese and Americans to sign the Treaty of Kanagawa. This treaty opened two ports to Americans to take on supplies in Japan and it allowed the United States to set up an embassy in Japan. The Japanese then felt as if they were loosing control of their country and under the rule of Emperor Mutsuhito Japan established a new government. He called this period of time the Meiji Era meaning enlightened rule and the Meiji Era took place from 1867 to 1912. The emperor realized the best way to oppose Western imperialism was to adopt new ways. Japans first act in the Meiji Era was they gave their land to the emperor. The next way Japan attempted to modernize was by sending people to other countries to study foreign ways and the Japanese then chose what they believed to be the best ideas and adapted them to their own country. They admired Germany’s strong centralized government and the discipline of their army. They also admired the British navy’s skill and they attempted to make these European powers ways a part of their military as they modernized. Japan also adopted the Americans system of universal public education. After adopting new ways and modernizing Japan had become a very powerful force in the world.
Japanese industrialization was a time of great progress for Japan but as always their were positive and negative effects that came with it. One positive effect of Japan’s industrialization was that they gained political stability. Before Japan industrialized they were being taken over by foreign countries and were giving everyone that came towards them extraterritorial rights and anything else they wanted. Once Emperor Mutsuhito decided to stand up for Japan he was able to establish a strong powerful government (Meiji Era) that gave them political stability. Another positive effect industrializing had on Japan was that they obtained a strong powerful warfare and armed forces. Emperor Mutsuhito did this by adopting the discipline of the armies in Germany and the skill of the British navy. By adopting these new ways the Japanese were able to gain position as an up and coming force in the world and were able to gain national pride. By the end of the Meiji Era the Japanese were one of the most powerful countries in the eastern hemisphere with their advances in politics, warfare, and economics. Although their were many positives that came out of the Japanese industrialization there was also a couple of negative effects that came only with it.
One negative effect of industrialization was that Japan became very power hungry and it caused many problems in the eastern hemisphere. Japan became interested in Korea because they could become a trading partner with them and a military outpost as well. But Japan soon realized their neighbor China was interested in Korea for the same reasons and in 1885 China and Japan came to an hands-off agreement that neither of them would send their armies to Korea. China soon broke the agreement when asked to help put down Korea’s king and Japan protested and sent its troops into Korea to fight the Chinese. This was called the Sino-Japanese War and after a few months Japan had destroyed the Chinese navy and forced them out of Korea. In 1895, China and Japan signed a treaty and soon after this Japan had begun to take over Manchuria. With Japan’s win over China it surprised the world and changed the balance power in the world to Japan and Russia. Being enemies Japan and Russia went to war over Manchuria and this resulted in the Russo-Japanese War and the in the end Japan forced Russia out of Manchuria and became basically the most powerful country in the world. Japan’s industrialization was mostly for the better but did have some negative bumps along the way.

Samurai Culture and Traditions

"A samurai should always be prepared for death - whether his own or someone else's."

The Japanese samurai warriors came into existence in the 12th century when the Taira and the Minamato, two powerful Japanese clans fought a war against each other. Samurai means to serve. During the 12th century the samurai had a ranking system that distinguished three major ranks. The highest rank was the kenin meaning “horsemen”. The kenin were the administrators or vassals. The second rank was the mounted samurai who were allowed to fight on horse-back. (Only high ranking samurai were allowed to fight on horses) The lowest ranking samurai were the foot soldiers. The samurai warriors followed an ethic code of behavior called bushido. Bushido means “way of the warrior” and the central point of bushido was complete loyalty towards the lord, the daimyo. The bushido code had seven virtues that were to be followed and they were rectitude, courage, benevolence, respect, honesty, loyalty, and honor. The samurai warriors were fierce fighters and refused to use firearms. They were only allowed to wear two swords- a long one and a short one. To the samurai the sword represented the soul. When the samurai fought they wore armor called the rokugu, that was composed of six different parts. The six components to the armor were the chest protector (yoroi), the helmet (kabuto), the mask (ho-ate or mempo), the armored sleeves (kote), the shin guards (sune-ate), and the loin guards (koshi-ate). The samurai wore something very different for their everyday wear. Everyday they wore robes called kimono. Men usually wore dull colored kimono’s such as black, brown, or gray, to hide the fact that they were old. Women would wear colored and layered kimono’s that was determined by the station and power of their husband. Children wore bright, colorful, patterned kimono’s until they had their coming of age ceremony which tended to make the colors duller and boring. The samurai warriors followed bushido very strictly and considered it a weakness to back down in a battle and the strongly believed in never giving up. If the samurai were to be beaten in battle they were to commit suicide to have an honorable death, this was called seppuku, and this was part of bushido. One practiced form of seppuku was hara-kiri which literally means stomach-cutting. When hara-kiri was performed outside a battle, it was performed in a ceremony and many people would attend this ceremony. The person doing hara-kiri had to slice up his abdomen and when they were finished they stretched out their neck. They had an assistant standing behind them to behead them with one stroke of their sword. Seppuku was often performed for reasons that were connected to honor and disgrace. It was also a way of showing a disagreement with ones master. One of the most common reasons for performing seppuku was a lose in battle to avoid the disgrace of falling into the hands of an enemy. Samurai’s were taught from a young age how to fight. As children they started learning how to use a sword and how to defend themselves with it. They would practice fighting each other with sticks, and this practice was continued throughout their lives. The samurai never stop practicing and trying to improve their fighting skills, no matter how old they are or how experienced they are. The samurai are very fierce warriors and live very different lives than we do in America.
~ To find our more info about the kimono’s the samurai wear visit this website. http://www.samurai-archives.com/cultcat.html
~ To find out more about Bushido visit this website. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushido
~ To find out more about the samurai’s armor visit this website. http://onibushi.tripod.com/id96.htm