JAPAN RETURNS TO ISOLATION PRIOR HISTORY 1300 s

JAPAN RETURNS TO ISOLATION

PRIOR HISTORY • 1300 s unity/peace that had been achieved broke down • “Shoguns” or military leaders in North & South fought for power • Economic/political unrest • Centuries before Japan would be unified again

FEUDALISM • Civil War- 1467 • Shattered old feudal system • Country collapsed in chaos • Power shifted from military shogun to territorial lords • Time period is known as the Sengoku, or “Warring States” period • Daimyo- “great name” • Military cheiftan • Offered peasants & others protection for their loyalty • Emperor @ Kyoto had title but not power

DAIMYO’S SEIZE CONTROL • • Daimyo- “great name” Military chieftains Offered peasants & others protection for their loyalty Kyoto- Japan’s capital • Emperor had title but did not have control of the country • Built fortified castles & created small armies of samurai warriors on horses • Added foot soldiers with guns (muskets) • Fought rival Daimyo for land • Caused disorder throughout the land

RESTORING ORDER • Daimyo sought to take control of the entire country • Oda Nobunaga • Defeated rivals & seized imperial capital in Kyoto in 1568 • Wanted to eliminate any remaining Daimyo • “Rule the empire by force” • 1575 - Crushed an enemy force of samurai calvary • 1 st time guns had been used effectively in battle in Japan • Not able to unify Japan • Commited Seppuku- ritual death of a samurai when his general turned on him

TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI • Nobunaga’s best general • Continued fallen leader’s mission • Set out to kill daimyo that remained hostile • 1590 - united Japan under one rule through diplomacy and conquest • Led campaign against Koreans & Ming (Chinese) allies • Planned to eventually conquer China • Died in 1598 - troops withdrew from China

TOKUGAWA UNITES JAPAN • Earned loyalty of daimyo throughout Japan • Became sole ruler or shogun • Moved capital to Edo- power base • Small fishing village • Eventually became Tokyo • Daimyo still ruled at the local level • Tokugawa’s Plan • Daimyo had to live in the capital ever other year • During the other years they had to leave their families in the capital • Rule by law, not by the sword • Tokugawa Shogunate- system of rule until 1867

TOKUGAWA LIFE IN JAPAN • Society Pyramid 1. Shogun- supreme military commander 2. Daimyo- land holding samurai 3. Samurai 4. Peasants/Artisans- 4/5 population 5. Merchants • Confucian Values • Ideal society depended on agriculture not business • Farmers- ideal citizens • Peasant farmers carried majority of tax burden

TOKUGAWA LIFE IN JAPAN • Shift to urban society • Edo (Tokyo) grown from small village to largest city in the world • More than a million people • Women • Employment for women increased • Entertainment, textile manufacturing, publishing • Majority still worked in the field, managed the home, & children • Culture • Traditional culture thrived • Haiku- new type of fiction (poetry) • Kabuki- actors in elaborate costumes using music, dance & mime

EUROPEANS ARRIVE • During “Warring states period” • Portugal was 1 st • Welcomed traders & missionaries • Clocks, eyeglasses, tobacco, firearms, & items from Europe • Daimyo took interest in Portuguese guns/cannons • Missionaries • Converted approx. 300, 000 Japanese by 1600 • Tokugawa became worried because some missionaries scorned traditional Japanese beliefs • Feared losing European Business • 1612 - Banned Christianity from country • European missionaries were killed or driven out of Japan

CLOSED COUNTRY POLICY • Shoguns realized they could safely exclude merchants & missionaries from Japan • 1639 - Leaders sealed the country’s borders • No European influence • Nagasaki- Only port open foreign trade • Only open to Chinese & Dutch • Shoguns controlled Nagasaki- monopoly on foreign trade • More than 200 years Japan remained closed to Europeans • Japanese forbidden to leave so they couldn’t bring back European items • Japan develops into self-sufficient country