SOCIAL STUDIES CHAPTER 12 SECTION 4 VOCABULARY

1. SHINTO

• The first known religion of the Japanese. Means "way of the gods."

2. SAMURAI

• Japanese loyal warriors who gaurded lords.

3. BUSHIDO

• A straict code of living that the sammurai live by. "The way of the warrior."

4. SHOGUN

• Supreme general of the emperor's army.

5. RI-BEN

• The word Japan comes from the chinese word ri-ben. It means "land of the rising sun" because Japan is east of China which is the direction of the sunrise.

6. ARCHIPELAGO

• A group of islands. Japan is an archipelago.

7. KAMI

• A divine natural being in the Shinto religion. Any beautiful or unusual part of nature such as a waterfall was considered the home of a kami.

8. YAMATO

• A clan that established themselves as leading clan of Japan in the early 400s.

9. BUDDHISM

• Religion brought from Khorea to Japan. Had great influences on the country.

10. HEIAN PERIOD

• A period of time that started in the late 700s when the imperial court moved its capital to Heian (now known as Kyoto). During this period is when Buddhism and other influences were at their peak.

11. FEUDALISM

• The ranking of social class in ancient Europe. Feudalism reached Japan during the Heian period.

12. FUJIWARA

• A powerful family in Japan. Contained power of Japan for most of the Heian period.

13. KAMAKURA

• A cuty in Japan. Took power of Japan in the lat 1100s. The 1200s are known as the Kamakura Shogunate.

14. DICTATOR

• A ruler who has all power of a country. Shoguns had the similar powers of a dictator.

15. THE TALE OF GENJI

• A piece of Japanese literature written by Murasaki Shikibu.