MEDIEVAL JAPAN

Medieval Japan is located
On islands
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What is a Shogun?
a hereditary commander-in-chief in feudal Japan. Because of the military power concentrated in his hands and the consequent weakness of the nominal head of state (the mikado or emperor), the shogun was generally the real ruler of the country until feudalism was abolished in 1867.

What is the general history
Of a samurai?

The samurai, members of a powerful military caste in feudal Japan, began as provincial warriors before rising to power in the 12th century with the beginning of the country’s first military dictatorship, known as the shogunate.

How do Samurai's fight?
The Samurai became expert in fighting from horseback and on the ground. They practiced armed and un-armed combat. The early Samurai emphasized fighting with the bow and arrow. They used swords for close-in fighting and beheading their enemies. Battles with the Mongols in the late 13th century led to a change in the Samurai's fighting style. They began to use their sword more and also made more use of spears and naginata. The Samurai slowly changed from fighting on horseback to fighting on foot.

What is the Samurai's code of honor?
The unwritten Samurai code of conduct, known as Bushido, held that the true warrior must hold that loyalty, courage, veracity, compassion, and honor as important, above all else.

What is seppuku?
Seppuku, also known less formally as harakiri, is a form of ritual suicide that was practiced by the samurai and daimyo of Japan. It usually involved cutting the abdomen open with a short sword, which was believed to immediately release the samurai's spirit to the afterlife.

WHAT WEAPONS DO SAMURAI'S USE?

• Katana
• Naginata
• Yumi
• Kanabo

Oda Nobunaga
1534-1582

Nobunaga is regarded as the man who started the unification of Japan in the 16th century. Nobunaga lived a life of military conquest and was a well-respected military innovator who increased his army's firepower by adopting firearms. Nobunaga rose from a rebellious youth to the ruler of one third of Japan and became the nation's most feared warlord in the process. Nobunaga's most important role was to create the military and other resources that his follower Toyotomi Hideyoshi later used to unify Japan. Nobunaga died like a true samurai: he was forced to commit suicide by one of his own Shogun, Akechi Mitsuhide, in the notorious Honno-ji incident in Kyoto.

What is shinto?
Shinto ("the way of the gods") is the indigenous faith of the Japanese people and as old as Japan itself. It remains Japan's major religion alongside Buddhism.

Government
During this period, central government was weak and society was divided among feudal rulers. Sixteenth-century Japan was divided among warlords known as daimyō, and Europeans who visited Japan at that time felt it resembled medieval Europe. Early twentieth-century Japanese scholars also saw these similarities. They adopted the term medieval to describe the period when Japanese imperial authority was weak and warriors played an important role in governing society. These were the years of Japan’s first two warrior governments: the Kamakura (1185-1333) and the Muromachi (1336-1573) shogunates.