Midterm 1: Why were the Daimyo considered a threat by the Tokugawa Shogunate? The Daimyo were considered a threat by the Tokugawa Shogunate because they were afraid of the Daimyo would get to powerful and become a threat to the regime. The word Daimyo can be split up into two parts “dai” which means large and “myo” which means private ground. When put together they mean powerful territorial lords. During this time the Daimyo owned an extensive amount of land in Japan and were the highest in the social hierarchy, being right under the Shogun. Their duty was to govern an area of Japan and provide justice and to serve the Shogun. Many of the Daimyo were members of the Tokugawa family, others were “fudai” who were long time supporters of the Tokugawa cause, some were also family of the Tokugawa clan. There were other Daimyo who were accepted by the Tokugawa after …show more content…
For example, they tried to clear out all the Daimyo’s money and resources. The Tokugawa government were not allowed to get taxed from the domains but ended up charging the Daimyo lords for compulsory public work and enforced loans, to take away power so they were unable to create an army. The government made sure they played a big role in the life of the Daimyo’s. All marriages in the Daimyo caste were approved by them and sometimes even arranged marriages between members of the Tokugawa family and Daimyo lords as a way to keep their eye on them and to keep the loyalty of the Daimyo. Another way that the Tokugawa Shogun kept an eye on the Daimyo’s because they were such a threat was that every other year a Daimyo lord was required to attend the Shogunal headquarters in Edo; doing this also drained them financially because they would have to get a house in Edo, get food, and entertain the
Japan believed that the United States was a country that would interfere during the commencement of their “new order”, which lead them to an attempt to eliminate the US. The document from The Way of the Subjects states, “[a]n old order…(European and American)...are now crumbling” (Document A). Japan wants the given ability to be seen as a country that can be recognized as a world power that could have the ability to intimidate the old world order. The Emperor of Japan would be the leader that would be empowered of the “new order”, whose overall goal is to spread the ideals and beliefs of the Yamato race across the world (Document A). Continuing the commencement of Japan’s plan, they launched an attack on China and gained control of the country’s Eastern coast, as well as the an affair with Manchuria(Document B, C).
This caused rifts between the two, which would have more serious consequences for Japan in the future. It was during the dominance of the Hojo Clan that Kublai Khan began sending emissaries to seek for Japan’s cooperation which the Mongol Empire, meaning the Mongols wanted the Japanese to submit to them, else face a war. The people in the Shogunate rebuffed the great Khan’s proposals, angering him in the process. Knowing that war was inevitable, the Japanese began readying their fiefdoms for defense against the Mongols. For the first time in Japan’s history, its people were not preparing to wage war against one another, but rather, to wage war against a foreign enemy.
(History.com, “Edo”) The people of Edo followed a strict caste system, greatly impacted by the Chinese Confucian values. The Feudal Japanese Society, people of Edo, was divided into four different castes: the Nobles, the Samurai, the Peasants, and the Chonin. The nobles included: the emperor; the figurehead of society, the shogun; the most powerful military lord, and the daimyos; lords who controlled their own region of Japan. The samurai were the professional warriors who were bound by a code of loyalty and honor to a daimyo.
Being a warrior in feudal Japan was more than just a job. It was a way of life. The collapse of aristocratic rule ushered in a new age of chaos — appropriately called the Warring States period (c.1400-1600) — in which military might dictated who governed and who followed. The samurai warriors, also known asbushi, took as their creed what later became known as the "Way of the Warrior" (Bushidô), a rigid value system of discipline and honor that required them to live and die in the service of their lords. If commanded, true bushi were expected to give their lives without hesitation.
In conclusion, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because of their nationalist mentality, America’s embargo of oil to Japan and fearing that the United States will attack them first. The first reason why Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor was because the Japanese had nationalistic and narcissistic political mentality. The Japanese believed the Yamato race was a superior race to the other Asian race(Document A). They also believed they will become the “new order” once Europe and America crumble and become the “old orders”(Document A).
Toyotomi Hideyoshi impacted Japanese government in many ways. He acknowledged that an unstable peace and constant uncertainly had led to the practice of samurai farming and peasants to take up arms. To combat this, he issued decrees that defined the social status and duties of all Japanese. He banned everyone from having weapons besides samurai. Samurai were ordered back to towns.
The Kamakura period, which saw the emergence of samurai as a specific class, began the practices and code of samurai. Seppuku, a form of ritual suicide and one of the more widely known samurai practices, also developed during this time (Pletcher). The Kamakura period brought the concept of feudalism to Japan and established the rank of shogun: the military leader of Japan. The shift to a military government was reasoning behind the samurai class and evident through the loyal and honorable, yet stoic and disciplined, culture of this time (“Kamakura Period”). The bushido code faced much outside influence, but core emphasis was placed on living frugally, upholding honor, and honing athletic and mental strength in order to remain fearless during battle.
Japanese emperors had courts and capital cities like the ancient imperial centers of China. The rulers wanted to build a peasant army and use legal codes and a landholding system which was similar to what was used in
If they did not return to Edo, spoke out against the shogun, or went against any laws in place their families would be killed. This was how the shogun managed to hold power over Japan, with families' lives on the line many were forced to follow what the shogun had told them. The end of the shoguns ruling was when Commodore Perry, an American who had been sent to force Japan to open their ports arrived. With Japan's lack of military power, they were forced to do as the Americans said. Many were unhappy with their shogun, as they realized how weak Japan as compared to other countries.
Imperialism in Japan Background: Japan prior to the Meiji restoration was ruled in a hierarchy very similar to other European countries. The hierarchy was that of lords, samurai and then peasants. The Japanese equivalent to a king at the time was a military dictator called a shogun. During this time the capital was Kyoto and the shogun was part of the Tokugawa clan. That is why this period is referred to as the Tokugawa Shogunate.
The societies of Tokugawa Japan (c.1603-1867C.E.) and medieval Europe (c.1000-1500C.E.) had two things in common; a feudal system. A feudal system is something that features hierarchies or social structures. The feudal system normally starts with a religion, which is at the very top of the social pyramid, then it’s the King or monarch for Europe and the shogun for Japan, then there are the nobles for Europe and the daimyos for Japan. As we go down the pyramid there are the warriors, like the knight in Europe and the samurai in Japan, then there are the peasants. The peasants were included in both eras and are at the lowest part of the pyramid.
“To guard against external influence, they also worked to close off Japanese society from Westernizing influences, particularly Christianity. When the Tokugawa shogunate grew increasingly weak by the mid-19th century, two powerful clans joined forces in early 1868 to seize power as part of an “imperial restoration” named for Emperor Meiji.” This restoration was the beginning of the end of feudalism, or the way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour, in Japan. The Tokugawa regime acted to exclude missionaries because of suspicion of foreign intervention and colonialism. Eventually, they issued a complete ban on Christianity in Japan.
They held values and morals that have held up for so many years; it is wonderful that they have held on to them for so long. If it were not for the samurai influence Japan may not have the same exact views on how to live there life. Samurai 's are a very important part of Japanese’s culture. Japanese samurai were warriors of the shogun rulers amid
That Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor to establish a New World Order that could not be created with America as a powerful country. The New World Order that was in Japan’s vision was a land where the Yamato race was the dominate one. The Japanese were not pleased with always being
On the website It states that “,Japan was dominated by a delicately-balanced, feudal-military system led by daimyos.” This shows that for five centuries Samurais kept the large landowners safe. Without them Daimyos would have had to pay taxes and the Shoguns would not be ruling.