Ferejohn And Rosenbluth: Resistance Against Centralized Power

The importance of Tokugawa Leyasu taking control included the fact of the Tokugawa shogonate being established bringing along with it 264 years of peace and order. Huge changes which occurred during the reign of the tokugawa family including the introduction of a strict class system and the control of the ruling daimyo families which also made maintaining peace in Japan very easy. Japan 's increased trade and tourism contributed positively to the wealth and success of Japan. These rapid economical and social changes in Japanese society helped to prepare for fast modernization in the following time period. Tokugawa Leyasu had a significant impact on Japan as he established the tokugawa shogunate which brought wealth, peace and education to Japan.

Have you ever wondered if there was really a difference between the Samurai and a Knight and if not what are the similarities? Some people may think there are more differences than similarities but the reality is they are more of the same than different. They are actually very alike. These two places Japan and Europe are going through very similar problems.They are fighting each other because neither of them were very stable in the medieval times. The warriors in Japan are called the ‘’Samurai’’ and in Europe the warriors are called ‘’Knights’’. They may seem different at first but they have way more similarities than differences. The similarities are much greater than the amount of differences. I learned this by studying these main areas; Social positions, Training and armor, and Life/honor and death.

Some of these are the roles of the military leaders and that women were not allowed to be involved in any sort of combat in Medieval Europe. Conversely, in Tokugawa Japan women were able to train to become a Samurai and would still be a regular wife. Also, in Medieval Europe women were much lower in society, but in Tokugawa Japan, women were almost equal to men at the time. This is one of the many differences between Tokugawa Japan’s social system and Medieval Europe's social system. Medieval Europe also had a slightly different warrior system. Examples of these are that lances were longer than the Japanese Naginata, and swords were much bigger than the Japanese Katana. In Medieval Europe, lords were the military leaders, while in Tokugawa Japan, Shoguns and Daimyos lead the military system. Samurai and knights had different approaches to death, as knights were bound by Catholic law, while Samurai were not religious. Tokugawa Japan had many cultural and traditional differences from Medieval

Feudal Japan and feudal Europe had contrasting social hierarchies. Feudal Europe’s hierarchy was based on religion and wealth, whereas feudal Japan’s hierarchy was based on military and necessities (Doc A). Lords in Japan were not a

“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. Near the beginning, there were an estimated 300,000 Christians in Japan. The ban forced Christianity underground. “In this effort to

Samurai held a large influence on and of Zen Buddhism, and were the special warrior serving class.. These brutal heros used this philosophical teaching as a technique for battle. To overcome their fear in war, to pretend that they were already dead, to concentrate and to improve on weapon skill, these peaceful yet, killer warriors, spread and kept this philosophy in Japan. This also helped samurai achieve the warrior class to help people. Some were under the position of the Daimyo and served them. Others were loners and were usually paid to do work from peasants, merchants, and other citizens. Sometimes they could have been hired to kill someone, as they were a top class in the feudal system, sometimes they would be hired for farming

Feudalism was a key component of life for those in both Western Europe and Japan. The two systems developed independently from each other yet still held a multitude of similarities. However, their many differences out shadow the unique parallels they shared. The major discrepancies between the two are found in each’s code, structure and regulations.

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.

Japan and Europe had unique lifestyles, one part being its military. It consisted of archers, who wielded bows and skilled swordsmen, called samurai. In Europe however, their military consisted of archers and swordsmen called knights. These two military figures share many similarities between each other, outweighing the differences. The three similarities between samurai and knights are moral codes, training, and their ranking in feudalism.

The first area of important differences was social status different it was that because there was a social pyramid were the samurai class was divided up, and the knight was divided up. For the order in japan there was emperor, the shogun, daimyo, the samurai

(5) He applied pressure from land and sea. After six months, Hideyoshi asked for the Hojo daimyo 's surrender and commenced a 3-day attack on the castle when he refused. When the surrender came he confiscated the land. The great Hojo clan was eliminated and from this time on Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the undisputed military dictator of the land. (5) Considered a symbol of his power and desire to rule all of Japan, he ordered the construction of Osaka Castle, later ordering the restoration of the Imperial Palace.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. This strategy designed (3) to prevent uprisings and clarify boundaries between the classes had an immediate and centuries-long era of peace and stability. If you were born a farmer, you died a farmer. (4) Segmenting Rural Peasant/urban Samarai populations provided the basis for a significant social balance in

For many years, the legendary Japanese samurai warriors showed that they are the most well known class of ancient Japan and also known with their supremacy of honor, service, and duty which the Japanese society still have today. The samurai helped lay the foundations of Japan 's culture. 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

During the 18th and early 19th century the world experienced new changes in world powers with imperialist countries and countries who experienced imperialism. One example of this would be Japanese imperialism in Korea during 1910-1945, a 35 year harsh change in Korea’s culture, impacting both countries in negative and positive ways in the years to come. Everything started during the Meiji period, a period where Japan saw change within its government creating a centralized bureaucracy. But also change within the military occurred with the replacement of Samurai authority. Trying to be equal competitors in world power as their Western neighbors. Japan had gotten imperialist ideas from 1853 when the U.S. black ships steamed

Japan’s rich history of power, wealth, and influence had many remarkable eras. One of the more notable periods in Japanese history was that of the Tokugawa Period (1600-1868). The Tokugawa Period was talked about in Musui’s Story, an autobiographical book, written by Kokichi Katsu. (Katsu ix) Katsu wrote Musui’s Story for three main reasons: to share how he had transformed from a low-ranking samurai to a well-known hero, to show his sense of self, and to serve as a cautionary tale for his descendants. He showed his sense of self when he became his own person with spirits, shrewdness, and imagination. (xviii) His transformation was proven in his journey of risk taking, danger, family, and friendships that can be told the next generation as well

From the Kamakura Period of the late twelfth century to the Meiji Restoration in the nineteenth century, the samurai have held prominent positions as noble warriors in Japanese society. They have come to be famous in modern, Western pop culture as the fierce, stoic guards of feudal Japan, but their practices and rituals extended beyond wielding katanas and donning impressive armor. Samurai practices were rich and complex, with strict codes, ritual suicide, and a history of influencing culture and politics (“Samurai”).