Muromachi Period Government

Humans over thousands of years have helped each other survive by banning together in one way shape or form. Ever since humans could comprehend one another, there has been some form of togetherness or government. There have been countless governments created, and it really entirely depends on personal opinion for deciding which ones rule over others. However, in all of the governments created in human history the government of Japan during the Muromachi Period(1338-1573), also known as the Ashikaga Period, had one of the most intriguing governmental structures. From its rules of isolationism, religion, and feudal structure, Japan during this time was very different from the rest of the the world. The overall structure was very feudal based,

Ruling under the Ashikaga Shogunate dynasty, there were separate leaders designed to rule over certain fields of government. The heads of the government includes of course the Emperor, but he served as a face of the government and religious figure, and the Shogun, which was the militaristic dictator, meaning he really had most of the power. Under the Shogun resided the Daimyo, who could be considered warlords or vassals, as they were landowners. On the side for added bureaucracy, there was the Samurai who had a voice towards the Daimyo and were warriors. There was a strict balance between each political role with the Shogun being at the top, and the merchant being at the bottom(farmers were considered a more respectable individual of society). There was a big difference between classes that were military over the non-military classes of society. The classes particularly below the the military were expected to be overall good citizens, and were rewarded if they acted accordingly. In a text written in 1336 by Nikaido Ze’en named the Kemmu Code, there are many overarching rules proposed that are aimed for the average citizen in the local area. A few of these rules are taken from an excerpt of the Kemmu code, they are written out in a rough listed outline as

Japan during the Muromachi Period was known not to have isolation policies enforced by its government(unlike Japan’s later years). It’s geography naturally made it more isolated over other regions around it, and it wasn’t until 1543 until Portugal actually landed in Japan for the first time. It was also known that religion practices that Japan had during this time were not entirely regulated by the government. With the constant warfare going on through the years, many people turned to religion as an output. The most dominant religion that derived off of Buddhism would have to be Zen Buddhism, other religions included most notably Shinto. Basing everyday life off of religion was the norm with the common individual in Japan, so much so that the government started placing rules for how to follow one 's religion. Hōjō Sōun, a Daimyo wrote a series of codes for his house sometime between 1500 and 1519. The text is a set of numbered rules that he wishes the people in his clan to follow, some of the more religious-focused points of the text that Sōun wrote are as