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Japan Notes
How has geography influenced Japan’s history?
• Island nation- protected from invasion.
• Culture very influenced by China & Korea.
• Adopted Chinese writing, calendar, clothing, etc.
What was Japanese feudalism?
• It was a lot like feudalism in Europe.
• Nobles gave land to people below them to help defend their entire territory.
• Land for loyalty!
• Eventually, one family took more power than other nobles and the emperor.
• He was called the Shogun. He was a military dictator.
Emperor
Shogun
Daimyos
Samurai
Peasants & Artisans
What were samurai?
• Basically Japanese knights.
• Different than European knights because they believed in education & being cultured.
• They were fierce warriors, but also wrote poetry.
• Followed bushido, which is like chivalry in Europe.
Why did Japan shut itself off from the world?
• The shoguns were afraid of European influences on Japan.
• They didn’t want to lose power.
• From the mid-1600s to the mid-1800s, Japan was isolated.
Why did Japan open up?
• Japan realized that if they didn’t open up, they would end up like China.
• A group overthrew the shogun and made the Emperor the most powerful person in Japan.
• The Meiji Restoration made Japan modern very rapidly.
• It took Europe centuries to modernize, Japan took decades.
Japan & WWII
• Japan became an imperial power like the Europeans in the Pacific.
• They attacked Pearl Harbor to try to knock the US out as a Pacific power.
• They lose the war.
• The Emperor has to give up being a god.
• Japan gives up its military as well.
What about Japan today?• After WWII, Japan becomes economic power
instead of military power.
• In the 1950s & 1960s, Japan builds up its businesses.
• The US wrote a democratic constitution for Japan that they still use today.
• Japan is the world’s 2nd largest economy.
• Many famous companies: Sony, Mitsubishi, Nikon, Toyota, Honda, Nintendo, etc.