Chapter 13 - Japan Under the Shogun (Japan)

Question 1

Describe the Artisans.

Answer 1

• Artisans were craftspeople, who lived in towns and cities.
• An artisan’s son cannot be part of another class, and he also has to work in the particular craft that his father practiced.
• Artisans produced high quality paper, porcelains, lacquered or enamel containers, clocks, and pans.
• Practical everyday items (such as clocks and pans) were both beautiful and functional.
• Although the Artisans were skilled, they were lower status because they were not primary producers. They had to rely on materials of others.

Question 2

Describe the Merchants.

Answer 2

• The Merchants where salespeople, and bought items from artisans to sell or trade.
• They arranged for the shipping and distribution of
food, and stored rice in their warehouses.
• During the Edo period, rice was considered currency. So the merchants fulfilled the role as bankers.
• Because the merchants did not produce anything, and
instead sold other people’s work, they were at the bottom of the social structure.
• Spies would watch the merchants to see who was showing off their wealth, or criticizing the government.

Question 3

Describe the Women in the Japan Social Hierarchy.

Answer 3

• The class a woman was born into, determined her responsibilities.
○ For example: if a woman was born in the Samurai class, her responsibility was to raise her children into the proper
Samurai upbringing.
• Rural women had more freedom than the upper class. • Rural women worked in the home and in the field with their husbands planting, harvesting, gathering wood,
and raising silkworms.
• Women could not own property.
○ They were also considered lower than men.

Question 4

Describe the Outsiders.

Answer 4

• Outsiders/outcasts where avoided or ignored by other classes, because of their work or what they did.
• People who had occupations that involved death were outsiders, this included: Tanners, butchers, those that disposed of animal remains. People with leprosy, and some entertainers were also outsiders.
• Some rules that outsiders had were: they cannot change jobs, enter a peasants home, or be in the city after 8:00pm.

Question 5

Read 47 Ronin Graphic Novel.

Answer 5

(Took place during the Edo [Tokugawa] period of Japanese history - 1600-1868).
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Question 6

Who is the Shogun?

Answer 6

The Japanese military ruler in Edo Japan.

Question 7

Who are Ronin?

Answer 7

Samurai warriors without masters.

Question 8

Who are the Daimyo?

Answer 8

A powerful Japanese landowner or noble.

Question 9

Who are the Shogunate?

Answer 9

A strong council of advisors, officials, and administrators.

Question 10

What does it mean for something to be Hereditary?

Answer 10

It means it is determined by birth.

Question 11

What is Seppuku?

Answer 11

Ritual suicide performed in Japan as an honorable alternative to humiliation and public shame.

Question 12

Who are the Outcasts/Outsiders?

Answer 12

Japanese people who were shunned or ignored

by other classes because of the type of work they did.

Question 13

What is Confucianism?

Answer 13

The teachings of the Chinese scholar Confucius.

Question 14

What is Ethical Code?

Answer 14

Rules about right and wrong behavior.

Question 15

Describe the Edo Period.

Answer 15

• Edo is now present day Tokyo
• Tokugawa shogun were the rulers of this period
• Before the Edo Period Japan was involved in almost constant warfare.
• Powerful landowners, known as daimyo competed with one another for territory and power
• Tokugawa Ieyasu became the most powerful man in Japan when he defeated a rival daimyo and generals in battle
○ Three years later the Emperor made him Shogun

Question 16

What kind of laws did Ieyasu establish?

Answer 16

• Desire to create a long lasting and stable government.
• He had to control the other daimyos.
• Ieyasu had the daimyos watched closely, giving land to those that were loyal, surrounding those that he did not trust.

• 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲
○ Daimyo were forced to live in Edo every second year, the other year they could live on their domains.
○ Cost of keeping up two households and moving, meant that they did not have the time and money to challenge the shogun.
○ Had to leave their family members in Edo during their absence as guests of the shogun, but in reality they were hostages.
• 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿
○ Bakuhan system of two levels of government was established.
○ Shogunate acted as a federal government, and had control over important matters - foreign trade and relations.
○ Daimyo controlled local affairs in their territory.
•𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗟𝗮𝘄𝘀
○ Laws established by the shogunate controlled many aspects of the daimyo’s lives - dress, marriages.
○ Daimyo’s were expected to pay for road building in their territories which further restricted their wealth.

Question 17

What are 3 laws that the Shogun set up, or things they did to increase their power?
How did these laws decrease the Daimyos power?

Answer 17

1. Increasing Shogun’s Power:
   • Shogun enforced an existing law that banned peasants from owning weapons or swords.
   Decreasing the Daimyo’s Power:
   • Without weapons, the peasants were useless to the local daimyo who might try to raise an army.
2. Increasing Shogun’s Power:
   • A network of secret police was established. People accused of threatening the shogun’s power were considered guilty and punished severely.
   Decreasing the Daimyo’s Power:
   • Needing permission to marry or to alter their castles, the daimyo could not make military alliances against the shogun or build up their defenses.
3. Increasing the Shogun’s Power
   • One quarter of all the agricultural land, mines, ports and cities in Japan were owned by the Shogun
   Decreasing the Daimyo’s Power:
   • Loyal daimyo were given villages to govern. It was their responsibility to collect taxes, keep order, and pay for road building and flood control projects in the area.