Vocabulary Flashcards
What does arable mean?
Can farm on (farmable)
What does archipelago mean?
Chain of islands
What is Buddhism?
Based on the teachings of the Buddha
What is bushido code?
The way of the warrior
What is the significance of the cherry blossom?
Represents the fragility of life
What is “court in the clouds”?
When the Fujiwara family took over. The emperor was only the face of the country (had no power)
What is a daimyo?
A wealthy land owner. Head of the ubi (clan)
What is the significance of earthquakes to Japan?
They have a lot of them. Located on fault line.
What is the significance of Edo/Tokyo?
Capital of Japan
What is etiquette?
The customary code of polite behavior in society or among members of a particular profession or group
What is the feudal system?
The different social classes
Who are the fujiwara family?
The family that started to control Japan through the emperor
What is the significance of the Heian Era (794-1185)?
The era in which the emperor had no power
Who is Jimmu Tenno?
The first emperor. Said to be great great great grandson of the sun god
What is a kami?
Spirit all things in nature have (part of Shinto religion)
What is a kamikaze?
A divine wind that stopped the Chinese from attacking
What is Kyoto?
The former capital of Japan
Who is lady murasaki shikibu?
Was a lady in waiting for the emperor. Wrote the first novel “the tale of genji”
Who are the mongols?
Fierce warriors who rode on horseback and used stirrups
What is “the ring of fire”?
A string of volcanoes and sites of seismic activity, or earthquakes, around the edges of the Pacific Ocean
Who were the samurai?
Fierce warriors that originally were tax collectors. Protected their daimyo
What is seppuku?
The ritual suicide
What is Shinto/Shintoism?
Religion incorporating the worship of ancestors and nature spirits and a belief in sacred power (kami) in both animate and inanimate things. “Way of the gods”
What is the shogun?
Supreme general of the emperor’s army (actual ruler)
What is a the significance of the sword?
Military symbol. Represents valor. Weapon of choice (they slept with their sword)
What is “The tale of genji”?
Written by lady murasaki shikibu. About a prince who falls in love with one of his father’s mistresses and gets her pregnant and regrets it for the rest of his life
Who is the Tokugawa shogunate?
Ended the civil war (created peace through violence) in Japan and isolated Japan from everyone else
What is a torii?
The gate at the entrance of a Shinto shrine. Symbolically marks the transition from the profane to sacred
What is a tsunami?
A hurricane in the pacific
What is a typhoon?
A hurricane in the Atlantic
What is an ubi?
A clan
What is a war lord?
A part of a clan
What is the Yamato plain?
Best farmable land
Who are the Yamato clan?
The clan in which all emperors are from (also, controlled the Yamato plain)
What is Zen Buddhism?
Meditating around nature to help you focus
What are the 4 classes in the feudal system?
Samurai
Peasants
Artisans
Merchants-no need for trade
What are the 3 imperial treasures of Japan (imperial regalia)?
Treasures in which only the emperor knows where they are;gives location of them to his successor
Sword- valor
Mirror- wisdom
Carved jewel- benevolence
