World Cultures: The IR in Japan Study Guide

Who held real power in feudal Japan?

Shogun

List the japanese social ladder in order:

emperor, shogun, daimyo, samurai, peasants and artisans, merchants

List the english social ladder in order:

king, lord, lesser lord, knights, peasants, merchants

define the word daimyo:

warrior lords

define the word shogun:

supreme military commander

define samurai:

those who serve

what did tokugawa do?

defeated all rivals for power and united japan for shogunate

all power was centralized in the government but some forms of feudalism remained, this is known as what?

centralized feudalism

what did the shogun prevent the daimyo from doing?

forbid them from repairing their castle or move closer to capital

who is the only member of the japanese class structure who can serve in military?

samurai

give one of the things that brought a large harvest:

peace, new tools, fertilizer, seeds

what did food surpluses support?

rapid population growth

what sprung up around castles?

towns

like the lords and knights, daimyo had lots of land but little of what?

money

why was the merchant class unhappy?

they were at the bottom of the social ladder

what problems did the peasant class face?

heavy taxes

what did commodore matthew perry do?

sailed into tokyo and demanded japan to open ports

with the u.s. and other countries pushing japan around, what ensued that removed the shogun?

a revolt

what japans motto?

a rich country, a strong military

what was japans plan to beat the west at its own game?

study western governments, economics, technology, customs, telegraphs, factories, refineries, political parties, culture, industry

what was familiar about japans constitution to ours?

all citizens were equal before the laws

what sprung up rapidly as a result of q20?

banking system, railroads, telegraphs, manufacturing, roads, buildings