JAPAN-KUN

Who is the current prime minister

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba

Who is the current emperor

Emperor Naruhito

What kind of land is Japan

archipelago

How many islands and their names

four main islands

1. Hokkaido,

2. Honshu,

3. Shikoku,

4. Kyushu

Which island is the largest? (descending order)

Honshu is the largest, followed by Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku

Japanese archipelago is divided into ___ prefectures

47 prefectures:

4 categories of prefectures

1. Two urban prefectures (fu): Osaka and Kyoto

2. One metropolis prefecture (to): Tokyo

3. One circuit/district/regional prefecture (dō): Hokkaido

4. 43 standard prefectures (ken)

The Japanese were gatherers, fishers and hunters. Jomon is the name of the Era’s pottery.

Jomon Period (13000 BC to 300 BC)

Era where agriculture was first introduced.

social classes started evolving into powerful land owners.

Chinese Travellers of the Han and Wei dynasties report that a queen called Himiko ruled

Japan at the time.

Yayoi Period (300 BC to 250 AD)

Central power develops in the Kinai Plains country gets

Unified as Yamato Japan by 400AD which the political center was the Province of Yamato (present day Nara prefecture).

hint: name comes from the word kofun or tomb

Kofu period / Yamato Japan(250-538AD)

Buddhism was introduced in japan.

Prince Shotoku played an essential role in promoting Chinese ideals. He wrote the

Constitution of Seventeen Articles on moral and political principles

Integrated, Confucianism and Taoism and Legalism in government.

Asuka Period (538-710)

Minamoto Yoritomo wins Genpei war after defeating Taira clan in 1185 and establishes the

Kamakura Shogunate in 1192.

Mongol Invasion attempt on Kyushu Islands in 1127

Kamakura Period (1192-1333)

Emperor Go-Daigo was able to restore imperial power to Kyoto after overthrowing the

Kamakura Shogunate.

Christianity was first introduced in this era in 1542 by Portugese traders and Jesuit

Missionaries upon arriving in Kyushu most notable is the Jesuit Sir Francis Xavier

Muromachi Period (1333-1573)

This period had civil wars and militant sects that Oda Nobunaga dealt with as he emerged as

the most power daimyo at the time and toppled the Ashikaga Shogunate

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, his successor, continued to eliminate enemies of Nobunaga during his

dominance

Azuchi-Momoya Period (1573-1603)

Marked by the transfer of the imperial capital to Heian Kyo (present day

Kyoto) and was a period of flourishing culture and the rise of court

aristocracy

• “risturyō” system

• Dominated by the Aristocratic Fujiwara Family,

Heian Period (794-1185)

refers to a historical legal and governmental system in

Japan which was heavily influenced by the Chinese Legal Administrative models..

“risturyō” system,

Final period of traditional Japan, where it is often remembered as a time of

internal peace, stability (political), and economic growth under the

Shogunate established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after the Battle of Sekigahara.

• Iemitsu implemented the Sakoku Policy

Tokugawa or Edo Period (1603-1868)

was a series of directives that

restricted Japan and enforced self-isolation of the country. This banned Christianity

and prohibited Japanese People from traveling or returning from trips overseas. Such

directives aso Included restriction from foreign trade with various countries

Sakoku Policy

was restored after the Tokugawa shogunate fell.

Growing popular rights movements, which were encouraged by Liberal Western Ideas,

called for the creation of the constitutional government and wider participation through

deliberative assemblies. With pressure from those movements, the government stated in

1881 that it would promise a constitution by 1890.

the Country was well on its way to becoming modernized and

industrialized.

Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Japan occupied Indochina and had a joint protectorate with Vichy France on 1940. The U.S

responded with a freeze of assets and embargoing oil. This prompted Japan to bomb Pearl

Harbor after some, negotiations from the Konoe Cabinet and Washington, on December 7

1941.

World War II (1941-1947)

Japans goal of expansionism in the________ In the Philippines, Japanese troops occupied Manila in January 1942;

Singapore fell in February; so did the Dutch East Indies and Rangoon (modern Burma)

by March

Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere-

Post War Reforms- After the surrender, Japan became an _____ occupied state of which was headed by _____, who was the Supreme

Commander for Allied Powers (SCAP).

1. Allied occupied state

2. headed by General Douglas MacArthur

Japan underwent d_____ and d______

democratization and demilitarization.

when was Japans constitution made

1947 Constitution

What special provision in their constitution states that they cannot initiate war—Why Japan Is Considered Pacifist?

Article 9:

• Clause 1 renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force to settle international disputes.

• Clause 2 states that Japan will not maintain land, sea, or air forces or other war potential. It also denies the right of belligerency of the state.

in the RUSSO-JAPANESE STRUGGLE what was it about

• KURIL ISLANDS - seperares the sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean

This treaty enabled Russian empire to gain control of the entire group of Islands

Treaty of Shimoda

in 1875 this treaty was issued to address another conflict on the island of Sakhalin (russian owndership was ceded to Japan of the entire Kuril Chian in exchange for Sakhalin)

1875 Treaty of Saint Petersburg

following Japans victory in the russo japanese war, this treaty retained the comtrol of the kuril chain to japan and re aquired control of the southern sakhalin island

Porthsmouth Peace Treaty

treaty that forced japan to give up its hold over kuril, but did not recognize soviet sovereignty

1951 San Franciso Peace Treaty

in the KOREA-JAPAN DISPUTE what was it about

• DOKDO/ TAKESHIMA DISPUTE

• between Japan and south korea,

  • Dokdo Island

  • Liancourt Islands(takeshma)

in the JAPAN-CHINA DISPUTE what was it about

• SENKAKU/DIAOYU ISLANDS

what is Japans political system

• Constitutional monarchy with a Parliamentary system

• Democratic and Unitary state

what are the branches called

• Cabinet[ executive branch ]

• Japanese Diet [ legislative branch ]

• Judiciary [judicial branch ]

what is the composition of the Cabinet[ executive branch ]

• emperor( ceremonial)

• prime minister (appointed by house of reps)

what is the composition of the Cabinet Japanese Diet [ legislative branch ]

popularly elected and consists of two houses (bicameral).

• The House of Representatives (Shugiin), or the lower house, [4 yrs]

• then the House of Councillors (Sangiin), or the Upper House. [ 6 yrs, elex every 3 yrs ]

what is the composition of the Judiciary [judicial branch ]

three (3)

levels: The Supreme Court, 8 High (appellate) Courts, a

District court, and a Family Court in each prefecture

(except Hokkaido, which has four).

What voting system does japan use

upper house: A MIXED-MEMBER MAJORITARIAN REPRESENTATION (MMM) ( SINGLE-SEAT CONSTITUENCY AND PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION).

lower house: closed list proportional representation system

total seats in congress

• 465 [ lower house]

  • 289 voting blocks

  • 176 PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

• 248 [ upper house]

  • 124 elected every 3 years

  • 74 ARE ELECTED FROM PREFECTURAL DISTRICTS (

  • 50 ARE ELECTED THROUGH A NATIONWIDE PROPORTIONAL

    REPRESENTATION LIST.

POLITICAL PARTIES

1. LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (LDP)

2. JAPANESE COMMUNIST PARTY

3. CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (CDP)

4. JAPAN INNOVATION PARTY (JIP)

5. DEMOCRATIC PARTY FOR THE PEOPLE

   (DPFP)

social movements

1. ANTI-NUCLEAR MOVMENT

2. KUTOO MOVEMENT

3. ANTI-SECURITY LAW PROTESTS

POLITICAL CULTURE

apolitical society.

• collective mobilization are quite low

stance on ISRAEL-HAMAS conflict

• supports a two-state solution where

  Israel and a future Independent Palestinian state can live

  side by side in peace and security above all else.

stance on RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE

• Japan takes the consistent stance that

  Russia’s “outrageous” act should not be tolerated and that it is

  necessary to advance support for Ukraine and its neighboring

  countries (Ibid)