The Latter Half (Azuchi Momoyama, Edo)

Japanese History

The Japanese nation began with the foundation of the Yamato state in the fourth century. Since then, almost 1,700 years of Japanese life and culture, foreign relations and wars has produced today's Japan. Here, we will look over Japan's history through the flow of the centuries.

The Age of Feudalism

First Half (Kamakura, Muromachi and Azuchi Momoyama Periods)

From the middle of the Heian Period, with the ‘increase in agricultural output, there emerged influential people and in turn, the samurai warrior class began to thrive (процветать, преуспевать, буйно разрастаться). Of these influential groups, the Heishi and Genji families were the most powerful and in 1185, at the 'Battle of Dan no Ura, the Genji clan overthrew the Heishi Clan. In 1192, Minamoto-no-Yoritomo became Shоgun (general, comander) and established his shogunate in Kamakura. This ‘heralded a period of 700 years of military rule until the Edo Period.

Minamoto-no-Yoritomo set up a stronghold (крепость) in Kamakura, established defences and installed a 'Lord of the Manor (поместье)' in each region, allowing him to assume control over the whole country. The defences in­cluded military forces and police. The function of the Lord of the Manor was to collect the land taxes (imposed on the peasants) each year.

The Shoguns of the Genji clan continued for three generations. After this, while Hojo was installed as shikken ('’regent'- правитель - an important post as advisor to the Shogun), a battle was fought with the Kyoto Impe­rial court forces. The Shogunate troops defeated the Imperial troops on this occa­sion. On two further occasions, however, battles were fought with Kublai Khan (1/) and his army from Gen (a Mongolian country)-first in 1274, the Mongolian forces attack­ed with a large army, 40,000 strong and then again in 1281, when a huge army of 140,000, including men mobilized from Korea, launched an attack. These battles left the Kamakura Shogunate in a weakened state. Samurai warriors who were vassals to the Shogun had large outlays of expense—readying armor, helmets, weapons and horses, as well as employing soldiers. Since they didn't feel that they were receiving any benefit from the shogunate the number of disgruntled samurai warriors grew. The Emperor, using these •samurai to his advantage, overthrew the Kamakura Shogunate and installed an imperial court centralized government.

However, this too, was short-lived when the military Commander Ashikaga established the Muromachi shogunate, once again in Kyoto. This period of history continued for 240 years. During this time there was great cultural development, not merely among the ranks of the aristocracy and Buddhist priests, but also among the people in general. Noh and Kyogen theatre flourished and in Kyoto, handicrafts such as Nishijin silk brocade (парча) and sword making developed. This time also saw port towns along the Inland Sea and on the Sea of Japan coast thrive - markets were held on appointed days with goods of all varieties being bought and sold.

Towards the middle of the Muromachi period, due to a struggle among possible successors to the Shogun, the 'Battle of Onin' broke out. This, in turn, led to a period of 100 years of war with powerful daimyo ((in Japan) one of the territorial magnates who dominated much of the country from about the 11th to the 19th century), or feudal lords throughout Japan, fighting against each other. Oda Nobunaga (Oda Nobunaga (help·info) (June 23, 1534 – June 21, 1582) was a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. He was the second son of Oda Nobuhide, a deputy shugo (military governor) with land holdings in Owari province. Nobunaga lived a life of continuous military conquest, eventually conquering a third of Japanese daimyo before his death in 1582. His successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a loyal Oda supporter, would eventually become the first man to conquer all of Japan.), using guns introduced from Portugal in battle for the first time, managed to unify the whole country. In 1549, St Francis Xavier (Saint Francis of Xavier, born Francisco de Jaso y Azpilcueta (7 April 1506, Javier, Navarre – 3 December 1552, Shangchuan Island, China) was a Navarrese pioneering Roman Catholic missionary of Basque origin. He came under the influence of St. Ignatius Loyola and was one of the first seven Jesuits who dedicated themselves to the service of God at Montmarte in 1534.[1]) brought Chris­tianity to Japan and this new religion was protected by Nobunaga.

1/Хубилай

Хубилай (23 сентября 1215 — 18 февраля 1294) — монгольский хан, основатель династии Юань в Китае.Чингизид, внук Чингисхана, сын Толуя и Соркуктани-бэги. В 1260 году перенес столицу Монгольской империи из Каракорума в Пекин, который был переименован в Ханбалык. В 1279 завоевал южный Китай. Оказывал покровительство буддизму.Главною его целью по вступлению на престол сделалось ниспровержение Сунской династии в Китае. После упорной и продолжительной борьбы Хубилай к 1271 г. овладел большею частью Китая, где решил основать новую династию, дав ей имя Юань. В 1279 г. погиб последний сунский император, и Хубилай окончательно упрочил свою власть над всем Китаем, учредив свою столицу в Пекине.

The Age of Feudalism

The Latter Half (Azuchi Momoyama, Edo)

After Nobunaga was murdered, Toyotomi Hideyoshi succeeded as Shogun and reunified the country. Hideyoshi built Osaka Castle. Large numbers of vassals, merchants and craftsmen flocked to the castle town, with the result that Osaka became a large centre where commerce and industry flourished. Peasants paid land taxes according to the area of their fields under a land surveying system known as kenchi. The non-samurai classes were deprived of all arms, such as swords, spears, firearms and so on, under the katana-gari law, meaning that it became impossible for people to leave the village or effect a change in social position. Hideyoshi suppressed Christianity and attempted to invade the Korean Peninsula on two occasions, however he perished in the process.

With the death of Hideyoshi, Tokugawa leyasu seized power after gaining victory at the Battle of Sekigahara in the year 1600. leyasu had Edo Castle constructed in Edo (present-day Tokyo) and relocated the wives and family of the daimyo of more than 260 different provinces here. The daimyo alternated residences between Edo and their fiefs on a yearly basis under a system known as sankin kotai. This procession of daimyo, both ways, required huge outlays of funds. (Refer to diagram.) The Shogunate required the daimyo to spend vast sums of money, causing their financial resources to be depleted. During this time, Japanese merchants travelled to the countries of South-East Asia on special trading ships authorized by the shogunate. Trade with foreign countries prospered and with this, the number of converts to Christianity also grew. Fearing that Christianity would throw the government into a state of disorder, the shogunate increased suppression of this religion, which inevitably led to the complete isolation of the country. Japanese people and ships were forbidden to travel abroad and likewise, were unable to return from the outside world.

During the Edo Period, Osaka flourished as the number one centre of commerce in Japan. Ihara Saikaku's work Ninon Eitaigura, describes lively scenes of ships transporting loads of rice and thousands of wholesale rice stores lining the waterfront.

Social status in the Edo Period was clearly defined--people were classed as shi ('warrior'), no ('farmer'), ko ('artisan'), or sho ('tradesman'). Only samurai were allowed the privilege of having a family name and that of wearing two swords.

During this period of history the merchant classes thrived, Kabuki theatre and puppet plays enjoyed wide popularity and woodblock prints of the ukiyoe ('transitory world painting') style appeared for the first time.

In 1853, American warships, commanded by Commodore Perry, arrived in Uraga, bringing to an end the two hundred years of national isolation.

The Modern Age

(Meiji, Taisho and Showa Periods)

The fifteenth Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, handed over government control to the Emperor Meiji, thus bringing to an end the age of the samurai warriors, which had continued for seven hundred years from the time of the Kamakura shogunate.

Edo assumed the name of Tokyo and the new era was named Meiji. In 1871, feudal clans were abolished and prefec­tures established (referred to as haihan-chiken). Governors appointed by the gov­ernment were dispatched to prefectures. The class system, consisting of warriors, farmers, artisans and tradesmen, which had previously existed, was done away with, all citizens being made equal. Thus, the common people, namely farmers, artisans and tradesmen adopted family names and were able to freely choose occupations and where they might live.

The government, in an attempt to catch up with foreign countries, had factories built throughout the country to boost the development of modern industry. To increase the strength of the military, a conscription system was introduced. To cover the costs of such efforts, compulsory systems of military service and the pay­ment of taxes were imposed on the people.

In 1894, in an effort to gain control of the Korean Peninsuala, Japan went to war with China (the Sino-Japanese War) and then again, in 1904, launched a military campaign against Russian forces in North-Eastern China (the Russo-Japanese War). After the Russo-Japanese War, Korea was annexed and became a colony of Japan. Finally, the military had a firm grasp on real power, allowing Japan to advance down the road of militarism. In 1931, Japanese forces launched an attack on Manchuria entering a Sino-Japanese con­flict which continued for 15 years. With its invasion of China and advance into Indo-China, Japan entered into conflict with the United States and its allies, rushing head­long into the Pacific War, which was to become the Second World War. After atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the American forces, the Japanese government accepted the Potsdam Declaration, formulated by the Allied Powers and surrendered. Even today, there are people who are suffering from the after-effects of radiation sickness-victims of the atom bombs. This experience must never be allowed to recur.

After the war, Japan was regenerated as a democratic nation. Under the direction of the General Headquarters of the Allied Forces, the Imperial Constitution or 'the Constitution of the Empire of Japan' was replaced by 'the Constitution of Japan'-a new constitution espousing democratic rights, respect for basic human rights and pacifism.

The time for co-operation with the nations of the world has arrived-Japan must cease to be 'inward-looking'. In this way, may wars of aggression be only ever things of the past.