Geography
What geographic factor makes it easy for Japan to isolate itself?
It is an island
Feudal royalty organized peasants into groups of 5 families. These families were responsible for each other and to ensure that everyone obeyed and complied. What are these groups of families called?
Goningumi
Who is at the top of the Japanese social structure?
Shogun
Name one positive effect of Isolation during the Edo period
Farmers increased production by irrigating and growing two crops on the same piece of land during one growing season.
Road improvements financed by the daimyo helped increase trade.
The populations increased in the urban centers (cities).
Silver and gold coins were introduced as currency, or money.
Commodore Perry
What important resource was used as currency in early Japan?
BONUS: what unit of this resource do we use in our game, and what does the unit represent?
Rice
BONUS: Koku: amount of rice needed to feed one person for one year
What are the two most important values to Japanese society?
Honour
Duty
Organize the following in order of importance in the early Japanese feudal system: artisan, farmer, merchant
farmer
artisan
merchant
Name one major thing that Eurpoeans brought to Japan that threatened the Shogun's rule
- Guns
- Catholicism
Give two reasons for the Japanese caving in to the Americans' treaty terms?
- They realized they could not win a war against the US
- They did not want to end up like China
- They realized they had fallen behind in technology
Geography has a big influence in Japan's values. What element of their geography has made Japanese people see resilience as an important value?
Earthquakes and tsunamis
What does Shinto believe in?
Sacred spirits called Kami take the forms of objects in nature
What two groups of people lived outside normal society?
Outcasts
Ainu
Tokugawa Iemitsu passed laws to protect Japan from foreign influence. What were these laws called?
Isolation or exclusion laws
What is the name of the Emperor that won the civil war after the unfair treaties?
Emperor Meiji
How was Japan able to develop a homogenous society despite it being split up into 4 islands?
Easy access to the sea for communication and trading
What Chinese religions did the Japanese borrow?
Confucianism and Buddhism
What was the feudal system based on?
Land
List 2 of the laws passed by Tokugawa Iemitsu to protect Japan from outside influence
All Christian missionaries and foreign traders were forced to leave Japan. Newcomers were not allowed to enter.
The Japanese were not allowed to leave the country.
Ships large enough to make long voyages could no longer be built and existing ones were destroyed.
Japanese who were out of the country were forbidden to return.
Most foreign objects were forbidden.
What were the three possible solutions to the Perry problem?
1. war and continued isolation
2. Adopt some elements of Western civilization but keep Japanese culture and morals
3. Welcome Americans and Europeans and trade with them
Name one thing that made it possible for Japan to be self-sufficient
- Silkworms and cotton plants let them create their own fabrics
- Large forests provided wood for buildings and fuel
- Arable land was excellent for growing crops
What is "filial piety"?
Faith and devotion to parents
Which Shogun started the Edo period? What is notable about the Edo period?
- Tokugawa Ieyasu
- Peace and isolation
What was the study of Dutch knowledge called?
Rangaku
In what year did Japan sign the Treaty of Kanagawa?
1854