Human and Physical Geography Japan is an archipelago (AHR-kuh-PEHL-uh-ooh), or island group, made up of about 4,000 islands. It extends in an arc more than 1,200 miles long.

Historically, most Japanese people have lived on the four largest islands:

Hokkaido (hah-KY-doh), Honshu (HAHN-shoo), Shikoku (shee-KAW-koo), and Kyushu (kee-OO-shoo).

Japan's geography has both advantages and disadvantages. Southern Japan enjoys a mild climate with plenty of rainfall. However, the country is so mountainous that only about 12 percent of the land is suitable for farming.

Natural resources such as coal, oil, and iron are in short supply. During the late summer and early fall, strong tropical storms called typhoons occur.

Earthquakes and tsunamis, or tidal waves, are also threats.

Japanese Traditions and Culture

The first historic mention of Japan comes from Chinese writings of the first century B.C. Japan was not a united country at that time. Hundreds of clans controlled their own territories. Each clan worshiped its own nature gods and goddesses. The clans' varied customs and beliefs eventually combined to form

Shinto, Japan's earliest religion. Shinto is based on respect for the forces of nature and on the worship of ancestors.

By A.D. 400s, the Yamato clan had established itself as the leading clan.

By the seventh century, the Yamato chiefs called themselves the emperors of Japan. These early emperors did not control the entire country, or even much of it, but the Japanese gradually accepted the idea of an emperor.

Although many of the Yamato rulers lacked real power, the dynasty was never overthrown. When rival clans fought for, power, the winning clan claimed control of the emperor and then ruled in the emperor's name. Japan had both an emperor who served as a figurehead and a ruling power who reigned behind the throne. This dual structure became an enduring characteristic of

Japanese government.

During the 400s, the Japanese began to have more and more contact with mainland Asia. They soon came under the influence of Chinese ideas and customs, which they first learned about from Korean travelers.

The Koreans Bring Buddhism One of the most important influences brought by Korean travelers was Buddhism. In the mid- 700s; the Japanese imperial court officially accepted Buddhism. By the eighth or ninth century,

Buddhist ideas and worship had spread through Japanese society. The Japanese, however, did not give up their Shinto beliefs. Some Buddhist rituals became Shinto rituals, and some Shinto gods and goddesses were worshiped in

Buddhist temples.

The form of Buddhism that had the greatest impact on Japan was Zen

Buddhism. Zen Buddhism sought spiritual enlightenment through meditation.

Strict discipline of mind and body was the Zen path to wisdom. Zen monks would sit in meditation for hours. If they showed signs of losing concentration, a Zen master might shout at them or hit them with a stick.

Cultural Borrowings from China Interest in Buddhist ideas soon grew into an enthusiasm for all things Chinese. The Japanese adopted the Chinese system of writing and interest in calligraphy, the art of beautiful handwriting. Japanese artists painted landscapes in the Chinese manner. The Japanese also followed

Chinese styles in cooking, gardening, drinking tea, and hairdressing. For a time,

Japan even modeled its government on China's. They tried to introduce China's civil-service system. However, this attempt failed. In Japan, noble birth remained the key to winning a powerful position. Unlike China, Japan continued to be a country where a few great families held power.

Life in the Heian Period In the late 700s, the imperial court moved its capital from Nara to Heian (HAY-ahn), the modem Kyoto (kee-OH-toh). Many of Japan's noble families also moved to Heian. Among the upper class in Heian, a highly refined court society arose. This era in Japanese history, from 794 to

1185, is called the Heian period. Gentlemen and ladies of the court filled their days with elaborate ritual and artistic pursuits. Rules dictated every aspect of court life-from the length of swords to the color of official robes.

Feudalism in Japan For most of the Heian period, the rich Fujiwara family held the real power. By about the middle of the 11th century, however, the power of the central government and the Fujiwaras began to slip. Large landowners living away from the capital set up private armies. The countryside became lawless and dangerous. Armed soldiers on horseback preyed on farmers and travelers, and pirates took control of the seas. For safety, farmers and small landowners traded parts of their land to strong warlords in exchange for protection. This marked the beginning of a feudal system of localized rule like that of ancient

China and medieval Europe. As in Europe, feudalism provided social stability in troubled times.

Early Feudalism Since wars between rival lords were commonplace, each lord surrounded himself with a bodyguard of loyal warriors called samurai

(SAM-uh-RY). (Samurai means "one who serves.") Samurai lived according to a demanding code of behavior called Bushido (BUSH-ih-DOH), or "the way of the warrior." A samurai was expected to show reckless courage, reverence for, the gods, fairness, and generosity toward those weaker than himself. Dying an honorable death was judged more important than living a long life.

During the late 1100s, Japan's two most powerful clans fought for power.

After almost 30 years of war, the Minamoto family emerged victorious. In

1192, the emperor gave a Minamoto leader named Yoritomo the title of shogun, or "supreme general of the emperor's army." In effect, the shogun had the powers of a military dictator. Following tradition, the emperor still reigned from Kyoto. (Kyoto was rebuilt on the ruins of Heian, which had been destroyed in war.) However, the real center of power was at the shogun's military headquarters at Kamakura (KAHM-uh-KUR-uh). The 1200s are known in Japanese history as the Kamakura shogunate. The pattern of government in which shoguns ruled through puppet emperors lasted in Japan until 1868.

The Kamakura shoguns were strong enough to turn back the two naval invasions sent by the great Mongol ruler Kublai Khan in 1274 and 1281.

However, the Japanese victory over the Mongols drained the shoguns' treasury.

Loyal samurai were bitter when the government failed to pay them. The

Kamakura shoguns lost prestige and power. Samurai attached themselves more closely to their local lords, who soon fought one another as fiercely as they had fought the Mongols.

A New Feudalism In 1467, civil war shattered Japan's old feudal system. The country collapsed into chaos. Centralized rule ended. A violent era of disorder followed. This time in Japanese history, which lasted from 1467 to 1568 is known as the Sengoku, or "Warring States," period. Powerful samurai seized control of old feudal estates. They offered peasants and others protection in return for loyalty. These warrior-chieftains, called daimyo (DYE-mee-oh), became lords in a new kind of Japanese feudalism. Under this system, security came from these powerful warlords. The emperor became a figurehead, with no real power.

The new Japanese feudalism resembled European feudalism in many ways. The daimyo built fortified castles and created small armies of samurai.

Later they added foot soldiers with muskets (guns) to their ranks. Rival daimyo often fought each other for territory. This led to disorder throughout the land.

A number of ambitious daimyo hoped to gather enough power to take control of the entire country. One, Oda Nobunaga (oh-dah noh-boo-nah-gah) seized the imperial capital Kyoto in 1568. Nobunaga then sought to eliminate his enemies. In 1575, Nobunaga's 3,000 soldiers armed with muskets crushed an enemy force of samurai cavalry. This was the first time firearms had been used effectively in battle in Japan. However, Nobunaga was not able to unify

Japan. He committed seppuku, the ritual suicide of a samurai, in 1582.

Nohunaga's mission was continued by Toyatomi Hideyoshi (toh-you-toh- mee hee-deh-yoh-shee) his best general. Hideyoshi set out to destroy the daimyo that remained hostile. By 1590, he controlled most of the country.

Hideyoshi did not stop with Japan. With the idea of eventually conquering

China, he invaded Korea in 1592 and began a long campaign against the

Koreans and their allies. When Hideyoshi died in 1598, his troops withdrew from Korea.

Tokugawa Shogunate

One of Hideyoshi's strongest allies, Tokugawa Ieyasu (toh-koo-gah-wah ee- yeh-yah-soo), completed the unification of Japan. In 1600, Ieyasu defeated rivals at the Battle of Sekigahara. His victory earned him the loyalty of daimyo throughout Japan. Three years later, Ieyasu became the sole ruler, or shogun.

He then moved Japan's capital to his power Edo, a small fishing village that would later become the city of Tokyo. The Tokugawa Shogunate would hold power until 1867. Japan was unified, but the daimyo still governed at the local level. To keep them from rebelling, Ieyasu required that they spend every other year in the capital. Even when they returned to their lands, they had to leave their families behind as hostages in Edo. Through this "alternate attendance policy" and other restrictions Ieyasu tamed the daimyo. This was a major step toward restoring centralized government. As a result, the rule of law overcame the rule of the sword.

Life in Tokugawa Japan Tokugawa society was very structured. The emperor had the top rank but was just a figurehead. The actual ruler was the shogun, who was the supreme military commander. Below him were the daimyo.

Samurai warriors came next. The peasants and artisans followed them. Peasants made up about four-fifths of the population. Merchants were at the bottom, but they gradually became more important as the Japanese economy expanded.

In Japan, as in China, Confucian values influenced ideas about society.

According to Confucius, the ideal society depended on agriculture, not commerce. Farmers, not merchants, made ideal citizens. In the real world of

Tokugawa Japan, however, peasant farmers bore the main tax burden and faced more difficulties than other classes. Many abandoned farm life and headed for the expanding towns and cities. There, they mixed with samurai, artisans, and merchants.

By the mid-1700s, Japan began to shift from a rural to an urban society.

Edo had grown from a small village in 1600 to a city of more than one million.

The rise of large commercial centers increased employment opportunities for women. Women found jobs in entertainment, textile manufacturing, and publishing. Still, the majority of Japanese women led sheltered and restricted lives as peasant wives. They worked in the fields, managed the household, cared for the children, and obeyed their husband without question.

Traditional culture continued to thrive. Samurai attended ceremonial noh dramas, which were based on tragic themes, and read tales of ancient warriors and their courage in battle. But traditional entertainment faced competition in the cities from new styles of literature and drama. Townspeople read a new type of fiction- realistic stories about self-made merchants or the hardships of life. The people also read haiku (HI-koo), 5- 7-5-syllable, 3-line verse poetry that presented-images rather than ideas. Townspeople also attended kabuki theater. Actors in elaborate costumes, using music; dance, and mime, performed skits about modem life.

Contact Between Europe and Japan

Europeans began coming to Japan in the 16th century, during the Warring

States period. The Japanese first encountered Europeans in 1543, when shipwrecked Portuguese sailors washed up on the shores of southern Japan. Portuguese merchants soon followed. They hoped to involve themselves in

Japan's trade with China and Southeast Asia. The Portuguese brought clocks, eyeglasses, tobacco, firearms, and other unfamiliar items from Europe.

Japanese merchants, eager to expand their markets, were happy to receive the newcomers and their goods.

Weapons of War The daimyo, too, welcomed the strangers. They were particularly interested in the Portuguese muskets and cannons, because every daimyo sought an advantage over his rivals. The Japanese purchased weapons from the Portuguese and soon began their own production. Firearms forever changed the time-honored tradition of the Japanese warrior, whose principal weapon had been the sword. Some daimyo recruited and trained corps of peasants to use muskets. Many samurai, who retained the sword as their principal weapon, would lose their lives to musket fire in future combat.

The cannon also had a huge impact on warfare and life in Japan. Daimyo had to build fortified castles to withstand the destructive force of cannonballs.

The castles attracted merchants, artisans, and others to surrounding lands.

Many of these lands were to grow into the towns and cities of modern Japan, including Edo (Tokyo), Osaka, Himeji, and Nagoya.

Christian Missionaries In 1549, Christian missionaries began arriving in

Japan. The Japanese accepted the missionaries in part because they associated them with the muskets and other European goods that they wanted to purchase.

However, the religious orders of Jesuits, Franciscans, and Dominicans came to convert the Japanese. Francis Xavier, a Jesuit, led the first mission to Japan. He baptized about a hundred converts before he left Japan. By the year 1600, other

European missionaries had converted about 300,000 Japanese to Christianity.

The success of the missionaries upset Tokugawa Ieyasu. The missionaries scorned traditional Japanese beliefs and sometimes involved themselves in local politics. At first, Ieyasu did not take any action, fearing that he would drive off the European traders who spurred Japan's economy. By 1612, however, the shogun had come to fear religious uprisings more. He banned

Christianity and focused on ridding his country of all Christians.

Ieyasu died in 1616, but repression of Christianity continued off and on for the next two decades. In 1637, the issue came to a head. An uprising in southern

Japan of some 30,000 peasants, led by dissatisfied samurai, shook the

Tokugawa shogunate. Because so many of the rebels were Christian, the shogun decided that Christianity was at the root of the rebellion. After that, the shoguns ruthlessly persecuted Christians. European missionaries were killed or driven out of Japan. All Japanese were forced to demonstrate faithfulness to some branch of Buddhism. These policies eventually eliminated Christianity in

Japan.

The Closed Country Policy

The persecution of Christians was part of an attempt to control foreign ideas.

The Tokugawa shoguns did not like the introduction of

European ideas and ways, but they valued European trade. As time passed, they realized that they could safely exclude both the missionaries and the merchants. By 1639, they had sealed

Japan's borders and instituted a "closed country policy." Most commercial contacts with Europeans ended. One port,

Nagasaki, remained open to foreign traders. But only Dutch and Chinese merchants were allowed into the port. Since the

Tokugawa shoguns controlled Nagasaki, they now had a monopoly on foreign trade, which continued to be profitable.