Section 4
New Asian Empire
Japan’s Warrior Society
By the 1100s, central government losing control of the empire
Local clans fighting for power and land, no law and order
Bandits roamed countryside, landowners hired armies of samurai,
trained professional warriors
Feudalism and Samurai
Payment for Samurai
•  Use of samurai, trained
professional warriors, developed
into feudal warrior society in Japan
•  Similar to feudal system in Europe
•  In exchange for allegiance, military
service, noble landowners gave
property, payment to samurai
•  Unlike in Europe, where knights
were usually paid with land grants,
only most powerful samurai
received land
•  Most paid with food, usually rice
•  Those given land did not work, live
on land
The samurai’s lands were worked by peasants, who gave the samurai
money or food for payment each year.
New Asian Empire
Section 4
Warrior Role
•  Main role of samurai, that of highly skilled warrior
•  Wore armor, were skilled with many weapons, often fought on
horseback
•  Expected to be in fighting form all the time, ready to do battle should
need arise
Societal Privileges
•  As time passed, samurai rose in status in society, enjoyed many
privileges
•  Crowds parted to let them pass when samurai walked down street
•  People dropped eyes out of respect—and fear—because samurai
had right to kill anyone who showed disrespect
Section 4
New Asian Empire
Samurai
Code of Ethics
•  Samurai followed strict code of ethics, known as Bushido, “the way of the
warrior”
•  Bushido required samurai to be courageous, honorable, obedient, loyal
•  Word samurai means “those who serve;” each had to serve, obey his lord
without hesitation, even if samurai, family suffered as result
Discipline
Zen Buddhism
•  Samurai who failed to obey, protect
lord expected to commit seppuku—
suicide by ritual disembowelment
•  Strove to live disciplined lives
•  Pursued activities requiring great
focus, like writing poetry, arranging
flowers, performing tea ceremonies
•  Many samurai accepted Zen
Buddhism
•  Spread from China to Japan in
1100s
•  Zen stressed discipline, meditation
as ways to focus mind, gain
wisdom
Section 4
New Asian Empire
Role of Women
Both men, women of samurai families learned
to fight
•  Usually only men went to war
•  Female samurai had to follow Bushido
•  Were prepared to die to protect home, family honor
•  Samurai women honored in Japanese society
–  Could inherit property
–  Allowed to participate in business
Section 4
New Asian Empire
Rise of the Shoguns
For most of the 1100s, Japan had no strong central government.
Local nobles, the heads of powerful clans, fought for power.
Yorimoto
Shogun Rule
•  Minamoto family defeated rival
clan to become Japan’s most
powerful clan
•  Emperor remained at top of
society, but became mere
figurehead
•  1192, clan leader Minamoto
Yoritomo forced emperor to
name him shogun, “general,”
Japan’s supreme military
leader
•  For nearly 700 years shoguns
ruled Japan
•  Shogun ruled in emperor’s
name
•  Shogun formed military
government at Kamakura
•  Yoritomo allowed emperor to
hold court at Heian, later
known as Kyoto
Section 4
New Asian Empire
New Threats
Kamakura Shogunate
Weakened Shogunate
•  Kamakura Shogunate, military
dynasty, ruled Japan until 1333
•  Japanese referred to storms as
kamikaze, “divine wind”;
believed they showed that the
gods favored Japan
•  1200s, Kamakura Shogunate
faced major threat—Mongols
•  1274, again in 1281, large
Mongol fleets attacked Japan
•  Each time Japanese defeated
them, with help of powerful
storm that wiped out enemy
fleet
•  Mongol invasions weakened
Kamakura Shogunate
•  Many lords thought shogun had
not rewarded them enough;
loyalties broke down
•  1338, Shogunate overthrown
Section 4
New Asian Empire
Rebellion and Order
A new shogunate took power but was too weak to gain control of
Japan. With the loss of centralized rule, Japan splintered into many
competing factions.
Daimyo
•  Numerous local
daimyo, powerful
warlords with large
estates, gained
control of territories,
battled for power
•  Daimyo built large
fortified castles to
defend lands
Fortifications
•  Castles often on hills,
protected by walls,
surrounded by water
•  Towns often grew up
around them
•  Daimyo began to use
peasants as foot
soldiers, samurai on
horseback
Firepower
•  1543, Portuguese
introduced firearms
•  Daimyo began to arm
soldiers with guns
•  Some samurai
refused to use them
•  Died wielding swords
against superior
firepower
Section 4
New Asian Empire
Ambitious Men
Generals Take Control
Tokugawa Ieyasu
•  1500s, three strong daimyo
worked to take control of Japan
•  1600, Tokugawa leyasu won
decisive battle
•  Oda Nobunaga, first to arm
soldiers with guns, defeated
opponents easily
•  Gained complete control of all
Japan
•  By death in 1582, controlled
half of Japan
•  Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Oda’s
greatest general, continued
efforts; by 1590, controlled most
of Japan
•  1603, emperor made Tokugawa
shogun
•  Event began the Tokugawa
Shogunate
New Asian Empire
Section 4
Find the Main Idea
What features defined Japan’s feudal
warrior society?
Answer(s): Samurai gave military service in
exchange for property or payment; shoguns ruled
in the name of the emperor; daimyo were powerful
warlords.