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The Emperor The Emperor has been traced to exist since the sixth century, always coming from the same family, but the emperor hasn’t always been in charge. After the Yamoto family lost power and another family , the Fujiwara, took over the emperor, claiming to be the descendant of a god, made an agreement with the shogun that the shogun would make the decisions but the emperor would always be the head, but would have no power. Although the dominant family has changed many times, the emperor has always been the supposed “head” until the Americans came thousands of years later and demanded that the emperor ruled the country. Samurai Warriors Samurai warriors are well known now in most countries but originally they were the warriors in a daimyo’s army. Formerly, well built villagers were made into samurai’s but later on the were more of a birth trait. They were given certain privileges and most importantly honoured amongst the people. Some of the privileges included being able to carry two swords, having family crests and being able to behead any villagers who did not treat them respectfully. Even today people with well known samurai family names are treated with great respect. Samurai’s were held to a strict code of honour called bushido, meaning the way of the warrior. This meant loyalty and obedience to their master, simple living and both physical and mental work. If this code was broken, a samurai would follow a suicide ritual called (name) in which the samurai would disembowel him or herself in a way that was considered honourable and would bring respect back to your family once you deceased. Unlike in most countries, women were allowed to be samurai’s and also were given these certain privileges, but they would always be dominated by a male samurai although they could order a male in the lower class to their will. The Shogun The Shogun (将軍 ) was the head of the leading daimyo. Until the Meiji era, the shogun had complete power and could do anything from attack others forces to accept or decline trade agreements. Although technically the Emperor is the head, the Shogun was the one who made the actual decisions, but preferably with the Emperors consent. The shogun wore dark purple coloured clothes such as a sword, baggy trousers and a long jacket that reached the ground. The Daimyo In Japan there were many little villages separated by mountains with a few other villages in the area. The daimyo was the leader of the strongest family in that area. The term daimyo in Japanese actually means great name as they were greatly honoured and respected. They were like warlords, they had their own army of samurai’s and people gave the daimyo part of their profits like a tax. In return the daimyo would protect the village, like if their was a flood the daimyo would pay to repair the damages or if their was a war the daimyo would protect his people. The Farmers The peasants were divided onto a series of classes, farmers being the highest class and merchants being the lowest. Then the farmers were divided into those who owned their land (more important) and tenant farmers (less important). Farmers were considered important as there was not much fertile land to plant crops, making farms scarce and therefore food was valuable. The clothes were very simple and not too expensive. Men wore cotton trousers and a smock that covered upper bodies (like a shirt) and women wore a plain kimono and a girdle around their waist with an apron on top to keep them from the dirt. The Craftsmen The craftsmen were at the third highest rank in peasant like as although they did not produce food, their works were well respected. Their work was often made out of wood or metal as those were the items that were most resourceful in Japan at the time. Japanese art at the time was non-influenced as they did not have much contact with other countries. The Merchants In Japan, merchants were seen as the lowest class of citizens as they lived off others labour. Often they were made to live in separate parts of the village and were not allowed to consort with other classes except for business. Although during later times, merchants became more wealthy and as money began to become exchanged instead of rice (and merchants controlled the money), they became more powerful. It got to the point that even poor samurai might adopt a merchant’s son or marry in between families in order to bring money into the family. The Women Japanese women were different to those in other countries as they could become very powerful and influential in the ancient times. Although during the feudal ages they became dominated by men as the need for strength became more important. But unlike most places, women too could train in the martial arts and carry swords for defence and become a samurai warrior. However, women of the upper class were not allowed these privileges and led very private lives, so where women stood in the hierarchy pyramid is always different depending on your family and your abilities. Even if a women was a samurai she could be ordered to do something by a male of her class or higher, but she could order the men of the classes below her. |
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