Pre-Colonial Japan

Made by Elnathan John S. Egay

Grade 7 – Abu Dhabi
Get to know about Japan
Japan is an archipelago, or string
of islands, on the eastern edge of
Asia. It is northwest Pacific Ocean
and is bordered on the west by the
Sea of Japan, extending from the
Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward
the East China Sea, Philippine Sea,
and Taiwan in the south. Its official
name this day is called
Nihon/Nippon/Japan.
Before those names came into
official use, people in the past
called it Yamato.
 How did Japan start?
The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic or
Stone Age, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jomon period, named after its cord-marked pottery,
was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inventions were introduced
from Asia. The Yayoi are people from the continent immigrated to the Japanese archipelago and
introduced iron and bronze technology and agricultural civilization. Because they had an
agricultural civilization, the population of the Yayoi began to grow rapidly and ultimately
overwhelmed the Jomon people, natives of the Japanese archipelago who were hunter and
gatherers.
 Yamato Dynasty
During the fifth century, after the fall of the Han Dynasty in China, Japan was made into tribes or
clans called uji. The Yamato emerged from the consolidation of several ujis headed by the Yamato
clan. Yamato rulers were also spiritual leaders and who led the people in worshipping the sun
goddesss Amaterasu and some Gods of Nature. Shrines were built for the sun goddess, and the
Japanese religion developed into Shintoism. People believed that Jimmu, the first emperor of Yamato,
descended from the sun goddess. In 587 CE, the Soga uji prevailed over the Yomato uji. The Soga uji
was instrumental in spreading Buddhism. The entry of Buddhism has paved the way for Chinese
influences and more contacts with Chinese civilization.
While conventionally assigned to the period 250–710, including both the Kofun period (c. 250–538)
and the Asuka period (538–710), the actual start of Yamato rule is disputed. The Yamato court's
supremacy was challenged during the Kofun period by other polities centered in various parts of
Japan. What is certain is that Yamato clans had major advantages over their neighboring clans in the
6th century. This period is divided by the relocation of the capital to Asuka, in modern Nara
Prefecture. However, the Kofun period is an archaeological period while the Asuka period is a
historical period. Therefore, many think of this as an old division and this concept of period division is
no longer applicable.
 The Fujiwara Period
The Fujiwara Clan was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from
the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The
Fujiwara prospered since the ancient times and dominated the imperial court until the Meiji
Restoration in 1868. They held the title of Ason. The abbreviated form is Toshi. The Fujiwara
dominated the Japanese politics of the Heian period (794–1185) through the monopoly of
regent positions, Sessho and Kampaku.
The family's primary strategy for central influence was through the marrying of Fujiwara
daughters to the Emperors. Through this, the Fujiwara would gain influence over the next
emperor who would, according to family tradition of that time, be raised in the household of
his mother's side and owe loyalty to his grandfather. As abdicated emperors took over power
by exercising insei at the end of the 11th century, then followed by the rise of the warrior
class, the Fujiwara gradually lost its control over mainstream politics.
 The Heian Period
During the Heian period of Japanese history, the Hokke managed to establish a hereditary claim to
the position of regent, either for an underage emperor or for an adult one. Some prominent
Fujiwaras occupied these positions more than once, and for more than one emperor. Lesser
members of the Fujiwara were court nobles, provincial governors and vice governors, members of
the provincial aristocracy, and samurai.
The Fujiwara was one of the four great families that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian
Period (794–1185), and the most important of them at that time. The others were the
Tachibana, the Taira and the Minamoto. The Fujiwara exercised tremendous power, especially
during the period of regency governments in the 10th and 11th centuries, having many emperors
as practically puppet monarchs. The Fujiwara dominated the government of Japan 794–1160.
There is no clear starting point of their dominance. However, their domination of civil
administration was lost by the establishment of the first shogunate or Kamakura shogunate
under Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1192.
 Kamakura Shogunate
The Kamakura shogunate was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura
period from 1185 to 1333. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no
Yoritomo after victory in the Genpei War and appointing himself as shogun. Yoritomo governed
Japan as military dictator from the eastern city of Kamakura with the emperor of Japan and
his Imperial Court in the official capital city of Heian-kyo (Kyoto) as figureheads.
The Kamakura shoguns were members of the Minamoto clan until 1226, the Fujiwara clan until
1252, and the last six were minor princes of the imperial family. The Hojo clan were the de
facto rulers of Japan as shikken (regent) of the shōgun from 1203. The Kamakura shogunate saw
the Jokyu War in 1221 and the Mongol invasions of Japan under Kublai Khan in 1274 and 1281.
The Kamakura shogunate was overthrown in the Kenmu Restoration under Emperor Go-Daigo in
1333, re-establishing Imperial rule until Ashikaga Takauji and his offspring overthrew the
imperial government and founded the Ashikaga shogunate in 1336.
Minamoto no Yoritomo
In 1331, Emperor Go-Daigo took arms against Kamakura, but was defeated by
Kamakura's Ashikaga Takauji and exiled to Oki Island, in today's Shimane Prefecture. A warlord
then went to the exiled emperor's rescue, and in response the Hojo sent forces again commanded
by Takauji to attack Kyoto. Once there, however, Takauji decided to switch sides and support Go-
Daigo. At the same time another warlord loyal to the emperor, Nitta Yoshisada, attacked Kamakura
and took it. About 870 Hojo clan, including the last three Regents, committed suicide at their family
temple, Tosho-ji, whose ruins were found in today’s Omachi.
In 1336, Ashikaga Takauji assumed the position of shogun himself, establishing the Ashikaga
shogunate.
 Ashikaga Shogunate
The Ashikaga shogunate, Japanese Ashikaga (1336 – 1573), was a feudal samurai government
ruled by the shoguns of the Ashikaga family. Shoguns were rulers of Japan although the authority
of the Emperor was nominally acknolwedged. He was kept in imperial isolation as a distant but
revered figure while governance devolved to the military dynasties.
This period is also known as the Muromachi period and gets its name from the Muromachi area of
Kyoto where the third shogun Yoshimitsu established his residence. Local nobles, the daimyo, also
exercised considerable power and the Shogun could only rule with the co-operation and support
of these men. Consequently, much skill was required and the Shogun was forced to consider the
regional nobles' interests as well as his own. The Shogunate began by re-opening contact and
commerce with China and ended with the first contact with Europeans, including Christian
missionaries but was halted when it was forbidden in 1500.
 Tokugawa Shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of
Sekigahara, ending the civil wars of the Sengoku period following the collapse of the Ashikaga
shogunate. Ieyasu became the shogun, and the Tokugawa clan governed Japan from Edo Castle in
the eastern city of Edo (Tokyo) along with the daimyo lords of the samurai class. .

Tokugawa Ieyasu Edo Castle

The Tokugawa shogunate organized Japanese society under the strict Tokugawa class system and
banned most foreigners under the isolationist policies of Sakoku to promote political stability.
The Tokugawa shoguns governed Japan in a feudal system, with each daimyo administering
a han (feudal domain), although the country was still nominally organized as imperial provinces.
Under the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan experienced rapid economic growth and urbanization,
which led to the rise of the merchant class and Ukiyo culture.
The Tokugawa shogunate declined during the Bakumatsu period from 1853 and was overthrown
by supporters of the Imperial Court in the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The Empire of Japan was
established under the Meiji government, and Tokugawa loyalists continued to fight in the Boshin
War until the defeat of the Republic of Ezo at the Battle of Hakodate in June 1869.
 Late Tokugawa times
The late Tokugawa shogunate was the period between 1853 and 1867, during which Japan ended
its isolationist foreign policy called sakoku and modernized from a feudal shogunate to the Meiji
government. The 1850s saw growing resentment by the tozama daimyos and anti-Western
sentiment following the arrival of a U.S. Navy fleet under the command of Matthew C.
Perry (which led to the forced opening of Japan). The major ideological and political factions
during this period were divided into the pro-imperialist Ishin Shishi (nationalist patriots) and the
shogunate forces; aside from the dominant two groups, other factions attempted to use the chaos of
the Bakumatsu era to seize personal power.
An alliance of daimyos and the emperor, succeeded in overthrowing the shogunate, which came to
an official end in 1868 with the resignation of the 15th Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu,
leading to the "restoration” of imperial rule. Some loyal retainers of the shogun continued to fight
during the Boshin war that followed but were eventually defeated in the notable Battle of Toba–
Fushimi.
By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the shogunate showed signs of weakening.
The arrival in 1853 of a fleet of American ships commanded by Commodore Matthew C.
Perry threw Japan into turmoil. The US government aimed to end Japan's isolationist policies. The
shogunate had no defense against Perry's gunboats and had to agree to his demands that American
ships be permitted to acquire provisions and trade at Japanese ports. The Western powers imposed
what became known as "unequal treaties" on Japan which stipulated that Japan must allow citizens
of these countries to visit or reside on Japanese territory and must not levy tariffs on their imports or
try them in Japanese courts.
The shogunate's failure to oppose the Western powers angered many Japanese, particularly those of
the southern domains of Choshu and Satsuma. Many samurai there, inspired by the nationalist
doctrines of the kokugaku school, adopted the slogan of "revere the emperor, expel the
barbarians". The two domains went on to form an alliance. In August 1866, soon after becoming
shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, struggled to maintain power as civil unrest continued. The Choshu
and Satsuma domains in 1868 convinced the young Emperor Meiji and his advisors to issue
a rescript calling for an end to the Tokugawa shogunate. The armies of Choshu and Satsuma soon
marched on Edo and the ensuing Boshin War led to the fall of the shogunate.
Emperor Meiji
Thank you for listening!
Lets move on into Questions!
1. What’s the name of the first and only dynasty of Japan?
Yamato Dynasty
2. What is the most powerful family clan of imperial regents in Japan?
The Fujiwara Family
3. How long was the Tokugawa Shogunate times?
1603 - 1867
4. Who established Tokugawa Shogunate?
Tokugawa Ieyasu