issue #1
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History and Facts on Feudal Japan
By: Maddie Labbe (C block)
DISCIPLINE
MARRIAGE
In Japan discipline was harsh. Children were taught to respect their elders, how to behave properly with obedience and loyalty. If you were not then you would be punished.
At ages 12-13 most people would get married. The father of the daughter would pick who she would marry and she had no choice.
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JOBS You could be a farmer, craftsmen or merchant. If you were wealthy you could become a samurai. Famers were most respected for their hard work.
People/Jobs Jito-
Damiyo-
were medieval land stewards in Japan
most powerful warlords and rulers under the shogun.
Shogun/Emperor-
They had complete militery and economic power.
Peasants-
both emperor and shogun were the highest
ranking nobles but the shogun held most of the power they were divided into several sub-classes. while the emperor was more of a puppet figure
Highes rank were farmers, second were craftmen and
with less power
lowest ranking were merchants
Samurai- warriors who worked under damiyo
Famers They were the highest ranking peasants because they worked the hardest out of all peasants.
JAPAN TIMES
FEUDAL JAPAN between 1573- 1583
What was Feudal Japan? Feudal Japan was an important time period in Japanese history due to the war, culture and education. War in Japan was every day life. The reason for war was usually an attempt to gain power or land. Samurai were the warriors who fought for the emperor. Samurai were expected to give their lives without hesitation or any form of disgrace. Weapons that were used for war were a Tanto, or a dagger, a Naginata or a spear or swords and a bokken which is a wooden sword but this was used for sword
training. Many samurai died in battle but they still were remembered through prayer. To become a Samurai boys started trading at ages 12-13. They were respected for their loyalty and ability to fight in wars. A quote from Watsuki Nobuhiro: “You can always die. It’s living that takes real courage.
Samurais of Japan
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Feudal japanese warrior training
Another important thing about Japan was it’s culture. They worshipped different gods and places where they prayed were called shrines. Some common foods in Japan were rice, seaweed, sake (which is a drink), beans, and other crop foods. Another thing in Japan that was popular was their clothing. Samurai wore armor, noble woman wore silk and if you were in a lower class- farmer, craftsmen or merchant, then you would were robes (not of silk). Other big things in Japan were marriage, discipline and education. Culture was a important part of Japan’s history. The last important thing is education in the Feudal Japan time period. They were not taught like normal boys and girls today. Some boys were taught how to become a
war planning
Feudal Map of Japan Japanese shrine
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samurai and boys in a lower class were taught how be a farmer, craftsmen or merchant. Samurai boys would learn how to use a weapon and fight, write and read. They were also taught to respect their elders and use good behavior or behave correctly. Also how wealthy their family depended how educated they were. When you became an adult, boys got their first Katanas (swords) at ages 11-15. You would also have to avenge your fathers death as an adult as well.
Girls education was less difficult than the boys. Girls were taught how to cook, parent and manage a house. They were never taught to fight because that was not lady like. If she was from a wealthy family she would be taught how to read, write and the kana alphabet as well. The girls took care of the house and chores while the boys did their jobs as samurais. When you were an adult a marriage would be arranged by the girl’s parents, she would have no choice in who she marries. Woman were also taught to be elegant, polite and respectful. If any form of disgrace or rudeness happened, they would be punished. Girls had a tough life as well, but they were respected.
WOMAN
Without these thing Japan would not be what it is today.
Feudal Japan Woman
Woman wore lots of make-up and silk clothing if they were wealthy. A thing that woman would do is paint their skin white and put eyeshadows and lipstick on along with their colorful silk robs and flower pins.
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Letter from Kimi:
Dear Maddie, This is Kimi from Feudal Japan time period. I am with my sister Hana alone . You may be wondering why. My uncle who I thought was a loving, kind person has destroyed our family. He killed my older brothers and my father the Jito. My mom and my little brother escaped but Hana and I were separated from them. All the servants were killed. We can’t go back to our home. Our uncle has burned everything to the ground and ruined our family name. Now Hana and I are on the run from our uncle and his samurai. To protect ourselves we disguised ourselves as boys and joined a samurai training camp where we met our cousin who treated us horribly. That’s because he thought we were two peasant boys. We had no other choice but to stay there because it was the one place where uncle would never look for two noble girls. But there came a price to staying at this camp. Hana and I were servants working our way up to become samurai to train and defeat our uncle. But I have a few questions that I need answers to. I am afraid Hana and I won’t be hidden for long. Keeping a secret that you are a girl will come out sooner or later. So for Hana and I to be prepared we need to know what we should do. My faith is to take back my family's name and defeat my uncle with Hana. But if this plan does not work as we had wanted it to
what should our next move be? If the training camp found out that we were girls he would surely throw us out and uncle then would be able to find us. But what if we told him we were the daughters of the jito who were forced to run away from our home because our uncle had killed our father? Do you think they would let us stay or help us? My true problem at the moment is defeating my uncle and how to do it. I hope I didn’t take up to much of your time telling you about my story and asking you my questions. As wise as you are,Maddie, I hope you will help Hana and me.
Kimi
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Feudal Japanese Pyramid
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Lexicon Organizer
maddie
Word & Page #
Part of Speech (noun, verb, adj)
Definition
Sentence from book/article
Relevance or importance to topic/time period.
bokken
noun
wooden sword
“kimi trained with her bokken”
a weapon to practice sword fighting
bushi
noun
samurai code
“samurai falled the bushi code”
was a code samurais falled in the feudal Japan time period
dojo
noun
a room or hall in which judo and other martial arts are practiced
“when Hannah and I wanted to train we would go to the dojo”
samurai and students in training went here to practice fighting was a great learn skill
emperor
noun
a sovereign ruler of great power and rank
“a sovereign ruler of great power and rank, especially one ruling an empire.”
was a leader of an empire and leader of his samurai in feudal japan
jito
noun
were medieval land stewards
“my father the jito, had been killed by my uncle”
jitos were one of the most powerful people but not as powerful as the emperor and shogun
kaiseki ryori
noun
is a traditional multi-course Japanese
“the servants brought in a kaiseki ryori.”
many people had this dinner for
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Lexicon Organizer
maddie
dinner
celebrations/parties was a big dinner in japan {only japanese food}
kata
noun
a system of individual training exercises for practitioners of karate and other martial arts.
“Did you learn the kata Kata was a training while I was gone move for battles or kimi?” uncle said. practices
koshi
noun
river in japan
“river in asia”
A river in japan also could have been apart of someones name in feudal japan time period
naginata
noun
spear
“girls would use naginatas to protect their homes when the samurai were away.”
weapon of feudal japan
samurai
noun
a member of a powerful military caste
“my uncles samurai were coming closer to hana and I.”
was a warrior in japan and falled their emperors/leaders rules
shiden
noun
elegant pavilion
“we walked pass the shiden.”
they had this on many japanese houses
shogun
noun
a hereditary commander-in-chief
“a hereditary commander-in-chief in [8] feudal Japan”
stood alongside emperor. Was as powerful as emperor.