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Chapter 14: Booklet 1

Edo Japan: A Closed Society (1603 – 1853)

1. Why and how did Japan isolate itself from the rest of the world?

2. In what ways did isolation lead to political, economic, and social changes for Japan?

3. How did isolation contribute to the end of Japan’s closed, feudal system?

C14 Vocabulary: Bukufu (military government headed by Shogun), Sovereignty: when a society/country has the freedom/authority to govern themselves (NOT INFLUENCED BY OUTSIDE FORCES)

Feudal Martyr Isolation Exclusion LawsDutch Scholars Kabuki Sumo Wrestling HaikuBunraku Noh Edo MeijiWesternization Conscription Junshi Industrialization

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How Does Isolation Affect Worldview?

To isolate means to remove from contact with others. Isolation is exactly what Japan chose to do during the Edo Period.

What does the size of Japan on the map, relative to other areas suggest about how the Japanese viewed themselves and their island in regard to the rest of the world?

Most of Japan was organized into small, local political states, independent of each other.

As you know, in Italy, city-states developed during the Renaissance consisting of cities and their surrounding areas.

In Japan, small towns and the surrounding countryside were independent regions, most often

divided by mountain ranges.

A Closed Country

The rulers of Edo Japan worried that ideas from societies totally different from theirs might lead Japanese citizens to change their beliefs and values. Opening up thought might cause people to question the system in which they lived—this could lessen the control the rulers had overthe people. Questioning the system could threaten their absolute power. The rulers, therefore, banned all contact with Europeans, except for very limited trading situations. They were particularly fearful of the Christian missionaries bringing new religious ideas to the country. Spreading Christian ideas was punishable by death. Japan had limited contact without siders and controlled its trade in such a way that it was doing business only with the Dutch, but neighboring countries and seafaring nations from across these as were all putting pressure on Japan’s leaders to deal with them.

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Because Japan isolated itself during the Edo Period, the popular culture that developed was uniquely Japanese. It wasn’t influenced by outside cultures. For example, unique forms of theatre—kabuki and banraku—became extremely popular. Geishas entertained in elaborate costume, showing the highest standards of social etiquette. Printing developed to extremely high standards, both in woodblock prints and books. Literature was important, not only to the newly educated samurai, but to common people as well. Poets travelled from city to city sharing their poetry with all in public performances.

How Does Religion/Travel and Affect the World?

Religion forms a strong basis for the worldview beliefs and values in many societies. In some, government systems and religious hierarchies are intertwined. In others, government institutions are kept separate from religion—though many citizens may still consider the country to be based on a specific faith.

Social System of Edo Japan

The feudal system of medieval Europe was a rigid political, economic, and social system. The same was true of Edo Japan. You’ve seen the rigid political hierarchy. Society was also divided into a rigid hierarchy of social classes. As you know, the rulers of the Edo era legalized the social hierarchy by passing laws defining it.

A society’s social hierarchy is a good indication of what a society considers to be important. In other words, the social class system tells us about the values of the society. All classes of people in a society are necessary for that society to function, but the placement of any one class in the hierarchy tells us the value society placed on the role.

National Seclusion Policy/Exclusion Laws

With the information they had about Europeans, the leaders of Japan decided to close the country’s

borders. In the 1630s, they introduced the National Seclusion Policy. The laws passed under this policy

would ensure that the leaders maintained their strict control over the people of Japan. The Closed

County Exclusion Laws were rule that showed a great deal about the Japanese worldview at the time.

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What do you think of the rules set out in this edict? What do they suggest about Japanese society at that time? Keep in mind… The goal was to cut off contact between Japan and the outside world.

Cracks in the Foundation/Changes within Japan

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Rules Worldview Value or Belief

1. Japanese ships are forbidden to visit foreign countries.

2. and 3. Japanese will be executed if they try to travel to another country; any returning Japanese will be executed.

4. If Europeans teach Christianity or commit crimes, they’ll be imprisoned.

5. No trading city will have a monopoly on foreign goods.

6. Portuguese ships are banned; if they disobey, the ship will be destroyed and the crew executed.

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Japan’s feudal society, which had been created by the shogun during times of conflict and poverty, was no longer working and shogun could no longer stop the changes that were about to happen…

Read and make notes for the following areas:

The Class System Upheaval:

Disasters and Hard Times:

Expansionist Threat from Outside:

Read page 322 - 323 of your textbook and answer the following questions:

a. Who was Commodore Perry? How did his arrival change Japan?

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b. What criteria did the British use to decide that Japan was wrong?

c. Were they in the right in saying that Japan didn’t have the right to exclude other nations from its riches?

d. Why was trade between Japan and the USA a good idea?

Reflection Questions:

1. Explain how and why Japan was able to have a stable and booming economy during the Edo Period…

2. Why were the three shoguns—Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu— important leaders of Edo Japan?

A. They established ties with European countries and implemented changes to modernize Japan. B. They unified Japan under one central government (military government headed by shogun

Bukufu). C. They travelled to the United States and Europe to learn Western ideas. D. They divided Japan into independent regions, which were often at war with each other.

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3. The social hierarchy of Edo Japan was similar to the feudal system in Europe in that …

A. The role of the Roman Catholic Church was very important in Japan and in Europe. B. People were free to move from the countryside to the city and from one job to another. C. Japan and Europe each had powerful local rulers and a strict class system with very little

social mobility. D. All of the above

4. Which of the following explains why the Meiji leaders, who created the Iwakura Mission, showed such a change in Japanese worldview?

A. They were now looking to Western countries for ideas on how to modernize. B. They were now closing their borders to any influence from Western traders and Christian

missionaries. C. They formalized the strict social class hierarchy. D. They were now creating alliances with the Chinese and Russians against the influence of the

United States.

Geographical Aspect

Effect on Society Effect on Worldview

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series of islands

main islands latitude of 30°N to 46°N and longitude of 123°E to 146°E

“ Ring of Fire”

Mountainous

Off the east coast of Asia

5. The geography of Japan affected the Japanese worldview. In the second and third column indicate the effects the physical geography had on society and their beliefs/values (worldview).

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Review Chapter 14: Booklet 2

Edo Japan … A Closed Society

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1. Name and describe what each of “Exclusion Laws” was…

2. Why did the Shogun put find it necessary to create such laws?

3. The exclusion helped create which Japanese policy?

4. Which countries were allowed contact with Japan and which countries were not…

5. How did the political leaders of Japan use their power…

6. Who was Will Adams and why was he so important to the shogun?

7. Cause and Effect:

Why was the Shogun threatened by the Catholic Religion and what resulted from his fears?

8. Cause and Effect:

What changed/happened because of the Exclusion laws?

Goal was to create C14/ Japan

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isolation, cut off contact between Japan and the rest of the world!

9. How did the Shogun control movement of people/mail/documents into/within Japan?

10. Describe how Japan changed politically, economically and socially during the period of isolation…

Political Changes that Occurred:

Economic Changes that Occurred:

Social Changes that Occurred:

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11. Use the T-chart below to summarize the internal and external factors that ended Japan’s isolation….

Internal Factors/Reasons that Ended Isolation External Factors/Reasons that Ended Isolation

12. What geographic feature of Japan was the greatest factor/reason that helped that country remain isolated for hundreds of years?

13. What problems occurred in Japan during the period of isolation?

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