Japan

Review600-1450: Nara Period (8th Century)

Heian Period (794-1153)

Kamakura Shogunate (1185-1330s)

Ashikaga Shogunate (1338-1573)

1450-1750:

  • End of the Ashikaga Shogunate and the Reunification of Japan under the Tokugawa

by the 16th century Japan was divided and racked by civil war as shogun and daimyo battled for supremacy. Three successive military leaders restored unity and civil peace:

  1. Nobunaga—from a minor family but gained great prominence via his military

skills/leadership (he was innovative and ruthless, even cruel, and was also the

first to utilize firearms which had arrived with the Portuguese in the 1540s). In 1573 Nobunaga deposed the last Ashikaga Shogun (who hadn’t really controlled anything anyway—Japan had become a decentralized state where the daimyo controlled their own lands…hence feudal society!) and unified the daimyo of central Honshu under his command then began to battle the daimyo of western Honshu but was killed (by one of his own generals).

Key here--Nobunaga started the process of unification before his death.

  1. ToyotomiHideyoshi—he was one of Nobunaga’s best generals who went after

those who had betrayed Nobunaga and renewed the fight to break the power of the daimyo. Hideyoshi was a skilled military leader but also a skillful diplomat who used both military victories and diplomatic alliances to bring Japan under his control by 1590 then sought to expand Japanese control to the mainland. He invaded Korea and had early success though his campaigns later stalled. After his death in 1598, his vassals tried to seize power and the fighting for control of Japan resumed.

  1. Tokugawa Ieyasu—he rose to power as an ally of Hideyoshi and emerged as the

winner of the renewed warfare that followed his death.

  • Instead of continuing Hideyoshi’s campaigns overseas, he focused on Japan itself.
  • He took the official title of shogun in 1603 thereby establishing the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868).
  • He reorganized the daimyo—in central Honshu they were controlled directly by the Tokugawa family, but in the outlying areas the vassal daimyo retained their domains but were carefully controlled and required to pledge personal alliance to the shogun.
  • Bottom line here—the civil wars were over and some semblance of unity was established.

What was the relationship between these three unifiers of Japan and foreigners—particularly those from the West?

The number of European traders and missionaries was increasing. Traders were bringing goods from India, China, and Southeast Asia to Japan and exporting Japanese silver, copper, pottery and laquerware. They also brought European GUNS to Japan (as well as the printing press and clocks). The Japanese learned to produce their own guns, which in turn changed warfare in Japan and contributed to the victories of the three men above. At the same time the Japanese began to venture out establishing trade with Formosa (Taiwan), Korea and the Philippines.

Missionaries came on the heels of the traders and sought to convert the natives (the most famous of these was the Jesuit Francis Xavier). Nobunaga welcomed them perhaps because he saw Christianity as a counterforce to militant Buddhists (who had resisted his rise to power). The missionaries themselves were hoping to convert Nobunaga himself because they thought that would lead to the conversion of the entire country. He didn’t convert although many thousands of Japanese people did. Then Nobunaga was murdered and Hideyoshi, while not openly hostile, was not as supportive of the missionaries. The opposing Buddhist sects had been crushed so he didn’t really need them like Nobunaga did. In addition, Hideyoshi began to hear reports that Christian converts were not following orders if they thought those orders went against Christianity—a fact that worried Hideyoshi! After that Christianity was seen more and more as a threat to social order and there was some worry that Japan might actually face a European invasion.

As a result foreign activities were restricted in Japan (starting in the 1580s)

  • Christian missionaries were ordered to leave (although this wasn’t really enforced—at first)
  • Eventually ACTIVE persecution began to happen—against both missionaries AND converts (by the 1590s)
  • Tokugawa Ieyasu continued the persecution and the BANNED Christianity in 1614. The missionaries were driven out (and those who stayed were hunted down). Converts were forced to renounce their faith although some refused and went underground. Some of these groups attempted to rebel and were put down. Only a few underground Christian communities remained.
  • The attitude against Christianity turned into an attitude against foreigners in general. In 1616, foreign traders were limited to a few cities. Then in the 1630s Japanese ships were forbidden to sail overseas and trade, and one by one the European powers were either officially excluded from Japan (ex. Spain) or decided that trade with Japan wasn’t worth the trouble (ex. England). By the 1640s, only a limited number of Dutch and Chinese ships were allowed to trade on the island of Deshima in Nagasaki Bay. The export of silver and copper was restricted. Western books were banned, and foreigners were allowed to live and travel only in restricted areas. By the 1650s, Japan’s isolation was nearly complete.

The Tokugawa government in power:

In the 17th century much time and effort was spent on consolidating internal control of Japan by extending the bureaucratic administration of the shogunate further into the outlying domains of Japan.

In the 18th century a Neo-Confucian revival which had accompanied the Tokugawa rise to power gave rise to a new ideology—the school of National Learning which:

Placed great emphasis on Japan’s unique history

Led to a revival of JAPANESE culture at the expense of Chinese ideas

BUT—the Japanese also followed developments of the West through contacts with the Dutch community at Deshima (this interest contrasts with the indifference of the Chinese scholar-gentry in this period).

c. 1750-1900:

The Late Tokugawa—the shogun continued to maintain control by combining a central bureaucracy with alliances with the regional daimyo, but the government faced increasing financial problems in the early 19th century. Taxes were based on agriculture, which limited the financial resources of the government while at the same time maintenance costs were high. Budget reform was attempted but failed and the financial situation weakened the Tokugawa government at a critical time—the arrival of Matthew Perry and increasing pressure from the West.

Society of the later Tokugawa:

Neo-Confucianism gained influence at the expense of Buddhism which made Japan more secular especially among the upper classes. This meant that when the Western challenge presented itself there wouldn’t be a strong religious based resistance to change.

Education reached beyond just the upper classes. By 1850, almost 40% of men and 15% of women were literate (these numbers are much higher than anywhere else outside the West in this time period including Russia)

There was a kind of traditionalist v. reformer rivalry (somewhat like the situation in Russia in the 19th century). A national studies group emerged that praised Japanese traditions (including the office of emperor and the Shinto religion). This group would help inspire ultranationalist sentiments in Japan at the end of the 19th century and into the 20th. At the same time another group of people emphasized what they called “Dutch Studies.” The knowledge of the Dutch traders at Nagasaki had been kept alive by a group of Japanese translators even while Western books were banned--and that ban was lifted in the 1720s. By 1850 there were schools of Dutch studies in all the major cities.

Commerce and manufacturing actually expanded in Japan in the first part of the 19th century, but that expansion had slowed by the time Matthew Perry arrived in 1853

What came next?

Matthew Perry and American “gunboat diplomacy” in 1853 which led to the opening of Japanese markets to the West as well the Japanese response to these events…the Meiji Restoration (1868) and subsequent industrialization of the country (orchestrated by the new government) which then led to the push for empire and war with China (Sino-Japanese war 1894-5) then with Russia (Russo-Japanese War 1904-5). Stearns has lots of information about industrialization in Japan…read it!!!

After 1900:

Do note that Japan and Britain became allies in the early 20th century (1902). They actually had a great deal in common! That friendship would eventually contribute to Japan’s participation in WWI on the allied side and Japan benefited…Japan was awarded some of Germany’s imperial possessions (islands in the Pacific and Germany’s sphere of influence in China—which the Japanese had attacked during the war) AND the war did not take place in Japan…no destruction so Japanese industry was poised to benefit in the post-war years. However, the Japanese economy suffered with the rest of the world with the onset of the Great Depression in 1929.

By 1900, Japan’s government was actually much like that of Germany—an emperor who appointed ministers who governed the country in a sometimes uneasy partnership with an elected parliament (although Japan’s vote was even more restricted than Germany’s). This new government would be tested by the trials of the Depression and like Germany, its parliamentary system would wither in the face of this test. By 1931, the Depression had his Japan hard. About the same time the Japanese military was taking over Manchuria (without the backing of the civilian government at home). The reaction to the challenges of the Depression at home in Japan included those who argued for a more authoritarian government with more emphasis on nationalism which in turn would support a more expansionist attitude. This group had supporting the military sector. In the wake of the problems created by the Depression, the military played an increasingly large role in the workings of the government, and after 1936 Japan had a series of increasingly militaristic prime ministers. One other note—although Japan was hit hard by the Depression and initially there was great suffering among the Japanese people, the government acted quickly increasing spending to create jobs which in turn created more demand for food and manufactured goods. The Japanese economy recovered pretty quickly from the Depression and actually experienced industrial growth in the 1930s.