Essays on Japan

Essays on Japan

1.   How has the Yumato dynasty gone from being a major             political power to only a figurative leadership?

When the Yumato dynasty came to power around 500 AD, they were the whole political situation in Japan.   The society was a theocracy because the Emperor was the political leader and the religious leader.   Because the society was a theocracy, the people did not have a right to revolt and taht is why the Yumato dynasty has been the only dynasty ever existent in Japan.   This gave the Emperor a ton of power.   During the 500’s -600’s AD Prince Shitoku Tyishi sent Japanese people to China to study their systems and lifestyles.   The Japanese borrowed many ideas but stated that they were done borrowing in the 800’s AD.   All this borrowing and new knowledge brought about the Heyon age, or the Golden Age.   This age was great for the upper class aristocracy but the masses soon began to suffer.   The aristocracy was the only class allowed to even serve any type of political action in Japan.   This meant that the whole country was made to make the rich live richer and the poor live poorer.   Soon land began to take up a whole new meaning as the only way to survive in Japan.   When land became the most valuable thing in Japan this took power from the Emperor and put it straight into the hands of those who owned the land.   The land lords were looked upon as heros because they provided the masses with land which gave the masses more power.   As the land lords began to become more and more of a factor, the Emperor was soon becoming less and less respected.   By about 1100 AD, the Emperor had basically become just a figurehead in society.   Soon Japan was becoming less unified as it separated into clans.   The leaders of these clans were the land lords.   The Emperor realized that he was losing power so to shut the peolpe up he gave land lords the title of Shogun.   This meant Supreme General of the Emperor’s Army.   The land lords were not very satisfied because this still...