Samurai

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[History] れきし: After the Taika reform in 646 A.D. land was redistributed and taxes became very high, which was in support of the Chinese-style empire. Since some farmers could not pay the taxes, they had to sell their land and become tenant farmers.The rich however, hired warriors to defend their riches. Therefore, the samurai came about.
 * __Heian Period __**

During the Heian Period Emperor Toba died without announcing who would take his place. So, his two sons, Sutoku and Go-Shirakawa, fought for control which was called the Hogen Rebellion in 1156. After the rebellion, none of them won and the imperial office lost all its power.

 In 1160 two samurai clans, the Minamoto clan and the Taira clan, went to battle in the Heiji Rebellion. The Taira clan had defeated the Minamoto and formed the first samurai led government. The Minamoto were then banished from Kyoto.

__**Kamakura Period **__

The Minamoto and Taira clan fought once again in the Genpei War from 1180-1185, and this time the Minamoto clan became victorious. Minamoto no Yoritomo created a military dictatorship that was lead by shoguns, which was called the Kamakura Shogunate, that ruled Japan from 1185 - 1333. Even though the Kamakura Shogunate were very powerful, they never ended up taking over the northern and western parts of Japan. They also were under some resistance from other samurai clans for a period of time. In 1274 the Mongals invaded from Yuan, China with 600 ships, but all their ships got destroyed in a typhoon. In 1281 they tried again, but ended up with the same fate.

__** Muromachi Period **__

Even though the typhoon saved the Kamakura, it also cost them. People were unable to offer the samurai their land and riches, which weakened the shoguns. Since the shoguns were weak, Emperor Go-Daigo was able to overthrow Kamakura Shogunate in 1333. In 1336 a new, weaker Ashikaga Shogunate had taken over to reassert the samurai rule. Feudal lords, called "daimyo" had a great amount of power and was messing up the shogunates succession. In 1460, the daimyo ignored the orders of the shogun and were putting different lords on the imperial throne. When shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa stepped down from the throne, his younger brother and his son engaged an intense argument between the daimyo. This argument started the decade-long Onin War where thousands died and Kyoto was burned to the ground. The Onin War started the "Warring States Period" where almost all of Japans provinces were at war.

**__Restoration of Order__**

The Warring States Period ended in 1568, when a warlord, Oda Nobunaga, went into Kyoto and declared Yoshiyaki as a shogun. For 14 years Oda was eliminating rival daimyo, and stopping the Buddhist monk rebellions. He also built a castle( Azuichi Castle) which then was the symbol for Japan becoming one again. In 1582 Nobunaga was killed by Akechi Mitsuhide, who was one of his generals.

**__Edo Period__**

Hideyoshi, who was also one of Nobunaga's generals, had banned the Tokugawa clan from the Kyoto - Kanto area of Japan. In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu had taken over the daimyoin the western region from his castle Edo. Tokugawa's son, Hidetada, became shogun of Japan in 1605, and established 250 years of relative peace. The Tokugawa forced the samurai to serve their lords or they would have to work as farmers. The samurai were then turned into a class of cultured bureaucrats.


 * __ The Decline of the Samurai __**

The Meiji Restoration was known as the downfall of the samurai. The Meiji system was a constitutional system and had limits for the public office and for voting. When the Meiji Emperor was restored power, the power of the daimyo was reduced, and the capital of Japan was moved from Kyoto to Tokyo. The emperor also forced the samurai to live castle towns, and their masters would pay them in rice. The new government had created a new army in 1873 which was made up of former samurai's. The angry ex-samurai then rebelled against the Meiji during the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877, but lost which was the end of the samurai era.

__ Samurai Culture __ [Bushido]ぶしど: Bushido means " the way of the warrior." The Bushido code is made up of seven points. Any warrior that followed Bushido would always fight fearlessly, and would never surrender. A samurai would also be entitled to strike down anyone who had not honored him/her properly.

1. Gi -　Rectitude. 2. Yu - Bravery and Heroism 3. Jin - Universal love and Compassion 4. Rei - The right action and Courtesy 5. Makoto - Truthfulness 6. Meiyo - Honor and Glory 7. Chugo - Devotion and Loyalty

Tea ceremony. The tea ceremony was very complex, and the host, as well as the guests would aspire for complete tranquility. The guests would come in and see a kanji on the wall that would reflect the mood of the host, or the season.

[Ritual Suicide] せっぷく