From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There were two major classes in the time of Feudal Japan: the Nobles and the peasants. The Nobles included people such as the Emperor and the Samurai. They made up 10% of the population. The Peasants, 90% of the population, included common people such as farmers and craftsmen.

Contents 1 The Emperor 2 The Shogun 3 The Daimyo 4 Samurai warriors 5 The Farmers 6 The Craftsmen 7 The Merchants 8 Women

The line of Emperors has been traced to the sixth century, always coming from the same family. However, the Emperor hasn’t always been supreme. After the Yamoto family lost power and another family, the Fujiwara, took over, the Emperor made an agreement with the shogun. The Emperor claimed to be the descendant of a god, and arranged that the shogun would make governmental decisions but the Emperor would be a perpetual, powerless figurehead. Although the dominant family has changed many times, the Emperor has always been the supposed 'head' until Japan's defeat in World War 2, after which the United States demanded that the Emperor rule the country.

The Shogun (将軍 ) was the head of the leading daimyo. Until the Meiji era, the shogun had complete power and could do anything, ranging from initiating military attacks on others' forces, to accepting or declining trade agreements. Although technically the Emperor is the head, the Shogun was the one who made the actual decisions, but preferably with the Emperor's consent. The shogun wore dark purple coloured clothes, often including a sword, baggy trousers and a long jacket that reached the ground.

In Japan there were many clusters of little villages separated by mountains. The daimyo was the leader of the strongest family in that area. The term daimyo in Japanese actually means great name as they were greatly honored and respected. They were like warlords, they had their own army of samurai and people gave the daimyo part of their profits, like a tax. In return the daimyo would protect the village; for example, if there was a flood the daimyo would pay to repair the damage, or if there was a war the daimyo would defend his people.

Samurai warriors are well known now in most countries but originally they were the warriors in a daimyo’s army. Formerly, well built villagers were trained to become samurai. They were given certain privileges and, most importantly, honoured amongst the people. Some of the privileges included being able to carry two swords, having family crests, a surname, and being able to behead any villagers who did not treat them respectfully. Even today people with well-known samurai family names are treated with great respect. Samurai were held to a strict code of honor called bushido, meaning 'the way of the warrior'. This meant loyalty and obedience to their master, simple living and both physical and mental work. If this code was broken, a samurai would follow a suicide ritual called seppuku in which the samurai would disembowel him or herself in a way that was considered honourable and would bring respect back to his/her family once deceased. Unlike the gender roles prevalent in most other countries, women were allowed to be samurai. They also were given these privileges, but they would always be dominated by a male samurai. Regardless, they could order a male in the lower class to their will.

The peasants were divided onto a series of classes, farmers being the highest class and merchants being the lowest. Then the farmers were divided into those who owned their land (more important) and tenant farmers (less important). Farmers were considered important as there was not much fertile land to plant crops, making farms scarce and therefore making food valuable. The clothes were very simple and not too expensive. Men wore cotton trousers and a smock that covered their upper bodies (like a shirt) and women wore a plain kimono and a girdle around their waist with an apron on top to keep them from the dirt. They also asked the Shoguns for miltary help.

The craftsmen were the second highest rank of peasant. Although they did not produce food, their works were well respected. Their work was often made out of wood or metal as those were the resources that were most plentiful in Japan at the time. Japanese art at the time was unique and not greatly influenced by other cultures, as they did not have much contact with other countries.

In Japan, merchants were seen as the lowest class of citizens as they lived off others' labour. Often they were made to live in separate parts of the village and were not allowed to consort with other classes except when doing business. In later times, merchants became more wealthy and as money was used for currency instead of rice (and merchants controlled the money), they became more powerful. It got to the point where even poor samurai might adopt a merchant’s son or marry in between families in order to bring money into the family. They were referred to also as 'leeches' because they sucked money and goods off other Japanese groups.

In ancient times, Japanese women were different from those in other countries as they could become very powerful and influential. During the feudal ages, however, they became dominated by men as the need for strength became more important. But unlike most places, women too could train in the martial arts and carry swords for defence and become a samurai warrior. However, women of the upper class were not allowed these privileges and led very private lives. Even if a woman was a samurai she could be ordered to do something by a male of her class or higher, but she could order the men of the classes below her.