Helen Bass February 7th 2011
Mr. Rifkind Global H1
Assignment #2: Japanese Society and Culture
Read pages 297-306

1. What were the most significant economic and social aspects of medieval Japanese society? Be sure to read “Life in the Land of Wa.”
Japan was a predominately agrarian society but they advantage of plentiful rainfall and created a society based on the cultivation of wet rice. Each uji had a local artisan class; weavers, carpenters and ironworkers. Trade was essentially local. With the rise of the Yamato state, a money economy developed. Metal coins were introduced from China in the 12th century. Trade and manufacturing grew rapidly during the Kamakura period, with appearance of trimonthly markets in large towns. Japan exported raw materials, paintings, swords, silk, porcelain, books and copper cash. It kept growing through out the Ashikaga shogunate period along with the rapid growth in wealth. The daily life consisted of lords and pheasants living in an agricultural society. The pheasants worked on land owned by their lord, the state or Buddhist monasteries. They had to pay part of their crop as taxes to them. Laws were written to punish offenders, local trade was made in markets, and government granaries stored grain that was paid as taxes.

2. What roles did women play in medieval Japanese society?
Women played the role of

3. What are the main beliefs of Shintoism? How and why was Buddhism welcomed in Japan?

4. What were some of the most significant developments in Japanese literature, art, and architecture?
Identification
Genin,
eta
Kami
Pure Land (jodo) sect
Zen
Satori and zazen
Haiku
No Murasaki
Shikibu
The Tale of the Genji
Tatami
Bonsai
Ikebana
Tea ceremony