What were the characteristics of the Japanese feudal system?

Answer 1

Local lords were called daimyo. They retained soldiers called samurai. The top ruling lord in Japan was called the Shogun. The feudal leaders received tribute from the territories they were responsible for.

Answer 2

Society was divided into two classes in Feudal Japan, the nobility and the peasants. The noble class made up roughly twelve percent of the population with peasants making up the rest.

Emperor and Shogun

The Emperor and the Shogun were the highest ranking nobles. During Japan's feudal period the Shogun held the most power while the Emperor was more of a puppet figure with little actual power. As the Shogun was a military leader his sword, or Nihonto in Japanese (katana came later in the Mid-Muromachi period), was an important part of his attire.

Daimyo

Daimyo were powerful warlords and the most powerful rulers under the Shogun from the 10th century to the early 19th century. Within their province the Daimyo had complete military and economic power. Daimyo had vast hereditary land holdings and armies to protect the land and its workers. The most powerful warlords sometimes achieved the status of Shogun.

Samurai

The Daimyo armies were made up of Samurai warriors. Samurai worked under Daimyo, but they had additional privileges and held a higher social status than common people. These privileges included being able to have a surname, a family crest, and carry two swords. People with Samurai family names are still treated with great respect in Japan today. Although most samurai were not well educated, they had a strict code of honor or the "way of the warrior", known as bushido in Japanese. If a Samurai broke the bushido code and brought dishonor to him/herself they would be expected to commit seppuku, or ritual suicide. Women were allowed to serve as samurai but always served under a male leader.

Peasants

Peasants were divided into several sub-classes. The highest ranking of the peasants were farmers. Farmers who owned their own land ranked higher than farmers who did not. Craftsmen, or artisans, were the second highest ranking after the farmers. They worked with wood and metal and some became well-known as expert Samura sword makers. Merchants were the lowest ranking because it was felt they made their living off of other people's work. However, in later times when Japan began to use money more as currency merchants became more wealthy.

People above the Four-Tier System:

Although feudal Japan is said to have had a four tier social system, some Japanese lived above the system, and some below. On the very pinnacle of society was the shogun, the military ruler. He was generally the most powerful daimyo; when the Tokugawa family seized power in 1603, the shogunate became hereditary. The Tokugawas ruled for 15 generations, until 1868. Although the shoguns ran the show, they ruled in the name of the emperor. The emperor, his family and the court nobility had little power, but they were at least nominally above the shogun, and also above the four tier system. The emperor served as a figurehead for the shogun, and as the religious leader of Japan. Buddhist and Shinto priests and monks were above the four-tier system, as well.

People below the Four-Tier System:

Some unfortunate people also fell below the lowest rung of the four-tier ladder.

These people included the ethnic minority Ainu, the descendants of slaves, and those employed in taboo industries. Buddhist and Shinto tradition condemned people who worked as butchers, executioners, and tanners as unclean. They were called the eta. Another class of social outcasts were the hinin, which included actors, wandering bards, and convicted criminals. Prostitutes and courtesans, including oiran, tayu, and geisha, also lived outside of the four tier system. They were ranked against one another by beauty and accomplishment. Today, all of these people who lived below the four-tiers are collectively called "burakumin." Officially, families descended from the burakumin are just ordinary people, but they can still face discrimination from other Japanese in hiring and marriage.