Social Studies 8 - Edo Japan: From Isolation to Adaptation

hierarchy

A group of persons or things organized into successive ranks or grades with each level subordinate to the one above

Ainu

A member of an indigenous people of Japan, now inhabiting parts of Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands.

Bunraku

A traditional Japanese dramatic art form featuring large puppets operated by onstage puppeteers with a narrative that is recited from offstage. The puppets have heads, hands, and feet of wood attached to a body-less cloth costume.

Confucius

Chinese philosopher who promoted a system of social and political ethics emphasizing order, moderation, and reciprocity between superiors and subordinates. The Analects contains a collection of his sayings and dialogues compiled by disciples after his death.

Dutch scholars

Japanese academics who learned the Dutch language and educated themselves about Western ways

Tokugawa

Of or relating to a family of shoguns that ruled Japan from 1603 to 1867, a period marked by centralized feudalism, the growth of urban centers, exclusionary policies against the West, and a rise in literacy.

Kendo

The Japanese martial art of fencing with bamboo swords.

Shogunate

The government, rule, or office of a shogun.

Haiku

a Japanese verse poem of unrhymed lines which are written in a structure of 5 syllables for first line, 7 syllables for second line, then 5 syllables for third line, often on some subject in nature.

worldview

a collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or group; the overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world

Sumo Wrestling

a competitive full-contact wrestling sport where a rikishi (wrestler) attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring (dohyō) or into touching the ground with anything other than the soles of his feet. The characters, 相撲 literally mean "striking one another".

Kamikaze

a ferocious storm that destroyed most of the Mongol fleet in 1274; "divine wind" sent by the gods to defend Japan

Kabuki

a form of Japanese drama dating from the 17th cent.: it is based on popular themes, with male and female roles performed by men only, chiefly in formalized pantomime, dance, and song

Homogenous

a group of people similar in nature and character; all the same

society

a group of persons regarded as forming a single community, esp. as forming a distinct social or economic class

Daimyo

a hereditary feudal lord of Japan who was a large landowner

Merchants

a person or company engaged in the business of selling or trading goods

Outcast

a person who doesn't fit in with the majority and who is not accepted by the crowd.

Shinto

a principal religion of Japan, with emphasis upon the worship of nature and of ancestors and ancient heroes and upon the divinity of the emperor: prior to 1945, the state religion

Monsoon

a seasonal, intense wind that blows from the southwest from April to October and from the northeast at other time of the year in parts of Asia, creating heavy rainstorms.

Artisans

a skilled worker or craftsman

Westernization

adopting the culture and ideas of the Western world

Floating World (ukiyo)

an expression of the new economy and social ambitions of the common townspeople of the Edo period (1615-1868). It was, specifically, a world of play and entertainment in Japan's three main cities (Edo [now called Tokyo], Osaka, and Kyoto).

Shogun

any of the hereditary governors of Japan who, until 1867, constituted a quasi-dynasty exercising absolute rule and relegating the emperors to a nominal position

kami

any of the sacred beings worshiped in Shinto, conceived as spirits abiding in natural phenomena

Peasants

any person of the class of small farmers or of farm laborers

matsuri

festivals held every spring and fall to please the kami of each Japanese clan and village

Self-sufficient

having the ability and resources to take care of yourself without help.

Samurai

in feudal Japan, a member of a military class, consisting of the retainers of the daimyos: a samurai wore two swords and lived by the code of Bushido

Ronin

in feudal Japan, a samurai who lost his lord and was forced to wander, often living as a bandit

Arable

land with soil that will be able to support the growth of crops

Exclusion laws

laws passed by the shogun that cut Japan off from outside contact

goningumi

lower class Japanese that were organized into groups by the samurai to help keep social order

junshi

ritual suicide after the death of one's lord

Seppuku

ritual suicide performed in Japan as an honorable alternative to humiliation and public shame.

Prosperous

someone or something exhibiting financial success

Hereditary

something inherited through the family or passed down through the family.

Assimilation

the cultural absorption of a minority group into the main cultural body, sometimes by force

Social Controls

the enforcement of conformity by society upon its members, either by law or by social pressure; the influence of any element in social life working to maintain the pattern of such life.

Edo period

the period in Japanese history between 1600 and 1853; also known as the Tokugawa period.

Alternate Attendance

the practice of forcing the daimyo to move from their home provinces to live in Edo every other year.

Isolation

the state of being alone or away from others

social structures

the system of socioeconomic stratification (e.g., the class structure), social institutions, or, other patterned relations between large social groups; also the structure of social network ties between individuals or organizations.