JAPAN 1

UNDER THE SHOGUNS

The ancient to the modern world

Rachel Towns
 Achieve! History
Resource sheet – Introducing shogunate Japan

Key terms
Achieve!

Features
Shogunate Japan refers to a period in history when the noble families or clans of Japan
✓ Activities
fought designedthe
to overthrow to emperor
reinforceand gain control of their country. A noble family gained
and enhance literacy skills
control when the leader of their clan became the shogun. The shogun was the chief military
leader
✓ in Japan.
Emphasis on In shogunate Japan this position had become even more powerful than
understanding
essential
that History content
of emperor.

✓Key term
Comprehensive Definition
Teacher’s Notes,
providing Japan
shogunate clear objectives, This is the period when shoguns ruled Japan. During this
background information, time there were still emperors, but they had no real power.
(shoh-guhn-ait Ja-pan) activities
starter and extension
This period lasted from approximately 1185 CE to 1867 CE.
✓shogun The shogun was originally Japan’s chief military leader.
CD-ROM containing all the pages
from the book that can be usedLater the shogun became the person with the real power.
(shoh-guhn)
on the Interactive Whiteboard
emperor The emperor was originally the male ruler of the empire.
✓ Word documents of all workDuringsheets the time of the shoguns the emperor had less
(em-per-er)
that can be edited to suit thepower, but still performed important religious duties.
individual needs of students
Imperial family The close relatives of the emperor.
Software requirements
✓ Illustration files that can be added to
(em-pahy-r-yal fam-a-lee) Windows – MS Word 97 or higher,
new teacher-created work sheets
daimyo A lord who ruled over anAdobe
area.Acrobat Reader
Mac – MS Word 98 or higher, Adobe
Visit www.blake.com.au for more
(dah-ee-myoh) Acrobat Reader
Achieve! History titles.
shugo-daimyo A great lord or governor who ruled over a province (large
area of land).
(shuh-gyo dah-ee-myoh)
historical records Written information relating to historical figures or events.

(his-stawr-i-kuhl re-kawds)
legends Stories from the past that have not been proven.

(lehj-uhnds)
rebel Refuse to follow the ruler’s or leader’s commands.

(reb-uhl)
clan
The ancient to the modern world:
Medieval Europe 1
A noble family whoThe
The ancient to the modern world:
The Vikings 1
shared power
ancient world: China 1 and privilege
ISBN 978 1 92209 028 7
and
World War I: Book 2
ISBN 978 1 92209 025 6
ISBN 978 1 92168 077 9 ISBN 978 1 92168 076 2
worked together for the good of their family.
(klan)

6 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
 Your Achieve! History CD-ROM
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© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014

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Resource sheet – Introducing shogunate Japan Achieve!
Key terms
Rachel Towns is the Head of Humanities at St John’s Regional College, Dandenong. She has been teaching
history for seven years. Rachel has been a judge for the Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize and for the National History
Challenge. She has completed a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Letters (Honours in History), Graduate Diploma of
Education (Secondary),
Shogunate Japan Master
refersoftoArts (Theology)
a period and a Graduate
in history when Diploma
the noble in Arts (Writing).orRachel
families clansworks hard to
of Japan
create engaging and accessible material to make students passionate about history.
fought to overthrow the emperor and gain control of their country. A noble family gained
control when the leader of their clan became the shogun. The shogun was the chief military
© Rachel in
leader Towns and Blake
Japan. Education 2014Japan this position had become even more powerful than
In shogunate
Blake Education owns all copyrights in the literary and the artistic works in this book.
that of emperor.
Key term is material subject to copyright under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and is owned by
Definition
the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority 2014.
shogunate Japan
For all Australian This elaborations:
Curriculum material except is the period when shoguns ruled Japan. During this
Elaborations:
authors. time there were still emperors, but they had no real power.
(shoh-guhn-ait
Disclaimer: Ja-pan)
responsibility for incomplete or inaccurateThis period
information. In lasted from
particular, approximately
ACARA 1185
does not endorse or verifyCE to 1867 CE.
that:

shogun
• All the content descriptions for that year The shogun
and subject wasused;
have been originally
and Japan’s chief military leader.
Later the shogun became the person with the real power.
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au
(shoh-guhn)
emperor The emperor was originally the male ruler of the empire.
Copying of this book for educational purposes
During the time of the shoguns the emperor had less
(em-per-er)
Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) and power,
provided the
buteducational institution (or
still performed body that administers
important religiousit) has given
duties.
a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act. It is a breach of copyright to scan or in
any other way family
Imperial make digital copies of the work sheets.
The close relatives of the emperor.
It is mandatory that ALL photocopies are recorded by the institution for CAL survey purposes.
(em-pahy-r-yal
For fam-a-lee)
details of the CAL licence for educational institutions contact:
Copyright
daimyoAgency Limited A lord who ruled over an area.
Level 15, 233 Castlereagh Street
Sydney NSW 2000
(dah-ee-myoh)
Telephone: (02) 9394 7600
Facsimile: (02) 9394 7601
shugo-daimyo
E-mail: [email protected] A great lord or governor who ruled over a province (large
area of land).
(shuh-gyo
the dah-ee-myoh)
User Agreement printed on the inside back cover of this title.
Printed in Australia
historical by Digital Creative Services
records Written information relating to historical figures or events.

(his-stawr-i-kuhl re-kawds)
legends Stories from the past that have not been proven.

(lehj-uhnds)
Instant Lessons
rebel
An imprint of Blake Education Pty Ltd
Refuse to follow the ruler’s or leader’s commands.
ABN 50 074 266 023
(reb-uhl)
108 Main Road
Clayton South VIC 3169
clan
Ph: +61 3 9558 4433 A noble family who shared power and privilege and
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ISBN 978 1 92209 048 5

6 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Contents Achieve!
Introduction 4

1 Introducing shogunate Japan 5 6 Samurai 35

Key terms 6 Samurai 36
Imperial Japan 7 Warrior lives 37
Japanese lands 8 Bushido 38
Japan and its neighbours 9 The way of the warrior 39
How the emperors lost power 10 Crime and punishment 40

2 Beginning of the shogunate 11 7 Land use 41

Fujiwara clan 12 Land use 42
The battle to rule Japan 13 Forests and power 43
Minamoto clan 14 Forests 44
Mongol invasion 15 Castles and towns 45
Age of warring states 16 Keeping the peasants down 46

3 Tokugawan shogunate 17 8 Contact with other nations 47

End of warring states 18 Japan and the rest of Asia 48
Tokugawa Ieyasu’s childhood 19 First Europeans 49
The rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu 20 New religion 50
Tokugawa Ieyasu 21 Jesuits 51
Tokugawan shogunate 22 William Adams 52

4 Occupations 23 9 Collapse of the shogunate 53

Feudal Japan 24 Banning foreigners 54
Japanese hierarchy 25 A united Japan? 55
Different jobs 26 Peasant rebellions 56
Lowest classes 27 ‘There must be change’ 57
Women 28 Rise of the merchants 58

5 Lifestyles 29 10 Meiji restoration 59

Religion 30 American ships and unfair treaties 60
Culture 31 Meiji restoration 61
Poetry 32 New emperor 62
Female authors 33 Modernisation of Japan 63
Education 34 The new Japan 64

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 3
Introduction Achieve!
The Achieve! series of History titles has been developed for teachers who require modified, curriculum-focused
activities for secondary school students who struggle to read and comprehend regular classroom materials
because of poor literacy skills. Many of the pages will also be suitable as supplementary material for regular classes.
Japan under the shoguns 1 looks at the main events and people that shaped shogunate Japan. Content includes
the fighting between different noble clans, the time of warring states and the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The work
sheets also examine different religions, the Meiji restoration, lifestyles of different groups in Japan and cultural
activities. Historical and literacy skills are developed through categorising material, using empathy to connect to
historical characters and events, comparing and contrasting different perspectives and exploring primary and
secondary sources.
The CD-ROM contains all the pages that are featured in the book, as well as a file of illustrations that can be used
for other work sheets. These documents can be easily edited to suit the individual needs of students.
This book is divided into ten units, containing photocopiable Resource sheets and Activity sheets. This will allow
teachers to use the material in a variety of ways. For example, the unit could be taught as a lesson with students in
groups of varying sizes. Alternatively, a single Resource sheet and related Activity sheets can be used as support
material, for individual homework, assessment or revision.
The teacher’s notes provide valuable guidance about using each unit, and contain the following elements.
Objectives – These are the key skills and knowledge Starter activity – Warm-up activities are provided to
learnt through using the work sheets. put the content into proper context and to gain
student interest and attention.
Prior knowledge – This refers to the skills and
knowledge required for students to complete the Resource and Activity work sheets – The Resource
tasks. Some activities are more challenging than sheets do not always contain activities and are used
others, however, as a rule, students should have a either to stimulate discussion or as a part of the
reading comprehension age of six to nine years to unit’s activities. The Activity sheets may be used
be able to attempt the activities. sequentially or as stand-alone tasks, depending on
the needs of the students.
Background – This section provides additional
guidance to help teachers to present a successful Extension ideas – Additional tasks are suggested to recap
lesson. It may include definitions or further the main skills or knowledge taught in the lesson, or to
background notes about the subject matter. extend, assess or include technology in the lesson.

The Australian Curriculum alignment Unit

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The way of life in shogunate Japan, including social, cultural,
economic and political features (including the feudal system 3 3 3 3 3 3
and the increasing power of the shogun) (ACDSEH012)
The role of the Tokugawa shogunate in reimposing a feudal system
(based on daimyo and samurai) and the increasing control of the 3 3 3 3 3
Shogun over foreign trade (ACDSEH063)
The use of environmental resources in shogunate Japan and
the forestry and land use policies of the Tokugawa shogunate 3
(ACDSEH064)
Theories about the decline of the shogunate, including
modernisation and westernisation, through the adoption of Western 3 3
arms and technology (ACDSEH065)

4 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Teacher’s notes – Introducing shogunate Japan Achieve!
Resource and Activity sheets
Objectives
The Resource sheet, ‘Key terms’, should be read
• Identify important historical features of and
through before completing the Activity sheet,
terms relating to shogunate Japan
‘Imperial Japan’. The words and definitions will be
• Identify recognised historical periods for very important for students to understand as they
shogunate Japan work through the unit. You may also wish to refer
• Understand how the shape of the land led to to page 25, ‘Japanese hierachy’, in Unit 4, for further
the use of certain forms of transport information.
• Develop an understanding of the relationships The Activity sheet, ‘Japanese lands’, introduces students
between Japan and its neighbouring countries to Japan as a nation made up of many islands, and the
implications this had for the way it was ruled. Students
colour in a map to consolidate their understanding.
Prior knowledge
The Activity sheet, ‘Japan and its neighbours’, presents
No prior knowledge is required for this unit. a cloze activity describing Japan’s relationships with its
nearest neighbours.
Background
The last Activity sheet, ‘How the emperors lost power’,
Japan, although a small country, has a rich and provides students with some background to the rise of
multifaceted history, particularly during the medieval the shoguns.
or shogunate period. Although it lasted much
longer, this period in Japan is strikingly similar to the Extension ideas
European medieval age in terms of how their societies • Students could research myths and legends about
were structured. Both places had a strongly feudal the creation of Japan.
structure to their societies. There was also a warrior • Students could compare the kinds of transport used
class – in medieval Europe there were the knights, in ancient Japan to the forms of transport used
while in medieval Japan there were the samurai. today, either in Japan or in Australia, focusing on the
reasons those forms are used.
Starter activity
In groups, ask students to brainstorm what they know
about medieval Japan. Encourage them to share
their ideas as a class, and ask them where they got
their information from. Sources may include movies,
television, the internet, books, etc. Discuss how
valuable, complex or unreliable these sources could
be. For example, movies can be unreliable sources
because the writers are trying to tell a story, so don’t
always focus on the facts. Textbooks can be valuable
sources because the information they contain had to
be checked before printing.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 5
Resource sheet – Introducing shogunate Japan Achieve!
Key terms
Shogunate Japan refers to a period in history when the noble families or clans of Japan
fought to overthrow the emperor and gain control of their country. A noble family gained
control when the leader of their clan became the shogun. The shogun was the chief military
leader in Japan. In shogunate Japan this position had become even more powerful than
that of emperor.
Key term Definition
shogunate Japan This is the period when shoguns ruled Japan. During this
time there were still emperors, but they had no real power.
(shoh-guhn-ait Ja-pan)
This period lasted from approximately 1185 CE to 1867 CE.
shogun The shogun was originally Japan’s chief military leader.
Later the shogun became the person with the real power.
(shoh-guhn)
emperor The emperor was originally the male ruler of the empire.
During the time of the shoguns the emperor had less
(em-per-er)
power, but still performed important religious duties.
Imperial family The close relatives of the emperor.

(em-pahy-r-yal fam-a-lee)
daimyo A lord who ruled over an area.

(dah-ee-myoh)
shugo-daimyo A great lord or governor who ruled over a province (large
area of land).
(shuh-gyo dah-ee-myoh)
historical records Written information relating to historical figures or events.

(his-stawr-i-kuhl re-kawds)
legends Stories from the past that have not been proven.

(lehj-uhnds)
rebel Refuse to follow the ruler’s or leader’s commands.

(reb-uhl)
clan A noble family who shared power and privilege and
worked together for the good of their family.
(klan)

6 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Introducing shogunate Japan Achieve!
Imperial Japan
Read the Resource sheet, ‘Key terms’, then answer the following questions.

+ 1 Read the following passage. Circle any key terms from the Resource sheet.

Historical records show that the same Imperial family has ruled Japan since 539 CE, but
some legends claim that they have been in power since the 600s BCE – almost 1000 years
longer. The emperor is the male head of the Imperial family. There have been many emperors
during this period.
Legends say that the first emperor was called Jimmu. He was the son of the sun goddess
Amaterasu. Many emperors claimed to be the sons of gods or goddesses because this gave
them greater power. Peasants were less likely to rebel against a ruler who was related to a god.
Although the Imperial family was once the most powerful family in all of Japan, over time they
gradually lost their power. The emperor and his family still had their courts and still lived in
luxury, but by about 1185 CE, the real power was now held by the shogun.

2 Mark 539 CE and 600 bce on the timeline.

BCE 0 CE

3 Who was in control of Japan at first?

4 Why might people have seen the emperor Jimmu as powerful?

5 Who ended up taking control of Japan?

6 What did their title mean? Why might this have made it easier for them to gain power?

7 What is the difference between legend and historical records? Why is this important?

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 7
Activity sheet – Introducing shogunate Japan Achieve!
Japanese lands
Japan is made up of hundreds of different-sized inhabitated islands. Most people travelled
from place to place on foot, although sometimes an ox cart was used. Rich people often
used horses or palanquins to travel. A palanquin is a covered wagon that does not have
wheels. It is carried on the shoulders of four men. Boats and ships were used to travel
between the islands of Japan.

The emperors, and later the shoguns, were not able to control all of Japan without help,
so they separated Japan into smaller provinces. The provinces were ruled by great lords
called shugo-daimyo. Each province was separated into smaller areas, which were each
controlled by lesser lords, called daimyo. The daimyo passed their power down to their
children or descendants.

+ 1 What is the difference between a shugo daimyo and a daimyo? (Hint: Read the
Resource sheet, ‘Key terms’.)

2 Look carefully at the map below. Colour in the following areas:

• Japan – green

• Korea – red • oceans – blue

• Identify the largest and smallest province in Japan and shade them in orange.

The provinces of medieval Japan

8 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Introducing shogunate Japan Achieve!
Japan and its neighbours
+ 1 Use the words in each word bank to complete the paragraphs below.
relationships Japan’s nearest ___________ are Korea and China. Throughout history
they have often had close _____________ as they _________, fought
traded
and learnt from each other.
neighbours
Buddhism Japan took many of its ideas from China. Around 500 CE the Japanese
adopted the Chinese _________. In 605 CE, two Chinese religions,
Confucianism
_____________ and ______________, became the official religions
alphabet of Japan.

administration Around 663 CE, ________ was invaded by China. Many Koreans
moved to Japan to avoid being _________ by the Chinese. The
captured
Koreans had a great knowledge of _______________, law, court
Korea ceremony and military tactics. This knowledge helped Japan to
develop many of its government structures.

brocades The three countries often traded with each other. Japan __________
many items, including gold, mercury, pearls, sulphur and pine. The
exported
Japanese also made folding fans, folding screens and swords, which
saffron were very popular trading items. Japan was able to trade their goods
with Chinese traders for rich fabrics such as __________, damasks and
silks. They also got writing implements, books, paintings and copper
coins. Korea mainly exported ginseng and _________, which were
costly herbs and spices.

heads In the late 1500s, one __________ decided that he wanted to become
the emperor of China as well as controlling all of Japan. His first step
shogun
was to attack Korea so that he had a safe port to attack China from.
noses The samurai cut off the _______ of their fallen enemies to prove how
many they had killed. These had to be transported by boat back to
Japan. They eventually decided to just send the _______, pickled in
large barrels, to prove how many Koreans they had killed.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 9
Activity sheet – Introducing shogunate Japan Achieve!
How the emperors lost power
Emperors of Japan were originally very powerful. The emperor controlled most of Japan,
and was treated with respect. However, as daimyo gained power, one emperor, Prince
Shotoku, became concerned that he was losing control of his country.

Prince Shotoku (574 CE–622 CE) feared that the daimyo might decide to rebel and take
over the country. He decided that the emperor should rule through officials who were
appointed by the emperor, rather than through the powerful daimyo.

At first, using officials to help rule Japan went well. It was easier to remove an official
who did not do his job properly than a lord. However, over time emperors became more
interested in studying or amusing themselves, rather than ruling their country. This made
it easy for officials to stay in their jobs. These officials then became the new daimyo. As
advisors to the emperor, the daimyo became very powerful. This meant that people were
no longer chosen because of their ability, but because of their family. Eventually, the head
of the most powerful family became shogun.

+ 1 What did the emperors do to 2 How did the emperors lose power?
keep power?

10 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Teacher’s notes – Beginning of the shogunate Achieve!
important. The family was often involved in choosing
Objectives who you would marry, as well as involving you in any
• To gain a basic understanding of the sequence fights they had.
of events in Japanese history In small groups, have students discuss the differences
• To learn about the external threats to Japan between the role of the family now compared to
• To identify the reasons for change and conflict in ancient Japan. Encourage them to consider the
in the power relations in Japan following question: Would they go to war with
another family if their family told them they had to?

Prior knowledge Resource and Activity sheets

In the Activity sheet, ‘Fujiwara clan’, students read
Students should be familiar with the key terms
about the Fujiwara clan and then answer questions
introduced on the ‘Key terms’ Resource sheet in Unit 1
exploring the clan’s actions. In the Activity sheet, ‘The
(see page 6).
battle to rule Japan’, students complete a cloze activity
Background describing the power struggle between the different
clans. The Activity sheet, ‘Minamoto clan’, introduces
It is important to remember that with Japanese names, the rule of the Minamoto and then the Hojo clans. This
the surname is generally written first. For example, sheet is best worked through as a class. Encourage
Minamoto Yoritomo was the head of the Minamoto students to identify key words, and help them define
clan. Minamoto was his family name and Yoritomo any unclear terms. Key words often identify the
was his given name. people, places, dates and important actions described
Clans or families were very important in shogunate in a document.
Japan. Members of large extended families often In the Activity sheet, ‘Mongol invasion’, students
had to follow the head of their clan or they would be identify common and proper nouns in a passage. It
punished. Some people were assassinated, or forced may help to take students through the differences
into the priesthood (cloistered) if they did not obey between common and proper nouns before this task is
the leader of their family. attempted. The Activity sheet, ‘Age of warring states’,
People living in shogunate Japan often changed their encourages students to consider different perspectives
names. Sometimes both the first and last name were on this period, demonstrating how people can be both
changed to signify different events, and both partners advantaged and disadvantaged by war.
would sometimes change their names when they got
married. The names used in textbooks are usually the Extension ideas
names that the person was most commonly known • Students could research one of the following clans
by, as some people may have had five or six different in more detail: Fujiwara, Ashikaga, Minamoto, Hojo
names. Minamoto Yoritomo’s wife is often referred to or Taira. Ask them to find out five important facts
as Hojo Masaka; this is her original family name. This is about their chosen clan.
probably because she was mentioned more and had • Have students read the ‘The battle to rule Japan’
more power as a member of her family clan than of Activity sheet and then ask them to write a diary
her husband’s clan. entry or report from the Taira perspective and one
Many women did not have their names recorded. from the Minamoto perspective. How did the clans
Sometimes the name given for a woman in history see the events differently?
textbooks is not actually her first or last name but, • Ask students to list five things they have learned
rather, the name of the place she lived in. from the unit, three things they could teach and one
question they still don’t know the answer to. They
Starter activity
could also research the answer to their question.
Ask students to think about their families. Why are • Students could identify the differences between
families so important? What do we expect them to do war in the past and war in modern times, listing at
for us? What do we do for them? Explain that although least five differences, such as locations, weapons,
nowadays many people have closer relationships with people who became soldiers, and transport.
their friends, in the past, families were particularly

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 11
Activity sheet – Beginning of the shogunate Achieve!
Fujiwara clan
The Fujiwara clan ruled Japan from approximately 794–1185 CE. A family of court officials,
they became very powerful because they:
• were the key advisors to the emperor
• made all decisions about the running of Japan
• married their daughters and sisters into the Imperial family
• forced emperors to give up their throne so their young heirs could take over
• controlled the lives of the child emperors
• gave retired emperors luxuries and entertainments, so they would not fight to
regain control of the country.

+ 1 List two things the Fujiwara clan did to stay powerful.

2 How might the Fujiwara’s actions have angered other clans?

3 Imagine that you were part of the Fujiwara clan. Explain the reasons behind your
actions.

12 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Beginning of the shogunate Achieve!
The battle to rule Japan
+ 1 Use the words in the word bank to complete the following sentences.

The Fujiwara clan became so powerful that many other c_____

Word bank
became jealous. They also wanted the power to c_______ the emperor.
Eventually, one of the emperors became s_______ enough to rule country
without the Fujiwara clan’s help, and made the Taira clan his advisors. current
This gave the Taira clan power over both the emperor and his children.
control
This frustrated both the F_________ clan and another powerful family, continued
the Minamoto. However, they were unable to act against the emperor,
captured
as he was seen as god-like. In 1180 CE, the Taira clan decided to replace
the 19-year-old emperor with his newborn c_____. Many clans saw the clans
move as an attempt by the Taira clan to become emperors themselves, child
and the Minamoto clan finally were able to f_______.
supported
There were many f_____ battles between the two clans. The Taira were suicide
s____________ by the c________ emperor, and the Minamoto were
strong
supported by the Fujiwara clan and one of the retired emperors.
shogun
The f_____ sea battle of Dannoura was in 1185. At f_____ the Taira
ships
clan looked like they were going to win, but the Minamoto clan
f_______ hard. Many of the Taira family, realising that they couldn’t final
win, committed s_________ by jumping off the s______. The young fight
emperor, Antoku, drowned, along with his mother and grandmother,
first
rather than be c___________. Emperor Antoku was succeeded by his
younger brother, Go-Toba. Fujiwara

fierce
Minamoto Yoritomo, the head of the Minamoto clan, became the
first s________ in Japan. Emperor Go-Toba c__________ to enjoy his fought
luxuries and power without the responsibility of having to govern
Japan. But the rest of the c_______ belonged to the shogun.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 13
Activity sheet – Beginning of the shogunate Achieve!
Minamoto clan
The Kamakuran shogunate
Minamoto Yoritomo took control of Japan using a bakufu, or ‘tent government’. It
was called this because in battles, the generals gave orders from their tents. This made
them look less threatening to the emperor’s permanent government. Yoritomo ruled
Japan through his military strength. He made his capital city at Kamakura. Even though
the emperor still lived in Heian, Kamakura was seen as the real capital city of Japan.
Sometimes this period is referred to as the Kamakuran shogunate.

The end of the Minamoto rule

The Minamoto clan only ruled for a short period of time. After Yoritomo died, his two
sons both tried to rule as shogun, but both were killed. They were not considered to be
as powerful as their father. In the end Yoritomo’s widow, Hojo Masaka, helped to take
control of the country with her clan, the Hojo.

The Hojo clan

The Hojo clan were very good at ruling Japan and easily stayed in command for almost
a century. However, they became worried when the Mongols tried to invade Japan in
1274 and 1281. The Mongols were a tribe of nomads (people who move from place to
place) who had already invaded and conquered China. The shoguns had always seen the
Chinese emperors as powerful rulers. The shoguns believed that if China could be invaded
then Japan could be too.

+ 1 When did the Mongols try to invade Japan? (Hint: There are two dates.)

2 Why were the Japanese worried about a Mongol invasion?

3 Who was ruling Japan at the time? Why?

14 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Beginning of the shogunate Achieve!
Mongol invasion
A proper noun refers to the name of a specific person, place, group, event or
important object. Examples include Melbourne, Paul and Alice in Wonderland. Proper
nouns always start with a capital letter.

A common noun is the name given to a type of person, place or thing. Examples
include city, woman and book.

+ 1 Identify whether the underlined words below are common nouns or proper
nouns. Circle the correct option.

Each time the Mongols tried to invade, the shogun had to raise a large army (common/
proper) to try and defeat them. This was very expensive. The shogun had to pay the
soldiers (common/proper) and had to produce lots of weapons. They had to raise taxes
(common/proper) in order to pay for all the supplies.

The Kamakuran shoguns were lucky because each time the Mongols (common/proper)
tried to invade there was a typhoon (a kind of cyclone) that destroyed the Mongol army.
They called this wind (common/proper) a ‘divine wind’ or ‘kamikaze’.

2 Reorder the word parts to make a word.

a ls + go + Mon _______________ e we + ons + ap _______________

b n + gu + sho _______________ f va + in + de _______________

c pen + ex + si + ve _______________ g o + ty + on + ph _______________

d so + ld + rs + ie _______________ h mi + ka + ze + ka _______________

3 Imagine that you were one of the warriors waiting for the Mongols to attack.
How would you feel before the battle? Why?

4 How would you feel after the ‘divine wind’? Why?

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 15
Activity sheet – Beginning of the shogunate Achieve!
Age of warring states
After the Mongol invasions, the Minamoto/Hojo clan lost support and other groups tried
to gain control. The Emperor Go-Daigo and a noble clan, the Ashikaga, both tried to rule
Japan. The Ashikaga finally took control of the whole country before losing power due to
in-fighting about who would be the next shogun.

This was followed by a 150-year period of war between daimyo, called the Onin War or
‘age of warring states’. During this time daimyo families rose and fell in power, and many
daimyo died as others took over their lands.

Some people believe this time of warring to be bad. But I do not. I

see it as an opportunity. I started off with six warriors to support me.
But I used them wisely. When my nephew looked like he would lose
his inheritance, I came with my men and fought for him. We won. My
nephew honoured me by giving me a castle for supporting him. I
then fought others and gained more land. Soon I had many warriors
and my clan became powerful.

Hojo Soun (1432–1519)

Even though I am called the emperor I have no real power. It is the

shogun who controls Japan, and he does not even control all of it
anymore. I could not even hold the ceremony to make me emperor for
ten years. I had to ask many daimyo for donations so I could afford to
have the ceremony.

Emperor Go-Daigo (1496–1557)

+ 1 Identify two reasons why a time called ‘the age of warring states’ might be a
bad thing.

2 Not everybody found the age of warring states to be bad. Suggest two reasons why
this time may have been good for some people.

16 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Teacher’s notes – Tokugawan shogunate Achieve!
The Activity sheet, ‘Tokugawa Ieyasu’s childhood’,
Objectives presents a cloze activity outlining the life and times
• To learn about the conflicts behind the quest in which Ieyasu grew up. Students may wish to use a
for power dictionary to help them with any unfamiliar terms in
• To understand the origins of the founder of the the word banks.
longest-lasting shogunate Students should read the Resource sheet, ‘The rise of
Tokugawa Ieyasu’, before they complete the Activity
sheet, ‘Tokugawa Ieyasu’. The Resource sheet provides
Prior knowledge students with an understanding of Tokugawa Ieyasu
and how he took power.
Students should have a basic understanding of the
Students learn about primary and secondary sources
timeline of shogunate Japan, and be familiar with key
in the Activity sheet, ‘Tokugawan shogunate’. They are
terms such as daimyo, shogun and emperor.
asked to consider the advantages and disadvantages
Background of secondary sources and learn how to identify
primary sources.
The Tokugawan shogunate was one of the longest-
lasting shogun families. Their long reign was due to Extension ideas
the strength of their leader and founder, Tokugawa
• Students could complete a short research task on
Ieyasu. He was a strong leader who was very
Tokugawa Ieyasu, Oda Nobunaga or Toyotomi
controlling of his followers and subjects, determined
Hideyoshi and create a small pamphlet or poster to
that there would never again be a time of warring
present the information.
states. The lack of control he had over his own life
• In four small groups, students could create a
when he was young made him even more determined
role-play based on Tokugawa Ieyasu being taken
to control the lives of those around him.
hostage (see the ‘Tokugawa Ieyasu’s childhood’
Starter activity Activity sheet). Students could write some dialogue
and perform their role-play for the class.
What is a good leader? What qualities do they need to
– Group A could focus on how Tokugawa Ieyasu
have? Ask the class to brainstorm ideas about leaders.
would have felt. Would he have expected to be
Then have them suggest examples of good leaders –
rescued?
people who are able to motivate and inspire others.
– Group B could focus on explaining Tokugawa
Remind the students that this could include those who
Ieyasu’s father’s reaction. Why might he have said
were not necessarily seen as good people, but who
that Oda Nobuhide could kill his son?
may have been good leaders.
– Group C could focus on explaining why Oda
Resource and Activity sheets Nobuhide didn’t end up killing Tokugawa Ieyasu.
This was a violent time; why didn’t he kill the
The Activity sheet, ‘End of warring states’, explains
child?
how Oda Nobunaga managed to briefly gain control
– Group D could focus on how Tokugawa Ieyasu’s
of all of Japan, before being killed. Students may
mother would have reacted. She was married to
need some terms clarified before completing the
someone connected to the Oda clan. How would
tasks. The last question could be used to prompt a
she have felt knowing that her son could have
class discussion – students should suggest realistic
been killed by her new family?
possibilities, such as the child gaining power, the child
being killed, etc. The reality was that Tokugawa Ieyasu
took control, although he let the child live.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 17
Activity sheet – Tokugawan shogunate Achieve!
End of warring states
For a long time it seemed that the civil wars in Japan would never end. The lords fought
against each other to try and gain more power and more land. However, they all fought in
the same way, using the same swords and bows. This made it difficult for any lord to gain
control and become the shogun of all Japan.
Finally, a man named Oda Nobunaga took control of all of Japan by fighting with new
technology, including:

• firearms (guns) bought from Portuguese traders

• infantry units (groups of soldiers who walked from place to place) of 500 men, all
armed with guns

• cannons to help destroy castles

• iron fans to signal to the troops on the battlefield. (Fans were used to communicate
important information to the soldiers.)
Unfortunately, Oda Nobunaga was killed during a tea ceremony by one of his own
generals in 1584, shortly after he had gained control of Japan.
His second in command, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, became the new shogun. He was
determined to make sure there would never be another civil war by:

• ordering all peasants to give up their weapons and return to farming

• ordering samurai to live in castle towns, where they could be controlled

• changing the tax system to make it easier.

However, Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s reign was almost as short as Nobunaga’s, leaving his infant
son as shogun – a position that many men would kill for.

+ 1 List two ways that Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi tried to gain control
of Japan.

2 What do you think might have happened after Toyotomi Hideyoshi died? Think about
his son, the country and the position of shogun.

18 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Tokugawan shogunate Achieve!
Tokugawa Ieyasu’s childhood
Tokugawa Ieyasu was an important daimyo who had been a strong ally of both Oda
Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. An ally is a person or group who joins and fights on
the same side as another person. After their deaths, Ieyasu became a regent to the infant
shogun. This meant that Ieyasu ruled on the infant shogun’s behalf until the infant was
old enough to rule for himself.

Here is some interesting information about Ieyasu’s childhood.

• Ieyasu was born in a time of war. His father was Matsudaira Hirotada and his
mother was Odainokata.

• Ieyasu’s father had a bitter feud with a neighbour, Oda Nobuhide.

• When Ieyasu was one year old, his father divorced his mother because some of her
family had joined the Oda clan.

• Hirotada (Ieyasu’s father) had to find strong allies to help him fight the Oda clan. He
turned to a man named Imagawa Yoshimoto for help.

• Yoshimoto agreed to help, but only if Hirotada gave him Ieyasu as a hostage. Being
a hostage meant that Ieyasu would live with Yoshimoto and the Imagawa clan. It
also meant Ieyasu could be killed if his father did not do as Yoshimoto asked.

• But Ieyasu did not make it to the Imagawa clan. On his way there, he was captured
and taken hostage by his father’s enemy, Oda Nobuhide.

• Nobuhide threatened to kill Ieyasu if Hirotada did not do what he said. Hirotada said
that they could kill his son, but Nobuhide did not. Instead he kept the boy hostage
for three years.

• After Nobuhide and Hirotada had both died, Imagawa Yoshimoto fought with the
Oda clan until they gave Ieyasu to him.

• Ieyasu lived as a hostage with the Imagawa clan until he was fifteen.

+ 1 Identify the following characters and write their names in the table: Oda
Nobuhide, Odainokata, Imagawa Yoshimoto, Matsudaira Hirotada.

Tokugawa Father Mother Father’s bitter Father’s ally

Ieyasu’s ...  enemy

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 19
Resource sheet – Tokugawan shogunate Achieve!
The rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu
I had a difficult life. Growing up as a hostage taught me to look after myself.
I worked hard to become a strong and powerful warrior. I became the head of the Matsudaira
clan after my father’s death, but the Imagawa clan still treated me as a hostage. I had to fight in
their wars. If I didn’t fight for the Imagawa clan, my family could be hurt.
After Yoshimoto, the head of the Imagawa clan, died, I decided I needed a powerful ally.
I wanted to join Oda Nobunaga and the Oda clan, even though our fathers had been bitter
enemies. Nobunaga looked like a powerful leader. I tricked the Imagawa clan into freeing my
wife and son by taking another family hostage. At last I could join Oda Nobunaga.
I grew stronger by expanding my
land and fighting more battles. When
another daimyo wanted to fight me,
Oda Nobunaga sent 3000 troops to
help me win the battle.
I was feared and respected for my
strong leadership, and became one
of the most powerful daimyo in all
of Japan.

Different names
In shogunate Japan, people would sometimes change their names to represent important
events in their life, or to connect to more important families. Tokugawa Ieyasu was known by a
number of different names:
Matsudaira Takechiyo – when he was born
Matsudaira Jirosaburo Motonobu – when he became an adult at fifteen
Matsudaira Kurandonosuke Motoyasu – when he married
Tokugawa Ieyasu – when he was becoming a strong warlord, to connect him to the emperors of
the past

20 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Tokugawan shogunate Achieve!
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Read the Resource sheet, ‘The rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu’, then answer the following questions.

+ 1 Are the following statements true or false?

Tokugawa Ieyasu was always his name. True False

Ieyasu had a son with his first wife. True False

The Imagawa clan sent 3000 soldiers to help Ieyasu in battle. True False

Oda Nobunaga’s father and Tokugawa Ieyasu were bitter enemies. True False

2 In shogunate Japan, names were often changed to signify that important events had
occurred. Explain why Ieyasu’s name changes were so important. (Hint: Think about
some of the events that he celebrated by changing his name.)

3 Tokugawa Ieyasu was seen as a strong leader by other daimyo. Write a definition of
what a leader is.

4 Of all of the actions described in the Resource sheet, which two do you think show that
Ieyasu was a strong leader?
Action: Why does this show he was a strong
leader?

Action: Why does this show he was a strong

leader?

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 21
Activity sheet – Tokugawan shogunate Achieve!
Tokugawan shogunate
Until Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s young son was old enough to rule by himself the country
was ruled by his regents, including Tokugawa Ieyasu. A regent is someone who rules
for a child until they are old enough to rule by themselves.

This was Ieyasu’s chance to take over Japan and become shogun. He went to war
against the other regents. It was a difficult battle. Many thought Ieyasu would not win,
but in the end one of the generals changed sides and joined Ieyasu. He won, and was
named shogun by the emperor.

The Tokugawan family ruled for 250 years. They stayed in power by enforcing peace
amongst their followers, preventing them from taking over each other’s land and
becoming more powerful. Tokugawa Ieyasu also made his daimyo spend half of the
year in the capital with him and the other half in their homes. While they were in their
homes they had to leave their wives and children with Ieyasu. This made the daimyo
afraid to start a rebellion, because they did not want to endanger their families.

Primary and secondary sources

When studying history you are often asked to look at primary and secondary sources.
Primary sources were written or created during the time period they are about, e.g.
diaries, newspaper articles and pottery. Secondary sources were written or created after
the time period. These include textbooks, documentaries and reconstructed items.

The passage at the top of the page is a secondary source. It was written for this book
using facts about shogunate Japan.

+ 1 List one advantage and one disadvantage of using secondary sources.

2 How might you be able to identify something as a primary source?

22 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Teacher’s notes – Occupations Achieve!
Resource and Activity sheets
Objectives
The Activity sheet, ‘Feudal Japan’, introduces
• To learn about the structure of shogunate
the structure of feudal society and the roles and
Japanese society
responsibilities of the different groups. Regarding
• To understand the roles and relationships in the last question on the Activity sheet, many of
Japanese society the occupations listed did not fit into the feudal
• To explore gender roles in a patriarchal society structure because they did not rely on the giving of
land for service. Those occupations relied on money,
rather than land and mutual obligations. ‘Unclean’
Prior knowledge occupations dealt with death or bloodshed, which the
No prior knowledge is required for this unit. Japanese considered polluting.
The Resource sheet, ‘Japanese hierarchy’, explains in
Background more detail the different classes in Japanese society,
Japanese feudal society was strictly divided into identifying the highest and lowest members. Students
distinct classes or groups. It was rare, although not can use this information to complete the Activity
impossible, for people to move from one group to sheet, ‘Different jobs’.
another. One of the shoguns, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was The Activity sheet, ‘Lowest classes’, illustrates the
born the son of a peasant. Some merchants managed differences in the lifestyles of the lower-class citizens
to become daimyo by paying large sums of money and the daimyo.
or marrying into a wealthy family. The daimyo had The Activity sheet, ‘Women’, examines the role of
complete power over the people in their lands, and women in Japanese society. In a patriarchal society,
could make them join armies, follow particular laws or women’s contributions were often disregarded or
pay very high taxes. The samurai and the peasants had seen as less important. The Activity sheet encourages
to remain loyal to their daimyo. students to compare and contrast this with the roles of
women in modern society.
Starter activity
You may wish to show students a diagram of medieval
Extension ideas
European feudal society, as the structure was quite • Students could research a famous woman in feudal
similar to shogunate Japan. Students may be more Japan, such as Mugai Nodai, Tomoe Gozen, Lady
familiar with terms such as kings, lords and knights, Murasake Shikibu or Sei Shonagan.
so comparing the structures may help students to • Have students find a diagram of European
understand the Japanese shogunate world. Ask feudal society and list three similarities and three
students to create their own diagrams of the structure differences between it and feudal Japanese society.
of shogunate Japanese society. • Students could imagine that they are from a
particular class in feudal Japan and write a diary
entry describing a typical day in their life.
• Students could create a mind map of occupations
in feudal Japan.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 23
Activity sheet – Occupations Achieve!
Feudal Japan
Sometimes when people talk about Japan during the time of the shoguns, they describe
it as a feudal society.

A feudal society is one where the higher and lower members of the society owe each
other particular duties and receive benefits in return. Usually these benefits come in the
form of land. The duties might include military service or paying taxes.

Diagram of Japanese feudal society

shogun/emperor

Provide money Grants land to

and samurai

daimyo

Provide protection
Grant land to
and military service

samurai
Provide food
and services when Grant land to
demanded
peasants/farmers

+ 1 What did peasants/farmers have to do? What did they get in return?

2 How did the shogun or emperor benefit from giving land to the daimyo?

3 Not everyone in Japanese society fitted into this structure. Merchants, craftspeople
and some people who worked in ‘unclean’ occupations (such as butchers) were not
included. Why do you think these groups were excluded? (Hint: Look at what people
gave and what they received in return.)

24 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Resource sheet – Occupations Achieve!
Japanese hierarchy
There were many groups in shogunate Japanese society. Those at the top, like the
shogun or emperor, were often treated with respect, but those at the bottom, such as
craftspeople and merchants, were not.
Person/ Who made up this How did they live? Interesting fact
group group?
shogun The shogun was The shogun was the ruler of The shogun was so powerful
only one person. Japan. He lived in the capital he didn’t need the support of
His title meant city. He was both rich and the emperor.
‘war-general’. powerful.
emperor The emperor was Emperors used to rule all of The Japanese people
only one person. Japan, but after they lost power believed that the emperors
The position of to the shoguns, they only ruled communicated with the
emperor was their royal city at Kyoto. nature gods of the Shinto
handed down from religion and worked to
father to son. protect Japan.
daimyo The daimyo were Some daimyo were rich with Shugo-daimyo were more
the lords. large lands and many warriors. powerful than daimyo, and
Others were less powerful. controlled their lands as well
as other daimyo.
samurai and The samurai and These warriors were trained for Samurai were not only
warriors other warriors a long period of time. They were expected to fight well,
usually worked for a very honourable. but to be very cultured, too.
daimyo, emperor or They had to read books and
shogun. write poetry.
farmers The farmers were Farmers’ lives were often hard. At some points in Japanese
those who worked Sometimes farmers were forced history, farmers were not
on the land. to fight for their daimyo. allowed to leave the land and
try other jobs.
craftspeople The craftspeople Craftspeople often lived in Despite making beautiful and
were those who the cities. Children were often useful things, their work was
made things, such apprenticed to learn their skills. often not valued.
as blacksmiths and
tailors.
merchants The merchants were Merchants could be quite rich. The merchants were often
sellers and traders. They often bought items made seen as the least important
by the craftspeople and sold group because they made
them in other countries. nothing and were not warlike.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 25
Activity sheet – Occupations Achieve!
Different jobs
+ Read the Resource sheet, ‘Japanese hierarchy’, and then read each of the
statements below. Which group does each person belong to?

My name is Hachiro. I work hard in the fields to

support my family. I cannot leave the land and find a
job somewhere else. If I do, my daimyo can hunt me
down and punish me. It isn’t a great life, but it is the
best I can do.

1 Which group in society do I belong to?

My name is Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. I am a strong leader

and rule from Edo with my military government. I can
control the daimyo and shugo-daimyo without any
help from the emperor.

2 Which group in society do I belong to?

My name is Rikyu. I mostly live in the cities and make

my money buying items from craftspeople and selling
them to other people. Sometimes I travel to other
countries to sell my products. Even though I make a lot
of money, I am not very popular or respected.

3 Which group in society do I belong to?

4 Imagine that you are a person living in feudal Japan. Which group would you like to
belong to? Why?

26 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Occupations Achieve!
Lowest classes
The lowest classes of Japanese society – farmers, merchants and craftspeople – made up
80 to 90 per cent of the people living in shogunate Japan. Even though they formed the
majority of the population, we don’t know as much about their lives as we do about the lives
of the daimyo and shoguns. This is because most historical records are written ones. Not
many lower-class people could read or write, so their lives were not recorded. Many of the
rich lords knew how to write, and they also paid people to write stories about their lives.

Even though many merchants were also rich, it was not considered important for them
to record their lives.

+ 1 Why do we know more about the daimyo and shoguns than about the lower
classes in Japanese society?

Usually only people in the higher classes had family names or surnames. Lower-class
people were often identified by the area they lived in. Sometimes a lower-class person
would be given a family name as a gift from their daimyo.

2 Who had surnames? Why do you think only this group had surnames?

The lower-class people were often restricted in what they could do or wear. Farmers and
other peasants usually wore rough and scratchy fabrics made of ramie or hemp. They
did not wear silk as it was too expensive. The merchants, even if they were rich, were also
supposed to wear dull and rough clothing. However, many merchants would line their
clothes with silk. When they moved, people could see the rich cloth underneath.

3 List one similarity between merchants and farmers.

4 List one difference between merchants and farmers.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 27
Activity sheet – Occupations Achieve!
Women
• Feudal Japan was a very patriarchal society. Men were in control and women were
expected to obey them. Women had very little control over their lives. Their families
decided who they married and whether they could divorce. These marriages usually
strengthened alliances between families.
• Japanese women were usually expected to follow the idea of sanju or ‘three-fold
submission’. This meant she was expected to be obedient to parents (both hers and
her husband’s), her husband and her grown-up male children.
• Women in all classes had important roles to play. Their first job was often to be a
wife and mother. They were expected to give birth and look after the children.
– In the daimyo classes, a woman was also expected to help organise the household.
– Samurai wives were expected to help with practical battle advice and exercising
the horses.
– Women from lower classes, such as farmers and craftspeople, also helped their
families with their work.
Some women chose to become Buddhist nuns. This was one of the only options for
women who did not want to marry, or for widows after their husbands had died. It was
also a way for women to get an education.

+ 1 Read the information above and then match each of the underlined words with
the correct definition below.
a ________________________ women whose husbands have died
b ________________________ following orders and requests without complaint
c ________________________ the house and all the people who live in it
d ________________________ the jobs and actions that a person must do
e ________________________ a social system where men are in charge
f ________________________ a formal agreement for two groups to work together
2 List three ways that women’s lives today are different to the way women lived in
shogunate Japan.

28 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Teacher’s notes – Lifestyles Achieve!
The Activity sheet, ‘Culture’, introduces some of
Objectives the cultural activities enjoyed in shogunate Japan.
• To learn about important elements of Students identify words to complete a passage
shogunate Japanese society describing each practice.
• To develop an understanding of different In the Activity sheet, ‘Poetry’, students use the
cultural activities and practices information about Japanese poetry to write their
own poem. They may need additional information on
syllables in order to understand how to create a haiku.
Prior knowledge Before students complete the Activity sheet, ‘Female
No prior knowledge is required for this unit. authors’, you may wish to have a class discussion
about the importance of reading about female
Background experiences in history, as so much recorded history
was written by men. Students will read short primary
Cultural activities have always played a large role in
sources from the authors and use these to identify
Japanese society. Although war and soldiers were
information about the time period.
highly important during the shogunate period, the
Japanese defined themselves more through their The Activity sheet, ‘Education’, provides students with
cultural activities than through their warlike practices. an overview of the types of education in shogunate
They considered those who did not engage in cultural Japan, and invites them to compare this to their own
activities to be barbaric. Many Japanese cultural lives.
activities originally began as religious activities Extension ideas
that were connected to one of the two main religions,
Buddhism or Shintoism. Over time these became • Students may choose to research and read poetry
part of everyday life. by Matsuo Basho. Ask them to choose their favourite
poems and explain why these poems appealed to
Starter activity them.
Ask students what a cultural activity is. Once they have • Students could discuss the difference between
defined this successfully, ask them to suggest different religion in shogunate Japan and the way religion
cultural activities that they have participated in or is seen today. Can you follow two religions today?
viewed. Have students identify why these activities are Why was religion so important then? Have people’s
seen as important cultural activities. You may also wish views about religion changed?
to follow up with a discussion about the idea of each • Students could create a chart comparing the cultural
student’s own cultural identity. What is your cultural activities in shogunate Japan with those enjoyed in
identity? How is it shaped by the cultural activities we modern-day society.
participate in? • Students could create a short dramatic performance
in the Noh or Kabuki styles of theatre. This might
Resource and Activity sheets include making masks for their characters.
The Activity sheet, ‘Religion’, introduces the main • Ask students to imagine that they are Sei Shonagan
religions followed in shogunate Japan. Students or Murasaki Shikibu (two famous female authors).
identify the differences between the core beliefs of Have them write a diary entry describing their
each religion. experiences in court.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 29
Activity sheet – Lifestyles Achieve!
Religion
Religion was very important to the Japanese. Many religions were followed in shogunate
Japan, including Shintoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Catholicism.

Each religion had different core beliefs. Shintoism, which was the first recorded Japanese
religion, focused on worshipping the spirits of natural features and forces, such as
mountains and trees. Buddhism, on the other hand, focused on overcoming suffering
through enlightenment. Taoism focused on the idea of being in harmony with the
powers of the universe, while Confucianism focused on behaving correctly. Catholicism,
the last religion to arrive in Japan, focused around the teachings of Jesus Christ.

There was very little religious debate. People could worship two different religions
without experiencing any conflict. Many Japanese worshipped the Shinto religion, which
told them how to live their lives, as well as Buddhism, which explained what happened to
people when they died.

Zen Buddhism became very popular in the 1100s. This was a form of Buddhism that
encouraged people to see the beauty in simple things. Its practices included meditation
to clear the mind of worry and fear. Many daimyo had temples built into their castles to
practise meditation.

+ 1 Connect each religion listed in the word bank to its core belief.

a _______________________ Believed in worshipping nature spirits.

Word bank
b _______________________ Believed in the concept of harmony.
Catholicism
c _______________________ Believed in the importance of
Confucianism
Jesus Christ.
Buddhism
d _______________________ Believed in seeing the beauty in
simple things. Shintoism

e _______________________ Believed in the importance of Taoism

correct behaviour. Zen Buddhism
f _______________________ Believed that suffering could be
overcome through enlightenment.

30 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Lifestyles Achieve!
Culture
Although centred around the importance of war, shogunate Japan was also a strongly
cultural time. As well as being soldiers, the daimyo and samurai were expected to have
a strong understanding of cultural activities and to participate in them. Many of these
warriors wrote poetry, and others supported drama troupes and schools.

+ 1 The bold words have been spelt backwards. Rewrite them to complete
the passages.

Noh drama
Noh drama began around 300 CE. The srotca ________ all wore richly decorated
costumes, and many also wore masks. They would chant their lines and move slowly
to music. The stories were often taken from msihdduB ____________ and were often
performed at temples or religious festivals.

Kabuki theatre
Kabuki theatre began around 1603. It was originally started by nemow _________, but
later it was only performed by men, who played both male and female parts. The plays are
performed using folk dancing and suoigiler ___________ temple dancing.

Sumo wrestling
Sumo gniltserw __________ has been a part of Japanese history for a long time. The
wrestlers use the thgiew ____________ of their bodies to help push their opponents over.
Sumo wrestling began as an important Shinto ritual that was designed to please the gods.

Tea ceremony
Tea first came to Japan from anihC _______. It was originally used to help keep monks
alert during meditation. To assist noitatidem ___________, it became usual to prepare
the tea in a slow and careful manner.

Poetry
Poetry has always been an important part of Japanese culture. One of Japan’s most
famous poets, Matsuo Basho (1644 CE–1694 CE), developed the ukiah _________ poem
style, which uses 17 syllables. Poets would often write haikus about erutan __________.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 31
Activity sheet – Lifestyles Achieve!
Poetry
Some Japanese poems use a particular number of syllables in each line. A syllable is like a
beat in a word. Any time there is a new vowel sound, there is a new syllable. The examples
below show where one syllable ends and another begins.
• cat (one syllable)
• ra-bbit (two syllables)
• mon-key (two syllables)
• el-e-phant (three syllables)

Haiku poems
A haiku poem has three lines, and uses 17 syllables. The first line has five syllables, the
second line has seven and the last line has five. A haiku records a single moment or
feeling, rather than telling a whole story.

Haiku poem Counting the syllables Syllables

Wrapping dumplings in Wrap-ping dump-lings in 5
bamboo leaves, with one finger bam-boo leaves, with one fin-ger 7
she tidies her hair. she ti-dies her hair. 5
(written by Matsuo Basho, a famous poet)

Writing your own haiku

Many ancient haikus were about nature, the moon, cherry trees or mountains. Pick a topic
and brainstorm ideas about that topic. Now try writing your poem. Remember to count
out the syllables.

Haiku poem Counting the syllables Syllables

32 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Lifestyles Achieve!
Female authors
Two of the most famous books in shogunate Japan were written by women – Murasaki
Shikibu and Sei Shonagan.

Murasaki Shikibu wrote a famous story called The Tale of Genji around 1010 CE. This was a
tale about the life and loves of a handsome and intelligent nobleman called Genji, which
means ‘the shining prince’. Murasaki Shikibu was a lady-in-waiting to Empress Shoshi.
During this time she wrote both The Tale of Genji and a diary in which she recorded her
thoughts about court life.

‘And yet—though I would not wish to seem wanting in gratitude, it is undeniable that a man
of no learning is somewhat daunted at the thought of being forever his wife’s inferior.’
The Tale of Genji

Sei Shonagan was a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Sadako. The daughter of a poet,
Shonagan wrote a book called The Pillow Book around 1000 CE. The book recorded all her
thoughts and feelings about court life. Its chapters included ‘Annoying things’ and ‘Things
which distract in moments of boredom’.

‘In spring it is the dawn that is most beautiful. As the light creeps over the hills, their outlines
are dyed a faint red and wisps of purplish cloud trail over them.’
The Pillow Book

+ T he text in the two boxes is from primary sources. They were written by these
authors. Read the information above again and then work with a partner to answer
the following questions.
What did she write about? What does this tell us about life in Japan?
Murasaki
Shikibu

Sei
Shonagan

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 33
Activity sheet – Lifestyles Achieve!
Education
+ 1 Read the table below, then answer the questions in the second column.

Shogunate Japan Where I live now

In shogunate Japan, the father was the head Who works in my family?
of the family and his wife and children had to
obey him. He was expected to provide for and
look after the family. From the age of fifteen,
children were treated as adults. At what age would I be seen as an adult?

Although there were some schools for lower- Who can go to school now?
class children, most were for samurai or
daimyo children.
The main subjects that were studied were What are the main subjects I study at school?
Chinese texts and calligraphy. Calligraphy is
beautiful, decorative handwriting.

Children in lower social classes generally What skills have I learnt from my parents?
learnt their skills from their parents, working
on the family farm or making crafts.
Sometimes the children might be apprenticed What jobs do my parents do? Do I want to do
to someone else, who would teach them the the same job when I grow up?
skills needed for jobs like blacksmithing or
sword smithing.

Many daimyo set up special schools to teach What skills or knowledge am I learning that
battle skills and tactics to the sons of samurai. will help me when I am an adult?
These boys usually also learnt to read and
write, and sometimes studied poetry. They
were also taught not to fear death.

Women were often taught skills by their How are women treated differently now?
mothers. Sometimes, if they were in a higher
social class, they might also learn to read,
write and play a musical instrument. Some Are there any ways in which women’s
daughters of samurai were taught about education today is similar to how it was then?
flower arranging and tea ceremonies to help
them find good husbands.

34 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Teacher’s notes – Samurai Achieve!
Resource and Activity sheets
Objectives
Students can read the Resource sheet, ‘Samurai’,
• To learn about the warrior culture of shogunate
before using the information from it to complete the
Japan
Activity sheet, ‘Warrior lives’.
• To develop an understanding of Bushido, or
Students can then read through the Resource sheet,
the warriors’ code
‘Bushido’, then imagine themselves in the role of a
• To understand the role that samurai played in
samurai to complete the Activity sheet, ‘Way of the
Japanese society
warrior’. This task is best completed in pairs. Students
• To develop an understanding of crime and should understand that there are no right or wrong
punishment in Japanese society answers – the activity reflects their views. They should
be able to back up their opinions, however.
The Activity sheet, ‘Crime and punishment’, presents a
Prior knowledge
cloze activity outlining the code of honour, crime and
Students should be familiar with key terms such as punishment followed by the samurai. Students must
daimyo and shogun. read the paragraphs carefully in order to fill in the
blanks correctly. This activity helps students to read
Background sentences in context using grammatical skills.
The Japanese samurai were very much like the knights
of Europe. They were highly trained, familiar with
Extension ideas
weapons and followed a code of conduct. The code • Have students create a glossary of the following
of conduct followed by European knights was called terms: samurai, bushido, ronin, ninja, bushi, daimyo.
chivalry. Many of the knights followed Christianity • Students could attempt to complete tasks
and became involved in crusades to protect their blindfolded in order to understand the difficulty of
religion. The Japanese samurai likewise followed samurai training. These could be simple tasks, such
a code of conduct, called Bushido. Both codes as writing a letter or following a trail through a room.
emphasised defending the weak and showing Consideration should be given to student safety.
loyalty to a lord. Many of the Japanese samurai were • Students could write a diary entry describing a day
also Zen Buddhists who used meditation and other in the life of a samurai.
aspects of their religion to help them keep their focus • Students could create a recruitment poster
when fighting. advertising the key requirements of a samurai.
Hint: this should refer to fighting skills, cultural
Starter activity
activities and Bushido.
Ask students what they already know about samurai.
Can they name any other types of Japanese warriors?
They may discuss ninjas or even the ronin. If the
students are more familiar with European history, it
may be interesting to do a comparison between the
European knights and Japanese samurai. Draw up a
table on the board listing the name, code of conduct
and religion of each group.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 35
Resource sheet – Samurai Achieve!
Samurai
The word samurai means ‘one who serves’. Samurai warriors were originally trained to
serve the emperor; later they served the shogun and daimyo. Some daimyo used to be
samurai warriors. The samurai were recognisable by their body armour, which was an
overcoat of metal plates tied together with cord. They also wore two swords and tied their
hair in a large topknot.

The samurai were highly trained warriors. Skilled samurai could ride a horse at full gallop
while shooting arrows at three different targets. They were also skilled swordfighters and
could move quickly. Many trained themselves to be able to squat blindfolded on a mat
then in one movement cut down four targets – one at each corner of the mat – before
sitting down again with their sword sheathed.

Samurai, although fierce warriors, were also cultured men who wrote poetry, studied
the art of the tea ceremony and took part in flower arranging. They were also expected
to have good etiquette. This means that they knew how to behave properly in social
situations. They also read books on warfare and military tactics. Many samurai also
followed Zen Buddhism and practised meditation.

Other warriors during this time

included the bushi, or ‘fighting man’ –
lower-class men who were not as
highly trained or cultured as the
samurai. Ninjas were samurai who
had been trained as spies. There were
also the ronin, who were samurai
without a lord; they worked for pay,
not honour.

Samurai were fierce warriors.

36 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Samurai Achieve!
Warrior lives
+ R ead the Resource sheet, ‘Samurai’, then complete the sentences below by
choosing the correct word from each word bank.

1 Warriors who fought only for pay were the ____________.

bushi ronin ninjas

2 Samurai were very cultured men who often engaged in a _____________________.

tea ceremony origami kamikaze

3 The Samurai were so well trained, they could cut down four targets even while
_____________________.
deaf sleeping blindfolded

4 The word ‘samurai’ means ‘one who ___________________’.

fights lives serves

5 Some samurai, if they fought well enough, could become _____________ themselves.
ronin bushi daimyo

6 The samurai were recognisable by their __________________________.

body armour very long swords elaborate make-up

7 If the samurai warriors did not have good ______________ skills, they were seen as
barbarians.
etiquette dancing communication

8 Samurai often used _______________ and _____________ when riding to fight

the enemy.
bows daggers sheaths stars arrows nunchuks

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 37
Resource sheet – Samurai Achieve!
Bushido
My name is Morichika. I am training to become a samurai. One of the most important
things that I have to learn is to follow a code called Bushido, or ‘the way of the warrior’.
The Bushido says that I must be loyal and I must know the difference between right and
wrong. These ideas will guide my actions as a samurai.

The word ‘samurai’ means ‘someone who serves’. In serving our lord, we must be
loyal to the death. If we are not loyal then we become like the ronin, who fight for
money, not honour.

I am still a little scared of suffering or dying, so part of my training is to learn to accept

my own death. The best samurai do not show any emotion when they are about to
die. It is considered an honour to die in battle, or for samurai to kill themselves if their
lord dies in battle. I am hoping that my lord is strong and I can fight for him.

As a samurai I will be expected to help the weak and

use my fighting skills for good. Sometimes I read
stories of famous samurai who defended the honour
of those who cannot fight. The strongest samurai
never complain about hardships and never break a
promise, no matter how difficult the promise is to
keep. One samurai, Yoriyoshi, fed his men and helped
care for the injured. One day I hope to be like him.

38 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Samurai Achieve!
The way of the warrior
Samurai were feared warriors but their code of behaviour was very important to them.
Read the Resource sheet, ‘Bushido’, then answer the following questions.

+ 1 Together with a partner, pretend you are training to be samurai. Identify which
parts of the Bushido code you would find easy to follow and which parts you
would find difficult. Write an explanation for each answer.

Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. Some people might find enduring
suffering easy, while others would find it harder. Some might find tending the sick difficult,
while others would be happy to do that.

Easy to follow Hard to follow

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 39
Activity sheet – Samurai Achieve!
Crime and punishment
The information below is missing these four important words:

and was they their

+ 1 Fill in the blanks to make sense of the paragraphs.

In small villages it ________ easy to identify criminals. People would be shamed into
behaving well, because ________ knew that everyone ________ keeping an eye on them.
In the bigger towns ________ cities, however, crime ________ harder to control.

As trained warriors with a rigid code of honour, samurai were often used to hunt down
criminals ________ try them. Some samurai were chosen to be magistrates; these
were the judges for court cases. Other samurai became doshin, a type of police officer.
________ would use hooked sticks to catch the swords of attackers. Criminals had to be
taken alive. In order to do this, the suspects would be surrounded by ladders ________
long spears. ________ were then tied up quickly. Suspects had to confess in order to be
found guilty ________ punished. ________ would be tortured until _______confessed.

If the suspect ________ found guilty, ________ could be punished in a number of ways. If
________ committed murder, robbery or adultery, ________ could be killed. If ________
crime ________ arson, ________ were usually burnt alive. Other criminals could be
banished or placed under house arrest, or women could have ________ hair shaved off.

If samurai were accused of a crime, ________ were given a choice between execution
________ seppuku. Seppuku ________ a form of suicide. It involved the samurai using
his own sword to cut across his stomach ________ then through his throat. Sometimes a
servant would behead them, if ________ were still alive. Those who committed seppuku
would be seen as having kept ________ dignity. ________ possessions remained with
________ family.

40 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Teacher’s notes – Land use Achieve!
Resource and Activity sheets
Objectives
The Activity sheet, ‘Land use’, introduces students to
• To learn about the usage of land in shogunate
the geography of Japan and how this affected the way
Japan
the Japanese structured their lives. Students complete
• To understand the importance of forests in sentences to consolidate their understanding.
power struggles
Students should read the Resource sheet, ‘Forests and
• To understand the connection of land to
power’, before completing the Activity sheet, ‘Forests’.
occupations
The Activity sheet asks students to consider opposing
attitudes towards forests before creating a small poster
explaining the key points and views of each side.
Prior knowledge
The Activity sheet, ‘Castles and towns’, examines
Students would benefit from an understanding of castles in Japan and their many functions. Students
key terms such as daimyo and shogun. They should unscramble words to complete the passage.
also have an understanding of the timeline of
In the Activity sheet, ‘Keeping the peasants down’,
Japanese society – especially Tokugawa Ieyasu and
students complete a glossary activity and consider the
the Ashikiga period.
position of farmers in Japanese society.
Background Extension ideas
The geography of Japan is very important to the • Students could consider the geography of their own
way that Japanese society was structured. Because local region and suggest why it would be difficult
available land was quite limited due to mountains, to build and defend a fortress today, compared to
forests and the many small islands, the need for good in shogunate Japan. This could take the form of a
farming land was very important. It became necessary written comparison or a drawing clearly outlining
for such land to be protected – this was the main role the protective measures that would be used today.
of the daimyo and their samurai warriors. Often the
• Students could research the impact of
daimyo would use the geography of the land
deforestation.
to protect themselves, building near cliffs and
• Students could research different buildings in
mountains and strategically destroying forests to
shogunate Japan and make an annotated drawing
protect themselves.
of a building.
Starter activity • Students could draw a table explaining the
advantages and disadvantages of the different
Ask students to consider how land is used today. geographical areas in Japan, including mountains,
How do we structure our cities? How do people forests, coastline and separate small islands.
use farms? What is the importance of forests and
environmentalism? Encourage students to consider
different viewpoints. For example, how might loggers
and environmentalists see forests differently?

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 41
Activity sheet – Land use Achieve!
Land use
Japan is a chain of thousands of small islands. These islands cover a distance of 2000
kilometres. Most of them are very narrow, and their long coasts are constantly battered
by rough seas and violent typhoons. Most of these islands are covered in mountains and
forests, which makes it hard to farm the land. Only about 14 per cent of Japan’s land is
suitable for farming.

Peasants made up 80–90 per cent of the population of shogunate Japan. Those who lived
on the coasts mostly worked as fishermen, while those further inland worked as farmers.
They would sell and barter food at weekly markets.

Some areas developed local industries where people would work in forestry or mining, or
make precious items like paper. They would then send these items to the ports, which were
small towns near a good harbour, to trade with people from other islands or countries.

Shogunate Japan had many cities. The streets were often organised in grid patterns,
and the buildings in the cities were made up of homes and open-fronted shops. These
buildings all used to be made of wood, which meant that fire was a big danger.

+ Complete the following sentences.

1 Peasants usually worked as

2 People often built their houses out of wood because

3 Two important industries in shogunate Japan were

4 It was hard to farm the land because

5 Fire was a big danger in Japanese cities because

42 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Resource sheet – Land use Achieve!
Forests and power
Forests in Japan were very important. They provided timber that was used for heating and
for building ships, houses, forts and many day-to-day items. But the forests were not only
important because they supplied wood. The daimyo and the shogun’s power came from
the way they used the forests.

In shogunate Japan, power was gained by having large expanses of land. The more fertile
land the daimyo had, the more peasants they could control. Many daimyo increased their
land by cutting down their forests. They were able to sell the wood and make buildings
with it. With more good land came power and wealth. These daimyo could afford to train
more samurai to protect them, and they soon became a threat to the emperor, and later
the shogun.

Tokugawa Ieyasu and his family realised the importance of controlling the daimyo if they
wanted to stay in power. This meant that they had to control the use of the land. They
banned the daimyo from cutting down forests, so they could not increase their land.

In order to prevent the daimyo from starting a war to expand their land, Tokugawa took
a quarter of Japan for his own control. He then created barrier lands for his most trusted
followers, while former enemies,
described as ‘outer lords’ or
tozama, were given lands
on the extreme edges of the
country. They were spied on
regularly to make sure that
they did not destroy the forests,
build new castles or form
alliances. The daimyo no longer
had an easy way to build power
against their rulers.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 43
Activity sheet – Land use Achieve!
Forests
Read the Resource sheet, ‘Forests and power’, then answer the following questions.

+ 1 List four items that were made using wood from the forests.

2 Why were forests so important to the daimyo?

3 Why were Tokugawa Ieyasu and the other Tokugawan shoguns concerned about the
destruction of forests?

4 How did the Tokugawan shogunate make sure that the forests were left standing?

5 Make two different posters advertising the forest to show how each group wanted the
area to be used. Remember that the daimyo wanted to get rid of the forests and the
Tokugawan shoguns wanted to keep them.

Poster for daimyo Poster for Tokugawan shogunate

44 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Land use Achieve!
Castles and towns
+ 1 Unscramble the words in
bold to complete the passage.

Japanese castles were esfroestrs

__________ designed to protect the
daimyo from attack. They were usually
utlib _______ on steep mountainsides,
which made them easier to fneded
________. Often these castles would be
protected by a otam ______. They were
also surrounded by stone or wooden
csenfe ________. The fortresses
became very greal _________ and
complicated during the Ashikiga
period, when many daimyo fought
against each other to gain ndal _____ and power.

Originally, the ltsaces _________ were not for living in. The daimyo and soldiers usually
lived outside the castle, at the foot of the ntiomuan ___________. Their houses were
often part of small wsnot _______, called jokamachi or ‘under castle towns’. Later, the
daimyo’s quarters were built inside the castles, to make them rfaes _______. The soldier’s
houses were organised so that the gerihh ________ a soldier’s rank, the closer he lived to
the castle. Some highly respected soldiers vdlei _______ within the moated area.

Inside the castles there were often warehouses for odof ______, kitchens to cook in and
wells to collect treaw _________. This meant the defenders had food and water even if
they were rdnue ________ siege and could not pcesae ________. They also often had
a donjon, or large wroet ________, which helped the daimyo watch yemne ________
movements and command his soldiers. When the ydoiam _________ and their family
lived in the castle, they would often make special rsneagd _________. Each stone,
tree and ptha ______ had its own special meaning and was positioned to help people
deitmeat __________.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 45
Activity sheet – Land use Achieve!
Keeping the peasants down
In shogunate Japan, many peasants were given small pockets of land that they had to
work hard on in order to survive. To receive the land, the peasants had to pay two forms
of taxes to their daimyo: nengu, which was a tax paid in rice, and zokuiji, which was paid
in other ways, such as with money or service. Adult males also had to work 60 days a year
for their daimyo. This work could include cutting down trees, draining marshes, setting up
irrigation channels, digging ditches, and building public buildings and roads. In return for
this work, their daimyo would protect them.
Although owning land and farming your own crops could be good, many farmers felt
trapped. If there was famine or crop failure, farmers often found it difficult to survive, let
alone pay their taxes. Some laws banned farmers from leaving their land, in order to stop
them from leaving during difficult times.
Most villages had about 20 small houses, a temple, several shrines and a well for water.
Each village had a community organisation for all the members of the village, called a so.
The so decided on the laws and punishments for the people who lived there. For example,
one village decided that keeping dogs was forbidden and that travellers were not to be
given lodging.

+ 1 Draw a line to link each of the following words to its correct definition.

a nengu a tax paid with money or service

b so lord for the region

c zokuiji a tax paid in rice

d daimyo a place where someone stays temporarily

e crops village community organisation involving all peasants

f lodging plants grown for food

2 Write one positive and one negative about being a farmer.

3 Write two rules that you would want your village so to make.

46 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Teacher’s notes – Contact with other nations Achieve!
Resource and Activity sheets
Objectives
The Activity sheet, ‘Japan and the rest of Asia’,
• To learn about Japanese contacts and conflicts
introduces the idea of trade and encourages students
with other nations
to think about the advantages and disadvantages of
• To identify the impact of trade and of the smuggling and piracy.
introduction of new religions
The Activity sheet, ‘First Europeans’, examines the
trading opportunities that developed once the
Prior knowledge Portuguese started trading with Japan. Students
consider the implications of these changes.
Students should be familiar with the timeline of Students should read the Resource sheet, ‘New
shogunate Japan. religion’, to learn about the Catholic missionaries
Background travelling to Japan, before completing the Activity
sheet, ‘Jesuits’. The final Activity sheet, ‘William
Japan originally had a strong trading background. Adams’, provides information about the first European
In the early years of shogunate Japan they actively samurai and his life in Japan.
welcomed opportunities to trade with other countries,
especially those from South-East Asia, which was close Extension ideas
and easy to travel to. Later, as they began to trade • Students could draw a map of the different
with Portuguese and Dutch traders, the Japanese locations that the trading items mentioned in this
were surprised to see such different-looking people. unit came from. They could also plot the journey
They were amazed to see the brown and blond each item would have taken to get to Japan from its
hair of the Europeans. After the Tokugawan family place of origin. Remind students that items would
became shoguns they began to restrict trade until the have mostly been transported by ship.
Japanese had little or no contact with foreigners. The • Students could create a diary entry describing a day
shoguns feared that interaction with foreigners would in the life of either William Adams, his wife back in
inspire their own people to revolt and rebel. England or his new wife in Japan.
Starter activity • Students could work out methods to communicate
between people who do not share a common
Ask students to consider first contacts with another language. This could involve working with a partner
country and culture. Put the students into small and using sign language or hand gestures to
groups and ask them to pretend that they are aliens communicate different ideas to each other.
from another world. How would they see the world • Students may choose to create a proclamation (in
differently to humans? How strange would humans poster form) for Tokugawa Ieyasu explaining what
seem to them? They might need to consider how their will happen to Christians.
alien species would differ – appearance, experiences,
world. Ask the students to compare this new view
of the world to how the early Japanese would have
viewed some of the foreigners who arrived. They did
not have the multicultural society we are used to
today, so the new people would have almost seemed
like aliens.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 47
Activity sheet – Contact with other nations Achieve!
Japan and the rest of Asia
Japan traded with many other countries in Asia. Trading gave the Japanese access to new
foods, products, spices and animals. Japanese traders would sail as far as Thailand and the
Philippines to buy luxury items. The best market for their goods was China. China had
strong trade connections with many other countries in Asia and Europe, so there were
many items that could be bought and sold.

Some Japanese sailors became smugglers. Smugglers are people who try to take goods
in or out of a country without paying taxes. The taxes were very expensive, and smugglers
could make a lot more money if they did not have to pay them. Sometimes, when there
were not many trade opportunities, the smugglers would become pirates. Smugglers and
pirates became such a problem that China banned all trade with Japan in the late 1300s.

goods – items that are sold by merchants and traders

smugglers – people who try to avoid paying taxes on the items that they bring into or out of
a country
taxes – money paid to the government
pirates – sailors who kill and steal the trade goods and money from other ships

+ 1 Suggest two reasons why a Japanese trader or sailor might decide to become
a smuggler or a pirate.

2 Do you think a ban on trade was the best way of addressing the problem of smugglers
and pirates? Give reasons for your answer.

3 Can you suggest a better solution to this problem?

48 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Contact with other nations Achieve!
First Europeans
For many years the Japanese had no direct contact with Europeans. This changed in
1543 CE when two Portuguese traders landed in Japan to make repairs to their ship.
The Portuguese travelled to India and China regularly to buy exotic and expensive spices.
They decided to do the same in Japan.

Portuguese traders came to Japan to buy silver, gold, copper and swords. The Japanese
were very interested in the exotic items that the Portuguese brought, such as European
clocks, carpets from the Middle East, tobacco from South America and sweet potatoes
from the Philippines.

But the most interesting items were guns. Guns changed the nature of warfare in Japan,
from swordfighting and cavalry (highly trained soldiers on horses) to infantry (soldiers
on foot) and guns. Within six months of first seeing guns, Japanese blacksmiths had
learned how to make their own.

+ 1 Which country or region did these items come from originally?

Country or region Item
swords
sweet potatoes
carpets
tobacco
clocks

2 List two ways that Japanese warfare changed after the arrival of the Portuguese.

3 Why do you think the Japanese made these changes?

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 49
Resource sheet – Contact with other nations Achieve!
New religion
The Portuguese also brought religion to Japan. Portugal was a strongly Catholic country.
Catholics are a type of Christian. Whenever they visited another country to trade, they would
send Jesuit missionaries to convert the people. They wanted everyone to be Catholic.

Early treatment of Jesuits

When the Jesuits first visited in the 1540s there was civil war in Japan, and no strong
leadership. The Jesuits were free to preach from town to town. However, they found
the Japanese language extremely difficult. Some believed that it was created by the
devil to stop them spreading Christianity.

Intermediate treatment of Jesuits

By the 1580s the Jesuits had begun to gain supporters. Six daimyo had converted to
Christianity, and all their followers did the same, meaning the Jesuits had converted
around 100 000 Japanese. Some people believe these daimyo only converted to help
them trade with the Portuguese. The Jesuits became so powerful that they were put in
charge of Nagasaki (an important city in Japan) for a couple of years. In 1582 they sent
four Japanese boys to Europe to meet the Pope. When the boys returned they had
become Jesuits. By 1604 the Jesuits had made a Portuguese–Japanese dictionary.

Later treatment of Jesuits and Catholics

When Tokugawa Ieyasu became shogun of Japan he became concerned about the
foreigners. He worried that the Christians might follow the Jesuits instead of their
shogun. In 1623, when Ieyasu’s son Iemitsu came to power, he celebrated by killing
50 Christians. He continued to mistreat Christians, expelling some, imprisoning others,
and torturing and killing those who continued to practise Christianity. From 1639
it was forbidden for people to leave Japan or to practise Christianity. Foreigners were
also forbidden from entering Japan around this time.

50 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Contact with other nations Achieve!
Jesuits
+ 1 Read the Resource sheet, ‘New religion’. The information below lists key dates
in Christianity in Japan. Choose the correct words to fill in the blanks.

1540s CE The Jesuits arrived in Japan to ____________________ (trade, meet, convert) the
Japanese people.

1580s CE The ____________________ (daimyo, converts, Jesuits) had managed to convert

about 100 000 people to Christianity.

1582 CE Four boys were sent to ____________________ (Europe, Japan, China) to meet
the Pope.

1604 CE The Jesuits finally managed to make a ____________________ (Pope, dictionary,

map).

1623 CE ____________________ (Ieyasu, Nagasaki, Iemitsu) was made the new shogun.
He celebrated by killing 50 Christians.

1639 CE Foreigners were finally ____________________ (banned, welcomed, celebrated)

from coming to Japan.

2 Place each of the events listed in Question 1 beneath the appropriate period.
Early treatment of Jesuits Intermediate treatment Later treatment of Jesuits
of Jesuits and Christians

3 Identify how the Jesuits were seen by the Japanese in each period. Were they seen
positively or negatively? Why?
Early treatment of Jesuits Intermediate treatment Later treatment of Jesuits
of Jesuits and Christians

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 51
Activity sheet – Contact with other nations Achieve!
William Adams
William Adams was thought to be the first Englishman to ever visit Japan. He lived from
1564 to 1620, and is the only European to have been made a samurai.

My name is William Adams. I was born in England, and worked as a pilot on a Dutch ship.
Our ship began travelling to Japan, along with four other ships. When we reached Japan
we had been at sea for almost two years. My ship was the only one to arrive.
We started off with around 100 sailors. When we landed, only 20 were left, and they were all
sick or injured. We hoped to get help from the locals.
Unfortunately, Jesuit priests from Portugal were already there. The Portuguese and the
Dutch had often been at war with each other. The priests said that we were pirates and
should all be crucified. I thought I was going to die.
Finally, my luck changed. The great warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu met with me. We discussed
European ships and warfare, and I taught his men to use guns and cannons, and how to
make maps. I even helped him to create two European-style ships. He decided that he would
not kill us. Instead, he made me a samurai and gave me land and a home. I was even given a
wife, and had two children.
Ieyasu never let me return home to my English wife and family, but he was very generous to
me. Later I helped him negotiate trade with the Dutch and English.

+ 1 List four interesting facts about William

Adams and his life.

52 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Teacher’s notes – Collapse of the shogunate Achieve!
Resource and Activity sheets
Objectives
Show students the diagram on the Resource sheet,
• To learn about the different factors that led
‘Banning foreigners’, before having them fill in the
to the collapse of the shogunate, including
table on the Activity sheet, ‘A united Japan?’. Students
banning foreigners, peasant uprisings and the
can then read through the Resource sheet, ‘Peasant
rise of the merchant classes
rebellions’, which details some of the rebellions
• To understand the methods that the shoguns and reactions. In the Activity sheet, ‘There must be
of the Tokugawan family used to retain their change’, students then identify who might become
position involved in a rebellion and why.
The final Activity sheet, ‘Rise of the merchants’,
identifies how the merchants began to gain power
Prior knowledge
over the samurai.
Students should be familiar with the Tokugawan
shogunate, and have a basic understanding of the Extension ideas
timeline of shogunate Japan. • Students may research one of the specific peasant
revolutions. They could identify the people
Background involved, the beliefs behind it and the shogun’s
Japan was ruled by the Tokugawan family of shoguns reaction to it.
for about 250 years. They maintained power by using • Have students imagine that they are the shogun
restrictive policies and believed that foreigners were and explain how they would deal with these
a threat, as they could influence the local population different threats. How would they have dealt with
to fight against them. The only problem was that the rebellions? They need to consider that brutally
shogunate did not change their attitudes towards crushing the rebellion may lead to continued
different groups, particularly those groups who were frustration and rebellion, but giving in to the rebels
lower in the social hierarchy, such as merchants, other may make them appear weak and powerless.
peasants and foreigners. This led to frustration, • Students could debate the advantages and
rebellion and secret attempts to control the samurai disadvantages of banning foreigners.
through money lending, which eventually led to the
removal of the shogun during the Meiji restoration.

Starter activity
Discuss the Tokugawan shogunate as a class, focusing
on the period when they were most powerful
(1600s–1800s). Ask students to think about what was
happening in other countries during this time. Japan
was still a medieval society, but the rest of the world
was changing. During this time there were revolutions
in France and America as their people demanded
change. This was also the time of the Industrial
Revolution, when factories were being built and
people could mass produce items. Encourage students
to think about why this was a period of great change
all over the world.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 53
Resource sheet – Collapse of the shogunate Achieve!
Banning foreigners
The Tokugawan shogunate saw foreigners as a threat to their power. Around 1639
the shogun banned all foreigners from mainland Japan. Some countries, including the
Netherlands, Korea and China, were still allowed to trade with Japan, but could only do so
on an artificial island near Nagasaki.

Some Japanese Japanese technology fell

merchants became very behind the rest of the
wealthy from trading world because there were
with the Dutch, Korean few opportunities for There were peasant
and Chinese boats that Japanese craftspeople to rebellions as some groups
could only dock on the learn from developments became unhappy about
artificial island. These in the rest of the world. their treatment. The
merchants made lots peasants believed that
of money and became they should be allowed to
powerful. make more decisions for
themselves. Often such
rebellions were motivated
How did banning by religion.
There were large famines
in Japan, because when foreigners affect life in
the crops failed, the shogunate Japan?
peasants could not get
additional food or seeds There were fewer job
from other countries. opportunities,
particularly for
People who were shipbuilders, sailors,
The shogun became interested in Western merchants and traders.
very powerful because ideas could be punished People often had to
there was less exposure by the shogun. Some return to traditional
to different ideas and groups smuggled in occupations such as
forms of government. The European books and fishing or farming.
shogun was the complete secretly learned Dutch
ruler and dictated all so they could read and
elements of life. learn from other groups.

54 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Collapse of the shogunate Achieve!
A united Japan?
The Resource sheet ‘Banning foreigners’ lists some of the effects of banning foreigners
from entering Japan. These effects were positive for some people and negative for others.

+ 1 Identify who would have found each effect positive and who found it negative.
Give reasons for your answers. The first one has been done for you.

Effect Who was this positive for? Who was this negative for?
Why? Why?
A few merchants Example: This effect was positive Example: This effect was negative
became wealthy for the few merchants who did for the other merchants and
become wealthy, because they had smaller traders, because they no
more money and more power. longer had a job.
Large famines

Less technology

Peasant rebellions

Powerful shogun

Western ideas
banned

Less jobs

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 55
Resource sheet – Collapse of the shogunate Achieve!
Peasant rebellions
The shogun was the leader of all Japan. If he was a strong leader he would keep control
of his daimyo and rule well. The Tokugawan shoguns believed that the only way to rule
all of Japan was to have complete control of the country. They banned foreigners from
entering the country to keep out new ideas, as well as banning Christianity. The shoguns
also made many other rules that made them quite unpopular.

The daimyo could not rebel against the shogun because he held their families hostage.
A ban on ocean-going ships made it difficult for them to escape. They may have also
feared losing their power and connections if they acted against the shogun.

Peasants were more able to rebel than their lords. When they were mistreated and
became angry enough, the peasants would group together to fight for their survival.
The majority of Japanese were peasants, so they could be a fearsome fighting force.
Although these rebellions were called peasant rebellions, merchants and craftspeople
often also joined, as their lifestyles were also restricted by the shogun. Many shoguns
feared peasant rebellions. If they didn’t crush the resistance, they could easily lose their
power. There were more than 2000 rebellions against the Tokugawan shogunate.

Sometimes these rebellions were led by religious groups, or people with religious ideals.
One peasant rebellion in about 1637 CE was made up of many Christians. In the late 1400s
there were many rebellions
by peasants and warriors
who followed a version
of Buddhism. They were
unhappy about paying taxes
to their daimyo – instead, they
wished to give their money
to Buddhist temples. After
this rebellion many daimyo
became more involved in
their lands, in order to prevent
another uprising.

56 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Activity sheet – Collapse of the shogunate Achieve!
‘There must be change’
+ 1 Read the Resource sheet, ‘Peasant rebellions’, then answer the following
questions.

I am a merchant. Would I join a rebellion? Why or why not?

I am a daimyo. Would I join a rebellion? Why or why not?

We are peasants. Would we join a rebellion? Why or why not?

I am a Buddhist monk. Would I join a rebellion? Why or why not?

I am a shogun. Would I join a rebellion? Why or why not?

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 57
Activity sheet – Collapse of the shogunate Achieve!
Rise of the merchants
The Tokugawan shoguns wanted there to be peace so that their rule was not threatened.
But if there was no fighting, the warrior skills of the samurai and the daimyo were not
needed, making it hard for them to support their families. The daimyo and samurai still
got money from taxes, but with very little trade and several famines, the peasants had less
money to give. The samurai had to borrow money to pay for their expensive lifestyles and
avoid being shamed.

Despite being the lowest in society, the merchants gained a lot of money and power in
peace time. They were the only people who had access to foreign goods, through the
traders who landed on the artificial island at Nagasaki. They were able to make a lot of
money selling these foreign items, along with Japanese-made products.

The merchants were the only people who could afford to lend money to the samurai.
They began to gain power over the samurai, using the money owed to them to make
demands. This meant that the shogun’s main supporters, the samurai, were really in the
power of the merchants.

+ 1 Finish the following sentences.

Merchants were originally ____________________________________________________.

Samurai were powerful during ___________________________________________

because ___________________________________________________________________.

Samurai lost their power when __________________________________________

because __________________________________________________________________.
This meant that the shogun ___________________________________________________.

2 Suggest one advantage and one disadvantage of the merchants becoming more
powerful. Give reasons for your answers.
Advantage Disadvantage

58 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Teacher’s notes – Meiji restoration Achieve!
Resource and Activity sheets
Objectives
Students can complete the Activity sheet, ‘American
• To learn about the rapid changes that occurred
ships and unfair treaties’, by filling in the missing
in Japan as a result of the Meiji restoration
letters. Once finished they will learn the way many
• To consider the implications of interactions of the Japanese felt about these treaties. This is
with foreign countries and foreign treaties the answer to the hidden message: The Japanese
on Japan were unhappy with their shogun making treaties with
• To evaluate the changes and consider whether America. They felt humiliated and weak.
they could be seen as positive or negative for
Students need to read the Resource sheet, ‘Meiji
Japanese culture
restoration’, before completing the Activity sheet,
‘New emperor’.
Prior knowledge The Resource sheet, ‘Modernisation of Japan’, presents
a diagram showing many of the changes that occurred
Students should be familiar with the Tokugawan when modernising Japan. Students can then use
shogunate, and have a basic understanding of the this information to complete the Activity sheet, ‘New
timeline of shogunate Japan. Japan’, and consider whether the changes were
positive or negative.
Background
Although the banning of foreigners by Tokugawa Extension ideas
Ieyasu’s son in the 1600s was an unpopular measure, • Students can research how Japan changed after
it kept the shoguns in power for a long period of time. the Meiji restoration. What other things did the
They were able to control their people by restricting Japanese change in order to compete with other
change. The Japanese people believed that they were countries?
superior to other countries. This feeling of superiority • Students could write a diary entry from the point of
quickly disappeared when the Americans sent their view of the 15-year-old Emperor Meiji. How would
‘black ships’ to Japan. American technology and they deal with the problem of the Americans and
knowledge quickly left many Japanese feeling that the samurai each wanting very different things?
they were a weak country. • Students could write a short paragraph explaining
whether they think the Meiji restoration was a good
Starter activity
thing or a bad thing.
Ask students to imagine what it would be like if they
could travel back in time to 1788, when Australia was
first being colonised by the British. How do they think
the early settlers and Indigenous Australians would
view items such as iPads, mobile phones, computers
and hairdryers? How would they react, knowing that
we had such advanced technology? After the students
have discussed this, ask them to consider the situation
with the Americans arriving in Japan with technology
that was 200 years more advanced than the Japanese.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 59
Activity sheet – Meiji restoration Achieve!
American ships and unfair treaties
+ 1 Fill in the missing letters to complete the sentences.

For almost _wo _undr_d and fifty years, _ _ _an w_s cut off from th_ world. Th_y had
som_ t_ad_ wit_ the Dutch _nd Chinese, but no foreigners were allowed in Ja_an and no
Ja_anese could leave the countr_.

_ _is changed in 1853 w_ _ n Ame_ica wanted acce_s to Japanese ports for t_eir whaling
ships. They wanted to be sure that shipwrecked American sail_rs wo_ld be treated well.
Com_odore M_tthew Perry was sent from Amer_ca with four ships, dema_din_ supplies
and _ _ ad_ _greemen_s from Japan. Th_ Japane_e sa_ _hese s_ips as a d_ng_ r. They
we_e called the ‘bla_k ships’ bec_use of _heir black sails.

The s_ogun didn’t want to mak_ an agreement with the Americans, but _elt worri_d
about _heir superior weapons. T_e Japanese still _sed the sa_e sty_e of weapons that they
had used _n the 1600s. The _mericans had been con_inually d_veloping new weapons
during that time.

The shogun had a year to make a _ecision. In February 1854 Commodore M_tthew Perry
retur_e_ with many gifts for the Japanese, including a miniature rail_ay with 100 m_tres of
track. The Americans _lso showed the Japanese the variety of cannons and guns that they
had. This sent a clear message about what would happen if the shogun did not agree to
the treaty.

After the shogun made the treaty with America, many other countries, including Britain,
the Netherlands, France and Russia, also negotiated trade agreements.

Treaty: A treaty is an agreement between two countries. A treaty can be unfair if it forces one
country to do more than the other country.

2 Insert the missing letters from Question 1 into the spaces below. Put them in the same
order to discover the hidden message.

_ _ _ / _ _ _ _ n _ s _ / w _ _ _ / un _ _ _ _ _ / wi _ _ / t _ _ i_ / _ _ _ g _ n / _ _ k _ _ _ /

_ _ _ _ _ i _ _ / _ i _ _ / _ m _ _ i _ _. / _ _ _ y / _ _ l _ / _ _ _ i _ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ / _ _ _ k.

60 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Resource sheet – Meiji restoration Achieve!
Meiji restoration
From the 1850s many foreigners began arriving in Japan to trade. Many Japanese felt that
the trade treaties favoured America and gave it too much power, while Japan got little in
return. During this time many treaties between Western and Asian countries were unfair
and racist. The Japanese were also worried that they might get turned into a Western
colony, like China and India, losing their power and identity.

The Japanese merchants and traders were happy that foreigners were buying and selling
in Japan. However, the samurai felt threatened by the foreigners. In the past the samurai
had been powerful because they were the only people who were trained to fight. The
Westerners, with their superior weapons, made the samurai feel useless.

The shogun was still the leader of Japan, but his samurai and daimyo were unhappy about
the treaties that he had made. He started to lose their support.

The emperor started to become more powerful. He said that he was not happy about the
foreigners. This made the samurai and daimyo support him.

In the 1860s a British man was killed by some samurai warriors. The British attacked,
forcing the murderers to be punished and Japan to pay a fine. The samurai began to
believe that only the emperor could help them. In 1867 the emperor died, leaving his
fifteen-year-old son Mutsuhito as his heir. The samurai decided to support Mutsuhito.

In 1868 the shogun was asked to resign by an army of samurai. He was replaced by the
new emperor, who changed his name to Meiji, which means ‘enlightened rule’. The samurai
believed that Meiji would protect them from foreigners and make Japan great again.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 61
Activity sheet – Meiji restoration Achieve!
New emperor
Read the Resource sheet, ‘Meiji restoration’, and then complete the following activities.

+ 1 Use the words in the word bank to complete the following paragraph.
The samurai were very unhappy with the ______________. They
Word bank
believed only the ____________ could help save Japan from the
foreigners. As trained ____________, the samurai felt threatened traditional
by the superior _____________ of the ____________. Meiji, the modern
new __________, was brought in by the ___________ to replace
shogun
the _____________ and get rid of the foreigners. Instead, he ended
up making Japan more ________________. The samurai, who had weapons
supported the emperor because they thought he would return to samurai
____________ ways, became unhappy with Meiji as he began to
emperor
change Japan to make it more like Western countries.
warriors
2 Decide whether the following statements are true or false.
foreigners
The merchants were unhappy with the foreigners. True False
emperor
The samurai felt humiliated by the treaties. True False
shogun
The emperor was forty when he gained control. True False
The Japanese had to pay a fine to Britain. True False
3 Explain why the shogun lost support.

4 Explain why the emperor gained power.

5 Who was most concerned about the foreigners entering Japan? Why?

6 Imagine you lived in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s. Suggest one advantage and one
disadvantage of the foreigners arriving in Japan.

62 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
Resource sheet – Meiji restoration Achieve!
Modernisation of Japan
Emperor Meiji’s first act was to try and change the treaties with America and other countries.
He sent a group of 50 experts to America to see whether the unfair treaties could be
changed. America would not agree to a change, so instead, the experts visited schools,
hospitals and factories, trying to work out how to ‘modernise’ Japan. They believed that
modernising Japan was the only way they could become as powerful as the Western
countries. Emperor Meiji wanted Japan to avoid losing power like India and China, who had
fallen under the control of Western countries. Lots of changes took place in Japan under
Meiji’s rule.

Foreign engineers
Railways were
Japanese people and teachers were
developed.
went to America and welcomed in Japan. Western styles
Europe to study. of government
were created.
Japan improved The class system
The Japanese army their navy to be was abolished.
was changed so that more like Britain’s. Samurai were
most soldiers were forbidden to
peasants who used wear swords.
guns and cannons.
Modernising Japan
People were no Traditions that were
longer forced to do a seen as ‘unworthy’
job because of their Universities were Factories were were discarded.
position in society. created. established.

The daimyo
Primary education People were had their power
became compulsory encouraged to listen reduced.
Japanese had to
for boys and girls. to Western music wear Western-
and start drinking style clothes.
and smoking.

© Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 63
Activity sheet – Meiji restoration Achieve!
The new Japan
+ 1 Read the Resource sheet, ‘Modernisation of Japan’, then fill in the following table
describing how Japan was different under Emperor Meiji.
Shogunate Japan Meiji Japan
Army Mostly made up of trained samurai
soldiers and daimyo.

Weapons Swords, bows and arrows

Education Usually only rich people like the

daimyo and the samurai were
educated. Poorer people learnt skills
from their parents.
Jobs People usually had the same job as
their parents. Most peasants could only
become farmers or fishermen.
Foreigners Japanese people had very little contact
with foreigners. From around 1600 no
foreigners were allowed in Japan.
Rulers The shogun was the real ruler of Japan.
The emperor was just a figurehead;
he had no real power. The rulers in the
smaller areas were the daimyo.
Transport To travel to most places, people had
to walk, ride horses or be carried
around in palanquins, which were like
carriages without wheels.

2 Identify two positive changes. How did these changes help Japan?

3 Identify two negative changes. How did these changes weaken Japan?

64 Achieve! history – Japan under the shoguns 1 ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9 © Rachel Towns and Blake Education 2014
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ISBN 978 1 92570 933 9
Achieve! Instant Lessons
Quality ready-to-use resources
Each book in the Achieve! series has been designed and written for secondary
students who have low-level literacy skills and require modified classroom activities
to fully participate in the curriculum. Students will experience success as they work
alongside their classmates on the same subjects with material that is tailored for their
literacy needs.

Key features
Mature-look page layout and illustrations
Topics that will interest teenagers
An emphasis on literacy skills
Clear learning objectives
Starter activities, background topic information and ideas for summarising a lesson

The work sheets in this series are ideal for group or individual study and are easy
for classroom helpers to implement in one-on-one lessons. You can also use the
photocopiable pages for revision, assessment and home study.

Achieve! History
The ancient to the modern world – Japan under the shoguns 1
While very suitable for the regular classroom, the Achieve! series of History titles has been written at
a literacy level that is appropriate for secondary school students who, because of poor reading skills,
may struggle with regular classroom materials.
Japan under the shoguns 1 looks at the main events and people that shaped shogunate Japan.
Content includes the fighting between different noble clans, the time of warring states and
the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The work sheets also examine different religions, the Meiji restoration,
lifestyles of different groups in Japan and cultural activities. Historical and literacy skills are
developed through categorising material, using empathy to connect to historical characters
and events, comparing and contrasting different perspectives and exploring primary and
secondary sources.
The CD-ROM contains all the pages that are featured in the book, as well as a file of selected
illustrations that can be used for other work sheets. These files can be easily edited to suit the needs
of students.

Topics include
Introducing shogunate Japan Samurai
Beginning of the shogunate Land use
Tokugawan shogunate Contact with other nations
Occupations Collapse of the shogunate
Lifestyles Meiji restoration

Associated titles in the Achieve! Instant Lessons series

Achieve! History series • The ancient world – Egypt 1
• World War I – Books 1 & 2 • The ancient world – Rome 1
• World War II – Books 1 & 2 • The ancient world – Greece 1
• The ancient to the modern world • The ancient world – China 1
– The Vikings 1
• The ancient to the modern world
– Medieval Europe 1

ISBN 978-1-92570-933-9
Instant Lessons
An imprint of Blake Education Pty Ltd
ABN 50 074 266 023
108 Main Rd Clayton South VIC 3169
+61 3 9558 4433
www.blake.com.au 9 781925 709339