Fun Facts About Medieval Japan
1. Buddhism was a practiced religion in medieval Japan.
2. In medieval Japan they followed a social structure, known as the feudal system.
3. In medieval Europe they had knights' but in medieval Japan they had samurais'.
4. The daimyo lived in a heavily guarded six story high building called a tenshu or keep.
5. Samurais' were warriors sworn to fight and serve their daimyos' they abided by a stern code of conduct called bushido.
6. The Tokaido was a narrow 500km track, that linked Kyoto to Edo. People could travel on it only by horse or foot.
7. In medieval times a samurai had to always be ready to commit seppuku(suicide). They did this either to keep their honour or to die because their daimyo had been killed.
8. Samurais' were well educated, sometimes wealthy people who usually had spare time. Because of this they became absorbed in cultural activities like poetry, theatre, music, calligraphy, tea ceremony, gardening and Zen Buddhism.
9. Ninja was the name of an elite fighting group in medieval Japan which was in the larger group of samurai. The ninja specialised in sneaking into castles, they usually worked at night and dressed in black.
10. Kyoto was where the emperor ruled and Edo, 500km away was where the shogun reigned.