Okay, so this was the written part of an assignment I had to do...I onlly had four days to wirk on it while the others got a week and a half of work time...I had to go to Regional Band. I worked really hard, and I earned an A !!!! ^_^
Ancient Japan
Japan did not appear in history until 57 AD when it was finally first mentioned in the Chinese histories. (‘Wa’) The Chinese historians say that a piece of a land was divided into a hundred or so separate tribal communities. The Japanese didn’t start writing their history until around 600 AD. The Japanese were late-comers to Asian history, and many people today still have questions on how was life, before it was ever written.
Geography
Ancient Japan is unique for its geography. Japan is a made out of a group of islands- which consists over 3000 islands of which 600 are inhabited, but the four main islands: Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido, were the ones that dominated Japanese history. The largest island was Honshu, but however, it was the least geographical area, inhabiting islands less than California. The climate and temperature is moderate and the islands make a path of which the Black Current flows north from the tropics. All the islands were very rocky with mountains which came to a ‘conclusion’, of natural disasters, most likely earthquakes and tsunamis. Since there were a lot of mountains making barriers between regions, political governments were focused on regions, not national. The earliest flowering of Japanese history took place in the low-lying plains on the island of Honshu, especially the Yamato plain in the south—a region that gave its name to the first “official” name for Japan, was Yamato. And there the very first Japanese kingdom arose and provided the basis of future Japanese civilizations. Japan’s islands were isolated from 10 000 BC, to present day.
Prehistoric Japan: Did you know Japan used to be connected to the Korean peninsula?
The Heian Period
Buddhism: In the Heian Period, Buddhism was developed. It started near Mount Hiei, the monks found a new form of esoteric Buddhism. But the true genius was Kukai, who established in Japan a form of Buddhism called True Words, (Shingon) at his monastery of Mount Koya. The three keys of the religion were mind body and speech. Each of the keys contains a secret of the universe. Mysteries of the body apply to various ways of positioning the body in meditation; mysteries of the mind apply to ways of perceiving truth; mysteries of speech are the true words. In Shingon, these mysteries are passed on in the form of speech (true words) from teacher to student; none of these true words are written down or available to anyone outside this line of transmission (hence the term Esoteric Buddhism.
Samurai Warriors: In early Japan, warfare was very important to the Japanese. It was confined to be used in battles between clans. Many got injured so they adopted the armour and sword. The Nara government, faced with a country of sixty-six provinces of competing clans, tried to change the Japanese military system by conscripting soldiers. 11By the end of the Nara period, in 792 AD the idea was given up as a failure. =(
So, the Heian government established a military system based on militias of mounted horseman. The novice soldiers were spread throughout the country representing their loyalty to the emperor. They were ‘servants’, also known as samurai. Originally, they were servants of the emperor that gradually became private armies.
Heian Government: Heian government solidified the reforms of the late Yamoto and Nara Periods, at the top was great emperor Tenno, also know to be “Divine Emperor.” The Emperor was both Confucian and Shinto; he ruled Japan with virtue of the Mandate of Heaven and by legitimate descent from Shinto Sun goddess, Amaterasu. And now, the imperial line of descent has remained unbroken in Japanese history.
Ancient Music
Japanese music would often use the notes of a pentatonic scale. Each note would represent a certain element. In addition, there were five material agents: the directions, the seasons, organs, animals, etc. Also, the five material agents were collapsed in another form of Yin and Yang, the male and female. The most important note of the pentatonic scale is the third note, as the Japanese call: “cornerstone”. In Chinese and Japanese music, the centre note would be the main note of the whole scale.
Instruments: Finally, Chinese and Japanese musical theory were based on the eight categories of sound (Chinese: pa yin ): metal (bells), stone (stone chimes), earth (ocarina), leather (drums), silk (stringed instruments), wood (double reed wind instruments), gourd (sho , or mouth organ), and bamboo (flute).
Ancient Japanese Food
If you would ever go into a Japanese restaurant, and ask for a typical Japanese food, the person would either mention sushi, or tempura. However, in the ancient times, the Japanese would often fish for seafood, and pick wild fruit from the mountain plains. The Japanese would also cook food that belonged to the season. For example, in autumn, they would eat eggplant and some kinds of fish that are near during fall.
According to research, people ate buckwheat in 7000 Before Century. Seafood, nuts, animal meat and leaf buds were also chewed down. And there came rice, in 400 BC, during the Jomon Period. 100 years later, red beans, soy beans, and wheat were introduced to Japan. Rice was an important staple to Japanese food. Centuries later, the Japanese started eating a side dish and a main dish.
Because of the ocean of water around Japan, the people would often fish. And in addition, 61 % of the wild berries and fruit were edible.
Games
Go, is a very popular game in Japan. It originated from Ancient China. The objective of the game is to surround the other player’s pieces. Go uses strategy, and is a fun recreational game. Placing stones close together helps avoid capture. Watch me play a game of go. Majhong and other games were also played.
Bibliography:
http://wsu.edu/~dee/ANCJAPAN/CONTENTS.HTM
