Jomon Pottery

• Perhaps the world oldest pottery
• Dates around 10,000 B.C

Shintoism

• A religion native to Japan, characterized by veneration of nature spirits and ancestors and by a lack of formal dogma
• It is not exclusive religion
• Was given name to disgust itself from Buddhism

Yamato Kingdom

• Traditional name for Japan; also, the ruling dynasty of 4th century AD from which all emperors of Japan are descended

Taika Reform Edict

• Doctrine that reconstituting the government
• Represent the founding of the Japanese imperial system
• Ruler assumed the role of an clan member, with absolute power

The Shogun

• A title originally conferred by the Mikado on the military governor of the eastern provinces of Japan. By gradual usurpation of power the Shoguns (known to foreigners as Tycoons) became finally the virtual rulers of Japan.

Sei Shonagon

• Author who wrote pillow book
• A collection of observations that she began while serving at the imperial court

Bakufu Government

• First of the shogun, who really military rulers
• On royal family has been the source of the at least nominal rulers of Japan from the earliest days until now

The Samurai

• In the former feudal system of Japan, the class or a member of the class, of military retainers of the daimios, constituting the gentry or lesser nobility. They possessed power of life and death over the commoners, and wore two swords as their distinguishing mark.

Zen Buddhism

• School of Mahayana Buddhism asserting that enlightenment can come through meditation and intuition rather than faith; China and Japan
• A Buddhist doctrine that enlightenment can be attained through direct intuitive insight

Tokugawa Shogunate

• 3rd member of triumvirate of heroes
• Following a military victory over rebellious rivals, he appointed himself a shogun
• He made the shogunate a much more efficient instrument of the government

Kabuki

• A type of popular Japanese drama
• evolved from the older No Theater, in which elaborately costumed performers
• nowadays men only, use stylized movements, dances, and songs in order to enact tragedies and comedies

Kyoto

• A city of west-central Honshu, Japan, north-northeast of Osaka. Founded in the eighth century, it has long been a cultural, artistic, and religious center. Kyoto was Japan's capital from 794 until 1869, although its political importance declined after the rise of the shoguns

Country-at-war Era

• Also call Sengoku
• Robbery and pillage were rampant
• Almost all vestiges of the government has disappeared

Koans

• Puzzling, often-paradoxical statement or story, used in Zen Buddhism as an aid to meditation and a means of gaining spiritual awakening.

Japan Hotels

Japanese artwork