Japanese Feudal System

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What is the Japanese feudal system? How did it organise different classes of people in Japan? The Japanese feudal system was a social hierarchy in which the people of Japan were divided in four classes; samurai, peasants, craftspeople, and then merchants, in that order (from highest to lowest). Established by Minamoto no Yoritomo, it existed between the 1185 and 1868. The Japanese feudal system was unlike the European feudal system as the merchants & traders were placed lower than their European counterpart. Another difference is that peasants were perceived as less important in the European society. The Japanese feudal system was organised according to the productivity of a certain class. Merchants were considered the lowest as they were seen as lazy and did not do much but sell products. Above the feudal system were the shoguns and emperors and below the feudal system, were the outcasts known as the eta. Samurai: The samurai class was the highest in the social hierarchy. The majority of the Japanese society was ruled by the samurai class. Although they had massive power, they only took 10% of the population. The samurai class contained the daimyo, samurai and Ronin. The samurai were ruled by the daimyo, who were powerful warlords that ruled a part of Japan and were under the rule of the Shoguns. Samurai only answered to the command of the daimyo, who answered only to the shogun. Ronin were samurai that did not have a master. Peasants: Peasants were farmers. They controlled and produced the crops such as wheat, rice, barley and tea. Peasants took up most of the population. Peasants were considered as high according to the social hierarchy. However, peasants were heavily taxed, thus losing much wealth. The peasants were not to engage in trade and luxury as their role was to live and devote themselves to farming. Craftspeople: Craftspeople were commoners that used
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