Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Chapter 9, Lesson 1, Land of the Rising Sun (pp. 222-226)
I. The Islands of Japan
B. Although Japan has few natural resources, the sea provides food, transportation, and protection.
C. As island-dwellers, the Japanese could control the flow of people and ideas to their land. Except for influence from China, Japanese culture developed with few influences from other countries.
B. Other early cultures included the Jomon people (c. 8000 B.C.), fishers and hunter-gatherers who probably came from Korea, and the Yayoi (c. 200 B.C.), who settled on Honshu and introduced rice cultivation and used metal tools.
C. The early Japanese practiced the Shinto religion and believed that the natural world was filled with spirits and that their emperor's family was descended from the Sun Goddess.
D. Around A.D. 400 an imperial family emerged from one of the warrior clans from southeastern Honshu.
B. By 593, Prince Shotoku was actively spreading Chinese culture and technology in Japan. Buddhist priests brought Chinese language, arts, mathematics, and agricultural techniques to Japan.
C. After Shotoku's death, the government instituted a series of Chinese-style changes, the Taika Reforms, which reduced the power of the clans and strengthened the power of the emperor.
D. In 710 a new capital was built at Nara.
Lesson at a Glance Outline
A. The Japanese islands--including the four large islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu--are the tops of volcanic mountains that rise from the Pacific Ocean floor.
II. The Early People of Japan
A. Hunter-gatherers lived in Japan over 10,000 years ago. Around 200-100 B.C. they were pushed north. Their descendants may be the Ainu, who live on Hokkaido.
III. Chinese Influence in Japan
A. In the mid 500s, the emperor allowed Buddhism, from Korea and China, to gain a foothold in Japan. It was thought to strengthen government.
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