P6+Castle+Towns

=P6 Castle Towns=

By: Patrick S. and Alec R.

**//__Introduction__//** Castletowns are places of royalty, growth, and farming. Castletowns were very important in Japanese culture. We will be showing you why and how they were important. So we will be taking you back to these ancient master pieces of culture.

**//__Social Classes__//** The social classes in ancient Japan were samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants. The Samurai were devoted to their master. The first samurai was Yoritomo Minamoto and he was a scholar and a warrior. Samurai practiced **bushido:** the way of the warrior; strict code of honor and total loyalty, more important than fame and money, always prepared to commit seppuku or suicide without disgrace to master. The Samurai helped the Daimyo, a higher ranked samurai, collect rice taxes. The Samurai were so important that they became Magistrates/ government. Peasants and farmers produced rice. Once the rice was produced it was given to the samurai and then given to their master who gave the rice to the shogun and the emperor. The samurai played a very important part in the Japanese society. The artisans in Japan made all of the goods such as paper, swords, and roofs. The artisans were sword smiths, carpenters, roofers, sawyers, and armor smiths. The merchants in the Japanese society were considered parasites and were barred from the rest of the society. Merchants only sold other peoples work and took all of the money. They were also the richest people in the society. But peasants, even though the poorest, were higher on the social class than artisans and merchants.

**//__Peasants__//** The peasants, even though the poorest, were the second highest rank on the Japanese social class. The peasants had to grow rice so they could pay the tax on land to the daimyo or emperor. Peasants spent the day at their farms and planted and made the rice for the town. They were also called upon to provide labor, to maintain roads, bridges, and other public facilities. The Samurai said, “The more you squeeze the peasants the more you can extract from them.” The peasants provided the main source of food in the towns so if a failed plantation happened the rice wouldn't grow and a town could starve. The peasants also paid the most taxes.

**//__Taxes__//** Many things in Japan were taxed, such as, doors, windows, sake, hazel trees, beans, hemp, and even female children! Taxes were collected on land use, production, and households also. Farmers and peasants were also irregularly subject to special land taxes in addition to the annual land tax. Taxation in medieval times was often a heavy burden to farmers and peasants. During the Murimachi Period taxes were increased to 70% of everything produced by the farmers and peasants! That must have been a lot of work for the farmers and peasants, because they still had to have enough food to feed their families! Crop failure also brought famine and starvation to the Japanese. This was bad because people would die. All of these taxes helped to build Castletowns.

**//__The Growth of Castletowns__//** Towns grew up around castles inhabited by samurai. The peasants, artisans, and merchants lived in the town but, not in the castles. The Castletowns became centers of government administration that were more reachable. Inns, stables and stores were established along roads between Castletowns. Tokugawa Ieyasu used military and negotiations to make all provinces under his control. The Tokugawa Period was known as a time of unity and growth. The Tokugawa Period isolated Japan for 200 years making Japan have no communication with other cultures. The capital of Japan is Edo. There are many roads leading to Edo, including the Tokaido road. In __The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn__ Seikei had to travel on the Tokaido road to meet his master in Edo.

**//__Castles__//** Castles in Japan were built for protection from invading armies. Castles in Japan were armed with simple, but deadly traps. Two castles, the Osaka and the Himeji, have great examples of these traps. These two castles had many gatehouses that stalled and confused invaders. The outer walls of the castles sheltered the buildings and barracks where the Samurai lived. The quality of the buildings occupied depended on the Samurai’s rank, as did their location. In each of the castles there was a building near the center, called the **//Yashiki.//** The Yashiki was the daimyo’s mansion. The Yashiki also served as an administrative quarter for the Daimyo and the Samurai. It is amazing how the Japanese had made these Castles and achieved major military power from them. media type="custom" key="8455198"

CITATIONS Hoobler, Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler. //The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn//. NY, New York, 2000. Print ** “Landscape view of the main tower of Himeji Castle **** ”. **__ [].2-18-18. Image. __
 * “A traditional Chinese farmer”. **__ []. 2-18-11. Image. __
 * “Bag with taxes”. **__ []. ____2-18-11. Image. __
 * “Multicolored plasticine human figures on a stack of coins”. ** [] __ .2-18-11. Image. __
 * “Traditional houses in Monemvasia”. ** [] __ .2-18-11. Image. __