The Japanese state was created on the foundation of the Yamato state formation, which arose in the Yamato region (modern Nara prefecture) of the Kinki region in the III-IV centuries. In the 670s, Yamato was renamed Nippon "Japan". Before Yamato, there were several dozen "principalities" in Japan.
According to Japanese legend, the creator of the Yamato state was the sun goddess Amaterasu. She became the progenitor of the Japanese imperial family, the first emperor Jimmu was her great-great-grandson. It should be noted that the entire "Yamato race" - the common name of the main ethnic group of the Japanese, is considered to be the descendants of the gods.
The most logical version of the creation of the first powerful Japanese state is the "theory of horsemen". The state of Yamato was formed by "horsemen" from the territory of modern North China, who in the II-III centuries invaded the Japanese islands through Korea, subjugated the local "principalities" and tribes and formed a militarized (military) state like the continental empires of Great Scythia. The "horsemen" were noted for the culture of the mounds (kofun) and a strictly structured, hierarchical society, where the top of the society were free - the nobility and communal peasants, and the lower classes - outsiders (the class of unequal free) and captive slaves. They brought the Iron Age with them to the Japanese islands. There were few “horsemen” as a whole, they formed the ruling elite and quickly disappeared into the local population. However, their cultural impulse actually created Japanese civilization, with their strict hierarchy, sense of duty, discipline, cult of samurai warriors, code of honor, etc. In addition, several cultural impulses from China, including the cult of Buddha, played a large role in the development of Japan. The channel for the penetration of Chinese culture was Korea, which had already become familiar with Chinese civilization. The natives of the Japanese islands lived by growing rice, millet, hemp, the sea played an important role: fishing, shellfish and crabs.
The national character of the "Yamato race" was formed on the basis of the military culture of the "horsemen", Chinese culture and the nature of the islands. The Japanese were courageous people, accustomed to natural and social upheavals. Japan is a land of volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. Japan is also a country heavily influenced by the ocean. Nature and history have made the Japanese a brave and highly consolidated people, able to withstand the hard blows of fate and the elements.
It should be noted that from the early Middle Ages knowledge was highly placed in Japan. Already at the beginning of the 8th century (!), The first legislative act on education was adopted. The establishment of a public school system began in the capital and the provinces. In Europe at this time, knowledge was the privilege of the highest hierarchs of the church, and most of the representatives of the European feudal nobility prided themselves on their illiteracy (the only exceptions were Russia and Byzantium). This was a feature of the feudal nobility of Japan - literacy.
The first Europeans to visit Japan were the Portuguese - their ship appeared off the Japanese coast in 1542 (off the southern coast of Kyushu). It must be said that, despite the fact that Japanese society was strictly structured, this did not prevent outstanding personalities from reaching the very top of the social hierarchy. Thus, such an outstanding leader in the unification of Japan as Oda Nobunaga (1534 - 1582) was born into the family of a petty feudal lord. Nobunaga defeated a number of hostile families in local wars, took possession of the capital of Japan, the city of Kyoto (1568) and began implementing a plan to unite Japan. He was able to subjugate all the lands of central Japan and carry out a series of progressive reforms in them, such as the elimination of internal customs. An effective personnel policy in the army, economic reforms, active cooperation with Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries (he received discounts when buying European firearms and the army of Japanese Christians faithful to his word) helped to carry out a number of victorious campaigns.
An important role in these campaigns was played by his associate Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537 - 1598). He was generally born into a peasant family in the province of Owari. He began his service as a simple warrior - ashigaru (infantryman from among the peasants). Nobunaga noticed Toyotomi Hideyoshi's outstanding abilities and promoted him to the rank of general.
Oda's power did not last long. In 1582, in preparation for a campaign against the largest feudal family of Mori, Oda sent an expeditionary corps of the tried-and-true general Hideyoshi to defeat one of Mori's allies - Prince Teshu. To help him, Oda sent another of his closest associates - General Akechi Mitsuhide (also rose to the top of the rank and file soldiers). Here Akechi performs an amazing act, his motives have not yet been determined by historians, he turned 10 thousand. corps to the capital of Kyoto, where Oda was located in the Honno-ji temple with a small guard. After a fierce battle, the guards were cut out, and Oda Nobunaga, in order not to be captured by the traitor, committed seppuku (ritual suicide). Akechi Mitsuhide, after meeting with the emperor (the emperors had retained only formal power for several centuries), declared himself shogun (army commander and head of government). Hideyoshi, hiding this news from the enemy, concluded a truce with the Mori clan, and quickly led all the troops to the capital to destroy the traitor. At the same time, another famous comrade-in-arms of Oda, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), led the troops to Akechi. On June 12, 1582, Hideyoshi's 40,000-strong army defeated Mitsuhide's troops at the Battle of Yamazaki. The fleeing Mitsuhide was killed by local peasants.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi continued the policy of uniting Japan into a single centralized state. He fought against major feudal lords, subdued the islands of Shikoku, Kyushu. Thus, he subdued all of Western Japan to his power. By 1590, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had actually become the sole ruler of the Japanese islands. In domestic politics, Hideyoshi destroyed feudal obstacles that hindered freedom of trade, and began minting the first Japanese gold coin. He also drew up a general Japanese land registry and assigned the land to the peasants who cultivated it. He introduced a three-class system: the nobility (samurai), under him they actually became military administrators, peasants (hyakuse) and townspeople (temin).
Note that among the estates there is no clergy traditional for medieval societies. Already Oda considered Buddhist monks and their monasteries to be mortal enemies. During his wars, many monasteries were captured as enemy fortresses and tested their fate. For the harsh nature and destruction of monasteries, Odu was called the "Demon-Lord of the Sixth Heaven" and "the enemy of the Buddha Law." It must be said that Buddhists at that time were not "white and fluffy", as now they had whole detachments of warrior monks. Oda, on the other hand, pursued a policy of centralization; there should have been no other centers of power in the state. In this struggle, Oda relied on Christian missionaries.
Hideyoshi generally continued this policy. He was more moderate, as long as the monks did not meddle in the affairs of the state - let them pray to themselves, but when interfering in politics, he reacted harshly. The monks were not entitled to material privileges. Why are they "God's people"? He also put an end to the expansion of Christianity. Even during the struggle with large feudal lords, he forbade the spread of Christianity in the conquered lands. And then he issued a law on the expulsion of missionaries, there were massacres of Christians on the island of Kyushu (1587, 1589). Thus, Japanese politicians very cleverly used the help of the Portuguese and Jesuits to unite the country, but they did not allow Western civilization to establish their own order and strongholds of influence.
Hideyoshi's name is legendary in Japan also because he initiated large-scale external expeditions. He announced a plan to conquer the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, China, the Philippine Islands, and even India. There were even plans to move the capital to the Chinese city of Ningbo. The reasons for such large-scale plans are not entirely clear. Some researchers believe that Hideyoshi wanted to get rid of the surplus forces of samurai from the Japanese islands, who had nothing to occupy themselves with. Others talk about Hideyoshi's clouding of consciousness. He saw conspiracies, mutinies everywhere, imagined himself to be the god of war, surrounded by hundreds of concubines. An external war could be another whim of the all-powerful ruler.
In April 1592, 160 thous. The Japanese army, the most advanced in Asia at that time, armed with muskets and possessing modern methods of warfare, crossed the Sea of Japan on a thousand ships and landed at Busan on the Korean Peninsula (Korea then, like Japan, was formally a vassal of China). Initially, the Japanese were successful. They captured the main Korean cities and reached the borders of China. Seoul and Pyongyang were captured. Gyeongju, the former capital, was completely destroyed. However, Japanese terror led to a massive Korean guerrilla movement. The outstanding Korean admiral Li Sunsin, using armored turtle ships (kobuksons), inflicted a number of defeats on the Japanese fleet and actually paralyzed the enemy's sea communications. China sent an army to help the Korean state, which was able to oust the samurai from North Korea. The death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1598 led to the withdrawal of Japanese troops from Korea. The ardor of foreign policy adventures has died away. Although, as time has shown, not forever.
Tokugawa Ieyasu, during the unfolding struggle for power, was able to defeat competitors, becoming the founder of the Tokugawa shogun dynasty (existed from 1603 until 1868) and completed the creation of a centralized feudal state in Japan. In 1605, he transferred the title of shogun to his son Hidetada, retired to Sumpa, where he lived in solitude, studied history, spent time talking with sages, but in reality he retained all the levers of control. His power was based on control over finances - he founded a number of mints, continuing the monetary policy of Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, and also owned huge land holdings confiscated from the defeated large feudal lords, main cities, mines and forest lands. The land was the basis of wealth and the source of livelihood of the feudal lords, therefore, having the largest land holdings, Ieyasu could control them. The emperor and his entourage lost all real power. Moreover, the salary of the courtiers was paid by the same shogun.
He continued the policy of enslaving the peasants, divided the population not three, but four classes: samurai, peasants, artisans and merchants. Tokugawa continued the policy of his predecessors to restrain confessors. The clergy as a separate class was not created. Tokugawa banned Christianity in Japan. In 1614, Tokugawa issued a law banning the stay of foreigners in the state. The reason for this decree was the intrigue of the Catholics. In 1600, the British sailor William Adams arrived on the Dutch ship I Japan. He eventually became a translator and advisor to the shogun in shipbuilding ("Chief Navigator"). The period of Anglo-Dutch trade with Japan begins. The Portuguese were pushed back from Japanese trade.
The Tokugawa successors continued his cautious policy towards foreigners, gradually moving towards isolation of Japan from the outside world. It was allowed to trade certain goods only through specific ports. Already in 1616, only Nagasaki and Hirado were among the "permitted" ports. In 1624, trade with the Spaniards was banned. In 1635, a decree was issued prohibiting the Japanese from leaving the country and prohibiting those who had already left from returning. Since 1636, foreigners - the Portuguese, later the Dutch, could only be on the artificial island of Dejima in the harbor of Nagasaki.
The Shimabara Uprising - the uprising of Japanese peasants and samurai in the area of the city of Shimabara in 1637-1638, caused by a complex of socio-economic and religious reasons, became the last major armed conflict in Japan for over 200 years, until the 60s of the XIX century. There is a possibility that the uprising was provoked by the Portuguese Jesuits. So, the spiritual leader of the uprising in Shimabara was Amakusa Shiro, who was called the "Fourth Son of Heaven", who was supposed to lead the Christianization of Japan (this prediction was given by the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier). The uprising was brutally suppressed, thousands of peasants were beheaded. "Christian barbarians" were banned from entering Japan. Relations with Portugal and then Holland were severed. Any Portuguese or Spanish ship coming to the shores of Japan was subject to immediate destruction, its crew was sentenced to death in absentia. The Japanese were forbidden to leave their homeland on pain of death. Contacts with the Western world were maintained only through the Dutch Dejima trade mission near Nagasaki, but they were tightly controlled by the authorities. Christianity in Japan was banned and went underground. However, after that, there was peace in the Japanese islands for more than 200 years.
The shogunate very toughly defended the interests of Japanese civilization, suppressing the subversive activities of Christianity, which undermined the foundations of the state system in the interests of forces alien to the Japanese. So, in 1640 a Portuguese mission with gifts was sent from Macau to the shogun. The mission was to get the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu (who ruled Japan from 1623 to 1651) to revise the ban. The result was unexpected for the Europeans - almost the entire mission was executed. Only a few people were left alive and sent back with a document stating that "the Portuguese should no longer think of us as if we were no longer in the world." Thus, the "iron curtain" was created far from the USSR.
The trade with Holland was kept out of the desire to receive firearms. True, silver and gold had to be paid for him. However, as the arsenals were filled, and the Japanese gunsmiths themselves mastered the production of firearms, trade with the Dutch was greatly reduced. At first, the export of gold was limited and then banned. In 1685, he reduced the export of silver to 130 tons and limited the export of copper. In 1790, the export of silver was already equal to 30 tons.
The beginning of the 19th century. The first attempts to establish contact with Japan by Russia
At the beginning of the 19th century, the situation did not change - Japan was still closed to foreigners. In a world where the great Western powers were expanding and colonizing everything that was poorly defended, Japan was left on her own. Initially, this was due to the remoteness of the Japanese islands, the tough isolation regime, which did not allow the creation of internal forces of influence ("the fifth column"), as well as the raw material poverty of Japan. The Japanese people had no obvious wealth to take away.
The great peace that had come since the defeat of the great feudal rulers and the expulsion of the Europeans lasted for more than two hundred years. Many generations of samurai, who wore a traditional sword on their belt (other classes were completely disarmed), never used it in battle! True, having lost external impulses, Japanese society was mothballed. It is interesting that even the population remained constant for a very long time: according to government censuses, in 1726 there were 26.5 million Japanese people, in 1750 - 26 million, in 1804 - 25.5 million, in 1846 - 27 million people. The population of Japan increased sharply only when life "cheered up": during the "Meiji revolution" in 1868 - already 30 million people, in 1883 - 37, 5 million, in 1925 - 59, 7 million, in 1935 year - 69 million people.
It cannot be said that during the years of isolation, Japan was in complete civilizational hibernation. In the field of art, Japan remained a civilizationally wealthy society. Japanese art speaks of the richest spiritual world of this eastern civilization.
As the years passed, the world changed. Japan has already become interesting as a springboard that can influence the policy of China and Russia, as a market for goods. Unfortunately, the first to establish contact with Japan were the Americans, not the Russians. Although there were attempts. So, in 1791, the Japanese Kodai was wrecked off the Russian coast, he was taken with a satellite to Irkutsk, and from there to the capital of the Russian Empire. He was accompanied by a native of Finland, academician "in economics and chemistry" Eric (Kirill) Laxman, who lived in Siberia and visited St. Petersburg on short visits. He was highly respected in the scientific community. Laxman offered to take advantage of the opportunity and when sending the victim home, to establish trade relations with Japan. Empress Catherine accepted the offer and the scientist's son, Captain Adam Laxman, had to fulfill this mission. On September 13, 1792, Laxman set out on the St. Catherine's galiot. Formally, Laxman was carrying to Japan a letter from the Irkutsk Governor-General, gifts on his behalf, and gifts from his father to three Japanese scientists. On October 9, 1792, the ship entered Namuro harbor on the northern coast of Hokkaido. In general, the Japanese authorities received the Russians kindly, although they isolated them from contact with the residents. Laxman was able to obtain permission for one Russian ship to moor in the port of Nagasaki once a year. Given Japan's tough isolation, it was a great victory.
Returning, Laxman was summoned to Petersburg with his father, and preparations began for a new expedition, scheduled for 1795. The scientific part was entrusted to Eric Laxman, and the trading part was entrusted to the famous founder of Russian America, Grigory Shelikhov. However, the expedition did not take place. Shelikhov died suddenly in Irkutsk on July 20, 1795, Laxman on January 5, 1796, and also suddenly. Both were people of excellent health. Soon young Adam Laxman also passed away. After their death in Russia, Japan was forgotten for some time.
On September 26, 1804, I. Kruzenshtern's "Nadezhda" arrived in Japan, on board was N. P. Rezanov, who was sent by Tsar Alexander I as the first Russian envoy to Japan to establish trade between the powers. Minister of Commerce Rumyantsev, in his memorandum “On bargaining with Japan” dated February 20, 1803, wrote: “… our merchants, it seems, are expecting only one approval from the government. " However, Rezanov's Japanese embassy failed. Apparently, the Dutch played a certain role in this, setting up the Japanese authorities against the Russians. The Russian ambassador was presented with diplomas forbidding Russian ships to dock on Japanese shores.
The failure of the first contacts with Japan became, in fact, a prologue to the failed "Japanese" policy of the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. As a result, the West was able to "open" Japan and carry out an operation to clash the two powers. Moreover, it was a long-term success, Japan is still our potential enemy.
