Of Shogun and Daimyo
By: N. Mozart Diaz
Tags: History Of Yesterday, History, Nonfiction, Past, Japan

Feudalism in Japan is a somewhat anachronistic term since its usage was only applied to a certain era in Japanese history by Western scholars studying the country. The term feudalism itself, according to Marc Bloch, is anachronistic even when applied to Europe since the term was only employed after the period was over. Despite this anachronism, this term is applied to both histories to denote a system of organization wherein the political, social, and economic aspects of a given geographic place is entirely dependent on land and the loyalties secured by amassing land and power. Further, rigid hierarchies are imposed on the population who live off and on the land which landowners essentially rule over. Common to both forms of feudalism is the vertical hierarchy between the common folk, the nobilities, and the king which is held together by personal ties as well as what Le Goff calls a ‘feudal contract’.

In the context of Japan, feudalism centered around the power and influence of local warlords called shoguns. These shoguns often competed with each other to gain control over large swaths of the Japanese archipelago. Shoguns that were successful in seizing power over regions were sworn to by the lesser shoguns and local lords, or daimyos, which they conquered. When a ruling shogun or dynasty of shoguns loses hold over the lesser shoguns, these loyalties and personal connections are severed and wars erupt in the region for control.

Following the description of feudalism given by Le Goff, these ties were often personalistic and the shoguns took the place of nobles. The rigid social hierarchy of the Japanese feudal age placed shoguns at the top, daimyos down one step in the social order, samurai — or warriors — who swore fealty to their respective daimyos, and the common folk at the bottom. In the class of the common folk, rigidity still followed. Soldiers were given precedence to the farmer, the farmer to the artisan, and the artisan to the trader. This hierarchy was hereditary and did not allow for social mobility in Japanese culture and society.

This social order arose at around the 12th century C.E. wherein the warrior class took precedence over the other social classes in Japan. These samurai eventually created the Bushido code where the social order was justified through its overarching concept of loyalty to one's daimyo. This order showed signs of collapse at around the 19th century C.E. when Japan was forced to open its ports to the West. The Tokugawa Shogunate simply did not have the resources or military power to continually fend off Western attempts to open the ports of Japan and by 1868, the Shogunate was rattled by its inability to enforce order, enact economic reforms, and quell peasant rebellions which were becoming more frequent.

As can be inferred from this description of Japanese feudalism, it can be said that the social order is heavily centered on the military. It is through the military by which the social hierarchy is established and vertically arranged. These loyalties are not permanent, however, as a weakening shogunate may be supplanted by a rising, more capable shogun. The concept of a feudal contract is still applicable to feudal Japanese society since common folk depended on the military might of shoguns, daimyos, and samurai to keep them safe.

It is in these instances where Japanese feudalism can be likened to that of European feudalism. However, in European feudalism, the center of the social order was that of the noble. The feudal system in Europe focused on the economic aspect of the social order as when compared to Japanese feudalism where the focus was on militaristic competition over land and power.

Although wars did happen between feudal states in Europe, it was never to the extent as what was seen in Japan. Further, while both systems relied on a network of loyalties to the overarching power, feudal Europe never attempted national consolidation until the modern period — well after the feudal and medieval ages were over — while in Japan, consolidation into one political entity was always a goal for shoguns. As such, the chief difference between European and Japanese feudalism would be their focus. European feudalism was more a mode of production where there was no great political power in the region to foster trade between states and kingdoms. Japanese feudalism, on the other hand, had its focus on the military and the constant preponderance of one shogunate to another.