Japan

Japan (日本)

History


Japan has a very rich history that dates back longer than most other countries still standing today. Japan's origin is accepted by historians to have been around 300 BC, but at its beginning it was simply a collection of smaller countries that eventually united into the country of Japan. Much change came in the era of the Fujiwara clan when Chinese concepts such as Bhuddism, Taoism, Confucianism and Ideographic writing started being carried over from the Korean penninsula, which was a part of China at the time. These changes foreshadowed the Nera and Heian periods, which the media now knows as the age of Samurais and Ninjas. Juring this time, the first Japanese literature was written, many Chinese concepts such as Bhuddism became "Japanized," or adapted into Japanese versions, and the military class (Samurai) came into power. Landowners commonly hired Samurai to protect them, who's only goal is to honor their family by following the rules of Bushido. Bushido was the Samurai's code of conduct, which they followed at all expenses, and were required to commit ritual suicide rather than live after having broken the rules of Bushido. Bushido was based on the premises of Bhuddism, which because of its teachings of reincarnation, makes death seem like a small penalty for violating moral laws.