| A | B |
|---|
| archipelago | a chain of islands |
| plate tectonics | the theory that accounts for seismic activity, mountain building, volcanism, and other geological manifestations of crustal plate movement with sea-floor spreading |
| ring of fire | a belt of intense volcanic, geothermal and earthquake activity found all around the Pacific Rim caused by plate tectonic activity |
| population density | the average number of people who live on each square mile of land |
| tsunami | a very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption |
| centralized feudalism | a social political, and economic system based on personal loyalties, class distictions, and the granting of land rights |
| “heavenly emperor” | title of Japanese Emperor borrowed from China |
| shogun | military governor general - assumed the political power of the emperor and ruled with the support of a noble class of landowners |
| shogunate | period of rule in feudal Japan in which the Shogun held power |
| samurai | warriors who swore allegiance to a daimyo or to the Shogun, and in return for the loyalty, they were given land grants |
| daimyo | great landholders - swore allegiance to the shogun, yet were aslo very powerful |
| bushido | the ethical ideal and moral attitudes associated with the aim of the feudal Japanese warrior - the Samurai |
| seppuku | ritualized suicide or "living to die", concerns itself with self-sacrifice, something beneficial should come out of this sacrifice of ones self or life |
| Heian Period | 794 - 1185, imperial court moved to Heian (modern Kyoto), nobles followed and created a highly refined culture |
| Battle of Sekigahara | a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which made it possible for Tokugawa Ieyasu to rule Japan as Shogun |
| Tokugawa Shogunate (Period) | period of rule during which the Tokugawa family held power as Shoguns |
| Meiji Restoration | the restoration of the Emperor Meiji to power in Japan, overthrowing the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1868 |
| Haiku | a form of Japanese poetry that has three lines; the first line has five syllables, the second has seven syllables, and the third has five syllables. The subject of the haiku has traditionally been nature |
| Shintoism | the native religion of Japan |
| Zen Buddhism | a form of Mahayana Buddhism; originating in China where it is called Chan; practiced mainly in Japan |
| Mt. Fuji | the highest mountain (active volcano) in Japan at 12,388 ft; is one of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains" |
| The Great Wave at Kanagawa Nami-Ura | a famous woodblock print by the Japanese artist Hokusai that was published in 1832 as the first in Hokusai's series 36 Views of Mount Fuji |
| 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road | a series of woodcut prints created by Utagawa Hiroshige after his first travel along the Tokaido in 1832; this road, linking the Shogun's capital, Edo, to the imperial one, Kyoto |
| Toyotomi Hideyoshi | daimyo in the Sengoku period who unified the political factions of Japan; Tokugawa Ieyasu eventually agreed to become a vassal |
| Commodore (Admiral) Matthew Perry | the Commodore of the U.S. Navy who compelled the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854 |
| Tokugawa Ieyasu | the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan |
| Ando Hiroshige (artist) | artists who created a series of woodcut prints about the Tokaido Road in 1832 |
| Katsushika Hokusai (artist) | artist who created a series of woodblock print related to 36 Views of Mount Fuji |
| Hokkaido | the second largest of the four main islands of Japan; to the north of Honshu |
| Honshu | the central and largest of the four main islands of Japan; between the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean; regarded as the Japanese mainland |
| Kyushu | the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan |
| Shikoku | the smallest of the four main islands of Japan; to the south of Honshu and to the east of Kyushu |
| Edo (Tokyo) | Tokugawa capital city; modern-day Tokyo; center of the Tokugawa shogunate |
| Nara | capital of the Japanese Yamato emperors; modeled on the Tang capital, Changan |
| Kyoto | was the Imperial capital ( Emperor's capital)of Japan from 794 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868 |
| rigid class structure | a hierarchy of social classes with limited or no social mobility |
| militarism | political system employed by the rulers of Japan during the feudal period which emphasized the use of the military (samurai class) to control the population |
| selective borrowing | Japan selected the best parts of Chinese culture while preserving their own unique identity |
| cultural diffusion | the movement of customs and ideas from one culture to another |
| ethnocentrism | the belief that your own cultural values and customs are superior to all others |
| geographic isolation | the separation of Japan's population from the rest of the world due to its geographic characteristic - an archipelago |
| indigenous religion | a religion that is native to a place or region (Shintoism in Japan) |
| physical geography | the physical characteristics of a place or region - Japan is 4/5 Mts. |
