| A | B |
|---|
| samurai | warriors who agreed to fight for nobles in exchange for land |
| Nara Period | AD 700's in Japan |
| martial arts | sports involving combat and self-defense |
| Taika | the "Great Change" in Japanese government begun by the Yamato |
| daimyo | powerful military lords who headed small teritories |
| Hokkaido | one of the four largest islands in Japan |
| Murasaki Shikibu | a female novelist and poet |
| Jimmu | a Yamato leader in Japan who founded the line of Japanese emperors |
| Onin War | a period of ten years when Japanese warriors fought one another |
| Minamoto Yoritomo | first shogun |
| Shinto | a Japanese religion based on the belief in nature spirits |
| Pure Land Buddhism | taught about a happy life after death |
| Gempei War | civil war between the Taira family and the Minamoto family |
| vassal | samurai who gave an oath of loyalty to his daimyo |
| origami | the art of folding paper |
| constitution | a plan of government |
| Yayoi | the ancestors of the Japanese people |
| The Tale of Genji | a novel written by Murasaki Shikibu |
| Kamikaze | typhoons that smashed attacking Mongol ships |
| shogun | a Japanese military ruler |
