¶ … history of Japan. First, it will describe the masculinization of Japanese culture during the Kamakura Shogunate period and explore why masculinization happened. Second, the changing roles and relationships with each Buddhism and Shinto in Japan from Nara through the Kamakura period will be explored. Third, Korea's relationship with China and Japan up until the 1600's will be compared and contrasted. Fourth, the kinds of social, political and cultural climate in which early Buddhism took hold and flourished in China and Japan will be discussed. Finally, the Marxist Model of Feudalism will be defined. Reasons this model does not apply to Japan during the Kamakura and Ashikaga Shogunates will be discussed.
The Masculinization of Japanese Culture
Early on in the development of Japan's feudal society, the culture was defined by "the central figure of the aristocratic fighting man on horseback" (Reischauer 45). This focus in the knight and politics created from this type of protection began male centered culture for the Kamakura Shogunate period. This happened mainly because of two reasons. First, Japanese families needed protection because of many ongoing clashes and small wars. Secondly this government of shogunate resulted from "a simple organization designed to control the relatively small bands of knights who owed personal allegiance to the Mimoto" (Reischauer 50). Bonding these knights together were family ties and long-standing friendships based on loyalty. It is because of these bonds, the shogunate influence and its male centered attributes became engrained in Japanese culture. Reischauer explains as a result of the shogunate "the man behind the throne had become s series of men, each one in turn controlled by the man behind him" (52).
Buddhism and Shinto in Japan
John Langone writes, "a Korean ambassador brought over a statue of Buddha and copies of his sacred books around the year 550 A.D." (23). Thus began the changing roles and relationships of Buddhism and Shinto in Japan during the Nara period through the Kamakura period. This event demonstrates Japan's growing relationship with outside...
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