Japan is often thought of as a very formal, polite society. While this is true in modern times, the Japanese feudal periods were anything but.
The Japanese Feudal Periods
The feudal periods in Japan took place from the 12th through 19th centuries, and it marked an important period in the country’s history. The rule of Japan by regional families and clans, as well as by the shogun (war lords) created a different sort of culture marked by a decrease in the power of the emperor as well as indifference in the ruling class. This part of history can be sorted into periods named for the ruling shogun families or shogunates.
The first time period started with the Kamakura Period, which began in 1192. During the reign of the Kamakura Shogunate, an invasion by the Mongols took place in which the Japanese were eventually able to repel the invaders. The problems the Mongol invasion caused finally led to the end of the line for the Kamakura Shogunate, which lost its reign in 1333.
At that time, the Japanese Middle Ages began, lasting through the next ruling family in the Muromachi Period. During the later years of this period, around 1542, a Portuguese...