Because they were on the completely opposite sides of the globe, the Spanish Encomienda system and the Japanese Feudalist system were remarkably different. Two differences were that the Japanese Feudalist system had one person at the top, in sharp contrast with the Spanish Encomienda which had a group of people at the top and another was that the Spanish Encomienda system divided its society by ethnicity, not simply by power as did the Japanese. One parallel between the two hierarchies was that foreigners were placed at the bottom of the hierarchy in both Japanese and Spanish societies. Because the Japanese and Spanish societies had almost no contact with one another due to the geographical distance between the two, they are for the most part, completely different apart from a few nuances.
One of the differences that stands out the most between these two systems is the method of division. Japanese feudalism is divided based on power whereas the Encomienda system is divided based on race. For example, the reason the Japanese shoguns were above the peasants and the craftsmen because they wielded more power and had more responsibility given to them by the Japanese emperor. However, in the Encomienda system, the peninsulares or those born in the Iberian peninsula were above the mulattoes, the mestizos, and the creoles simply because they were from the mother-land, Spain. The peninsulares and the creoles, or descendants of the Spanish, were the owners of the money generators such as sugar mills in the Hispaniola and the silver mines located in the Petosi Mountains in modern day Peru. The labor was provided by the lower two ethnicities known as the mestizos and the mulattos. Mestizos were of mixed heritage between Spanish and the Native American and the mulattos were a combination of African and Native American. This was done with the intention of having a clear cut line between those who work and those who manage.
Another difference is the amount of people at the top of the hierarchies. In Japanese Feudalism, there was one person at the top, the Japanese emperor. In the Encomienda system, there was a certain ethnicity, the peninsulares, at the apex of the social pyramid. This is an indication of how politics were in both societies. From the fact that there was one ruler at the top of the Japanese feudalist system, there is a higher probability of absolutism than compared to the Encomienda system where it was more likely that there was local power shared between the peninsulares.
Encomiendas: An encomienda was a grant of Native American labor given to prominent European men in the Americas by the Spanish king. This grant allowed European men to extract tribute from natives in the form of labor and goods. The value of the grants was dramatically increased with the discovery of gold and silver in the Americas. The significance of this term is that although this system was eventually repartitioned, it initiated the tradition of prominent men controlling vast resources and monopolizing native labor.
The early years of colonial Mexico were a time of great change, as the native Indian populations were decimated by disease and increasingly dominated by the Spanish social and economic structure. Under the encomienda system, the initial flood of Spanish immigrants were provided with a support structure in New Spain, as the Indians’ land and labor were put at their disposal in exchange for moral guidance.[3] As Spain sought to reap the benefits of its new colony, the need for dependable labor in Mexico’s agr...
“Feudalism was a political and economical system in Europe from the 9th to about the 15th century.” Japan also had time periods that can be called feudal age including: Heian, Kamakura and Tokugawa. Medieval Japan shared a lot of similarities with medieval Europe, however, there are also many differences. One of the differences is their warriors who played vital roles fighting for their country in both Europe and Japan. In medieval Europe they had knights, and in medieval Japan they had samurais. European knights and Japanese Samurais were different in training, armor, weaponry, true values and codes.
In 1900 Britain was in many respects the world’s leading nation, enjoying a large share of world trade, a dominant position in the international money market, and possessing a far flung empire supported by the world’s most powerful navy. Japan was a complete contrast, sharing with Britain only the fact that it too was a nation of Islands lying off the shore of a major continent. Until the 1860s it had possessed a social and economic structure more akin to that of feudal, rather than twentieth century, Europe. By the 1990s, the positions were almost reversed. This paper sets out to examine the contrasting democratic political systems of the two nations and to explore the social and democratic consequences of the changes that have occurred.
The top structure of the society includes the Shoguns, Daimyos and Samurais. ‘Shogun’ was the title granted by the Emperor to Japan’s top military commander (Web-japan.org, 2013). Initially Emperors controlled the country but over time Shoguns became more powerful than the Emperor and took over the whole government, the Shogun was generally the real ruler of the country until 1867 when feudalism was abolished (Web-japan.org, 2013). Daimyos were the lords and their roles were to manage and maintain the law, collect taxes and aiding in armed forces for the Shogun (Ask.com, 2013). Samurais were the members of the military class, they were the warriors of traditional Japan. The roles of the Samurais were to protect and serve their daimyos or lords usually in wars (Answers.yahoo.com, 2013).
The Japanese during those days were xenophobes and believed themselves superior to everyone else, which is why they had so little
Western Influence on Japan Japan, as a nation, is a continually changing society. Ever since Western nations became involved with Japan, its changes over recent times. have increased at a substantial rate. Japan now faces cultural, economic and economic challenges. and social differences as a result of the western involvement.
Many people often see little similarity between the country of Japan and Europe. However, there are actually several similarities between these two countries. In fact, Reischauer and Jansen note that Feudal Japan had departed so far from East Asian norms that it was more similar to medieval Europe than it was to China. Thus, the knight of Europe and the samurai of Japan despite a lack of contact with one another shared several common elements. This was a result of many similarities social and cultural influences experienced by the two distant countries.
Do you know someone in the military? A loved one, a friend, do you know what they go through? I may not, but I do know about the harsh training and war that occurred for the Samurais and Knights. In Europe and Japan the empires were falling and Clans were taking over Japan. The government came up with an idea to create feudalism. There was an agreement in both Europe and Japan that exchanged land for protection. The similarities between Samurai and Knights were greater than the differences. This can be shown by looking at the three most similar areas: social position, training and armor, and life, honor, and death. The Samurai and Knights has their differences, but were the similarities greater than those differences.
This shows how language plays a role in Japan by the maintenance of the hierarchical structure of the society.
European feudalism was based on contract and Japanese feudalism was based on personal relationship with the lord and vassal. This helps prove that the differences between European and Japanese feudalism made limited government more likely to develop in the West because a contract limits what the lords and vassals could do. William, the king of English, said, “I command you [the vassal] to summon all those who are under your charge......and bring ready with you those five knights that you owe me[.]”1 This helps prove that European feudalism was based on contract because when you owe someone something, it implies an agreement. The key terms are I command you and owe. The vassal has to send troops because he has to. He is under the rule of his lord. The lord tells his vassal that “[H]e will perform everything [that] was in [their] agreement [because] [he] submitted himself to him and chose his will.”2 This helps prove that European feudalism was based on a contract because a contract implies an agreement. The vassal chose the lord himself, so therefore, the vassal is under the lord's rule and needs to follow the agreement. On Japan's view of feudalism, their feudalism wasn't based on contract. On page 122 and 124 of The Tale of Heike, it implies personal relationships with the lord and vassal. “Despite his predicament, [the lord] still thought of [his vassal].”3 When the lord dies, the vassal kills himself saying, “For whom do I have to fight now?”4 This helps prove that Japanese feudalism was based on a personal relationship with lord and vassal because the lord and vassal actually cared for each other. Even through major problems, the lord and vassal's actions showed how close their relationship was with each other. Also on page 5...
The samurai of Tokugawa Japan, the yangban of Choson Korea, and the gentry of Ming China were three very powerful and elite groups of East Asia. These groups consisted of high ranking government officials with judicial power and influence. Although the groups were located in the same region they had their similarities and differences in how they obtained power and how they used their power. Japanese samurai were military nobility who had almost as much power as the emperor, but were not the highest ranking officials whereas the yangban officials of Korea were the highest ranking rulers. The gentry of the Ming period of China were once high ranking rulers; however, the gentry were defined as retired Chinese bureaucrats. Socially, all of these groups, at one point or another, were high ranking officials with power in office. The elite groups ruled in different areas of Asia, but they had similarities as well as differences in sources of power, functions as officials, and the problems they faced as elite groups in Asia.
From Spain's early arrival in the Caribbean through their establishment of the Spanish empire indigenous people were exploited through cheap, slave like labor. One of the most incredible subjects raised by the documents presented in Colonial Spanish America is the topic of Labor Systems that were imposed on the indigenous people. Spain tried to excuse this exploitation by claiming to save these indigenous people by teaching them the ways of Christ but many of the Articles in Colonial Spanish America, Struggle & Survival, and The Limits of Racial Domination prove otherwise. Through letters, personal stories, and other documents these books present accounts that tell about the labor system used in this area. They tell of the Spanish labor systems such as the encomiendos and later rapartamientos and how these operations were run.
Japan is also differentiated by the widely known comparison between other nations, especially those of Europe when it comes to lifestyle and how various economical groups live similarly, since there are no foreign populations in japan the advantage is given to those of authentic Japanese origins regarding the fact they follow their traditions and ethics.
I believe we can all agree that Japanese samurais and European knights are two of the most skilled and famous forms of warriors in history, right? Well both warriors began their trade at a very young age, and went through multiple stages of training throughout their lives. They both had a code of honor basically, but they differed from one another in quite a few ways. The big question is, “Were the similarities greater than the differences?”. Right off the bat I began to ponder the technicalities of the answer to this question. Before I get too scrambled up in the technicalities, let’s discuss some these differences and the similarities and figure out how this plays out. Before we conduct this discussion, let’s review our key terms. A clan is a group of close-knit and interrelated families. Feudalism was a political and economic system that flourished in Europe from the 9th to the 15th century, based on higher classes giving random services and items in exchange for something else. Knights were men who served their lord as a mounted soldier in armor. Samurai’s were members of a powerful military social class in feudal Japan. A shogun was a hereditary commander-in-chief in feudal Japan. Chivalry was the medieval knightly system with its religious, moral, and social code. Bushido was the code of honor and morals developed by the Japanese samurai.