Neighboring Culture Ideas on Japan
Ch. 19 Randi Pinto
In what ways did neighboring cultures influence Japan?
Vocabulary Words
Shinto- a Japanese religion that expresses love and respect for nature.
Meditation- a spiritual discipline that involves deep relaxation and clearing the mind of distracting thoughts.
Enlightenment- the state of gaining spiritual knowledge and finding truth.
Pagodas- a tower-shaped structure with several stories and upturned, tiled roofs.
Mythical- not real; imagined
Religion: Buddhism Comes to Japan Sec.5
This religion which came from India to China to Korea and ended up in Japan. Unlike the old more soft Shinto religion, Buddhism was about seeing like an the pain and suffering. Buddhism influenced lots of things in Japan. Mostly religion, Buddhism strongly built beliefs, arts, and architecture.
Writing: Applying Chinese Characters to the Japanese Language Sec.6
Ancient Japanese was an only spoken language. Written documents and letters were in Chinese, a language the Japanese had to learn. They started using Chinese writing for Japanese words but soon became difficult. BY 900, the Japanese created kana, which means "borrowed letters". In kana, just simplified Chinese lettering and is still used today
Sculpture: Carving Techniques Travel to Japan Sec. 8
New techniques and and subjects of sculptures moved to Japan from China and Korea. The clay sculptures showed armored warriors, saddled horses, robed ladies, and animals. The were believed to accompany or protect the dead. Art styles changed from artists traveling from different places and changing materials from what was locally available. This influenced more artistic ideas, like using more, different materials for sculptures.
Architecture: Adapting Temple Designs Sec. 9
Temple designs came to Japan from China and India. Buddhist monasteries displayed temples with roofs shaped like bells or inverted bowls called stupas. These buildings always had three, five, seven, or nine roofs. Japanese adopted these ideas and they started appearing all around the capital city. Temples reflected Japan’s agricultural society and the Japanese love of nature.
Music: Adopting New Music and Instruments Sec. 10
Before Japanese music was inspired once again from China, the pieces were more short and simple. Japan’s native music consisted of chanted poems, war and folk songs, and prayers. Clay figures show they mostly played with flutes, string, and percussion instruments. One instrument called a sho, is a type of mouth organ. It looks like a phoenix and its sound was said to resemble the call of the phoenix.