7th grade Medieval Japan: islands, shoguns and samurai, compared with feudal Europe worksheet

Medieval Japan: islands, shoguns and samurai, compared with feudal Europe

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Who held power (cards A to D; summaries in our words). Card A, a chart of ranks: the emperor kept the throne and title in Kyoto but had little real power. The shogun was the top military leader; Minamoto Yoritomo took the title in 1192. The samurai were warriors, bound to their lord by loyalty, who also ran local government and managed the countryside. Card B, the bakufu: the shogun's government was called the bakufu, which means tent government, a name that recalls a military camp. It ran the country from Kamakura. The Kamakura period lasted from 1185 to 1333. Card C, two kinds of records: nobles at the emperor's court in Kyoto kept diaries, and officials of the shogunate kept their own chronicle of its deeds. Card D, a map note: Japan is a country of islands, and Kamakura lies on the eastern coast of the main island, a long way from the court in Kyoto.

2. 1.

   Card C says shogunate officials kept their own chronicle. Ari asks whose view that chronicle will most likely give, and why.

   • A foreign visitor's view, since outsiders came to Kamakura and recorded what they saw
   • The emperor's court, since officials in Kyoto kept the chronicle of the shogun's deeds
   • The shogunate's own view, since its officials wrote about their own government's deeds
   • A farmer's view, since farmers in the countryside kept the records of local government
3. 2.

   Court nobles and shogunate officials each kept records. How might they describe Yoritomo's rise differently, Bo asks?

   • Court nobles wrote about farming and shogunate officials wrote about trade with other lands
   • Their records cannot be compared, since one group kept diaries and the other a chronicle
   • They would agree on each detail, since both groups described the same man in their records of the time
   • Court nobles may stress the emperor's court, while shogunate officials may stress the shogun's deeds
4. 3.

   Card B says the Kamakura period lasted from 1185 to 1333. How many years did it last, Esme asks?

   • 148 years, since 1333 minus 1185 is 148
   • 841 years, counted from 1185 to the year 2026 and not to 1333
   • 1,480 years, since 1333 minus 1185 is 1,480 in this case
   • 158 years, since 1333 minus 1185 is 158 after regrouping the tens
5. 4.

   A student writes, "The emperor ruled Japan from 1185." Which card challenges that most directly, Jun asks?

   • Card A, which says the emperor kept the title but had little real power
   • Card D, which says Japan is a country of islands with Kamakura on the coast
   • Card C, which says diaries and chronicles were kept, so the emperor must have lost his title
   • Card B, which says the Kamakura period lasted from 1185 to 1333
6. 5.

   Card A says samurai ran local government. What did that mean for farmers in the countryside, Kira asks?

   • Farmers became samurai and ran the bakufu from the tents of the army camp
   • Farmers answered to court nobles in Kyoto, who sent officials to each province to rule
   • Farmers paid their rents to the emperor, who collected them from his palace
   • Farmers dealt with samurai, not court nobles, in the decisions of local government
7. 6.

   Card B says bakufu means tent government, a name that recalls a military camp. What does the name suggest, Luz asks?

   • The shogun's government was run by traveling merchants who set up tents in each market
   • The shogun's government traveled the countryside, where it met farmers in village tents
   • The shogun's government was run from the emperor's palace, where it met in large tents
   • The shogun's government was run by a military leader, like an army camp's headquarters
8. 7.

   The Kamakura period began in 1185 (card B), and Yoritomo took the title of shogun in 1192 (card A). How many years later was that, Milo asks?

   • 77 years later, since 1192 minus 1185 is 77 when the tens are counted
   • 70 years later, since 1192 minus 1185 is 70 in this case
   • 148 years later, the full length of the Kamakura period
   • 7 years later, since 1192 minus 1185 is 7
9. 8.

   Noah wants a view from inside the shogun's government. Which source gives it most directly?

   • The chronicle kept by the shogunate's officials, which card C describes
   • Card D's map note, which a modern writer made to show where Kamakura lies
   • Card A's chart of ranks, because it lists the shogun at the top
   • The diaries of the court nobles in Kyoto, who lived in the capital city
10. 9.

    Why might officials of the shogunate keep a chronicle of their government's deeds, Pia asks?

    • To teach farmers in the countryside to read, so they could follow the shogun's rules
    • To help historians in the 2000s write textbooks about the Kamakura period for their students
    • To keep a record of the government's deeds that also showed the shogunate in a good light
    • To hide the shogunate's deeds from the court, so that nobles in Kyoto knew nothing
11. 10.

    How might a samurai in the countryside and a noble in Kyoto each see the shogun, Ren asks?

    • Both would see the same leader, since each belonged to the ruling class of Japan
    • The samurai may see a lord who rewards loyal service, while the noble may see a court rival
    • The samurai would see a trader and the noble would see a farmer in the same leader
    • The samurai would dislike the shogun and the noble would admire him, since samurai ran the farms