A samurai is “one who serves.” In ancient times, the term described ...

You can often find a clue to
the meaning of an unfamiliar
new word by breaking it up
into smaller words that you
know. Look at the word
oversight (line 19). What
smaller words do you see?
Circle the words. Use the
meanings of the smaller
words to help you define
oversight.
frontier (frun • tir√) n.: developing,
often still uncivilized
or lawless region of a
country.
shogun (◊£√gun≈) n.: any of
the military governors of
Japan who, until 1868, had
absolute rule.
Underline the definitions of
these words, which are given
right in context on this page:
vassals; shogunate; serfs.
Read the boxed passage
aloud as if you were reading
to a group of classmates who
are taking notes as you read.
Make sure you emphasize
the words and phrases that
are given special treatment
in the paragraph—those in
italics, in parentheses, and
within quote marks.
20
30
40
except for making sure that they received the income from
their agricultural estates. Without effective oversight from
the Kyoto court, men in the provinces took up arms to
become a professional military class.
In that period, the Kanto was a frontier area, rich in
farmland and especially in need of men to maintain order
as the territory developed. The samurai in the Kant£ and
elsewhere organized themselves into bands whose members
were joined together as lords and vassals (followers under
a lord’s protection), much like the knights of medieval
Europe.
Although Japan is far from Europe and had no contact
with Europeans until the mid-sixteenth century, the
Japanese developed a system of organizing society remarkably
similar to that of medieval Europe. This system,
known as feudalism, took root in Japan with the founding
of its first military government, or shogunate (government
headed by a shogun, or “great general”), in 1185. As in
Europe, feudalism in Japan was based almost entirely on
agriculture. Land divided into estates, or manors, was
worked by peasants called serfs who had to remain on the
land and could not move about freely. Feudalism also
featured a ruling warrior or military class made up of lords
and their vassals.
In samurai society, a vassal was supposed to give
absolute, unquestioning loyalty to his lord and even be
prepared to die for him in battle. In fact, the relationship
between a lord and vassal went both ways: In return
for performing military service, a vassal expected rewards
and protection from his lord. The idea of the loyal,
self-sacrificing vassal was often ignored. Many vassals,
84 Chapter 2 Characters: The People You’ll Meet