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Feudal Japan's Economic Roles

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Feudal Japan's Economic Roles

Read the information in each section. Answer every question using evidence from the worksheet and your own reasoning. Feudal Japan covered different periods and regions, so economic practices could vary.

A rice-based economy

In feudal Japan, most people lived in farming villages. Farmers grew rice and other crops, often paying part of their harvest as tax to the local daimyo, a powerful landholding lord. Rice was food, but it was also a way to measure wealth and support the daimyo’s government and samurai retainers. Samurai were usually paid with rice or an income linked to land, rather than wages in coins. Artisans made useful goods such as pottery, tools, cloth and weapons. Merchants carried and sold goods in market towns and along trade routes. Their work helped connect farming villages with towns, although social status did not always match a person’s wealth. Some towns and commercial activity grew as trade expanded.

Investigate the roles

Use the passage to complete the questions.

1.Which statement best explains why rice mattered to both farmers and the daimyo?

Rice was only eaten by samurai.
Farmers grew rice, and rice taxes helped support the daimyo and his retainers.
Rice was made only by merchants in towns.
Rice replaced all trade in Japan.

2.A farmer harvests 40 sacks of rice and owes a portion of the crop as tax. Name the economic role of this farmer and explain what the tax contributed to.

3.Match each role to its main economic activity. Roles: farmer, artisan, merchant, samurai. Activities: makes pottery or tools; grows crops and may pay tax; trades goods between places; serves a lord and may receive rice income.

Farmer
Artisan
Merchant
Samurai

Makes pottery or tools
Serves a lord and may receive rice income
Trades goods between places
Grows crops and may pay tax

4.Which pair of activities is most closely associated with merchants in feudal Japan?

Growing most of the rice and leading armies
Making all the pottery and collecting land taxes
Buying and selling goods and transporting them between markets
Serving as retainers and receiving land from farmers

5.According to the passage, identify one activity merchants carried out and explain how it helped connect villages and towns.

6.True or false: Samurai were usually paid only with coins, while rice had no role in measuring wealth.

TrueFalse

7.Suppose a region has a larger rice harvest than usual. Describe one possible effect on a market town and one possible effect on merchants.

8.Fill in the blank: A powerful landholding lord in feudal Japan was called a .

9.A potter makes bowls, and a merchant carries them to a town market. Explain how these two roles depend on each other. Include what each person contributes.

10.A merchant has rice, pottery and cloth to offer. Write a two-sentence negotiation with a customer: name one good and state a reasonable goal for each side.