2. Cultural background: The Age of Feudalism First Half (Kamakura, Muromachi and Azuchi Momoyama Periods)

From the middle of the Heian Period, with the ‘increase in agricultural output, there emerged influential people and in turn, the samurai warrior class began to thrive (процветать, преуспевать, буйно разрастаться). Of these influential groups, the Heishi and Genji families were the most powerful and in 1185, at the 'Battle of Dan no Ura, the Genji clan overthrew the Heishi Clan. In 1192, Minamoto-no-Yoritomo became Shоgun (general, comander) and established his shogunate in Kamakura. This ‘heralded a period of 700 years of military rule until the Edo Period.

Minamoto-no-Yoritomo set up a stronghold (крепость) in Kamakura, established defences and installed a 'Lord of the Manor (поместье)' in each region, allowing him to assume control over the whole country. The defences in­cluded military forces and police. The function of the Lord of the Manor was to collect the land taxes (imposed on the peasants) each year.

The Shoguns of the Genji clan continued for three generations. After this, while Hojo was installed as shikken ('’regent'- правитель - an important post as advisor to the Shogun), a battle was fought with the Kyoto Impe­rial court forces. The Shogunate troops defeated the Imperial troops on this occa­sion. On two further occasions, however, battles were fought with Kublai Khan (1/) and his army from Gen (a Mongolian country)-first in 1274, the Mongolian forces attack­ed with a large army, 40,000 strong and then again in 1281, when a huge army of 140,000, including men mobilized from Korea, launched an attack. These battles left the Kamakura Shogunate in a weakened state. Samurai warriors who were vassals to the Shogun had large outlays of expense—readying armor, helmets, weapons and horses, as well as employing soldiers. Since they didn't feel that they were receiving any benefit from the shogunate the number of disgruntled samurai warriors grew. The Emperor, using these •samurai to his advantage, overthrew the Kamakura Shogunate and installed an imperial court centralized government.

However, this too, was short-lived when the military Commander Ashikaga established the Muromachi shogunate, once again in Kyoto. This period of history continued for 240 years. During this time there was great cultural development, not merely among the ranks of the aristocracy and Buddhist priests, but also among the people in general. Noh and Kyogen theatre flourished and in Kyoto, handicrafts such as Nishijin silk brocade (парча) and sword making developed. This time also saw port towns along the Inland Sea and on the Sea of Japan coast thrive - markets were held on appointed days with goods of all varieties being bought and sold.

Towards the middle of the Muromachi period, due to a struggle among possible successors to the Shogun, the 'Battle of Onin' broke out. This, in turn, led to a period of 100 years of war with powerful daimyo ((in Japan) one of the territorial magnates who dominated much of the country from about the 11th to the 19th century), or feudal lords throughout Japan, fighting against each other. Oda Nobunaga (Oda Nobunaga (help·info) (June 23, 1534 – June 21, 1582) was a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. He was the second son of Oda Nobuhide, a deputy shugo (military governor) with land holdings in Owari province. Nobunaga lived a life of continuous military conquest, eventually conquering a third of Japanese daimyo before his death in 1582. His successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a loyal Oda supporter, would eventually become the first man to conquer all of Japan.), using guns introduced from Portugal in battle for the first time, managed to unify the whole country. In 1549, St Francis Xavier (Saint Francis of Xavier, born Francisco de Jaso y Azpilcueta (7 April 1506, Javier, Navarre – 3 December 1552, Shangchuan Island, China) was a Navarrese pioneering Roman Catholic missionary of Basque origin. He came under the influence of St. Ignatius Loyola and was one of the first seven Jesuits who dedicated themselves to the service of God at Montmarte in 1534.[1]) brought Chris­tianity to Japan and this new religion was protected by Nobunaga.

1/Хубилай

Хубилай (23 сентября 1215 — 18 февраля 1294) — монгольский хан, основатель династии Юань в Китае.Чингизид, внук Чингисхана, сын Толуя и Соркуктани-бэги. В 1260 году перенес столицу Монгольской империи из Каракорума в Пекин, который был переименован в Ханбалык. В 1279 завоевал южный Китай. Оказывал покровительство буддизму.Главною его целью по вступлению на престол сделалось ниспровержение Сунской династии в Китае. После упорной и продолжительной борьбы Хубилай к 1271 г. овладел большею частью Китая, где решил основать новую династию, дав ей имя Юань. В 1279 г. погиб последний сунский император, и Хубилай окончательно упрочил свою власть над всем Китаем, учредив свою столицу в Пекине.