Japanese+culture

The Muromachi period (1392-1573) marked social and political upheaval in Japan, and the establishment of commercial, transportation, and urban developements.
 * Before you can really uderstand any of the Japanese, you have to get some ideas of what their lives are like. You have to understand their traditions, their beliefs, their culture, and most important how they see the world. Its also important to learn their language too because you want to communicate with them.**
 * Japanese Art**
 * Japanese Art**


 * Japanese Military**
 * Ninjas/shinobi or samurai**

Ninjas were the mercenary of feudal japan they came from two clans the Iga and the Kōga

the term for the military nobility of Japan in the distant past. Today, they are often recognized by swords, or their instrument of choice.[sword, yumi, tanegashima, pole, cannon, staff, etc] At the time, they didn't always have a weapon. Some preferred not to fight unless it was thought necessary. The samurai followed a set of rules that are now known as Bushido. Their teachings can still be found today (Though they made up less than 10% of Japan's population) in everyday life and in martial arts such as Kendo(the way of the sword)//.//
 * Samurai (bushi)**
 * japanese Shintoism**
 * Shinto** (神道 , //Shintō//[|?] ) or **Shintoism**, also //**kami-no-michi**//[|[][|1] is the indigenous spirituality of [|Japan] and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written historical records of the //[|Kojiki]// and //[|Nihon Shoki]// in the 7th and 8th century. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified "Shinto religion", but rather to disorganized folklore, history, and mythology. Shinto today is a term that applies to public shrines suited to various purposes such as war memorials, harvest festivals, romance, and historical monuments, as well as various sectarian organizations. Practitioners express their diverse beliefs through a standard language and practice, adopting a similar style in dress and ritual, dating from around the time of the [|Nara] and [|Heian] Periods.

The word //Shinto// ("Way of the Gods") was adopted from the written Chinese (神道, //shén dào//),[|[][|4][|]] combining two //[|kanji]//: "//shin//" (神 [|?] ), meaning //kami//; and "//tō//" (道 [|?]  ), or "dō" meaning a philosophical path or study (originally from the [|Chinese] word //[|tao]//).[|[][|3][|]][|[][|4][|]] //[|Kami]// are defined in English as "spirits", "essences" or "deities", that are associated with many understood formats; in some cases being human-like, in others being [|animistic], and others being associated with more abstract "natural" forces in the world (mountains, rivers, lightning, wind, waves, trees, rocks). Kami and people are not separate; they exist within the same world and share its interrelated complexity.[|[][|3][|]] There are currently 119 million official practitioners of Shinto in Japan,[|[][|5][|]] although a person who practices any manner of Shinto rituals may be so counted. The vast majority of Japanese people who take part in Shinto rituals also practice [|Buddhist] ancestor worship. However, unlike many monotheistic religious practices, Shinto and Buddhism typically do not require professing faith to be a believer or a practitioner, and as such it is difficult to query for exact figures based on self-identification of belief within Japan. Due to the syncretic nature of Shinto and Buddhism, most "life" events are handled by Shinto and "death" or "afterlife" events are handled by Buddhism—for example, it is typical in Japan to register or celebrate a birth at a Shinto shrine, while funeral arrangements are generally dictated by Buddhist tradition—although the division is not exclusive

ninja were commonly used for espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination .Around the 17th and 18th centuries, manuals such as the Basenshukai appeared in rather large numbers. These manuals revealed philosophies, religious beliefs, warfare, as well as the espionage techniques that form the basis of the ninja's art. this was later given the name "ninjutsu", which describes a large range of practices related to the ninja. Commonly used katana, darts, spikes, shuriken, and knives/swords. the ninja were thought to have supernatural powers(invisibility, shapeshifting, the ability to "split" into multiple bodies, the summoning of animals, and control over the elements.) as they were said to in many legends.
 * ninja/ shinobi**