471. Japanese society in 1200 was most similar to the society of which other 13th-century country/region?
(A) India
(B) Vietnam
(C) China
(D) Western Europe
(E) Byzantium
472. The Yayoi culture introduced all of the following to Japan EXCEPT
(A) Buddhism
(B) wet rice cultivation
(C) bronze
(D) ironworking
(E) new pottery styles
473. All of the following are true of Shinto EXCEPT that it
(A) has no founder
(B) has no fully developed theology
(C) is monotheistic
(D) is based on animism
(E) has blended with Buddhism through most of Japan’s history
474. All of the following are true of the Nihon Shoki (also known as the Nihongi and The Chronicles of Japan) EXCEPT that it
(A) contains a creation myth
(B) was finished in the Yayoi period
(C) helped establish the concept of the divine ancestry of emperors
(D) was written in classical Chinese
(E) is an important tool for historians and archaeologists
475. Which of the following is an accurate statement about the Heian period in Japan in the ninth century CE?
(A) Shinto was temporarily replaced by Confucianism as the state religion.
(B) Mongol invaders ruled Japan.
(C) The Chinese meritocracy greatly influenced Japan’s government.
(D) It was an unusual period of peace and security in Japan.
(E) It was a time of Japanese conquest and exploration.
476. Which book is sometimes considered the world’s first novel?
(A) Iroha
(B) Kimigayo
(C) Kinuginu
(D) The Pillow Book
(E) The Tale of Genji
477. The riddle “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” is known as a
(A) bushi
(B) koan
(C) daimyo
(D) bompu
(E) bakufu
478. One major difference between European and Japanese feudalism during the Middle Ages was that
(A) European feudalism was far more militaristic than its Japanese counterpart
(B) Japanese emperors maintained power during feudalism, while European kings were only symbolic leaders
(C) there were far fewer agricultural workers in Japanese feudalism
(D) there was no Japanese equivalent to the position of the European lord
(E) in Japan, peasants farmed land in exchange for money instead of military protection
479. The Kamakura period was noted for
(A) the decline of Buddhism in Japan
(B) the transition to the Japanese medieval period
(C) being the apex of classical Japanese culture
(D) a temporary increase in the power of the emperor leading to victory over the Mongols
(E) an increase in the power of the shoen
480. All of the following are true of Japan during its feudal period EXCEPT that
(A) it valued military ability over bureaucratic administration
(B) it was carved into self-sufficient estates
(C) Bushido was expected of men but not women of the samurai and bushi classes
(D) it had a decentralized government
(E) the samurai were released from agricultural responsibilities in exchange for military service
481. A ronin is a
(A) two-handed Japanese sword and the weapon of choice for a samurai
(B) samurai with no master
(C) type of Japanese poet who was sensitive to the sadness of impermanence
(D) much-hated medieval government bureaucrat in charge of tax collection
(E) field or manor in medieval Japan
482. All of the following are true regarding women in premedieval Japan EXCEPT that
(A) women exercised considerable political influence but were barred from the position of emperor
(B) Chinese Confucianists expressed dismay at the relative freedom of Japanese women
(C) the introduction of Buddhism to Japan intensified gender inequality in religious life
(D) the great literature of the Heian period was written by women
(E) many of the women at court were devotees of the Lotus Sutra
483. Buddhism was introduced into Japan in about
(A) 150 CE
(B) 350 CE
(C) 550 CE
(D) 750 CE
(E) 950 CE
484. Tennoism refers to
(A) a form of female foot binding imported from China
(B) the control of large estates by the daimyo
(C) the accumulation of land and power by Buddhist monasteries
(D) the divinity of the emperor
(E) the rule of Emperor Hiroki Kondo
485. All of the following were associated with the end of the Heian period and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate EXCEPT
(A) the Genpei War
(B) the people’s obedience to their clan leaders rather than the government
(C) the decline of tax revenues because Buddhist monasteries were tax exempt
(D) the creation of the office of the shogun
(E) the movement of the capital from Kyoto to Edo (Tokyo)
486. The kana system first appeared in
(A) the Jomon period
(B) the Yayoi period
(C) the Yamoto period
(D) the Heian period
(E) medieval Japan
487. All of the following statements are true of male homosexuality in ancient Japan EXCEPT that
(A) older samurai often took younger boys as lovers
(B) Shinto scriptures declared homosexuality a sin
(C) early law codes penalized incest and bestiality but not homosexuality
(D) homosexuality was common in Buddhist monasteries
(E) shunga scrolls depict erotic scenes of every kind of sexual activity
488. The Mongol threat to Japan was defeated at
(A) Hakata Bay
(B) Kyoto
(C) Nara
(D) the Sea of Okhotsk
(E) the Kamikaze Strait
489. Before 1500, Japan
(A) was consistently governed by a powerful emperor
(B) adopted Buddhism to replace Shinto
(C) had an amazingly egalitarian system of land distribution
(D) adopted every important feature of the Chinese style of government
(E) was dominated by aristocratic classes
490. All of the following are true of Bushido EXCEPT that it
(A) led to the popularization of seppuku
(B) was philosophically condemned by most Japanese Buddhists as excessively warlike
(C) developed between the 9th and 12th centuries
(D) could be described as the “way of the warrior”
(E) emphasized the preservation of family honor
491. The most popular schools of Japanese Buddhism, Jodo Shu and Jodo Shinsu, are closest to which form of Buddhism?
(A) Zen
(B) Theravada
(C) Newar
(D) Vajrayana
(E) Pure Land
492. The Jomon period is best known for its
(A) Buddhist temples
(B) sword manufacture
(C) coiled pottery
(D) ikebana
(E) development of naval engineering
493. The Taika Reforms
(A) attempted to enhance the power of the imperial court
(B) declared Edo (Tokyo) the new capital and ordered it built in the Chinese style
(C) had limited impact because they failed to address inequities in land ownership
(D) were based on the structures and precepts of Song Dynasty China
(E) created the office of the shogun
494. All of the following are true of The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon EXCEPT that it
(A) was written in the Heian period
(B) is the most detailed source of factual material about the life of the time
(C) helped popularize samurai values such as Bushido
(D) is famous for its humorous observations and caustic depictions of the author’s contemporaries
(E) uses very few Chinese words
495. Waka (also known as tanka) is a type of
(A) sword
(B) samurai
(C) poetry
(D) calligraphy
(E) tea ceremony
496. All of the following are characteristic Japanese cultural forms EXCEPT
(A) Noh
(B) a muqam
(C) kabuki
(D) a tea ceremony
(E) ikebana
497. The shoen system
(A) strengthened the power of the central government
(B) was the standard form of land ownership during the Yamoto and Yayoi periods
(C) contributed to the rise of a local military class
(D) survived until the Meiji Restoration
(E) was strengthened by the Kamakura shogunate
498. The position of daimyo was roughly equivalent to the European position of
(A) king
(B) lord
(C) bishop
(D) knight
(E) tax collector
499. The aboriginal people of Japan are known as
(A) Kofun
(B) Burakumin
(C) Lao
(D) Hmong
(E) Ainu
500. Keyhole-shaped burial mounds are characteristic of what Japanese period?
(A) Jomon
(B) Yayoi
(C) Yamoto
(D) Heian
(E) Medieval