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1 Foreword The Japanese people have always greeted foreign influences with great enthusiasm. In the first centuries AD the massive introduction of Chinese civilization deeply affected all aspects of Japanese culture. Writing, religion, architecture and arts, court titles and rank systems all experienced great development. Administrative, bureaucratic, and legal institutions from the continent were all used as models by the Japanese state during this time. Later, cultural interaction occurred with other Asian countries, but predominantly with China and Korea. During the middle of the sixteenth century, a ship of Portuguese merchants was wrecked on Tanegashima Island. Subsequently, Western traders and missionaries brought not only technological innovations such as firearms, but also ideologies and spiritual ideas such as the Christian religion. In spite of their remarkable capacity for adaptation, the Japanese people have never compromised on the elements specific to their cultural background. An example of this phenomenon is the unquestioned sanctity and divinity of the Emperor—strongly connected with the Shintō religion—which remained a steady and unchanged feature until modern times. Chinese civilization was acknowledged for its excellence, however. Genealogy has always been regarded highly by the Japanese people. Whilst the Chinese state examination system and the theoretical possibility of the lower classes aspiring to better social conditions had no equivalent in Japan (except for inferior appointments), the hierarchical social structure offered by Confucianism was undoubtedly an essential ideological basis for the establishment of Japanese political power. Titles and higher offices were always exclusive to both civil and military nobles.

The Samurai Bond of Loyalty: Transition from Blood Ties through Self-Interested Allegiance to Absolute Devotion