Compare and Contrast Japanese Feudalism to Western European Feudalism During the Middle Ages

The Roman Empire and Imperial Japan's destruction gave birth to many groups and cultures. Each group and culture fought and thought of a way to centralize a government under a common system. Through this thought came Feudalism, a system where land is given to lords or families in exchange for loyalty and arms in war.

Feudalism in Western Europe and japan was highly militaristic. A frequent and bitter pattern of warfare was left to the warrior-landlord class in Europe than Japan, in both instances Feudalism made a unique host of military virtues that kept the development of a more stable, centralized government to form. These virtues consisted of physical courage, personal or family alliances, loyalty, ritualized combat and often included non-warrior group such as peasants and merchants. The militaristic ways of Feudalism lasted after the Feudal period in both areas. Japan was left unable to control its Samurai class, and Western Europe's prominent belief was that the state's central purpose was to make war to give military commanders a opportunity to show their worth and prowess.

Not all of Feudalism was militaristic. The idea of personal ties of leader in subject last long past the Feudal period also. Despite their common characteristics of Feudalism in Japan and in Western Europe weren't identical. Europe valued contractual ideas more strongly than the Japanese. Mutual agreements were used by members of the European warrior class. Japanese Feudalism relied more on individual loyalties to the group and the group loyalty to the leader. In Japan the legacy of Feudalism involved less institutionalized group consciousness, this encouraged individuals to function in collective decision making teams.

The Feudal legacy in both Japan and Western Europe's development over the centuries to establish effective capitalistic societies, but their imperialistic expansion and the fact they solved conflicts with foreign powers through war. This often made Europe a...