“Social Reorganisation in the Late Medieval Period”

This chapter details the structural reorganisation of the Samurai class. Because of an eroding land tenure system and a confusing struggle for power between social groups (122), samurai and most social classes underwent changes. 

In this chapter, we see the beginning of the Daimyo. This structure that once allowed local samurai autonomy would soon become a restrictor of individual freedoms. By page three of this chapter, Ikegami asserts, “ The eventual pacification of the samurai under the Tokugawa shoguns at the beginning of the seventeenth century was the final result of this process of vertical consolidation. I maintain that this pattern of consolidation is key to understanding the subsequent cultural and social developments of this class” (123). This allows readers to know exactly what she is going to try to prove throughout her chapter and how it relates to the thesis of the book. 

The next section focuses primarily on the marginalization of women. She makes an interesting connection between the rise of samurai houses and its negative effects on women’s power over the household. Because the samurai were a warrior class, women could not take part. This subsequently limited their power in the household. On top of this, women would slowly lose their inheritance rights. This was because a prior system of scattered properties seemed weak, therefore the samurai would turn to a single heir inheritance (126). However, this change varied greatly throughout the region (126). Though Ikegami touches briefly on this topic, other authors, such as Dorothy Ko, assert a similar claim that the household system became more patriarchal throughout the medieval period. (88) This addition to the chapter is interesting, giving readers a deeper look into society. Because of the large scope of this book, I think the addition of women’s marginalisation works under the context of this chapter. It shows how the social reorganisation affected not just samurai but those around them, such as family. 

Ikegami also writes about how this change affected local villages and the farmers that worked the land. Wealthier farmers were not fully distinguished from samurais. The blending of classes resulted in the ikki system. This system allowed samurai and wealthy villagers to control their provinces during conflict (133).

 This chapter allows readers a look into the social structures that changed throughout the late medieval period. Looking at other actors such as women and villagers shows how Japan was changing, with the samurai class being no exception. She uses primary sources within this chapter, such as a diary by Kujō Masamoto that details the shifting power relations within villages. This gives evidence directly from the period to solidify her claims. 

Ikegami, Eiko. The Taming of the Samurai. U.S.A: Harvard University Press, 1995. 

Ko, Dorothy. “The Creation of Patriarchy in Japan: Wakita Haruko’s ‘Women in Medieval Japan’ from a Comparative Perspective.” International Journal of Asian Studies 5, no. 1 (January 2008): 87–96. doi:10.1017/S1479591407000939.