Unit 3 Targets

At the end of Unit 3, you should be able to answer the following questions. Click on the coloured tabs to view the learning goals for each chapter.

At the end of Chapter 12, you should be able to answer the following questions.

  1. In what ways does physical geography contribute to shaping a worldview?
  2. How did Japan’s geography influence the Japanese sense of identity?
  3. In what ways can the natural environment influence religious practices and values?
  4. How did Japan’s self-sufficiency contribute to the Japanese worldview?


Lesson 1 is about some of the early beliefs Japanese people had about how their geography affected their culture.

Questions addressed in Lesson 1 are the following:

  • What is the basic geography of Japan?
  • How did the Japanese people see themselves?
  • What has the population density of Japan always been?
  • Did Japan have any contact with its neighbours?
In Lesson 2, you will learn about the importance of nature in Japanese religion and everyday life.

Questions addressed in Lesson 2 are the following:

  • How do the Ainu people regard nature?
  • What is Shinto?
  • What is the “dark side” of nature for the Japanese people?
In Lesson 3, you will learn about the resources and climate of Japan and how they contributed to the development of a self-sufficient country.

Questions addressed in Lesson 3 are the following:

  • How did Japan manage without engaging in much trade with other nations?
  • Why was rice such an important crop?
  • How did the Japanese become a homogeneous society?

At the end of Chapter 13, you should be able to answer the following questions.

  1. How do forms of government and decision-making reflect a society’s worldview?
  2. How can military power and social structure be used to maintain control in a society?
  3. How did social controls shape Japanese identity and citizenship?
  4. What threats had the Japanese government faced from contact with a different culture?


Lesson 1 is about how the shoguns ruled Japan.  

Questions addressed in Lesson 1 are the following:

  • How did Tokugawa Ieyasu gain control of Japan?
  • How did Shogun Ieyasu maintain his power?
  • How did feudalism work in Japan?
  • Who were the samurai?
  • What were the roles of various people in society?
Lesson 2 is about the samurai and other members of the Japanese hierarchy. 

Questions addressed in Lesson 2 are the following:

  • Who were the samurai?
  • What was the place of other members of society?
  • How did the hierarchy contribute to the maintenance of control in Japan?
Lesson 3 is about the philosophy of Confucius and how it affected the Japanese people and influenced the development of a homogeneous Japanese society.

Questions addressed in Lesson 3 are the following:

  • What were the teachings of Confucius?
  • How did the Confucian idea of duty influence the Japanese people?
  • How did group responsibility affect the Japanese worldview?
Lesson 4 is about how the Japanese encountered other cultures and how they reacted to that contact. 

Questions addressed in Lesson 4 are the following:

  • How did the Japanese make contact with other cultures?
  • Why did the Japanese not want to have close relationships?

At the end of Chapter 14, you should be able to answer the following questions.

  1. In what ways might a country’s choice to remain isolated both reflect its worldview and result from its worldview?
  2. Why and how did Japan isolate itself from the remainder of the world?
  3. In what ways did isolation lead to political, economic, and social changes in Japanese society?
  4. How did isolation contribute to the end of Japan’s closed, feudal society?


Lesson 1 is about how the shoguns cut contact with the West and other foreigners.

Questions addressed in Lesson 1 are the following:

  • Why did the shoguns consider the West to be a threat?
  • What did the shoguns do to ensure Christianity would not take hold in Japan?
  • Who were the Dutch scholars?
Lesson 2 is about some of the changes that occurred during the isolation of the Edo period.

Questions addressed in Lesson 2 are the following:

  • What was the cost of the peaceful Japanese lifestyle of this period?
  • What economic changes occurred during this time, if any? Explain.
  • How did culture flourish during this time?
Lesson 3 is about the “cracks in the foundation” of Edo Japan (the factors that led to the end of Japan’s closed, feudal society).

Questions addressed in Lesson 3 include the following:

  • How was the social hierarchy changing?
  • How were the people reacting to problems that had arisen?
  • What was the effect of natural disasters?
  • Who was “knocking on Japan’s door”?

At the end of Chapter 15, you should be able to answer the following questions.

  1. In what ways does a society’s worldview affect its ability to adapt to rapid change?
  2. What factors motivated Japan’s decision to end its isolation?
  3. To what extent did the changes made during the Meiji Restoration affect the lives of citizens?
  4. What characteristics of Japanese culture allowed for successful rapid industrialization?


Lesson 1 is about what happened that made Japan start to end its isolation.

Questions addressed in Lesson 1 are the following:

  • Why did the American Commodore Perry sail into the harbour at Edo?
  • What treaty did the Japanese sign?
  • Why did the Japanese sign this treaty?
  • What happened in Japan because of the signing of the treaty?
Lesson 2 is about how the changes made during the Meiji Restoration affected people in Japan.

Questions addressed in Lesson 2 include the following:

  • What changes occurred at this time?
  • What was the effect of these changes?
  • How did the Japanese worldview change?
Lesson 3 is about what the Japanese people did to industrialize their country in a very short time period.

Questions addressed in Lesson 3 are the following:

  • What changes were necessary?
  • How did the Japanese learn about technology and industrialization?
  • How did the new industrialization fit into the Japanese culture?
  • How were the people affected?

At the end of Chapter 16, you should be able to answer the following questions.

  1. In what ways can intercultural contact affect a culture’s sense of identity?
  2. In what ways did resistance to rapid change lead to a return to a traditional Japanese worldview?
  3. What role did rapid change have in Japan becoming a military power with an expansionist worldview?
  4. How did the Japanese maintain their sense of identity through the Meiji period and beyond?


Lesson 1 is about what the Japanese government did to start the westernization process in Japan.

Questions addressed in Lesson 1 are the following:

  • Why did the Japanese want to win more respect for Japan?
  • What were some of the first cultural changes?
  • What laws were passed to make foreigners happy?
  • What changes were made in clothing?
  • What traditions were kept?
Lesson 2 is about how the Japanese people began to react to the rapid westernization. 

Questions addressed in Lesson 2 include the following:

  • Why were many Japanese upset with changes from westernization?
  • What important building was closed because of the backlash?
  • What big change in diet happened in Japan?
  • How did the Japanese return to their old values?
  • What changes occurred in religion and government?
Lesson 3 is about how Japan strengthened its armed forces and became an imperialist country.

Questions addressed in Lesson 3 are the following:

  • Why did Japan want a stronger military?
  • What steps did Japan take to strengthen its military?
  • What was the result of Japan’s new imperialism?
Lesson 4 is about how life in Japan continued to grow and change, and still does.

Questions addressed in Lesson 4 are the following:

  • How did the Japanese people maintain their sense of identity through periods of change?
  • How do we see these Japanese traits in modern times?