Glossary of Japanese History - S

S

• sadaijin (左大臣) - Senior Minister of State overseeing all branches of the Department of State with his deputy, the udaijin.
• sakoku (鎖国) - the "self-isolation" policy followed during the Edo period (1603-1867), under which Japan engaged in limited trade or communication with the outside world.
• samurai (侍) - the feudal Japanese noble warrior class.
• sankin kotai (参勤交代) - the Edo period (1603-1867) policy under which feudal lords (daimyo) had to travel to the capital in Edo annually, and to leave their families in Edo year-round. This was used by the shogun (warlord leader of the nation) to prevent rebellion.
• Sengoku period (戦国時代, sengoku jidai) was a time of social upheaval and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century.
• seppuku (切腹) - honorable ritual suicide. Also called hara-kiri. One of the death penalties which respected a samurai's honor. The belly was ceremonially cut and an assistant then cut the head from the back. Suicide allowed a samurai to keep his honor because it was considered dishonorable for a samurai to be killed by others.
• sesshō (摂政) - Imperial regent for a child emperor or empress; the regent often continued in this role, changing titles to kampaku once the child emperor came of age.
• shikken (執権) - the regent for the shogun during the Kamakura shogunate. The Hōjō clan monopolized the shikken post and was therefore the effective ruler of Japan.
• shinbutsu bunri (神仏分離) - The forcible separation of Buddhism and Shinto, in particular during the Meiji era.
• Shinto and Buddhism Separation Order (神仏判然令, Shinbutsu Hanzenrei) - A Meiji era law that forbade the mixing of Buddhism and Shinto, an effort to weaken Buddhist temporal power. See shinbutsu bunri
• shitsuji (執事) - see kanrei above.
• shizoku (士族) - literally "warrior families", term used to refer to former samurai after the abolition of the class system following the Meiji Restoration.
• shōen (荘園 or 庄園) - a manor and its fields.
• shogun (将軍) - warlord dictator; the practical head of the nation, having seized power militarily or inherited it from another shogun.
• shogunate - see bakufu
• shugo (守護) - officials appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more provinces.