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Welcome to Echoes of History, the place to explore the rich stories from the past that bring the world of Assassin's Creed to life. I'm your host, Matt Lewis. You're joining us as we dive deep into the heart of an era that has shaped legends and popular culture for centuries. In case you haven't seen it, the world premiere trailer for Assassin's Creed Shadows has been released, and we can see that it transports us to feudal Japan. This is a time renowned for its samurai and ninjas, a time bursting with history, culture and stories. And for the past few episodes, we've been exploring some of this fascinating period. So far, our journey has taken us back in time to the upheavals of the Sengoku period, as the seeds for the unification of Japan are being sown. We've travelled to the heart of Imperial Japan, then the city of Kyoto, and we've met some of the key characters that define this age. Today we invite you to imagine what daily life might have been like in feudal Japan. In Assassin's Creed Shadows, we'll meet a whole host of characters, including merchants, farmers, as well as legendary warriors. What would the average day have looked like for someone who was a farmer, a merchant, or maybe even a samurai? And what would they have dressed like? What would they do for fun? And what does all of this tell us about the social categories of the time? I'm joined by Kate Kitagawa, author and historian of mathematics. Kate currently works for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency as Senior Counsellor for International Relations. She's also a former teacher at Harvard University of the history of Medieval Japan. And this is the period we've invited Kate onto Echoes of History to talk about. Today we ask Kate to shed some light on the different people that made up Japanese society. People will meet in Assassin's Creed Shadows, and how the ever shifting political landscape of the 16th century shaped Japanese society and culture, paving the way towards unification. Welcome to Echoes of History, Kate. Thank you very much for having me today, Matt. Good to see you. I'm really excited to get into this episode about everyday life in Japan. How would we fit in if we found ourselves in feudal Japan as players of Assassin's Creed Shadows are about to? So if we're in the Sengoku period in Japan, who do you think you'd be, Kate? Are we peasant farmers? Are we merchants? I mean, obviously, I'm the most legendary samurai of all time. That's how I imagine myself in feudal Japan. But where do you see yourself? I also like to be a strong samurai, because that's probably the high chance of survival. And I probably would enjoy the most about the country life so that maybe like pedants in a countryside would be my second choice. But I would go with you a scenario. Maybe we both become the strong samurai. I think we would make a fantastic team and we would almost definitely take feudal Japan by storm, Kate. So how then is feudal society in Japan set up? Is there a class system similar to what we might recognize in the UK? You know, we have our class system. Is there that kind of categorization to society? Right. So the most famous categorization that we know of now started sometimes in the 17th century. So it was something like a pyramid. There's the strong samurai known as Shogun. It will be ruling, you know, always the country. But also there was an impeller. So this is like a high class, just very like few people at the top. And then there will be samurai class, the people with sword and they have the great fighting skills and so on. And then below that, there will be farmers and then artisans and merchants. So those people were in a hierarchy like a pyramid and it has been known as class system to install strongly during the 17th century. But before that, there are long history of a samurai ruling. And then back then, especially the time we called Sengoku, that's the time of war. Those class systems were not really rigid. So people were moving like more freely between the classes. So they would be fighting against each other. So the systems was not really working until the 17th century. So if we go back to like a beginning, then we could probably imagine us like being a strong samurai. And then there will be the clans around us to help us out and they will rule the regions. And then sometimes when we get into trouble, we must fight. But then, you know, those kinds of systems are strongly becoming more structural leading after the feudal society in the 17th and 18th century. I'm quite interested that when you listed that structure of society, farmers came above artisans and merchants. And I think in lots of Western cultures, it's possibly the other way around that we would consider the farmers to be beneath the artisans and the merchants. Is that quite an unusual thing for Japan that farmers were considered higher in the social ranking than merchants and artisans? Right. So merchants are at the bottom and then farmers are above them. So what happens to that structure is to praise farmers work even more and then to suppress the wrongdoings of merchants because merchants having like lots of money and they have skills to have the commercial activities going on. If they are like higher up near samurai, then there will be a high chance of having the conflict between them. So they decided that merchants to be at the bottom so that they have like less respect regarding the social class. But then they're still be able to do commerce and also a lot of money lending and all other activities that let the society move forward. Interesting. So the idea that they could become wealthy and powerful is counteracted by giving them much less status within society to stop them being a threat to the ruling samurai classes. What kind of jobs and what kind of crafts would people in feudal Japan have been engaged in? So we obviously have the farmers who are working the land, but what are the jobs and crafts are available? Right. Well, maybe one important thing is the sword makers because you know those swords and also all other armors, it has to be very strong and prestigious and expensive. So those are the professionals that will make only swords for life or only like armors for life. So those people are really succeeding their businesses or regenerations in other businesses. Unfortunately, there is a marginalized class that they dealt with, like say butchering and also like some sort of dirty work so that they are isolated from their mainstream society. And they have been recognized as like a specialized group, but also some sort of prejudice over this group. Those are different sorts of jobs that we recognize in history. It's interesting how some jobs can end up being viewed that way when they tend to also be vital to the economy. You know, if it's butchering, people want the animals to eat, they want the food, but they don't want to think about how it's arrived there. And there's some sense of a lack of desirability around the process of doing it, but somebody has to do it. Right. So that's very unfortunate in a way. And also from the time that we respect the farmers, that we hope that we respect all those people who will be engaged in those work that's necessary to our life. But it wasn't the case. But also one theory is about the blood being so impure. So for example, the butchering is involving with the blood and also like the taking life. That's really something that Buddhism disrespect, for example. So in that regard, those people have to be doing the work in the darkness or in the dark, in a way. That's why there are some people who are a little bit treated differently from the beginning. You're right that we would hope that those people would have gained much respect over time. How did the relationships work between some of those social classes? So we have a feudal system. How does land ownership work? If I'm a farmer, I'm quite well respected. Do I own my own land or do I hold that from someone who is socially superior to me? Right. That depends on the time. So the earlier times when imagine like long time ago, say 12th century and 13th century, land has still been like not registered. So that you have to claim the ownership and you have to be gaining approval from someone that has a power over the region. So around that time, the ownership has been decided between your land load and yourself. And your work will be defined between you two. But then when it becomes more complicated, the society evolves and then like commercial activities going on and then they will become more registration of the land. And that becomes more systematic than before. So over the time, because that personal bonding was stronger at the beginning, loyalty, for example, you have to be loyal to your land master or even the master himself. And then that becomes like in the beginning of how honoring the land becoming a part of the summarize work. So it has a little bit of evolution from the old times. And now, as you can imagine, that's in a feudal society was known for having a good working land ownership between the owners like rulers and the farmers or the samurai. Was there much movement between those social classes? Could someone who was born a farmer, could they rise through the ranks and become a daimyo? Or a local ruler of any kind? Or were things much more strictly controlled in terms of the levels of society? Strictly controlled. So unfortunately, they are not like sudden moves between the classes. So usually in farmers being registered as farmers and then they will be farmers forever. So back then during this Sengoku period, when the class systems were not really rigid, then back then, those are people who had the sword recognized as samurai. Then the people who did not have the sword were peasants. So those are like two types to begin with. And then at one point that this separation started to happen and then there is almost no point of return. So since then, the guys who were the family and also the clans that started to have no training in martial arts, meaning they have the swords and weapons, they become the samurai. And then the rest, it's always been fixed since the 17th century onward. And do we see that changing and being settled during the Sengoku period? So while all of this warring state period is going on, is that upheaval also affecting the social structures of Japanese society? Is it helping to free them up or is it helping to tighten them up? Well, it's an interesting question because I think it works both ways. So first of all, the samurai will have to decide their own sort of structure of the samurai, who's at the top and who will be supporters and who will be the helpers and so on. So around that time, it was more like making a system. But at the same time, as I said, the peasants, they could still become the samurai at that time because no registrations, no central authority and so on. So there are like massive dynamics going on. And at the same time, the rulers are deciding who will become stronger than Fum and if we own more land than Fum. So they're like both going on. That's like an interesting features of the Sengoku period. And if we're aspiring samurai, we're going to find our sword maker, we're going to find our armor maker and you and I are going to take feudal Japan by storm cake. But while we're preparing to do that, where are we living? What do houses look like during this period in the countryside and in the towns? Right. So these are very simple. So the countries are in towns. So they have the simple structure of just a roof and then some basic structures. And sometimes if somebody decided to have a fish market or some sort of market in front of their house, and then that's an origin of merchants class. But then they did have those decorations on the facade and then they will have something to sell in front of their houses. So that's a very basic structure. But for the higher classes, they had some sort of synchronization by building the tall castles, for example, that's like very visible sign of power. So the castle, it has to have the structure of visible strategy. So sometimes, you know, the sea or sort of canal surrounding it. So it's not just a tower because it's just a tower, then somebody will come and knock this out. So that's not great. So they have to show some sort of wisdom of having the barricade and wisely decorated on the side of the castle. And then it has to be told so that they can see or oversee the whole town and so on. So the house for the samurai becomes those inner quarter of structure, let's say castle keep. So then they will have some sort of, you know, symbolized lifestyle that the ruler would have. Also, there is a special structure related to the house is the tea house. You might have heard about the samurai practicing the tea ceremony, for example. And then tea ceremony has been done in a small room. And it's usually decorated specially for this, but decoration has to be very simple. So it's not like much of decoration having the items all over, but it's very simple. And then it has a structure representing the calmness and representing its own sort of traditions and so on. And sometimes the flowers just having that little flower display that would help also to show how this simple space will speak. So this tea house is not higher up in a castle, but it's usually separated and it's sometimes even in a mountainside. So those are the structures that's probably unique to the Japanese samurai society. And who would live in a family home? Did the Japanese people during this period keep extended families close to home or did they tend to sort of move out of home quite early? Right. Interesting question. So the margins or those people who started to sell specialized goods, they will be passing this business to the next generations. That means the family will stay closer together and necessarily so that usually the main house will have the first son and the second son and then third son somewhere in the region. And then the business will just keep on going until the next one will find the successor and then the next one will find the next next successor and so on. These structure let the family become very close. And then from the structure of the samurai as well, that they will have to be tight group. They have to be bonded very strongly, especially when they become massive fools, then they can't really have an internal conflict, ideally not. So they will have to have those structures and then the relatives will become the close vessels, for example, so that they will all live somewhere close. So imagine there is a castle, the ruler will be at the top and then they will have the village of the relatives and also close vessels, so like related clans. So they all live at one place. And then this is like a merchant group living and then selling the specialized goods to all the people, including the samurai. So the structure of the town started to become more categorized and then also samurai's region, like this is a samurai village and this is a market and so on. So those started to become more visible as the class structure started to become fixed. And one of the other things I'd like to talk a little bit about is what you and I might have worn if we found ourselves in Sengoku, Japan. I guess for women, we associate the kimono perhaps most closely with Japanese society. Is that what most women would have worn or is that unusual? Oh, it is usual formal clothing. So the kimono is the thing that the women would wear. And also for men as well, they would wear kimono but in a different sort of style and made. So the kimono usually has closings, you know, across the sleeves, you know, in front of you. And we both look at men and women wearing the same style and with this family crest sometimes here and there or around the neck. So you can see on the kimono which clan that you belong to and like what kind of class that you are associated with. So the kimono is not just beautiful but the quality and also the patterns that will make all the people stand out. And also patterns too, they wore cotton but also like kimono style make so that made is the same so they will look like they are wearing the same style of clothing. So were the styles between the upper and lower classes less about different shapes and styles of clothing and just more to do with the quality and the flamboyance and the flashiness of it? So when I looked at this folding screens made in the beginning of 17th century, they are depiction of women. So the high class woman had umbrella and also she wore a hat. So that would be a huge difference that it makes because in the lower class woman, they will wear kimono in a similar style, just the low quality but they will not usually have an umbrella and so on. So there will be a great difference that you can see even on the folding screens from the time of their living. You and I are going to look amazing when we take over feudal Japan cake. We're going to have the best swords and we're going to look absolutely fantastic. Right, yeah, I love to do this. And hopefully without violence too. So that's something that I focus on in my research because back then that was the only choice that those strong allied samurai will take over. And that did happen, we have to admit. But nowadays we like to give up the swords. So match with your virtue and then me, Kate being like say kind person, then we can make a great team to have a good influence to the world. And then back then it just started to become obvious about the muscle power, about swords and then killing and so on. But at the same time, women realize the importance of nonviolence as well. So the non-violent part, that's about women say having the writing skill. So women write to other people passing through the message. And then that message become the clear information that's been certified by the sender. And that was very important in the chaotic world that you need a very good writing to convey that information or will to pass on. So writing skill, it's non-violent, but it becomes also another tool to make promises. So once we become the rulers, we like to make rules and then somebody has to write about it. And then women really helped and then women educated children and so on. So with those powers of nonviolence that they started to create a better condition in a society, I think we need to really emphasize that aspect of the rulership as well. In what other ways would being a woman in feudal Japan have influenced your life during the period there? I mean, I guess, you know, I'm much more focused on medieval European society where women were treated very badly, kind of set to one side, often marginalized. But we do know that they operated this really soft power, which is similar to what you're talking about women doing in Japan. But in what other ways would being a woman make your life different from that of a man? Right. So women started to become financially independent during a single good time. So that's something different from other societies. The other societies why the woman stayed in the sort of like second class is that financially they will have to be dependent on their father or their husbands or even their sons. Then around that time of the unification of Japan, the Japanese women started to have their financial independence as one of the qualities of life that they will have to sustain. So that sometimes even the father died or husband died or any relatives died that they themselves can live. So it's like a starting point of having like a little bit of equality, a little bit of more rights in a society by claiming her own land or financial assets and so on. So I think they started to realize also about getting into the financial transaction that has made a great impact to the samurai world. It's not only men that could own the lands and wealth. Do you think women in medieval and early modern Japan had it better than women in medieval and early modern Europe? They seem like they had more independent power and authority and possibly more respect. Right. So I've been reading women's stories from all over the world and I think some people really exerted their wills and powers and also wishes and so on. So it might be really depending on the one's agency, like what they want to do with their lives. But in general, maybe the Japanese woman would have a little more equal rights to men than the women in medieval Europe on average, I must say. So one of the other things we would need to do to fit in in feudal Japan is to be able to find food for ourselves. We need to be able to eat. So players in the game, you know, they're trying to meld into feudal Japan and to pass for part of society. So if we were looking for a meal in Sengoku, Japan, what kind of food might we be eating? And is that different depending on our class? Right. Usually the basic food are the same. So the special food, like in seasonal ones or very expensive ones, those are consumed by the samurai's and in ruling classes. But the very basic things like, say, rice and grains mixed with fish and salted plants and all other nutritious fruits. I think those are the very basic things that everyone sort of shared in the society. So they used to eat twice per day. So one is obviously, sometimes like around breakfast, and then they will have another meal at night. And meal itself, as I said, will be simple, like say miso soup. You know, there's a soup that comes with the grain and then those are salted because preservatives almost always salt. So there are salted fish, salted pickles, and then other things comes with it. And then there's soup and then grain and then those combination are the basics. And then some unusual seasonal food, like the fish that only comes into the season or some sort of chestnuts. That's like really delicious, not just the dessert aspect of it, but it's more like seasonal aspect that they enjoy a lot. And then also some wealthy people will drink sake. So the sake has become a good item for the men to hang out together. And then they are enjoying the sake. And the lower class too, depending on like how rich and how poor, but they basically had an access to those drinks. So the varieties of drinks available for them. Do you think food at this time would have been nice? Would you have liked to live on the diet of feudal Japan? I've been hearing a lot about the balanced diet back then being so good. So sometimes when we go on diet, for example, we would like to shape up a little bit, say minus two, three kilos that we model, look back and say, look, you know, this is miso soup and then grain and then some pickles and then just salt is important for our bodies. So that's like a basic stuff to keep us going. So I think still a good part of wisdom that coming from the basic food from a long time ago sort of alive, you know, in our lives as well. Yeah. And I guess, you know, in a world of ultra processed food, we're talking about stuff that was really good for you and full of nutrition. But I really feel like I would have struggled with the two meals a day as a greedy man. I like my three meals a day. I feel like two would not be enough for me. And obviously you and I, we're now busy taking over Japan. What would we do if we wanted to relax? Were there games in medieval Japan that we know about? Right. One thing that the samurai ruler, especially the unifier, Toyotomi Hideyoshi liked, was the no play. So there are theatres all over Japan. That time theatre is actual place, like a stage, and then there will be some players. And it's even sort of 3D because imagine that there are some walls around this stage. And then on this side, like right side, that can be used for one scene. And then it moves to the second part, you know, to the front of the stage. And you know, the third part, again, like it comes back on the stage and then fourth part moves on to the left hand side. So those are really clever sort of 3D theatre that they had. And that's very joyous to watch. And at the same time, the samurai like to even play by themselves so that they could play the role of person A, you know, showing up at these scenes and so on. So that becomes more sort of an intellectual exercise combined with the games and joy. So I think that no play is really a good feature of that time. Also chess. Many people still play chess and they're really fascinating game. So similar to chess, Japan had go. So that's like a black and then white sort of stones spin on a table and then they play like chess. So they did have those things at the time, even like, you know, the merchant class and an artisans class, they enjoy that as well. For a long time ago, Japanese people like the haiku poems. So the haiku has a longer version that can be seen like so I will say first part and then Matt will continue and then I will reply depending on what Matt started to create. Could be the story that I will continue. It could be a reply to what you have said. So those kinds of wordplay that always been culture really interesting and a long standing culture of Japan. Amazing. It sounds like a medieval haiku rap battle that we could get engaged in. Right. That's right. And I guess one of the other things that we associate quite closely with Japan is sumo. When does sumo emerge as a sport? And is that something that people would go and watch as a big group? Is that a community activity to go and watch sumo? So I don't know exactly when that started, but I remember there is also a screen that's writing sumo wrestling scenes of I think that was rabbit and a frog. So the rabbit and frog playing the sumo coming from sometimes say around 12th century. That has been a really long time ago. So it's back as long as the feudal Japan's starting point of the samurai rulership. The sumo has been there for an entire time of Japanese samurai culture. And were there big religious festivals as well? We have bank holidays in the UK. Would there be days when everyone had the day off work to engage in a community celebration of some kind? So there are many celebrations. So at the ampullers, say court, there is a court system that ampuller and then other courtiers live. They have this calendar of events. So the calendars of events depend on like say in May, you will do this like bank holidays, as you said. So May, we will have this celebration. June, we have this celebration. So those seasonal events has been always recorded in the diary of courtiers. And similar to that, farmers depend on the harvest. So they will have the big festival to play for like huge, good grain, gaining this year and so on. So those kind of festivals also available. And for samurai, there are many different kinds. So one kind is similar to this ampuller size. So it's like a high culture. So they will adopt the seasonal events like taken into their regions and then they will do their own version of it. But at the same time, sometimes just to worship the dead or ancestors that they had a special occasions to sort of pray and then give some offerings at the events and so on. So the samurai class was more combining this high culture and also the religious side of the ceremonies altogether. So there are varieties of the events that's happening. And also it's a class specific as well. It's been fascinating to try to understand better the social structures, the way that Japan worked, the kind of food that people would eat, what you might have worn to try and fit in and blend in. But for most people during the Sengoku period, would they have been aware of the high politics and the war and the struggles that are going on? Or are we talking about most of the population would still be farming and just trying to get the crops in every year and not really engaging too much with the politics that's going on? Would it have affected everybody's daily lives or would it have been really an issue of the upper classes fighting with each other? Okay, that's really interesting question. So the first segment of the samurai rule, the samurai's so-called headquarters was in Kamakura that's currently Kamakura city near Tokyo. So the Tokyo city was not known at the time that Tokyo was a city yet, but the Kamakura was not known nationwide. So when the Kamakura rulership was going on and being consolidated, it's not that many people would know about the politics. So it's like say regional understandings of this is where Shogun lives and this is what Shogun does. And then in Kyoto, there is an impeller and has been residing all the time. So the Kyoto people like residents will be more aware of what's happening around the courtiers and so on. So around the first sort of segment of time, the very first samurai rules, I would say that not so many people would know about the politics. That will continue the middle segments of the samurai rule that we call usually medieval Japan. And then medieval Japan as well, this Kamakura headquarters of the samurai has been moved and taken by a different family. And the samurai headquarters became the Kyoto as well. So in Kyoto, the dual structure of this courtiers and pillars house and the Shogunate. So the Kyoto people will be really subject to what political moves are. But other people like say around outside of Kyoto, they will be happily living in their regions and then they will have those like farming going on and they will have rather stable time so they could enjoy. And around the time, the clear cut was this big wall called Oni-War. So that's 1467, so like mid 15th century. And since that time, I say 150 years, it will be a chaotic time of war. So the political system was collapsing and then people will be seeing the fights all over. And as I said, the class system was not yet. So people could take up the weapons so easily, so that taking up the weapons so easily, meaning that they will have to know what's going on in the politics. So this 150 years of fighting and not only the samurai, but so many people nationwide will know about what's going on at the top level. And afterwards, this peaceful sort of ruling started to happen by the Shogunet Tokugawa. So that's 17th century and onward. So the class system is becoming more rigid and then people are becoming very calm and also practicing their own religions. And it's not all about so happy every day, but here's things compared to other times like Sengoku, Japan, or those 150 years that people had less affected by the politics. So those are some sort of sequence of the time that people are interested or emboldened politics. Yeah, so in terms of Assassin's Creed shadows, when players are in Japan in this Sengoku period, they are in a time when people are really heightened and aware that there is civil war, there is politics, there is things going on all over the place. It almost is getting into every aspect of everybody's life all throughout Japan. So you're in a place that is on heightened alert, if you like. That's right. And I guess the last question I have then, so I would undoubtedly, as much as I would like to think of myself as the greatest samurai of all time, if I were in feudal Japan, I'd probably be rubbish. I'd really struggle with two meals a day. I'd probably faint. How do you think you would have fared? Could you have lived in Sengoku, Japan? Oh, wow. That's an interesting question. I think I will secretly eat the third meal. That's probably the point to survive, if I could be a wealthy enough. But I think the Sengoku, Japan, was very critical that people thought about the system, how the human has to be living, what the meanings of the family, love, and life itself. So I think that was a time that people really lived. In a short time, there are some unfortunate incidences of death and so on. But I think the Sengoku time that I really cherish as a historian. And if I were there at that time, that I would probably have life that I would be convinced that I lived. Yeah, it's interesting that it's such an important part of Japanese history and culture. If I could steal that third meal, and if you and I could find decent sword makers, I feel like we could take Japan, or at least we could have a go. That's right. It's the most legendary Sengoku together. Okay, that's been absolutely fascinating. I hope that's given people an idea of what it might be like to be on the ground in feudal Japan, the buildings you're going to see, the people you're going to encounter, the food you're going to have to eat, and the way that you're going to have to live your life to fit into feudal Japan. It's been absolutely fascinating. Thank you so much for joining us to share all of that. Thank you very much. Thank you for listening to this episode of Echoes of History, a Ubisoft podcast brought to you by HistoryHit. Next time we leave feudal Japan and head to a different world from the Assassin's Creed universe, Victorian London, to meet the person who gave that era its name, Queen Victoria. So join us for the next episode to find out more about the history behind the world of Assassin's Creed.