What Are The Differences Between The Ottoman Empire And Japan

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Throughout history, foreign policies and views of foreigners differed from empire to empire. The Ottoman Turks, an incredibly long lasting, Muslim empire, were quite welcoming towards foreigners. Their leaders were tolerant of other religions and were open for foreign merchants to enter their markets. In contrast, the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan shut themselves out from the world. Under Oda Nobunaga, Japan was fair but after his death this changed. They persecuted Christians and only allowed the Dutch to trade with them at a specific port. These two powerful empires have foreign policies that show how varied, yet similar, foreign policies can be, and show how differently leaders of the same empire view the same topic.
The Ottomans and Japan …show more content…

The Ottoman empire had a long history of using foreigners as slaves. The Janissaries were boys taken from the Balkans to be soldier-slaves for the Ottomans. They took these boys from their homes and used them as a cavalry in their strong military. Near the end of the empire, the Janissaries had gained much power which eventually aided in the fall of the empire. The Ottomans were not scared of the outside world. They continued to expand their vast empire, almost until it fell. The Ottomans spread themselves out and had many various cultures and people living within their empire. This is very different from how Japan came to later view and treat foreigners. Under Nobunaga, Japan traded with foreigners and was tolerant of new religions. However under the Tokugawa shogunate, the empire completely changed these policies. The Buddhist uprisings in Japan had ended, so the need for Christians in court was nonexistent. Along with this, the people of Japan became more dedicated to their faith than to the shogun. They would refuse to follow some orders of the shogun if they believed it went against their newfound religion. This greatly angered Tokugawa and he began to persecute the Christians. He eventually led Japan into a period of isolationism. Isolationism has been long used in history, even in the United States. Before entering World War II, the United States took on a policy of isolationism to protect themselves. Japan turned away from the world as a way of keeping themselves safe from foreign invasion. Unlike the Ottomans, Japan never let foreigners gain significant power, and when it seemed like they may the shogun essentially removed all foreigners. Japan stopped trading with foreigners almost all together, save for the Dutch at a small port. No foreigners were to step on Japanese land. Japan shut themselves out of the rest of the world to protect

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