By examining Japan and Medieval Europes past, both areas had feudalism incorporated in their social structure. Feudalism was a relationship among the upper class, in which a member of the nobility was granted land, and in return promised to protect the king, who gave them their land. The nobility referred to are counts in Europe and daimyo in Japan. Both are generally governors who rule over a substantial subsection of the empire with certain duties and obligations. Daimyo and counts are very similar with some slight difference like whether their power is handed down by heredity and how much power they really have.
The term count was originally just a companion of princes,
but from the time of the early Germanic kingdoms it was also used to designate local agents of public power exercising their authority as royal representatives.”(1) As feudalism became prominent in the Carolingian Empire, counts became the main officers and were designated to rule over a county. Their job was to maintain peace, conduct military affairs, administer justice, assess revenues, summon warriors, etc.
Originally the positions of counts were not held because of hereditary, but in the 10th -11th centuries the office was kept in the same family. Carolingian counts specifically, were “generally members of important aristocratic families.”(2) For example, the successful counts such as Flanders, Champagne, and Toulouse passed their powers on to their sons to insure their well being.
Originally when feudalism was 1st forming in the Carolingian Empire, the king divided his empire among his counts, who were directly responsible back to him. It is known as the king-lord contract; where a king grants the lesser with land and in return the nobles (counts) must protect the king. Therefore, the king sent out officials to check up on the counts to make sure that they were ruling their county as the king wished. “The emperor did not hesitate to dispose any count guilty of bad administration.”(3) Not only could the counts be removed by the king but they could also be transferred to another county.
The king however did not keep his power forever. For eventually the counts gained more and more power. As their power rose, the empire became decentralized. The people under the counts were not loyal to the king who was miles away, they were loyal to the count that rain their area. He knew was special needs they needed and was able to become more personal with the people he ruled. When the king lost complete power, the lords took over and created manorialism.
The Daimyo of Japan have many similarities to the counts in medieval Europe. “The term daimyo came to be applied to those military lords who began exercising territorial control over the various private estates into which the country had become divided.”(4) They are considered governors who have military control, administer justice and are in charge of taxes. The king granted the first daimyo their land because they had won a battle or some more land for the king. The land is just some kind of repayment for what they did. In return for the land that the king gave them, Daimyo promised to give military support to the government. Each Daimyo is separate from each other and fought over boundaries. They compete for power and this is similar to the uji in earlier Japan.
Each Daimyos area had its own army and bureaucracy which made each daimyo more and more separate from each other. Also, this was a great amount of power that the king granted them. Eventually, the Daimyos ruled over their province with total control. For decentralization of the kings power occurred just like it did in Europe.
A specific Daimyo family called the Sengoku built many castles to show their wealth and power. Also they supported many merchants and artisans, for they realized that by working hand and hand with them, they would receive the finest clothes and food. For Daimyos “local interests often took priority over the needs of the whole nation.”(5) This means that the Daimyos often looked out for their own well-being and raising their power rather than helping out their province as a whole.
All and all, after analyzing my information, I believe that counts and daimyos were generally the same. Both were governors of a subsection of their empire, and they eventually took control of their area. Also both positions ended up being hereditary, only counts were originally granted their land by merit. Even though the two cultures were thousands of miles apart, they both were able to develop a similar social structure.