During the Heian period (794-1191), there was a much-developed extent of the Japanese aristocratic society. The Japan aristocratic culture was fascinating because it had different values and practices from today’s world. In Heian Japan, there were four groups of power holders. Emperor and imperial family related to the first and the most powerful group. The second group consisted of aristocracy or nobility. Determining the rank of this group depended on one's overall state of the extended family. The third group comprised of an organized religion made up of some sects of Buddhism, such as the Tendai and the Shingon. Lastly, the heads of provincial warriors are the final powerful group where warriors have always enjoyed high prestige.
In Japan, one who held the court rank was known as Aristocrat. There were ten basic court ranks, and each level was subdivided into junior and senior grades. The top three positions had special privileges and enjoyed a particularly high status (Borgen, 2016) . To begin with, they were receiving a tax payment, "sustenance households," which depending on the rank varied from 900 to 4000 (what currency?). Secondly, they could hire domestic servants to assist their households at government expenses. Thirdly, they were buried under elaborate, grave mounds. Meanwhile, all aristocrats enjoyed special legal and economic privileges such as lighter punishments for crimes (i.e., no humiliating punishments), and exemption from taxation.
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Aristocrats could not choose what rank they relate to based on their abilities or skills. Rank was hereditary, meaning a rank parent or relative determined it (Hennessey, 2015). Ranks affected aristocrats' everyday life, and they acted in a way their status allowed them. The level determined the type of clothing, the type of carriage, location of a residence, and even type of fan. For example, the first three ranks carried fans with 25 folds, fourth and fifth levels given with 23 folds, while the 12-fold fan was in the hands of sixth rank and below.
References
Borgen, R. (2016). Imagining Exile in Heian Japan: Banishment in Law, Literature, and Cult by Jonathan Stockdale. The Journal of Japanese Studies , 42 (2), 398-402.
Hennessey, J. (2015). Discourses of the Heian Era and National Identity Formation in Contemporary Japan . Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University.
