By the time Empress Suiko and Prince Shotoku came to power in 593, cultural influences from the Asian mainland had been reaching Japan for hundreds of years. For example, craftspeople from the Korean Peninsula had brought knowledge of bronze casting and advanced ironworking to Japan. Immigrants and visitors from Korea had also introduced Japan to Confucianism and Buddhism. However, as Suiko, Shotoku, and later rulers sought out contact with the mainland, the pace of cultural diffusion quickened.Japan in Empress Suiko's and Prince Shotoku's day was a rural, agricultural society. People grew rice and other crops. The upper classes enslaved people and lived in houses with wooden floors and roofs of wood or thatch. The common people lived in huts with dirt floors and thatched roofs. Family life centered on the mother, who raised the children, while fathers often lived apart from their families. Compared to later eras, women enjoyed relatively high status.Japan at this time was far from being a unified country. Power was divided among chiefs of a number of clans called uji (OOH-jee). But one ruling family in the region of Yamato, on the island of Honshu, had grown powerful enough to loosely control much of Japan. Empress Suiko came from this line of rulers, as did Prince Shotoku, who ruled as regent under the empress.Under Suiko, Shotoku, and later rulers, the government of Japan took an active interest in Korean and Chinese culture. Sometimes, knowledge of mainland culture came from Japanese who traveled to China. Sometimes, it came in the form of gifts, such as books and art objects, sent from the mainland to Japan. Sometimes, it came from Korean workers who settled in Japan, bringing their knowledge and skills with them.During the next three centuries, Japan sent officials, students, translators, and monks on ships across the sea to China. These people often remained in China for years before returning home with what they had learned. They also brought many examples of mainland culture, including paintings, religious statues, and musical instruments. As a result of these contacts, the Japanese acquired new ideas in government, the arts, architecture, and writing.The Japanese did not just change their old ways for new ways, however. Instead, they blended new ideas with their own traditions to create a unique culture. Let's look at several areas in which this happened, beginning with government.