Ōtomo Sōrin
Ōtomo Sōrin known as Fujiwara no Yoshishige and Ōtomo Yoshishige, was a Japanese feudal lord of the Ōtomo clan, one of the few to have converted to Roman Catholicism. The eldest son of Ōtomo Yoshiaki, he inherited the Funai Domain, on Kyūshū, Japan's southernmost main island, from his father, he is most significant for having appealed to Toyotomi Hideyoshi to intervene in Kyūshū against the Shimazu clan, thus spurring Hideyoshi's Kyūshū Campaign of 1587. In addition to unifying much of Kyūshū under his control, securing a significant gain in his clan's power and prestige therefore, Sōrin is quite significant as one of the daimyōs to meet with the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier in 1551, one of the first Europeans in Japan. Though he formally converted to Christianity, it is that Sōrin saw this as a strategic move and was not religiously motivated towards this position. Referred to as the "King of Bungo" in the Jesuit records, Sōrin sent political delegations to Goa in the 1550s, the Tenshō embassy to Rome in 1582.
In addition to fostering relations with the Christians, Yoshishige fought a number of battles over the course of the 1550s, both gaining and consolidating territory. He defeated Kikuchi Yoshimune in 1551, the warrior monks of Usa five years later. In 1561, Ōtomo Sōrin fought in alliance with the Portuguese at the Siege of Moji. In 1562, Yoshishige adopted the name "Sanbisai Sōrin" upon becoming a Buddhist monk, but remains best known as Ōtomo Sōrin, despite converting to Christianity under the baptismal name Francisco in 1578, he turned against the Mōri and Shimazu clans, who dominated most of Kyūshū. The head of the Mōri at that time, Mōri Takamoto, was assisted by the Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiteru, which led to a peace treaty between the clans. To prove that there would be peace, Sōrin proposed his daughter to be married to Takamoto's son, Mōri Terumoto, it is not clear, however, if this offer was followed through. Two years Sōrin was forced to quell a rebellion of the Akizuki clan of Chikuzen province.
The Ōtomo moved against the Ryūzōji clan of Hizen Province, which prompted the interference of the Mōri. In 1569, Hetsugi Akitsura, a notable vassal of the Ōtomo, was defeated at the battle of Tatarahama, lost Tachibana Castle. After Sōrin heard of this, he threatened the Mōri foothold in Buzen Province, forcing the Mōri to retreat, allowing him to retake the castle. By this time, Sōrin was in control of Bungo, most of Buzen, Chikuzen and had influence over Higo and Hizen; the Ōtomo soon became known as the "Seven-Province Host of the Ōtomo". Towards the end of his life, Sōrin came into conflict with the Shimazu family, the only major daimyō family remaining in control of significant portions of Kyūshū. Along with the daimyō of the Ryūzōji clan, he appealed to Toyotomi Hideyoshi to aid in holding back the Shimazu, who were beginning to extend their influence over Ōtomo and Ryūzōji lands. Though at first unsuccessful in enlisting Hideyoshi's aid the Shimazu took up arms against the Ōtomo, defeated Sōrin in the Battle of Mimigawa and others.
In 1587, Hideyoshi began his Kyūshū Campaign, in which he overtook the entire island, with the help of the Ōtomo and other families which voluntarily entered his service. Within a year of his arrival, Hideyoshi left Kyūshū, restoring the Ōtomo to their domains, taken from them by the Shimazu, arranging a peace, with all three families subject to Hideyoshi and holding the domains, now Toyotomi lands, in trust. Ōtomo Sōrin died before this campaign was complete, so it was his son, Ōtomo Yoshimune, who held the ancestral lands upon the defeat of the Shimazu. Ōtomo Chikasada Frederic, Louis. Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Sansom, George. A History of Japan: 1334–1615. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Turnbull, Stephen; the Samurai Sourcebook. London: Cassell & Co. Media related to Ōtomo Sōrin at Wikimedia Commons Otomo family information
Showa Denko
Showa Denko K. K. is a leading Japanese chemical engineering firm. Formed in 1939 by the merger of Nihon Electrical Industries and Showa Fertilizers, Showa Denko K. K. manufactures chemical products and industrial materials. SDK's products serve a wide array of fields ranging from heavy industry to the electronic and computer industries; the company is divided in five business sectors: petrochemicals, electronics and inorganic materials. Showa Denko has more than 180 subsidiaries and affiliates including Showa Denko America in New York, NY, USA; the company has vast overseas operations and a joint venture with Netherlands-based Montell and Nippon Petrochemicals to make and market polypropylenes. In March 2001, SDK merged with Showa Denko Aluminum Corporation to strengthen the high-value-added fabricated aluminum products operations, is today developing next-generation optical communications-use wafers. Showa Denko is a member of the Mizuho keiretsu. Prior to World War II it was a part of the Mori group of companies as Showa Fertilizer.
It was founded by Nobuteru Mori in the early 1930s, opened the first ammonium sulfate factory in Japan in April 1931. Milestones: Dec. 1908 Sobo Marine Products K. K. was established by Showa Denko founder, Nobuteru Mori, to manufacture and sell iodine in Chiba Prefecture. Sobo Marine Products subsequently developed into Nihon Iodine K. K. Oct. 1926 Nihon Iodine K. K. was established. Apr. 1928 Showa Fertilizers K. K. was established. Mar. 1934 Nihon Iodine K. K. was renamed as Nihon Electrical Industries K. K. Jun. 1939 Nihon Electrical Industries and Showa Fertilizers merged to form Showa Denko K. K. May. 1949 SDK was listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange. Sept. 1951 SDK was awarded the first Deming Prize. 1968 Dumped mercury in the Agano River, which caused widespread mercury poisoning Apr. 1969 Oita Petrochemical Complex started commercial operation. Mar. 1977 Second expansion project of ethylene production capacity was completed at SDK Oita Petrochemical Complex. Feb. 1986 SDK withdrew from its domestic aluminum smelting business.
Nov. 1989 Hard Disk Plant No. 1 completed in Chiba. Jan. 1995 Omachi Works obtained ISO 9001 certification. May. 1997 Production Technology Center obtained ISO 14001 certification. Mar. 2001 SDK merged with Showa Aluminum Corporation. Sept. 2003 Japan Polyolefins Co. Ltd. and Japan Polychem Corporation integrated the polyethylene businesses and established a new joint venture company. Jul. 2004 Trace Strage Technology Corp. become a consolidated subsidiary. Nov. 2004 SDK announced to produce high-power blue LED chips. Mar. 2005 SDK sold shares in SDS Biotech K. K. via MBO scheme. Jul. 2005 SDK started production of world's first perpendicular magnetic recording technology HD media. Jan. 2006 SDK opened new medium-term consolidated business plan "PASSION Project" for the 2006-2008 period. Sept. 2006 SDK opened. Dec. 2006 SDK opened new hard disk media plant in Singapore. Feb. 2007 SDK develops new crystal growth technology for GaN-based blue/white LEDs. Sept. 2007 SDK opened its second neodymium-based alloys plant in China.
Jun. 2008 Showa Tansan Co. Ltd. become a consolidated subsidiary. Hard Disc Media Showa Denko HD Pte. Ltd. Petrochemicals Showa Highpolymer Co. Ltd. Chemicals GMM Nonstick Coatings Nippon Polytech Corp. Inorganics Showa Titanium Co. Ltd. Showa Denko Kenso Co. Ltd. Tohoku Metal Chemical Co. Ltd. Aluminum Showa Aluminum Can Corp. Showa Denko Aluminum Trading K. K. Showa Denko Packaging Co. Ltd. Electronics, other Showa Engineering Co. Ltd. Showa Denko Kenzai K. K. Shoko Co. Ltd. Fuyo Perlite Co. Ltd. Union Showa K. K; the Petrochemicals Sector supports the growth of Showa Denko's basic business through the manufacture and sales of organic chemicals and specialty polymers. SDK is the leader of the Asian ethyl acetate market; the Oita Plant, the main manufacturing base, supplies SDK and other chemical companies with the basic materials for making acetyl derivatives, synthetic resin, synthetic rubber, styrene monomers. Innovative products include a new heat-resistant, transparent sheet and film that can be used in flexible displays such as electronic paper and organic EL displays.
Focused on general-purpose industrial gases, medical gases, industrial chemicals, SDK now provides a variety of products including high-purity gases and chemicals for the semiconductor industry. As the semiconductor industry shifted to other Asian locations, SDK established overseas specialty gases production sites in Shanghai and Singapore; the company offers an array of technologies and products covering various fields, including food additives, feed additives, cosmetic ingredients and agricultural intermediates, optical-function materials, information-recording materials, functional polymeric materials, differentiated composite material, liquid chromatography equipment. SDK launched an environmental initiative to reduce waste and encourage chemical recycling. In 2016 Showa Denko acquired GMM Nonstick Coatings, one of the world’s largest nonstick coatings companies founded in 2007 by Ravin Gandhi. Clients included companies in the American housewares industry including KitchenAid and Calphalon, in addition to foreign markets.
The Electronics Sector includes compound semiconductors, rare earth magnetic alloys, solid aluminum capacitors, hard disks. The compound semiconductors business deals with the crystal growth process, providing a wide range of products including Ult
Taketa, Ōita
Taketa is a city located in Ōita Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on March 31, 1954. On April 1, 2005, the towns of Kujū, Naoiri and Ogi were merged into Taketa; as of March 31, 2017, the city has an estimated population of 22,661, with 10,393 households and a population density of 47 persons per km². The total area is 477.59 km². Oka Castle is a famous local historic site. Iwao Akiyama, former woodblock printmaker Korechika Anami, former general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II Kenji Anan and film actor Takeo Hirose, former career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy Otoya Kawano, voice actor Media related to Taketa, Ōita at Wikimedia Commons Official website
Funai Castle
Funai Castle is a 16th-century castle, located in Ōita city, Ōita Prefecture, Japan. It was built by Ōtomo Sōrin in 1562; the castle was built with several turrets, all of which were burnt down with the three story donjon in 1743. The covered bridge that led to the castle over its moat, as well as several turrets, were rebuilt in the 20th century. Original remains include part of the moat. Schmorleitz, Morton S.. Castles in Japan. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co. ISBN 0-8048-1102-4
Precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, sleet, snow and hail. Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and "precipitates", thus and mist are not precipitation but suspensions, because the water vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated: cooling the air or adding water vapor to the air. Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called "showers."Moisture, lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain. This process is active when freezing rain occurs. A stationary front is present near the area of freezing rain and serves as the foci for forcing and rising air.
Provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content, the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds, namely stratus and cumulonimbus. The cloud droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops and descend toward the Earth where they will freeze on contact with exposed objects. Where warm water bodies are present, for example due to water evaporation from lakes, lake-effect snowfall becomes a concern downwind of the warm lakes within the cold cyclonic flow around the backside of extratropical cyclones. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy. Thundersnow is possible within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation. On the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. Most precipitation is caused by convection; the movement of the monsoon trough, or intertropical convergence zone, brings rainy seasons to savannah climes.
Precipitation is a major component of the water cycle, is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet. 505,000 cubic kilometres of water falls as precipitation each year. Given the Earth's surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres, but over land it is only 715 millimetres. Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Precipitation may occur on other celestial bodies, e.g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most takes the form of frost, rather than rain or snow. Precipitation is a major component of the water cycle, is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. 505,000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year, 398,000 km3 of it over the oceans. Given the Earth's surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres. Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective and orographic rainfall.
Convective processes involve strong vertical motions that can cause the overturning of the atmosphere in that location within an hour and cause heavy precipitation, while stratiform processes involve weaker upward motions and less intense precipitation. Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice. Mixtures of different types of precipitation, including types in different categories, can fall simultaneously. Liquid forms of precipitation include drizzle. Rain or drizzle that freezes on contact within a subfreezing air mass is called "freezing rain" or "freezing drizzle". Frozen forms of precipitation include snow, ice needles, ice pellets and graupel; the dew point is the temperature to which a parcel must be cooled in order to become saturated, condenses to water. Water vapor begins to condense on condensation nuclei such as dust and salt in order to form clouds. An elevated portion of a frontal zone forces broad areas of lift, which form clouds decks such as altostratus or cirrostratus.
Stratus is a stable cloud deck which tends to form when a cool, stable air mass is trapped underneath a warm air mass. It can form due to the lifting of advection fog during breezy conditions. There are four main mechanisms for cooling the air to its dew point: adiabatic cooling, conductive cooling, radiational cooling, evaporative cooling. Adiabatic cooling occurs when air expands; the air can rise due to convection, large-scale atmospheric motions, or a physical barrier such as a mountain. Conductive cooling occurs when the air comes into contact with a colder surface by being blown from one surface to another, for example from a liquid water surface to colder land. Radiational cooling occurs due to the emission of infrared radiation, either by the air or by the surface underneath. Evaporative cooling occurs when moisture is added to the air through evaporation, which forces the air temperature to cool to its wet-bulb temperature, or until it reaches saturation; the main ways water vapor is added to the air are: wind convergence into areas of upward motion, precipitation or virga falling from above, daytime heating evaporating water from the surface of oceans, water bodies or wet lan
Seto Inland Sea
The Seto Inland Sea known as Setouchi or shortened to Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. The region that includes the Seto Inland Sea and the coastal areas of Honshū, Kyūshū is known as the Setouchi Region, it serves as a waterway. It connects to Osaka Bay and provides a sea transport link to industrial centers in the Kansai region, including Osaka and Kobe. Before the construction of the San'yō Main Line, it was the main transportation link between Kansai and Kyūshū. Yamaguchi, Okayama, Hyōgo, Wakayama, Ehime, Fukuoka, Ōita prefectures all have coastlines on the Seto Inland Sea; the Setouchi region is known for its moderate climate, with a stable year-round temperature and low rainfall levels. The sea is famous for its periodic red tides caused by dense groupings of certain phytoplankton that result in the death of large numbers of fish. Since the 1980s, the sea's northern and southern shores have been connected by the three routes of the Honshū–Shikoku Bridge Project, including the Great Seto Bridge, which serves both railroad and automobile traffic.
The International Hydrographic Organization's definition of the limits of the Seto Inland Sea is as follows: On the West. The Southeastern limit of the Japan Sea. On the East. A line running from Takura Saki in Honsyû to Oishi Hana in the island of Awazi, through this island to Sio Saki and on to Oiso Saki in Sikoku. On the South. A line joining Sada Misaki in Sikoku and Seki Saki in Kyûsyû; the Seto Inland Sea is 450 km long from east to west. The width from south to north varies from 15 to 55 km. In most places, the water is shallow; the average depth is 38 m. Hydrologically, Setouchi is not a true inland sea, being neither an epeiric body of water like Hudson Bay nor an isolated endorheic basin like the Caspian Sea. Rather, it is a marginal sea; the Naruto Strait connects the eastern part of the Seto Inland Sea to the Kii Channel, which in turn connects to the Pacific Ocean. The western part of the Seto Inland Sea connects to the Sea of Japan through the Kanmon Straits and to the Pacific through the Bungo Channel.
Each part of the Seto Inland Sea has a separate name in Japanese. For example, Iyo-nada refers to the strait between Ehime, Ōita prefectures in the western portion of the sea. There are many straits located between the major islands, as well as a number of smaller ones that pass between islands or connect the Seto Inland Sea to other seas or the Pacific. 3,000 islands are located in the Seto Inland Sea, including the larger islands Awaji-shima and Shōdo-shima. Many of the smaller islands are uninhabited. Eastern part: Awaji Island, Shōdo Island, Ieshima Islands, Naoshima Islands, Shiwaku Islands Central part: Ōmishima, Itsukushima, Hinase Islands, Kasaoka Islands Western part: Suō-Ōshima, Uwakai Islands, Hashira-jima Islands. Over 500 marine species are known to live in the Seto Inland Sea. Examples are the ayu, an amphidromous fish, the horseshoe crab, the finless porpoise, the great white shark, which has attacked people in the Seto Inland Sea. In the past whales entered the sea to feed or breed, however due to whaling and pollution, they have disappeared from the Seto Inland Sea, except for occasional lost individuals.
It is believed. After the ice age, sea water poured into a basin between the Chūgoku mountains and Shikoku mountains and formed the Seto Inland Sea as we know it today. From ancient times, the Seto Inland Sea served as a main transport line between its coastal areas, including what is today the Kansai region and Kyūshū, it was a main transport line between Japan and other countries, including Korea and China. After the creation of major highways such as the Nankaidō and San'yōdō, the Seto Inland Sea remained a major transport route. There are records that some foreign emissaries from Korea sailed on the Seto Inland Sea. Due to the importance of water traffic, regional powers had their own private navies. In many documents, these navies were called suigun, or pirates. Sometimes they were considered to be public enemies, but in most cases they were granted the right to self-governance as a result of their strength. In the 12th century, Taira no Kiyomori planned to move the capital from Kyoto to the coastal village of Fukuhara to promote trade between Japan and the Song dynasty of China.
This transfer was unsuccessful, soon after Kyoto became the capital again. The Battle of Yashima took place off the coast of present-day Takamatsu. During the feudal period, suigun seized power in most coastal areas; the Kono in Iyo Province and Kobayakawa in Aki Province clans
Aveiro, Portugal (1978)
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Austin, Texas, United States (1990)
San Cristóbal, Táchira, Venezuela
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Lausanne, Switzerland
