1.
Japanese name
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Japanese names in modern times usually consist of a family name, followed by a given name. More than one name is not generally used. Japanese names are written in kanji, which are characters usually Chinese in origin. The kanji for a name may have a variety of possible Japanese pronunciations, Names written in hiragana or katakana are phonetic renderings, and so lack the visual meaning of names expressed in the logographic kanji. Japanese family names are extremely varied, according to estimates, there are over 100,000 different surnames in use today in Japan, the three most common family names in Japan are Satō, Suzuki, and Takahashi. Many Japanese family names derive from features of the landscape, for example, Ishikawa means stone river, Yamamoto means the base of the mountain. While family names follow relatively consistent rules, given names are more diverse in pronunciation. Unusual pronunciations have especially become common, with this trend having increased significantly since the 1990s, male names often end in -rō or -ta, or contain ichi, kazu, ji, or dai while female names often end in -ko or -mi. Other popular endings for female names include -ka and -na, the majority of Japanese people have one surname and one given name with no other names, except for the Japanese imperial family, whose members bear no surname. The family name – myōji, uji or sei – precedes the given name, the given name may be referred to as the lower name because, in vertically written Japanese, the given name appears under the family name. People with mixed Japanese and foreign parentage may have middle names, historically, myōji, uji and sei had different meanings. Sei was originally the patrilineal surname which is why up till now it has granted only by the emperor as a title of male rank. The lower form of the name sei being tei which is a name in Japanese men. Although there was an ancestor in ancient Japan from whom the name Sei originally came. There were relatively few sei, and most of the noble clans trace their lineage either directly to these sei or to the courtiers of these sei. Uji was another name used to designate patrilineal descent, but later merged with myōji around the same time, myōji was, simply, what a family chooses to call itself, as opposed to the sei granted by the emperor. While it was passed on patrilineally in male ancestors including in male ancestors called haku, multiple Japanese characters have the same pronunciations, so several Japanese names have multiple meanings. A particular kanji itself can have multiple meanings and pronunciations, in some names, Japanese characters phonetically spell a name and have no intended meaning behind them
2.
Prince
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A prince is a male ruler, monarch, or member of a monarchs or former monarchs family. Prince is also a title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess, the English word derives, via the French word prince, from the Latin noun princeps, from primus + capio, meaning the chief, most distinguished, ruler, prince. The Latin word prīnceps, became the title of the informal leader of the Roman senate some centuries before the transition to empire. Emperor Augustus established the position of monarch on the basis of principate. The term may be used of persons in various cultures. These titles were borne by courtesy and preserved by tradition, not law, in medieval and Early Modern Europe, there were as many as two hundred such territories, especially in Italy, Germany, and Gaelic Ireland. In this sense, prince is used of any and all rulers and this is the Renaissance use of the term found in Niccolò Machiavellis famous work, Il Principe. Most small territories designated as principalities during feudal eras were allodial and this is attested in some surviving styles for e. g. British earls, marquesses, and dukes are still addressed by the Crown on ceremonial occasions as high, in parts of the Holy Roman Empire in which primogeniture did not prevail, all legitimate agnates had an equal right to the familys hereditary titles. Gradual substitution of the title of Prinz for the title of Fürst occurred. Both Prinz and Fürst are translated into English as prince, but they not only different. This distinction had evolved before the 18th century for dynasties headed by a Fürst in Germany, note that the princely title was used as a prefix to his Christian name, which also became customary. Cadets of Frances other princes étrangers affected similar usage under the Bourbon kings, the post-medieval rank of gefürsteter Graf embraced but elevated the German equivalent of the intermediate French, English and Spanish nobles. By the 19th century, cadets of a Fürst would become known as Prinzen, the husband of a queen regnant is usually titled prince consort or simply prince, whereas the wives of male monarchs take the female equivalent of their husbands title. In Brazil, Portugal and Spain, however, the husband of a monarch was accorded the masculine equivalent of her title. To complicate matters, the style His/Her Highness, a prefix often accompanying the title of a dynastic prince, although the arrangement set out above is the one that is most commonly understood, there are also different systems. Depending on country, epoch, and translation, other usages of prince are possible, foreign-language titles such as Italian principe, French prince, German Fürst and Prinz, Russian knyaz, etc. are usually translated as prince in English
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Privy Council of Japan
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The Privy Council of Japan was an advisory council to the Emperor of Japan that operated from 1888 to 1947. Generally on the advice of the cabinet, the Privy Council had both judicial functions and certain executive functions. However, the council had no power to initiate legislation, the Privy Council of Japan was established by an imperial ordinance of Emperor Meiji dated 28 April 1888, under the presidency of Ito Hirobumi, to deliberate on the draft constitution. The Privy Council consisted of a chairman, a chairman, twelve councilors, a chief secretary. All privy councilors including the president and the president were appointed by the emperor for life, on the advice of the prime minister. In addition to the twenty-four voting privy counselors, the prime minister, the princes of the imperial household over the age of majority were permitted to attend meetings of the Privy Council and could participate in its proceedings. The president had extraordinary power, as it was he who called and controlled the meetings of the Council, the Council always met in secret at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, with the emperor in attendance on important occasions. The Council was empowered to deliberate on any matters upon which the emperor desired an opinion, the Privy Council was thenceforth largely ignored, and it was not even consulted when Japan decided to declare war on the United States in 1941. The Privy Council was abolished with the enforcement of the current postwar Constitution of Japan on 3 May 1947, lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan Beasley, William G. A Modern History of Japan, From Tokugawa Times to the Present, ISBN9780674003347, OCLC44090600 Takenobu, Yoshitaro. The Japan Yearbook, Complete Cyclopaedia of General Information and Statistics on Japan, Tokyo, The Japan Year Book Office
4.
Emperor Meiji
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Emperor Meiji, or Meiji the Great, was the 122nd Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from February 3,1867 until his death on July 30,1912. By the time of his death in 1912, Japan had undergone a political, social, and industrial revolution at home and emerged as one of the great powers on the world stage. The New York Times summed up this transformation at his funeral in 1912, with the words, before it went old Japan, after it came new Japan. Having ruled during the Meiji period, the Emperor is thus known as the Meiji Emperor or simply Emperor Meiji. His personal name, which is not used in any formal or official context, the Tokugawa shogunate had established itself in the early 17th century. Under its rule, the shogun governed Japan, about 180 lords, known as daimyō, ruled autonomous realms under the shogun, who occasionally called upon the daimyō for gifts, but did not tax them. The shogun controlled the daimyō in other ways, only the shogun could approve their marriages, and the shogun could divest a daimyō of his lands. In 1615, the first Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had retired from his position, and his son Tokugawa Hidetada. Under it, the Emperor was required to devote his time to scholarship, the Emperors under the shogunate appear to have closely adhered to this code, studying Confucian classics and devoting time to poetry and calligraphy. They were only taught the rudiments of Japanese and Chinese history, the shogun did not seek the consent or advice of the Emperor for his actions. Emperors almost never left their compound, or Gosho in Kyoto. Few Emperors lived long enough to retire, of the Meiji Emperors five predecessors, only his grandfather lived into his forties, dying aged forty-six. The Imperial Family suffered very high rates of infant mortality, all five of the Emperors brothers and sisters died as infants, soon after taking control in the early seventeenth century, shogunate officials ended much Western trade with Japan, and barred missionaries from the islands. In addition to the substantial Chinese trade, only the Dutch continued trade with Japan, however, by the early 19th century, European and American vessels appeared in the waters around Japan with increasing frequency. Prince Mutsuhito was born on November 3,1852 in a house on his maternal grandfathers property at the north end of the Gosho. At the time, a birth was believed to be polluting, so imperial princes were not born in the Palace, the boys mother, Nakayama Yoshiko, was a concubine to his father Emperor Kōmei, and was the daughter of the acting major counselor, Nakayama Tadayasu. The young prince was given the name Sachinomiya, or Prince Sachi, the young prince was born at a time of change for Japan. This change was symbolized dramatically when Commodore Matthew Perry and his squadron of what the Japanese dubbed the Black Ships, Perry sought to open Japan to trade, and warned the Japanese of military consequences if they did not agree
5.
Saionji Kinmochi
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Prince Saionji Kinmochi was a Japanese politician, statesman and twice Prime Minister of Japan. His title does not signify the son of an emperor, but the highest rank of Japanese hereditary nobility, as the last surviving genrō, he was Japans most honored statesman of the 1920s and 1930s. Kinmochi was born in Kyoto as the son of Udaijin Tokudaiji Kinito and he was adopted by another kuge family, the Saionji, in 1851. However, he grew up near his parents, since both the Tokudaiji and Saionji lived very near the Kyoto Imperial Palace. The young Saionji Kinmochi was frequently ordered to visit the palace as a playmate of the prince who later became Emperor Meiji. Over time they became close friends, kinmochis biological brother Tokudaiji Sanetsune later became the Grand Chamberlain of Japan. Another younger brother was adopted into the very wealthy Sumitomo family, Sumitomo money largely financed Saionjis political career. His close relationship to the Imperial Court opened all doors to him, in his later political life, he was an influence on both the Taishō and Shōwa emperors. As the heir of a family, Saionji participated in politics from an early age and was known for his brilliant talent. Some noblemen at the Imperial Court considered the war to be a dispute of the samurai of Satsuma. Saionji held the opinion that the nobles of the Imperial Court should seize the initiative. He participated in battles as an imperial representative. One of his first encounters involved taking Kameoka Castle without a fight, the next encounter was at Sasayama Castle. Several hundred Samurai from both sides met on the nearby, but the defenders immediately surrendered. Then Fukuchiyama surrendered without a fight, by this time he had acquired an Imperial banner made by Iwakura Tomomi, featuring a sun and moon on a red field. Other Samurai did not want to attack the army with the imperial banner, after two weeks Saionji reached Kitsuki, and following another bloodless encounter, Saionji returned to by ship to Osaka. Matters did eventually come to an end at Nagaoka Castle, however, Saionji was relieved from command in the actual battle and appointed governor of Echigo. After the Meiji Restoration, Saionji resigned, with the support of Ōmura Masujirō he studied French in Tokyo
6.
Yamagata Aritomo
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Field Marshal Prince Yamagata Aritomo, also known as Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and twice Prime Minister of Japan. He is considered one of the architects of the military and political foundations of early modern Japan, Yamagata Aritomo can be seen as the father of Japanese militarism. Yamagata was born in a samurai family from Hagi, the capital of the feudal domain of Chōshū. He went to Shokasonjuku, a school run by Yoshida Shōin. He was a commander in the Kiheitai, an organization created on semi-western lines by the Chōshū domain. During the Boshin War, the revolution of 1867 and 1868 often called the Meiji Restoration, after the defeat of the Tokugawa, Yamagata together with Saigō Tsugumichi was selected by the leaders of the new government to go to Europe in 1869 to research European military systems. Yamagata like many Japanese was strongly influenced by the recent striking success of Prussia in transforming itself from a state to a leading modern industrial. He accepted Prussian political ideas, which favored military expansion abroad, on returning he was asked to organize a national army for Japan, and he became War Minister in 1873. Yamagata energetically modernized the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army, and modeled it after the Prussian Army and he began a system of military conscription in 1873. He was Chief of the Army General Staff in 1878–1882, 1884–85, Yamagata in 1877 led the newly modernized Imperial Army against the Satsuma Rebellion led by his former comrade in revolution, Saigō Takamori of Satsuma. At the end of the war, when Saigos severed head was brought to Yamagata, he ordered it washed and he also prompted Emperor Meiji to write the Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors, in 1882. This document was considered the core of the Japanese Army. Yamagata was awarded the rank of marshal in 1898. He is considered political and military ideological ancestor of the Hokushin-ron as he traced the first lines of a defensive strategy against Russia after Russo-Japanese War. Yamagata was one of the group of seven leaders, later called the genrō. The word can be translated principal elders or senior statesmen, the genrō were a subset of the revolutionary leaders who shared common objectives and who by about 1880 had forced out or isolated the other original leaders. These seven men led Japan for many years, through its transformation from an agricultural country into a modern military. All the genrō served at times as cabinet ministers
7.
Prime Minister of Japan
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The Prime Minister of Japan is the head of government of Japan. The Prime Minister is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the National Diet and he or she is the head of the Cabinet and appoints and dismisses the other Ministers of State. The literal translation of the Japanese name for the office is Minister for the Comprehensive Administration of the Cabinet, prior to the adoption of the Meiji Constitution, Japan had in practice no written constitution. Originally, a Chinese-inspired legal system known as ritsuryō was enacted in the late Asuka period, theoretically, the last ritsuryō code, the Yōrō Code enacted in 752, was still in force at the time of the Meiji Restoration. It took its current form with the adoption of the Constitution of Japan in 1947, to date,62 people have served this position. The current Prime Minister is Shinzō Abe, who re-took office on December 26,2012 and he is the first former Prime Minister to return to office since 1948, and the 6th longest serving member to date. The Prime Minister is designated by both houses of the Diet, before the conduct of any other business, for that purpose, each conducts a ballot under the run-off system. If the two houses choose different individuals, then a joint committee of both houses is appointed to agree on a common candidate. Ultimately, however, if the two houses do not agree within ten days, the decision of the House of Representatives is deemed to be that of the Diet, therefore, the House of Representatives can theoretically ensure the appointment of any Prime Minister it wants. The candidate is presented with their commission, and formally appointed to office by the Emperor. Must be a member of house of the Diet. Note that former officers from the World War II-era may be appointed prime minister despite the civilian requirement. Exercises control and supervision over the executive branch. Presents bills to the Diet on behalf of the Cabinet, appoints all Cabinet ministers, and can dismiss them at any time. May permit legal action to be taken against Cabinet ministers, must make reports on domestic and foreign relations to the Diet. Must report to the Diet upon demand to provide answers or explanations, may advise the Emperor to dissolve the Diets House of Representatives. Presides over meetings of the Cabinet, commander in chief of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. May override a court injunction against an act upon showing of cause
8.
Matsukata Masayoshi
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Prince Matsukata Masayoshi was a Japanese politician and the 4th and 6th Prime Minister of Japan. Matsukata was born into a family in Kagoshima, Satsuma Province. At the age of 13, he entered the Zoshikan, the Satsuma domains Confucian academy, where he studied the teachings of Wang Yangming and he started his career as a bureaucrat of the Satsuma Domain. In 1866, he was sent to Nagasaki to study science, mathematics. Matsukata was highly regarded by Ōkubo Toshimichi and Saigō Takamori, who used him as their liaison between Kyoto and the government in Kagoshima. Knowing that war was coming between Satsuma and the Tokugawa, Matsukata purchased a ship available in Nagasaki for use in the coming conflict and this ship was then given the name Kasuga. The leaders of Satsuma felt the ship was best used as cargo vessel, just a few months later the Kasuga did become a warship and it fought in the Boshin War against the Tokugawa ships. At the time of the Meiji Restoration, he helped maintain order in Nagasaki after the collapse of the Tokugawa bakufu, in 1868, Matsukata was appointed governor of Hita Prefecture by his friend Okubo who was the powerful minister of the interior for the new Meiji government. As governor Matsukata instituted a number of reforms including road building, starting the port of Beppu and his ability as an administrator was noted in Tokyo and after two years he was summoned to the capital. Matsukata moved to Tokyo in 1871 and began work on drafting laws for the Land Tax Reform of 1873–1881. The new tax system was different from the traditional tax gathering system, which required taxes to be paid with rice varied according to location. The new system took years to be accepted by the Japanese people. Matsukata became Lord Home Minister in 1880, in the following year, when Ōkuma Shigenobu was expelled in a political upheaval, he became Lord Finance Minister. The Japanese economy was in a crisis due to rampant inflation. Matsukata introduced a policy of restraint that resulted in what has come to be called the Matsukata Deflation. The economy was stabilized, but the resulting crash in commodity prices caused many smaller landholders to lose their fields to money-lending neighbors. Matsukata also established the Bank of Japan in 1882, when Itō Hirobumi was appointed the first modern-day Prime Minister of Japan in 1885, he named Matsukata to be the first Finance Minister in his cabinet. Matsukata also sought to protect Japanese industry from foreign competition, but was restricted by the unequal treaties, the unavailability of protectionist devices probably benefited Japan in the long run, as it enabled Japan to develop its export industries
9.
Kuroda Kiyotaka
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Count Kuroda Kiyotaka, also known as Kuroda Ryōsuke, was a Japanese politician of the Meiji era. He was the second Prime Minister of Japan from April 30,1888, Kuroda was born to a samurai-class family serving the Shimazu daimyō of Kagoshima, Satsuma Domain, in Kyūshū. In 1862, Kuroda was involved in the Namamugi incident, in which Satsuma retainers killed a British national who refused to bow down to the daimyos procession and this led to the Anglo-Satsuma War in 1863, in which Kuroda played an active role. Immediately after the war, he went to Edo where he studied gunnery, returning to Satsuma, Kuroda became an active member of the Satsuma-Chōshū joint effort to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate. Later, as a leader in the Boshin War, he became famous for sparing the life of Enomoto Takeaki. Under the new Meiji government, Kuroda became a pioneer-diplomat to Karafuto, terrified of Russias push eastward, Kuroda returned to Tokyo and advocated quick development and settlement of Japans northern frontier. In 1871 he traveled to Europe and the United States for five months and he was also promoted to lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army. Kuroda invited agricultural experts from countries with a similar climate to visit Hokkaidō. Kuroda was dispatched as an envoy to Korea in 1875, in 1877, he was sent as part of the force to suppress the Satsuma Rebellion. In 1878, he became de facto leader of Satsuma Domain following the assassination of Ōkubo Toshimichi, shortly before he left office in Hokkaidō, Kuroda became the central figure in the Hokkaidō Colonization Office Scandal of 1881. When the terms of the sale were leaked to the press, also in 1881, Kurodas wife died of a lung disease, but on rumors that Kuroda had killed her in a drunken rage, the body was exhumed and examined. Kuroda was cleared of charges, but rumors of his problems with alcohol abuse persisted, in 1887, Kuroda was appointed to the cabinet post of Minister of Agriculture and Commerce. Kuroda Kiyotaka became the 2nd Prime Minister of Japan, after Itō Hirobumi in 1888, during his term, he oversaw the promulgation of the Meiji Constitution. However, the issue of Japans inability to secure revision of the unequal treaties created considerable controversy. After drafts of proposed revisions drawn up his foreign minister Ōkuma Shigenobu became public in 1889, Kuroda served as Minister of Communications in 1892 under the 2nd Ito Cabinet. In 1895 he became a genrō, and chairman of the Privy Council, Kuroda died of a brain hemorrhage in 1900 and Enomoto Takeaki presided over his funeral ceremonies. His grave is at the Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo, negotiating with Imperialism, The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese Diplomacy. ISBN 978-0-674-01521-0, OCLC56493769 Jansen, Marius B, ISBN9780674003347, OCLC44090600 Keene, Donald
10.
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan)
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The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan is the Cabinet member responsible for Japanese foreign policy and the chief executive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since the end of the American occupation of Japan, the position has been one of the most powerful in the Cabinet, the recent efforts of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to establish a more interventionist foreign policy have also heightened the importance of the position. The position is held by Fumio Kishida. Italics indicates subject served as Acting Foreign Minister, bold indicates subject served concurrently as Prime Minister for a period of time
11.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
12.
Inoue Kaoru
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Marquis Inoue Kaoru, GCMG was a member of the Meiji oligarchy during the Meiji period Empire of Japan. As one of the statesman in Japan during that period, he had a tremendous influence on the selection of the nations leaders. Born Yakichi to a samurai family in Yuda, Chōshū Domain. He was a boyhood friend of Itō Hirobumi who later became Japans first prime minister. In 1858, he studied rangaku, artillery and swordsmanship in Edo, in the Bakumatsu period, Inoue emerged as a leader of the antiforeigner movement in his native Chōshū. Desiring to rid Japan of foreigners, he and Takasugi Shinsaku set fire to the British legation in Edo in January 1863. Recognizing Japans need to learn from the powers, Inoue joined the Chōshū Five and was smuggled out of Japan to study at University College. When he returned with Itō Hirobumi, he tried to prevent war between the Chōshū and the western naval powers over the closing of the Straits of Shimonoseki to foreign shipping. Later, he fought against the forces of the Tokugawa shogunate in the 1864 First Chōshū expedition and he later played a key role in the formation of the Satchō Alliance against the Tokugawa shogunate. After the Meiji restoration, Inoue served in important positions in the new Meiji government. Inoue took part in the Osaka Conference of 1875 to support the creation of a national assembly. In 1876, Inoue was asked to assist in the field of foreign affairs and he returned to government as Minister of Public Works in 1878 and Lord of Foreign Affairs in 1879 under the early Meiji Dajō-kan Cabinet. In 1884, he was elevated to the rank of count under the new peerage system. In December 1885, Inoue officially became Japan’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs bearing that title in the first Itō Hirobumi cabinet. Later he served as Minister of Agriculture and Commerce in the Kuroda administration, as Home Minister in the second Itō administration, from 1901 onwards, Inoue served as most senior of the genrō, and considered himself the governments foremost advisor on financial affairs. He was advanced to the title of marquis in 1907, and died in 1915 at his home at Okitsu-juku. Michael and St. George Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour of France List of Ambassadors from Japan to South Korea Akamatsu, Meiji 1868, Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Japan. The Rise of Modern Japan, Political, Economic and Social Change Since 1850, craig, Albert M. Chōshū in the Meiji Restoration
13.
Sone Arasuke
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Viscount Sone Arasuke was a Japanese politician, diplomat, cabinet minister, and second Japanese Resident-General of Korea. Sone was born in Nagato Province in Chōshū Domain (present-day Yamaguchi prefecture and he fought on the imperial side in the Boshin War. After the Meiji Restoration, Sone was sent to France for studies, Sone was elected to the House of Representatives in the 1892 Japanese general election, and served as Vice-Speaker of the House in the same year. In 1893, he became Japanese ambassador to France and negotiated the revision of the treaties between France and Japan. During the Russo-Japanese War with the help of Takahashi Korekiyo and others, in 1900, Emperor Meiji nominated him to the House of Peers. In 1902, he was made a baron under the kazoku peerage system and he became a Privy Councillor in 1906, and elevated in status to viscount the following year. Sone was appointed as Vice Resident-General of the Japanese administration in Korea in 1907, one of his major actions in Korea was to install a peninsula-wide telephone network, linking government offices, police stations and military installations throughout Korea. Sone was opposed to the Japanese annexation of Korea, but was forced to resign from his post in May 1910 due to illness, the Abacus and the Sword, The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895-1910 (Twentieth-Century Japan - the Emergence of a World Power. Emperor Of Japan, Meiji And His World, 1852-1912, historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War. French Policy Towards the Bakufu and Meiji Japan 1854-1894, ISBN 1-873410-61-1 National Diet Library Bio and Photo
14.
Hikari, Yamaguchi
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Hikari is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded three times, April 1,1943, July 1,1955, and October 4,2004, as of October 1,2016, the city has an estimated population of 51,040, and a population density 560 of persons per km². The total area is 91.94 km², the name Hikari itself means brilliance or light in Japanese. It is connected by railroad with a station and route 188. Hikari is bounded with Yanai, Kudamatsu, Shunan, Iwakuni, on October 4,2004, the town of Yamato was merged into Hikari. October 1,1940, The town of Shunan was renamed to Hikari, April 1,1943, The town merged with the town of Murozumi to form the city of Hikari. July 1,1955, The city merged with the village of Suō to form the new city of Hikari, April 10,1957, The city lost parts of Tateno area to the village of Yamato. October 4,2004, The city absorbed the town of Yamato to create the new, the Hikari Naval Arsenal included a fire-control factory, built in 1942, that employed about 600 people. It was one of the establishments for producing the Standard H. A. System at the rate of ~15 per month, along with bomb components, torpedo afterbodies, the Imperial Japanese Navy formed the Second Special Attack Force on March 1,1945, at Hikari for conducting kaiten attacks. Rear Admiral Nagai Mitsuru was the Commanding Officer, on that same day, a kaiten crew training unit is also formed at Hirao, SE of Hikari. This was one of four such kaiten training bases, with hints of cessation of hostilities, bombing raids by U. S. forces were canceled. However, resumption of bombing was ordered on August 13,1945, the Hikari Naval Arsenal was consequently bombed the next day on August 14,1945, taking 738 lives. The attacking U. S. aircraft were 156 B-29 bombers of the 40th Bomb Group stationed in Saipan, the 40th Bomb Group dropped 3,540 bombs on the Hikari Naval Arsenal, resulting in severe destruction. Including this bombing, Hikari lost more than 1,200 citizens in World War II, after surrender, Allied forces found 52 kaiten at Hikari and destroyed them. The former Hikari Naval Arsenal is now the sites for Nippon Steel Corporation, Takeda discovered the hull of a Type 4 Kaiten under one of the buildings in August 1989, an attestation to the history of the site. The Kaiten Monument, erected in 1996, honors Hikari Naval Arsenal kaiten pilots, Steel frames that once constituted the structure of the destroyed Hikari Naval Arsenal were used to build the Tsukumo Bridge
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Yamaguchi Prefecture
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Yamaguchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Chūgoku region of the main island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Yamaguchi, in the center of the prefecture, the largest city, however, is Shimonoseki. Yamaguchi Prefecture was created by the merger of the provinces of Suō, during the rise of the samurai class during the Heian and Kamakura Periods, the Ouchi family of Suō Province and the Koto family of Nagato Province gained influence as powerful warrior clans. In the Muromachi Period, Ouchi Hiroyo, the 24th ruler of the Ouchi family conquered both areas of Yamaguchi Prefecture, the Ouchi clan imitated the city planning of Kyoto. They gained great wealth through cultural imports from the continent and trade with Korea, as a result, Yamaguchi came to be known as the Kyoto of the West, and Ouchi culture flourished. Sue Harutaka defeated the 31st ruler of the Ouchi clan, the Sue clan was then defeated by Mōri Motonari, and the Mōri family gained control of the Chugoku region. Yamaguchi was ruled as part of the Mōri clan domain during the Sengoku period, Mōri Terumoto was then defeated by Tokugawa Ieyasu in the battle of Sekigahara in 1600. He was forced to give up all his land except for the Suō and Nagato areas, Mōri sought to strengthen the economic base of the region and increase local production with his Three Whites campaign. After Commodore Matthew Perrys opening of Japan, clans from Nagato played a key role in the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, four years after the Edo Shogunate was overthrown and the Meiji government formed in 1868, the present Yamaguchi Prefecture was established. The Meiji government brought in new systems and modern policies. In the Taisho period, from 1912 to 1926, shipbuilding, chemical, machinery, during the post-World War II Shōwa Period, Yamaguchi developed into one of the most industrialized prefectures in the country due to the establishment of petrochemical complexes. Thirteen cities are located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, These are the towns in each district, For the purposes of development analysis, although Yamaguchi is not part of the island of Kyushu, it has become a functional satellite of the Kanmon Straits metropolitan area. The most popular place for tourism is Shimonoseki, for example Karato Fish Market, there is a large fireworks festival in summer. Another attraction is the Kintai Bridge in the town of Iwakuni and this five-arched wooden structure is considered a symbol of Western Honshū. Hagi City is in the north of Yamaguchi and it is a very traditional city. The usual color of Japanese post boxes is red, but in Hagi they are painted green or brown, the Hagi Museum is modeled after a traditional samurai residence. The exhibits are detailed and realistic, and are changed every year, the permanent collection is data about Hagis history and collections about Takasugi Shinsaku. Hagi also contains a reverberatory furnace which has designated a World Heritage Site
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Harbin
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Harbin is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang province in the northeastern region of the Peoples Republic of China. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Harbin has direct jurisdiction over nine metropolitan districts, Harbin is the eighth most populous Chinese city and the most populous city in Northeast China. According to the 2010 census, the area made of seven out of nine urban districts had 5,282,093 inhabitants. Harbin serves as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural, Harbin, which was originally a Manchu word meaning a place for drying fishing nets, grew from a small rural settlement on the Songhua River to become one of the largest cities in Northeast China. Founded in 1898 with the coming of the Chinese Eastern Railway, having the most bitterly cold winters among major Chinese cities, Harbin is heralded as the Ice City for its well-known winter tourism and recreations. Harbin is notable for its ice sculpture festival in the winter. Besides being well known for its historical Russian legacy, the city serves as an important gateway in Sino-Russian trade today, in the 1920s, the city was considered Chinas fashion capital since new designs from Paris and Moscow reached here first before arriving in Shanghai. The city has been voted China Top Tourist City by China National Tourism Administration in 2004, on 22 June 2010, Harbin was appointed a City of Music by the UN. Human settlement in the Harbin area dates from at least 2200 BC during the late Stone Age, Wanyan Aguda, the founder and first emperor of the Jin dynasty, was born in the Jurchen Wanyan tribes who resided near the Ashi River in this region. In AD1115 Aguda established Jins capital Shangjing Huining Prefecture in todays Acheng District of Harbin, after Agudas death, the new emperor Wanyan Sheng ordered the construction of a new city on a uniform plan. The planning and construction emulated major Chinese cities, in particular Bianjing, Huining Prefecture served as the first superior capital of the Jin empire until Wanyan Liang moved the capital to Yanjing in 1153. Liang even went so far as to destroy all palaces in his capital in 1157. Wanyan Liangs successor Wanyan Yong restored the city and established it as a capital in 1173. Ruins of the Shangjing Huining Prefecture were discovered and excavated about 2 km from present-day Achengs central urban area, the site of the old Jin capital ruins is a national historic reserve, and includes the Jin Dynasty History Museum. The museum, open to the public, was renovated in late 2005, mounted statues of Aguda and of his chief commander Wanyan Zonghan stand in the grounds of the museum. Many of the artifacts there are on display in nearby Harbin. After the Mongol conquest of the Jin Empire, Huining Prefecture was abandoned, in the 17th century, the Manchus used building materials from Huining Prefecture to construct their new stronghold in Alchuka. The region of Harbin remained largely rural until the 1800s, with ten villages
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Jilin
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Jilin is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, in ancient times, Jilin was inhabited the Xianbei, Sushen, the Mohe, Jurchens, and the Wùjí. The Korean kingdoms of Buyeo, Goguryeo and Balhae, ruled parts of this area, the region then fell successively under the domination of the Xiongnu, Xianbei state, Khitan Liao Dynasty, the Jurchen Jin Dynasty, and the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, much of the area was under the control of the General of Jilin, after the Primorsky Krai area was ceded to Russia in 1860, the Qing government began to open the area up to Han Chinese migrants, most of whom came from Shandong. By the beginning of the 20th century, Han Chinese had become the dominant ethnic group of the region, in 1932, the area was incorporated into Manchukuo, a puppet state set up by Japan. Changchun, capital of Jilin today, was made the capital of Manchukuo, after the defeat of Japan in 1945, the Soviet Army captured Jilin after Operation August Storm. The region, with the rest of northeastern China, was ceded to the Communists by the Soviet Union, manchuria was the staging ground from which the communists eventually conquered the rest of China in the Chinese Civil War. In 1949, Jilin province was smaller, encompassing only the environs of Changchun and Jilin City, in the 1950s, Jilin was expanded to its present borders. During the Cultural Revolution, Jilin was expanded again to include a part of Inner Mongolia, giving it a border with the independent state of Mongolia, in recent times Jilin has, with the rest of heavy industry-based Northeast China, been facing economic difficulties with privatization. This prompted the government to undertake a campaign called Revitalize the Northeast. Jilin lies in the part of northeastern China, bordering Russia. Jilin has an area of 190,000 km2 and a population of 27.3 million and its capital is Changchun, which lies 113 km west of Jilin City. Jilin is rich in mineral deposits with 136 types of minerals. Jilin has an abundance of Traditional Chinese medicine resources, with approximately 27,000 kinds of plants and 9,000 kinds of medicinal herbs. Jilin is highest in altitude in the southeast and drops gently towards the northwest, the Changbai Mountains run through its southeastern regions and contains the highest peak of the province, Paektu Mountain at 2744 m. Other ranges include the Jilinhada Mountains, Zhang Guangcai Mountains, Jilin has a northerly continental monsoon climate, with long, cold winters and short, warm summers. Average January temperatures range from -20 to -14°C, rainfall averages at 350 to 1000 mm. Major cities in this province include Changchun, Jilin City, Baishan, Baicheng, Siping, Yanji, Songyuan, Tonghua and these administrative divisions are explained in greater detail at Administrative divisions of the Peoples Republic of China
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Qing dynasty
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It was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The Qing multi-cultural empire lasted almost three centuries and formed the base for the modern Chinese state. The dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan in Manchuria, in the late sixteenth century, Nurhaci, originally a Ming vassal, began organizing Banners, military-social units that included Jurchen, Han Chinese, and Mongol elements. Nurhaci formed the Jurchen clans into an entity, which he renamed as the Manchus. By 1636, his son Hong Taiji began driving Ming forces out of Liaodong and declared a new dynasty, in 1644, peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng conquered the Ming capital, Beijing. The Ten Great Campaigns of the Qianlong Emperor from the 1750s to the 1790s extended Qing control into Central Asia, the early rulers maintained their Manchu ways, and while their title was Emperor, they used khan to the Mongols and they were patrons of Tibetan Buddhism. They governed using Confucian styles and institutions of government and retained the imperial examinations to recruit Han Chinese to work under or in parallel with Manchus. They also adapted the ideals of the system in dealing with neighboring territories. The Qianlong reign saw the apogee and initial decline in prosperity. The population rose to some 400 million, but taxes and government revenues were fixed at a low rate, corruption set in, rebels tested government legitimacy, and ruling elites did not change their mindsets in the face of changes in the world system. Following the Opium War, European powers imposed unequal treaties, free trade, the Taiping Rebellion and the Dungan Revolt in Central Asia led to the deaths of some 20 million people, most of them due to famines caused by war. In spite of disasters, in the Tongzhi Restoration of the 1860s, Han Chinese elites rallied to the defense of the Confucian order. The initial gains in the Self-Strengthening Movement were destroyed in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895, in which the Qing lost its influence over Korea, New Armies were organized, but the ambitious Hundred Days Reform of 1898 was turned back by Empress Dowager Cixi, a conservative leader. Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries competed with reformist monarchists such as Kang Youwei, after the deaths of Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor in 1908, the hardline Manchu court alienated reformers and local elites alike. The Wuchang Uprising on October 11,1911, led to the Xinhai Revolution, General Yuan Shikai negotiated the abdication of Puyi, the last emperor, on February 12,1912. Nurhaci declared himself the Bright Khan of the Later Jin state in both of the 12–13th century Jurchen Jin dynasty and of his Aisin Gioro clan. His son Hong Taiji renamed the dynasty Great Qing in 1636, there are competing explanations on the meaning of Qīng. The character Qīng is composed of water and azure, both associated with the water element and this association would justify the Qing conquest as defeat of fire by water
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Tokyo
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Tokyo, officially Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan and one of its 47 prefectures. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous area in the world. It is the seat of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government, Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Formerly known as Edo, it has been the de facto seat of government since 1603 when Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters. It officially became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from the old capital of Kyoto in 1868, Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture and the city of Tokyo. The Tokyo metropolitan government administers the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo, the metropolitan government also administers 39 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture and the two outlying island chains. The population of the wards is over 9 million people. The prefecture is part of the worlds most populous metropolitan area with upwards of 37.8 million people, the city hosts 51 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest number of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked third in the International Financial Centres Development IndexEdit, the city is also home to various television networks such as Fuji TV, Tokyo MX, TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, Nippon Television, NHK and the Tokyo Broadcasting System. Tokyo ranked first in the Global Economic Power Index and fourth in the Global Cities Index. The city is considered a world city – as listed by the GaWCs 2008 inventory – and in 2014. In 2015, Tokyo was named the Most Liveable City in the world by the magazine Monocle, the Michelin Guide has awarded Tokyo by far the most Michelin stars of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked first in the world in the Safe Cities Index, the 2016 edition of QS Best Student Cities ranked Tokyo as the 3rd-best city in the world to be a university student. Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, the 1979 G-7 summit, the 1986 G-7 summit, and the 1993 G-7 summit, and will host the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tokyo was originally known as Edo, which means estuary. During the early Meiji period, the city was also called Tōkei, some surviving official English documents use the spelling Tokei. However, this pronunciation is now obsolete, the name Tokyo was first suggested in 1813 in the book Kondō Hisaku, written by Satō Nobuhiro. When Ōkubo Toshimichi proposed the renaming to the government during the Meiji Restoration, according to Oda Kanshi, Tokyo was originally a small fishing village named Edo, in what was formerly part of the old Musashi Province. Edo was first fortified by the Edo clan, in the twelfth century
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Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
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University College London
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University College London is a public research university in London, England, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It is the largest postgraduate institution in the UK by enrollment and is regarded as one of the worlds leading research universities. UCL also makes the claims of being the third-oldest university in England. In 1836 UCL became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London, which was granted a charter in the same year. UCL has its campus in the Bloomsbury area of central London, with a number of institutes and teaching hospitals elsewhere in central London. UCL is organised into 11 constituent faculties, within there are over 100 departments, institutes. In 2015/16, UCL had around 38,300 students and 12,000 staff and had an income of £1.36 billion. UCL ranks highly in national and international league tables and its graduates rank among the most employable in the world, UCL academics discovered five of the naturally occurring noble gases, co-discovered hormones, invented the vacuum tube, and made several foundational advances in modern statistics. There are at least 29 Nobel Prize winners and 3 Fields medalists amongst UCLs alumni and current, UCL was founded on 11 February 1826 under the name London University, as an alternative to the Anglican universities of Oxford and Cambridge. London Universitys first Warden was Leonard Horner, who was the first scientist to head a British university and this suggests that while his ideas may have been influential, he himself was less so. In 1827, the Chair of Political Economy at London University was created, with John Ramsay McCulloch as the first incumbent, in 1828 the university became the first in England to offer English as a subject and the teaching of Classics and medicine began. In 1830, London University founded the London University School, which would later become University College School, in 1833, the university appointed Alexander Maconochie, Secretary to the Royal Geographical Society, as the first professor of geography in the UK. In 1834, University College Hospital opened as a hospital for the universitys medical school. In 1836, London University was incorporated by charter under the name University College. The Slade School of Fine Art was founded as part of University College in 1871, in 1878, the University of London gained a supplemental charter making it the first British university to be allowed to award degrees to women. The same year, UCL admitted women to the faculties of Arts and Law and of Science, although women remained barred from the faculties of Engineering and of Medicine. Armstrong College, an institution of Newcastle University, also allowed women to enter from its foundation in 1871. Women were finally admitted to medical studies during the First World War in 1917, in 1898, Sir William Ramsay discovered the elements krypton, neon and xenon whilst professor of chemistry at UCL
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (November 2, 1877)
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers (February 11, 1889)
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (August 5, 1895)
GC of the Order of Vasa of Sweden (May 25, 1885)
GC of the Order of the Iron Crown of Austria-Hungary (September 27, 1885)
GC of the Order of the Red Eagle of Prussia (December 22, 1886) (he later received the Grand Cross in brilliants during his visit to Berlin in December 1901[24])
GC of the Order of Charles III of Spain (October 26, 1896)
GC of the Order of Leopold of Belgium (October 4, 1897)
GC of the Legion d'Honneur of France (April 29, 1898)
GC of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky of Russia (November 28, 1901)[25]
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB), United Kingdom (January 14, 1902; after a visit to London)[26]
Knight of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation of Italy (January 16, 1902; during his visit to Rome)[27]
"Ito, Hirobumi, Prince". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
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