1.
Japanese people
–
Japanese people are an ethnic group native to Japan. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of the population of their country. Worldwide, approximately 129 million people are of Japanese descent, of these, people of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries are referred to as the Japanese diaspora. The term ethnic Japanese may also be used in some contexts to refer to ethnic groups, including the Yamato, Ainu. The Japanese language is a Japonic language that in the past was treated as a language isolate, the Japanese language has a tripartite writing system using Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Domestic Japanese people use primarily Japanese for daily interaction, the adult literacy rate in Japan exceeds 99%. Japanese religion has traditionally been syncretic in nature, combining elements of Buddhism, Shinto, a polytheistic religion with no book of religious canon, is Japans native religion. Mahayana Buddhism came to Japan in the century and evolved into many different sects. Today, the largest form of Buddhism among Japanese people is the Jōdo Shinshū sect founded by Shinran, most Japanese people profess to believe in both Shinto and Buddhism. Japanese peoples religion functions mostly as a foundation for mythology, traditions, Christianity in Japan is among the nations minority religions. Just under 2%, or about 2.5 million, of Japans population are Christians, many Japanese practice Christianity in the diaspora in Brazil, which is home to the largest Japanese population outside Japan. About 60% of Japanese Brazilians are Roman Catholics, while 90% of Japanese Mexicans are Roman Catholic, certain genres of writing originated in and are often associated with Japanese society. These include the haiku, tanka, and I Novel, although modern writers generally avoid these writing styles, historically, many works have sought to capture or codify traditional Japanese cultural values and aesthetics. Twentieth-century Japanese writers recorded changes in Japanese society through their works, some of the most notable authors included Natsume Sōseki, Junichirō Tanizaki, Osamu Dazai, Yasunari Kawabata, Fumiko Enchi, Yukio Mishima, and Ryōtarō Shiba. In contemporary Japan, popular authors such as Ryū Murakami, Haruki Murakami, decorative arts in Japan date back to prehistoric times. Jōmon pottery includes examples with elaborate ornamentation, in the Yayoi period, artisans produced mirrors, spears, and ceremonial bells known as dōtaku. Later burial mounds, or kofun, preserve characteristic clay haniwa, beginning in the Nara period, painting, calligraphy, and sculpture flourished under strong Confucian and Buddhist influences from China. Among the architectural achievements of this period are the Hōryū-ji and the Yakushi-ji, after the cessation of official relations with the Tang dynasty in the ninth century, Japanese art and architecture gradually became less influenced by China
2.
Samurai
–
Samurai were the military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan. In Japanese, they are referred to as bushi or buke. In both countries the terms were nominalized to mean those who serve in close attendance to the nobility, the pronunciation in Japanese changing to saburai. According to Wilson, a reference to the word samurai appears in the Kokin Wakashū. By the end of the 12th century, samurai became almost entirely synonymous with bushi, the samurai were usually associated with a clan and their lord, and were trained as officers in military tactics and grand strategy. While the samurai numbered less than 10% of then Japans population, following the Battle of Hakusukinoe against Tang China and Silla in 663 AD, which led to a retreat from Korean affairs, Japan underwent widespread reform. One of the most important was that of the Taika Reform and this edict allowed the Japanese aristocracy to adopt the Tang dynasty political structure, bureaucracy, culture, religion, and philosophy. As part of the Taihō Code of 702 AD, and the later Yōrō Code, the population was required to regularly for census. With an understanding of how the population was distributed, Emperor Monmu introduced a law whereby 1 in 3–4 adult males were drafted into the national military and these soldiers were required to supply their own weapons, and in-return were exempted from duties and taxes. This was one of the first attempts by the Imperial government to form an organized army modeled after the Chinese system and it was called Gundan-Sei by later historians and is believed to have been short-lived. The Taihō Code classified most of the Imperial bureaucrats into 12 ranks and those of 6th rank and below were referred to as samurai and dealt with day-to-day affairs. Although these samurai were civilian public servants, the word is believed to have derived from this term. Military men, however, would not be referred to as samurai for many more centuries, Emperor Kanmu introduced the title of seii-taishōgun, or Shogun, and began to rely on the powerful regional clans to conquer the Emishi. Skilled in mounted combat and archery, these clan warriors became the Emperors preferred tool for putting down rebellions, though this is the first known use of the Shogun title, it was a temporary title, and was not imbued with political power until the 13th century. At this time, the Imperial Court officials considered them to be merely a military section under the control of the Imperial Court, ultimately, Emperor Kanmu disbanded his army. From this time, the Emperors power gradually declined, while the Emperor was still the ruler, powerful clans around Kyoto assumed positions as ministers, and their relatives bought positions as magistrates. To amass wealth and repay their debts, magistrates often imposed heavy taxes, through protective agreements and political marriages, they accumulated, or gathered, political power, eventually surpassing the traditional aristocracy. Some clans were formed by farmers who had taken up arms to protect themselves from the Imperial magistrates sent to govern their lands
3.
Edo period
–
The Edo period or Tokugawa period is the period between 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when Japanese society was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the countrys 300 regional daimyō. The period was characterized by growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies. The shogunate was established in Edo on March 24,1603. The period came to an end with the Meiji Restoration on May 3,1868, instrumental in the rise of the new bakufu was Tokugawa Ieyasu, the main beneficiary of the achievements of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Already powerful, Ieyasu profited by his transfer to the rich Kantō area, after Hideyoshis death, Ieyasu moved quickly to seize control from the Toyotomi family. Ieyasus victory over the western daimyōs at the Battle of Sekigahara gave him control of all Japan. He rapidly abolished numerous enemy daimyō houses, reduced others, such as that of the Toyotomi, Ieyasu still failed to achieve complete control of the western daimyōs, but his assumption of the title of shogun helped consolidate the alliance system. After further strengthening his base, Ieyasu installed his son Hidetada as shogun. The Toyotomi were still a significant threat, and Ieyasu devoted the next decade to their eradication, in 1615, the Tokugawa army destroyed the Toyotomi stronghold at Osaka. The Tokugawa period brought 250 years of stability to Japan, the political system evolved into what historians call bakuhan, a combination of the terms bakufu and han to describe the government and society of the period. In the bakuhan, the shogun had national authority and the daimyōs had regional authority and this represented a new unity in the feudal structure, which featured an increasingly large bureaucracy to administer the mixture of centralized and decentralized authorities. The feudal hierarchy was completed by the classes of daimyō. Closest to the Tokugawa house were the shinpan, or related houses and they were twenty-three daimyōs on the borders of Tokugawa lands, all directly related to Ieyasu. The shinpan held mostly honorary titles and advisory posts in the bakufu, the second class of the hierarchy were the fudai, or house daimyōs, rewarded with lands close to the Tokugawa holdings for their faithful service. By the 18th century,145 fudai controlled such smaller han, members of the fudai class staffed most of the major bakufu offices. Ninety-seven han formed the group, the tozama, former opponents or new allies. The tozama were located mostly on the peripheries of the archipelago, because the tozama were least trusted of the daimyō, they were the most cautiously managed and generously treated, although they were excluded from central government positions. The Tokugawa not only consolidated their control over a reunified Japan, they also had unprecedented power over the emperor, the court, all daimyōs and the religious orders
4.
Akechi Mitsuhide
–
Akechi Mitsuhide, first called Jūbei from his clan and later Koretō Hyūga no Kami from his title, was a samurai and general who lived during the Sengoku period of Feudal Japan. His full name was thus Akechi Jūbei Minamoto-no-Mitsuhide, Mitsuhide was a general under daimyō Oda Nobunaga, although he became famous for his rebellion against Nobunaga in 1582, which led to Nobunagas death at Honnō-ji. He was born in Tara castle, Mino Province-now Gifu Prefecture Mitsuhide is a descendant of the Toki-Akechi family of the shugo Toki clan, Mitsuhide is rumored to be a childhood friend or cousin of Nōhime. It is believed that he was raised to be a general among 10,000 by Saitō Dōsan, when Dōsans son, Saitō Yoshitatsu, rebelled against his father in 1556, Mitsuhide sided with Dōsan. Mitsuhide began serving the wandering shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki as one of his guardians under Hosokawa Yusai, Shogun Ashikaga ordered Asakura Yoshikage to be his official protector, an offer which Yoshikage declined. Yoshiaki appealed to Mitsuhide, who suggested Oda Nobunaga instead, in 1564, Nobunaga sent his sister Oichi to be the bride of Azai Nagamasa. This aided him in his 1566 conquest for Mino province, the shogun Yoshiaki and Mitsuhide arrived at Kyoto, the capital of Japan, converting Hongoku-ji temple to a temporary palace in November 1568. Nobunaga returned from Kyoto on January 4,1569, the Miyoshi clan and Saito Tatsuoki defeated the daimyo of Mino, and attacked Ashikaga Yoshiaki at Hongoku-ji, where Mitsuhide successfully defended the Shogun. Nobunaga asked Mitsuhide to join his troops and Mitsuhide decided to both the Shogun and Nobunaga. Mitsuhide received Sakamoto in 1571 after the attack at the Enryaku-ji temple. After Mitsuhide received Sakamoto, he moved to pacify the Tamba region by defeating several clans such as the Hatano, Mitsuhide also received Kameyama castle and Tanba Province. He participated in the 1577 Battle of Tedorigawa, in 1579, Nobunaga captured Yakami Castle from Hatano Hideharu by promising Hideharu peace terms, however, Nobunaga betrayed the peace agreement and had Hideharu executed. This reputedly displeased the Hatano family, and a short while later several of Hideharus retainers murdered Akechi Mitsuhides mother, the failing relationship between Nobunaga and Mitsuhide was further fueled through several public insults which Nobunaga directed at Mitsuhide. In 1582, Mitsuhide was ordered to march west and assist Hashiba Hideyoshi who was fighting the Mōri clan. Ignoring his orders, Mitsuhide assembled an army of 13,000 soldiers, on June 21, Mitsuhide was quoted as saying, The enemy is at Honnō-ji. His army surrounded the temple and eventually set it on fire, Oda Nobunaga was killed either during the fighting, or by his own hand. Nobunagas son, Oda Nobutada, fled the scene, but was surrounded at Nijō, despite not killing Nobunaga personally, Mitsuhide claimed responsibility for his death. Mitsuhides betrayal of the Oda shocked the capital, and he was forced to quickly to secure his position
5.
Inaba Yoshimichi
–
Inaba Yoshimichi, also known as Inaba Ittetsu, was a Japanese samurai warrior in the Sengoku period. Yoshimichi was considered one of the Mino Triumvirate, along with Andō Michitari, in 1567, they agreed together to join the forces of Oda Nobunaga. He took part in the Battle of Anegawa, His son, Inaba Masanari, was the husband of Saitō Fuku
6.
Inaba Masanari
–
Inaba Masanari, also known as Inaba Masashige and sometimes known as Mino-no-kami, was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi–Momoyama period through early Edo period. He served the Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa clans, Masanari was the husband of Kasuga-no-Tsubone, who bore him three sons, Masakatsu, Masasada, and Masatoshi. For some reason, Masanari divorced her, and she then became wet-nurse to Tokugawa Hidetadas eldest son, one of Masanaris grandsons, Inaba Masayasu, is primarily remembered as the enigmatic wakadoshiyori assassin of tairō Hotta Masatoshi. In the Edo period, the Inaba were identified as one of the fudai or insider clans which were hereditary vassels or allies of the Tokugawa clan. The fudai Inaba clan originated in 16th century Mino Province and they claim descent from Kōno Michitaka, who claimed descent from Emperor Kanmu. A cadet branch are descended from Inaba Masanari, who fought in the armies of Nobunaga and this branch of the Inaba was created in 1588. In 1619, he was granted the han of Itoigawa in Echigo Province, then, in 1627, Masanaris heirs settled at Yodo Domain in Yamashiro Province from 1723 through 1868. The head of this line was ennobled as a Viscount in the Meiji period. ISBN9780824819644, ISBN9780824820664, OCLC246417677 Brinkley, Frank, a History of the Japanese People from the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era. ISBN9780195081374, ISBN9780195165579, ISBN9780195165586, ISBN9780195165593, OCLC51655476 Meyer, japans Kaiserhof in de Edo-Zeit, Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Jahre 1846 bis 1867. ISBN9783825839390, OCLC722998498 Murdock, James, OCLC64778754 Papinot, Jacques Edmund Joseph. Dictionnaire dhistoire et de géographie du japon
7.
Wet nurse
–
A wet nurse is a woman who breast feeds and cares for anothers child. Wet nurses are employed when the mother is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself, wet-nursed children may be known as milk-siblings, and in some cultures the families are linked by a special relationship of milk kinship. Mothers who nurse each others babies are engaging in an act known as cross-nursing or co-nursing. A wet nurse can help when a natural mother is unable or chooses not to feed the infant. Before the development of baby formulas in the 20th century, when a mother was unable to breastfeed her baby, there are many reasons why a mother is unable to lactate or to produce sufficient breast milk. Reasons include the serious or chronic illness of the mother and her treatment which creates a difficulty to nursing. Additionally, a mothers taking drugs may necessitate a wet nurse if a drug in any way changes the content of the mothers milk. There was also an increased need for wet nurses under circumstances when the rates of infant abandonment by mothers, some women choose not to breastfeed for social reasons. Many of these women were found to be of the upper class, some women chose to hire wet nurses purely to escape from the confining and time-consuming chore of breastfeeding. Wet nurses have also used when a mother cannot produce sufficient breast milk, i. e. the mother feels incapable of adequately nursing her child. Wet nurses tend to be common in places where maternal mortality is high. A woman can act as a wet-nurse if she is lactating. It was once believed that a wet-nurse must have recently undergone childbirth and this is not necessarily true, as regular breast suckling can elicit lactation via a neural reflex of prolactin production and secretion. Some adoptive mothers have been able to establish lactation using a breast pump so that they could feed an adopted infant, dr Gabrielle Palmer states, Wet nursing is an ancient practice, common to many cultures. It has been linked to class, where monarchies, the aristocracy. Lactation inhibits ovulation in women, thus the practice has a rational basis. Poor women, especially those who suffered the stigma of giving birth to a child, sometimes had to give their baby up, temporarily or permanently. Many cultures feature stories, historical or mythological, involving superhuman, supernatural, human, the Bible refers to Deborah, a nurse to Rebekah wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau, who appears to have lived as a member of the household all her days
8.
Tokugawa clan
–
The Tokugawa clan was a powerful daimyo family of Japan. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa and were a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Nitta clan, the early history of this clan remains a mystery. Members of the clan ruled Japan as Shoguns from 1603 to 1867, Minamoto no Yoshishige, grandson of Minamoto no Yoshiie, was the first to take the name of Nitta. He sided with his cousin Minamoto no Yoritomo against the Taira clan, Nitta Yoshisue, 4th son of Yoshishige, settled at Tokugawa and took the name of that place. Their provincial history book did not mention Minamoto clan or Nitta clan, the nominal originator of the Matsudaira clan was reportedly Matsudaira Chikauji, who was originally a poor Buddhist monk. He reportedly descended from Nitta Yoshisue in the 8th generation and witnessed the ruin of the Nitta in their war against the Ashikaga and he settled at Matsudaira and was adopted by his wifes family. Their provincial history book claimed that this clan was Ariwara clan. Because this place is said to have been reclaimed by Nobumori Ariwara, Matsudaira Nobumitsu, son of Chikauji, was in charge of Okazaki Castle, and strengthened the authority of his family in the Mikawa province. Nobumitsus great-great-grandson Matsudaira Kiyoyasu made his strong, but was assassinated. In 1567, his grandson Ieyasu obtained from the Emperor permission to revive the name Tokugawa, in so doing, he claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. The clan rose to power at the end of the Sengoku period, all in all, there were fifteen Tokugawa shoguns. Their dominance was so strong that some books use the term Tokugawa era instead of Edo period. In addition, the heads of the gosanke bore the Tokugawa surname, additional branches became the gosankyō, the Tayasu, Hitotsubashi, and Shimizu Tokugawa clans. Many daimyo with the Matsudaira surname were descended from the Tokugawa, examples include the Matsudaira of Fukui and Aizu. Members of the Tokugawa clan intermarried with prominent daimyo and the Imperial family and their principal family shrine is the Tōshō-gū in Nikkō, and principal temple is at Kanei-ji in Tokyo. Heirlooms of the clan are partly administered by the Tokugawa Memorial Foundation, the Tokugawas clan crest, known in Japanese as a mon, the triple hollyhock, has been a readily recognized icon in Japan, symbolizing in equal parts the Tokugawa clan and the last shogunate. The crest derives from a clan, the Kamo clan. Matsudaira village was located in Higashikamo District, Aichi Prefecture, although Emperor Go-Yōzei offered a new crest, Ieyasu continued to use the crest, which was not related to Minamoto clan
9.
Tokugawa shogunate
–
The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the Tokugawa bakufu and the Edo bakufu, was the last feudal Japanese military government, which existed between 1600 and 1868. The head of government was the shogun, and each was a member of the Tokugawa clan, the Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo Castle and the years of the shogunate became known as the Edo period. This time is called the Tokugawa period or pre-modern. Following the Sengoku period, the government had been largely re-established by Oda Nobunaga during the Azuchi–Momoyama period. After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, central authority fell to Tokugawa Ieyasu, society in the Tokugawa period, unlike the shogunates before it, was supposedly based on the strict class hierarchy originally established by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The daimyō were at the top, followed by the warrior-caste of samurai, with the farmers, artisans, and traders ranking below. In some parts of the country, particularly smaller regions, daimyō and samurai were more or less identical, since daimyō might be trained as samurai, otherwise, the largely inflexible nature of this social stratification system unleashed disruptive forces over time. Taxes on the peasantry were set at fixed amounts which did not account for inflation or other changes in monetary value, as a result, the tax revenues collected by the samurai landowners were worth less and less over time. This often led to confrontations between noble but impoverished samurai and well-to-do peasants, ranging from simple local disturbances to much bigger rebellions. None, however, proved compelling enough to challenge the established order until the arrival of foreign powers. The Tokugawa Shogunate came to an end in 1868 with the resignation of the 15th Tokugawa Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu. The bakuhan taisei was the political system in the Edo period of Japan. Baku is an abbreviation of bakufu, meaning military government—that is, the han were the domains headed by daimyō. Vassals held inherited lands and provided service and homage to their lords. The bakuhan taisei split feudal power between the shogunate in Edo and provincial domains throughout Japan, provinces had a degree of sovereignty and were allowed an independent administration of the han in exchange for loyalty to the shogun, who was responsible for foreign relations and national security. The shogun and lords were all daimyō, feudal lords with their own bureaucracies, policies, the shogun also administered the most powerful han, the hereditary fief of the House of Tokugawa. Each level of government administered its own system of taxation, the emperor, nominally a religious leader, held no real power, this was invested in the shogun. The shogunate had the power to discard, annex, and transform domains, the sankin kōtai system of alternative residence required each daimyō to reside in alternate years between the han and the court in Edo
10.
Tokugawa Iemitsu
–
Tokugawa Iemitsu was the third shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu and it is debatable whether Iemitsu can be considered a kinslayer for making his younger brother Tadanaga commit suicide by seppuku. Tokugawa Iemitsu was born on 12 August 1604 and he was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada and grandson of the last great unifier of Japan, the first Tokugawa Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was the first member of the Tokugawa family born after Tokugawa Ieyasu became shogun, not much is known of Iemitsus early life, his childhood name was Takechiyo. He had two sisters, Senhime and Masako, and a brother, who would become a rival, however, Ieyasu made it clear that Iemitsu would be next in line as shogun after Hidetada. An obsolete spelling of his name is Iyemitsu. He also was installed officially as the heir to the Tokugawa shogunate, the only person to contest this position was his younger brother Tokugawa Tadanaga. A fierce rivalry began to develop between the brothers, from an early age Iemitsu practiced the shūdō tradition. However, in 1620, he had an out with his homosexual lover, Sakabe Gozaemon, a childhood friend and retainer, aged twenty one. He married Takatsukasa Takako, daughter of Takatsukasa Nobufusa at 12th December 1623, in 1623, when Iemitsu was nineteen, Hidetada abdicated the post of shogun in his favor. Hidetada continued to rule as Ōgosho, but Iemitsu nevertheless assumed a role as head of the bakufu bureaucracy. In 1626, Shogun Iemitsu and retired Shogun Hidetada visited Emperor Go-Mizunoo, Empress Masako, Shogun Iemitsu made lavish grants of gold and money to the court nobles and the court itself. The shogunate intervened, making the bestowing of the garments invalid, when the wet nurse of Iemitsu and Masako broke a taboo by visiting the imperial court as a commoner, Go-Mizunoo abdicated, embarrassed, and Meisho became empress. The shogun was now the uncle of the sitting monarch, in Kanei 9, on the 24th day of the 2nd month, Ōgosho Hidetada died, and Iemitsu could assume real power. Worried that his brother Tokugawa Tadanaga might assassinate him, however, Hidetada left his advisors, all veteran daimyōs, to act as regents for Iemitsu. In 1633, after his brothers death, he dismissed these men, in place of his fathers advisors, Iemitsu appointed his childhood friends. With their help Iemitsu created a strong, centralized administration and this made him unpopular with many daimyōs, but Iemitsu simply removed his opponents. His sankin-kōtai system forced daimyōs to reside in Edo in alternating sequence, spending an amount of time in Edo
11.
Edo Castle
–
Edo Castle, also known as Chiyoda Castle, is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan. It is today part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace and is located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate here. It was the residence of the shogun and location of the shogunate, after the resignation of the shogun and the Meiji Restoration, it became the Tokyo Imperial Palace. Some moats, walls and ramparts of the castle survive to this day, however, the grounds were more extensive during the Edo period, with Tokyo Station and the Marunouchi section of the city lying within the outermost moat. It also encompassed Kitanomaru Park, the Nippon Budokan Hall and other landmarks of the surrounding area, the warrior Edo Shigetsugu built his residence in what is now the Honmaru and Ninomaru part of Edo Castle, around the end of the Heian or beginning of the Kamakura period. The Edo clan perished in the 15th century as a result of uprisings in the Kantō region, and Ōta Dōkan, the castle later came under the control of the Late Hōjō clan in 1524 after the Siege of Edo. The castle was vacated in 1590 due to the Siege of Odawara, Tokugawa Ieyasu made Edo Castle his base after he was offered eight eastern provinces by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He later defeated Toyotomi Hideyori, son of Hideyoshi, at the Siege of Osaka in 1615, Tokugawa Ieyasu received the title of Seii Taishōgun in 1603, and Edo became the center of Tokugawas administration. Initially, parts of the area were lying under water, the sea reached the present Nishinomaru area of Edo Castle, and Hibiya was a beach. The landscape was changed for the construction of the castle, most construction started in 1593 and was completed in 1636 under Ieyasus grandson, Tokugawa Iemitsu. By this time, Edo had a population of 150,000, the existing Honmaru, Ninomaru, and Sannomaru areas were extended with the addition of the Nishinomaru, Nishinomaru-shita, Fukiage, and Kitanomaru areas. The daimyōs were required by the shōgun to supply building materials or finances, large granite stones were moved from afar, the size and number of the stones depended on the wealth of the daimyōs. The wealthier ones had to contribute more and those who did not supply stones were required to contribute labor for such tasks as digging the large moats and flattening hills. The earth that was taken from the moats was used as landfill for sea-reclamation or to level the ground, thus the construction of Edo Castle laid the foundation for parts of the city where merchants were able to settle. At least 10,000 men were involved in the first phase of the construction, when construction ended, the castle had 38 gates. The ramparts were almost 20 meters high and the walls were 12 meters high. Moats forming roughly concentric circles were dug for further protection, some moats reached as far as Ichigaya and Yotsuya, and parts of the ramparts survive to this day. This area is bordered by either the sea or the Kanda River, various fires over the centuries damaged or destroyed parts of the castle, Edo and the majority of its buildings being made of timber
12.
Tokugawa Ieyasu
–
Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which effectively ruled Japan from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605 and his given name is sometimes spelled Iyeyasu, according to the historical pronunciation of he. Ieyasu was posthumously enshrined at Nikkō Tōshō-gū with the name Tōshō Daigongen and he was one of the three unifiers of Japan, along with his Former Lord Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Tokugawa Ieyasu was born in Okazaki Castle in Mikawa on the 26th day of the month of the eleventh year of Tenbun. His mother and father were step-siblings and they were just 17 and 15 years old, respectively, when Ieyasu was born. Two years later, Odai-no-kata was sent back to her family, as both husband and wife remarried and both went on to have further children, Ieyasu in the end had 11 half-brothers and sisters. The Matsudaira family was split in 1550, one wanted to be vassals of the Imagawa clan. As a result, much of Ieyasus early years were spent in danger as wars with the Oda and this family feud was the reason behind the murder of Ieyasus paternal grandfather, Matsudaira Kiyoyasu. Unlike his father and the majority of his branch of the family, Ieyasus father, Hirotada, in 1548, when the Oda clan invaded Mikawa, Hirotada turned to Imagawa Yoshimoto, the head of the Imagawa clan, for help to repel the invaders. Yoshimoto agreed under the condition that Hirotada send Ieyasu to Sunpu as a hostage, Oda Nobuhide, the leader of the Oda clan, learned of this arrangement and had Ieyasu abducted from his entourage en route to Sunpu. Ieyasu was just five years old at the time, Nobuhide threatened to execute Ieyasu unless his father severed all ties with the Imagawa clan. Hirotada replied that sacrificing his own son would show his seriousness in his pact with the Imagawa clan, despite this refusal, Nobuhide chose not to kill Ieyasu, but instead held him for the next three years at the Mansho Temple in Nagoya. In 1549, when Ieyasu was 6, his father Hirotada was murdered by his own treacherous vassals, at about the same time, Oda Nobuhide died during an epidemic. Nobuhides death dealt a blow to the Oda clan. An army under the command of Imagawa Sessai laid siege to the castle where Oda Nobuhiro, Nobuhides eldest son, with the castle about to fall, Sessai offered a deal to Oda Nobunaga, Nobuhides second son. Sessai offered to give up the siege if Ieyasu was handed over to the Imagawa, Nobunaga agreed, and so Ieyasu was taken as a hostage to Sunpu. Here he lived a good life as hostage and potentially useful future ally of the Imagawa clan until 1556 when he was age 13 years old. In 1556 he came of age, and, following tradition, one year later, at the age of 13, he married his first wife, Lady Tsukiyama, and changed his name again to Matsudaira Kurandonosuke Motoyasu
13.
Tokyo
–
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
14.
Odawara
–
Odawara is a city located in western Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of February 2015, the city had an population of 194,672. The total area is 113.79 km2, the area around present day Odawara has been settled since prehistoric times, and archaeological evidence indicates that the area had a high population density in the Jōmon period. From the Ritsuryō system of the Nara period, the became part of Ashigarashimo District of Sagami Province. It was divided into shōen during the Heian period, mostly controlled by the Hatano clan, during the Genpei War between the Heike clan and Minamoto no Yoritomo, the Battle of Ishibashiyama was fought near present-day Odawara. During the Sengoku period, Odawara developed as a town and capital of the domains of the late Hōjō clan. The Hōjō were defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the Battle of Odawara in 1590, despite the reputation of Odawara Castle. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, Odawara was the center of Odawara Domain, the castle town prospered as Odawara-juku, a post station on the Tōkaidō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto. After the Meiji Restoration, Odawara Domain briefly became Odawara Prefecture, the epicenter of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 was deep beneath Izu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay. It devastated Tokyo, the city of Yokohama, surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka Prefectures. Ninety percent of the buildings in Odawara collapsed immediately, and fires burned the rubble along with anything else left standing, Odawara regained some measure of prosperity with the opening of the Tanna Tunnel in 1934, which brought the main routing of the Tōkaidō Main Line through the city. Odawara was raised from the status of town to city on December 20,1940, on August 15,1945, Odawara was the last city in Japan to be bombed by Allied aircraft during World War II. On November 1,2000 Odawara exceeded 200,000 in population and was proclaimed a special city with increased autonomy from the central government. Odawara occupies the Ashigara Plains, in the far western portion of Kanagawa Prefecture and it is bordered by the Hakone Mountains to the north and west, the Sakawa River to the east and Sagami Bay of the Pacific Ocean to the south. Kanagawa Prefecture Minamiashigara Ninomiya Ōi, Kaisei, Nakai Hakone, Manazuru, agriculture and commercial fishing play a relatively minor role in the local economy. Manufacturing includes light industry, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food processing, Odawara is also a bedroom community for Yokohama and Tokyo. Companies headquartered in Odawara include, Meganesuper Co. Ltd, wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd Odawara Auto Machine MFG. Co. Ltd. Odakyu Sharyo Kogyo Co Ltd Odakyu Hakone Holdings Co. Ltd, within the city itself, the Yugawara area is also a well-known hot spring resort
15.
Kanagawa Prefecture
–
Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture located in southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital of the prefecture is Yokohama, Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. Kanagawa Prefecture is home to Kamakura and Hakone, two highly popular side trip destinations from Tokyo, the prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period. About 3,000 years ago, Mount Hakone produced an explosion which resulted in Lake Ashi on the western area of the prefecture. It is believed that the Yamato dynasty ruled this area from the 5th century onwards, in the ancient era, its plains were very sparsely inhabited. In medieval Japan, Kanagawa was part of the provinces of Sagami, Kamakura in central Sagami was the capital of Japan during the Kamakura period. During the Edo period, the part of Sagami Province was governed by the daimyō of Odawara Castle, while the eastern part was directly governed by the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo. Commodore Matthew Perry landed in Kanagawa in 1853 and 1854 and signed the Convention of Kanagawa to force open Japanese ports to the United States. Nearby Yokosuka, closer to the mouth of Tokyo Bay, developed as a port and now serves as headquarters for the U. S. 7th Fleet. After the Meiji period, many lived in Yokohama City. The Meiji Government developed the first railways in Japan, from Shinbashi to Yokohama in 1872, the epicenter of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923 was deep beneath Izu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay. It devastated Tokyo, the city of Yokohama, surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka. The sea receded as much as 400 metres from the shore at Manazuru Point, at Kamakura, the total death toll from earthquake, tsunami, and fire exceeded 2,000 victims. At Odawara, ninety percent of the buildings collapsed immediately, Yokohama, Kawasaki and other major cities were heavily damaged by the U. S. bombing in 1945. Casualties amounted to more than several thousand, after the war, General Douglas MacArthur, the chief commander of Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers for the Occupation of Japan, landed in Kanagawa, before moving to other areas. U. S. military bases remain in Kanagawa, including Camp Zama, Yokosuka Naval Base. In 1945, Kanagawa was the 15th most populous prefecture in Japan, in the years after the war, the prefecture underwent rapid urbanization as a part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The population as of September 1,2014, is estimated to be 9.1 million, Kanagawa became the second most populous prefecture in 2006
