1.
Takaoka, Toyama
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Takaoka is a city located in the northwestern portion of Toyama Prefecture, Japan, and is the central city of its Western District. Takaoka covers the 8th largest surface area in Toyama Prefecture and has the second largest population after Toyama City, Takaoka became a city on April 1,1889, withdrawing from Imizu District. Originally, the Takaoka region was called Sekino, but when Maeda Toshinaga opened the city in 1609, the present-day suburbs of Takaoka formed the provincial capital of the former Ecchu Province, and Ōtomo no Yakamochi took position as a government official in this area. During his five-year stay he wrote many waka poems and this is the reason for Takaoka being named Manyō City. Even today the event at the annual Manyō Festival is the 20 Volume Manyō recital. In 1609, when Maeda Toshinaga of the Kaga Domain entered Takaoka Castle, at the time of the opening of the city, it was reorganized for a population of less than 5,000 inhabitants and the Samurai Yashiki were positioned around the castle and towards the southern plateau. However, in 1615, when an edict was passed there was to be only one castle in each feudal domain. This resulted in the start of Takaoka’s role as a city of commerce, Takaoka copperware and lacquerware also took off at this time. More recently, on April 1,1889, Takaoka was registered as one of Japans first cities together with 30 cities nationwide, an Imperial decree in July 1899 established Fushiki Port as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom. On November 1,2005, the town of Fukuoka was merged into Takaoka, therefore, Nishitonami District was dissolved as a result of this merger. Takaoka covers an area of 209.42 km2, which equates to roughly 5% of the area of Toyama Prefecture. The Takaoka region extends 19.2 km from north to south,24.5 km from east to west with a perimeter of 125.9 km – which is equal to the length of coastline in Toyama Prefecture. Shogawa River and the Oyabegawa River run through Takaoka and tributaries weave their way though the city center, including small rivers, a total of 10 rivers flow through the city. The Amaharashi coast lies to the north of the region, just off the coast lies the island Otokoiwa. Another island, Onnaiwa, lies nearby and the view of this island against the backdrop of the Mount Tate range of peaks is famous, the climate of Takaoka is a humid subtropical climate, similar to that of much of the Japan Sea coast. All of the regions in Toyama Prefecture can experience large quantities of snow in winter, depending on the year, the city can experience extraordinarily heavy snowfall, like, for example in 2006 when snow piled 1. 4m high and in 20111. 27m was recorded. According to weather records, the temperature in 2010 was 14.5 °C, the average level of humidity was 79%. Takaoka is served by JR Wests Takaoka Station with the Hokuriku Main Line, the Himi Line, within the city, Manyōsens Shin-Minato Harbor and Takaoka Kidō lines offer transport
2.
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
3.
Oda Nobunaga
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Oda Nobunaga was a powerful Daimyō of Japan in the late 16th century who attempted to unify Japan during the late Sengoku period. Nobunaga is regarded as one of three unifiers of Japan along with his retainers Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, Nobunaga was widely known as one of the most brutal figures in history, eliminating anyone who stood in his way. He was both a ruler and keen businessman, strategizing at both the micro- and macroeconomic scales. He met his demise when his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide rebelled against him at Honnō-ji, Oda Nobunaga was the first for whom this goal seemed attainable. Nobunaga had gained control over most of Honshu before his death during the 1582 Honnō-ji incident and it is not certain whether Nobunaga was killed in the attack or else committed seppuku. The motivations behind Mitsuhides betrayal was never revealed to anyone who survived the incident, following the incident, Akechi Mitsuhide declared himself master over Nobunagas domains, but was quickly defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who regained control of and greatly expanded the Oda holdings. Oda Nobunaga was born on June 23,1534, in the Owari domain and he was the second son of Oda Nobuhide, a deputy shugo with land holdings in Owari Province. He is said to have born in Nagoya Castle, although this is subject to debate. Through his childhood and early years, he was well known for his bizarre behavior. He was known to run around with other youths from the area, with the introduction of firearms into Japan, however, he became known for his fondness of tanegashima firearms. In 1551, Oda Nobuhide died unexpectedly, Nobunaga was said to have acted outrageously during his funeral, throwing ceremonial incense at the altar. This convinced many Oda retainers of Nobunagas mediocrity and lack of discipline, alienated, they then began to side with his soft-spoken and well-mannered brother, Nobuyuki. Hirate Masahide, a mentor and retainer to Nobunaga, was ashamed by Nobunagas behavior. This had an effect on Nobunaga, who later built a temple to honor Masahide. Although Nobunaga was Nobuhides legitimate successor, the Oda clan was divided into factions. Oda Nobutomo, the deceased Nobuhides brother and deputy to the shugo, used the weak Yoshimune as his puppet, Nobutomo murdered Yoshimune when it was discovered that he supported and attempted to aid Nobunaga. This also ensured that the Imagawa clan would have to stop attacking Owaris borders, although Nobuyuki and his supporters were still at large, Nobunaga brought an army to Mino Province to aid Saitō Dōsan after Dōsans son, Saitō Yoshitatsu, turned against him. The campaign failed, as Dōsan was killed in the Battle of Nagara-gawa, a few months later Nobuyuki, with support from Shibata Katsuie and Hayashi Hidesada, rebelled against Nobunaga
4.
Japanese people
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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
5.
Edo period
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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
6.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
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Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a preeminent daimyō, warrior, general, samurai, and politician of the Sengoku period who is regarded as Japans second great unifier. He succeeded his former lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Warring States period. The period of his rule is called the Momoyama period. After his death, his young son Hideyori was displaced by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Hideyoshi is noted for a number of cultural legacies, including the restriction that only members of the samurai class could bear arms. He financed the construction, restoration and rebuilding of many temples standing today in Kyoto, Hideyoshi played an important role in the history of Christianity in Japan when he ordered the execution by crucifixion of twenty-six Christians. Very little is known for certain about Hideyoshi before 1570, when he begins to appear in surviving documents and his autobiography starts in 1577 but in it Hideyoshi spoke very little about his past. According to tradition, he was born in Owari Province, the home of the Oda clan and he was born of no traceable samurai lineage, being the son of a peasant-ashigaru named Yaemon. He had no surname, and his given name was Hiyoshi-maru although variations exist. Many legends describe Hideyoshi being sent to study at a temple as a young man, under the name Kinoshita Tōkichirō, he first joined the Imagawa clan as a servant to a local ruler named Matsushita Yukitsuna. He traveled all the way to the lands of Imagawa Yoshimoto, daimyō of Suruga Province, in 1558 he joined the Oda clan, now headed by Oda Nobunaga, as an ashigaru. According to his biographers, he supervised the repair of Kiyosu Castle, a described as apocryphal. In 1561, Hideyoshi married One who was Asano Nagakatsus adopted daughter and he carried out repairs on Sunomata Castle with his younger brother Toyotomi Hidenaga and the bandits Hachisuka Masakatsu and Maeno Nagayasu. Hideyoshis efforts were well received because Sunomata was in enemy territory and he constructed a fort in Sunomata, according to legend overnight, and discovered a secret route into Mount Inaba after which much of the garrison surrendered. Hideyoshi was very successful as a negotiator, in 1564, he managed to convince, mostly with liberal bribes, a number of Mino warlords to desert the Saitō clan. Hideyoshi approached many Saitō clan samurai and convinced them to submit to Nobunaga, including the Saitō clans strategist, the new surname included two characters, one each from Odas two other right-hand men, Niwa Nagahide and Shibata Katsuie. Hideyoshi led troops in the Battle of Anegawa in 1570 in which Oda Nobunaga allied with Tokugawa Ieyasu to lay siege to two fortresses of the Azai and Asakura clans and he participated in the 1573 Siege of Nagashima. In 1573, after victorious campaigns against the Azai and Asakura, initially based at the former Azai headquarters in Odani, Hideyoshi moved to Kunitomo, and renamed the city Nagahama in tribute to Nobunaga. Hideyoshi later moved to the port at Imahama on Lake Biwa, from there he began work on Imahama Castle and took control of the nearby Kunitomo firearms factory that had been established some years previously by the Azai and Asakura
7.
Tokugawa Ieyasu
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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
8.
Battle of Sekigahara
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The Battle of Sekigahara was a decisive battle on October 21,1600 that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate. Japan had a period of peace after the battle. Oda Nobunaga had slowly consolidated control over much of Japan and was in control of the shogun, Ashikaga tried to escape this predicament in 1573 by attacking Oda, but failed and was exiled, thus ending his shogunate. Nobunaga ruled unopposed until he was betrayed by his own retainer Akechi Mitsuhide in 1582, while under attack in Kyoto, Nobunaga committed suicide by seppuku. Toyotomi Hideyoshi quickly avenged his master Nobunaga and consolidated control over Japan, Hideyoshi had risen from humble roots to become the ruler of Japan. The death of Hideyoshi created a vacuum in Japan, which ultimately was resolved by the outcome at Sekigahara. With no appointed shogun over the armies, this left a vacuum in the Japanese government. Most notably, Katō Kiyomasa and Fukushima Masanori were publicly critical of the bureaucrats, especially Ishida Mitsunari, Tokugawa Ieyasu took advantage of this situation, and recruited them, redirecting the animosity to weaken the Toyotomi clan. Tokugawa Ieyasu was unrivaled in terms of seniority, rank, reputation, rumors started to spread stating that Ieyasu, at that point the only surviving ally of Oda Nobunaga, would take over Hideyoshis legacy just as Nobunagas was taken. This was especially evident amongst the loyalist bureaucrats, who suspected Ieyasu of agitating unrest amongst Toyotomis former vassals. Later, a conspiracy to assassinate Ieyasu surfaced, and many Toyotomi loyalists, including Toshiies son, Toshinaga, were accused of taking part. However, Uesugi Kagekatsu, one of Hideyoshis appointed regents, defied Ieyasu by building up his military, afterwards, Ieyasu summoned the help of various supporters and led them northward to attack the Uesugi clan. Many of them were at that moment besieging Hasedō though, Ishida Mitsunari, grasping the opportunity created by the chaos, rose up in response and created an alliance to challenge Ieyasus supporters. Mitsunari, in his home Sawayama Castle, met with Ōtani Yoshitsugu, Mashita Nagamori, here, they forged the alliance, and invited Mōri Terumoto, who actually did not take part in Sekigahara, to be its head. Thus formed what came to be referred to as the Western Army, Mori seized Osaka Castle for their base of operations, since most of Tokugawa’s forces had vacated the area to attack Uesugi. Ishida wanted to reinforce Mori at the impregnable Osaka Castle and this would let Mitsunari control the traditional capital city of Kyoto and challenge Tokugawa’s power. To this end, Mitsunari’s forces headed for Gifu Castle in order to use it as an area to move on Kyoto. Back in Edo, Ieyasu received news of the situation in the Kansai region, Tokugawa himself commanded 30,000 men and his subordinates led another 40,000 men
9.
Edo
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Edo, also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. It was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868, during this period, it grew to become one of the largest cities in the world and home to an urban culture centered on the notion of a floating world. From the establishment of the Tokugawa bakufu headquarters at Edo, the became the de facto capital and center of political power. Edo grew from what had been a small, little-known fishing village in 1457 into the largest metropolis in the world with a population of 1,000,000 by 1721. Edo was repeatedly devastated by fires, with the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 being the most disastrous, an estimated 100,000 people died in the fire. During the Edo period, there were about 100 fires mostly begun by accident, between 1600 and 1945, Edo/Tokyo was leveled every 25–50 years or so by fire, earthquakes, or war. In 1868, when the shogunate came to an end, the city was renamed Tokyo, the emperor moved his residence to Tokyo, making the city the formal capital of Japan, Keiō4, On the 17th day of the 7th month, Edo was renamed Tokyo. Keiō4, On the 27th day of the 8th month, Keiō4, On the eighth day of the ninth month, the nengō was formally changed from Keiō to Meiji and a general amnesty was granted. Meiji 2, On the 23rd day of the 10th month, ishimaru Sadatsuga was the magistrate of Edo in 1661. During the Edo period, the Shogunate appointed administrators with jurisdiction over the police, and beginning with the rule of Tokugawa Yoshimune), the machi bugyō heard criminal and civil suits, and performed other administrative functions. The city was out as a castle town around Edo Castle. Kyotos character was defined by the Imperial Court, the nobles, its Buddhist temples and its history, Osaka was the countrys commercial center. Areas further from the center were the domain of the chōnin, the area known as Shitamachi, northeast of the castle, was a center of urban culture. The ancient Buddhist temple of Sensō-ji still stands in Asakusa, marking the center of an area of traditional Shitamachi culture, some shops in the streets near the temple have existed continuously in the same location since the Edo period. The Sumida River, then called the Great River, ran along the edge of the city. The shogunates official rice-storage warehouses, other buildings and some of the citys best-known restaurants were located here. The Japan Bridge marked the center of the commercial center. Fishermen, craftsmen and other producers and retailers operated here, shippers managed ships known as tarubune to and from Osaka and other cities, bringing goods into the city or transferring them from sea routes to river barges or land routes such as the Tōkaidō
10.
Sengoku period
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The Sengoku period is a period in Japanese history marked by social upheaval, political intrigue and near-constant military conflict. Japanese historians named it after the otherwise unrelated Warring States period in China and it came to an end when all political power was unified under the Tokugawa shogunate. In the years preceding this era the Shogunate gradually lost influence, many of these Lords began to fight uncontrollably with each other for control over land and influence over the shogunate. As trade with China grew, the developed, and the use of money became widespread as markets. This, combined with developments in agriculture and small-scale trading, led to the desire for local autonomy throughout all levels of the social hierarchy. As early as the beginning of the 15th century, the caused by earthquakes and famines often served to trigger armed uprisings by farmers weary of debt. The Ōnin War, a conflict rooted in economic distress and brought on by a dispute over succession, is generally regarded as the onset of the Sengoku period. The eastern army of the Hosokawa family and its allies clashed with the army of the Yamana. Fighting in and around Kyoto lasted for nearly 11 years, leaving the city almost completely destroyed, the conflict in Kyoto then spread to outlying provinces. The period culminated with a series of three warlords, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who gradually unified Japan, after Tokugawa Ieyasus final victory at the siege of Osaka in 1615, Japan settled down into several centuries of peace under the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Ōnin War in 1467 is usually considered the point of Sengoku period. There are several events which could be considered the end of it, The Siege of Odawara, the Battle of Sekigahara, the upheaval resulted in the further weakening of central authority, and throughout Japan regional lords, called daimyōs, rose to fill the vacuum. There were many, however, whose positions eroded and were usurped by more capable underlings. One of the earliest instances of this was Hōjō Sōun, who rose from humble origins. Building on the accomplishments of Sōun, the Late Hōjō clan remained a power in the Kantō region until its subjugation by Toyotomi Hideyoshi late in the Sengoku period. Well-organized religious groups also gained power at this time by uniting farmers in resistance. The monks of the Buddhist True Pure Land sect formed numerous Ikkō-ikki and this in turn provided Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had risen through the ranks from ashigaru to become one of Odas most trusted generals, with the opportunity to establish himself as Odas successor. Toyotomi eventually consolidated his control over the remaining daimyōs and, although he was ineligible for the title of Seii Taishogun because of his common birth, during his short reign as Kampaku, Toyotomi attempted two invasions of Korea
11.
Samurai
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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
12.
Nagoya
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Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is Japans third-largest incorporated city and the fourth most populous urban area and it is located on the Pacific coast on central Honshu. It is the capital of Aichi Prefecture and is one of Japans major ports along with those of Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, Chiba and it is also the center of Japans third-largest metropolitan region, known as the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area. As of 2015,2.28 million people lived in the city, the citys name was historically written as 那古野 or 名護屋. One possible origin is the adjective nagoyaka, meaning peaceful, the name Chūkyō is also used to refer to Nagoya. Notable examples of the use of the name Chūkyō include the Chūkyō Industrial Area, Chūkyō Metropolitan Area, Chūkyō Television Broadcasting, Chukyo University, oda Nobunaga and his protégés Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu were powerful warlords based in the Nagoya area who gradually succeeded in unifying Japan. In 1610, Tokugawa Ieyasu moved the capital of Owari Province from Kiyosu, about seven kilometers away, during this period Nagoya Castle was constructed, built partly from materials taken from Kiyosu Castle. During the construction, the town around Kiyosu Castle, consisting of around 60,000 people. Around the same time, the nearby ancient Atsuta Shrine was designated as a waystation, called Miya, on the important Tōkaidō road, a town developed around the temple to support travelers. The castle and shrine towns formed the city, during the Meiji Restoration Japans provinces were restructured into prefectures and the government changed from family to bureaucratic rule. Nagoya was proclaimed a city on October 1,1889, and designated a city on September 1,1956, Nagoya became an industrial hub for the region. Its economic sphere included the famous pottery towns of Tokoname, Tajimi and Seto, as well as Okazaki, other industries included cotton and complex mechanical dolls called karakuri ningyō. Mitsubishi Aircraft Company was established in 1920 in Nagoya and became one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in Japan, the availability of space and the central location of the region and the well-established connectivity were some of the major factors that lead to the establishment of the aviation industry there. Nagoya was the target of US air raids during World War II, the population of Nagoya at this time was estimated to be 1.5 million, fourth among Japanese cities and one of the three largest centers of the Japanese aircraft industry. It was estimated that 25% of its workers were engaged in aircraft production, important Japanese aircraft targets were within the city itself, while others were to the north of Kagamigahara. It was estimated that produced between 40% and 50% of Japanese combat aircraft and engines, such as the vital Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter. The Nagoya area also produced machine tools, bearings, railway equipment, metal alloys, tanks, motor vehicles, the bombing continued through the spring of 1945, and included large-scale firebombing. Nagoya was the target of two of Bomber Command’s attacks and these incendiary attacks, one by day and one by night, devastated 15.3 square kilometres
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1st (Maeda) daimyō of Kaga