1.
Ukiyo-e
–
The ukiyo-e genre of art flourished in Japan from the 17th through 19th centuries. The term ukiyo-e translates as picture of the floating world, Edo became the seat of government for the military dictatorship in the early 17th century. The merchant class at the bottom of the social order benefitted most from the rapid economic growth. Many indulged in the entertainments of kabuki theatre, courtesans, the term ukiyo came to describe this hedonistic lifestyle. The earliest success was in the 1670s with Moronobus paintings and monochromatic prints of beautiful women, colour in prints came gradually—at first added by hand for special commissions. By the 1740s, artists such as Masanobu used multiple woodblocks to print areas of colour, from the 1760s the success of Harunobus brocade prints led to full-colour production becoming standard, each print made with numerous blocks. Specialists have prized the portraits of beauties and actors by masters such as Kiyonaga, Utamaro, Following the deaths of these two masters, and against the technological and social modernization that followed the Meiji Restoration of 1868, ukiyo-e production went into steep decline. Some ukiyo-e artists specialized in making paintings, but most works were prints, as printing was done by hand, printers were able to achieve effects impractical with machines, such as the blending or gradation of colours on the printing block. Ukiyo-e was central to forming the Wests perception of Japanese art in the late 19th century–especially the landscapes of Hokusai, Prints since the late 20th century have continued in an individualist vein, often made with techniques imported from the West. The Kanō school of painting incorporated features of both, since antiquity, Japanese art had found patrons in the aristocracy, military governments, and religious authorities. Later works appeared by and for townspeople, including inexpensive monochromatic paintings of female beauties and scenes of the theatre and pleasure districts, the hand-produced nature of these shikomi-e limited the scale of their production, a limit that was soon overcome by genres that turned to mass-produced woodblock printing. During a prolonged period of war in the 16th century. In the early 17th century Tokugawa Ieyasu unified the country and was appointed Shogun with supreme power over Japan and he consolidated his government in the village of Edo, and required the territorial lords to assemble there in alternate years with their entourages. The demands of the growing capital drew many male labourers from the country, the village grew during the Edo period from a population of 1800 to over a million in the 19th century. The centralized shogunate put an end to the power of the machishū and divided the population into four classes, with the ruling samurai class at the top. The experience of the quarters was open to those of sufficient wealth, manners. Woodblock printing in Japan traces back to the Hyakumantō Darani in 770 CE, until the 17th century such printing was reserved for Buddhist seals and images. Movable type appeared around 1600, but as the Japanese writing system required about 100,000 type pieces, in Saga Domain, calligrapher Honami Kōetsu and publisher Suminokura Soan combined printed text and images in an adaptation of The Tales of Ise and other works of literature
Ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e
2.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
–
Utagawa Kuniyoshi was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting. He was a member of the Utagawa school, the range of Kuniyoshis subjects included many genres, landscapes, beautiful women, Kabuki actors, cats, and mythical animals. He is known for depictions of the battles of legendary samurai heroes and his artwork incorporated aspects of Western representation in landscape painting and caricature. Kuniyoshi was born on January 1,1798, the son of a silk-dyer, Yanagiya Kichiyemon, apparently he assisted his fathers business as a pattern designer, and some have suggested that this experience influenced his rich use of color and textile patterns in prints. Yoshisaburō proved his drawing talents at age 12, quickly attracting the attention of the famous ukiyo-e print master Utagawa Toyokuni and he was officially admitted to Toyokunis studio in 1811, and became one of his chief pupils. He remained an apprentice until 1814, at time he was given the name Kuniyoshi. During this year he produced his first published work, the illustrations for the kusazōshi gōkan Gobuji Chūshingura, between 1815 and 1817 he created a number of book illustrations for yomihon, kokkeibon, gōkan and hanashibon, and printed his stand-alone full color prints of kabuki actors and warriors. His economic situation turned desperate at one point when he was forced to sell used tatami mats, a chance encounter with his prosperous fellow pupil Kunisada, to whom he felt that he was superior in artistic talent, led him to redouble his efforts. During the 1820s, Kuniyoshi produced a number of heroic triptychs that show the first signs of an individual style. In 1827 he received his first major commission for the series, One hundred and eight heroes of the popular Suikoden all told, based on the incredibly popular Chinese tale, the Shuihu Zhuan. In this series Kuniyoshi illustrated individual heroes on single-sheets, drawing tattoos on his heroes, the Suikoden series became extremely popular in Edo, and the demand for Kuniyoshi’s warrior prints increased, gaining him entrance into the major ukiyo-e and literary circles. He continued to produce prints, drawing much of his subjects from war tales such as Tale of the Heike and The rise and fall of the Minamoto. His warrior prints were unique in that they depicted legendary popular figures with a stress on dreams, ghostly apparitions, omens. These new thematic styles satisfied the public’s interest in the ghastly, exciting and this may have had some influence on Kuniyoshis production of caricature prints or comic pictures, which were used to disguise actual actors and courtesans. Many of these symbolically and humorously criticized the shogunate and became popular among the politically dissatisfied public, Timothy Clark, curator of Japanese art at the British Museum, asserts that the repressive conventions of the day produced unintended consequences. Kuniyoshi also produced during this time works of purely natural subject matter, notably of animals, birds, here he creatively used elementary, childlike script sloppily written in kana under the actor faces. Reflecting his love for felines, Kuniyoshi also began to use cats in the place of humans in kabuki and he is also known during this time to have experimented with wide composition, magnifying visual elements in the image for a dramatic, exaggerated effect. In 1856 Kuniyoshi suffered from palsy, which caused him difficulty in moving his limbs
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
–
Hawk, woodblock print
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
–
Kanama Goro Imakuni, woodblock print (
National Museum,
Warsaw)
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
–
Painting of the
arhat Handaka (
British Museum)
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
–
Tiger, woodblock print
3.
Miyamoto Musashi
–
Miyamoto Musashi, also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was an expert Japanese swordsman and rōnin. Musashi, as he was simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent and unique double-bladed swordsmanship. The details of Miyamoto Musashis early life are difficult to verify, Musashi himself simply states in The Book of Five Rings that he was born in Harima Province. Niten Ki supports the theory that Musashi was born in 1584, was born in Banshū, in Tenshō12, the historian Kamiko Tadashi, commenting on Musashis text, notes, Munisai was Musashis father. he lived in Miyamoto village, in the Yoshino district. Musashi was most probably born here, Musashi gives his full name and title in The Book of Five Rings as Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Harunobu. His father, Shinmen Munisai was a martial artist and master of the sword. Munisai, in turn, was the son of Hirata Shōgen, a vassal of Shinmen Iga no Kami, Hirata was relied upon by Lord Shinmen and so was allowed to use the Shinmen name. As for Musashi, Musashi no Kami was a court title, Fujiwara was the lineage from which Musashi claimed descent. Munisais tomb says he died in 1580, which conflicts with the commonly accepted date of 1584 for Musashi. Further confounding his birthdate, the genealogy of the extant Miyamoto family recounts Musashi was born in 1582, there is considerable uncertainty surrounding Munisai, such as when he died and whether he was truly Musashis father, and even less is known about Musashis mother. The following are a few possibilities, Munisais tomb was correct and he died in 1580, leaving two daughters and son Iori, his wife adopted a recently born child, from the Akamatsu clan, intended to succeed Munisai at his jitte school. Omasa, Munisais widow, was not Musashis biological mother, Munisai lived a good deal longer, later than 1590 possibly. Musashi, then, was born to Munisais first wife, Yoshiko, Munisai divorced her after Musashis birth, whereupon she decamped for her fathers house, leaving Musashi with Munisai. Musashi grew up treating Munisais second wife, Omasa as his mother and this second scenario is laid out in an entry to the Tasumi familys genealogy. The daughter of Bessho Shigeharu first married Hirata Muni and was divorced from him a few years later, after that she married Tasumi Masahisa. The second wife of Tasumi Masahisa was the mother of Miyamoto Musashi, Musashis childhood name was Hirata Den. During his childhood, he went to Hirafuku to find his real mother and he moved in with the Tasumi family. A variant of this theory is based on the fact that the tombstone states that Omasa gave birth to Musashi on 4 March 1584
Miyamoto Musashi
–
Miyamoto Musashi in his prime, wielding two
bokken. Woodblock print by
Utagawa Kuniyoshi.
Miyamoto Musashi
–
Miyamoto Musashi having his fortune told. Print by
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Miyamoto Musashi
–
Ichijoji Sagarimatsu, location of the battle between Musashi and the Yoshioka school
Miyamoto Musashi
–
"Seishin Chokudo" (earnest heart, straight way) monument dedicated to Miyamoto Musashi, located in
Kokura. These characters were engraved by Musashi on his bokken. It stands on the place where Musashi is supposed to have lived, at the foot of the castle. The Hombu dojo of a main branch of
Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryū is in Kokura and demonstrates every year in front of this monument.
4.
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
Samurai
–
Samurai in
armor, 1860s.
Hand-coloured photograph by
Felice Beato.
Samurai
–
Samurai around the 1860s
Samurai
–
Saigō Takamori (seated, in Western uniform), surrounded by his officers, in samurai attire, during the 1877
Satsuma rebellion. News article in
Le Monde Illustré, 1877.
Samurai
–
Iron helmet and armor with gilt bronze decoration,
Kofun era, 5th century.
Tokyo National Museum.
5.
History of Japan
–
It is widely accepted that first Human habitation in the Japanese archipelago traced back to prehistoric times. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi in the first millennium BC, during this period, in the first century AD, the first known written reference to Japan was recorded in the Chinese Book of Han. Between the fourth century and the century, Japans many kingdoms and tribes gradually came to be unified under a centralized government. The imperial dynasty established at this time continues to reign over Japan to this day, in 794, a new imperial capital was established at Heian-kyō, marking the beginning of the Heian period, which lasted until 1185. The Heian period is considered an age of classical Japanese culture. Japanese religious life from time and onwards was a mix of Buddhism. Over the following centuries the power of the Emperor and the imperial court gradually declined and passed to the military clans, the Minamoto clan under Minamoto no Yoritomo emerged victorious from the Genpei War of 1180–85. After seizing power, Yoritomo set up his capital in Kamakura, in 1274 and 1281, the Kamakura shogunate withstood two Mongol invasions, but in 1333 it was toppled by a rival claimant to the shogunate, ushering in the Muromachi period. During the Muromachi period regional warlords called daimyō grew in power at the expense of the shogun, eventually, Japan descended into a period of civil war. Over the course of the sixteenth century, Japan was reunified under the leadership of the daimyō Oda Nobunaga. After Hideyoshis death in 1598, Tokugawa Ieyasu came to power and was appointed shogun by the Emperor, the Tokugawa shogunate, which governed from Edo, presided over a prosperous and peaceful era known as the Edo period. The Tokugawa shogunate imposed a strict class system on Japanese society, the American Perry Expedition in 1853–54 ended Japans seclusion, this in turn contributed to the fall of the shogunate and the return of power to the Emperor in 1868. The new national leadership of the following Meiji period transformed their isolated, underdeveloped island country into an empire that closely followed Western models and became a world power. Although democracy developed and modern civilian culture prospered during the Taishō period, Japans powerful military had great autonomy, the military invaded Manchuria in 1931, and from 1937 the conflict escalated into a prolonged war with China. Japans attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 led to war with the United States, Japans forces soon became overextended, but the military held out in spite of Allied air attacks that inflicted severe damage on population centers. Japans unconditional surrender was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 14 August 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Allies occupied Japan until 1952, during which a new constitution was enacted in 1947 that transformed Japan into a constitutional monarchy, after 1955, Japan enjoyed very high economic growth, and became a world economic powerhouse. Since the 1990s, economic stagnation has been a major issue, an earthquake and tsunami in 2011 caused massive economic dislocations and a serious nuclear power disaster
History of Japan
–
History of Japan
History of Japan
–
Jōmon period pottery
History of Japan
–
A Yayoi period
bronze bell, third century AD
History of Japan
–
Daisenryō Kofun,
Osaka
6.
Japan
–
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
Japan
–
The
Golden Hall and
five-storey pagoda of
Hōryū-ji, among the oldest wooden buildings in the world,
National Treasures, and a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Japan
Japan
–
Samurai warriors face Mongols, during the
Mongol invasions of Japan. The
Kamikaze, two storms, are said to have saved Japan from Mongol fleets.
Japan
–
Samurai could
kill a commoner for the slightest insult and were widely feared by the Japanese population.
Edo period, 1798
7.
Salaryman
–
Salaryman refers to a man whose income is salary based, particularly those working for corporations. It has gradually become accepted in Anglophone countries as a noun for a Japanese white-collar worker or businessman, the term salaryman refers exclusively to men, for women the term career woman or, for lower prestige jobs, office lady is used. Japans society prepares its people to work primarily for the good of the society rather than just the individual. The salaryman typically enters a company after graduating college and stays with that corporation his whole career, other popular notions surrounding salarymen include karōshi, or death from overwork. In conservative Japanese culture, becoming a salaryman is the career choice for young men. On the other hand, the word Salaryman is sometimes used with derogatory connotation for his dependence on his employer. The term does not include all workers who receive a set salary, the term includes those who work for government and major companies. Workers in the mizu shōbai and entertainment industries are not included even though their income may be salary based, similarly, doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants, musicians, artists, politicians, the self-employed, and corporate executives are also excluded. A typical description of the salaryman is a male employee who typically earns his salary based on individual abilities rather than on seniority. Salarymen are known for working many hours, sometimes up to sixty hours per week, oftentimes, because of his busy work schedule, the salaryman does not have time to raise a family and his work becomes a lifelong commitment. Companies typically hire the salarymen straight after high school, and they are expected to stay with the company until retirement, as a reward for the demonstration of their loyalty, companies rarely fire the salarymen unless it is under special dire circumstances. There is also a belief that the amount of time spent at the workplace correlates to the efficiency of the employee. As a result of this intense and depressing lifestyle, salarymen may become so pressured that they may commit suicide. The media often portray the salaryman in negative fashion for lack of initiative, because of this portrayal, communities may be less willing to help the salaryman with his emotional problems, which often leads to clinical depression or even suicide. The act of escaping from the lifestyle is known as datsusara. A vivid portrait of this can be found in the 2002 Takeshi Kitano film, the prevalence of salarymen in Japanese society has given birth to many depictions by both the Japanese and American media. Some films in Japan about salarymen include Mr. Salaryman, Japanese Salaryman NEO, there is a certain expectation among the middle and upper classes for Japanese men to become salarymen. For many young Japanese men, accepting anything less than becoming a salaryman and conforming to its ideal is considered a failure, not only of him, the life of a salaryman revolves around work
Salaryman
–
"Sararīman" take their train daily to work in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Salaryman
–
Salarymen of all ages in Tokyo walking to work
Salaryman
–
Hitokara at Karaoke-Box
Salaryman
–
Japanese mahjong tiles
8.
Unemployed
–
During periods of recession, an economy usually experiences a relatively high unemployment rate. According to International Labour Organization report, more than 200 million people globally or 6% of the workforce were without a job in 2012. There remains considerable debate regarding the causes, consequences and solutions for unemployment. Classical economics, new classical economics, and the Austrian School of economics argue that market mechanisms are reliable means of resolving unemployment, Keynesian economics emphasizes the cyclical nature of unemployment and recommends government interventions in the economy that it claims will reduce unemployment during recessions. This theory focuses on recurrent shocks that suddenly reduce aggregate demand for goods and services, Keynesian models recommend government interventions designed to increase demand for workers, these can include financial stimuli, publicly funded job creation, and expansionist monetary policies. Structural arguments emphasize causes and solutions related to disruptive technologies and globalization, Causes and solutions for frictional unemployment often address job entry threshold and wage rates. Behavioral economists highlight individual biases in decision making, and often involve problems and solutions concerning sticky wages, for centuries, experts have predicted that machines would make workers obsolete and increase unemployment. The state of being without any work both for an educated & uneducated person, for earning ones livelihood is meant by unemployment, some additional types of unemployment that are occasionally mentioned are seasonal unemployment, hardcore unemployment, and hidden unemployment. Though there have been several definitions of voluntary and involuntary unemployment in the economics literature, voluntary unemployment is attributed to the individuals decisions, whereas involuntary unemployment exists because of the socio-economic environment in which individuals operate. In these terms, much or most of frictional unemployment is voluntary, on the other hand, cyclical unemployment, structural unemployment, and classical unemployment are largely involuntary in nature. So, in practice, the distinction between voluntary and involuntary unemployment is hard to draw and this happens with cyclical unemployment, as macroeconomic forces cause microeconomic unemployment which can boomerang back and exacerbate these macroeconomic forces. Classical, or real-wage unemployment, occurs when real wages for a job are set above the market-clearing level causing the number of job-seekers to exceed the number of vacancies. On the other hand, some argue that as wages fall below a livable wage many choose to drop out of the labor market. This is especially true in countries where low-income families are supported through public welfare systems, in such cases, wages would have to be high enough to motivate people to choose employment over what they receive through public welfare. Wages below a livable wage are likely to result in lower labor market participation in above stated scenario, in addition it must be noted that consumption of goods and services is the primary driver of increased need for labor. Higher wages leads to workers having more available to consume goods. Therefore, higher wages increase general consumption and as a result need for labor increases, many economists have argued that unemployment increases with increased governmental regulation. For example, minimum wage laws raise the cost of some low-skill laborers above market equilibrium, laws restricting layoffs may make businesses less likely to hire in the first place, as hiring becomes more risky
Unemployed
–
Unemployed men outside a soup kitchen in
Depression -era
Chicago, 1931.
Unemployed
–
Karl Marx, Theorien über den Mehrwert, 1956
Unemployed
–
A government unemployment office with job listings, Berlin, Germany, 1982.
Unemployed
–
Migrant Mother,
Dorothea Lange, 1936
9.
Nara period
–
The Nara period of the history of Japan covers the years from AD710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō, most of Japanese society during this period was agricultural in nature and centered on villages. Most of the villagers followed a religion based on the worship of natural and ancestral spirits called kami, the capital at Nara was modeled after Changan, the capital city of Tang China. In many other ways, the Japanese upper classes patterned themselves after the Chinese, including adopting Chinese written system, fashion, concentrated efforts by the imperial court to record and document its history produced the first works of Japanese literature during the Nara period. Works such as the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki were political in nature, used to record and therefore justify, with the spread of written language, the writing of Japanese poetry, known in Japanese as waka, began. Over time, personal collections were referenced to establish the first large collection of Japanese poetry known as Manyōshū sometime after 759, Chinese characters were used to express sounds of Japanese until kana were invented. The Chinese characters used to express the sounds of Japanese are known as manyōgana, before the Taihō Code was established, the capital was customarily moved after the death of an emperor because of the ancient belief that a place of death was polluted. Reforms and bureaucratization of government led to the establishment of a permanent imperial capital at Heijō-kyō, or Nara, in AD710. It is to be noted that the capital was moved shortly to Kuni-kyō in 740–744, to Naniwa-kyō in 744–745, to Shigarakinomiya in 745, Nara was Japans first truly urban center. It soon had a population of 200,000 and some 10,000 people worked in government jobs, economic and administrative activity increased during the Nara period. Roads linked Nara to provincial capitals, and taxes were collected more efficiently and routinely, coins were minted, if not widely used. Outside the Nara area, however, there was little commercial activity, by the mid-eighth century, shōen, one of the most important economic institutions in medieval Japan, began to rise as a result of the search for a more manageable form of landholding. Some of these formerly public people were employed by large landholders. Factional fighting at the court continued throughout the Nara period. Imperial family members, leading families, such as the Fujiwara. Earlier this period, Prince Nagaya seized power at the court after the death of Fujiwara no Fuhito, Fuhito was succeeded by four sons, Muchimaro, Umakai, Fusasaki, and Maro. They put Emperor Shōmu, the prince by Fuhitos daughter, on the throne, in 729, they arrested Nagaya and regained control. However, as the first outbreak of smallpox spread from Kyūshū in 735 and it is without doubt that the Emperor was heavily shocked about this disaster, and he moved the palace three times in only five years since 740, until he eventually returned to Nara
Nara period
–
Shōsōin
Nara period
–
The primary building, i.e. the Daigoku-den at the
Heijō Palace (At the photograph's center; this is a modern version built for the 1300th anniversary of Nara becoming Japan's capital).
Tōdai-ji 's Daibutsuden and Wakakusayama can be seen in the rear (January, 2010).
Nara period
–
The Great
Buddha at Nara (
Tōdai-ji), 752 CE.
10.
Heian Period
–
The Heian period is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism, the Heian period is also considered the peak of the Japanese imperial court and noted for its art, especially poetry and literature. Although the Imperial House of Japan had power on the surface, the power was in the hands of the Fujiwara clan. Many emperors actually had mothers from the Fujiwara family, the Heian period was preceded by the Nara period and began in 794 A. D. after the movement of the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō, by the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu. Kanmu first tried to move the capital to Nagaoka-kyō, but a series of disasters befell the city, prompting the emperor to relocate the capital a second time, a rebellion occurred in China in the last years of the 9th century, making the political situation unstable. The Japanese missions to Tang China was suspended and the influx of Chinese exports halted, therefore the Heian Period is considered a high point in Japanese culture that later generations have always admired. The period is noted for the rise of the samurai class. Nominally, sovereignty lay in the emperor but in power was wielded by the Fujiwara nobility. However, to protect their interests in the provinces, the Fujiwara and other noble families required guards, police, the warrior class made steady political gains throughout the Heian period. Still, a military takeover of the Japanese government was centuries away. The entry of the class into court influence was a result of the Hōgen Rebellion. At this time Taira no Kiyomori revived the Fujiwara practices by placing his grandson on the throne to rule Japan by regency and their clan, the Taira, would not be overthrown until after the Genpei War, which marked the start of the shogunate. The Kamakura period began in 1185 when Minamoto no Yoritomo seized power from the emperors, Nara was abandoned after only 70 years in part due to the ascendancy of Dōkyō and the encroaching secular power of the Buddhist institutions there. Kyōto had good access to the sea and could be reached by land routes from the eastern provinces. The early Heian period continued Nara culture, the Heian capital was patterned on the Chinese Tang capital at Changan, as was Nara, Kanmu endeavoured to improve the Tang-style administrative system which was in use. Known as the ritsuryō, this attempted to recreate the Tang imperium in Japan. Despite the decline of the Taika–Taihō reforms, imperial government was vigorous during the early Heian period, Kanmus avoidance of drastic reform decreased the intensity of political struggles, and he became recognized as one of Japans most forceful emperors
Heian Period
–
Kyōto, "Capital of 1000 Years".
Heian Period
–
Byōdō-in Phoenix Hall, built in the 11th century during the Heian period of Japan.
Heian Period
–
A handscroll painting dated circa 1130, illustrating a scene from the "Bamboo River" chapter of the
Tale of Genji.
Heian Period
–
Drawing of
Fujiwara no Michinaga, by
Kikuchi Yōsai.
11.
Serf
–
Serfdom is the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism. It was a condition of bondage, which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe, serfs were often required not only to work on the lords fields, but also his mines, forests and roads. The decline of serfdom in Western Europe has sometimes been attributed to the Black Death, Serfdom became increasingly rare in most of Western Europe after the Renaissance, but conversely, it grew strong in Central and Eastern Europe, where it had previously been less common. In Eastern Europe the institution persisted until the mid-19th century, in the Austrian Empire serfdom was abolished by the 1781 Serfdom Patent, corvée continued to exist until 1848. Serfdom was abolished in Russia in the 1860s, in Finland, Norway and Sweden, feudalism was never fully established, and serfdom did not exist, however, serfdom-like institutions did exist in both Denmark and its vassal Iceland. According to Joseph R. Strayer, the concept of feudalism can also be applied to the societies of ancient Persia, ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Muslim India, China, james Lee and Cameron Campbell describe the Chinese Qing dynasty as also maintaining a form of serfdom. Tibet is described by Melvyn Goldstein to have had serfdom until 1959, bhutan is described by Tashi Wangchuk, a Bhutanese civil servant, as abolishing serfdom officially by 1959, but Wangchuk believes less than or about 10% of poor peasants were in copyhold situations. The United Nations 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery also prohibits serfdom as a form of slavery, the word serf originated from the Middle French serf and can be traced further back to the Latin servus. In Late Antiquity and most of the Middle Ages, what are now called serfs were usually designated in Latin as coloni. As slavery gradually disappeared and the status of servi became nearly identical to that of the coloni. Serfs had a place in feudal society, as did barons and knights, in return for protection. Thus the manorial system exhibited a degree of reciprocity, one rationale held that a serf worked for all while a knight or baron fought for all and a churchman prayed for all, thus everyone had a place. The serf was the worst fed and rewarded, but at least he had his place and, unlike slaves, had rights in land. A lord of the manor could not sell his serfs as a Roman might sell his slaves and this unified system preserved for the lord long-acquired knowledge of practices suited to the land. Further, a serf could not abandon his lands without permission, a freeman became a serf usually through force or necessity. Sometimes the greater physical and legal force of a local magnate intimidated freeholders or allodial owners into dependency, often a few years of crop failure, a war, or brigandage might leave a person unable to make his own way. In such a case he could strike a bargain with a lord of a manor, in exchange for protection, service was required, in cash, produce or labour, or a combination of all. These oaths bound the lord and his new serf in a feudal contract, to become a serf was a commitment that encompassed all aspects of the serfs life
Serf
–
Reeve and serfs in
feudal England, ca. 1310
Serf
–
Slavery
Serf
–
Punishment with a
knout. Whipping was a common punishment for
Russian serfs.
Serf
–
The proclamation by count
Josip Jelačić abolishing serfdom in the
Kingdom of Croatia, dated 25 April 1848
12.
Seppuku
–
Seppuku, sometimes metathesized as harakiri which is a native Japanese kun reading, is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai, if the cut, done with a movement, is done deep enough, it sections, cuts, the descending Aorta, inducing a massive blood loss inside the abdomen, with very fast death. A Japanese form of suicide, the term seppuku derives from the two Sino-Japanese roots setsu 切 and puku 腹. It is also known as harakiri, a more widely familiar outside Japan, and which is written with the same kanji as seppuku. In Japanese, the more formal seppuku, a Chinese onyomi reading, is used in writing, while harakiri. Ross notes, It is commonly pointed out that hara-kiri is a vulgarism, hara-kiri is a Japanese reading or Kun-yomi of the characters, as it became customary to prefer Chinese readings in official announcements, only the term seppuku was ever used in writing. So hara-kiri is a term, but only to commoners and seppuku a written term. The practice of committing seppuku at the death of ones master, known as oibara or tsuifuku, the word jigai means suicide in Japanese. The usual modern word for suicide is jisatsu, in some popular western texts, such as martial arts magazines, the term is associated with suicide of samurai wives. The term was introduced into English by Lafcadio Hearn in his Japan, An Attempt at Interpretation, joshua S. Mostow notes that Hearn misunderstood the term jigai to be the female equivalent of seppuku. The first recorded act of seppuku was performed by Minamoto no Yorimasa during the Battle of Uji in the year 1180. Seppuku eventually became a key part of bushido, the code of the warriors, it was used by warriors to avoid falling into enemy hands. Samurai could also be ordered by their daimyo to carry out seppuku, later, disgraced warriors were sometimes allowed to carry out seppuku rather than be executed in the normal manner. This way the head could, both metaphorically and literally, rest in its owners hands and those who did not belong to the samurai caste were never ordered or expected to carry out seppuku. Samurai generally could carry out the act only with permission, sometimes a daimyo was called upon to perform seppuku as the basis of a peace agreement. This would weaken the defeated clan so that resistance would effectively cease, toyotomi Hideyoshi used an enemys suicide in this way on several occasions, the most dramatic of which effectively ended a dynasty of daimyo. Until this practice became more standardized during the 17th century, the ritual of seppuku was less formalized. In the 12th and 13th centuries, such as with the seppuku of Minamoto no Yorimasa, seppukus defining characteristic was plunging either the Tachi, Wakizashi or Tanto into the gut and slicing the abdomen horizontally
Seppuku
–
Illustration from Sketches of Japanese Manners and Customs, by J. M. W. Silver, Illustrated by Native Drawings, Reproduced in Facsimile by Means of
Chromolithography, London, 1867
Seppuku
–
Seppuku with ritual attire and second (staged)
Seppuku
–
A
tantō prepared for seppuku
Seppuku
–
General Akashi Gidayu preparing to carry out Seppuku after losing a battle for his master in 1582. He had just written his death poem, which is also visible in the upper right corner. By
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi around 1890.
13.
Yumi
–
Yumi is the Japanese term for a bow. The yumi was an important weapon of the warrior during the feudal period of Japan. Early Japanese used bows of various sizes but the majority were short with a center grip, by the 3rd century BC, the bow length had grown to nearly 2 meters. This bow was called the maruki yumi and was constructed from a sapling or tree limb. The oldest asymmetrical yumi found to date was discovered in Nara and is estimated to be from the 5th century, during the Heian period the length of the yumi was fixed at a little over two meters and the use of laminated construction was adopted from the Chinese. By the end of the 10th century the Japanese developed a two piece bamboo and wood laminated yumi, over the next several hundred years the bows construction evolved and by the 16th century the design was considered to be nearly perfect. The modern bamboo yumi is practically identical to the yumi of the 16th and 17th centuries, the yumi is exceptionally tall, standing over two meters, and typically surpasses the height of the archer. They are traditionally made by laminating bamboo, wood and leather, using techniques which have not changed for centuries, the yumi is asymmetric, According to the All Nippon Kyudo Federation, the grip has to be positioned at about two thirds of the distance from the upper tip. The upper and lower curves also differ, several hypotheses have been offered for this asymmetric shape. Others claim that asymmetry was needed to enable shooting from a kneeling position, yet another explanation is the characteristics of the wood from a time before laminating techniques. In case the bow is made from a piece of wood. The hand holding the yumi may also experience less vibration due to the grip being on a node of the bow. A perfectly uniform pole has nodes at 1/4 and 3/4 of the way from the ends, or 1/2 if held taut at the ends – these positions will change significantly with shape and consistency of the bow material. The string of a yumi is traditionally made of hemp, although most modern archers will use strings made of materials such as Kevlar. Strings are usually not replaced until they break, this results in the yumi flexing in the direction opposite to the way it is drawn, but can also be made of strands of waxed bamboo. A bamboo yumi requires careful attention, left unattended, the yumi can become out-of-shape and may eventually become unusable. The shape of the curves of a yumi is greatly affected by whether it is left strung or unstrung when not in use, the decision to leave a yumi strung or unstrung depends upon the current shape of the yumi. A yumi that is flat when unstrung will usually be left unstrung when not in use
Yumi
–
Japanese bows, arrows, and arrow-stand
Yumi
–
Yumi bow names
Yumi
–
Tsurumaki (string holder) and tsuru (string)
Yumi
–
Antique hankyū (shortbow)
14.
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
Edo period
–
Nikkō Tōshō-gū
Edo period
–
Tokugawa Ieyasu, first
shogun of the
Tokugawa shogunate
Edo period
–
The
San Juan Bautista is represented in
Claude Deruet 's painting of
Hasekura Tsunenaga in Rome in 1617, as a galleon with Hasekura's flag (red swastika on orange background) on the top mast.
Edo period
–
Itinerary and dates of the travels of Hasekura Tsunenaga
15.
Shogunate
–
A shogun was the military dictator of Japan during the period from 1185 to 1868. In most of period, the shoguns were the de facto rulers of the country. The Shogun held almost absolute power over territories through military means, the shogun during this 134-year period met the same fate as the Emperor and was reduced to a figurehead until a coup in 1333, when the Shogun was restored to power in the name of the Emperor. The modern rank of shogun is roughly equivalent to a generalissimo, the tent symbolized the field commander but also denoted that such an office was meant to be temporary. The shoguns officials were collectively the bakufu, and were those who carried out the duties of administration. In this context, the office of the shogun had an equivalent to that of a viceroy or governor-general. Ōtomo no Otomaro was the first Sei-i Taishōgun, the most famous of these shoguns was Sakanoue no Tamuramaro. In the later Heian period, one more shogun was appointed, Minamoto no Yoshinaka was named sei-i taishōgun during the Genpei War, only to be killed shortly thereafter by Minamoto no Yoshitsune. In the early 11th century, daimyōs protected by samurai came to dominate internal Japanese politics, two of the most powerful families – the Taira and Minamoto – fought for control over the declining imperial court. The Taira family seized control from 1160 to 1185, but was defeated by the Minamoto in the Battle of Dan-no-ura. In 1192, Yoritomo was awarded the title of Sei-i Taishōgun by the Emperor, Yoritomos wifes family, the Hōjō, seized power from the Kamakura shoguns. When Yoritomos sons and heirs were assassinated, the shogun became a hereditary figurehead. Real power rested with the Hōjō regents, the Kamakura shogunate lasted for almost 150 years, from 1192 to 1333. In 1274 and 1281, the Mongol Empire launched invasions against Japan, an attempt by Emperor Go-Daigo to restore imperial rule in the Kenmu Restoration in 1331 was unsuccessful, but weakened the shogunate significantly and led to its eventual downfall. The end of the Kamakura shogunate came when Kamakura fell in 1333, two imperial families – the senior Northern Court and the junior Southern Court – had a claim to the throne. The problem was solved with the intercession of the Kamakura Shogunate and this lasted until 1331, when Emperor Go-Daigo tried to overthrow the shogunate in order to stop the alternation. As a result, Daigo was exiled, around 1334–1336, Ashikaga Takauji helped Daigo regain his throne. The fight against the left the Emperor with too many people claiming a limited supply of land
Shogunate
–
History of Japan
Shogunate
–
Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first shogun (1192–1199) of the
Kamakura shogunate
Shogunate
–
The tomb of
Ashikaga Takauji
Shogunate
–
Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the
Tokugawa shogunate
16.
Class system
–
Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, and social historians. However, there is not a consensus on the best definition of the class, the precise measurements of what determines social class in society has varied over time. According to philosopher Karl Marx, class is determined entirely by ones relationship to the means of production, the term class is etymologically derived from the Latin classis, which was used by census takers to categorize citizens by wealth, in order to determine military service obligations. In the late 18th century, the class began to replace classifications such as estates, rank. Historically social class and behavior was sometimes laid down in law, definitions of social classes reflect a number of sociological perspectives, informed by anthropology, economics, psychology, and sociology. The major perspectives historically have been Marxism and Structural functionalism, the common stratum model of class divides society into a simple hierarchy of working class, middle class and upper class. For Marx, class is a combination of objective and subjective factors, objectively, a class shares a common relationship to the means of production. Subjectively, the members will necessarily have some perception of their similarity, Class consciousness is not simply an awareness of ones own class interest but is also a set of shared views regarding how society should be organized legally, culturally, socially and politically. These class relations are reproduced through time and this is the fundamental economic structure of work and property, a state of inequality that is normalized and reproduced through cultural ideology. Marxists explain the history of civilized societies in terms of a war of classes between those who control production and those who produce the goods or services in society, in the Marxist view of capitalism, this is a conflict between capitalists and wage-workers. Furthermore, in countries where modern civilisation has become fully developed, an industrial army of workmen, under the command of a capitalist, requires, like a real army, officers and sergeants who, while the work is being done, command in the name of the capitalist. This would mark the beginning of a society in which human needs rather than profit would be motive for production. In a society with democratic control and production for use, there would be no class, no state and no need for financial and banking institutions and money. Max Weber formulated a three-component theory of stratification, that saw social class as emerging from an interplay between class, status and power. Weber believed that class position was determined by a relationship to the means of production. Weber derived many of his key concepts on social stratification by examining the structure of many countries. He noted that contrary to Marxs theories, stratification was based on more than simply ownership of capital, Weber pointed out that some members of the aristocracy lack economic wealth yet might nevertheless have political power. Likewise in Europe, many wealthy Jewish families in lack prestige and honor, Class, A persons economic position in a society
Class system
–
Burmese nobles and servants
Class system
–
Sociology
Class system
–
A symbolic image of three orders of feudal society in Europe prior to the
French Revolution: The rural third estate carrying the clergy and the nobility.
Class system
–
In the United States the lowest stratum of the working class, the
underclass, often lives in urban areas with low-quality
civil services.
17.
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
Tokugawa Iemitsu
–
Tokugawa Iemitsu
18.
Mercenary
–
A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national or party to the conflict and is motivated to take part in the hostilities by desire for private gain. Mercenaries fight for money or other recompense instead of fighting for ideological interests, in the last century, and as reflected in the Geneva Convention, mercenaries have increasingly come to be seen as less entitled to protections by rules of war than non-mercenaries. However, whether or not a person is a mercenary may be a matter of degree, Protocol Additional GC1977 is a 1977 amendment protocol to the Geneva Conventions. Article 47 of the protocol provides the most widely accepted definition of a mercenary, though not endorsed by some countries. The Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, a mercenary shall not have the right to be a combatant or a prisoner of war. All the criteria must be met, according to the Geneva Convention, according to the GC III, a captured soldier must be treated as a lawful combatant and, therefore, as a protected person with prisoner-of-war status until facing a competent tribunal. That tribunal, using criteria in APGC77 or some equivalent domestic law, may decide that the soldier is a mercenary. The only possible exception to GC IV Art 5 is when he is a national of the authority imprisoning him, if, after a regular trial, a captured soldier is found to be a mercenary, then he can expect treatment as a common criminal and may face execution. As mercenary soldiers may not qualify as PoWs, they cannot expect repatriation at wars end, the four mercenaries sentenced to death were shot by a firing squad on 10 July 1976. The legal status of civilian contractors depends upon the nature of their work, on 4 December 1989, the United Nations passed resolution 44/34, the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries. It entered into force on 20 October 2001 and is known as the UN Mercenary Convention. Article 1 contains the definition of a mercenary, Article 1.1 is similar to Article 47 of Protocol I, however Article 1. – under Article 1.2 a person does not have to take a part in the hostilities in a planned coup détat to be a mercenary. Critics have argued that the convention and APGC77 Art,47 are designed to cover the activities of mercenaries in post-colonial Africa and do not address adequately the use of private military companies by sovereign states. While the United States governed Iraq, no U. S. citizen working as a guard could be classified as a mercenary because he was a national of a Party to the conflict. S. However, those who acknowledge the United States and other forces as continuing parties to the conflict might insist that U. S. armed guards cannot be called mercenaries. The laws of countries forbid their citizens to fight in foreign wars unless they are under the control of their own national armed forces. If a person is proven to have worked as a mercenary for any other country while retaining Austrian citizenship, in 2003, France criminalized mercenary activities, as defined by the protocol to the Geneva convention for French citizens, permanent residents and legal entities
Mercenary
–
Leonardo da Vinci 's Profilo di capitano antico, also known as il
Condottiero, 1480. Condottiero meant "leader of mercenaries" in Italy during the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Mercenary
–
Frederick Russell Burnham in Africa
Mercenary
–
European mercenaries in the Katanga, 1960s
Mercenary
–
Turkish mercenary in Byzantine service c. 1436
19.
Kamakura period
–
The Kamakura period is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun, Minamoto no Yoritomo. The period is known for the emergence of the samurai, the warrior caste, the Kamakura period marks the transition to land-based economies and a concentration of advanced military technologies in the hands of a specialized fighting class. Lords required the services of vassals, who were rewarded with fiefs of their own. The fief holders exercised local military rule, once Minamoto Yoritomo had consolidated his power, he established a new government at his family home in Kamakura. He called his government a bakufu, but because he was given the ancient high military title Seii Tai-shōgun by the Emperor, Yoritomo followed the Fujiwara form of house government and had an administrative board Mandokoro, a board of retainers, and a board of inquiry. After confiscating estates in central and western Japan, he appointed stewards for the estates and constables for the provinces, as shogun, Yoritomo was both the steward and the constable general. The Kamakura shogunate was not a regime, however, and although it controlled large tracts of land. The regime continued warfare against the Northern Fujiwara, but never brought either the north or the west under complete military control, however, the 4th leader of the Northern Fujiwara Fujiwara no Yasuhira was defeated by Yoritomo in 1189, and the 100-year-long prosperity of the north disappeared. The old court resided in Kyoto, continuing to hold the land over which it had jurisdiction, despite a strong beginning, Yoritomo failed to consolidate the leadership of his family on a lasting basis. Intrafamily contention had long existed within the Minamoto, although Yoritomo had eliminated most serious challengers to his authority. When he died suddenly in 1199, his son Minamoto no Yoriie became shogun and nominal head of the Minamoto, but Yoriie was unable to control the other eastern warrior families. By the early century, a regency had been established for the shogun by Hōjō Tokimasa—a member of the Hōjō clan. Often the Shikken was also the Tokuso and Rensho, under the Hōjō, the shogun became a powerless figurehead. The Hōjō forces easily won the war, and the court was brought under the direct control of the shogunate. The shoguns constables gained greater powers, and the court was obliged to seek Kamakuras approval for all of its actions. Although deprived of power, the court retained extensive estates. Several significant administrative achievements were made during the Hōjō regency, in 1225 the third regent Hōjō Yasutoki established the Council of State, providing opportunities for other military lords to exercise judicial and legislative authority at Kamakura. The Hōjō regent presided over the council, which was a form of collective leadership
Kamakura period
–
Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba by Takesaki Eurema,
c. 1293.
Kamakura period
–
A famous Japanese wooden
kongorikishi statue of
Tōdai-ji,
Nara. It was made by
Busshi Unkei in 1203.
Kamakura period
Kamakura period
–
Japanese
samurai boarding Mongol ships in 1281.
20.
Muromachi period
–
The Muromachi period is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period ended in 1573 when the 15th and last shogun of this line, from a cultural perspective, the period can be divided into the Kitayama and Higashiyama periods. The early years from 1336 to 1392 of the Muromachi period are known as the Nanboku-chō or Northern and Southern Court period and this period is marked by the continued resistance of the supporters of Emperor Go-Daigo, the emperor behind the Kenmu Restoration. The years from 1465 to the end of the Muromachi period are known as the Sengoku period or Warring States period. Emperor Go-Daigos brief attempt to restore the power in the Kenmu Restoration alienated the samurai class. Ashikaga Takauji obtained the samurais strong support, and deposed Emperor Go-Daigo, in 1338 Takauji was proclaimed shogun and established his government in Kyoto. However, Emperor Godaigo escaped from his confinement and revived his political power in Nara, the ensuing period of Ashikaga rule was called Muromachi from the district of Kyoto in which its headquarters – the Hana-no-gosho – were located by third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1378. Nevertheless, the Ashikaga shogunate was not as strong as that in Kamakura had been, not until the rule of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu did a semblance of order emerge. Yoshimitsu allowed the constables, who had had limited powers during the Kamakura period, to become strong regional rulers, in time, a balance of power evolved between the shogun and the daimyō, the three most prominent daimyō families rotated as deputies to the shogun at Kyoto. The line of shoguns gradually weakened after Yoshimitsu and increasingly lost power to the daimyō, the shoguns influence on imperial succession waned, and the daimyō could back their own candidates. In time, the Ashikaga family had its own problems, resulting finally in the Ōnin War. The power vacuum that ensued launched a century of anarchy, the Japanese contact with the Ming dynasty began when China was renewed during the Muromachi period after the Chinese sought support in suppressing Japanese pirates in coastal areas of China. Japanese pirates of this era and region were referred to as wokou by the Chinese, wanting to improve relations with China and to rid Japan of the wokou threat, Yoshimitsu accepted a relationship with the Chinese that was to last for half a century. In 1401 he restarted the system, describing himself in a letter to the Chinese Emperor as Your subject. Japanese wood, sulfur, copper ore, swords, and folding fans were traded for Chinese silk, porcelain, books, and coins, in what the Chinese considered tribute but the Japanese saw as profitable trade. Zen played a role in spreading not only religious teachings and practices but also art and culture, including influences derived from paintings of the Chinese Song, Yuan. The proximity of the court to the bakufu resulted in a commingling of imperial family members, courtiers, daimyō, samurai. Art of all kinds—architecture, literature, Noh drama, Kyōgen, poetry, sarugaku, the tea ceremony, landscape gardening, there was renewed interest in Shinto, which had quietly coexisted with Buddhism during the centuries of the latters predominance
Muromachi period
–
Kinkaku-ji
Muromachi period
–
Hana-no-gosho palace
Muromachi period
–
Muromachi samurai (1538)
Muromachi period
–
A ship of the Muromachi period (1538).
21.
Sengoku period
–
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
Sengoku period
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Battle of Kawanakajima (1561).
Sengoku period
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Gun workman,
Sakai, Osaka
Sengoku period
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Ōzutsu (Big Gun)
22.
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
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
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Portrait of Toyotomi Hideyoshi drawn in 1601
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
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Nakamura park, traditionally Hideyoshi's birthplace
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
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100 Aspects of the Moon #7, by
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi: "Mount Inaba Moon" 1885, 12th month. The young Toyotomi Hideyoshi (then named Kinoshita Tōkichirō) leads a small group assaulting the castle on
Mount Inaba
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
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Houkokubyo (Mausoleum of Toyotomi Hideyoshi)
Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto
23.
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
Battle of Sekigahara
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Edo period screen depicting the battle.
Battle of Sekigahara
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The battle
Battle of Sekigahara
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Japanese
arquebus of the Edo era.
Battle of Sekigahara
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Present day Sekigahara battlefield memorials
24.
Toyotomi Hideyori
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Toyotomi Hideyori was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who first united all of Japan. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga, when Hideyoshi died in 1598, the five regents he had appointed to rule in Hideyoris place began jockeying amongst themselves for power. Tokugawa Ieyasu seized control in 1600, after his victory over the others at the Battle of Sekigahara, Hideyoris arranged marriage to Senhime, the seven-year-old granddaughter of Ieyasu, was designed to mitigate Toyotomi clan dissension and plotting. In this period, the boy practiced calligraphy with phrases wishing for peace throughout the world. However, Ieyasu continued to view the young Hideyori as a potential threat, Tokugawa forces attacked Hideyori in the Siege of Osaka in the winter of 1614. The attack failed, but Hideyori was induced to sign a truce, in April 1615, Ieyasu received word that Toyotomi Hideyori was gathering even more troops than in the previous November, and that he was trying to stop the filling of the moat of Osaka Castle. Toyotomi forces began to attack contingents of the Shoguns forces near Osaka, there was no time to set up a proper defense of the castle, and it was soon set ablaze and pummeled by artillery fire. Hideyori and his mother committed seppuku, and the final major uprising against Tokugawa rule for another 250 or so years was put to an end and his widow remarried but later became a Buddhist nun. Recognizing that they had a numerical disadvantage, they decided to attempt a tactic of inducing surprise. When the confusion was to be at its height, Hideyori would have marched out of Osaka castle with his home troops and would in theory be the final blow to the Tokugawa. What happened, according to Murdoch, was that Akashi was not able to get behind the Tokugawa troops, having been discovered and engaged before he emerged from the lanes. Whats more, the plans fell apart as Moris Ronin, ever eager to fight, began shooting at the Tokugawa ranks, Sanada at once told the ronin to stop but they only doubled their efforts. Mori Katsunaga, deciding to take advantage of his ronins eagerness, upon this, Sanada realized in order to keep any structure of his original plan, he too, would need to engage alongside the ronin. Hideyori began moving with his troops to leave Osaka, meanwhile, the Osaka troops had been doing quite well in spite of the numerical disadvantage. Not only did the Jesuits write this, but, in another account, ono Harunagas son entered the castle and immediately dispatched a letter from Tokugawa to his father. The letter said Do not let Hideyori leave the castle, in the castle is a conspiracy and as soon as Hideyori leaves it he will be attacked from the rear. It is because of this letter, according to Siebold, that Hideyoris portion of the plan miscarried and he was just about to leave when he was brought word of its contents, and at this point, stalled in entering the fray. Eventually, despite the ferocity and initial victories of the Osaka troops, let Hideyori defend the castle to the last, when it fell, it would be time to take a decision
Toyotomi Hideyori
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Toyotomi Hideyori
Toyotomi Hideyori
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Grave of Toyotomi Clan at
Mount Koya
Toyotomi Hideyori
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Marker at the location of suicide of Hideyori and Yodo-dono, Osaka Castle
25.
Siege of Osaka
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The Siege of Osaka was a series of battles undertaken by the Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clans destruction. Divided into two stages, and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege put an end to the last major armed opposition to the shogunates establishment. The end of the conflict is called the Genna Armistice. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in 1598, Japan came to be governed by the Council of Five Elders, after defeating Ishida Mitsunari in the battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Ieyasu essentially seized control of Japan for himself, and abolished the Council. In 1603, the Tokugawa shogunate was established, with its capital at Edo, in 1614, the Toyotomi clan rebuilt Osaka Castle. At the same time, the head of the clan sponsored the rebuilding of Hōkō-ji in Kyoto. These temple renovations included the casting of a bronze bell, with inscriptions that read May the state be peaceful and prosperous. The shogunate interpreted kokka ankō as shattering Ieyasus name to him, and also interpreted kunshin hōraku to mean Toyotomis force will rise again. Tensions began to grow between the Tokugawa and the Toyotomi clans, and only increased when Toyotomi Hideyori began to gather a force of ronin, the siege began on the 19th of November, when Ieyasu led three thousand men across the Kizu River, destroying the fort there. A week later, he attacked the village of Imafuku with 1,500 men, with the aid of a squad wielding arquebuses, the shogunate forces claimed another victory. Several more small forts and villages were attacked before the siege on Osaka Castle itself began on 4 December, the Sanada-maru was an earthwork barbican defended by Sanada Yukimura and 7,000 men, on behalf of the Toyotomi. The Shoguns armies were repelled, and Sanada and his men launched a number of attacks against the siege lines. Ieyasu then resorted to artillery as well as men to dig under the walls, on 22 January the Winter Siege was ended, with Toyotomi Hideyori pledging to not rise in rebellion. The walls of the outer defenses were torn down. In April 1615, Ieyasu received word that Toyotomi Hideyori was gathering more troops than in the previous November. Toyotomi forces began to attack contingents of the Shoguns forces near Osaka, on May 26 at the Battle of Kashii Osaka forces under the command of Ono Harufusa and Ban Danemon engaged with forces of Asano Nagaakira, an ally of the Shogun. Osaka forces sustained a loss and Ban Danemon was killed, on June 2, the battle of Dōmyōji took place. Osaka forces were trying to stop the Tokugawa forces approaching from Yamato Province along the Yamato-gawa river, two of Osaka generals, Gotō Matabei and Susukida Kanesuke were killed in action
Siege of Osaka
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Illustration from
François Caron 's book: "The Burning of Osaka Castle"
Siege of Osaka
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Inscription on bell at Hokoji in Kyoto
Siege of Osaka
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Siege of Osaka, 17th century Japanese painting
Siege of Osaka
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One of the oldest
kawaraban newsprints sold during the Edo period, depicting the fall of Osaka Castle
26.
Yamada Nagamasa
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From 1617 until his death in 1630, Yamada Nagamasa was head of the Japanese village referred to as Ban Yipun in the Thai language. This village was within the city of Ayutthaya, Ban Yipun was home to roughly 1,000 Japanese citizens, and was headed by a Japanese chief who was nominated by Ayutthayan authorities. Yamada Nagamasa was born in Numazu, Shizuoka in 1590 and he is said to have been a palanquin bearer for the lord of Numazu. He became involved in Japanese trade activities with Southeast Asia during the period of the Red seal ships, Yamada Nagamasa is alleged to have carried on the business of a privateer from the period of 1620, attacking and plundering Dutch ships in and around Batavia. The Ban Yipun colony was active in trade, particularly in the export of deer hide to Japan in exchange for Japanese silver, the Japanese were noted by the Dutch for challenging the trade monopoly of the Dutch East India Company. The colony also had an important military role in the Ayutthaya Kingdom, the Japanese colony was highly valued for its military expertise, and was organized under a Department of Japanese Volunteers by the King of Ayutthaya. In the space of 15 years, Yamada Nagamasa rose from the low Thai nobility rank of Khun to the senior of Ok-ya, his title becoming Ok-ya Senaphimuk. He became the head of the Japanese colony, and in this position supported the campaigns of King Songtham. He fought successfully, and was finally nominated Ligor, in the peninsula in 1630. After more than 12 years in Siam, Yamada Nagamasa went to Japan in 1624 on board one of his ships, where he sold a cargo of Siamese deer hide in Nagasaki. He stayed in Japan for three years, trying to obtain a Red Seal permit, but finally left in 1627, in 1626, Nagamasa offered a painting of one of his fighting ships to a temple of his hometown in Shizuoka. That painting was lost in a fire, but a copy of it remains to this day and it portrays a ship with Western-style rigging,18 cannons, and sailors in samurai gear. He returned to Siam in 1627, in 1628, one of his ships transporting rice from Ayutthaya to Malacca was arrested by a Dutch warship blockading the city. Yamada was also valued by the Dutch as a supplier of deer hide, in 1629, Yamada Nagamasa visited Japan with a delegation from King Songtham. He soon travelled back to Siam, but became involved in a succession war following the death of the King Songtham by Prasat Thong, Prasat Thong had acted as king-maker before assuming the throne, by performing the double regicide of King Songthams sons. Yamada or Okya Seniphimok, heard of the coup at Ayutthaya, Prasat Thong had Praya Chaiya poison him in 1630, and then expelled the remaining Japanese. A few years later in 1633, returnees from Indochina were able to re-establish the Japanese settlement in Ayutthaya, from 1634, the shōgun, informed of these troubles and what he perceived as attacks on his authority, refused to issue further Red Seal ship permits for Siam. Japan was concomitantly closing itself to the world at that time, the Dutch took advantage of the Japanese withdrawal, increasing their trade and offering naval support
Yamada Nagamasa
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Portrait of Yamada Nagamasa circa 1630
Yamada Nagamasa
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The army of Yamada Nagamasa in the Ayutthaya Kingdom
Yamada Nagamasa
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Yamada Nagasama's fighting ship, 17th-century painting
27.
Tokugawa shogunate
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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
Tokugawa shogunate
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Shogun
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa shogunate
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Flag
Tokugawa shogunate
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Hideyoshi and Ieyasu played
Go on this board.
Tokugawa shogunate
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A 1634 Japanese
Red seal ship
28.
Humiliation
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Humiliation is the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. It is an emotion felt by a person whose social status has just decreased and it can be brought about through intimidation, physical or mental mistreatment or trickery, or by embarrassment if a person is revealed to have committed a socially or legally unacceptable act. Whereas humility can be alone as a means to de-emphasize the ego, humiliation must involve other person. A person who suffers from severe humiliation could cause major depressions, suicidal states, the loss of status, like losing a job or being labeled as a sexual predator, could cause people inability to behave normally in their communities. Humiliated individuals could be provoked and crave for revenge, and some people could feel worthless, hopeless and helpless, losing sense of reality, Klein explains, When it is outwardly directed, humiliated fury unfortunately creates additional victims, often including innocent bystanders. When it is directed, the resulting self-hate renders victims incapable of meeting their own needs, let alone having energy available to love. He goes on to say, In either case, those who are consumed by humiliated fury are absorbed in themselves or their cause, wrapped in wounded pride. ”In other words, some practices, such as tarring and feathering, became tools of unofficial mob justice. In folk customs such as the English skimmington rides and rough music, dramatic public demonstrations of moral disapproval were enacted to humiliate transgressors, some U. S. states have experimented with humiliating or shaming lawbreakers by publishing their names and indicating their offense. In 2010, there was public outcry about reports showing police in Dongguan, the national Ministry of Public Security reprimanded the local police and affirmed that such punishments are not allowed. Donald Klein described humiliation as a factor in human affairs that has, for a variety of reasons, been overlooked by students of individual. It is a pervasive and all too destructive influence in the behavior of individuals, groups, organizations, and nations. Though it is an emotion, humiliation has a universal aspect which applies to all human beings, it is the feeling of being put down. A society that suffers from humiliation is an unstable one, according to Jonathan Sacks, By turning the question What did we do wrong. Restores some measure of self-respect and provides a course of action, in psychiatry, the clinical terms for this process are splitting and projection, it allows people to define themselves as victims. Gender, humiliation, and global security, dignifying relationships from love, sex, Humiliation and other essays on honor, social discomfort, and violence. Healing Humiliation and the Need for Revenge
Humiliation
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The Pillory, from The Costume of Great Britain (1805)
Humiliation
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Non-trinitarian Cathars being burnt at the stake in an
auto-de-fé (c. 1495, with
garrote and
phallus), presided over by
Saint Dominic, oil on panel by
Pedro Berruguete.
Humiliation
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Paris 1944: Women accused of collaboration with Nazis are paraded through the streets barefoot, shaved, and with
swastika burnmarks on their faces
Humiliation
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Forced humiliation of Jews in
Nazi Germany.
29.
Kyokutei Bakin
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Kyokutei Bakin was a late Japanese Edo period gesaku author best known for works such as Nansō Satomi Hakkenden and Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki. Both are outstanding examples of nineteenth-century yomihon, or books for reading, later in life he took the pen name Toku. Modern scholarship generally refers to him as Kyokutei Bakin, or just as Bakin, born in Edo on 4 July 1767, Bakin was the fifth son of Omon and Okiyoshi. His father, Okiyoshi, was a samurai in the service of one of the Shoguns retainers, two of his older brothers died in infancy, while the other two, Rabun and Keichū, played pivotal roles in Bakins life. He had two sisters, Ohisa, born in 1771, and Okiku, born in 1774. In his diaries, Bakin wrote that his father, a drinker, was devoted to scholarship and the classics. He died in 1775, when Bakin was only nine years old, Bakins family stipend was soon reduced by half, and in December of the following year, Rabun gave up his service to the Matsudaira clan in favor of living as a rōnin. Bakin and his family were forced into a smaller dwelling as a result. Eventually Rabun received a new post, and in 1778 Bakins mother pretended to be sick in order to move in with him, Bakin had been placed in service of the Matsudaira lords grandson, but was treated cruelly and ran away when only 14. He left the following haiku as a note explaining his reasons for leaving, the Eight Dog Chronicles took 28 years to complete, and Bakin grew blind and lost his wife and son before he completed it. Comprising 106 volumes, it is one of the worlds longest novels, the final parts of the work were dictated to his daughter-in-law. Although he was born of lower birth, Bakin renounced his status to become a writer. His works center on themes, including loyalty and family honor, as well as Confucianism, bushido. Excerpts translated by Chris Drake are included in Early Modern Japanese Literature, An Anthology, 1600-1900, the Eight Dog Chronicles has been adapted many times in, for example, the anime OVA The Hakkenden. His Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki was adapted for the stage by Yukio Mishima. A series of ukiyo-e containing 50 pictures depicting characters from Nansō Satomi Hakkenden and these prints were published in the early 1850s by Tsutaya Kichizo. Takizawa made the Japanese version of Haoqiu zhuan, titled Kyōkakuden, media related to Kyokutei Bakin at Wikimedia Commons EB Bio
Kyokutei Bakin
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Bakin's portrait by
Kunisada (国貞)
Kyokutei Bakin
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The well at Takizawa Bakin's house
30.
Forty-seven Ronin
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A noted Japanese scholar described the tale as the best known example of the samurai code of honor, and as the countrys national legend. The rōnin avenged their masters honor by killing Kira, after waiting and planning for a year, in turn, they were themselves obliged to commit seppuku for committing the crime of murder. This true story was popularized in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, the popularity of the tale grew during the Meiji era, in which Japan underwent rapid modernization, and the legend became entrenched within discourses of national heritage and identity. Fictionalized accounts of the tale of the Forty-seven Rōnin are known as Chūshingura, the story was popularized in numerous plays, including bunraku and kabuki. Because of the laws of the shogunate in the Genroku era, which forbade portrayal of current events. The story continues to be popular in Japan to this day, each year on December 14, Sengakuji Temple holds a festival commemorating the event. The event is known in Japan as the Akō incident, sometimes referred to as the Akō vendetta. The participants in the revenge are called the Akō-rōshi or Yon-jū-shichi-shi in Japanese, literary accounts of the events are known as the Chūshingura. For many years, the version of events retold by A. B, mitford in Tales of Old Japan was considered authoritative. The sequence of events and the characters in this narrative were presented to a popular readership in the West. Nevertheless, even with plausible defects, Mitfords work remains a conventional starting point for further study, mitford appended what he explained were translations of Sengakuji documents the author had examined personally. These were proffered as proofs authenticating the factual basis of his story and these daimyō names are not fictional, nor is there any question that something actually happened in Genroku 15, on the 14th day of the 12th month. What is commonly called the Akō incident was an actual event, Asano and Kamei were to be given instruction in the necessary court etiquette by Kira Kozuke-no-Suke Yoshinaka, a powerful official in the hierarchy of Tokugawa Tsunayoshis shogunate. He became upset at them, allegedly either because of the insufficient presents they offered him, other sources say that he was naturally rude and arrogant, or that he was corrupt, which offended Asano, a devoutly moral Confucian. By some accounts, it appears that Asano may have been unfamiliar with the intricacies of the Shogunate court. Whether Kira treated them poorly, insulted them, or failed to prepare them for fulfilling specific bakufu duties, initially, Asano bore all this stoically, while Kamei became enraged and prepared to kill Kira to avenge the insults. However, Kameis quick thinking counselors averted disaster for their lord and clan by quietly giving Kira a large bribe, Kira thereupon began to treat Kamei nicely, however, Kira allegedly continued to treat Asano harshly, because he was upset that the latter had not emulated his companion. Finally, Kira insulted Asano, calling him a country boor with no manners, Kiras wound was hardly serious, but the attack on a shogunate official within the boundaries of the shoguns residence was considered a grave offence
Forty-seven Ronin
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Graves of the Forty-seven Ronin at
Sengaku-ji
Forty-seven Ronin
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Ukiyo-e depicting Asano Naganori's assault on Kira Yoshinaka in the Matsu no Ōrōka of Edo Castle
Forty-seven Ronin
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Memorial stone marking the site of the Matsu no Ōrōka (Great Corridor of Pines) in
Edo Castle, where Asano attacked Kira
Forty-seven Ronin
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Two of the Forty-Seven Ronin: Horibe Yahei and his adopted son, Horibe Yasubei. Yasubei is holding an
ōtsuchi.
