1.
Prefectures of Japan
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The Prefectures of Japan consist of 47 prefectures. They form the first level of jurisdiction and administrative division of Japan and they consist of 43 prefectures proper, two urban prefectures, one circuit or territory and one metropolis. The Meiji Fuhanken sanchisei administration created the first prefectures to replace the provinces of Japan in 1868, each prefectures chief executive is a directly-elected governor. Ordinances and budgets are enacted by an assembly whose members are elected for four-year terms. Under the current Local Autonomy Law, each prefecture is subdivided into cities and districts and each district into towns, for example, Hokkaido has 14 subprefectures that act as branch offices of the prefecture. Some other prefectures also have offices that carry out prefectural administrative functions outside the capital. Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is a merged city-prefecture, the Wests use of prefecture to label these Japanese regions stems from 16th-century Portuguese explorers and traders use of prefeitura to describe the fiefdoms they encountered there. Its original sense in Portuguese, however, was closer to municipality than province and those fiefs were headed by a local warlord or family. Though the fiefs have long since been dismantled, merged, and reorganized multiple times, and been granted legislative governance and oversight, the Meiji government established the current system in July 1871 with the abolition of the Han system and establishment of the prefecture system. Although there were initially over 300 prefectures, many of them being former Han territories, this number was reduced to 72 in the part of 1871. The Local Autonomy Law of 1947 gave more power to prefectures. In 2003, then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi proposed that the government consolidate the current prefectures into about 10 regional states, the plan called for each region to have greater autonomy than existing prefectures. This process would reduce the number of administrative regions and cut administrative costs. As of August 2012, no reorganization has been scheduled, the central government delegates many functions to the prefectures and municipalities, but retains the overall right to control them. Although local government expenditure accounts for 70 percent of government expenditure, the central government controls local budgets, tax rates. Historically, during the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate established bugyō-ruled zones around the nine largest cities in Japan, and 302 township-ruled zones elsewhere. When the Meiji government began to create the system in 1868, the nine bugyō-ruled zones became fu, while the township-ruled zones. Later, in 1871, the government designated Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto as fu, during World War II, in 1943, Tokyo became a to, a new type of pseudo-prefecture
2.
Japanese language
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Japanese is an East Asian language spoken by about 125 million speakers, primarily in Japan, where it is the national language. It is a member of the Japonic language family, whose relation to language groups, particularly to Korean. Little is known of the prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from the 3rd century recorded a few Japanese words, during the Heian period, Chinese had considerable influence on the vocabulary and phonology of Old Japanese. Late Middle Japanese saw changes in features that brought it closer to the modern language, the standard dialect moved from the Kansai region to the Edo region in the Early Modern Japanese period. Following the end in 1853 of Japans self-imposed isolation, the flow of loanwords from European languages increased significantly, English loanwords in particular have become frequent, and Japanese words from English roots have proliferated. Japanese is an agglutinative, mora-timed language with simple phonotactics, a vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length. Word order is normally subject–object–verb with particles marking the grammatical function of words, sentence-final particles are used to add emotional or emphatic impact, or make questions. Nouns have no number or gender, and there are no articles. Verbs are conjugated, primarily for tense and voice, but not person, Japanese equivalents of adjectives are also conjugated. Japanese has a system of honorifics with verb forms and vocabulary to indicate the relative status of the speaker, the listener. Japanese has no relationship with Chinese, but it makes extensive use of Chinese characters, or kanji, in its writing system. Along with kanji, the Japanese writing system uses two syllabic scripts, hiragana and katakana. Latin script is used in a fashion, such as for imported acronyms. Very little is known about the Japanese of this period, Old Japanese is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language. Through the spread of Buddhism, the Chinese writing system was imported to Japan, the earliest texts found in Japan are written in Classical Chinese, but they may have been meant to be read as Japanese by the kanbun method. Some of these Chinese texts show the influences of Japanese grammar, in these hybrid texts, Chinese characters are also occasionally used phonetically to represent Japanese particles. The earliest text, the Kojiki, dates to the early 8th century, the end of Old Japanese coincides with the end of the Nara period in 794
3.
Romanization of Japanese
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The romanization of Japanese is the application of the Latin script to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is referred to in English as rōmaji. There are several different romanization systems, the three main ones are Hepburn romanization, Kunrei-shiki romanization, and Nihon-shiki romanization. Variants of the Hepburn system are the most widely used, Japanese is normally written in a combination of logographic characters borrowed from Chinese and syllabic scripts which also ultimately derive from Chinese characters. It is also used to transliterate Japanese terms in text written in English on topics related to Japan, such as linguistics, literature, history, and culture. Rōmaji is the most common way to input Japanese into word processors and computers, all Japanese who have attended elementary school since World War II have been taught to read and write romanized Japanese. The word rōmaji literally means Roman letters, and in Japan it is often used to refer to the Latin alphabet itself than to any specific form of romanized Japanese. The earliest Japanese romanization system was based on the Portuguese orthography and it was developed around 1548 by a Japanese Catholic named Yajiro. Jesuit priests used the system in a series of printed Catholic books so that missionaries could preach and teach their converts without learning to read Japanese orthography. The most useful of these books for the study of early modern Japanese pronunciation and early attempts at romanization was the Nippo jisho, in general, the early Portuguese system was similar to Nihon-shiki in its treatment of vowels. The latter continued to be printed and read after the suppression of Christianity in Japan, the Hepburn system included representation of some sounds that have since changed. The Nihon-shiki romanization was an outgrowth of that movement, several Japanese texts were published entirely in rōmaji during this period, but it failed to catch on. Today, the use of Nihon-shiki for writing Japanese is advocated by the Oomoto sect, during the Allied occupation of Japan, the government of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers made it official policy to romanize Japanese. However, that failed and a more moderate attempt at Japanese script reform followed. Hepburn romanization generally follows English phonology with Romance vowels and it is an intuitive method of showing Anglophones the pronunciation of a word in Japanese. It was standardized in the USA as American National Standard System for the Romanization of Japanese, Hepburn is the most common romanization system in use today, especially in the English-speaking world. The Revised Hepburn system of romanization uses a macron to indicate long vowels. For example, the name じゅんいちろう, is written with the kana characters ju-n-i-chi-ro-u, without the apostrophe, it would not be possible to distinguish this correct reading from the incorrect ju-ni-chi-ro-u
4.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
5.
Kansai region
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The Kansai region or the Kinki region lies in the southern-central region of Japans main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, while the use of the terms Kansai and Kinki have changed over history, in most modern contexts the use of the two terms is interchangeable. The urban region of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto is the second most populated in Japan after the Greater Tokyo Area, the Kansai region is the cultural and historical heart of Japan with 11% of its land area and 22,757,897 residents as of 2010. In the north the region is bordered by the Sea of Japan, to the south by the Kii Peninsula and Pacific Ocean, four of Japans national parks lie within its borders, in whole or in part. The area also contains six of the seven top prefectures in terms of national treasures, other geographical features include Amanohashidate in Kyoto Prefecture and Awaji Island in Hyōgo. The Kansai region is compared with the Kantō region, which lies to its east and consists primarily of Tokyo. This East-West rivalry has deep roots, particularly from the Edo period. With a samurai population of less than 1% the culture of the merchant city of Osaka stood in sharp contrast to that of Edo, many characteristic traits of Kansai people descend from Osaka merchant culture. Catherine Maxwell, an editor for the newsletter Omusubi, writes, Kansai residents are seen as being pragmatic, entrepreneurial, down-to-earth and possessing a strong sense of humour. Kanto people on the hand are perceived as more sophisticated, reserved and formal, in keeping with Tokyo’s history and modern status as the nation’s capital. Kansai is known for its food, especially Osaka, as supported by the saying Kyotoites are ruined by overspending on clothing, popular Osakan dishes include takoyaki, okonomiyaki, kitsune udon and kushikatsu. Kyoto is considered a mecca of traditional Japanese cuisine like kaiseki, Kansai has many wagyu brands such as Kobe beef and Tajima cattle from Hyōgo, Matsusaka beef from Mie and Omi beef from Shiga. Sake is another specialty of the region, the areas of Nada-Gogō, as opposed to food from Eastern Japan, food in the Kansai area tends to be sweeter, and foods such as nattō tend to be less popular. The dialects of the people from the Kansai region, commonly called Kansai-ben, have their own variations of pronunciation, vocabulary, Kansai-ben is the group of dialects spoken in the Kansai area, but is often treated as a dialect in its own right. Kansai is one of the most prosperous areas for baseball in Japan, two Nippon Professional Baseball teams, Hanshin Tigers and Orix Buffaloes, are based in Kansai. Koshien Stadium, the stadium of the Hanshin Tigers, is also famous for the nationwide high school baseball tournaments. In association football, the Kansai Soccer League was founded in 1966, cerezo Osaka, Gamba Osaka, and Vissel Kobe belong to J. League Division 1 and Kyoto Sanga F. C. belongs to J. League Division 2, the top professional leagues in Japan. The terms Kansai, Kinki, and Kinai have a deep history
6.
Honshu
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Honshu is the largest and most populous island of Japan, located south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Straits. The island separates the Sea of Japan, which lies to its north and west, from the North Pacific Ocean to its south and it is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian island of Java. Honshu had a population of 103 million as of 2005, mostly concentrated in the coastal lowlands, as the historical center of Japanese culture and political power, the island includes several past Japanese capitals, including Kyoto, Nara, and Kamakura. Much of the southern shore forms part of the Taiheiyō Belt. The island is linked to the three major Japanese islands by a number of bridges and tunnels. Its climate is humid and mild, the island is roughly 1,300 km long and ranges from 50 to 230 km wide, and its total area is 225,800 km2, 60% of the total area of Japan, making it slightly larger than Great Britain. Its land area has been increasing with land reclamation and coastal uplift in the north, Honshu has 5,450 kilometres of coastline. Mountainous and volcanic, Honshu experiences frequent earthquakes, the highest peak is the active volcano Mount Fuji at 3,776 m, which makes Honshu the worlds 7th highest island. There are many rivers, including the Shinano River, Japans longest, the northernmost point on Honshu is the tip of the Shimokita Peninsula in Ōma, Aomori, Cape Kure lies at the southern extreme in Kushimoto, Wakayama. The islands eastern extremity is Todogasaki in Miyako, Iwate, and its western one is Bishanohana in Shimonoseki, Honshu spans more than eight degrees of latitude and 11 degrees of longitude. Honshu is connected to the islands of Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku by tunnels or bridges, the island is divided into five nominal regions and contains 34 prefectures, including metropolitan Tokyo. Administratively, some islands are included within these prefectures, notably including the Ogasawara Islands, Sado Island, Izu Ōshima. Fruits, vegetables, grains, rice and cotton are grown in Honshu, niigata is noted as an important producer of rice. The Kantō and Nōbi plains produce rice and vegetables, yamanashi is a major fruit-growing area, and Aomori is famous for its apples. Rare species of the lichen genus Menegazzia are found only in Honshu, yields of zinc, copper, and oil have been found on Honshu
7.
Districts of Japan
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As of 2008, cities belong directly to prefectures and are independent from districts. In Japan, towns and villages belong to districts and the districts possess little to no administrative authority, the districts are used primarily in the Japanese addressing system and to identify the relevant geographical areas and collections of nearby towns and villages. The district was initially called kōri and has ancient roots in Japan, although the Nihon Shoki says they were established during the Taika Reforms, kōri was originally written 評. It was not until the Taihō Code that kōri came to be written 郡, under the Taihō Code, the administrative unit of province was above district, and the village was below. Each jurisdiction refers to its position along the river from which the former province. Kamikawa means upper course of the river, Nakagawa means middle course, jacobs at Urban Studies Research, Vol.2011, doi,10. 1155/2011/692764 Graphic shows relationships among Japanese cities at p.7 of Large City System of Japan Text of the Local Government Law
8.
Municipalities of Japan
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Japan has three levels of government, national, prefectural, and municipal. The nation is divided into 47 prefectures, each prefecture consists of numerous municipalities, with 1,719 in total. There are four types of municipalities in Japan, cities, towns, villages, in Japanese, this system is known as shikuchōson, where each kanji in the word represents one of the four types of municipalities. The status of a municipality, if it is a village, the least-populated city, Utashinai, Hokkaidō, has a population of merely four thousand, while a town in the same prefecture, Otofuke, Hokkaidō, has nearly forty thousand residents. Some designated cities also have further administrative subdivisions, also known as wards, but, unlike the Special wards of Tokyo, these wards are not municipalities. Tokyo Prefecture now encompasses 23 special wards, each a city itself, as well as many other cities, towns and even villages on the Japanese mainland. Each of the 23 special wards of Tokyo is legally equivalent to a city, for information on the former city of Tokyo, see Tokyo City, for information about present-day Tokyo Prefecture, see Tokyo. See List of cities in Japan for a complete list of cities, see also, Core city The same kanji which designates a town is also sometimes used for addresses of sections of an urban area. In rare cases, a village might even contain a section with the same type of designation. Although the kanji is the same, neither of these sections are municipalities unto themselves. Subprefectures are branch offices of the prefectures and not municipalities by themselves, districts are not current municipalities but names of groups of towns and villages. Provinces are not current municipalities but names of geographical regions similar to prefectures
9.
Rhododendron
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It is the national flower of Nepal. Most species have flowers which bloom from late winter through to early summer. Azaleas make up two subgenera of Rhododendron and they are distinguished from true rhododendrons by having only five anthers per flower. Rhododendron is a genus characterised by shrubs and small to large trees, the smallest species growing to 10–100 cm tall, the leaves are spirally arranged, leaf size can range from 1–2 cm to over 50 cm, exceptionally 100 cm in R. sinogrande. They may be evergreen or deciduous. In some species, the undersides of the leaves are covered with scales or hairs, Some of the best known species are noted for their many clusters of large flowers. There are alpine species with flowers and small leaves. Species in this genus may be part of the complex in oak-heath forests in eastern North America. They have frequently been divided based on the presence or absence of scales on the leaf surface. These scales, unique to subgenus Rhododendron, are modified hairs consisting of a scale attached by a stalk. The Rhododendron genus is the largest of the genera in the Ericaceae family, with 1,024 species, though estimates vary from 850-1000 depending on the authority used, consequently, the taxonomy has been historically complex. He listed five species under Rhododendron, at that time he considered the then known six species of Azalea that he had described earlier in 1735 in his Systema Naturae as a separate genus. Linnaeus six species of Azalea were Azalea indica, A. pontica, A. lutea, A. viscosa, A. lapponica and A. procumbens, which he distinguished from Rhododendron by having five stamens, as opposed to ten. As new species of what are now considered Rhododendron were discovered, for instance Rhodora for Rhododendron canadense, Vireya and Hymenanthes for Rhododendron metternichii, now R. degronianum. Of these Tsutsutsi, Pentanthera, Pogonanthum, Ponticum and Rhodora are still used, the sections being Lepipherum, Booram. Soon, as species became available in the nineteenth century so did a better understanding of the characteristics necessary for the major divisions. Chief amongst these were Maximoviczs Rhododendreae Asiae Orientali and Planchon, maximovicz used flower bud position and its relationship with leaf buds to create eight Sections. Bentham and Hooker used a scheme, but called the divisions Series
10.
Maple
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Acer /ˈeɪsər/ is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple. There are approximately 128 species, most of which are native to Asia, with a number appearing in Europe, northern Africa. Only one species, Acer laurinum, extends to the Southern Hemisphere, the type species of the genus is the sycamore maple, Acer pseudoplatanus, the most common maple species in Europe. Most maples are trees growing to 10–45 m height, others are shrubs less than 10 meters tall with a number of small trunks originating at ground level. Most species are deciduous, and many are renowned for their autumn colour, but a few in southern Asia. Most are shade-tolerant when young and are often riparian, understory, many of the root systems are typically dense and fibrous, inhibiting the growth of other vegetation underneath them. A few species, notably Acer cappadocicum, frequently produce root sprouts, maples are distinguished by opposite leaf arrangement. The leaves in most species are palmate veined and lobed, with 3 to 9 veins each leading to a lobe, a small number of species differ in having palmate compound, pinnate compound, pinnate veined or unlobed leaves. Several species, including Acer griseum, Acer mandshuricum, Acer maximowiczianum, one species, Acer negundo, has pinnately compound leaves that may be simply trifoliate or may have five, seven, or rarely nine leaflets. A few, such as Acer laevigatum and Acer carpinifolium, have pinnately veined simple leaves, the flowers are regular, pentamerous, and borne in racemes, corymbs, or umbels. They have four or five sepals, four or five petals about 1 –6 mm long, four to ten stamens about 6 –10 mm long, and two pistils or a pistil with two styles. The ovary is superior and has two carpels, whose wings elongate the flowers, making it easy to tell which flowers are female. Maples flower in winter or early spring, in most species with or just after the appearance of the leaves. Maple flowers are green, yellow, orange or red, though individually small, the effect of an entire tree in flower can be striking in several species. Some maples are a spring source of pollen and nectar for bees. The distinctive fruits are called samaras, maple keys, helicopters and these seeds occur in distinctive pairs each containing one seed enclosed in a nutlet attached to a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue. They are shaped to spin as they fall and to carry the seeds a considerable distance on the wind, people often call them helicopters due to the way that they spin as they fall. During World War II, the US Army developed an air drop supply carrier that could carry up to 65 pounds of supplies and was based on the Maple seed
11.
Little grebe
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The little grebe, also known as dabchick, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The genus name is from Ancient Greek takhus fast and bapto to sink under, the specific ruficollis is from Latin rufus red and Modern Latin -collis, -necked, itself derived from Latin collum neck. At 23 to 29 cm in length it is the smallest European member of its family and it is commonly found in open bodies of water across most of its range. The little grebe was described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764, the tricolored grebe was considered conpecific, with some taxonomic authorities still considering it so. There are six currently-recognized subspecies, separated principally by size and colouration, the adult is unmistakable in summer, predominantly dark above with its rich, rufous colour neck, cheeks and flanks, and bright yellow gape. The rufous is replaced by a dirty grey in non-breeding. Juvenile birds have a bill with a small black tip. This yellow bill darkens as the age, eventually turning black in adulthood. In winter, its size, buff plumage, with a back and cap. The little grebes breeding call, given singly or in duet, is a trilled repeated weet-weet-weet or wee-wee-wee which sounds like a horse whinnying. This bird breeds in colonies in heavily vegetated areas of freshwater lakes across Europe, much of Asia down to New Guinea. Most birds move to open or coastal waters in winter. Outside of breeding season, it moves into open water. The little grebe is an excellent swimmer and diver and pursues its fish and it uses the vegetation skilfully as a hiding place. Like all grebes, it nests at the edge, since its legs are set very far back. Usually four to seven eggs are laid, when the adult bird leaves the nest it usually takes care to cover the eggs with weeds. This makes it likely to be detected by predators. The young leave the nest and can swim soon after hatching, in India, the species breeds during the rainy season
12.
Lake Biwa
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Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan, located in Shiga Prefecture, northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Because of its proximity to the ancient capital, references to Lake Biwa appear frequently in Japanese literature, particularly in poetry, the name Biwako was established in the Edo period. There are various theories about the origin of the name Biwako, the lake was formerly known as the Awaumi or the Chikatsu Awaumi. Later the pronunciation Awaumi changed to the modern Ōmi as in the name of Ōmi Province, the lake is also called Nio no Umi in literature. The area of lake is about 670 km². It serves as a reservoir for the cities of Kyoto and Ōtsu and is a resource for nearby textile industries. It provides drinking water for about 15 million people in the Kansai region, Lake Biwa is a breeding ground for freshwater fish, including trout, and for the pearl culture industry. Lake Biwa is home to popular beaches along the north-western shore, in particular, for example, Shiga Beach. The Mizunomori Water Botanical Garden and The Lake Biwa Museum in Kusatsu are also of interest, the Lake Biwa Marathon takes place in Otsu, the city at the southern end of the lake annually since 1962. Lake Biwa is of tectonic origin and is one of the worlds oldest lakes and this long uninterrupted age has allowed for a notably diverse ecosystem to evolve in the lake. Naturalists have documented more than 1000 species and subspecies in the lake, Lake Biwa is an important place for water birds. About 5,000 water birds visit Lake Biwa every year, there are 46 native fish species and subspecies in the lake, including 11 species and 5 subspecies that endemic or near-endemic. The endemic species are five cyprinids, a true loach, two gobies, two silurid catfish and a cottid, the Biwa trout is also endemic to the lake, but some maintain that it is a subspecies of the widespread masu salmon rather than a separate species. The remaining endemic fish are subspecies of Carassius auratus, Cobitis minamorii, Lake Biwa is also the home of a large number of molluscs, including 38 freshwater snails and 16 bivalves. Recently the biodiversity of the lake has suffered due to the invasion of foreign fish, the black bass. Bluegill were presented to the Emperor and later freed in the lake as a source for other fish. Black bass were introduced as a sport fish, in July 2009, a largemouth bass weighing 22 pounds,4 ounces was caught in the lake by Manabu Kurita. It has been certified by the International Game Fish Association to tie the largemouth bass world record held solely by George Perry for 77 years
13.
Historic Sites of Shiga Prefecture
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This list is of the Historic Sites of Japan located within the Prefecture of Shiga. As of 1 July 2015, forty-seven sites have been designated as being of national significance, as of 1 May 2014, forty sites have been designated as being of prefectural importance. As of 1 May 2014, a further eighty-five sites have been designated as being of municipal importance, Cultural Properties of Japan Ōmi Province List of Places of Scenic Beauty of Japan Cultural Properties in Shiga Prefecture
14.
Nara, Nara
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Nara is the capital city of Nara Prefecture located in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the part of Nara Prefecture, bordering Kyoto Prefecture. By the Heian period, a variety of different characters had been used to represent the name Nara, 乃楽, 乃羅, 平, 平城, 名良, 奈良, 奈羅, 常, 那良, 那楽, 那羅, 楢, 諾良, 諾楽, 寧, 寧楽 and 儺羅. A number of theories for the origin of the name Nara have been proposed, the second theory in the list, by notable folklorist Kunio Yanagita, is most widely accepted at present. The Nihon shoki suggests that Nara was derived from narasu, according to this account, in September in the tenth year of Emperor Sujin. leading selected soldiers went forward, climbed Nara-yama and put them in order. Now the imperial forces gathered and flattened trees and plants, therefore the mountain is called Nara-yama. This word gives rise to the verb narasu, adverb narashi, of course, the fact that historically Nara was also written 平 or 平城 as above is further support for this theory. The idea that Nara is derived from 楢 nara is the next most common opinion and this idea was suggested by a linguist, Yoshida Togo. This noun for the plant can be seen as early as in Manyōshū, the latter book states the place name Narahara in Harima derives from this nara tree, which might support Yoshidas theory. Note that the name of the city of Kashihara contains a semantically similar morpheme. Then, there is the idea that Nara is a word from Korean nara. This idea was put forward by a linguist Matsuoka Shizuo, however, almost nothing about the Old Korean language is known today. These 15th-century books used narah, an old form of nara in Korean, beckwith infers the Korean narak derives from the late Middle Old Chinese 壌, from early *narak, and has no connection with Goguryoic and Japanese na. Kusuhara et al. also points out this hypothesis cannot account for the fact there are lots of places named Nara, Naru, there is the idea that Nara is akin to Tungusic na. In some Tungusic languages such as Orok, na means earth, some have speculated about a connection between these Tungusic words and Old Japanese nawi, an archaic and somewhat obscure word that appears in the verb phrases nawi furu and nawi yoru. The Flat land theory is adopted by Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, various dictionaries for place names, history books on Nara and the like today, Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 to 794, lending its name to the Nara period. In 2010, Nara celebrated the 1, 300th anniversary of its ascension as Japans imperial capital, in the modern age, as the seat of the prefectural government, Nara has developed into a local center of commerce and government. The city was incorporated on February 1,1898
15.
Kyoto
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Kyoto is a city located in the central part of the island of Honshu, Japan. It has a close to 1.5 million. Kyoto is also known as the thousand-year capital, in Japanese, the city has been called Kyō, Miyako, or Kyō no Miyako. In the 11th century, the city was renamed Kyoto, after the Chinese word for capital city, after the city of Edo was renamed Tokyo in 1868, and the seat of the Emperor was transferred there, Kyoto was known for a short time as Saikyō. Obsolete spellings for the name include Kioto, Miaco and Meaco. Another term commonly used to refer to the city in the period was Keishi. His last choice for the site was the village of Uda, the new city, Heian-kyō, a scaled replica of the then Tang capital Changan, became the seat of Japans imperial court in 794, beginning the Heian period of Japanese history. The city suffered destruction in the Ōnin War of 1467–1477. Battles between samurai factions spilled into the streets, and came to involve the court nobility and religious factions as well, nobles mansions were transformed into fortresses, deep trenches dug throughout the city for defense and as firebreaks, and numerous buildings burned. The city has not seen such widespread destruction since, Hideyoshi also built earthwork walls called odoi encircling the city. Teramachi Street in central Kyoto is a Buddhist temple quarter where Hideyoshi gathered temples in the city, throughout the Edo period, the economy of the city flourished as one of three major cities in Japan, the others being Osaka and Edo. The Hamaguri rebellion of 1864 burnt down 28,000 houses in the city, the modern city of Kyoto was formed on April 1,1889. The construction of Lake Biwa Canal in 1890 is one taken to revive the city. The population of the city exceeded one million in 1932, stimson, Secretary of War in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, the city was removed from the list of targets and replaced by Nagasaki. The city was spared from conventional bombing as well, although small-scale air raids did result in casualties. As a result, the Imperial City of Kyoto is one of the few Japanese cities that still have an abundance of prewar buildings, however, modernization is continually breaking down the traditional Kyoto in favor of newer architecture, such as the Kyōto Station complex. Kyoto became a city designated by government ordinance on September 1,1956, in 1997, Kyoto hosted the conference that resulted in the protocol on greenhouse gas emissions that bears the citys name. Kyoto is located in a valley, part of the Yamashiro Basin, in the part of the mountainous region known as the Tamba highlands
16.
Emperor Tenji
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Emperor Tenji, also known as Emperor Tenchi, was the 38th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Tenjis reign spanned the years from 661 through 671 and he was the son of Emperor Jomei, but was preceded as ruler by his mother Empress Saimei. Prior to his accession, he was known as Prince Naka-no-Ōe, as prince, Naka no Ōe played a crucial role in ending the near-total control the Soga clan had over the imperial family. Although the assassination did not go exactly as planned, Iruka was killed, following the Isshi Incident, Irukas adherents dispersed largely without a fight, and Naka no Ōe was named heir apparent. He also married the daughter of his ally Soga no Kurayamada, Naka no Ōe reigned as Emperor Tenji from 661 to 672. Shortly after, she died, and Emperor Tenji could be said to have acceded to the throne,662, Tenji is said to have compiled the first Japanese legal code known to modern historians. The Ōmi Code, consisting of 22 volumes, was promulgated in the last year of Tenjis reign,668, An account in Nihon Shoki becomes the first mention of petrochemical oil in Japan. In the 7th year of Tenjis reign, flammable water was presented as an offering to Emperor Tenji from Echigo Province and this presentation coincided with the emperors ceremonial confirmation as emperor. He had postponed formalities during the period that the mausoleum of his mother was being constructed, up until this time, although he had been de facto monarch, he had retained the title of Crown Prince. Tenji was particularly active in improving the institutions which had been established during the Taika reforms. Following his death in 672, there ensued a dispute between his fourteen children. In the end, he was succeeded by his son, Prince Ōtomo, also known as Emperor Kōbun, then by Tenjis brother Prince Ōama, almost one hundred years after Tenjis death, the throne passed to his grandson Emperor Kōnin. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Kōbun is said to have acceded to the throne, shortly thereafter, Emperor Tenmu could be said to have acceded to the throne. The actual site of Tenjis grave is known and this emperor is traditionally venerated at a memorial Shinto shrine at Yamashina-ku, Kyoto. The Imperial Household Agency designates this location as Tenjis mausoleum and it is formally named Yamashina no misasagi. Such is love since the age of the gods, As it was thus in the early days, – Emperor Tenji One of his 31-letters poems was chosen by Fujiwara no Teika as the first in the very popular anthology Hyakunin Isshu. After his death, his wife, Empress Yamato wrote a song of longing about her husband, the top court officials during Emperor Tenjis reign included, Daijō-daijin, Ōtomo no Ōji, 671–672. Prince Ōtomo was the son of Emperor Tenji, and he was also the first to be accorded the title of Daijō-daijin
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Shigaraki, Shiga
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Shigaraki is a town located in Kōka District, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the town has an population of 14,035. The total area is 164.34 km², on October 1,2004, Shigaraki, along with the towns of Kōka, Kōnan, Minakuchi and Tsuchiyama, was merged to create the city of Kōka. It also served as the capitol for several months in 745. Shigaraki is famous for its ceramic kilns since ancient times, the area is known for its clay beds, and locally mined clay is often used by local potters. Works produced here are known as Shigaraki-yaki, many local potters use wood fired anagama kilns. Many tanuki statues are also produced here
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Heian period
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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
19.
Enryaku-ji
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Enryaku-ji is a Tendai monastery located on Mount Hiei in Ōtsu, overlooking Kyoto. It was founded during the early Heian period, the temple complex was established by Saichō, also known as Dengyō Daishi, who introduced the Tendai sect of Mahayana Buddhism to Japan from China. Enryaku-ji is the headquarters of the Tendai sect and one of the most significant monasteries in Japanese history, as such, it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. The founders of Jōdo-shū, Sōtō Zen, and Nichiren Buddhism all spent time at the monastery, Enryaku-ji is also the home of the marathon monks. With the support of Emperor Kanmu, the Buddhist monk Saichō ordained a hundred disciples in 807, maintaining a strict discipline on Mt. Hiei, his monks lived in seclusion for twelve years of study and meditation. After this period, the best students were retained in positions in the monastery, at the peak of its power, Enryaku-ji was a huge complex of as many as 3,000 sub-temples and a powerful army of warrior monks. In the tenth century, succession disputes broke out between Tendai monks of the line of Ennin and Enchin and these disputes resulted in opposing Tendai centers at Enryaku-ji and at Mii-dera, known respectively as the Mountain Order and the Temple Order. Warrior monks were used to settle the disputes, and Tendai leaders began to hire mercenary armies who threatened rivals, Enryaku-jis current structures date from the late 16th century through the first half of the 17th century, when the temple was reconstructed following a change of government. Only one minor building survived, the Ruri-dō, which is located down a long, unmarked path from the Sai-tō complex, it is marked on maps, however. During reconstruction, some buildings were transferred from other temples, notably Mii-dera, today, most of Enryaku-jis buildings are clustered in three areas, Tō-dō, Sai-tō, and Yokokawa. The monasterys most important buildings are concentrated in Tō-dō, Sai-tō is a 20-minute walk away, primarily downhill from Tō-dō, and also features several important buildings. Yokokawa is more isolated and less visited, about a 1,30 walk, and is most easily reached by bus, on April 4,2006, Enryaku-ji performed a ceremony for former leaders of Yamaguchi-gumi, by far the largest Yakuza organization in Japan. Because such temple ceremonies have been used for Yamaguchi-gumi fund-raising and demonstrations of power, rejecting the request, Enryaku-ji received crime-related money for the ceremony and allowed nearly 100 upper-level Yamaguchi-gumi leaders to attend. After reports in the Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun newspapers, Enryaku-ji faced a nationwide scandal, the temple was also criticized by the Japan Buddhist Temple Association, which led a movement against the Yakuza. Finally on May 18, all directors of Enryaku-ji resigned, apologizing on their website. Kyoto, The Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869, official website Japan Atlas, Enryaku-Ji Temple Photos of Mount Hiei and the three precincts of Enryaku-ji Temple
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Tendai
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Tendai is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school. David W. Philosophically, the Tendai school did not deviate substantially from the beliefs that had created by the Tiantai school in China. However, what Saichō transmitted from China was not exclusively Tiantai, but also included Zen, the esoteric Mikkyō, the tendency to include a range of teachings became more marked in the doctrines of Saichōs successors, such as Ennin and Enchin. However, in years, this range of teachings began to form sub-schools within Tendai Buddhism. By the time of Ryōgen, there were two groups on Mt. Hiei, the Sammon Mountain Group who followed Ennin and the Jimon Temple Group who followed Enchin. The Tendai sect flourished under the patronage of the Imperial House, in 794, the Imperial capital was moved to Kyoto. Tendai Buddhism became the dominant form of mainstream Buddhism in Japan for many years, nichiren, Hōnen, Shinran and Dōgen—all famous thinkers in non-Tendai schools of Japanese Buddhism—were all initially trained as Tendai monks. Japanese Buddhism was dominated by the Tendai school to a greater degree than Chinese Buddhism was by its forebearer. Due to its patronage and growing popularity among the classes, the Tendai sect became not only respected. Enryaku-ji, the complex on Mt. Hiei, became a sprawling center of power, attended not only by ascetic monks. As a result, in 1571 Enryaku-ji was razed by Oda Nobunaga as part of his campaign to unify Japan, Nobunaga regarded the Mt. Hiei monks as a potential threat or rival, as they could employ religious claims to attempt to rally the populace to their side. The temple complex was rebuilt, and continues to serve as the head temple of the Tendai school today. Chih-i, founder of Tien-tai philosophy and practice attempted this synthesis on the basis of the doctrine of the Lotus Sutra. Tendai Buddhism has several philosophical insights which allow for the reconciliation of Buddhist doctrine with aspects of Japanese culture such as Shinto and it is rooted in the idea, fundamental to Mahayana Buddhism, that Buddha-hood, the capability to attain enlightenment, is intrinsic in all things. Also central to Mahayana is the notion that the phenomenal world and this notion poses the problem of how we come to have many differentiated experiences. Tendai Buddhism claims that each and every sense phenomenon just as it is is the expression of Dharma, for Tendai, the ultimate expression of Dharma is the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, the nature of all sense experiences consists in the Buddhas preaching of the doctrine of Lotus Sutra. The existence and experience of all unenlightened beings is fundamentally equivalent, more specifically, Shimaji used original enlightenment thought to designate the intellectual mainstream of medieval Japanese Tendai Buddhism
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UNESCO
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Paris. It is the heir of the League of Nations International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, UNESCO has 195 member states and nine associate members. Most of its offices are cluster offices covering three or more countries, national and regional offices also exist. UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs, education, natural sciences, social/human sciences, culture and it is also a member of the United Nations Development Group. UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of Nations resolution on 21 September 1921, on 18 December 1925, the International Bureau of Education began work as a non-governmental organization in the service of international educational development. However, the work of predecessor organizations was largely interrupted by the onset of World War II. On 30 October 1943, the necessity for an organization was expressed in the Moscow Declaration, agreed upon by China, the United Kingdom, the United States. This was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference proposals of 9 October 1944, a prominent figure in the initiative for UNESCO was Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom. At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO was introduced and signed by 37 countries, the Preparatory Commission operated between 16 November 1945, and 4 November 1946—the date when UNESCOs Constitution came into force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification by a member state. The first General Conference took place between 19 November to 10 December 1946, and elected Dr. Julian Huxley to Director-General and this change in governance distinguished UNESCO from its predecessor, the CICI, in how member states would work together in the organizations fields of competence. In 1956, the Republic of South Africa withdrew from UNESCO claiming that some of the organizations publications amounted to interference in the racial problems. South Africa rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, UNESCOs early work in the field of education included the pilot project on fundamental education in the Marbial Valley, Haiti, started in 1947. This project was followed by missions to other countries, including, for example. In 1948, UNESCO recommended that Member States should make free primary education compulsory, in 1990, the World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, launched a global movement to provide basic education for all children, youths and adults. Ten years later, the 2000 World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, UNESCOs early activities in culture included, for example, the Nubia Campaign, launched in 1960. The purpose of the campaign was to move the Great Temple of Abu Simbel to keep it from being swamped by the Nile after construction of the Aswan Dam, during the 20-year campaign,22 monuments and architectural complexes were relocated. This was the first and largest in a series of campaigns including Mohenjo-daro, Fes, Kathmandu, Borobudur, the organizations work on heritage led to the adoption, in 1972, of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The World Heritage Committee was established in 1976 and the first sites inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978, since then important legal instruments on cultural heritage and diversity have been adopted by UNESCO member states in 2003 and 2005
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World Heritage Site
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A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
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Sasaki clan
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Sasaki clan are a historical Japanese clan. They are descended directly from Emperor Uda by his grandson Minamoto no Masazane, Minamoto no Nariyori, great-grandson of Masazane, is the first who took the name of Sasaki from his domain in Ōmi province. Hideyoshi, descendant of Minamoto no Nariyori, lost his parents young and he was adopted by Minamoto no Tameyoshi. He participated to the Hōgen war in which his father Minamoto no Tameyoshi was killed, when his nephew Minamoto no Yoritomo rose in revolt against the Taira, he with his four sons sided with him. He was killed during the Genpei war at the battle of Ōhara in Ōmi province fighting against the Taira clan and his descendants received from their Seiwa Genji cousins the title of shugo of Ōmi and other provinces, which they kept until the 16th century Sengoku Period wars. He is the ancestor of the Sasaki, the Rokkaku, the Amago, the Kyōgoku, in 1868, at the end of the Tokugawa period, The Kyōgoku were daimyō of Marugame and Tadotsu in Sanuki Province, Toyooka in Tajima Province, and Mineyama Domain in Tango Province. A branch of the Kyōgoku was ranked among the 26 families which were permitted to fill the office of kōke, the Kuroda were daimyō of Fukuoka, and of Akizuki. The Rokkaku had the rank of Kōke, there existed a certain Sasaki Shrine where Sasaki Yamagimi, a warlord, worshiped the god of ancestors spirit. Following the middle of the Heian period, the shrine was used to worship the god of the Sasaki clan. It is said that through this, the Ōmi-Genji Festival is held every year on October 10 in respect of the Sasaki clan, one member of note amongst the Sasaki clan is none other than Sasaki Kojiro, the famous swordsman and rival of Miyamoto Musashi. The favorite technique of Kojiro was his Tsubame Gaeshi, in which he attempted to use on Musashi throughout their duel. It is also known that the Sasaki clan apparently was an obstacle to that of the Hosokawa. Explanatory notes The bold-faced type is a master, The 〇 mark is a person who participated in Yoritomos rising in arms. ISBN 978-2-7068-1632-1, OCLC51096469 Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth, at Google Books Cambridge, Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-00770-3 -- ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5 Rokkaku clan Kyogoku clan Sasaki Takauji Sasaki Kojiro
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Rokkaku clan
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Over the course of the Muromachi period, members of the clan held the high post of Constable of various provinces. During the Ōnin War, which marked the beginning of the Sengoku period, as a consequence of defeat in the field, the clan entered a period of decline. Like other hard-pressed daimyos, the Rokakku tried to enhance their military position by giving attention to improved civil administration within their domain. For instance, in 1549, the Rokkaku eliminated a paper merchants guild in Mino under penalty of confiscation, then they declared a free market in its place. The Rokakku were defeated by Oda Nobunaga in 1568 on his march to Kyoto, during the Edo period, Rokkaku Yoshisukes descendants were considered a kōke clan. During the Sengoku period, Japans social and legal culture evolved in ways unrelated to the history of serial battles. A number of forward-looking daimyos independently promulgated codes of conduct to be applied within a specific han or domain,1567, Rokkaku Yoshiharu re-issues Rokkaku-shi shikimoku. Sasaki Nobutsuna, mid-13th century Rokkaku Yasutsuna, 13th century—son of Nobutsuna, Rokkaku Jakusai, 1348-1424 -- Yamato-e painter Rokkaku Takayori, d. Rokkaku Sadayori, 1495–1552 Rokkaku Yoshikata, 1521-1598—son of Sadayori, founder of Sasaki-ryū of martial arts, Rokkaku Yoshiharu, 1545-1612—eldest son of Yoshikata. In 1562, he took on responsibilities in the administration of his fathers domain, later, he entered Ieyasus service, and his descendants were ranked amongst the kōke. Another descendant was the mathematician Kikuchi Dairoku
25.
Azai clan
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The Azai clan was a line of daimyo during Japans Sengoku period that was based in Ōmi Province. The Azai clan, along with the Asakura clan, opposed Oda Nobunaga in the late 16th century and they were defeated by him at the Battle of Anegawa in 1570, and all but eliminated when their home castle, Odani Castle, was taken three years later. Hiei, he was defeated and forced to suicide by Nobunaga in 1573 and he was married to Nobunagas sister O-ichi. His daughters included Yodo-Dono and Oeyo Turnbull, Stephen
26.
Oda Nobunaga
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Oda Nobunaga was a powerful Daimyō of Japan in the late 16th century who attempted to unify Japan during the late Sengoku period. Nobunaga is regarded as one of three unifiers of Japan along with his retainers Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, Nobunaga was widely known as one of the most brutal figures in history, eliminating anyone who stood in his way. He was both a ruler and keen businessman, strategizing at both the micro- and macroeconomic scales. He met his demise when his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide rebelled against him at Honnō-ji, Oda Nobunaga was the first for whom this goal seemed attainable. Nobunaga had gained control over most of Honshu before his death during the 1582 Honnō-ji incident and it is not certain whether Nobunaga was killed in the attack or else committed seppuku. The motivations behind Mitsuhides betrayal was never revealed to anyone who survived the incident, following the incident, Akechi Mitsuhide declared himself master over Nobunagas domains, but was quickly defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who regained control of and greatly expanded the Oda holdings. Oda Nobunaga was born on June 23,1534, in the Owari domain and he was the second son of Oda Nobuhide, a deputy shugo with land holdings in Owari Province. He is said to have born in Nagoya Castle, although this is subject to debate. Through his childhood and early years, he was well known for his bizarre behavior. He was known to run around with other youths from the area, with the introduction of firearms into Japan, however, he became known for his fondness of tanegashima firearms. In 1551, Oda Nobuhide died unexpectedly, Nobunaga was said to have acted outrageously during his funeral, throwing ceremonial incense at the altar. This convinced many Oda retainers of Nobunagas mediocrity and lack of discipline, alienated, they then began to side with his soft-spoken and well-mannered brother, Nobuyuki. Hirate Masahide, a mentor and retainer to Nobunaga, was ashamed by Nobunagas behavior. This had an effect on Nobunaga, who later built a temple to honor Masahide. Although Nobunaga was Nobuhides legitimate successor, the Oda clan was divided into factions. Oda Nobutomo, the deceased Nobuhides brother and deputy to the shugo, used the weak Yoshimune as his puppet, Nobutomo murdered Yoshimune when it was discovered that he supported and attempted to aid Nobunaga. This also ensured that the Imagawa clan would have to stop attacking Owaris borders, although Nobuyuki and his supporters were still at large, Nobunaga brought an army to Mino Province to aid Saitō Dōsan after Dōsans son, Saitō Yoshitatsu, turned against him. The campaign failed, as Dōsan was killed in the Battle of Nagara-gawa, a few months later Nobuyuki, with support from Shibata Katsuie and Hayashi Hidesada, rebelled against Nobunaga
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Azuchi Castle
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Azuchi Castle was one of the primary castles of Oda Nobunaga. It was built from 1576 to 1579, on the shores of Lake Biwa, unlike earlier castles and fortresses, Azuchi was not intended to only be a military structure, cold, dark, and foreboding. Nobunaga intended it as a mansion, which would impress and intimidate his rivals, not only with its defenses, in addition to being one of the first Japanese castles with a tower keep, Azuchi was unique in that its uppermost story was octagonal. In addition, the facade of Azuchi, unlike the white or black of other castles, was colorfully decorated with tigers. There were five main features of Azuchi Castle that differentiated it from earlier castle designs. Firstly, it was a structure, with the walls of the castle ranging from 18 feet to 21 feet in thickness. The second feature of Azuchi Castle is the predominant use of stone, the walls were constructed from huge granite stones fitted carefully together without the use of mortar. A third innovation of the Azuchi Castle was the central tower. The tower allowed for increased visibility for the use of guns against an opposing force, builder’s plans for the castle show the donjon to be 138 feet tall, with seven levels. Fourthly, Azuchi Castle had irregularly formed inner citadels and these inner citadels gave defenders ample defensive positions against intruders. The location of Azuchi Castle was also a novel feature and he had trouble convincing people to move into these homes at first, however. By 1582, the inhabitants numbered roughly 5,000. In the summer of 1582, just after Nobunagas death at Honnō-ji, the castle was set aflame, though some accounts claim this might have been the work of looting townspeople, or of one of Nobunagas sons. Mitsuhide, therefore, never managed to occupy the castle, the Azuchi-Momoyama Period of Japanese history takes its name, in part, from this castle. In 1976, the Japanese architectural historian Naitō Akira published what he believed to be a summary of the features of Azuchi Castle. It had seven levels, although from the outside only five were apparent. The interior had some unexpected, unprecedented and unique features, the centre of the structure rose without a ceiling, up to level of the fifth floor, almost 62 feet from the ground. All that remains of the castle today is the stone base, however, an approximate reproduction of Azuchi, based on illustrations and historical descriptions, stands in Ise Sengoku Village, a samurai theme park near Ise
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Oichi
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Oichi was a female historical figure in the late Sengoku period. She is known primarily as the mother of three daughters who married well – Yodo-dono, Ohatsu and Oeyo, Oichi was the younger sister of Oda Nobunaga, and she was the sister-in-law of Nōhime, the daughter of Saitō Dōsan. Oichi was equally renowned for her beauty and her resolve and she was descended from the Taira and Fujiwara clans. Their marriage was through political means, ensuring an alliance between the Oda and the Azai clans and she bore Nagamasa one son and three daughters – Yodo-dono, Ohatsu and Oeyo. In the summer of 1570, Nagamasa betrayed his alliance with Nobunaga, according to the story, Nobunaga understood the message and retreated from his brother-in-laws assault in time. The fighting continued for three years until the Asakura and other forces were destroyed or weakened. Oichi remained with her husband at Odani Castle throughout the conflict, even after Toyotomi Hideyoshi, when Odani was surrounded, Nobunaga requested that his sister be returned to him before the final attack. Nagamasa agreed, sending out Oichi and her three daughters, Nagamasa had no hope of winning, and chose to commit seppuku. Oichi and her daughters remained in the Oda familys care for the next decade, after Nobunaga was assassinated in 1582, his sons and vassals broke into two major factions, led by two of Nobunagas favored generals, Shibata Katsuie and Hideyoshi. Nobunagas third son, Nobutaka, belonged to the former group, but in 1583, Katsuie was defeated by Hideyoshi in the Battle of Shizugatake, forcing him to retreat to his home at Kitanosho Castle. As Hideyoshis army lay siege to the castle, Katsuie implored Oichi to flee with her daughters, Oichi refused, insisting on dying with her husband after their daughters were sent away. The daughters were taken care of by Hideyoshi, oichis three daughters each went on to become important historical figures in their own right. The eldest and the most famous, Chacha became a concubine to Hideyoshi and she became known as Yodo-dono or Yodogimi, and she bore him his only two sons, including his heir Hideyori. Yodo-dono and Hideyori later died in the Siege of Osaka, in 1615, the second, Ohatsu, married Kyōgoku Takatsugu, a man from a noble family once served by the Azai clan. The Kyogoku clan sided with Ieyasu after Hideyoshis death, giving her the means to serve as an intermediary between Ieyasu and Yodo-dono and she worked in vain to end their hostilities, and after Yodo-dono and Hideyoris death, managed to save Hideyoris daughter by putting her in a convent. The youngest, Oeyo, married Tokugawa Hidetada, Ieyasus heir and they had many children, including the third Shogun Iemitsu, and Kazuko, consort to Emperor Go-Mizunoo. Kazukos daughter Okiko became Empress Meishō, thus posthumously making Oichi both a grandmother to a Shogun and a great-grandmother to an Empress and that same version is also in Pokémon Conquest, with her partner Pokémon being Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff. Oichi is a character in the game Onimusha 2, Samurais Destiny
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Yodo-dono
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Yodo-dono or Yodogimi was a prominently placed figure in late-Sengoku period. She was a concubine and second wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was then the most powerful man in Japan and she also became the mother of his son and successor, Hideyori. She was also known as Lady Chacha, after the death of Hideyoshi, she took the tonsure, becoming a Buddhist nun and taking the name Daikōin. In 1614, she led a Anti-Shogunate rebellion, the great wealth and changing fortunes of her husband and son affected Yodo-donos life as well. Surviving record books from luxury goods provide insight into patterns of patronage and taste amongst the privileged class of women like Yodo-dono. Her mother, Oichi was the sister of Oda Nobunaga. After Nagamasas death, Toyotomi Hideyoshi became the father and protector of Chacha. Her status changed when she became his concubine and her status and her name were changed again when Yodo-dono became the mother of a male heir for the aging Taiko. Yodo-donos middle sister, Ohatsu, was the wife of Kyōgoku Takatsugu, Yodo-donos youngest sister, Oeyo, also known as Ogō, was the principal wife of Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada and the mother of his successor Tokugawa Iemitsu. In 1570, Chachas father, Nagamasa, broke his alliance with Oda Nobunaga, Nobunaga, however, requested the safe return of his sister, Oichi. Chacha, along with her mother and her two sisters, left the castle with her, Odani castle fell, and amongst those who died were Nagamasa and Manpukumaru, Chachas only brother. Nobunagas death in 1582 caused open hostilities between Shibata Katsuie and Hashiba Hideyoshi over the issue of succession, katsuies forces were defeated at the Battle of Shizugatake, and he was forced retreat to Kitanosho castle. With Hideyoshis army laying siege to his home, Katsuie set the castle ablaze, he, however, before Oichi died, she passed Chacha, Oeyo, and Ohatsu to the care and protection of Hideyoshi. Yodo-dono became Hideyoshis concubine and soon moved to Yodo Castle, Hideyoshis wife, Nene, was said to have been unable to conceive, and thus Lady Yodo inherited many of her privileges. She had two sons with Hideyoshi, Tsurumatsu, who died young, and Hideyori, born in 1593, Hideyoshi was also the enemy of her parents, first her father, then her step-father and mother. In 1594, the moved to Fushimi Castle, but tragedy befell when Hideyoshi died in 1598. Yodo-dono moved to Osaka Castle with her son Hideyori and plotted the restoration of the Toyotomi clan, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who seized control from Hideyori after the death of his father, now viewed Hideyori as an obstacle to his unification of Japan. He laid siege to Osaka Castle in 1614, but the attack fell through, however, in 1615, Ieyasu broke the truce and once again attacked Osaka Castle, and this time he succeeded
30.
Ohatsu
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Ohatsu or Ohatsu-no-kata was a prominently placed figure in the late Sengoku period. After her husbands death in 1609, Ohatsu remained active in the intrigues of her day. Ohatsus close family ties to both the Toyotomi clan and the Tokugawa clan uniquely positioned her to serve as a conduit between the rivals and she acted as a liaison until 1615, when the Tokugawa eliminated the Toyotomi. When she married her cousin Kyōgoku Takatsugu in 1587, he was a daimyō in Ōmi Province, at this point, Takatsugu was a fudai daimyō of the Toyotomi with a stipend of 60,000 koku annually. After 1600, Takatsugus allegiances had been transferred to the Tokugawa, and he was rewarded with the fief of Obama in Wakasa Province and her husbands changing fortunes affected Ohatsus life as well. Surviving record books from luxury goods provide insight into patterns of patronage. Ohatsu was the second of Azai Nagamasas three daughters and her mother Oichi was the younger sister of Oda Nobunaga. Ohatsus elder sister was Yodo-dono, also called Chacha and she was a concubine and second wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and mother of Toyotomi Hideyori. Ohatsus younger sister was Oeyo, also known as Ogō and she was the principal wife of Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada and the mother of his successor Iemitsu. In 1587, Ohatsu married Kyōgoku Takatsugu and their son Kyōgoku Tadataka became his fathers heir. After the death of her husband in 1609, she withdrew from the world at Nozen-zan Jōkō-ji and her gravesite is at the temple. Although the Kyōgoku clan moved to Izumo-Matsue one year after Ohatsus death, a History of the Japanese People from the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era. Chicago, Encyclopædia Britannica Co. OCLC413099 Hickman, Money L. John T. Carpenter, ISBN 978-0-300-09407-7, OCLC34564921 Papinot, Edmond. Dictionnaire dhistoire et de géographie du japon, museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Nakamura Utaemon III as Ohatsu
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Oeyo
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Oeyo, Gō, Ogō or Satoko,1573 – September 15, 1626) was a prominently-placed female figure in late-Sengoku period. She married three times, first to Saji Kazunari, her cousin, and she had 2 daughters, Kitahime and Nuihime and she had a daughter with Hidekatsu named Toyotomi Sadako later married Kujō Yukiie. Her third and last husband Tokugawa Hidetada became the second Tokugawa shogun and she was also the mother of his successor Iemitsu, the third shogun. She had Senhime, Tamahime, Katsuhime, Hatsuhime, Takechiyo, Hatsuhime was adopted by Oeyos sister Ohatsu, who is the wife of Kyōgoku Takatsugu. Hidetadas changing fortunes affected Oeyos life as well, surviving record books from merchants of luxury goods provide insight into patterns of patronage and taste amongst the privileged class of women like Oeyo and her sisters. Oeyo, also known as Ogō, was the third and youngest daughter of the Sengoku-period daimyō Azai Nagamasa and her mother, Oichi was the younger sister of Oda Nobunaga. Toyotomi Hideyoshi became the father and protector of Oeyo in the period before her marriage. Oeyos oldest sister, styled Yodo-dono, Cha-Cha in birth name, was a prominent concubine of Hideyoshi who gave birth to his heir, Oeyos middle sister, Ohatsu was the wife of Kyōgoku Takatsugu and the mother of Kyōgoku Tadataka. Her mausoleum can be found at Zōjō-ji in the Shiba neighborhood of Tokyo, junior First Rank NHKs 2011 Taiga drama, Gō, Himetachi no Sengoku, is based on the life of Oeyo who is played by the actress Juri Ueno. Hickman, Money L. John T. Carpenter and Bruce A. Coats, ISBN 978-0-300-09407-7, OCLC34564921 Wilson, Richard L. Ogata Kenzan
32.
Sengoku period
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The Sengoku period is a period in Japanese history marked by social upheaval, political intrigue and near-constant military conflict. Japanese historians named it after the otherwise unrelated Warring States period in China and it came to an end when all political power was unified under the Tokugawa shogunate. In the years preceding this era the Shogunate gradually lost influence, many of these Lords began to fight uncontrollably with each other for control over land and influence over the shogunate. As trade with China grew, the developed, and the use of money became widespread as markets. This, combined with developments in agriculture and small-scale trading, led to the desire for local autonomy throughout all levels of the social hierarchy. As early as the beginning of the 15th century, the caused by earthquakes and famines often served to trigger armed uprisings by farmers weary of debt. The Ōnin War, a conflict rooted in economic distress and brought on by a dispute over succession, is generally regarded as the onset of the Sengoku period. The eastern army of the Hosokawa family and its allies clashed with the army of the Yamana. Fighting in and around Kyoto lasted for nearly 11 years, leaving the city almost completely destroyed, the conflict in Kyoto then spread to outlying provinces. The period culminated with a series of three warlords, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who gradually unified Japan, after Tokugawa Ieyasus final victory at the siege of Osaka in 1615, Japan settled down into several centuries of peace under the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Ōnin War in 1467 is usually considered the point of Sengoku period. There are several events which could be considered the end of it, The Siege of Odawara, the Battle of Sekigahara, the upheaval resulted in the further weakening of central authority, and throughout Japan regional lords, called daimyōs, rose to fill the vacuum. There were many, however, whose positions eroded and were usurped by more capable underlings. One of the earliest instances of this was Hōjō Sōun, who rose from humble origins. Building on the accomplishments of Sōun, the Late Hōjō clan remained a power in the Kantō region until its subjugation by Toyotomi Hideyoshi late in the Sengoku period. Well-organized religious groups also gained power at this time by uniting farmers in resistance. The monks of the Buddhist True Pure Land sect formed numerous Ikkō-ikki and this in turn provided Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had risen through the ranks from ashigaru to become one of Odas most trusted generals, with the opportunity to establish himself as Odas successor. Toyotomi eventually consolidated his control over the remaining daimyōs and, although he was ineligible for the title of Seii Taishogun because of his common birth, during his short reign as Kampaku, Toyotomi attempted two invasions of Korea
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Ninja
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A ninja or shinobi was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, assassination and their covert methods of waging irregular warfare were deemed dishonorable and beneath the samurai-caste, who observed strict rules about honor and combat. Following the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate, the ninja faded into obscurity, a number of shinobi manuals, often based on Chinese military philosophy, were written in the 17th and 18th centuries, most notably the Bansenshukai. By the time of the Meiji Restoration, the tradition of the shinobi had become a topic of popular imagination, Ninja figured prominently in legend and folklore, where they were associated with legendary abilities such as invisibility, walking on water and control over the natural elements. As a consequence, their perception in popular culture is based more on such legend. Ninja is a reading of the two kanji 忍者. In the native kunyomi reading, it is pronounced shinobi. The word shinobi appears in the record as far back as the late 8th century in poems in the Manyōshū. The underlying connotation of shinobi means to steal away, to hide and — by extension — to forbear, hence its association with stealth and invisibility. Historically, the ninja was not in common use. Along with shinobi, some examples include monomi, nokizaru, rappa, kusa, in historical documents, shinobi is almost always used. Kunoichi, meaning a female ninja, supposedly came from the characters くノ一, in the West, the word ninja became more prevalent than shinobi in the post-World War II culture, possibly because it was more comfortable for Western speakers. In English, the plural of ninja can be either unchanged as ninja, reflecting the Japanese languages lack of grammatical number, despite many popular folktales, historical accounts of the ninja are scarce. Historian Stephen Turnbull asserts that the ninja were recruited from the lower class. Instead, war epics such as the Tale of Hōgen and the Tale of the Heike focus mainly on the aristocratic samurai, the title ninja has sometimes been attributed retrospectively to the semi-legendary 4th-century prince Yamato Takeru. In the Kojiki, the young Yamato Takeru disguised himself as a charming maiden, however, these records take place at a very early stage of Japanese history, and they are unlikely to be connected to the shinobi of later accounts. The first recorded use of espionage was under the employment of Prince Shōtoku in the 6th century, such tactics were considered unsavory even in early times, when, according to the 10th century Shōmonki, the boy spy Koharumaru was killed for spying against the insurgent Taira no Masakado. Later, the 14th century war chronicle Taiheiki contained many references to shinobi and it was not until the 15th century that spies were specially trained for their purpose
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Ishida Mitsunari
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Ishida Mitsunari was a Japanese samurai and military commander of the late Sengoku period of Japan. He is probably best remembered as the commander of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the Azuchi–Momoyama period of the 16th century, also known by his court title, Jibu-no-shō. He was born in the north of Ōmi Province, and was the son of Ishida Masatsugu. The Ishida withdrew from service after the Azais defeat in 1573, according to legend, he was a monk in a Buddhist temple before he served Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but the accuracy of this legend is doubted since it only came about during the Edo period. Mitsunari met Toyotomi Hideyoshi when the former was still young and the latter was the daimyō of Nagahama, when Hideyoshi engaged in a campaign in the Chūgoku region, Mitsunari assisted his lord in attacks against castles like the Tottori Castle and Takamatsu Castle. After Hideyoshi seized power, Mitsunari became known as a financial manager due to his knowledge. From 1585 onward, he was the administrator of Sakai, a role he took together with his elder brother Ishida Masazumi and he was appointed one of the five bugyō, or top administrators of Hideyoshis government. Hideyoshi made him a daimyō of Sawayama in Ōmi Province, a five hundred thousand koku fief, Sawayama Castle was known as one of the best-fortified castles during that time. Mitsunari was a leader of bureaucrats in Hideyoshis government, and was known for his rigid character, though he had many friends, he was on bad terms with some daimyōs that were known as good warriors, including Hideyoshis relatives Fukushima Masanori and Katō Kiyomasa. After Hideyoshis death, their conflict worsened, the central point of their conflict was the question of whether Tokugawa Ieyasu could be relied on as a supporter of the Toyotomi government, whose nominal lord was the child Toyotomi Hideyori. In 1600, the Battle of Sekigahara was fought as a result of political conflict. Mitsunari succeeded in organizing an army led by Mōri Terumoto, but the coalition following Tokugawa Ieyasu was greater, and the battle resulted in Mitsunaris defeat. After his defeat, Mitsunari sought to escape, but was caught by villagers, other daimyōs of the Western army, like Konishi Yukinaga and Ankokuji Ekei were also executed. After execution, his head, severed from his body, was placed on a stand for all the people in Kyoto to see and his remains were buried at Sangen-in, a sub-temple of the Daitoku-ji, Kyoto. A theory / legend says Ieyasu showed him mercy, but hid him, for reasons, with one of his veteran generals, Sakakibara Yasumasa, then grew old. To thank Yasumasa for his silence, Mitsunari gave him a treasured sunnobi-tantō of 31,2 cm therefore nicknamed Ishida-Sadamune, Mitsunari had three sons and three daughters with his wife. After his fathers death, Shigenari changed his name to Sugiyama to keep living. In James Clavells historical-novel Shōgun, Ishida served as basis for the character of Ishido, Ishido was portrayed by Nobuo Kaneko in the 1980 TV mini-series adaptation
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Sawayama Castle
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Sawayama Castle was a castle in the city of Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. This castle was an important military stronghold of Ōmi Province, the Azai clan held this castle in the Sengoku Period. Ishida Mitsunari held it at the end of the 16th century after the ruin of the Azai clan and this castle was attacked by Kobayakawa Hideaki after the Battle of Sekigahara. The castle surrendered at half a day though the brother of Mitsunari, Ishida Masazumi, afterwards, Ii Naomasa occupied Sawayama Castle. However, he destroyed it, and moved to Hikone Castle
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Tokugawa Ieyasu
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Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which effectively ruled Japan from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605 and his given name is sometimes spelled Iyeyasu, according to the historical pronunciation of he. Ieyasu was posthumously enshrined at Nikkō Tōshō-gū with the name Tōshō Daigongen and he was one of the three unifiers of Japan, along with his Former Lord Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Tokugawa Ieyasu was born in Okazaki Castle in Mikawa on the 26th day of the month of the eleventh year of Tenbun. His mother and father were step-siblings and they were just 17 and 15 years old, respectively, when Ieyasu was born. Two years later, Odai-no-kata was sent back to her family, as both husband and wife remarried and both went on to have further children, Ieyasu in the end had 11 half-brothers and sisters. The Matsudaira family was split in 1550, one wanted to be vassals of the Imagawa clan. As a result, much of Ieyasus early years were spent in danger as wars with the Oda and this family feud was the reason behind the murder of Ieyasus paternal grandfather, Matsudaira Kiyoyasu. Unlike his father and the majority of his branch of the family, Ieyasus father, Hirotada, in 1548, when the Oda clan invaded Mikawa, Hirotada turned to Imagawa Yoshimoto, the head of the Imagawa clan, for help to repel the invaders. Yoshimoto agreed under the condition that Hirotada send Ieyasu to Sunpu as a hostage, Oda Nobuhide, the leader of the Oda clan, learned of this arrangement and had Ieyasu abducted from his entourage en route to Sunpu. Ieyasu was just five years old at the time, Nobuhide threatened to execute Ieyasu unless his father severed all ties with the Imagawa clan. Hirotada replied that sacrificing his own son would show his seriousness in his pact with the Imagawa clan, despite this refusal, Nobuhide chose not to kill Ieyasu, but instead held him for the next three years at the Mansho Temple in Nagoya. In 1549, when Ieyasu was 6, his father Hirotada was murdered by his own treacherous vassals, at about the same time, Oda Nobuhide died during an epidemic. Nobuhides death dealt a blow to the Oda clan. An army under the command of Imagawa Sessai laid siege to the castle where Oda Nobuhiro, Nobuhides eldest son, with the castle about to fall, Sessai offered a deal to Oda Nobunaga, Nobuhides second son. Sessai offered to give up the siege if Ieyasu was handed over to the Imagawa, Nobunaga agreed, and so Ieyasu was taken as a hostage to Sunpu. Here he lived a good life as hostage and potentially useful future ally of the Imagawa clan until 1556 when he was age 13 years old. In 1556 he came of age, and, following tradition, one year later, at the age of 13, he married his first wife, Lady Tsukiyama, and changed his name again to Matsudaira Kurandonosuke Motoyasu
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Sekigahara, Gifu
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Sekigahara is a town located in Fuwa District, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. As of July 2011, the town has an population of 7,965. The total area is 49.29 km², in 1600, the Battle of Sekigahara took place here. April 1,1928 - The village of Sekigahara is officially established as a town,1954 - Merged with the village of Imasu, as well as part of the neighboring town of Tarui. 2004 - Rejected a proposed merger with the city of Ōgaki. 2016 - Became a sister city of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, JR Central Tōkaidō Main Line - Sekigahara Station Media related to Sekigahara, Gifu at Wikimedia Commons Sekigahara Town Gifu Prefectural homepage
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Ii Naomasa
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Ii Naomasa was a general under the Sengoku period daimyō, and later shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. He is regarded as one of the Four Guardians of the Tokugawa along with Honda Tadakatsu, Sakakibara Yasumasa and he led the clan after the death of his foster mother, Ii Naotora. Ii Naomasa was born in Hōda Village of Tōtōmi Province, Naomasas father, Naochika, was falsely convicted of treason by Yoshimotos paranoid successor, Imagawa Ujizane, and was subsequently killed. Naomasa initially garnered mass attention at the Battle of Nagakute, commanding around three thousand musketeers with distinction and defeating the forces led by Ikeda Tsuneoki, in the battle, Naomasa fought so valiantly that it elicited praise from Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was on the opposing side. Following the battle, Hideyoshis mother was sent to stay with Naomasa in genteel captivity, Naomasas finest hour was to come at the Battle of Sekigahara, where his unit outpaced those of other generals such as Fukushima Masanori, drawing the first blood of that battle. However, as the fighting was dying down, Naomasa was shot and wounded by a bullet during his attempt to prevent Shimazu Yoshihiros getaway. The wound also prevented his involvement in quelling the last vestiges of the anti-Tokugawa faction in the coming months. As such, Naomasa was able to regain his composure and escape with his life, as such, his unit became known as the Red Devils, a nickname he shared. It has also been rumored, although never confirmed, that Naomasa would sometimes wear a mask into battle. Ii Naomasas premature death in 1602 has been blamed on the wound he received at Sekigahara. Naomasa was highly regarded by Tokugawa Ieyasu, so it is no surprise that his sons Naotsugu and Naotaka succeeded him in his service, however, Naotsugu managed to anger Ieyasu by refusing to take part in his campaign to reduce the Toyotomi clan stronghold at Osaka. Nonetheless, the Ii remained influential in Japanese politics throughout the Edo period, in theater and other contemporary works, Naomasa is often characterized as the opposite of Ieyasus other great general, Honda Tadakatsu. Naomasas sets of armour are all preserved within Hikone Castle and are accessible for viewing, Ii Naomasa appears in the manga Kagemusha Tokugawa Ieyasu and update versions of Samurai Warriors 4. Ii Naomasa also appears as a boss in the 2017 video game Nioh, Ii family information Painting and brief bio of Naomasa Information on Naomasa, including images of his flag, battle standard, and armor
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Shiga travel guide from Wikivoyage
