1.
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
2.
Mongol invasions of Japan
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The Mongol invasions of Japan, which took place in 1274 and 1281, were major military efforts undertaken by Kublai Khan to conquer the Japanese archipelago after the submission of Goryeo to vassaldom. Ultimately a failure, the attempts are of macro-historical importance because they set a limit on Mongol expansion. The Mongol invasions are considered a precursor to modern warfare. One of the most notable innovations during the war was the use of explosive. After a series of Mongol invasions of Korea between 1231 and 1281, Goryeo signed a treaty in favor of the Mongols and became a vassal state, Kublai was declared Khagan of the Mongol Empire in 1260 and established his capital at Khanbaliq in 1264. The Mongols also made attempts to subjugate the peoples of Sakhalin—the Ainu, Orok. In 1266, Kublai Khan dispatched emissaries to Japan with a saying, Cherished by the Mandate of Heaven. The sovereigns of small countries, sharing borders with other, have for a long time been concerned to communicate with each other. Especially since my ancestor governed at heavens command, innumerable countries from afar disputed our power, Goryeo rendered thanks for my ceasefire and for restoring their land and people when I ascended the throne. Our relation is feudatory like a father and son and we think you already know this. Japan was allied with Goryeo and sometimes with China since the founding of your country, however and we are afraid that the Kingdom is yet to know this. Hence we dispatched a mission with our letter particularly expressing our wishes, enter into friendly relations with each other from now on. We think all countries belong to one family, how are we in the right, unless we comprehend this. Nobody would wish to resort to arms, Kublai essentially demanded that Japan become a vassal and send tribute under a threat of conflict. A second set of emissaries were sent in 1268, returning empty-handed like the first, after discussing the letters with his inner circle, there was much debate, but the Shikken had his mind made up, he had the emissaries sent back with no answer. The Mongols continued to send demands, some through Korean emissaries and some through Mongol ambassadors on March 7,1269, September 17,1269, September 1271, however, each time, the bearers were not permitted to land in Kyushu. The Imperial Court suggested compromise, but really had little effect in the matter, after acknowledging its importance, the Imperial Court led great prayer services, and much government business was put off to deal with this crisis. The Khan was willing to go to war as early as 1268 after having been rebuffed twice, Kublai Khan founded the Yuan dynasty in 1271
3.
Kamakura
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Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about 50 kilometres south-south-west of Tokyo. Kamakura was designated as a city on November 3,1939, as of September 1,2016, the modern city has an estimated population of 172,302 and a population density of 4,358.77 persons per km². The total area is 39.53 km2, as a coastal city with a high number of seasonal festivals, as well as ancient Buddhist and Shinto shrines and temples, Kamakura is a popular tourist destination within Japan. Surrounded to the north, east and west by hills and to the south by the water of Sagami Bay. The natural fortification made Kamakura an easily defensible stronghold, to the north of the city stands Mt. Genji, which then passes behind the Daibutsu and reaches Inamuragasaki and the sea. From Kamakuras alluvional plain branch off numerous narrow valleys like the Urigayatsu, Shakadōgayatsu, Ōgigayatsu, Kamegayatsu, Hikigayatsu, Kamakura is crossed by the Namerigawa river, which goes from the Asaina Pass in northern Kamakura to the beach in Yuigahama for a total length of about 8 kilometres. The river marks the border between Zaimokuza and Yuigahama, in administrative terms, the municipality of Kamakura borders with Yokohama to the north, with Zushi to the east, and with Fujisawa to the west. North-west of Kamakura lies Yamanouchi, commonly called Kita-Kamakura because of the presence of East Japan Railway Companys Kita-Kamakura Station, Yamanouchi, however, was technically never a part of historical Kamakura since it is outside the Seven Entrances. Yamanouchi was the border of the city during the shogunate. Its name at the used to be Sakado-gō. The border post used to lie about a hundred meters past todays Kita-Kamakura train station in Ofunas direction. Although very small, Yamanouchi is famous for its traditional atmosphere and these three great temples were built here because Yamanouchi was the home territory of the Hōjō clan, a branch of the Taira clan which ruled Japan for 150 years. Among Kita-Kamakuras most illustrious citizens were artist Isamu Noguchi and movie director Yasujirō Ozu, Kamakuras defining feature is Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, a Shinto shrine in the center of the city. A1. 8-kilometre road runs from Sagami Bay directly to the shrine and this road is known as Wakamiya Ōji, the citys main street. Built by Minamoto no Yoritomo as an imitation of Kyotos Suzaku Ōji, Wakamiya Ōji used to be much wider, delimited on both sides by a 3 metre deep canal and flanked by pine trees. Walking from the beach toward the shrine, one passes through three torii, or Shinto gates, called respectively Ichi no Torii, Ni no Torii and San no Torii. Between the first and the second lies Geba Yotsukado which, as the name indicates, was the place where riders had to get off their horses in deference to Hachiman and his shrine. Approximately 100 metres after the second torii, the dankazura, a raised pathway flanked by trees that marks the center of Kamakura
4.
Bowdoin College
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Bowdoin College is a private liberal arts college located in Brunswick, Maine. At the time Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the college currently enrolls 1,839 students, and has a student–faculty ratio of 9,1. Bowdoin offers 33 majors and four additional minors, and offers joint engineering programs with Columbia University, Dartmouth College, the college was a Founding Member of its athletic conference, the New England Small College Athletic Conference and the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium. Bowdoin has over 30 varsity teams and the mascot was selected as a Polar Bear in 1913 to honor a Bowdoin alumnus who led the first successful expedition to the north pole. For 2017 the college has been ranked as sixth-best liberal arts college in the U. S. by U. S. News & World Report, Bowdoin College was chartered in 1794 by the Massachusetts State Legislature and was later redirected under the jurisdiction of the Maine Legislature. It was named for former Massachusetts governor James Bowdoin, whose son James Bowdoin III was an early benefactor, at the time of its founding, it was the easternmost college in the United States, as it was located in Maine. The college also graduated two literary philosophers, the writers Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, both of whom graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1825, franklin and Hawthorne began an official militia company called the Bowdoin Cadets. From its founding, Bowdoin was known to educate the sons of the politically elite, fessenden and Hugh McCulloch both served as Secretary of the Treasury during the Lincoln Administration. However, the involvement in the Civil War was mixed as Bowdoin had many ties to slave labor. The Jefferson Davis Award was given to a student who excelled in legal studies after a donation was given to the college by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, President Ulysses S. Grant, too, was given an honorary degree from the college in 1865. Another alumnus in the sciences is the controversial entomologist-turned-sexologist Alfred Kinsey, the college went on to educate and eventually graduate Arctic explorers Robert E. Peary, class of 1877, and Donald B. Bowdoin began competing in the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium, with Bates and Colby in 1970, the consortium became an athletic rivalry, and academic exchange program. The three schools produce numerous contentions in athletics, most notably a football game and the Chase Regatta. In 2001, Barry Mills, class of 1972, was appointed as the fifth president of the college. President Mills stated, Some see a calling in such vital, as an institution devoted to the common good, Bowdoin must consider the fairness of such a result. In February 2009, following a $10 million donation by Subway Sandwiches co-founder and alumnus Peter Buck, class of 1952, the college completed a $250-million capital campaign. Additionally, the college has recently completed major construction projects on the campus, including a renovation of the colleges art museum. She insisted that distribution requirements would ensure students a more well-rounded education in a diversity of fields, current requirements require one course each in, Natural Sciences, Quantitative Reasoning, Visual and Performing Arts, International Perspectives and Exploring Social Differences
5.
National Diet Library
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The National Diet Library is the only national library in Japan. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the National Diet of Japan in researching matters of public policy, the library is similar in purpose and scope to the United States Library of Congress. The National Diet Library consists of two facilities in Tokyo and Kyoto, and several other branch libraries throughout Japan. The Diets power in prewar Japan was limited, and its need for information was correspondingly small, the original Diet libraries never developed either the collections or the services which might have made them vital adjuncts of genuinely responsible legislative activity. Until Japans defeat, moreover, the executive had controlled all political documents, depriving the people and the Diet of access to vital information. The U. S. occupation forces under General Douglas MacArthur deemed reform of the Diet library system to be an important part of the democratization of Japan after its defeat in World War II. In 1946, each house of the Diet formed its own National Diet Library Standing Committee, hani Gorō, a Marxist historian who had been imprisoned during the war for thought crimes and had been elected to the House of Councillors after the war, spearheaded the reform efforts. Hani envisioned the new body as both a citadel of popular sovereignty, and the means of realizing a peaceful revolution, the National Diet Library opened in June 1948 in the present-day State Guest-House with an initial collection of 100,000 volumes. The first Librarian of the Diet Library was the politician Tokujirō Kanamori, the philosopher Masakazu Nakai served as the first Vice Librarian. In 1949, the NDL merged with the National Library and became the national library in Japan. At this time the collection gained a million volumes previously housed in the former National Library in Ueno. In 1961, the NDL opened at its present location in Nagatachō, in 1986, the NDLs Annex was completed to accommodate a combined total of 12 million books and periodicals. The Kansai-kan, which opened in October 2002 in the Kansai Science City, has a collection of 6 million items, in May 2002, the NDL opened a new branch, the International Library of Childrens Literature, in the former building of the Imperial Library in Ueno. This branch contains some 400,000 items of literature from around the world. Though the NDLs original mandate was to be a library for the National Diet. In the fiscal year ending March 2004, for example, the library reported more than 250,000 reference inquiries, in contrast, as Japans national library, the NDL collects copies of all publications published in Japan. The NDL has an extensive collection of some 30 million pages of documents relating to the Occupation of Japan after World War II. This collection include the documents prepared by General Headquarters and the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, the Far Eastern Commission, the NDL maintains a collection of some 530,000 books and booklets and 2 million microform titles relating to the sciences
6.
Japanese name
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Japanese names in modern times usually consist of a family name, followed by a given name. More than one name is not generally used. Japanese names are written in kanji, which are characters usually Chinese in origin. The kanji for a name may have a variety of possible Japanese pronunciations, Names written in hiragana or katakana are phonetic renderings, and so lack the visual meaning of names expressed in the logographic kanji. Japanese family names are extremely varied, according to estimates, there are over 100,000 different surnames in use today in Japan, the three most common family names in Japan are Satō, Suzuki, and Takahashi. Many Japanese family names derive from features of the landscape, for example, Ishikawa means stone river, Yamamoto means the base of the mountain. While family names follow relatively consistent rules, given names are more diverse in pronunciation. Unusual pronunciations have especially become common, with this trend having increased significantly since the 1990s, male names often end in -rō or -ta, or contain ichi, kazu, ji, or dai while female names often end in -ko or -mi. Other popular endings for female names include -ka and -na, the majority of Japanese people have one surname and one given name with no other names, except for the Japanese imperial family, whose members bear no surname. The family name – myōji, uji or sei – precedes the given name, the given name may be referred to as the lower name because, in vertically written Japanese, the given name appears under the family name. People with mixed Japanese and foreign parentage may have middle names, historically, myōji, uji and sei had different meanings. Sei was originally the patrilineal surname which is why up till now it has granted only by the emperor as a title of male rank. The lower form of the name sei being tei which is a name in Japanese men. Although there was an ancestor in ancient Japan from whom the name Sei originally came. There were relatively few sei, and most of the noble clans trace their lineage either directly to these sei or to the courtiers of these sei. Uji was another name used to designate patrilineal descent, but later merged with myōji around the same time, myōji was, simply, what a family chooses to call itself, as opposed to the sei granted by the emperor. While it was passed on patrilineally in male ancestors including in male ancestors called haku, multiple Japanese characters have the same pronunciations, so several Japanese names have multiple meanings. A particular kanji itself can have multiple meanings and pronunciations, in some names, Japanese characters phonetically spell a name and have no intended meaning behind them
7.
Hakata Bay
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Hakata Bay is a bay in the northwestern part of Fukuoka city, on the Japanese island of Kyūshū. It faces the Tsushima Strait, and features beaches and a port, the bay is perhaps most famous for the Mongol invasions of Japan of 1274 and 1281 which took place nearby, both invasions are sometimes referred to as the Battle of Hakata Bay. The Bay is defined by shoal Umi-no-nakamichi and tombolo Shika-no-shima to the north, and Genkai-jima to the northwest, five wards of Fukuoka city border on the bay, which is sometimes labeled Fukuoka Bay on maps. Sometimes, the bay is divided into Hakata, Fukuoka, and Imazu Bays, though for simplicitys sake, the bay is roughly 10 km from north to south, and 20 km from east to west, covering an area of roughly 133 km². The mouth of the bay is only 7.7 km wide, the bay is only 10 metres deep on average,23 m at its deepest point, though the tides bring a two-metre change in the water level. Set routes are used, therefore, through the bay, to protect ships drafts, land reclamation began to be undertaken before the Meiji period, and continued into the post-war period. Since 1945,1167 square kilometres of land have been reclaimed from the bay, in 1994, an artificial island was begun to be created and called Island City. Some particular petrified trees in the area are said to have been the masts of ships used in Empress Jingūs third century invasion of Korea, veins of mica and pegmatite under the bay, part of a geologic fault, are under governmental protection. Much of the area is included in the Genkai National Park, a number of small islands are contained either within the bay or around it. Many historical figures of great significance passed through or lived in Hakata, the ruins of Fukuoka Castle lie along the bay, and an active port has existed there for many centuries. The area is said to have been recognized by China as early as 57 CE, emperor Guangwu of Han is believed to have bestowed a Golden Seal to the local leaders, acknowledging their authority over the area then called Na no kuni. Emissaries from the Chinese kingdom of Cao Wei arrived in the 3rd century, by the 7th century, Hakata was the port through which official missions to Tang China were sent and received. Following the defeat of Yamato and Baekche in the battle of Hakusukinoe in 663, fears arose of invasions from Silla and China, the first mention of the area in the Nihon Shoki corresponds to this time period. Kūkai was one of famous people who journeyed to China through this port. In 806, he returned to Japan and founded Tōchō-ji Temple nearby, sugawara no Michizane, after having been ambassador to China, and holding a number of other high posts at Court in Kyoto, was demoted to a post in Hakata in 901. Fujiwara no Sumitomo, having opposed Taira no Masakados rebellion in 939, as the closest major bay and port to mainland Asia in Japan, Hakata has played a major role in diplomacy and trade with Korea and China throughout much of history. This also made it, however, a key point of attack for attempts to invade the Japanese islands, in the Toi Invasion of 1019, Jurchens seized several nearby islands, using them as bases from which to raid and attack Hakata. Mongol emissaries first arrived in 1268, and all the armies of Kyūshū was mobilized in anticipation of the first of the Mongol invasions of Japan
8.
Battle of Bun'ei
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The Battle of Bunei, or Bunei Campaign, also known as the First Battle of Hakata Bay, was the first attempt by the Yuan Dynasty founded by the Mongols to invade Japan. The Japanese defenders were aided by major storms which sunk a sizable portion of the Mongolian fleets, ultimately, this invasion attempts was decisively repulsed shortly after their initial landings. The Yuan troops withdrew and took refuge on their ships after only one day of fighting, a typhoon that night, said to be divinely conjured wind, threatened their ships, persuading them to return to Korea. Many of the ships sank that night due to the storm. After landing in the bay, the Yuan force quickly overran the town of Hakata, at first, the samurai were hopelessly outmatched, accustomed to smaller scale clan rivalries, they could not match the organization and massed firepower of the invaders. The Mongols fought with precision, loosing heavy volleys of arrows into the ranks of the Japanese, the Mongols also employed an early form of rocket artillery, and their infantry used phalanx-like tactics, holding off the samurai with their shields and spears. Though unable to defeat the Yuan forces, the Japanese fought hard. In the course of the fighting, the Hakozaki Shrine was burned to the ground. Despite their initial victories, the Yuan did not pursue the samurai further inland to the defenses at Dazaifu, nihon Ōdai Ichiran explains that the invaders were defeated because they lacked arrows. More likely this was a result of their unfamiliarity with the terrain, the expectation of Japanese reinforcements, the Yuan force, which may have intended to carry out a reconnaissance in force rather than an immediate invasion, returned to their ships. That night, the Yuan lost roughly one-third of their force in a typhoon and they retreated back to Korea, presumably at the prodding of their sailors and captains, rather than regrouping and continuing their attack. On October 5, about 1,000 soldiers of the Mongol Army landed on Komoda Beach, sukekuni So, Shugodai of Tsushima Island was killed in action. On October 14, Taira no Kagetaka, Shugodai of Iki led about 100 soldiers and they were defeated by Mongolian army and he suicided in Hidzume Castle. About 1,000 Japanese soldiers were killed there, on October 16 to 17, Mongolian army attacked the base of Sashi Clan. Hundreds of Japanese soldiers and Husashi Sashi, Tomaru Sashi and Isamu Sashi were killed, Mongolian Army landed on Sawara District and encamped in Akasaka. On seeing this situation, Kikuchi Takefusa surprised the Mongolian army, the Mongols escaped to Sohara, and they lost about 100 soldiers. Thousands of Mongolian soldiers were awaiting in Torikai-Gata, suenaga Takesaki, one of Japanese commanders, assaulted the Mongolian army and fought them. Soon, reinforcements by Michiyasu Shiraisi arrived there and defeated the Mongolians, the Mongolian casualties of this battle are estimated at around 13,500
