1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Emperor of Japan
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The Emperor of Japan is the head of the Imperial Family and is the ceremonial head of state of Japans system of constitutional monarchy. According to the 1947 constitution, he is the symbol of the State, in Japanese, the Emperor is called Tennō, which means heavenly sovereign. In English, the use of the term Mikado for the Emperor was once common, currently, the Emperor of Japan is the only remaining monarch in the world reigning under the title of Emperor. The Imperial House of Japan is the oldest continuing hereditary monarchy in the world, in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, it is said that Japan was founded in 660 BC by Emperor Jimmu. He acceded the Chrysanthemum Throne upon the death of his father, Emperor Shōwa, the role of the Emperor of Japan has historically alternated between a largely ceremonial symbolic role and that of an actual imperial ruler. Since the establishment of the first shogunate in 1192, the Emperors of Japan have rarely taken on a role as supreme battlefield commander, Japanese Emperors have nearly always been controlled by external political forces, to varying degrees. In fact, between 1192 and 1867, the shoguns, or their shikken regents in Kamakura, were the de facto rulers of Japan, although they were nominally appointed by the Emperor. After the Meiji Restoration in 1867, the Emperor was the embodiment of all power in the realm. His current status as a figurehead dates from the 1947 Constitution, since the mid-nineteenth century, the Imperial Palace has been called Kyūjō, later Kōkyo, and is located on the former site of Edo Castle in the heart of Tokyo. Earlier, Emperors resided in Kyoto for nearly eleven centuries, the Emperors Birthday is a national holiday. Unlike most constitutional monarchies, the Emperor is not the nominal Chief Executive, article 65 of the Constitution explicitly vests executive power in the Cabinet, of which the Prime Minister is the leader. The Emperor is also not the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Japan Self-Defense Forces Act of 1954 also explicitly vests this role with the Prime Minister. The Emperors powers are limited only to important ceremonial functions, article 4 of the Constitution stipulates that the Emperor shall perform only such acts in matters of state as are provided for in the Constitution and he shall not have powers related to government. It also stipulates that the advice and approval of the Cabinet shall be required for all acts of the Emperor in matters of state, article 4 also states that these duties can be delegated by the Emperor as provided for by law. Article 6 of the Constitution delegates the Emperor the following ceremonial roles, Appointment of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as designated by the Cabinet. Dissolution of the House of Representatives, proclamation of general election of members of the Diet. Attestation of the appointment and dismissal of Ministers of State and other officials as provided for by law, attestation of general and special amnesty, commutation of punishment, reprieve, and restoration of rights. Attestation of instruments of ratification and other documents as provided for by law
3.
Park
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A park is an area of natural, semi-natural, or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of areas, rocks, soil, and trees. In North America, many parks have fields for playing such as soccer, baseball and football. Many parks have trails for walking, biking and other activities, some parks are built adjacent to bodies of water or watercourses and may comprise a beach or boat dock area. Often, the smallest parks are in areas, where a park may take up only a city block or less. Urban parks often have benches for sitting and may contain picnic tables, the largest parks can be vast natural areas of hundreds of thousands of square kilometres, with abundant wildlife and natural features such as mountains and rivers. In many large parks, camping in tents is allowed with a permit, many natural parks are protected by law, and users may have to follow restrictions. Large national and sub-national parks are typically overseen by a ranger or a park warden. Large parks may have areas for canoeing and hiking in the months and, in some northern hemisphere countries. The first parks were English deer parks, land set aside for hunting by royalty and they had walls or thick hedges around them to keep game animals in and people out. It was strictly forbidden for commoners to hunt animals in these deer parks and these game preserves evolved into landscaped parks set around mansions and country houses from the sixteenth century onwards. These may have served as hunting grounds but they also proclaimed the owners wealth, an aesthetic of landscape design began in these stately home parks where the natural landscape was enhanced by landscape architects such as Capability Brown. As cities became crowded, the hunting grounds became places for the public. With the Industrial revolution parks took on a new meaning as areas set aside to preserve a sense of nature in the cities, sporting activity came to be a major use for these urban parks. Areas of outstanding natural beauty were also set aside as national parks to prevent their being spoiled by uncontrolled development, in some parks or time periods with high pollen counts, parks tend to be avoided. Park design is influenced by the purpose and audience, as well as by the available land features. A park intended to provide recreation for children may include a playground, a park primarily intended for adults may feature walking paths and decorative landscaping. Specific features, such as riding trails, may be included to support specific activities, the design of a park may determine who is willing to use it
4.
Chiyoda, Tokyo
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Chiyoda is a special ward located in central Tokyo, Japan. In English, it is called Chiyoda City, Chiyoda consists of the Imperial Palace and a surrounding radius of about a kilometer. As of May 2015, the ward has an population of 54,462. The total area is 11.66 km², of which the Imperial Palace, Hibiya Park, National Museum of Modern Art, often called the political center of the country, Chiyoda, literally meaning field of a thousand generations, inherited the name from the Chiyoda Castle. Akihabara, a known for being an otaku cultural center. The Chiyoda ward was created on March 15,1947 by the unification of Kanda Ward and it has been a site of a number of historical events. In 1860, the assassination of Ii Naosuke took place outside the Sakurada Gate of the Imperial Palace, in 1932, assassins attacked and killed prime minister Inukai Tsuyoshi. In 1936, an attempted coup détat, the February 26 Incident, in 1960, Socialist Party leader Inejirō Asanuma was assassinated in Hibiya Hall. In 1995, members of Aum Shinrikyo carried out the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, Chiyoda is located at the very heart of former Tokyo City in eastern mainland Tokyo. The central area of the ward is occupied by the Imperial Palace. The east side of the ward, bordering Chūō, is the location of Tokyo Station, the south side, bordering Minato, encompasses Hibiya Park and the National Diet Building. It is almost exclusively occupied by administrations and agencies, the west and northwest are primarily upper class residential, the Yasukuni Shrine is also there. To the north and northeast are several neighborhoods and the Akihabara commercial district. Chiyoda is run by an elected mayor and a city assembly of 25 elected members. The current mayor is Masami Ishikawa, an independent, for the Metropolitan Assembly, Chiyoda forms a single-member electoral district. In the 2013 election, no Democrat contested the seat and Uchida won back the district against a Communist, the Tokyo Fire Department has its headquarters in Ōtemachi in Chiyoda. For the national House of Representatives, Chiyoda, together with Minato and Shinjuku, the district is currently represented by Liberal Democrat Miki Yamada. The ward is home to the Diet of Japan, the Supreme Court of Japan
5.
Tokyo
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Tokyo, officially Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan and one of its 47 prefectures. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous area in the world. It is the seat of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government, Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Formerly known as Edo, it has been the de facto seat of government since 1603 when Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters. It officially became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from the old capital of Kyoto in 1868, Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture and the city of Tokyo. The Tokyo metropolitan government administers the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo, the metropolitan government also administers 39 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture and the two outlying island chains. The population of the wards is over 9 million people. The prefecture is part of the worlds most populous metropolitan area with upwards of 37.8 million people, the city hosts 51 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest number of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked third in the International Financial Centres Development IndexEdit, the city is also home to various television networks such as Fuji TV, Tokyo MX, TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, Nippon Television, NHK and the Tokyo Broadcasting System. Tokyo ranked first in the Global Economic Power Index and fourth in the Global Cities Index. The city is considered a world city – as listed by the GaWCs 2008 inventory – and in 2014. In 2015, Tokyo was named the Most Liveable City in the world by the magazine Monocle, the Michelin Guide has awarded Tokyo by far the most Michelin stars of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked first in the world in the Safe Cities Index, the 2016 edition of QS Best Student Cities ranked Tokyo as the 3rd-best city in the world to be a university student. Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, the 1979 G-7 summit, the 1986 G-7 summit, and the 1993 G-7 summit, and will host the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tokyo was originally known as Edo, which means estuary. During the early Meiji period, the city was also called Tōkei, some surviving official English documents use the spelling Tokei. However, this pronunciation is now obsolete, the name Tokyo was first suggested in 1813 in the book Kondō Hisaku, written by Satō Nobuhiro. When Ōkubo Toshimichi proposed the renaming to the government during the Meiji Restoration, according to Oda Kanshi, Tokyo was originally a small fishing village named Edo, in what was formerly part of the old Musashi Province. Edo was first fortified by the Edo clan, in the twelfth century
6.
Palace
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A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which housed the Imperial residences, in many parts of Europe, the term is also applied to ambitious private mansions of the aristocracy. Many historic palaces are now put to uses such as parliaments, museums, hotels. The word is sometimes used to describe a lavishly ornate building used for public entertainment or exhibitions. The word palace comes from Old French palais, from Latin Palātium, the original palaces on the Palatine Hill were the seat of the imperial power while the capitol on the Capitoline Hill was the religious nucleus of Rome. Long after the city grew to the seven hills the Palatine remained a residential area. Emperor Caesar Augustus lived there in a purposely modest house only set apart from his neighbours by the two trees planted to flank the front door as a sign of triumph granted by the Senate. His descendants, especially Nero, with his Golden House, enlarged the house, the word Palātium came to mean the residence of the emperor rather than the neighbourhood on top of the hill. Palace meaning government can be recognized in a remark of Paul the Deacon, AD790 and describing events of the 660s, When Grimuald set out for Beneventum, he entrusted his palace to Lupus. At the same time, Charlemagne was consciously reviving the Roman expression in his palace at Aachen, in the 9th century, the palace indicated the housing of the government too, and the constantly travelling Charlemagne built fourteen. In the Holy Roman Empire the powerful independent Electors came to be housed in palaces and this has been used as evidence that power was widely distributed in the Empire, as in more centralized monarchies, only the monarchs residence would be a palace. In modern times, the term has been applied by archaeologists and historians to large structures that housed combined ruler, court, in informal usage, a palace can be extended to a grand residence of any kind. The earliest known palaces were the residences of the Egyptian Pharaohs at Thebes, featuring an outer wall enclosing labyrinthine buildings. Other ancient palaces include the Assyrian palaces at Nimrud and Nineveh, the Minoan palace at Knossos, the Brazilian new capital, Brasília, hosts modern palaces, most designed by the citys architect Oscar Niemeyer. The Alvorada Palace is the residence of the Brazils president. The Planalto Palace is the official workplace, the Jaburu Palace is the official residence of Brazils vice-president. In Canada, Government House is a given to the official residences of the Canadian monarchy. The use of the term Government House is a custom from the British Empire
7.
Imperial House of Japan
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Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor is the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people. Other members of the family perform ceremonial and social duties. The duties as an Emperor are passed down the line to their children, the Japanese monarchy is the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world. The imperial house recognizes 125 monarchs beginning with the legendary Emperor Jimmu and continuing up to the current emperor, Akihito, see its family tree. Historical evidence for the first 29 emperors is marginal by modern standards, in English, shinnō and ō are both translated as prince as well as shinnōhi, naishinnō, ōhi and joō as princess. There are currently 19 members of the Imperial Family, The Emperor was born at Tokyo Imperial Palace on 23 December 1933 and he was married on 10 April 1959 to Michiko Shōda. Emperor Akihito succeeded his father as emperor on 7 January 1989 and he became heir apparent upon his fathers accession to the throne. Crown Prince Naruhito was married on 9 June 1993 to Masako Owada, the Crown Princess was born on 9 December 1963, the daughter of Hisashi Owada, a former vice minister of foreign affairs and former permanent representative of Japan to the United Nations. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess have one daughter, The Princess Toshi The Prince Akishino, the Emperors second son and his childhood title was Prince Aya. He received the title Prince Akishino and permission to start a new branch of the family upon his marriage to Kiko Kawashima on 29 June 1990. The Princess Akishino was born on 11 September 1966, the daughter of Tatsuhiko Kawashima and his childhood title was Prince Yoshi. He received the title Prince Hitachi and permission to set up a new branch of the family on 1 October 1964. The Princess Hitachi was born on 19 July 1940, the daughter of former Count Yoshitaka Tsugaru, Prince and Princess Hitachi have no children. The Princess Mikasa is the widow of the Prince Mikasa, the son of Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei. The Princess was born on 4 June 1923, the daughter of Viscount Masanori Takagi. Princess Mikasa has two daughters and three sons with the late Prince Mikasa, Princess Tomohito of Mikasa is the widow of Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, the eldest son of the Prince and Princess Mikasa and a first cousin of Emperor Akihito. The Princess was born on 9 April 1955, the daughter of Takakichi Asō, chairman of Asō Cement Co. and his wife, Kazuko, the Princess was born 10 July 1953, the eldest daughter of Shigejiro Tottori. She married the prince on 6 December 1984, originally known as Prince Norihito of Mikasa, he received the title Prince Takamado and permission to start a new branch of the imperial family on 1 December 1984
8.
Edo Castle
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Edo Castle, also known as Chiyoda Castle, is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan. It is today part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace and is located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate here. It was the residence of the shogun and location of the shogunate, after the resignation of the shogun and the Meiji Restoration, it became the Tokyo Imperial Palace. Some moats, walls and ramparts of the castle survive to this day, however, the grounds were more extensive during the Edo period, with Tokyo Station and the Marunouchi section of the city lying within the outermost moat. It also encompassed Kitanomaru Park, the Nippon Budokan Hall and other landmarks of the surrounding area, the warrior Edo Shigetsugu built his residence in what is now the Honmaru and Ninomaru part of Edo Castle, around the end of the Heian or beginning of the Kamakura period. The Edo clan perished in the 15th century as a result of uprisings in the Kantō region, and Ōta Dōkan, the castle later came under the control of the Late Hōjō clan in 1524 after the Siege of Edo. The castle was vacated in 1590 due to the Siege of Odawara, Tokugawa Ieyasu made Edo Castle his base after he was offered eight eastern provinces by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He later defeated Toyotomi Hideyori, son of Hideyoshi, at the Siege of Osaka in 1615, Tokugawa Ieyasu received the title of Seii Taishōgun in 1603, and Edo became the center of Tokugawas administration. Initially, parts of the area were lying under water, the sea reached the present Nishinomaru area of Edo Castle, and Hibiya was a beach. The landscape was changed for the construction of the castle, most construction started in 1593 and was completed in 1636 under Ieyasus grandson, Tokugawa Iemitsu. By this time, Edo had a population of 150,000, the existing Honmaru, Ninomaru, and Sannomaru areas were extended with the addition of the Nishinomaru, Nishinomaru-shita, Fukiage, and Kitanomaru areas. The daimyōs were required by the shōgun to supply building materials or finances, large granite stones were moved from afar, the size and number of the stones depended on the wealth of the daimyōs. The wealthier ones had to contribute more and those who did not supply stones were required to contribute labor for such tasks as digging the large moats and flattening hills. The earth that was taken from the moats was used as landfill for sea-reclamation or to level the ground, thus the construction of Edo Castle laid the foundation for parts of the city where merchants were able to settle. At least 10,000 men were involved in the first phase of the construction, when construction ended, the castle had 38 gates. The ramparts were almost 20 meters high and the walls were 12 meters high. Moats forming roughly concentric circles were dug for further protection, some moats reached as far as Ichigaya and Yotsuya, and parts of the ramparts survive to this day. This area is bordered by either the sea or the Kanda River, various fires over the centuries damaged or destroyed parts of the castle, Edo and the majority of its buildings being made of timber
9.
Real estate
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Also, the business of real estate, the profession of buying, selling, or renting land, buildings or housing. It is a term used in jurisdictions whose legal system is derived from English common law, such as India, the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Pakistan, Australia. Residential real estate may contain either a family or multifamily structure. Residences can be classified by, if, and how they are connected to neighbouring residences, different types of housing tenure can be used for the same physical type. For example, connected residents might be owned by an entity and leased out. Major categories in North America and Europe Attached / multi-unit dwellings Apartment or Flat – An individual unit in a multi-unit building, the boundaries of the apartment are generally defined by a perimeter of locked or lockable doors. Often seen in apartment buildings. Multi-family house – Often seen in multi-story detached buildings, where each floor is an apartment or unit. Terraced house – A number of single or multi-unit buildings in a row with shared walls. Condominium – Building or complex, similar to apartments, owned by individuals, common grounds and common areas within the complex are owned and shared jointly. There are townhouse or rowhouse style condominiums as well, semi-detached dwellings Duplex – Two units with one shared wall. Single-family detached house Portable dwellings Mobile homes – Potentially a full-time residence which can be movable on wheels, houseboats – A floating home Tents – Usually very temporary, with roof and walls consisting only of fabric-like material. The size of an apartment or house can be described in square feet or meters, in the United States, this includes the area of living space, excluding the garage and other non-living spaces. It can be described roughly by the number of rooms. A studio apartment has a bedroom with no living room. A one-bedroom apartment has a living or dining room separate from the bedroom, Two bedroom, three bedroom, and larger units are common. Major categories in India and the Asian Subcontinent Co-operative Housing Societies Condominiums Chawls Villas Havelis The size is measured in Gaz, Quila, Marla, Beegha, and acre. See List of house types for a listing of housing types and layouts, real estate trends for shifts in the market
10.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
11.
Tokugawa shogunate
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The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the Tokugawa bakufu and the Edo bakufu, was the last feudal Japanese military government, which existed between 1600 and 1868. The head of government was the shogun, and each was a member of the Tokugawa clan, the Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo Castle and the years of the shogunate became known as the Edo period. This time is called the Tokugawa period or pre-modern. Following the Sengoku period, the government had been largely re-established by Oda Nobunaga during the Azuchi–Momoyama period. After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, central authority fell to Tokugawa Ieyasu, society in the Tokugawa period, unlike the shogunates before it, was supposedly based on the strict class hierarchy originally established by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The daimyō were at the top, followed by the warrior-caste of samurai, with the farmers, artisans, and traders ranking below. In some parts of the country, particularly smaller regions, daimyō and samurai were more or less identical, since daimyō might be trained as samurai, otherwise, the largely inflexible nature of this social stratification system unleashed disruptive forces over time. Taxes on the peasantry were set at fixed amounts which did not account for inflation or other changes in monetary value, as a result, the tax revenues collected by the samurai landowners were worth less and less over time. This often led to confrontations between noble but impoverished samurai and well-to-do peasants, ranging from simple local disturbances to much bigger rebellions. None, however, proved compelling enough to challenge the established order until the arrival of foreign powers. The Tokugawa Shogunate came to an end in 1868 with the resignation of the 15th Tokugawa Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu. The bakuhan taisei was the political system in the Edo period of Japan. Baku is an abbreviation of bakufu, meaning military government—that is, the han were the domains headed by daimyō. Vassals held inherited lands and provided service and homage to their lords. The bakuhan taisei split feudal power between the shogunate in Edo and provincial domains throughout Japan, provinces had a degree of sovereignty and were allowed an independent administration of the han in exchange for loyalty to the shogun, who was responsible for foreign relations and national security. The shogun and lords were all daimyō, feudal lords with their own bureaucracies, policies, the shogun also administered the most powerful han, the hereditary fief of the House of Tokugawa. Each level of government administered its own system of taxation, the emperor, nominally a religious leader, held no real power, this was invested in the shogun. The shogunate had the power to discard, annex, and transform domains, the sankin kōtai system of alternative residence required each daimyō to reside in alternate years between the han and the court in Edo
12.
Meiji Restoration
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The Meiji Restoration, also known as the Meiji Ishin, Renovation, Revolution, Reform, or Renewal, was an event of change that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were Emperors before the Meiji Restoration, the events restored practical abilities, Meiji government also made education compulsory for both boys and girls at minimal fees. The goals of the government were expressed by the new emperor in the Charter Oath. The Restoration led to changes in Japans political and social structure. In Japan however, unlike China, foreign ideas were not associated with opium addiction. Figures like Shimazu Nariakira concluded that if we take the initiative, we can dominate, if we do not, we will be dominated, leading Japan to throw open its doors to foreign technology. Observing Japans response to the powers, Li Hongzhang considered Japan Chinas principal security threat as early as 1863. The word Meiji means enlightened rule and the goal was to modern advances with traditional eastern values. The main leaders of this were Itō Hirobumi, Matsukata Masayoshi, Kido Takayoshi, Itagaki Taisuke, Yamagata Aritomo, Mori Arinori, Ōkubo Toshimichi, and Yamaguchi Naoyoshi. The foundation of the Meiji restoration was the 1866 Satsuma-Chōshū Alliance between Saigō Takamori and Kido Takayoshi, leaders of the reformist elements in the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain. These two leaders supported the Emperor Kōmei and were brought together by Sakamoto Ryōma for the purpose of challenging the ruling Tokugawa shogunate, after Emperor Kōmeis death on January 30,1867, Emperor Meiji ascended the throne on February 3. This period also saw Japan change from being a society to having a market economy. The Tokugawa Shogunate came to its end on November 9,1867, when Tokugawa Yoshinobu. Shortly thereafter in January 1868, the Boshin War started with the Battle of Toba–Fushimi in which Chōshū and this forced the Emperor to strip Yoshinobu of all power, setting the stage for official restoration. We shall henceforward exercise supreme authority in all the internal and external affairs of the country, consequently the title of Emperor must be substituted for that of Taikun, in which the treaties have been made. Officers are being appointed by us to the conduct of foreign affairs and it is desirable that the representatives of the treaty powers recognize this announcement. All Tokugawa lands were seized and placed under control, thus placing them under the prerogative of the new Meiji government. With Fuhanken sanchisei, the areas were split into three types, urban prefectures, rural prefectures and the already existing domains
13.
Tokugawa Yoshinobu
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Tokugawa Yoshinobu was the 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, after resigning in late 1867, he went into retirement, and largely avoided the public eye for the rest of his life. Tokugawa Yoshinobu was born in Edo, as the son of Tokugawa Nariaki. Mito was one of the gosanke, the three families of the Tokugawa clan which were eligible to be chosen as shogun. His mother, Princess Arisugawa Yoshiko, was a member of the Arisugawa-no-miya, Shichirōmaro was brought up under strict, spartan supervision and tutelage. He was taught in the literary and martial arts, as well as receiving an education in the principles of politics. At the instigation of his father, Shichirōmaro was adopted by the Hitotsubashi-Tokugawa family in order to have a chance of succeeding to the shogunate. He became family head in 1847, coming of age that year, receiving court rank and title, upon the death of the 13th shogun, Shogun Iesada, in 1858, Yoshinobu was nominated as a potential successor. His supporters touted his skill and efficiency in managing family affairs, however, the opposing faction, led by Ii Naosuke, won out. Their candidate, the young Tokugawa Yoshitomi, was chosen, soon after, during the Ansei Purge, Yoshinobu and others who supported him were placed under house arrest. Yoshinobu himself was made to retire from Hitotsubashi headship, the period of Iis domination of the Tokugawa government was marked by mismanagement and political infighting. Upon Iis assassination in 1860, Yoshinobu was reinstated as Hitotsubashi family head, at the same time, his two closest allies, Matsudaira Yoshinaga and Matsudaira Katamori, were appointed to other high positions, Yoshinaga as chief of political affairs, Katamori as Guardian of Kyoto. The three men then took steps to quell political unrest in the Kyoto area, and gathered allies to counter the activities of the rebellious Chōshū Domain. They were instrumental figures in the kōbu gattai political party, which sought a reconciliation between the shogunate and the imperial court. In 1864, Yoshinobu, as commander of the imperial palaces defense and this was achieved by use of the forces of the Aizu–Satsuma coalition. He was the only Tokugawa shogun to spend his entire tenure outside of Edo, immediately upon Yoshinobus ascension as shogun, major changes were initiated. A massive government overhaul was undertaken to initiate reforms that would strengthen the Tokugawa government, the national army and navy, which had already been formed under Tokugawa command, were strengthened by the assistance of the Russians, and the Tracey Mission provided by the British Royal Navy. Equipment was also purchased from the United States, the outlook among many was that the Tokugawa shogunate was gaining ground towards renewed strength and power, however, it would fall in less than a year
14.
Kyoto Imperial Palace
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The Kyoto Imperial Palace is the former ruling palace of the Emperor of Japan. The Emperors have since resided at the Tokyo Imperial Palace after the Meiji Restoration in 1869, today, the grounds are open to the public, and the Imperial Household Agency hosts public tours of the buildings several times a day. The Palace lost much of its function at the time of the Meiji Restoration, however, the Taishō and Shōwa Emperors still had their enthronement ceremonies at the palace. The palace is situated in the Kyoto-gyoen, a rectangular enclosure 1,300 metres north to south and 700 metres east to west which also contains the Sento Imperial Palace gardens. The estate dates from the early Edo period when the residence of high court nobles were grouped together with the palace. When the capital was moved to Tokyo, the residences of the nobles were demolished. The Imperial Palace has been located in this area since the final abandonment of the Daidairi in late 12th century. The present palace is a direct successor—after iterations of one of these sato-dairi palaces. The palace, like many of the oldest and most important buildings in Japan, was destroyed by fire and it has been destroyed and rebuilt eight times, six of them during the 250-year-long peace of the Edo period. The version currently standing was completed in 1855, with an attempt at reproducing the Heian period architecture, the grounds include a number of buildings, along with the imperial residence, or dairi. The neighbouring building to the north is the sento, or residence of the retired emperor, the Imperial Household Agency maintains the building and the grounds and also runs public tours. The main buildings are, among other halls, the Shishin-den, Seiryo-den, Ko-gosho, o-gakumonjo, dignitaries with special permission for official visits used to enter the palace through the Okurumayose entrance. The Shodaibunoma building was used as a room for dignitaries on their official visits to the palace. They were ushered into three different anterooms according to their ranks, the Shinmikurumayose structure was built as a new carriage entrance on the occasion of the enthronment ceremony of Emperor Taisho in 1915. For state ceremonies, the dignitaries would enter through the Kenreimon, which has a cypress-wood roof and this gate would have been used on the rare occasions of the emperor welcoming a foreign diplomat or dignitary, as well as for many other important state ceremonies. Passing through the Kenreimon, the inner gate Jomeimon would appear and this leads to the Shishin-den, which is the Hall for State Ceremonies. The Gekkamon is a gate on the west side of the main courtyard. Another gate in the courtyard is the Kenshunmon, which has a similar architectural style to the Kenreimon
15.
Donjon
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A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. The Anglo-Normans and French rulers began to stone keeps during the 10th and 11th centuries, these included Norman keeps, with a square or rectangular design. Stone keeps carried considerable political as well as military importance and could take up to a decade to build, during the 12th century, new designs began to be introduced – in France, quatrefoil-shaped keeps were introduced, while in England polygonal towers were built. In Spain, keeps were increasingly incorporated into both Christian and Islamic castles, although in Germany tall towers called Bergfriede were preferred to keeps in the western fashion, in the second half of the 14th century, there was a resurgence in the building of keeps. In France, the keep at Vincennes began a fashion for tall, heavily machicolated designs, meanwhile, tower keeps in England became popular amongst the most wealthy nobles, these large keeps, each uniquely designed, formed part of the grandest castles built during the period. By the 16th century, however, keeps were slowly falling out of fashion as fortifications, many were destroyed in civil wars between the 17th and 18th centuries, or incorporated into gardens as an alternative to follies. During the 19th century, keeps became fashionable once again and in England, despite further damage to many French and Spanish keeps during the wars of the 20th century, keeps now form an important part of the tourist and heritage industry in Europe. Since the 16th century, the English word keep has commonly referred to large towers in castles. The word originates from around 1375 to 1376, coming from the Middle English term kype, meaning basket or cask, the term came to be used for other shell keeps by the 15th century. By the 17th century, the word keep lost its reference to baskets or casks. Early on, the use of the keep became associated with the idea of a tower in a castle that would serve both as a fortified, high-status private residence and a refuge of last resort. By the 19th century, Victorian historians incorrectly concluded that the etymology of the keep and tenazza were linked. As a result of evolution in meaning, the use of the term keep in historical analysis today can be problematic. Contemporary medieval writers used various terms for the buildings we would today call keeps, in Latin, they are variously described as turris, turris castri or magna turris – a tower, a castle tower, or a great tower. The 12th-century French came to them a donjon, from the Latin dominarium lordship, linking the keep. Similarly, medieval Spanish writers called the buildings torre del homenaje, in England, donjon turned into dungeon, which initially referred to a keep, rather than to a place of imprisonment. This ambiguity over terminology has made historical analysis of the use of keeps problematic, while the term remains in common academic use, some academics prefer to use the term donjon, and most modern historians warn against using the term keep simplistically. The fortifications that we would today call keeps certainly did not necessarily part of a unified medieval style
16.
Great Fire of Meireki
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The Great fire of Meireki, also known as the Furisode Fire, destroyed 60–70% of the Japanese capital city of Edo on March 2,1657, the third year of the Meireki Imperial era. The fire lasted for three days, and is estimated to have claimed over 100,000 lives, the fire was said to have been started accidentally by a priest who was cremating an allegedly cursed kimono. The kimono had been owned in succession by three girls who all died before ever being able to wear it. When the garment was being burned, a large gust of wind fanned the flames causing the temple to ignite. The fire began on the day of the year, in Edos Hongō district. Edo, like most Japanese cities and towns at the time, on the second evening, the winds changed, and the fire was pushed from the southern edges of the city back towards its center. The homes of the shoguns closest retainers, in Kōjimachi, were destroyed as the fire made its way towards Edo castle, ultimately, the main keep was saved, but most of the outer buildings, and all of the retainers and servants homes were destroyed. Finally, on the day, the winds died down, as did the flames, but thick smoke prevented movement about the city, removal of bodies. There, pits were dug and the buried, the Ekō-in was then built on the site. Reconstruction efforts took two years, as the shogunate took the opportunity to reorganize the city according to practical considerations. Commoners and samurai retainers alike were granted funds from the government for the rebuilding of their homes, each of these 20th-century events, like the Meireki fire less than three centuries earlier, saw roughly 100,000 deaths, and the destruction of the majority of the city. The Fire Kimono, a 2008 mystery novel by Laura Joh Rowland, was inspired by the event, media related to Great fire of Meireki at Wikimedia Commons
17.
Imperial Household Agency
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The Imperial Household Agency is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial Family and also keeping of the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century AD up to the Second World War, the Agency is headed by the Grand Steward and he is assisted by the Vice-Grand Steward. The agencys headquarters is located within the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, visitors who wish to tour the Tokyo Imperial Palace, the Kyoto Imperial Palace, the Katsura Detached Palace, and other sites, should register for guided tours with the agency first. The Agency has responsibility for the health, security and travel arrangements of the Imperial family, the Board of the Chamberlains, headed by the Grand Chamberlain, manages the daily life of the Emperor and the Empress. It also keeps the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan, a Grand Master of the Crown Princes Household helps manage the schedules, dining menus, and household maintenance of the Crown Prince and his family. The Imperial Household Agency can trace its origins back to the established by the Taihō Code promulgated in 701–702 AD. The Ritsuryō system established the namesake Ministry of the Imperial Household which is a precursor to the present agency, the basic structures remained in place until the Meiji Restoration. The early Meiji government officially installed Imperial Household Ministry on 15 August 1869, meanwhile, the Meiji government created the Board of Ceremonies in 1871, which was soon renamed Bureau of Ceremonies in 1872. The Bureau of the Ceremonies was initially under the sway of the Great Council of State but was transferred to the control of the Imperial Household Ministry in September 1877, the Bureau underwent yet another name change to Board of Ceremonies in October 1884. Since then, the name remained unchanged and is, today, the ministry also oversaw the official appointments of Imperial Household Artists and commissioned their work. The Imperial Household Office was a version of the ministry. Its staff size was downscaled from 6,200 to less than 1,500, in 1949, Imperial Household Office became the Imperial Household Agency, and placed under the fold of the newly created Prime Ministers Office, as an external agency attached to it. In 2001, the Imperial Household Agency was organizationally re-positioned under the Cabinet Office and these criticisms have become more muted in recent years, Emperor Akihito has himself done much to make the Japanese monarchy less aloof. Prince Naruhito, in May 2004, criticised the then-Grand Steward of the Imperial Household, Toshio Yuasa, for putting pressure on Princess Masako, Naruhitos wife, to bear a male child. Such research, particularly on the ancient tombs in the Kansai region of western Japan, has the potential to yield a great bounty of information on the origins of Japanese civilization. The Imperial Household Agency is headed by the Grand Steward, whose appointment or dismissal is subject to the Emperors approval, the Grand Steward is vested with comprehensive control over administrate activities within the agency, and supervisory authority over the service performance of the staff. Imperial Household Law Chamberlain of Japan Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan Imperial Household Department, China Matsushiro Underground Imperial Headquarters Shigeru, Yoshida, ISBN 978-0-7425-3932-7/ISBN 978-0-7425-3933-4, OCLC238440967 Kokusai Kyōiku Jōhō Sentā. Tokyo, International Society for Educational Information, OCLC24145536 The Imperial Household Agency Website
18.
Japanese architecture
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Japanese architecture has traditionally been typified by wooden structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors were used in place of walls, allowing the configuration of a space to be customized for different occasions. People usually sat on cushions or otherwise on the floor, traditionally, chairs, the earliest Japanese architecture was seen in prehistoric times in simple pit-houses and stores that were not adapted to a hunter-gatherer population. Influence from Han Dynasty China via Korea saw the introduction of more complex grain stores, the introduction of Buddhism in Japan during the sixth century was a catalyst for large-scale temple building using complicated techniques in wood. Influence from the Chinese Tang and Sui Dynasties led to the foundation of the first permanent capital in Nara and its checkerboard street layout used the Chinese capital of Changan as a template for its design. A gradual increase in the size of buildings led to units of measurement as well as refinements in layout. The introduction of the tea ceremony emphasised simplicity and modest design as a counterpoint to the excesses of the aristocracy, during the Meiji Restoration of 1868 the history of Japanese architecture was radically changed by two important events. Second, it was then that Japan underwent a period of intense Westernization in order to compete with developed countries. Initially architects and styles from abroad were imported to Japan but gradually the country taught its own architects, Architects returning from study with western architects introduced the International Style of modernism into Japan. Much in the architecture of Japan is not native, but was imported from China. First of all is the choice of materials, always wood in various forms for almost all structures, unlike both Western and some Chinese architecture, the use of stone is avoided except for certain specific uses, for example temple podia and pagoda foundations. The general structure is almost always the same, posts and lintels support a large and gently curved roof, while the walls are paper-thin, often movable, arches and barrel roofs are completely absent. Gable and eave curves are gentler than in China and columnar entasis limited, the roof is the most visually impressive component, often constituting half the size of the whole edifice. The slightly curved eaves extend far beyond the walls, covering verandas, simpler solutions are adopted in domestic structures. The oversize eaves give the interior a characteristic dimness, which contributes to the buildings atmosphere, the interior of the building normally consists of a single room at the center called moya, from which depart any other less important spaces. Inner space divisions are fluid, and room size can be modified through the use of screens or movable paper walls, the large, single space offered by the main hall can therefore be divided according to the need. For example, some walls can be removed and different rooms joined temporarily to make space for some more guests, the separation between inside and outside is itself in some measure not absolute as entire walls can be removed, opening a residence or temple to visitors. Verandas appear to be part of the building to an outsider, structures are therefore made to a certain extent part of their environment
19.
Parquet
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Parquet is a geometric mosaic of wood pieces used for decorative effect. The two main uses of parquetry are as wood veneer patterns on furniture and block patterns for flooring, parquet patterns are entirely geometrical and angular—squares, triangles, lozenges. The most popular parquet flooring pattern is herringbone, the word derives from the Old French parchet, literally meaning a small enclosed space. Such parquets en losange were noted by the Swedish architect Daniel Cronström at Versailles, while not technically a wood, bamboo is also a popular material for modern floors. Parquet floors were formerly usually adhered with hot bitumen, today modern cold adhesives are usually used. Wood floors may be brushed clean, and mopped when necessary, upright vacuum cleaners can scratch and wear the surface, as grit particles become embedded in the spinning brushes. Parquet floors are long lasting and require little or no maintenance. Bitumen-glued blocks require use of hot bitumen or a cold bitumen emulsion. Parquet floors are found in bedrooms and hallways. They are considered better than regular floor tiles since they feel warmer underfoot, however they do little to absorb sounds such as walking, vacuum cleaning and television, which can cause problems in multi-occupancy dwellings. One of the most famous parquet floors is the one used by the Boston Celtics of the NBA, the floor remained intact and in use until it was cut up and sold as souvenirs in 1999, after the 1998 demolition of Boston Garden. The Celtics today play on a parquet floor inside TD Garden that combines old, similar square-paneled parquet floors were made for the Orlando Magic, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, and New Jersey Nets. Of the four, only the Magic continue to use a square-paneled parquet floor, the Nets debuted their parquet at the Meadowlands Arena in 1988, and continued to use the floor until 1997. The said floor remained in use with the Seton Hall basketball team until 2007, the Nuggets used a parquet floor from 1990 to 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena, while the Timberwolves played on the parquet from 1996 to 2008 at the Target Center. In 1995, the Toronto Raptors debuted with a herringbone parquet, the Nets revived the use of the herringbone upon moving to the Barclays Center in 2012. While the Charlotte Hornets unveiled a parquet-like floor at the Time Warner Cable Arena for the 2014–15 season, it is not considered a true parquet floor. Instead, it simulated the pattern of the parquet by alternately painting light and dark trapezoid sections through the use of varnish, forming a beehive pattern that is synonymous with the franchise
20.
Tatami
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A tatami is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Traditionally made using straw to form the core, the cores of contemporary tatami are sometimes composed of compressed wood chip boards or polystyrene foam. With a covering of woven soft rush straw, tatami are made in sizes, with the length exactly twice the width. Usually, on the sides, they have edging of brocade or plain cloth. The term tatami is derived from the verb tatamu, meaning to fold or pile and this indicates that the early tatami were thin and could be folded up when not used or piled in layers. Tatami were originally an item for the nobility. In the Kamakura period, there arose the shoin-zukuri architectural style of residence for the samurai and this architectural style reached its peak of development in the Muromachi period, when tatami gradually came to be spread over whole rooms, beginning with small rooms. Rooms completely spread with tatami came to be known as zashiki and it is said that prior to the mid-16th century, the ruling nobility and samurai slept on tatami or woven mats called goza, while commoners used straw mats or loose straw for bedding. The lower classes had mat-covered earth floors, Tatami were gradually popularized and finally reached the homes of commoners toward the end of the 17th century. Houses built in Japan today often have very few tatami-floored rooms, having just one is not uncommon. The rooms having tatami flooring and other such architectural features are referred to as nihonma or washitsu. The size of tatami differs between different regions in Japan, in the Kyoto area, tatami generally measure 0.955 m by 1.91 m. Tatami of this size are referred to as Kyōma tatami, Tatami in the Nagoya region generally measure 0.91 m by 1.82 m, and are referred to as ainoma tatami. In the region around Tokyo, tatami generally measure 0.88 m by 1.76 m, Tatami of this size are referred to as Edoma or Kantōma tatami. In terms of thickness,5.5 cm is average for a Kyōma tatami, a half mat is called a hanjō, and a mat of three-quarter length, which is used in tea-ceremony rooms, is called daimedatami. In terms of traditional Japanese length units, a tatami is 1 ken by half a ken, or equivalently 6 shaku by 3 shaku – formally this is 1.81818 metres ×0.90909 metres, the size of Nagoya tatami. Note that a shaku is almost the length as one foot in the traditional English/American measurement system. In Japan, the size of a room is often measured by the number of tatami mats, about 1.653 square meters
21.
Japanese units of measurement
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Shakkan-hō is the traditional Japanese system of measurement. The name shakkanhō originates from the name of two of the units, the shaku, a unit of length, and the kan, the system is Chinese in origin. The units originated in the Shang Dynasty in the 13th century BC, and eventually stabilized in the Zhou Dynasty in the 10th century BC and spread from there to Japan, South East Asia, and Korea. The units of the Tang Dynasty were officially adopted in Japan in 701, many Taiwanese units of measurement are derived from the shakkanhō system. From 1924, the system was replaced by the metric system. However, in instances the old system is still used. In carpentry and agriculture use of the terms is common. Tools such as Japanese chisels, spatels, saws, hammers are manufactured in sizes of sun, land is sold on the basis of price in tsubo. Until the 2005 Japanese census, people were able to give the area of their houses in either square metres or tsubo, the tsubo was not used in the 2010 census. There are several different versions of the shakkanhō, the tables below show the one in common use in the Edo period. In 1891 the most common units were given definitions in terms of the system, The basis of the shakkanhō length measurements is the shaku. The other units are all fixed fractions or multiples of this basic unit, various shaku developed for various purposes. The unit of all measurement, such as area, is shaku, to distinguish from other shaku, this unit is called the kanejaku. Kanejaku means carpenters square, and this shaku was used by Japanese carpenters, the kujirajaku, literally whale shaku, was a standard used in the clothing industry. The name, whale shaku, comes from the rulers, which were made from baleen, a kujirajaku is 25% longer than kanejaku. As well as the kanejaku and kujirajaku systems, other systems also existed. One example is the gofukujaku, which refers to traditional Japanese clothing, in the gofukujaku system, one shaku equals 1.2 times the kanejaku. Shaku units are used for construction materials in Japan
22.
Japanese cypress
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Chamaecyparis obtusa is a species of cypress native to central Japan. It is a tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The leaves are scale-like, 2–4 mm long, blunt tipped, green above, the cones are globose, 8–12 mm diameter, with 8–12 scales arranged in opposite pairs. The related Chamaecyparis pisifera can be distinguished in its having pointed tips to the leaves. The plant is spread in Japan and it is grown for its very high quality timber in Japan, where it is used as a material for building palaces, temples, shrines, traditional noh theatres, baths, table tennis blades and masu. The wood is lemon-scented, light pinkish-brown, with a rich, straight grain, for example, Horyuji Temple and Osaka Castle are built from hinoki wood. The hinoki grown in Kiso, used for building Ise Shrine, are called 御神木 go-shin-boku divine tree and it is also a popular ornamental tree in parks and gardens, both in Japan and elsewhere in temperate climates, including western Europe and parts of North America. A large number of cultivars have been selected for planting, including dwarf forms, forms with yellow leaves. It is also grown as bonsai. Hinoki wood is used as a traditional Japanese stick incense for its light, hinoki pollen is a major cause of hay fever in Japan. Over 200 cultivars have been selected, varying in size from trees as large as the wild species, a few of the best known are, Crippsii makes a broad conic golden-green crown with a vigorous leading shoot, growing to 15–20 m or more tall. Flabelliformis is a dwarf growing with green leaves. Kosteri is a dwarf with brilliant green foliage, lycopodioides reaches up to 19 m tall, with somewhat fasciated foliage. Minima under 10 cm after 20 years with mid-green foliage, Nana Aurea has golden tips to the fans and a bronze tone in winter. Nana Gracilis has crowded fans of tiny branches producing richly textured effects, Nana Lutea A compact, slow-growing, golden yellow selection which has become very popular. A yellow counterpart to Nana gracilis, spiralis is an erect, stiff dwarf tree. Tempelhof which grows to 2–4 metres has a green-yellow foliage that turns bronze in winter, tetragona Aurea grows to around 18 m tall, with a narrow crown and irregular branching, the scale leaves in 4 equal ranks and branchlets tightly crowded, green and gold. The lignans chamaecypanones A and B, obtulignolide and isootobanone can be found in the heartwood of Chamaecyparis obtusa var. formosana, media related to Chamaecyparis obtusa at Wikimedia Commons
23.
Imperial Household Ministry
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The Imperial Household Agency is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial Family and also keeping of the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century AD up to the Second World War, the Agency is headed by the Grand Steward and he is assisted by the Vice-Grand Steward. The agencys headquarters is located within the grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, visitors who wish to tour the Tokyo Imperial Palace, the Kyoto Imperial Palace, the Katsura Detached Palace, and other sites, should register for guided tours with the agency first. The Agency has responsibility for the health, security and travel arrangements of the Imperial family, the Board of the Chamberlains, headed by the Grand Chamberlain, manages the daily life of the Emperor and the Empress. It also keeps the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan, a Grand Master of the Crown Princes Household helps manage the schedules, dining menus, and household maintenance of the Crown Prince and his family. The Imperial Household Agency can trace its origins back to the established by the Taihō Code promulgated in 701–702 AD. The Ritsuryō system established the namesake Ministry of the Imperial Household which is a precursor to the present agency, the basic structures remained in place until the Meiji Restoration. The early Meiji government officially installed Imperial Household Ministry on 15 August 1869, meanwhile, the Meiji government created the Board of Ceremonies in 1871, which was soon renamed Bureau of Ceremonies in 1872. The Bureau of the Ceremonies was initially under the sway of the Great Council of State but was transferred to the control of the Imperial Household Ministry in September 1877, the Bureau underwent yet another name change to Board of Ceremonies in October 1884. Since then, the name remained unchanged and is, today, the ministry also oversaw the official appointments of Imperial Household Artists and commissioned their work. The Imperial Household Office was a version of the ministry. Its staff size was downscaled from 6,200 to less than 1,500, in 1949, Imperial Household Office became the Imperial Household Agency, and placed under the fold of the newly created Prime Ministers Office, as an external agency attached to it. In 2001, the Imperial Household Agency was organizationally re-positioned under the Cabinet Office and these criticisms have become more muted in recent years, Emperor Akihito has himself done much to make the Japanese monarchy less aloof. Prince Naruhito, in May 2004, criticised the then-Grand Steward of the Imperial Household, Toshio Yuasa, for putting pressure on Princess Masako, Naruhitos wife, to bear a male child. Such research, particularly on the ancient tombs in the Kansai region of western Japan, has the potential to yield a great bounty of information on the origins of Japanese civilization. The Imperial Household Agency is headed by the Grand Steward, whose appointment or dismissal is subject to the Emperors approval, the Grand Steward is vested with comprehensive control over administrate activities within the agency, and supervisory authority over the service performance of the staff. Imperial Household Law Chamberlain of Japan Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan Imperial Household Department, China Matsushiro Underground Imperial Headquarters Shigeru, Yoshida, ISBN 978-0-7425-3932-7/ISBN 978-0-7425-3933-4, OCLC238440967 Kokusai Kyōiku Jōhō Sentā. Tokyo, International Society for Educational Information, OCLC24145536 The Imperial Household Agency Website
24.
Privy Council of Japan
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The Privy Council of Japan was an advisory council to the Emperor of Japan that operated from 1888 to 1947. Generally on the advice of the cabinet, the Privy Council had both judicial functions and certain executive functions. However, the council had no power to initiate legislation, the Privy Council of Japan was established by an imperial ordinance of Emperor Meiji dated 28 April 1888, under the presidency of Ito Hirobumi, to deliberate on the draft constitution. The Privy Council consisted of a chairman, a chairman, twelve councilors, a chief secretary. All privy councilors including the president and the president were appointed by the emperor for life, on the advice of the prime minister. In addition to the twenty-four voting privy counselors, the prime minister, the princes of the imperial household over the age of majority were permitted to attend meetings of the Privy Council and could participate in its proceedings. The president had extraordinary power, as it was he who called and controlled the meetings of the Council, the Council always met in secret at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, with the emperor in attendance on important occasions. The Council was empowered to deliberate on any matters upon which the emperor desired an opinion, the Privy Council was thenceforth largely ignored, and it was not even consulted when Japan decided to declare war on the United States in 1941. The Privy Council was abolished with the enforcement of the current postwar Constitution of Japan on 3 May 1947, lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan Beasley, William G. A Modern History of Japan, From Tokugawa Times to the Present, ISBN9780674003347, OCLC44090600 Takenobu, Yoshitaro. The Japan Yearbook, Complete Cyclopaedia of General Information and Statistics on Japan, Tokyo, The Japan Year Book Office
25.
Allies of World War II
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The Allies of World War II, called the United Nations from the 1 January 1942 declaration, were the countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Allies promoted the alliance as seeking to stop German, Japanese, at the start of the war on 1 September 1939, the Allies consisted of France, Poland and the United Kingdom, and dependent states, such as the British India. Within days they were joined by the independent Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland was a minor factor after its defeat in 1939, France was a minor factor after its defeat in 1940. China had already been into a war with Japan since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937. The alliance was formalised by the Declaration by United Nations, from 1 January 1942, however, the name United Nations was rarely used to describe the Allies during the war. The leaders of the Big Three – the UK, the Soviet Union, in 1945, the Allied nations became the basis of the United Nations. The origins of the Allied powers stem from the Allies of World War I, Germany resented signing Treaty of Versailles. The new Weimar republics legitimacy became shaken, by the early 1930s, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the dominant revanchist movement in Germany and Hitler and the Nazis gained power in 1933. The Nazi regime demanded the cancellation of the Treaty of Versailles and made claims to German-populated Austria. The likelihood of war was high, and the question was whether it could be avoided through strategies such as appeasement, in Asia, when Japan seized Manchuria in 1931, the League of Nations condemned it for aggression against China. Japan responded by leaving the League of Nations in March 1933, after four quiet years, the Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japanese forces invading China. The League of Nations condemned Japans actions and initiated sanctions on Japan, the United States, in particular, was angered at Japan and sought to support China. In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia, violating the Munich Agreement signed six months before, Britain and France decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert a German attack on the country, also, the French had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921. The Soviet Union sought an alliance with the powers. The agreement secretly divided the independent nations of eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for the German war machine, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Then, on 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, a Polish government-in-exile was set up and it continued to be one of the Allies, a model followed by other occupied countries. After a quiet winter, Germany in April 1940 invaded and quickly defeated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini
26.
Firebombing
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Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs. In popular usage, any act which a device is used to initiate a fire is often described as a firebombing. This article is concerned with aerial incendiary bombing as a tactic, for non-military acts. The Chinese wartime capital of Chongqing was firebombed by the Imperial Japanese starting in early 1939, London, Coventry, and many other British cities were firebombed during the Blitz by Nazi Germany. Most large German cities were extensively firebombed starting in 1942, and this technique makes use of small incendiary bombs. If a fire catches, it could spread, taking in adjacent buildings that would have been unaffected by a high explosive bomb. This is an effective use of the payload that a bomber could carry. The use of incendiaries alone does not generally start uncontrollable fires where the targets are roofed with nonflammable materials such as tiles or slates, alternatively, a preliminary bombing with conventional bombs can be followed by subsequent attacks by incendiary carrying bombers. Early in World War II many British cities were firebombed, during the Coventry Blitz the Germans pioneered several innovations which were to influence all future strategic bomber raids during the war. The follow-up waves dropped a combination of explosive and incendiary bombs. There were two types of bombs, those made of magnesium and iron powders, and those made of petroleum. But it was observed that when the Germans did get an effective concentration, then our fire brigades had a hard time, if a rain of incendiaries is mixed with high explosives bombs there is a temptation for the fireman to keep his head down. The Germans again and again missed their chance, as they did during the London blitz that I watched from the roof of the Air Ministry, the second wave of 529 Lancasters dropped all of their bombs between 01,21 and 01,45. The mix of bombs to be used on the Dresden raid was about 40% incendiaries and this was quite a common mix when the USAAF anticipated cloudy conditions over the target. In its attacks on Japan, the USAAF abandoned its precision bombing method that was used in Europe before and these tactics were used to devastating effect with many urban areas burned out.4 acres. A lesser number of M-47 incendiaries was dropped, the M-47 was a 100-pound jelled-gasoline, in the first two hours of the raid,226 of the attacking aircraft or 81% unloaded their bombs to overwhelm the citys fire defenses. The first to arrive dropped bombs in a large X pattern centered in Tokyos working class district near the docks, after this raid, the USAAF continued with low-altitude incendiary raids against Japans cities, destroying an average of 40% of the built-up area of 64 of the largest cities. The 1967 semi-autobiographical short storyGrave of the Fireflies follows events after the firebombing of Kobe and it was eventually adapted into a 1988 film of the same name
27.
Bombing of Tokyo
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The US first mounted a small-scale raid on Tokyo in April 1942. Strategic bombing and urban area bombing began in 1944 after the long-range B-29 Superfortress bomber entered service, first deployed from China, B-29 raids from those islands began on 17 November 1944, and lasted until 15 August 1945, the day Japan capitulated. Japanese later called this event Night of the Black Snow, the raid was retaliation against the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The raid did little damage to Japans war capability but was a significant propaganda victory for the United States. Launched at longer range than planned when the force encountered a Japanese picket boat. One aircraft landed in the neutral Soviet Union where the crew was interned, two crews were captured by the Japanese in occupied China. Three crewmen from these groups were later executed, almost 90% of the bombs dropped on the home islands of Japan were delivered by this type of bomber. Once Allied ground forces had captured islands sufficiently close to Japan, airfields were built on those islands, the initial raids were carried out by the Twentieth Air Force operating out of mainland China in Operation Matterhorn under XX Bomber Command, but these could not reach Tokyo. Operations from the Northern Mariana Islands commenced in November 1944 after the XXI Bomber Command was activated there, changing tactics to increase the damage, Curtis LeMay ordered the bombers to drop incendiary bombs to burn Japans vulnerable wood-and-paper buildings. The first such raid was against Kobe on 4 February 1945, LeMay ordered all defensive guns but the tail gun removed from the B-29s so that the aircraft would be lighter and use less fuel. On the night of 9–10 March,334 B-29s took off to raid with 279 of them dropping 1,665 tons of bombs on Tokyo. The bombs were mostly the 500-pound E-46 cluster bomb which released 38 napalm-carrying M-69 incendiary bomblets at an altitude of 2, 000–2,500 ft. The M-69s punched through thin roofing material or landed on the ground, in case they ignited 3–5 seconds later. A lesser number of M-47 incendiaries was dropped, the M-47 was a 100-pound jelled-gasoline. In the first two hours of the raid,226 of the attacking aircraft unloaded their bombs to overwhelm the citys fire defenses. The individual fires caused by the bombs joined to create a general conflagration, approximately 15.8 square miles of the city were destroyed and some 100,000 people are estimated to have died. Damage to Tokyos heavy industry was slight until firebombing destroyed much of the industry that was used as an integral source for small machine parts. Firebombing also killed or made homeless many workers who had been taking part in war industry, over 50% of Tokyos industry was spread out among residential and commercial neighborhoods, firebombing cut the whole citys output in half
28.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
29.
Emperor Hirohito
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Emperor Shōwa was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from December 25,1926, until his death on January 7,1989. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Akihito, upon his death, although better known outside Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan, he is now referred to primarily by his posthumous name Emperor Shōwa. The word Shōwa is the name of the era that corresponded with the Emperors reign, the name Hirohito means abundant benevolence. He was the head of state under the Constitution of the Empire of Japan during Japans imperial expansion, militarization, born in Tokyos Aoyama Palace, Hirohito was the first son of Crown Prince Yoshihito and Crown Princess Sadako. He was the grandson of Emperor Meiji and Yanagihara Naruko and his childhood title was Prince Michi. At the age of 3, Hirohito and his brother Chichibu were returned to court when Kawamura died – first to the mansion in Numazu, Shizuoka. In 1908, he began studies at the Gakushūin. When his grandfather, Emperor Meiji, died on July 30,1912, Hirohitos father, Yoshihito, assumed the throne, in 1914, he was promoted to the ranks of lieutenant in the army and sub-lieutenant in the navy, then to captain and lieutenant in 1916. He was formally proclaimed Crown Prince and heir apparent on November 2,1916, Hirohito attended Gakushūin Peers School from 1908 to 1914 and then a special institute for the crown prince from 1914 to 1921. In 1920, Hirohito was promoted to the rank of Major in the army, in 1921, Hirohito took a six-month tour of Western Europe, including the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium. After his return to Japan, he became Regent of Japan on November 29,1921, in 1923, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the army and Commander in the navy, and to army Colonel and Navy Captain in 1925. The Washington Naval Treaty was signed on February 6,1922, Japan withdrew troops from the Siberian Intervention on August 28,1922. The Great Kantō earthquake devastated Tokyo on September 1,1923, on December 27,1923, Daisuke Namba attempted to assassinate Hirohito in the Toranomon Incident but his attempt failed. During interrogation, he claimed to be a communist and was executed, the General Election Law was passed on May 5,1925, giving all men above age 25 the right to vote. Prince Hirohito married his distant cousin Princess Nagako Kuni, the eldest daughter of Prince Kuniyoshi Kuni and they had two sons and five daughters. On December 25,1926, Hirohito assumed the throne upon his father, Yoshihitos, the Crown Prince was said to have received the succession. The Taishō eras end and the Shōwa eras beginning were proclaimed, the deceased Emperor was posthumously renamed Emperor Taishō within days. Following Japanese custom, the new Emperor was never referred to by his name, but rather was referred to simply as His Majesty the Emperor
30.
Surrender of Japan
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The surrender of Imperial Japan was announced on August 15 and formally signed on September 2,1945, bringing the hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting major operations, on August 6,1945, at 8,15 AM local time, the United States detonated an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Sixteen hours later, American President Harry S. Truman called again for Japans surrender, warning them to expect a rain of ruin from the air, later in the day, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb, this time on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. After several more days of negotiations and a failed coup détat. In the radio address, called the Jewel Voice Broadcast, he announced the surrender of Japan to the Allies, on August 28, the occupation of Japan by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers began. The role of the bombings in Japans unconditional surrender. The state of war ended when the Treaty of San Francisco came into force on April 28,1952. Four more years passed before Japan and the Soviet Union signed the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956, by 1945, the Japanese had suffered an unbroken string of defeats for nearly two years in the South West Pacific, the Marianas campaign, and the Philippines campaign. In July 1944, following the loss of Saipan, General Hideki Tōjō was replaced as minister by General Kuniaki Koiso. After the Japanese loss of the Philippines, Koiso in turn was replaced by Admiral Kantarō Suzuki, the Allies captured the nearby islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa in the first half of 1945. Okinawa was to be an area for Operation Downfall, the American invasion of the Japanese Home Islands. The Allied submarine campaign and the mining of Japanese coastal waters had largely destroyed the Japanese merchant fleet, the destruction of the Japanese merchant fleet, combined with the strategic bombing of Japanese industry, had wrecked Japans war economy. Production of coal, iron, steel, rubber, and other vital supplies was only a fraction of that before the war, as a result of the losses it had suffered, the Imperial Japanese Navy had ceased to be an effective fighting force. Although 19 destroyers and 38 submarines were still operational, their use was limited by the lack of fuel, the only course left is for Japans one hundred million people to sacrifice their lives by charging the enemy to make them lose the will to fight. As a final attempt to stop the Allied advances, the Japanese Imperial High Command planned an all-out defense of Kyūshū codenamed Operation Ketsugō and this was to be a radical departure from the defense in depth plans used in the invasions of Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Instead, everything was staked on the beachhead, more than 3,000 kamikazes would be sent to attack the transports before troops. The strategy of making a last stand at Kyūshū was based on the assumption of continued Soviet neutrality, a set of caves were excavated near Nagano on Honshu, the largest of the Japanese islands. In the event of invasion, these caves, the Matsushiro Underground Imperial Headquarters, were to be used by the army to direct the war and to house the Emperor and his family
31.
New Year
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New Year is the time at which a new calendar year begins and the calendars year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner and the 1st day of January is often marked as a national holiday, in the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system today, New Year occurs on 1 January. This was also the case both in the old Roman calendar and in the Julian calendar that succeeded it, other calendars have been used historically in different parts of the world, some calendars count years numerically, while others do not. Beginning in 1582, the adoptions of the Gregorian calendar and changes to the Old Style and New Style dates meant the local dates for New Years Day changed to using one fixed date. The widespread official adoption of the Gregorian calendar and marking January 1 as the beginning of a new year is almost global now, regional or local use of other calendars continue, along with the cultural and religious practices that accompany them. In Latin America, various native cultures continue the observation of traditions according to their own calendars, israel, China, India and other countries, continue to celebrate New Year on different dates. The most common dates of modern New Years celebrations are listed below,1 January, The first day of the civil year in the Gregorian calendar used by most countries. Contrary to common belief in the west, the civil New Year of January 1 is not an Orthodox Christian religious holiday, the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar makes no provision for the observance of a New Year. January 1 is itself a religious holiday, but that is because it is the feast of the circumcision of Christ, while the liturgical calendar begins September 1, there is also no particular religious observance attached to the start of the new cycle. Orthodox nations may, however, make civil celebrations for the New Year and those that adhere to the revised Julian calendar, including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Romania, Syria, and Turkey, observe both the religious and civil holidays on January 1. The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, occurs every year on the new moon of the first lunar month, the exact date can fall any time between 21 January and 21 February of the Gregorian Calendar. Traditionally, years were marked by one of twelve Earthly Branches, represented by an animal, and one of ten Heavenly Stems and this combination cycles every 60 years. It is the most important Chinese celebration of the year, the Korean New Year is a Seollal, or Lunar New Year’s Day. Although January 1 is, in fact, the first day of the year, Seollal, celebration of the Lunar New Year is believed to have started to let in good luck and ward off bad spirits all throughout the year. With the old year out and a new one in, people gather at home and sit around with their families and relatives, catching up on what they have been doing. The Vietnamese New Year is the Tết Nguyên Đán which most times is the day as the Chinese New Year due to the Vietnamese using the Lunar Calendar. The Tibetan New Year is Losar and falls from January through March, the Mizo in northeast India celebrate their Pawl kut. 29-30 sep Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon after the Northward equinox. Ancient celebrations lasted for eleven days, nava Varsha is celebrated in India in various regions in March–April
32.
The Emperor's Birthday
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The Emperors Birthday is a national holiday in the Japanese calendar celebrated on 23 December of each year. The date is determined by the reigning Emperors birthdate, Emperor Akihito was born on 23 December 1933. During the reign of Emperor Hirohito, the Emperors birthday was observed on 29 April and that date remained a public holiday, posthumously renamed Greenery Day in 1989 and Shōwa Day in 2007. Prior to World War II, it was called Tenchōsetsu, Tenchō Festival, Tenchōsetsu paralleled Chikyūsetsu, Chikyū Festival, which referred to the Empress consorts birthday. The two names originate from the Chinese chengyu 天長地久, borrowed during the reign of Emperor Kōnin, meaning heaven, lasting earth. After the war, the new government renamed it to Tennō tanjōbi, in formal language with a more literal meaning in 1948. Under the law, the National Diet must convene and change the date before the reigning Emperors birthday becomes a public holiday. Thus, there exists a chance that the former Emperors birthday may come before the change can be made. On 23 December, a ceremony takes place at the Imperial Palace. Only on this occasion and on 2 January may the general public enter the grounds of the Imperial Palace. When the Emperor ceases his greeting, the crowd starts waving the flags again, the Imperial Household Agency His Majestys Birthday Receptions Visit of the General Public to the Palace for His Majestys Birthday
33.
Utakai Hajime
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The Utakai Hajime is an annual gathering, convened by the Emperor of Japan, in which participants read traditional Japanese poetry on a common theme before a wider audience. It is held on 1 January at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, the exact origins of the tradition are unclear, though it is known that the Emperor Kameyama convened a January poetry reading, at the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, as early as 1267. Sometime during the Edo period the practice became more regular, and since the Meiji restoration of 1869, poems written by the general public were admitted for consideration for the first time in 1879. Since 1946, any poet whose work is selected is invited to attend, in 1957 American poet Lucille Nixon became the first non-Japanese person to do so. Poems read at the ceremony belong to the tanka genre
34.
Kitanomaru Park
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Kitanomaru Park is a public park in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan located North of the Tokyo Imperial Palace. The park is the location of both the Nippon Budokan, a sports and performance venue, the Science Museum and the National Museum of Modern Art. Kitanomaru Park was originally the location of the northernmost section of Edo Castle and it was used as both a medicinal garden and a secure residential compound for members of the Tokugawa extended family. The park is almost encircled by moats and defensive fortifications from the original castle. Prior to 1969, when Kitanomaru Park was opened, this district had been called Daikanchō because many daikan lived in the soon after the construction of Edo Castle. Today, the name Daikanchō is known commonly as the name of an interchange of the Inner Circular Route of the Shuto Expressway. Two gated entrances survive from time of Edo Castle the Shimizu-mon, an inscription on the outer side of the Tayasu-mon states the gate was constructed in 1685, making it one of the oldest surviving structures of the original castle
35.
Enceinte
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Enceinte is a French term denoting the main defensive enclosure of a fortification. For a castle this is the defensive line of wall towers. For a settlement it would be the town wall with its associated gatehouses and towers. However, the outworks or defensive wall close to the enceinte were not considered as forming part of it, in early 20th-century fortification, the enceinte was usually simply the innermost continuous line of fortifications. In architecture, generally, an enceinte is the close or precinct of a cathedral, abbey, castle, the enceinte may be laid out as a freestanding structure or combined with buildings adjoining the outer walls. The enceinte not only provided protection for the areas behind it. The outline of the enceinte, with its towers and domestic buildings. The ground plan of an enceinte is affected by the terrain, from the 12th century onwards an additional enclosure called a zwinger was often built in front of the enceinte of many European castles. This afforded an additional layer of defence as it formed a killing ground in front of the defensive wall. During the Baroque era it was not uncommon for these enclosures to be turned into gardens as for example in Dresden). Enceinte is the adjective pregnant in the French language, friar, Stephen, The Sutton Companion to Castles, Stroud, Sutton Publishing, p.105, ISBN 978-0-7509-3994-2 Piper, Otto, Burgenkunde. Bauwesen und Geschichte der Burgen, in Piperer, R. et al
36.
Public park
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The design, operation and maintenance is usually done by government, typically on the local level, but may occasionally be contracted out to a private sector company. A park is an area of space provided for recreational use. Grass is typically kept short to discourage insect pests and to allow for the enjoyment of picnics, trees are chosen for their beauty and to provide shade. An early purpose-built public park, although financed privately, was Princes Park in the Liverpool suburb of Toxteth and this was laid out to the designs of Joseph Paxton from 1842 and opened in 1843. The land on which the park was built was purchased by Richard Vaughan Yates, the creation of Princes Park showed great foresight and introduced a number of highly influential ideas. First and foremost was the provision of space for the benefit of townspeople. Nashs remodelling of St Jamess Park from 1827 and the sequence of processional routes he created to link The Mall with Regents Park completely transformed the appearance of Londons West End. Liverpool had a presence on the scene of global maritime trade before 1800. The latter was commenced in 1843 with the help of public finance, frederick Law Olmsted visited Birkenhead Park in 1850 and praised its qualities. Indeed, Paxton is widely credited as having one of the principal influences on Olmsted. Another early public park is the Peel Park, Salford, England opened on 22 August 1846, in The Politics of Park Design, A History of Urban Parks in America, Professor Galen Cranz identifies four phases of park design in the U. S. As time passed and the area grew around the parks, land in these parks was used for other purposes, such as zoos, golf courses. These parks continue to draw visitors from around the region and are considered regional parks, because they require a higher level of management than smaller local parks. According to the Trust for Public Land, the three most visited parks in the United States are Central Park in New York, Lincoln Park in Chicago. In the early 1900s, according to Cranz, U. S. cities built neighborhood parks with swimming pools, playgrounds and civic buildings and these smaller parks were built in residential neighborhoods, and tried to serve all residents with programs for seniors, adults, teens and children. Green space was of secondary importance, as urban land prices climbed, new urban parks in the 1960s and after have been mainly pocket parks. One such example of a park is Chess Park in Glendale. This award-winning park was given an award by the American Society of Landscape Architects and these small parks provide greenery, a place to sit outdoors, and often a playground for children
37.
Nippon Budokan Hall
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Nippon Budokan, often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The Budokan was the location where many Live at the Budokan albums were recorded, including those of Bob Dylan, Cheap Trick, Dream Theater and Ozzy Osbourne. The Nippon Budokan, however, was built for the judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics, hence its name. The Nippon Budokan is located in Kitanomaru Park in the center of Tokyo and this 42 m high imposing octagonal structure holds 14,471 people. The building is modeled after Yumedono in Hōryū-ji in Nara, though it still functions as a venue for big musical events, its primary purpose is for Japanese martial arts. The national championships of the different branches of the arts are held annually at the Budokan. For wrestling fans the Budokan is associated with professional wrestlings big shows, typically from All Japan Pro Wrestling, however, due to declining business following the death of Mitsuharu Misawa and the retirement of Kenta Kobashi, professional wrestling promotions have ceased running regular shows in the Budokan. The Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki hybrid rules fight held at the Budokan in 1976 is seen as a forerunner to mixed martial arts, k-1, Shooto and Pride Fighting Championships have all held events at the arena. The Beatles were the first rock group to perform here, in a series of shows in June/July 1966 and their appearances were met with opposition from those who felt the appearance of a western pop group would defile the martial arts arena. In July 1973 Japanese television recorded the Santana performance at Budokan, however, the Budokan gained worldwide fame when American artists Cheap Trick and Bob Dylan used the arena to record their performances, Cheap Trick at Budokan and Bob Dylan at Budokan, respectively. Artists to release recordings from this venue include, Uriah Heep,1973, Deep Purple,1972. The Carpenters,1974, The Carpenter - Live At Budokan 1974 Rainbow, 12/16/1976, bay City Rollers,1977, Rollerworld, Live at the Budokan 1977, released as Rollerworld, Live at the Budokan 1977 in 2001. Cheap Trick,1978, Cheap Trick at Budokan Ian Gillan Band, 1977–1978, eric Clapton, December 1979, Just One Night. Diana Ross,1977, An Evening with Diana Ross concert was videotaped during her 1977 tour, Bob Dylan,1979, Bob Dylan at Budokan, recorded during his 1978 world tour. Yellow Magic Orchestra,1980, Live At Budokan 1980, recorded 1980, Quincy Jones,1981, Quincy Jones Live at the Budokan. Dave Grusin,1983, Dave Grusin and the NY-LA Dream Band, michael Schenker Group,1982, One Night at Budokan. Asia,1983, Live at Budokan, Asia in Asia. Frank Sinatra,1985, Live at the Budokan Hall, Tokyo Iron Maiden,1987, Somewhere on tour Tin Machine,1992, Skid Row Skid Row - Live at Budokan, Tokyo 1992
38.
Akihito
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Akihito is the reigning Emperor of Japan. He is the 125th emperor of his line according to Japans traditional order of succession, Akihito succeeded his father Shōwa and acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 7 January 1989. There has been ongoing coverage of his possible abdication due to age,31 December 2018 and 1 January 2019 has been mentioned as possible dates of such abdication. In Japan, the Emperor is never referred to by his given name, in writing, the Emperor is also referred to formally as The Reigning Emperor. The Era of Akihitos reign bears the name Heisei, and according to custom he will be renamed Emperor Heisei by order of the Cabinet after his death, at the same time, the name of the next era under his successor will also be established. Akihito was born in the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Tokyo City, Japan, and is the elder son and the fifth child of the Emperor Shōwa and Empress Kōjun. Titled Prince Tsugu as a child, he was raised and educated by his private tutors, unlike his predecessors in the Imperial family, he did not receive a commission as an army officer, at the request of his father, Hirohito. During the American firebombing raids on Tokyo in March 1945, Akihito and his younger brother, during the American occupation of Japan following World War II, Prince Akihito was tutored in the English language and Western manners by Elizabeth Gray Vining. He briefly studied at the Department of Political Science at Gakushuin University in Tokyo, Akihito was heir-apparent to the Chrysanthemum Throne from the moment of his birth. His formal Investiture as Crown Prince was held at the Tokyo Imperial Palace on 10 November 1952, in June 1953 Akihito represented Japan at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in London. Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko made official visits to thirty-seven countries, upon the death of Emperor Hirohito on 7 January 1989, his eldest son the Crown Prince Akihito succeeded to the throne, with an enthronement ceremony taking place on 12 November 1990. In 1998, during a visit to the United Kingdom. Emperor Akihito underwent surgery for cancer on 14 January 2003. Since succeeding to the throne, Emperor Akihito has made an effort to bring the Imperial family closer to the Japanese people, the Emperor and Empress of Japan have made official visits to eighteen countries and to all forty-seven Prefectures of Japan. The Emperor and Empress also made a visit on Wednesday,30 March 2011 to a temporary shelter housing refugees of the disaster and this kind of event is also extremely rare, though in line with the Emperors attempts to bring the Imperial family closer to the people. Later in 2011 he was admitted to suffering from pneumonia. In February 2012 it was announced that the Emperor would be having a coronary examination, however, senior officials within the Imperial Household Agency have denied that there is any official plan for the monarch to abdicate. A potential abdication by the Emperor would require an amendment to the Imperial Household Act, on 8 August 2016, the Emperor gave a rare televised address, where he emphasized his advanced age and declining health, this address is interpreted as an implication of his intention to abdicate
39.
Imperial General Headquarters
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The Imperial General Headquarters as part of the Supreme War Council was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime. In terms of function, it was equivalent to the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Imperial General Staff Headquarters was completely independent of the government of the Empire of Japan, including the Cabinet. Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi was allowed to attend meetings by the order of Emperor Meiji during the First Sino-Japanese War. However, Prime Minister Katsura Taro, despite his background, was denied entry to meetings during the subsequent Russo-Japanese War. Reaching agreement between the Army and Navy on strategic planning was often difficult, the final decisions of Liaison Conferences were formally disclosed and approved at Imperial Conferences over which Emperor Hirohito presided in person at the Tokyo Imperial Palace. During the Pacific War, and after the firebombing of Tokyo, with the surrender of Japan, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers ordered the Imperial General Headquarters abolished on 13 September 1945. Imperial General Headquarters comprised Army and Navy Sections, the Army Section comprised the Chief of Army General Staff and his chief of Army Operations, and the Army Minister. The Navy Section comprised Chief of Navy General Staff, his chief of Navy Operations, and the Navy Minister. In addition, the Inspector-General of Military Training, whose rank was almost on-par with that of the Chiefs of the General Staff, relations between the Japanese Army and Navy were never cordial, and often marked by deep hostility. The Army saw the Soviet Union as Japans greatest threat and for the most part supported the Hokushin-ron concept that Japans strategic interests were on the Asian continent. Hirohito, the Emperor of Japan, was defined as the Head of State and this includes some 61 divisions,59 brigades, and 51 air squadrons. Only a fraction of Japans military,11 to 14 divisions and the South Seas Detachment, were available for the December 1941 operations in South-East Asia, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. ISBN 978-0-06-019314-0, OCLC247018161 Jansen, Marius B, ISBN9780674003347, OCLC44090600 Keene, Donald. Emperor of Japan, Meiji and His World, 1852-1912, ISBN 978-0-231-12340-2, OCLC46731178 Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth
40.
Reinforced concrete
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The reinforcement is usually, though not necessarily, steel reinforcing bars and is usually embedded passively in the concrete before the concrete sets. Reinforcing schemes are designed to resist tensile stresses in particular regions of the concrete that might cause unacceptable cracking and/or structural failure. Modern reinforced concrete can contain varied reinforcing materials made of steel, Reinforced concrete may also be permanently stressed, so as to improve the behaviour of the final structure under working loads. In the United States, the most common methods of doing this are known as pre-tensioning and post-tensioning, durability in the concrete environment, irrespective of corrosion or sustained stress for example. François Coignet was a French industrialist of the century, a pioneer in the development of structural. Coignet was the first to use iron-reinforced concrete as a technique for constructing building structures, in 1853 Coignet built the first iron reinforced concrete structure, a four story house at 72 rue Charles Michels in the suburbs of Paris. Coignets descriptions of reinforcing concrete suggests that he did not do it for means of adding strength to the concrete, in 1854, English builder William B. Wilkinson reinforced the concrete roof and floors in the two-storey house he was constructing. His positioning of the reinforcement demonstrated that, unlike his predecessors, in 1877, Monier was granted another patent for a more advanced technique of reinforcing concrete columns and girders with iron rods placed in a grid pattern. Though Monier undoubtedly knew reinforcing concrete would improve its inner cohesion, before 1877 the use of concrete construction, though dating back to the Roman Empire and reintroduced in the mid to late 1800s, was not yet a proven scientific technology. His work played a role in the evolution of concrete construction as a proven. Without Hyatts work, more dangerous trial and error methods would have largely depended on for the advancement in the technology. G. A. Wayss was a German civil engineer and a pioneer of the iron, in 1879 Wayss bought the German rights to Moniers patents and in 1884 started the first commercial use for reinforced concrete in his firm Wayss & Freytag. Up until the 1890s Wayss and his firm greatly contributed to the advancement of Moniers system of reinforcing, ernest L. Ransome was an English-born engineer and early innovator of the reinforced concrete techniques in the end of the 19th century. With the knowledge of reinforced concrete developed during the previous 50 years, ransomes key innovation was to twist the reinforcing steel bar improving bonding with the concrete. Gaining increasing fame from his concrete constructed buildings Ransome was able to build two of the first reinforced concrete bridges in North America, one of the first concrete buildings constructed in the United States, was a private home, designed by William Ward in 1871. The home was designed to be fireproof for his wife, one of the first skyscrapers made with reinforced concrete was the 16-storey Ingalls Building in Cincinnati, constructed in 1904. Many different types of structures and components of structures can be built using reinforced concrete including slabs, walls, beams, columns, foundations, frames, Reinforced concrete can be classified as precast or cast-in-place concrete. Designing and implementing the most efficient floor system is key to creating optimal building structures, small changes in the design of a floor system can have significant impact on material costs, construction schedule, ultimate strength, operating costs, occupancy levels and end use of a building
41.
Takenaka Corporation
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Takenaka Corporation is one of the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in Japan. Its headquarters is located in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Takenaka has 8 domestic offices in Japan and overseas offices in Asia, Europe, and the United States. The Takenaka corporation designed and built the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum, the companys website claims it to be the oldest firm of that type anywhere in the world, since the demise of Kongō Gumi which was substantially older. Both companies originate from a family of architect-carpenters, in 1610 Tobei Masataka Takenaka, a shrine and temple carpenter, started a business in Nagoya. The business continued as a business and built some of the first Western-style buildings during the last half of 19th century. In 1899 Toemon Takenaka, 14th generation descendant of the founder, established a branch office in Kobe. The company is now regarded in Japan as one of the Big Five contractors ranked with Kajima, Obayashi, Shimizu and Taisei, and has a long history of designing buildings. The firm has some of the most important buildings in Japan, including the Tokyo Tower, the Tokyo Dome, the Fukuoka Dome. Among its proposals is the Sky City 1000 project and it reconstructed the Suzakumon in Nara. Planning & Consulting Design Construction Renewal Technology & Engineering Research and development 1610 - Nobunaga Oda former vassal, the erecting of shrines and temples to work. 1899 -14 Daitake Nakatoh MigiEmon, advance to Kobe, and construction Mitsui Bank Kobe Onohama warehouse. A branch of the Nagoya head office in Kobe,1923 - the head office in Osaka moved to, and branch office in Kobe head office. 1945 - to Takenaka FujimigiEmon is chairman, one smelting Takenaka became president,1980 - to Takenaka smelting one is chairman, Takenaka unification became president. 1993 - which is Japans first roof retractable multi-purpose stadium Fukuoka Dome completed,1997 - Osaka Dome, Nagoya Dome, International Stadium Yokohama completed. 2004 - the Tokyo head office, Tokyo Koto-ku, new construction relocation to,2007 - Tokyo Midtown, Shin-Marunouchi Building completed. 2010 - Founding 400 anniversary 2013 - announced the president from outside the first founding family, ltd. as having happened at a different, demolition, site that the foreman was also in charge of. Takenaka and Airtech were issued an indictment by the Osaka prosecutors office for violating the Industrial Safety. On February 17,2015, a frame weighing approximately 100 kg fell from the 4th floor of the Kofu City Hall building
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Nihonga
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Nihonga are paintings that have been made in accordance with traditional Japanese artistic conventions, techniques and materials. While based on traditions over a years old, the term was coined in the Meiji period of the Imperial Japan, to distinguish such works from Western-style paintings. These two men played important roles in developing the curricula at major art schools, and actively encouraged and patronized artists, Nihonga was not simply a continuation of older painting traditions. In comparison with Yamato-e the range of subjects was broadened, moreover, stylistic and technical elements from several traditional schools, such as the Kanō-ha, Rinpa and Maruyama Ōkyo were blended together. The distinctions that had existed among schools in the Edo period were minimized, however, in many cases Nihonga artists also adopted realistic Western painting techniques, such as perspective and shading. The artist Tenmyouya Hisashi has developed a new art concept in 2001 called Neo-Nihonga, taiwanese artist Yiching Chen teaches workshops in Paris. Judith Kruger initiated and taught the course Nihonga, Then and Now at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and at the Savannah, contemporary Nihonga has been the mainstay of New Yorks Dillon Gallery. Key artists from the age of post war Nihonga from 1985 to 1993 based at Tokyo University of the Arts have produced global artists whose training in Nihonga has served as a foundation. Most of these artists are represented by Dillon Gallery, Nihonga are typically executed on washi or eginu, using brushes. The paintings can be either monochrome or polychrome, if monochrome, typically sumi made from soot mixed with a glue from fishbone or animal hide is used. If polychrome, the pigments are derived from natural ingredients, minerals, shells, corals, the raw materials are powdered into 16 gradations from fine to sandy grain textures. A hide glue solution, called nikawa, is used as a binder for these powdered pigments, in both cases, water is used, hence nihonga is actually a water-based medium. Gofun is an important material used in nihonga, different kinds of gofun are utilized as a ground, for under-painting, and as a fine white top color. Initially, nihonga were produced for hanging scrolls, hand scrolls, however, most are now produced on paper stretched onto wood panels, suitable for framing. Nihonga paintings do not need to be put under glass and they are archival for thousands of years. In polychrome Nihonga, great emphasis is placed on the presence or absence of outlines, occasionally, washes and layering of pigments are used to provide contrasting effects, and even more occasionally, gold or silver leaf may also be incorporated into the painting. List of Nihonga painters Japanese painting Briessen, Fritz van, the Way of the Brush, Painting Techniques of China and Japan. ISBN 0-8048-3194-7 Conant, Ellen P. Rimer, J. Thomas, Owyoung, Nihonga, Transcending the Past, Japanese-Style Painting, 1868-1968
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Maeda Seison
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Seison Maeda was the pseudonym of a nihonga painter in Taishō and Shōwa period Japan. His real name was Maeda Renzō and he is considered one of the greatest contemporary Japanese painters, and one of the leaders of the Nihonga movement. Maeda was born in what is now Nakatsugawa city, Gifu Prefecture in 1885 and his mother died when he was 13, and he moved to Hongō in Tokyo with his father. In 1901, through the introduction of Ozaki Kōyō, Maeda enrolled at the art school headed by Kajita Hanko and he met and befriended fellow student, Kobayashi Kokei, whose work influenced many of Maedas early paintings. Maeda was a member of the Kojikai artistic group from 1907 and he visited Korea in 1915 and China in 1919. Under sponsorship of the Japan Fine Arts Academy, he visited Europe in 1922, touring Rome, Florence, Paris, however, Maeda worked in a variety of genres, including still life and landscapes. The work was completed in 1929, and won the prestigious Asahi Prize in 1930 and it is now on display at the Okura Shukokan museum owned by the Okura Hotels in Tokyo. It was also the subject of a stamp issued by the Japanese government in 1982. Maeda became a member of the Imperial Art Academy in 1937 and he toured Manchukuo and northern China in 1943 under the sponsorship of the Japanese government. In 1944, Maeda was appointed as a court painter to the Imperial Household Agency. In 1946, Maeda became a judge of the annual Japan Arts Exhibitions. He was also a professor at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts, Maeda was awarded the Order of Culture and was named a Person of Cultural Merit in 1955. In 1967, he was selected to assist in the work on the frescos of the Kondo Hall of the temple of Hōryū-ji in Nara together with Yasuda Yukihiko. His work was selected to decorate the Shakkyō-no-Ma hall of the new Tokyo Imperial Palace, the large painting was completed in 1955. It depicts a Lion Dancer awaiting cue from the Noh play “Shakkyō”, the play is a fifth-category play featuring a lion dance. Two pieces also by him depicting Japanese camellia were added in the 1970s on either side of the lion dancer painting, called “Shiro-botan” in white and “Beni-botan” in red. In 1972, despite his years, he was selected as the person most appropriate to assist in the restoration and preservation work of the ancient frescos in the Takamatsuzuka tumulus. In 1974, Maeda received a commission from Pope Paul VI for a painting of Hosokawa Gracia for the Vatican Museums and his grave is a very distinctive 13-story white stone pagoda at the temple of Tōkei-ji in Kamakura
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Prime Minister of Japan
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The Prime Minister of Japan is the head of government of Japan. The Prime Minister is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the National Diet and he or she is the head of the Cabinet and appoints and dismisses the other Ministers of State. The literal translation of the Japanese name for the office is Minister for the Comprehensive Administration of the Cabinet, prior to the adoption of the Meiji Constitution, Japan had in practice no written constitution. Originally, a Chinese-inspired legal system known as ritsuryō was enacted in the late Asuka period, theoretically, the last ritsuryō code, the Yōrō Code enacted in 752, was still in force at the time of the Meiji Restoration. It took its current form with the adoption of the Constitution of Japan in 1947, to date,62 people have served this position. The current Prime Minister is Shinzō Abe, who re-took office on December 26,2012 and he is the first former Prime Minister to return to office since 1948, and the 6th longest serving member to date. The Prime Minister is designated by both houses of the Diet, before the conduct of any other business, for that purpose, each conducts a ballot under the run-off system. If the two houses choose different individuals, then a joint committee of both houses is appointed to agree on a common candidate. Ultimately, however, if the two houses do not agree within ten days, the decision of the House of Representatives is deemed to be that of the Diet, therefore, the House of Representatives can theoretically ensure the appointment of any Prime Minister it wants. The candidate is presented with their commission, and formally appointed to office by the Emperor. Must be a member of house of the Diet. Note that former officers from the World War II-era may be appointed prime minister despite the civilian requirement. Exercises control and supervision over the executive branch. Presents bills to the Diet on behalf of the Cabinet, appoints all Cabinet ministers, and can dismiss them at any time. May permit legal action to be taken against Cabinet ministers, must make reports on domestic and foreign relations to the Diet. Must report to the Diet upon demand to provide answers or explanations, may advise the Emperor to dissolve the Diets House of Representatives. Presides over meetings of the Cabinet, commander in chief of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. May override a court injunction against an act upon showing of cause
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Three Palace Sanctuaries
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The Three Palace Sanctuaries are a group of structures in the precincts of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan. They are used in religious ceremonies, including weddings and enthronements. The three sanctuaries are, Kashiko-dokoro – the central shrine, enshrining a replica of the mirror Yata no Kagami, representing the mythological ancestress of the Imperial Family, Amaterasu. The Yasakani no magatama or Sacred Jewel, one of the Imperial Regalia of Japan, is said to be housed in the Kashiko-dokoro. Kōrei-den – the Ancestral Spirits Sanctuary, enshrining the departed spirits of the Imperial Family from one year after their death, shin-den – the Sanctuary of the Kami, enshrining the Amatsukami from Takama-ga-hara and the Kunitsukami from Japanese mythology
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Imperial Regalia of Japan
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The Imperial Regalia of Japan, also known as the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan, consist of the sword Kusanagi, the mirror Yata no Kagami, and the jewel Yasakani no Magatama. The regalia represent the three virtues, valor, wisdom, and benevolence. Since 690, the presentation of items to the Emperor by the priests at the shrine has been a central element of the enthronement ceremony. This ceremony is not public, and these items are by tradition seen only by the Emperor, because of this, no known photographs or drawings exist. Two of the three treasures were last seen during the accession and enthronement of Emperor Akihito in 1989 and 1993 and these treasures were eventually said to be passed down to Emperor Jimmu, who was the first Emperor of Japan and was also Ninigis great-grandson. Traditionally, they were a symbol of the divinity as a descendant of Amaterasu. Susanoo later presented the sword Kusanagi to Amaterasu as a token of apology, he had obtained it from the body of an eight-headed serpent, Yamata no Orochi. At the conclusion of the Genpei War in 1185, the eight year-old Emperor Antoku and they were present when the Taira were defeated by the rival Minamoto clan at the Battle of Dan-no-ura, which was fought on boats in the shallow Kanmon Straits. The child-emperors grandmother threw herself, the boy, the sword, the mirror was recovered, but according to the main account of the battle, a Minamato soldier who tried to force open the box containing it was struck blind. The jewel was recovered shortly afterwards by divers, but the sword was lost, Regalia Chrysanthemum Throne Imperial House of Japan Japanese mythology National seals of Japan Order of the Sacred Treasure Shinto
