1.
Yamaguchi Prefecture
–
Yamaguchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Chūgoku region of the main island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Yamaguchi, in the center of the prefecture, the largest city, however, is Shimonoseki. Yamaguchi Prefecture was created by the merger of the provinces of Suō, during the rise of the samurai class during the Heian and Kamakura Periods, the Ouchi family of Suō Province and the Koto family of Nagato Province gained influence as powerful warrior clans. In the Muromachi Period, Ouchi Hiroyo, the 24th ruler of the Ouchi family conquered both areas of Yamaguchi Prefecture, the Ouchi clan imitated the city planning of Kyoto. They gained great wealth through cultural imports from the continent and trade with Korea, as a result, Yamaguchi came to be known as the Kyoto of the West, and Ouchi culture flourished. Sue Harutaka defeated the 31st ruler of the Ouchi clan, the Sue clan was then defeated by Mōri Motonari, and the Mōri family gained control of the Chugoku region. Yamaguchi was ruled as part of the Mōri clan domain during the Sengoku period, Mōri Terumoto was then defeated by Tokugawa Ieyasu in the battle of Sekigahara in 1600. He was forced to give up all his land except for the Suō and Nagato areas, Mōri sought to strengthen the economic base of the region and increase local production with his Three Whites campaign. After Commodore Matthew Perrys opening of Japan, clans from Nagato played a key role in the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, four years after the Edo Shogunate was overthrown and the Meiji government formed in 1868, the present Yamaguchi Prefecture was established. The Meiji government brought in new systems and modern policies. In the Taisho period, from 1912 to 1926, shipbuilding, chemical, machinery, during the post-World War II Shōwa Period, Yamaguchi developed into one of the most industrialized prefectures in the country due to the establishment of petrochemical complexes. Thirteen cities are located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, These are the towns in each district, For the purposes of development analysis, although Yamaguchi is not part of the island of Kyushu, it has become a functional satellite of the Kanmon Straits metropolitan area. The most popular place for tourism is Shimonoseki, for example Karato Fish Market, there is a large fireworks festival in summer. Another attraction is the Kintai Bridge in the town of Iwakuni and this five-arched wooden structure is considered a symbol of Western Honshū. Hagi City is in the north of Yamaguchi and it is a very traditional city. The usual color of Japanese post boxes is red, but in Hagi they are painted green or brown, the Hagi Museum is modeled after a traditional samurai residence. The exhibits are detailed and realistic, and are changed every year, the permanent collection is data about Hagis history and collections about Takasugi Shinsaku. Hagi also contains a reverberatory furnace which has designated a World Heritage Site
2.
Japan
–
Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
3.
Neon Genesis Evangelion (manga)
–
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a long-running manga series by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and Gainaxs co-founder Hideaki Anno and published by Kadokawa Shoten. It began in the February issue of Shōnen Ace in December 1994 and it consists of 14 volumes, each composed of several stages or chapters. Initially released before the series of the same name, the manga was quickly outpaced and only reached its conclusion in June 2013. Neon Genesis Evangelion was created after a meeting between Hideaki Anno and King Records in 1993, although the anime series was conceived first, the manga was the first to be released, to boost public interest in the upcoming TV series while it was still under production. Due to severe production delays, the anime ultimately aired a full 10 months after the manga first appeared in Shōnen Ace. When the series appeared on TV in October 1995, Sadamotos manga storyline had completed what would later become volumes 1 to 3. The anime rapidly outpaced the manga, to the point that the chapters comprising volume 4 were not released until over a year after the TV series had finished airing, for example, between the publication in Japan of volume 4 and volume 5, two years elapsed. While the manga ran for more than 18 years, only 14 volumes were published, in 2008, it was announced that the Neon Genesis Evangelion manga was approaching its conclusion. In July 2009, it was moved to a new Shoten seinen magazine, Young Ace, at that point Sadamoto stopped writing the manga, putting the publication on hiatus in order to work on the latest Rebuild of Evangelion film. The December 2010 issue of Young Ace announced that the manga would resume that winter, on February 12,2012, half of the 90th Stage was published, retelling events as seen in episode 26 from The End of Evangelion. This was reportedly the final chapter, Sadamoto was the original character designer for the anime with Hideaki Anno as the supervisor. His manga versions of the characters and plot often differ in ways from the TV series. Shinji Ikari Shinji Ikari is invited to Tokyo-3 by his father Gendo Ikari to pilot a mecha known as the Evangelion Unit 01. Shinji reluctantly agrees, and despite a rough start he learns to use Unit 01 to protect the city from creatures known as Angels that threaten to destroy mankind, unlike the anime, Shinjis eyes are brown instead of blue. He is also introverted and expresses himself more, although he is still plagued by self-doubt. Rei Ayanami Rei Ayanami is the First Child and pilot of Evangelion Unit 00, at the beginning of the series she is an enigmatic figure whose unusual behavior confounds her peers. However, she becomes more involved with the people around her. She is slightly more talkative than in the anime and becomes connected with the people around her
4.
Rei Ayanami
–
Rei Ayanami is a fictional character from the Japanese media franchise Neon Genesis Evangelion created by Gainax. She is the First Child and pilot of the Evangelion Unit 00, at the beginning of the series, Rei is an enigmatic figure whose unusual behavior astonishes her peers. As the series progresses, she becomes involved with the people around her, particularly her classmate. She is revealed to be a key factor in the events that conclude the storyline and her role in this conclusion is not made entirely clear in the TV series, but is one of the principal plot points of The End of Evangelion. Like many of Evangelions characters, Ayanamis surname comes from a Japanese World War II naval vessel and her first name comes from the character Rei Hino of the anime and manga series Sailor Moon. This was done in an effort to get one of the directors, Kunihiko Ikuhara, to work on Evangelion, however. Hideaki Anno instructed Yoshiyuki Sadamoto on Reis character design that Whatever else, Sadamoto was inspired to draw Rei by the band Kinniku Shōjo Tais theme song Hotai de Masshiro na Shojo. Ukina, a character from Sadamotos previous work Koto served as Reis model, Anno suggested to draw red eyes for the character, a feature that allowed to give her more personality. Also, red eyes distinguish her from the other characters and her blue hair comes from the main character of Aoki Uru. An emotional change causes certain muscles in the face to tense, Rei is expressionless but is it that she doesnt feel emotion, or that she is merely unable to express it. As the series progresses, she begins to develop relationships with others and to show moments of emotion, to even become sad. Her English voice actor, Amanda Winn-Lee describes her saying, Rei is not totally devoid of personality, there is a small spark of humanity, but it is clouded by this huge sense of negative self-worth and the realization that she is expendable. The joy of playing Rei is exploring that small spark, and also said, I got into a weird mode - I cant describe it. Its a good thing Im in a padded room when Im doing it because thats where she belongs. She knows shes expendable, but the thing is, shes still human so you cant do her totally catatonic, no specific information is given about Reis origin or heritage. Ritsuko Akagi states that Rei was born in a room deep in the lower levels of Nerv headquarters. The Red Cross Book stated that Rei was created from the remains of Yui Ikari after Yuis absorption into Unit 01 in 2004. The connection between Rei and Yui is implied a few times during the series, gendo introduces Rei to the Nerv staff in 2010 as an acquaintances child whom he is temporarily taking care of
5.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
–
Neon Genesis Evangelion, commonly referred to as Evangelion or Eva, is a Japanese anime television series produced by Gainax and Tatsunoko Production, and directed by Hideaki Anno. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996, the original Japanese cast includes Megumi Ogata as Shinji Ikari, Megumi Hayashibara as Rei Ayanami, and Yūko Miyamura as Asuka Langley Soryu. The music was composed by Shirō Sagisu, Evangelion is an apocalyptic anime, set in a futuristic Tokyo fifteen years after a worldwide cataclysm. The series explores the experiences and emotions of Evangelion pilots and members of NERV as they attempt to prevent another catastrophe, in the series there are many references to psychoanalytic concepts, such as the oral stage, introjection, oral personality, ambivalence, and the death drive. It features religious symbolism throughout the series, including themes and imagery derived from Kabbalah, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Neon Genesis Evangelion gained widespread critical acclaim. Regarded as a critique and deconstruction of the genre, the series has become a cultural icon and influenced an artistic. Shinji witnesses the United Nations forces battling an Angel, one of a race of giant monstrous beings whose awakening was foretold by the Dead Sea Scrolls. NERV officer Misato Katsuragi escorts Shinji into the NERV complex beneath the city, without training, Shinji is quickly overwhelmed in the battle, causing the Evangelion to go berserk and savagely kill the Angel on its own. Following hospitalization, Shinji moves in with Misato and begins settling into life in Tokyo-3, in his second battle, Shinji destroys an Angel but runs away after the battle, distraught. Misato confronts Shinji and he decides to remain a pilot, Evangelion Unit-00 is repaired and Shinji tries to befriend its pilot, a mysterious, and socially isolated teenage girl named Rei Ayanami. With Reis help, Shinji defeats another Angel, the pilot of Evangelion Unit-02, teenage girl Asuka Langley Soryu, moves in with Misato and Shinji and joins her fellow pilots in defeating the next Angels. Shinjis schoolfriend Toji Suzuhara is selected for Unit-03, but during his first test synchronization with the Evangelion, Shinji is devastated and quits piloting the Evangelion, but is forced to return to destroy an Angel that has defeated both Asuka and Rei. Asuka loses her self-confidence following her defeat, and spirals into a deep depression and this is worsened by her next fight, against an Angel which attacks her mind. In the next battle, Rei self-destructs Unit-00 and dies to save Shinjis life, Misato and Shinji later visit the hospital where they find Rei alive but claiming she is the third Rei. Misato forces Ritsuko to reveal the secrets of NERV, the Evangelion graveyard. Asuka is reduced to a state by her depression. Kaworu, who initially befriends Shinji, is revealed to be the final Angel, Kaworu fights Shinji, then realizes that he must die if humanity is to thrive and asks Shinji to kill him. Despite his initial hesitation, Shinji kills Kaworu, soon after this act, NERV and SEELE trigger the forced evolution of humanity, termed the Human Instrumentality Project, in which the souls of all mankind are merged into one through Rei
6.
Gainax
–
Evangelion has reportedly grossed over 150 billion yen, or approximately 1.2 billion USD. The company is headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo, series produced by Gainax are often known for their controversial twist endings. The Animage Anime Grand Prix has been awarded to Gainax for Nadia, The Secret of Blue Water in 1991, Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1995 and 1996, and The End of Evangelion in 1997. The studio was formed in the early 1980s as Daicon Film by university students Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Hiroyuki Yamaga, Takami Akai, Toshio Okada, Yasuhiro Takeda and Shinji Higuchi. Their first project was a short for the 20th Annual Japan National SF Convention, also known as Daicon III, held in 1981 in Osaka. Though the short had a scope, the animation was rough. The group made a bigger splash with the short they produced for the 22nd Annual Japan National SF Convention, Daicon IV. The action was all set to the Electric Light Orchestra song Twilight, the Daicon IV short firmly established Daicon Film as a talented new anime studio. The studio changed its name to Gainax in 1985, basing the term Gainax on an obscure Tottori Prefecture term for giant, Gainaxs first work as a commercial entity was Royal Space Force, The Wings of Honneamise, released in 1987. Honneamise was critically acclaimed and an anime movie, however. The next release, the 1988 OVA Gunbuster, was a success and put Gainax on a stabler footing to produce works like Nadia. During this period, Gainax also produced a number of such as garage kit. In 1995, Gainax produced perhaps their best known series, the commercially successful and it was later revealed that Gainax had concealed 1. Gainax president Takeshi Sawamura and tax accountant Yoshikatsu Iwasaki were arrested on July 13,1999, I guess he was vulnerable to temptation at that point, because no one knew how long the Evangelion goose would keep laying golden eggs. I dont think he purposely set out with the goal of evading taxes and it was more that our level of accounting knowledge wasnt up to the task of dealing with revenues on such a large scale. In 2004, Gainax marked their 20th anniversary with the production of Diebuster, Gainaxs most recent successes on television have been the popular anime series Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. In August 2011, Gainax was sued by A. D. A. D, vision has asked to be awarded the live-action rights to Evangelion and any accruing legal fees. In 2012, Gainax announced it would be producing its first live-action television series, EAs Rock, Gainax also collaborated with Game Arts in 1992, resulting in the video game Alisia Dragoon
7.
Daicon III and IV Opening Animations
–
The Daicon III and IV Opening Animations are two short, anime,8 mm films that were produced for the 1981 Daicon III and 1983 Daicon IV Nihon SF Taikai conventions. They were produced by a group of animators known as Daicon Film. Daicon III was made by Hideaki Anno, Hiroyuki Yamaga and Takami Akai and Daicon IV credits twelve people, including Yamaga as the director and Anno, in 2001, the anime magazine Animage ranked the Daicon animations as the 35th of the Top 100 anime of all time. The Jet VTOL ship from Ultramans Science Patrol descends out of the sky toward Earth, as a girl, carrying her randoseru. The Science Patrol offer the girl a cup of water and ask her to deliver it to DAICON, the girl salutes and races away, but she quickly experiences trouble as Punk Dragon blocks her path. He summons a mecha from Starship Troopers, and it and the girl begin battling, the girl tosses the mecha aside and Gomora rises from the earth. Using a booster concealed in her backpack, the girl flies up into the sky and evades Gomoras blast and they continue their battle in mid-air. A blow from the mecha sends the girl falling, imperiling her cup of water, at the last moment, she has a vision of the Science Patrol and regains consciousness. She snatches the cup before it crashes to the ground, resuming her battle with the mecha, she catches one of its missiles and hurls it back at the mecha, causing a huge explosion. The destroyed mecha launches a rocket, summoning Godzilla with the Ideon symbol, with King Ghidorah and Gamera chasing her, the girl flies through the air with her jet-propelled backpack. A Star Destroyer, a TIE fighter, and Martian fighting machines from the film The War of the Worlds cross the background, reaching into her backpack, the girl pulls out a bamboo ruler, which magically becomes a lightsaber. After slicing an Alien Baltan in half, the girl launches a number of missiles from her backpack. Hit by one of the missiles, a Maser Tank from the Godzilla series catches fire, the Atragon breaks in two as the Yamato, the USS Enterprise, an X-wing fighter and Daimajin explode in complete chaos. The girl pours her cup of water on a shriveled daikon buried in the ground, as the daikon absorbs the water, it turns into the spaceship Daicon. Bathed in light, and now wearing a uniform, the girl boards the ship. As the landing gear retracts, Daicon departs for the far reaches of the universe, the Daicon IV Opening Animation begins with an abridged, 90-second retelling of the Daicon III Opening Animation set to music by Kitarō. After this, Prologue by Electric Light Orchestra is heard, while the lyrics appear against a starfield, the film proper begins as Prologue segues into Twilight, the song which follows it on the album Time. The girl from the animation is now an adult, wearing a bunny costume
