Japanese History
This overview is intended to take a year for secondary students.
Ancient Japan:
Core Lessons:
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Heian:
Core Lessons:
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Kamakura:
Core Lessons:
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Sengoku:
Core Lessons:
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Tokugawa:
Core Lessons:
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Core Lessons:
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Notes to Be Sorted:
The Gwanggaeto Stele is a memorial stele for the tomb of Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo, an ancient Korean Kingdom, erected in 414 by his son Jangsu. This monument to Gwanggaeto the Great is the largest engraved stele in the world.[1][2] It stands near the tomb of Gwanggaeto in the present-day city of Ji'an along the Yalu River in Jilin Province, Northeast China, which was the capital of Goguryeo at that time. It is carved out of a single mass of granite, stands approximately 6.39m tall and has a girth of almost four meters. The inscription is written exclusively in Hanja.
The stele is one of the major primary sources for the history of Goguryeo, and supplies invaluable historical detail on Gwanggaeto's reign as well as insights into Goguryeo mythology. It has also become a focal point of national rivalries in East Asia manifested in the interpretations of the stele's inscription and the place of Goguryeo in modern historical narratives. An exact replica of the Gwanggaeto Stele stands on the grounds of War Memorial of Seoul[3] and the rubbed copies made in 1881 and 1883 are in the custody of China and Japan.[4]
The Samguk sagi (Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms) reported that Baekje and Silla sent their princes as hostages to the Yamato court in exchange for military support to continue their military campaigns; King Asin of Baekje sent his son (Jeonji) in 397,[28] and King Silseong of Silla sent his son Misaheun in 402.[29] Hogong, from Japan, helped to found Silla.[30]
According to the Gwanggaeto Stele, Silla and Baekje were client states of Japan. Korea says that part of the stele can be translated in four different ways, depending on punctuation and supplying missing characters.[31] The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences investigated the stele and reported that it reads, "Silla and Baekje were client states of Japan".[32]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamatai
The Soga–Mononobe conflict (丁未の乱, Teibi no ran, lit. "Conflict during the 44th of the sexagenary cycle"; 552-587 AD) was a political and military dispute that took place in Japan during the Asuka Period between the pro-Shinto Mononobe clan, led by Mononobe no Moriya, and the pro-Buddhist Soga clan, led by Soga no Umako, which would eventually emerge victorious.
LESSON: FUDOKI
Fudoki (風土記) are ancient reports on provincial culture, geography, and oral tradition presented to the reigning monarchs of Japan, also known as local gazetteers. They contain agricultural, geographical, and historical records as well as mythology and folklore.[1] Fudoki manuscripts also document local myths, rituals, and poems that are not mentioned in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki chronicles, which are the most important literature of the ancient national mythology and history. In the course of national unification, the imperial court enacted a series of criminal and administrative codes called ritsuryō and surveyed the provinces established by such codes to exert greater control over them.[2]
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TSUCHIGUMO - start with the evil spiders, then work back to the historical origins
Tsuchikumo Female chieftain in Ashiho Yama
Burial caves in the groves of Kasama
Tsuchigumo (土蜘蛛; also written 土雲, literally "dirt/earth spider") is a historical Japanese derogatory term for renegade local clans, primarily during the Asuka, Nara, and early Heian periods, and also the name for a race of spider-like yōkai in Japanese folklore. Alternative names for the historical groups include kuzu (国栖),[1] and for the mythological Tsuchigumo, yatsukahagi (八握脛; roughly "eight-grasp shins," referring to their long legs)[2] and ōgumo (大蜘蛛; "giant spider").[3] In the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, the name was phonetically spelled with the four kanji 都知久母 (for the four morae tsu-chi-gu-mo).[4] References to "tsuchigumo" appear in the chronicles associated with Emperor Jimmu, Emperor Keiko, and Empress Jingū, and these words were frequently used in the Fudoki (ancient reports on provincial culture, geography, and oral tradition) of various provinces, including Mutsu, Echigo, Hitachi, Settsu, Bungo, and Hizen.[1][4]
The term "Tsuchigumo" (earth/dirt spider) is believed to be derived from an older derogatory term, tuchigomori (土隠), meaning "those who hide in the ground".[5][6] This name likely referred to the fact that many of these clans utilized existing cave systems or built fortified dugouts and earthworks (Japanese: 土窟; tsuchi-muro or iwa-muro) in which to live and defend themselves.[1] The term was used by the Yamato court as a generalized pejorative against chieftains and clans who would not submit to Imperial authority, regardless of their ancestry or location. They were often described in official records like the Nihon Shoki and various Fudoki as possessing "the nature of a wolf, the heart of an owl," being violently resistant, and dwelling in mountain caves or earthen fortifications.[1] Some descriptions portrayed them as having abnormal physical characteristics; the "Jimmu" chapter of the Nihon Shoki describes them as "short in stature but long in limbs, similar to pygmies (侏儒)," while an excerpt from the lost Echigo Fudoki mentions Tsuchigumo with "shins eight 'tsuka' [hand-breadths] long, and possessing great strength."[1] These descriptions likely served to dehumanize these groups and emphasize their "otherness" from the perspective of the Yamato state.
Historian Sōkichi Tsuda (ja) pointed out that, unlike terms like Kumaso and Emishi which referred to distinct groups, "Tsuchigumo" as used in the Fudoki often appears as the designation for specific individuals rather than entire peoples.[1] Historian Yoshiyuki Takioto (ja) further suggests that these individuals were likely local chieftains whose power stemmed from shamanistic authority. This is supported by accounts in the Kyushu Fudoki where certain Tsuchigumo figures appear as priests or mediums involved in agricultural rituals or appeasing angered deities (kami).[1]
The transformation of the Tsuchigumo into a monstrous, giant spider-like yōkai occurred during the Japanese medieval period (late 12th to early 17th centuries). One of the earliest and most influential depictions is found in variant texts of The Tale of the Heike, particularly the "Sword Scroll" (tsurugi-no-maki), which was compiled in the early 13th century. In this version, the creature is called a yamagumo (山蜘蛛, "mountain spider"), and its defeat by the hero Minamoto no Yorimitsu gives rise to the legend of his sword, Kumo-kiri ("Spider-Cutter").[7][8] As depictions evolved through later periods, the Tsuchigumo became increasingly bizarre and monstrous.[9] The 14th-century emakimono (picture scroll) Tsuchigumo Sōshi portrays it as a colossal monster, and stories involving its extermination often feature Yorimitsu and his legendary retainer Watanabe no Tsuna, heroes also famous for defeating the powerful oni Shuten-dōji.[10] The yōkai Tsuchigumo became a popular subject in Noh theatre, Jōruri puppet plays, and Kabuki.[6] It's important to note that the historical Tsuchigumo have no direct connection to the actual ground spider species Jigumo (Antrodiaetus japonicus).[11] Similarly, the modern Japanese common name for tarantulas (Ōtsuchigumo-ka, オオツチグモ科, Theraphosidae) was inspired by the mythological creature but has no historical link, as tarantulas are not native to Japan.
- Emishi
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Long ago, Minamoto no Yoshitsune fled Takadate and came here to cross over to Ezo, but there was no favorable wind for him to cross, so he stayed here for a few days, and then, unable to bear it any longer, threw his Kannon statue into the seabed. He placed it on a rock and prayed for a favorable wind, and suddenly the wind changed, and he was able to cross over to the land of Matsumae without incident. His statue is still in the temple here, and is known as the Kannon of Yoshitsune's Wind Prayers. There is also a large rock at the edge of the water with three holes lined up like stables. This is where Yoshitsune stood his horses, and for this reason this place is called Sanuma-ya." There is a place called Hiradate on the coast of Ise. North of here, there is a rocky spot jutting out into the sea; this spot is called , you will find a small stream flowing from between the towering mountains and dropping into the sea. The earth and rocks in this valley are all crimson red. Even the water is a deep red, and the way the wet rocks are reflected in the morning sun is truly beautiful and awakening. Many of the pebbles in the sea where the stream falls are also crimson red. The fish in the sea to the north are all red. It is said that because of the vermilion air in the valley, the fish in the sea and even the stones are vermilion, and it is a wonder that both living and non-living beings find this to be."
- Mt. Tsukuha legend - goddess was hospitable to the ancestral deity when the goddess of Mt. Fuji was not
(Record of Wind and Earth, 41)
Takaku - According to the elders, in the remote past, at the beginning of heaven and earth, when even the plants could talk, the god Futsunushi descended from high heaven to make an inspection tour of the Middle Land of the Reed Field. This god pacified the unruly in the mountains and valley of the Middle Land.
When he had subjugated all the unrul people and was planning to return to high heaven, the god Futsunushi removed his august belongings from his person and left them here in Takaku before he ascended into high heaven riding on a white cloud.
- The Kuni Yuzuri
Both Futsunushi and Takemikazuchi are closely associated with the 'transfer of the land' (kuni-yuzuri) myth cycle, which relates how the deities of Takamagahara (the 'Plain of High Heaven') sent various messengers down to earth, to Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni (the 'Central Land of Reed-Plains,' i.e. the land of Japan), in order to demand that its inhabitants submit to their rule.
The main narrative of the second volume of the Nihon Shoki relates that after the failure of the earlier messengers, Ame-no-Hohi and Ame-no-Wakahiko, to perform their mission, the gods of heaven headed by the primordial deity Takamimusubi decide to send Futsunushi, the son of Iwatsutsuno'o and Iwatsutsunome, as their new emissary. Hearing this, the god Takemikazuchi - here identified as the son of Hihayahi - indignantly protests that he is also a stalwart warrior (masurao) like Futsunushi; the gods then agreed to assign him as Futsunushi's companion. The two then make their way to the shores of Itasa (五十田狹之小汀, Itasa no ohama) in the land of Izumo, demanding that the earthly deity Ōnamuchi (Ōkuninushi), the ruler of Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni, relinquish his authority. At the counsel of his son, Kotoshironushi, Ōnamuchi agrees to cede the land and withdraws into invisibility. After this, Futsunushi and Takemikazuchi proceeded to slay all those who refused to submit to them. A variant account adds that the two finally dispatched the god of weaving, Takehazuchi-no-Mikoto (建葉槌命), to subdue the last remaining rebel, the star god Kagaseo (香香背男). With all resistance gone, the two gods went back to heaven to report the success of their mission.[12]
- Ibaraki
thorn branches in the caves to kill the tsuchigumo
Kuorsaka constructed a fortress of thorn branches
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In Japanese mythology, Yomotsu Hirasaka (黄泉比良坂 or 黄泉平坂) is a slope or boundary between the world of the dead (Yomi) and the world of the living.
Overview
The myth, which holds that there is a boundary place between the realms where the living and the dead reside, is an idea that is shared by the Sanzu River and others, and can be found throughout the world. In Japanese mythology, Yomotsu Hirasaka is thought to be an impression from the stone structure of kofun and the road leading to the stone chamber that housed the coffin.
In Kojiki, it appears twice in the upper part of the book, and there is a tradition that it is located at Ifuyasaka in Izumo Province.[1] The word "hira" is said to mean "cliff".[2]
Places of connection
Shimane Prefecture, Matsue City, Higashiizumo Town erected a stone monument in 1940 in Iya, Higashiizumo, Shimane as the place where Hiraizumi Hiraizaka was located. A huge stone, said to be the rock of Senbiki, is also placed at the site. Nearby is the Iya Shrine, which is dedicated to Izanami. In the 2010 Japanese film, Matataki, the location was used as a location for the main character's visit to see his dead girlfriend.[3]
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Ōtarashihiko (大帯日子) wore the sacred comma-shaped bead tied to the upper cord fastener of his sacred long sword, and reached Akashi Kōri to woo Inami no Waki Iratsume (印南別嬢) for her hand in marriage. When Waki Iratsume heard about this she was astonished, and fled to hide at Nabitsuma (南毗都麻) Island.[a] While he was asking after her at Kako no Matsubara (賀古松原, Kako Pine Grove), he came across a dog that was facing out to sea and howling. Realising that this must be Waki Iratsume's dog, the King crossed to the island. Because it was where his wife (tsuma) hid (nabita), it was called Nabitsuma Island. Having found her, the King proposed and they married.
Many years passed. Waki Iratsume died, and she was to be interred at Hioka. Her body was placed in a boat to cross the Inami River, but just then a whirlwind blew up and swirled her remains into the river. They searched for her remains to no avail. All that they found were her comb box and a thin stole, which they placed in her tomb. That was why it was called Hirehaka (Scarf Tomb) — now known as Hioka Ryōkofun.
The King grieved and said “We shall not eat the fish from this river.” From then on, the ayu (年魚, sweetfish) of this river were no longer served at the royal table.[36][37][38]
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Masaki - Tattooed eyes: This refers to a type of permanent eyeshadow, which is applied to the outer edges of the eyes in a particular design so as to make them look
larger. A comparable custom is observed by a small number of Ainu who live in
Hokkaido today.
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Village of Shijimi. {The condition of the soil is about average.} Shijimi
was named for a clam that climbed up to the edge of Prince Izahowake’s
tice bowl. While Prince Izahowake was having a meal in this village,
he noticed a small clam that had climbed to the edge of his rice bowl.
The prince said, “This clam is identical to one I ate at Wanasa in
Aha.” That is how the village came to be called Shijimi (small clam) .!°
Shijimi is the place where the princes Oke and Woke [later known
as emperors Ninken and Kenso] spent their youth in exile. Following
the murder of their father, Prince Ichinohe [the son of Emperor Richu],
at Kutawatano in Afumi, the two princes fled to this village with the
assistance of Omi of the Kusakabe no Muraji. There they found shelter
in a stone cave.!
LESSON: SUMO
Takemikazuchi was a god of thunder, swordsmanship, and conquest, created from the blood that was shed when Izanagi slew the fire-demon Kagu-tsuchi. Takeminakata was a god of water, wind, agriculture and hunting, and a distant descendant of the storm-god Susanoo. When Takemikazuchi sought to conquer the land of Izumo, Takeminakata challenged him in hand-to-hand combat. In their melee, Takemikazuchi grappled Takeminakata's arm and crushed it "like a reed," defeating Takeminakata and claiming Izumo.[6][7]
The Nihon Shoki, published in 720, dates the first sumo match between mortals to the year 23 BC, when a man named Nomi no Sukune fought against Taima no Kuehaya at the request of Emperor Suinin and eventually killed him, making him the mythological ancestor of sumo.[5][8] According to the Nihon Shoki, Nomi broke a rib of Taima with one kick, and killed him with a kick to the back as well.[6] Until the Japanese Middle Ages, this unregulated form of wrestling was often fought to the death of one of the fighters.[5] The first historically-attested sumo fights were held in 642 at the court of Empress Kōgyoku to entertain a Korean legation. In the centuries that followed, the popularity of sumo within the court increased its ceremonial and religious significance. Regular events at the Emperor's court, the sumai no sechie, and the establishment of the first set of rules for sumo fall into the cultural heyday of the Heian period.
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Prince Shōtoku (聖徳太子, Shōtoku Taishi, February 7, 574 – April 8, 622[1]), also known as Prince Umayado (厩戸皇子, Umayado no ōjî) or Prince Kamitsumiya (上宮皇子, Kamitsumiya no ōji), was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Hashihito, who was also Yōmei's younger half-sister. His parents were relatives of the ruling Soga clan[2] and also he was involved in the defeat of the rival Mononobe clan.[3] The primary source of the life and accomplishments of Prince Shōtoku comes from the Nihon Shoki. The Prince is renowned for modernizing the government administration and for promoting Buddhism in Japan.[4]
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Kojiki (古事記, "Records of Ancient Matters" or "An Account of Ancient Matters"), also sometimes read as Furukotofumi[1] or Furukotobumi,[2][a] is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641[3] concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the kami (神), and the Japanese imperial line. It is claimed in its preface to have been composed by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Genmei in the early 8th century (711–712), and thus is usually considered to be the oldest extant literary work in Japan.[4][5] The myths contained in the Kojiki as well as the Nihon Shoki (日本書紀) are part of the inspiration behind many practices. Later, they were incorporated into Shinto practices such as the misogi purification ritual.[6][7][8]
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Prince Shōtoku (聖徳太子, Shōtoku Taishi, February 7, 574 – April 8, 622[1]), also known as Prince Umayado (厩戸皇子, Umayado no ōjî) or Prince Kamitsumiya (上宮皇子, Kamitsumiya no ōji), was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Hashihito, who was also Yōmei's younger half-sister. His parents were relatives of the ruling Soga clan[2] and also he was involved in the defeat of the rival Mononobe clan.[3] The primary source of the life and accomplishments of Prince Shōtoku comes from the Nihon Shoki. The Prince is renowned for modernizing the government administration and for promoting Buddhism in Japan.[4]
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Shinsen Shōjiroku (新撰姓氏録, "New Selection and Record of Hereditary Titles and Family Names") is an imperially commissioned Japanese genealogical record. Thirty volumes in length, it was compiled under the order of Emperor Saga by his brother, the Imperial Prince Manta (万多親王, 788–830). Also by Fujiwara no Otsugu and Fujiwara no Sonohito et al. It was initially completed in 814, but underwent a revision to be recompleted in 815.
imperial ancestry: 335 families
divine ancestry: 404 families; of which 246 were of direct heavenly descent, 128 were of heavenly cadet descent, and 30 of earthly divine descent.
foreign: 326 families; of which, 163 were from China, 104 from Baekje, 41 from Goguryeo, 9 from Silla, and 9 from Gaya.
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The Isshi Incident (乙巳の変, Isshi no Hen) takes its name from the zodiological name of the year 645 during which the Taika Reform, a transformative event in Japanese Imperial history, occurred.
The incident was a successful plot by Nakatomi no Kamatari, Prince Naka no Ōe and others who conspired to eliminate the main branch of the Soga clan, beginning with the assassination of Soga no Iruka.[1]
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The Emishi (蝦夷) (also called Ebisu and Ezo), written with Chinese characters that literally mean "shrimp barbarians," constituted an ancient ethnic group of people who lived in parts of Honshū, especially in the Tōhoku region, referred to as michi no oku (道の奥, roughly "deepest part of the road") in contemporary sources.
The first mention of the Emishi in literature that can be corroborated with outside sources dates to the 5th century AD,[citation needed] in which they are referred to as mojin ("hairy people") in Chinese records.[a] Some Emishi tribes resisted the rule of various Japanese Emperors during the Asuka, Nara and early Heian periods (7th–10th centuries AD).
-Amongst these Eastern savages the Yemishi are the most powerful; their men and women live together promiscuously; there is no distinction of father and child. In winter, they dwell in holes; in summer, they live in nests. Their clothing consists of furs, and they drink blood. Brothers are suspicious of one another. In ascending mountains, they are like flying birds; in going through the grass, they are like fleet quadrupeds. When they receive a favour, they forget it, but if an injury is done them they never fail to revenge it. Therefore, they keep arrows in their top-knots and carry swords within their clothing. Sometimes, they draw together their fellows and make inroads on the frontier. At other times, they take the opportunity of the harvest to plunder the people. If attacked, they conceal themselves in the herbage; if pursued, they flee into the mountains. Therefore, ever since antiquity, they have not been steeped in the kingly civilizing influences.
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The Fujiwara no Hirotsugu rebellion (藤原広嗣の乱, Fujiwara no Hirotsugu no ran) was an unsuccessful Nara period rebellion led by Fujiwara no Hirotsugu (藤原広嗣) in the Japanese islands, in the year 740. Hirotsugu, dissatisfied with the political powers, raised an army in Dazaifu, Kyushu but was defeated by government forces.
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Masatake Morita (森田 正馬, Morita Masatake, 1874–1938), also read as Shōma Morita, was a contemporary of Sigmund Freud and the founder of Morita therapy, a branch of clinical psychology strongly influenced by Zen Buddhism.[1] In his capacity as the head of psychiatry for a large Tokyo hospital, Morita began developing his methods while working with sufferers of shinkeishitsu, or anxiety disorders with a hypochondriac base.
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Fudoki (風土記) are ancient reports on provincial culture, geography, and oral tradition presented to the reigning monarchs of Japan, also known as local gazetteers. They contain agricultural, geographical, and historical records as well as mythology and folklore.[1] Fudoki manuscripts also document local myths, rituals, and poems that are not mentioned in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki chronicles, which are the most important literature of the ancient national mythology and history. In the course of national unification, the imperial court enacted a series of criminal and administrative codes called ritsuryō and surveyed the provinces established by such codes to exert greater control over them.[2]
- 940
Taira no Masakado (平将門, died March 25, 940) was a Heian period provincial magnate (gōzoku) and samurai based in eastern Japan, notable for leading the first recorded uprising against the central government in Kyōto.[1]
When Masakado was preparing for his revolt, a vast swarm of butterflies appeared in Kyōto, a portent of the upcoming battle.
Over the centuries, Masakado became a demigod to the locals who were impressed by his stand against the central government, while at the same time feeling the need to appease his malevolent spirit. The fortunes of Edo and Tokyo seemed to wax and wane correspondingly with the respect paid to the shrine built to him at the kubizuka — neglect would be followed by natural disasters and other misfortunes. Hence, to this day, the shrine is well maintained, occupying some of the most expensive land in the world in Tokyo’s financial district facing the Imperial Palace.
- feuding warrior monks
Warrior monks first appeared during the Heian period,[3] when bitter political feuds began between different temples, different subsects of Buddhism, over imperial appointments to the top temple positions (abbot, or zasu). Much of the fighting over the next four centuries was over these sorts of political feuds, and centered around the temples of Kyoto, Nara, and Ōmi, namely the Tōdai-ji, Kōfuku-ji, Enryaku-ji, and Mii-dera, the four largest temples in the country.
The first armed conflict broke out in 949, when 56 monks from Tōdai-ji staged a protest at the residence of a Kyoto official, over an appointment that displeased them. Protests of this sort continued through the 10th century, often breaking out into brawls in which some participants would be killed. In 970, following a dispute between Enryaku-ji and the Yasaka Shrine of Kyoto, the former established the first standing army of warrior monks. It is not entirely clear whether this standing army consisted of monks from Enryaku-ji or was more like a mercenary army, since Ryōgen, the abbot who established this army, also established a code of monastic conduct that prevented monks from leaving Mount Hiei during their twelve-year training, from covering their faces, and from carrying weapons.
Beginning in 981, there were a number of armed conflicts between Enryaku-ji and Mii-dera, each the head temple of a different sub-sect of Tendai. These disputes were, as before, over political appointments and dishonorable etiquette. More often than not, these were cases of members of one faction being chosen as the abbot of the other faction's temple, and the monks would protest. This continued, on and off, once stopping for as long as 40 years, through the 11th and into the 12th century. The armies became larger and the violence increased, until in 1121 and 1141 Mii-dera was burned to the ground by monks from Enryaku-ji. Other temples became embroiled in the conflicts as well, and Enryaku-ji and Mii-dera united against Kōfuku-ji, and, another time, against Kiyomizu-dera.
LESSON: The Tale of Hogen
Heiji
Heike
The First Shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo
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The Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry (三十六歌仙, Sanjūrokkasen) are a group of Japanese poets of the Asuka, Nara, and Heian periods selected by Fujiwara no Kintō as exemplars of Japanese poetic ability. The oldest surviving collection of the 36 poets' works is Nishi Honganji Sanju-rokunin Kashu ("Nishi Honganji 36 poets collection") of 1113. Similar groups of Japanese poets include the Kamakura period Nyōbō Sanjūrokkasen (女房三十六歌仙), composed by court ladies exclusively, and the Chūko Sanjūrokkasen (中古三十六歌仙), or Thirty-Six Heian-era Immortals of Poetry, selected by Fujiwara no Norikane [ja] (1107–1165). This list superseded an older group called the Six Immortals of Poetry.
Sets of portraits (essentially imaginary) of the group were popular in Japanese painting and later woodblock prints, and often hung in temples.
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The Kanki famine (寛喜の飢饉, Kanki no kikin), also spelled as Kangi famine, was a famine which affected Japan during the Kamakura period. The famine is considered to have begun in 1230 and lasted until 1231. It was named after the Kangi era (1229–1232), during the reign of Emperor Go-Horikawa. The shogun of Japan was Kujō Yoritsune. The famine was severe throughout Japan. It was caused by cold weather caused probably by volcanic eruptions, coupled later with a general breakdown of society.
The anomalous cold weather started in 1229, resulting in a shortage of food. As the excessive rains,[1] cold spells and blizzards destroyed crops in July 1230, the shortage developed into famine, and people started to die en masse in September 1230. The lack of sunlight and cold was so severe what the winter clothing was necessary in spring and summer.[2] The relief efforts by Emperor and Shogunate were generally ineffective, as no food was available at all. To ease population mobility in the worst stricken areas, human trafficking was legalized in 1231, among other means - confiscations and forced food distribution. The social order broke down, and bands of marauding robbers (including former Buddhist monks) became common. The strife spilled even to Goryeo, as starving residents of Kyushu raided coastal towns for food. The weather reversed to warm in winter of 1230-1231, again resulting in crop failure in 1231, this time due to lack of soil moisture and scarcity of seeds.
Overall, about one third of the population of Japan perished (dead numbering 1,500,000-2,000,000), meaning the Kanki famine may be the worst in Japanese history. In the same years, the great famine also struck Kievan Rus' and Novgorod.[3]
1274, 1281 - Kamikaze
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The Kenmu Restoration (建武の新政, Kenmu no shinsei) was a three-year period of Imperial rule in Japanese history between the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period from 1333 to 1336.[1]
Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 Go-Daigo-tennō) (26 November 1288 – 19 September 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2] He successfully overthrew the Kamakura shogunate in 1333 and established the short lived Kenmu Restoration to bring the Imperial House back into power. This was to be the last time the emperor had real power until the Meiji Restoration in 1868.[3] The Kenmu restoration was in turn overthrown by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336, ushering in the Ashikaga shogunate, and split the imperial family into two opposing factions between the Ashikaga backed Northern Court situated in Kyoto and the Southern Court based in Yoshino led by Go-Daigo and his later successors.
Kusunoki Masashige (楠木 正成, 1294 – 4 July 1336) was a Japanese samurai of the Kamakura period remembered as the ideal of samurai loyalty.
Kusunoki became a popular legend in Japan representing loyalty and virtue, and associated with the phrase "Would that I had seven lives to give for my country!" (七生報國; "Shichishō Hōkoku!"). Kusunoki was posthumously awarded the highest court rank in Japan, Senior First Rank (shō ichi-i), by the Meiji government in 1880, over 500 years after his death.
The Nanboku-chō period (南北朝時代, Nanboku-chō jidai, "South and North courts period", also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period), spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the formative years of the Muromachi bakufu of Japanese history.
Sokushinbutsu - It's from Japan and is the act of waiting until you die by starving. They would then die in the state of meditation mummified by themselves.
Yasuke - the black samurai from the 1500's
Bird-worm, large, small seal script
Dejima -> their perception of the western world -> Dutch theme parks today
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Isaac Titsingh FRS (c. January 1745 – 2 February 1812) was a Dutch diplomat, historian, Japanologist, and merchant.[1] During a long career in East Asia, Titsingh was a senior official of the Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC)). He represented the European trading company in exclusive official contact with Tokugawa Japan, traveling to Edo twice for audiences with the shogun and other high bakufu officials.
Isaac Titsingh can be described as being the only philosopher employed by the VOC in its almost two hundred years existence and the most sophisticated of all VOC employees in the trading post history of the VOC in Japan (1600–1853).
Sonno Joi
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Shishi (志士), sometimes known as Ishin Shishi (維新志士), were a group of Japanese political activists of the late Edo period. While it is usually applied to the anti-shogunate, pro-sonnō jōi (尊皇攘夷; lit. 'Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarian[s]') samurai primarily from the southwestern clans of Satsuma, Chōshū, and Tosa, the term shishi is also used by some with reference to supporters of the shogunate, such as the Shinsengumi.
There were many different varieties of shishi. Some, such as the assassins Kawakami Gensai, Nakamura Hanjirō, Okada Izō, and Tanaka Shinbei, opted for a more violent approach in asserting their views. Kawakami Gensai, in particular, is recalled as the assassin of Sakuma Shōzan, a renowned pro-Western thinker of the time. Several assaults on westerners in Japan have been attributed to the shishi and associated rōnin warriors. In a 2013 article, these assassins have been called "early terrorists" (German: frühe Terroristen) since they opted to spread terror among the foreigners. Other more radical shishi, such as Miyabe Teizō, plotted large-scale attacks with little regard for public safety. Miyabe himself was one of the ringleaders of the plot, foiled by the Shinsengumi at the Ikedaya Incident, to burn Kyoto at the height of the Gion Festival.
As mentioned above, shishi were not necessarily in support of bringing down the shogunate. Shishi from Mito were responsible for the death of the shogunal grand councilor Ii Naosuke, who was a signatory to treaties that favored foreign nations, and who had placed an underaged boy on the shogunal throne. Other Mito men and women arose in the Tengutō Rebellion, over the next several years. While these were definitely actions against the shōgun's government, they did not oppose the shōgun himself—indeed, the Mito shishi, who were retainers of a relative of the shōgun, believed they were only helping him.
Other shishi had more scholastic leanings. A prime example of this was the scholar Yoshida Shōin of Chōshū. He founded the Shokason-juku school, and educated many of the future government leaders of Meiji era Japan. Yoshida had connections to many prominent figures of the Bakumatsu era: Kawai Tsugunosuke, Katsu Kaishū, the aforementioned Sakuma Shōzan, and others.[citation needed]
The more radical shishi from Chōshū and Satsuma went on to form the core leadership of the nascent Meiji Government. Some, such as Itō Hirobumi and Yamagata Aritomo, remained prominent figures in Japanese politics and society until the early decades of the 20th century.
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In recent years, a new appreciation of the pirates has been popularised in Japan, in part thanks to historian and television presenter Junko Yamada. Her book Kaizoku Ga Tsukutta Nihonshi (Japan's History Made by Pirates), published in 2017, describes the pirates as "heroes of the sea" because of the important part they played in major turning points of the country's island-nation history.''
Fukuzawa Yukichi
After returning to Japan from his trips abroad, Fukuzawa wrote Seiyo Jijo (‘Things Western’), a popular, simple-to-read multivolume compilation of his observations on Western life and institutions. He also wrote two groundbreaking books on learning and civilisation, founded a newspaper Jiji Shimpo (‘Current Events’), a university, Keiō-Gijuku, and even wrote a children’s book on world geography. As a testament to Fukuzawa’s broad influence on Japanese life, today Keio University in Tokyo remains one of Japan’s top schools. Fukuzawa became the most productive and influential intellectual of the modern era. Not only did Japanese elites read his books, but they were also recited out loud to peasants in Japanese villages.
https://aeon.co/essays/is-westernisation-fact-or-fiction-the-case-of-japan-and-the-us
So too, with Reischauer’s second example of Americanisation: American missionaries in Japan. He believed that American missionaries shaped Japan’s destiny as a modern Christian nation. In fact, the story of Christianity in Japan reads more like Japanisation than Americanisation. Small numbers of elite Samurai converted to Christianity in the late 19th century, and then they turned the tables on the missionaries and relentlessly pursued a campaign of indigenisation. They took over the YMCA’s governing boards and executive positions, the YWCA, the major churches, and the missionary-run Doshisha University in Kyoto. They also argued that Japanised Christianity, now controlled by Japanese Christians, not by missionaries, should become the central religious pillar of Japanese nationalism. In retrospect, they were less successful in persuading the Japanese to accept Christianity than in kicking out foreign missionaries. Today, Japanese Christians comprise less than 1 per cent of Japan’s population.
1930 -
Musha Incident - The Musha Incident (Chinese and Japanese: 霧社事件; pinyin: Wùshè Shìjiàn; Wade–Giles: Wu4-she4 Shih4-chien4; rōmaji: Musha Jiken; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bū-siā Sū-kiāⁿ), also known as the Wushe Rebellion and several other similar names, began in October 1930 and was the last major uprising against colonial Japanese forces in Japanese Taiwan. In response to long-term oppression by Japanese authorities, the Seediq indigenous group in the settlement of Musha (Wushe) attacked a Japanese village, killing over 130 Japanese. In response, the Japanese led a relentless counter-attack, killing over 600 Seediq in retaliation. The handling of the incident by the Japanese authorities was strongly criticised,[by whom?] leading to many changes in Aboriginal policy.
1941 - america puts an oil embargo on japan and japan offers peace in response for lift of embargo; proposal rejected by the americans, konoe's cabinet falls and is replaced by hideki tojo
November 26 - THE HULL NOTE - FDR wanted to avert crisis with Japan but one of stalin's spies, harry dexter white, using lines given to him by his NKVD handler, wrote up a memorandum that was given by the secretary of state to the japanese ambassador
AKA american foreign policy to Japan was literally being written by the soviets
and without this, pearl harbor may never have happened
December 1 - hirohito meets with tojo's cabinet; tojo states that diplomacy has broken down
December 8
simultaneously, japan attacks singapore, hong kong, and malaysia, bringing britain into the pacific war; us territory of the philippines
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BLUE GREEN COLOR FUSION: culturally treated as the same category - surely they saw differences, but as different types of ao - but they had to accept modern color theory after WWII
Modern Japanese has a separate word for green, midori (緑), although its boundaries are not the same as in English. Ancient Japanese did not have this distinction: the word midori only came into use in the Heian period, and at that time (and for a long time thereafter) midori was still considered a shade of ao. Educational materials distinguishing green and blue only came into use after World War II, during the Occupation: thus, even though most Japanese consider them to be green, the word ao is still used to describe certain vegetables, apples and vegetation. Ao is also the name for the color of a traffic light, "green" in English. However, most other objects—a green car, a green sweater, and so forth—will generally be called midori. Japanese people also sometimes use the English loanword gurīn (グリーン) for colors. The language also has several other words meaning specific shades of green and blue.
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Kiyotaka Katsuta incident - serial killer who appeared on quiz shows and so forth in between strangling ladies
Lindsay Ann Hawker Murder
2020s:
danna-shine death note for wives to write why and how they want their husbands to die
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japanese protestants are upper class - "The Origin of the Social Status of Protestant Christianity in Japan" by Fujio Ikado"