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Ashiura Kannon-ji
is a Buddhist temple of the Tendai sect located in the city of Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The temple was founded in the Hakuho period and its grounds were designated a National Historic Site in 2004. The complex includes several Muromachi or Edo Period buildings, two of which are designated as Important Cultural Properties. History The foundations of Ashiura Kannon-ji are uncertain. According to the temple's legend, it was founded by Prince Shōtoku and Hata no Kawakatsu and belonged to the Sanron sect of early Japanese Buddhism. It is known that the Hata clan controlled much of the area of Ōmi Province during this period, and archaeological excavations have found Hakuho period roof tiles confirming that a temple existed here since the late 7th century AD. At some point it fell into ruins, and it was restored in 1408 as a temple of the Tendai school. The location of the temple is strategic point for amphibious and land transportation in the southeastern part of L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans Japanese archipelago, an archipelago of List of islands of Japan, 6852 islands covering ; the five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu (the "mainland"), Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa Island, Okinawa. Tokyo is the Capital of Japan, nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto. Japan is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh most populous country in the world, as well as one of the List of countries and dependencies by population density, most densely populated and Urbanization by country, urbanized. About three-fourths of Geography of Japan, the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Buddhism
Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since about the 6th century CE. Japanese Buddhism () created many new Buddhist schools, and some schools are original to Japan and some are derived from Chinese Buddhist schools. Japanese Buddhism has had a major influence on Japanese society and culture and remains an influential aspect to this day.Asia SocietBuddhism in Japan accessed July 2012 According to the Japanese Government's Agency for Cultural Affairs estimate, , with about 84 million or about 67% of the Japanese population, Buddhism was the religion in Japan with the second most adherents, next to Shinto, though a large number of people practice elements of both. According to the statistics by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2021, the religious corporation under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan had 135 million believers, of which 47 million were Buddhists and most of them were believers of new schools of Buddh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daikan
''Daikan'' (代官) was an official in Japan that acted on behalf of a ruling monarch or a lord at the post they had been appointed to. Since the Middle Ages, ''daikan'' were in charge of their territory and territorial tax collection. In the Edo period, ''daikan'' were local governors in charge of the government and security of domain and shogunate territories. History In the Middle Ages, ''azukaridokoro'' and ''ukesho'' referred to ''daikan'' of a feudal lord, and ''shugo-dai'' and ''jitō-dai'' referred to ''daikan'' of ''shugo'' and ''jitō'' governors, respectively. In the Azuchi-Momoyama period, territorial rulers in charge of local tax collection were called ''daikan''. In the Edo period, high-ranking ''hatamoto'' retainers of the shogun were appointed ''daikan'' to govern the shogunal demesne across Japan and were given a 50,000-100,000 ''koku'' territory. The ''daikan'' worked from their administrative headquarters (''jin'ya'') at their territory or their mansion in E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
, otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Course of History, Viking Press 1988. p. 68. Hideyoshi rose from a peasant background as a Affinity (medieval), retainer of the prominent lord Oda Nobunaga to become one of the most powerful men in Japan. Hideyoshi succeeded Nobunaga after the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582 and continued Nobunaga's campaign to unite Japan that led to the closing of the Sengoku period. Hideyoshi became the ''de facto'' leader of Japan and acquired the prestigious positions of Daijō-daijin, Chancellor of the Realm and Sesshō and Kampaku, Imperial Regent by the mid-1580s. Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592 to initial success, but eventual military stalemate damaged his prestige before his death in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sengoku Period
The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Various samurai warlords and Japanese clans, clans fought for control over Japan in the power vacuum, while the emerged to fight against samurai rule. The Nanban trade, arrival of Europeans in 1543 introduced the arquebus into Japanese warfare, and Japan ended its status as a Tributary system of China, tributary state of China in 1549. Oda Nobunaga dissolved the Ashikaga shogunate in 1573 and launched a war of political unification by force, including the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War, until his death in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582. Nobunaga's successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his campaign to unify Japan and consolidated his rule with numerous influential reforms. Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea (159 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ise Grand Shrine
The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and . The Inner Shrine, Naikū (also officially known as "Kōtai Jingū"), is located in the town of Uji-tachi, south of central Ise, and is dedicated to the worship of Amaterasu, where she is believed to dwell. The shrine buildings are made of solid cypress wood and use no nails but instead joined wood. The Outer Shrine, ''Gekū'' (also officially known as "Toyouke Daijingū"), is located about six kilometers from Naikū and dedicated to Toyouke-Ōmikami, the god of agriculture, rice harvest and industry. Besides Naikū and Gekū, there are an additional 123 Shinto shrines in Ise City and the surrounding areas, 91 of them connected to Naikū and 32 to Gekū. Purportedly the home of the Sacred Mirror, the shrine is one of Shinto's holiest and most imp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heian-kyō
Heian-kyō was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the official capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180. Emperor Kanmu established it as the capital in 794, moving the Imperial Court there from nearby Nagaoka-kyō at the recommendation of his advisor Wake no Kiyomaro and marking the beginning of the Heian period of Japanese history. According to modern scholarship, the city is thought to have been modelled after the urban planning for the Tang dynasty Chinese capital of Chang'an (modern-day Xi'an).. It remained the chief political center until 1185, when the samurai Minamoto clan defeated the Taira clan in the Genpei War, moving administration of national affairs to Kamakura and establishing the Kamakura shogunate. Though political power would be wielded by the samurai class over the course of three different shogunates, Heian remained the site of the Imperial Court and seat of Imperial p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tōkaidō (road)
The , which roughly means "eastern sea route," was the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period in Japan, connecting Kyoto to Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Unlike the inland and less heavily travelled Nakasendō, the Tōkaidō travelled along the sea coast of eastern Honshū, hence the route's name. Traveling the Tōkaidō The standard method of travel was on foot, as wheeled carts were almost nonexistent and heavy cargo was usually sent by boat. Members of the higher class, however, travelled by ''kago''. Women were forbidden to travel alone and had to be accompanied by men. Other restrictions were also put in place for travellers, but, while severe penalties existed for various travel regulations, most seem not to have been enforced. Captain Sherard Osborn, who travelled part of the road in around 1858, noted that: Along the Tōkaidō, there were government-sanctioned post stations (shukuba) for travellers' rest. These stations consisted of porter stations and horse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nakasendō
The , also called the ,Richard Lane, ''Images from the Floating World'' (1978) Chartwell, Secaucus ; pg. 285 was one of the five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto in Japan. There were 69 stations (staging-posts) between Edo and Kyoto, crossing through Musashi, Kōzuke, Shinano, Mino and Ōmi provinces.Nakasendou Jouhou . NEC Corporation. Retrieved August 18, 2007. In addition to Tokyo and Kyoto, the Nakasendō runs through the modern-day prefectures of Saitama, , |
Tōsandō
is a Japanese geographical term. It means both an ancient division of the country and the main road running through it. It is part of the ''Gokishichidō'' system. It was situated along the central mountains of northern Honshu, specifically the Tōhoku region. This term also refers to a series of roads that connected the of each of the provinces that made up the region. The Tōsandō region encompasses eight ancient provinces. *Ōmi Province *Mino Province *Hida Province *Shinano Province *Kōzuke Province *Shimotsuke Province *Mutsu Province *Dewa Province After 711 AD, Tōsandō was understood to include the Musashi province. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōsandō''" in . See also * Comparison of past and present administrative divisions of Japan * Nakasendō (post-Sekigahara Tōsandō) * Sanriku, neighbouring region Notes References * Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005) ''Japan encyclopedia.''Cambridge: Harvard University Press. OCLC 58053 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Biwa
is the largest freshwater lake in Japan, located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13th oldest lake in the world. Because of its proximity to Kyoto, references to Lake Biwa appear frequently in Japanese literature, particularly in poetry and in historical accounts of battles. Name The name ''Biwako'' was established in the Edo period. There are various theories about the origin of the name ''Biwako'', but it is generally believed to be so named because of the resemblance of its shape to that of a stringed instrument called the ''biwa''. Kōsō, a learned monk of Enryaku-ji in the 14th century, gave a clue to the origin of the name ''Biwako'' in his writing: "The lake is the Pure land of the goddess Benzaiten because she lives on Chikubu Island and the shape of the lake is similar to that of the ''biwa'', her favorite instrume ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roof Tile
A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of temperature, and wind. A roof is part of the building envelope. The characteristics of a roof are dependent upon the purpose of the building that it covers, the available roofing materials and the local traditions of construction and wider concepts of architectural design and practice, and may also be governed by local or national legislation. In most countries, a roof protects primarily against rain. A verandah may be roofed with material that protects against sunlight but admits the other elements. The roof of a garden conservatory protects plants from cold, wind, and rain, but admits light. A roof may also provide additional living space, for example, a roof garden. Etymology Old English 'roof, ceiling, top, summit; heaven, sky', also fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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