Before The Dawn (novel)
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Before The Dawn (novel)
is Tōson Shimazaki's most famous historical novel. It was originally published in ''Chūō Kōron'' in 1929 as a serial work. Shinchosha later published the work in novel form, with the first part being released in January 1932 and the second part being released in November 1935. It started with the phrase "The entire Kisoji is in the mountains" (木曾路はすべて山の中である ''Kisoji wa subete yama no naka de aru'').''Yoakemae'' (Part 1a)
Tōson Shimazaki. Aozora Bunko. Accessed May 14, 2008.
The Kisoji ran through Shimazaki's hometown in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Following a character modeled closely after Tōson's own father Shimazaki Masaki, the novel carries its story through the turbulent decades before and after the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate sparked by the arrival of Matthew Perry (naval officer), Comm ...
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Department Of Divinities
The , also known as the Department of Shinto Affairs, Department of Rites, Department of Worship, as well as Council of Divinities, was a Japanese Imperial bureaucracy established in the 8th century, as part of the ''ritsuryō'' reforms. It was first consolidated under Taihō Code which established the and Daijō-kan, the . However, the department and Daijō-kan made its first appearance in the Asuka Kiyomihara Code. While ''Daijō-kan'' handled secular administrative affairs of the country, ''Jingi-kan'' oversaw almost all matters related to Shintō, particularly of ''kami'' worship. In other words, the general function of ''jingi-kan'' includes to oversee ''kami''-related affairs at court, provincial shrines, performance rites for the , as well as coordinating the provinces' ritual practices with those in the capital based on a code called , which roughly translates to "Code of Celestial and Terrestrial Deities" or "Code of Heavenly and Earthly Gods". While the department exist ...
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Itō Hirobumi
was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of Japan. He was also a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior statesmen that dictated Japanese policy during the Meiji era. A London-educated samurai of the Chōshū Domain and a central figure in the Meiji Restoration, Itō Hirobumi chaired the bureau which drafted the Constitution for the newly formed Empire of Japan. Looking to the West for inspiration, Itō rejected the United States Constitution as too liberal and the Spanish Restoration as too despotic. Instead, he drew on British and German models, particularly the Prussian Constitution of 1850. Dissatisfied with Christianity's pervasiveness in European legal precedent, he replaced such religious references with those rooted in the more traditionally Japanese concept of a ''kokutai'' or "national polity" which hence became the constitutional justification for imperial authority. During the 1880s, Itō emerged as the most p ...
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Itagaki Taisuke
Count was a Japanese politician. He was a leader of the "Freedom and People's Rights Movement" and founded Japan's first political party, the Liberal Party. Biography Early life Itagaki Taisuke was born into a middle-ranking ''samurai'' family in Tosa Domain, (present day Kōchi Prefecture), After studies in Kōchi and in Edo, he was appointed as ''sobayonin'' (councillor) to Tosa ''daimyō'' Yamauchi Toyoshige, and was in charge of accounts and military matters at the domain's Edo residence in 1861. He disagreed with the domain's official policy of '' kōbu gattai'' (reconciliation between the Imperial Court and the Tokugawa shogunate), and in 1867–1868, he met with Saigō Takamori of the Satsuma Domain, and agreed to pledge Tosa's forces in the effort to overthrow the ''shōgun'' in the upcoming Meiji Restoration. During the Boshin War, he emerged as the principal political figure from Tosa domain as a leader of the Jinshotai assault force, and claimed a place in the ...
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Matsudaira Yorinori (Shishido)
was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period. He was the ninth feudal lord of the Shishido han (Hitachi Province) and the Daimyō of 10,000 '' koku''. His father, Matsudaira Yoritaka, was the eighth feudal lord of the Shishido han. Career Yorinori succeeded Yoritaka, who retired in 1846. Yorinori acted as an assistant to , the elder brother of Tokugawa Yoshinobu. Yoritaka, who retired as the lord, helped his son be appointed as a sub-assistant. Tokugawa Yoshiatsu was the tenth feudal lord of the Mito Domain, which was the Shishido han's head family. In 1864, Yorinori was ordered by the Shogunate to proceed to Mito, in order to deal with an uprising of the Tengu Party, whose members had proposed the policy with the motto of "Revere the emperor, expel the barbarians". The Tengu Party was dissatisfied with the foreign policy of the Shogunate. However, Yorinori failed to deal with the Tengu Party's threat due to his sympathy for their cause, Yorinori was a believer of , a prop ...
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Tokugawa Yoshikatsu
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the late Edo period, who ruled the Owari Domain as its 14th (1849–1858) and 17th daimyō (1870–1880). He was the brother of Matsudaira Katamori. His childhood name was Hidenosuke (秀之助). Early years Yoshikatsu was born in the Takasu Domain residence (Yotsuya neighborhood of Edo). His mother was Norihime (daughter of Tokugawa Harutoshi), Tokugawa Nariaki was his maternal uncle, and the future shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu was his cousin. The most recent four daimyos of the Owari Domain had been foster sons sent to Owari from lineages close to the Shogunal family: Tokugawa Naritomo (10th, 1800–1827) Tokugawa Nariharu (11th, 1827–1839), Tokugawa Naritaka (12th, 1839–1845), Tokugawa Yoshitsugu (13th, 1845–1849). These daimyo been remote rulers, especially the 11th, Nariharu, who had spent all his time in Edo without making a single trip to Owari, resulting in low morale amongst the Owari samurai. Because Yoshikatsu was perceived as being m ...
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Takeda Kōunsai
was a Japanese samurai from Mito Domain and councillor to the ''daimyō'' of Mito Domain, Tokugawa Nariaki, in Bakumatsu period Japan. He became the leader of the Mito Rebellion and was executed by the Tokugawa shogunate with a large number of his followers shortly before the Meiji Restoration. Biography Although Takeda Kōunsai claimed descent from the famous Takeda clan of Kai Province, his immediate ancestor was a Takeda retainer named Atobe Katsusuke, and his claimed connection with the Takeda clan is somewhat tenuous. In 1817, when he inherited his father's 300 '' koku'' fief, he changed his surname from Atobe Hikokurō (跡部彦九郎) to Takeda Masaki (武田正生). As a senior advisor to Tokugawa Nariaki, he helped formulate the reforms to the administration and policies of the Tokugawa shogunate that Nariaki was attempting to promote. These included strengthening the shogunate's military forces and to take aggressive action against the foreign warships encroaching ...
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Yamakuni Hyōbu
was a Japanese samurai retainer of the Mito Domain, military strategist, and student of the Hirata school of kokugaku. Biography He was born the eldest son of , a Mito retainer, under the name Yamakuni Tomoaki. His younger brother was . He later adopted the name "Hyōbu". In 1809, Yamakuni succeeded as head of the Yamakuni family and was assigned to the Mito guard division. Thereafter, he served as a strategist within the and in 1823 assumed the post of . In 1830, he was recognized by Tokugawa Nariaki and became a metsuke. At that time Yamakuni was involved in the military reform of the Mito Domain. In 1838, Yamakuni was placed under house arrest for unclear reasons, but was quickly released and reappointed as a military officer in 1840. In 1846, when Nariaki was sentenced to house arrest by the central government, Yamakuni too was arrested due to his political affiliation with him. In 1849, he was pardoned. In 1853, in the aftermath of the arrival of the United States ...
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Kurimoto Jōun
was a Japanese hatamoto samurai, physician, diplomat, philosopher, and journalist. He was also known to have used the name . Biography Jōun was born as the third son of , an official physician to the shogunate. His elder brother, , was a prominent figure in the Shogunate's system of medical research institutes. After preparatory study at the academy run by the Cheng–Zhu scholar , Jōun enrolled as a student at the Yushima Seidō. He soon graduated with excellent grades. In 1848, Jōun succeeded into the Kurimoto family of physicians, and became a personal physician to the shogun. During that time, he also lectured on medicine. In 1858, he was ordered to relocate to Ezo and settled in Hakodate, then a major outpost of the Matsumae clan. According to Shimazaki Tōson, the reason for this relegation was Jōun earning the ire of , chief of the Shogunate medical staff, by trying to recruit test passengers for the newly built Kankō Maru. In the following years, Jōun devote ...
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Tsunoda Tadayuki
was a Japanese scholar of kokugaku. He was also a Shinto priest. Biography Tsunoda Tadayuki was born in 1834 in the remote village of Nagadoro (now within the city of Saku, Nagano Prefecture), the second son of , a kannushi of the local Chikatsu Shrine. Additionally, his father served as a tutor to the Naitō daimyo of Iwamurada Domain and an instructor at the domain school, the . Little is known of his early life and childhood. In 1855, he absconded from his domain and travelled to Edo in order to study under the mitogaku theorist . Around that time, he formally became a disciple of the kokugaku theologian , heir to the legacy of Hirata Atsutane. Later, in 1863, Tsunoda was one of a group of anti-foreign extremists who carried out the at Tōji-in in the vicinity of Kyoto. He was thereafter hunted by shogunate spies and hid for several years in the residence of , a fellow Hirata disciple, in the Ina Valley of the Tenryū River. In 1867, with the imminent outbreak ...
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Shimazaki Masaki
was a Japanese honjin master, student of kokugaku, and Shinto priest. He was the father of Shimazaki Tōson. He primarily wrote under the name of , but later in life also adopted the names and finally . His courtesy name was , and he was referred to by relatives as , the family's hereditary name. Biography Shimazaki Masaki was born under the name Kanatarō to , hereditary chief of the Magome relay station in the Kiso Valley. As a young boy, he also used the name After an introduction by of Nakatsugawa, Masaki became an exceptionally dedicated disciple of the nativist Shintō theology of Motoori Norinaga and Hirata Atsutane under the tutelage of , a student of the samurai-scholar Aoyama Kagemichi of Naegi Domain, the first Hirata disciple in the region. The theory of Hirata Atsutane, a fundamentalist, that the importation of foreign ideas like Buddhism in ancient times had corrupted a pristine, theocratic Japanese nation powerfully influenced Masaki for the rest of h ...
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Joseph Stein
Joseph Stein (May 30, 1912 – October 24, 2010) was an American playwright best known for writing the books for such musicals as ''Fiddler on the Roof'' and '' Zorba''. Biography Born in New York City to Jewish parents, Charles and Emma (Rosenblum) Stein, who had immigrated from Poland, Stein grew up in the Bronx. He graduated in 1935 from CCNY, with a B.S. degree, then earned a Master of Social Work degree from Columbia University in 1937. He began his career as a psychiatric social worker from 1939 until 1945, while writing comedy on the side.Cote, David. "Now that he's a rich man", ''The Times'' (London), May 14, 2007, p. 16 A chance encounter with Zero Mostel led him to start writing for radio personalities, including Henry Morgan, Hildegarde, Tallulah Bankhead, Phil Silvers, and Jackie Gleason. He later started working in television for Sid Caesar when he joined the writing team of ''Your Show of Shows'' that included Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Neil S ...
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