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Botchan Ressha
The , or simply ''Botchan'', is a diesel-powered replica of a small-gauge steam locomotive installed in the city of Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan in 1888 as the original Iyo Railway, which was the first railway company in Shikoku and third in the nation. The reconstructed locomotives are now a tourist attraction, alternating with electric trams on two of the Iyo Railway's city lines. The original railway The original 0-4-0 (B) type steam locomotives built by Krauss & Company in Munich were imported to Matsuyama in 1888. The narrow-gauge () locomotives used Stephenson valve gears and ran on coal. The 4.5 mile line ran every hour from Mitsuhama to Togawa (now Matsuyama City Station) stopping at Komachi station. In the 1894 ''Murray's Handbook'' Chamberlain and Mason wrote, "This is a pretty little journey across the mountain-girt plain, in whose centre rises the wooded hill crowned by Matsuyama castle, which comes in view before reaching the intermediate station of Komachi." The train ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osman Edwards
Osman Edwards (18 February 1864 – 30 April 1936) was a British writer, translator, and critic, best known for his works introducing European and Japanese drama to English readers. Early life Osman Edwards was born in Liverpool, England, on 18 February 1864 and died in London on 30 April 1936. His father, Osman Frederick Adams Edwards, was a captain in the British army. Edwards studied classics at Christ's Hospital and became a master at Merton College, Oxford, from 1883 to 1887 and then at the Reading School from 1889 to 1891. According to Frederic Sharf, "Edwards had a private income, enabling him to leave his teaching responsibilities and embark on a ten-year period of extensive travel to France, Germany, Norway, Russia, and Japan." He studied the national theatrical arts of the countries he visited, contributed articles to English magazines on dramatic subjects, and translated plays and other theatre-related writings from European languages into English, including ''Short St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Densha De Go!
is a Japanese train simulation game series originally produced by Taito and more recently by Square Enix (who purchased Taito) and Railfan Holdings Co., Ltd. The series started with a 1996 arcade version and was first released in a home version for the PlayStation in 1997. There are also PC versions released by the Japanese publisher Unbalance. All of the games in the series are exclusively available in Japanese. Overview Each ''Densha de Go'' title contains actual train (or tram) routes based on real services in Japan. For the most part, the user's task is to drive the train and adhere to a very exacting timetable, including stopping at stations to within as little as 30 cm of a prescribed stopping point, ideally within half a second of the scheduled arrival time. While the specifics vary slightly between versions, generally speaking along the way, the user is expected to obey speed limits and other posted signs, sound a warning for work parties along the track, arrive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Train Simulator
A train simulator (also railroad simulator or railway simulator) is a computer based simulation of rail transport operations. They are generally large complicated software packages modeling a 3D virtual reality world implemented both as commercial trainers, and consumer computer game software with 'play modes' which lets the user interact by stepping inside the virtual world. Because of the near view modeling, often at speed, train simulator software is generally far more complicated and difficult software to write and implement than flight simulator programs. Industrial train simulations Like flight simulators, train simulators have been produced for railway training purposes. Driver simulators include those produced by: Transurb Simulation a Belgian-based company * FAAC (the training division of Arotech Corporation) in the United States * Ongakukan in Japan * EADS in Germany * Bentley Systems in the UK Lander Simulation & Training Solutions, Spain CORYS a French company ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taito
is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It began production of video games in 1973. In 2005, Taito was purchased by Square Enix, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary by 2006. Taito is recognized as an important industry influencer in the early days of video games, producing a number of hit arcade games such as ''Speed Race'' (1974), ''Western Gun'' (1975), ''Space Invaders'' (1978), ''Bubble Bobble'' (1986) and ''Arkanoid'' (1986). Alongside Capcom, Konami, Namco and Sega, it is one of the most prominent video game companies from Japan and the first that exported its games into other countries. Several of its games have since been recognized as important and revolutionary for the industry - ''Space Invaders'' in particular was a major contributor to the growth of video games in the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Botchan
is a novel written by Japanese author Natsume Sōseki in 1906. It is one of the most popular Japanese novels, read by many during their school years. The central theme of the story is morality, but the narrator serves up this theme with generous sides of humor and sarcasm. Background The story is based on the author's personal experience as a teacher dispatched to Matsuyama on the island of Shikoku. Sōseki was born in Tokyo, and dwelling in Matsuyama was his first experience living elsewhere. The novel is set at a middle school identified by critics as Matsuyama's present day Ehime Prefectural Matsuyama Higashi High School. Plot summary Botchan (young master) is the first-person narrator of the novel. He grows up in Tokyo as a reckless and rambunctious youth. In the opening chapter he hurts himself jumping from the second floor of his elementary school, fights the boy next door, and tramples a neighbor's carrot patch by wrestling (sumo style) on the straw that covers th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natsume Sōseki
, born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels ''Kokoro'', '' Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', '' Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work '' Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of British literature and writer of haiku, '' kanshi'', and fairy tales. From 1984 until 2004, his portrait appeared on the front of the Japanese 1,000 yen note. Early years Natsume Kin'nosuke was born on 9 February 1867 in the town of Babashita, Ushigome, Edo (present Kikui, Shinjuku, Tokyo), the fifth son of village head (''nanushi'') Natsume Kohē Naokatsu and his wife Chie. His father, a powerful and wealthy ''nanushi'', owned all land from Ushigome to Takadanobaba in Edo and handled most civil lawsuits at his doorstep. He was a descendant of Natsume Yoshinobu, a Sengoku period samurai and retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Sōseki began his life as an unwanted child, born to his mother late in her life, forty years old and his father then fifty-three. When he was born, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Netsuke
A is a miniature sculpture, originating in 17th century Japan. Initially a simply-carved button fastener on the cords of an box, later developed into ornately sculpted objects of craftsmanship. History Traditionally, Japanese clothing – first the and its later evolution, the kimono – did not have pockets. Though the sleeves of the kimono could be used to store small items, the men who wore kimono needed a larger and stronger container in which to store personal belongings, such as pipes, tobacco, money and seals, resulting in the development of containers known as , which were hung by cords from the robes' sashes (). These containers may have been pouches or small woven baskets, but the most popular were crafted boxes () held shut by , sliding beads on cords. Whatever the form of the container, the fastener that secured the cord at the top of the sash was a carved, button-like toggle called a . , like and , evolved over time from being strictly utilitarian into object ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eliza Scidmore
Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore () (1856–1928) was an American author, geographer, and photographer, who became the first woman to sit on the board of trustees of the National Geographic Society. She visited Japan many times between 1885 and 1928. Life Scidmore was born October 14, 1856, in Clinton, Iowa. She attended Oberlin College. Her interest in travel was enhanced by the professional position of her brother, George Hawthorne Scidmore, a career diplomat who served in the Far East from 1884 to 1922. Often, Eliza was able to accompany her brother on assignments and his diplomatic position gave her entry into regions inaccessible to ordinary travelers. Upon a return to Washington, D.C., in 1885, Eliza espoused her famous idea of planting many Japanese cherry trees in the capital. At that time, Scidmore found little public interest in her cherry tree project, but she did find a great deal of interest in her impressions of Alaska, the subject of her first book, ''Alaska, Its Southern C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matsuyama Station (Ehime)
is a passenger railway station located in the city of Matsuyama, Ehime, Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by JR Shikoku and has the station number "Y46". Lines Matsuyama Station is served by the JR Shikoku Yosan Line and is located 194.4 km from the beginning of the line at . Express trains head from Matsuyama to Okayama on Honshū, connecting with the Sanyō Shinkansen, and also to . The Okayama service is known as the ''Shiokaze (train), Shiokaze'' and the Takamatsu service is known as the ''Ishizuchi'' (the name of the Mount Ishizuchi, highest mountain on Shikoku). Southwards from Matsuyama, the ''Uwakai'' express train heads southwards to . There are some through trains from Okayama and Takamatsu to Uwajima that stop at Matsuyama. Layout Matsuyama Station has one side platform serving one track (No. 1) and is directly connected to the station building and an island platform serving two tracks (Nos. 2 and 3). The two platforms are connected by an footbr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dōgo Onsen
is a hot spring in the city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Japan. History Dōgo Onsen is one of the oldest hot springs in Japan, with a history stretching back over 1000 years. The springs are mentioned in the Man'yōshū (written c. 759) and, according to legend, Prince Shōtoku (574–622) used to partake of the waters. Dōgo Onsen was the favorite retreat of writer Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916) when he was working near Matsuyama as a teacher in what was at the time rural Shikoku. In Soseki's loosely autobiographical novel '' Botchan'', the eponymous main character is a frequent visitor to the springs, the only place he likes in the area. Description Dōgo Onsen is famous for the Dōgo Onsen public bathhouse, which was organized by Dōgo Yunomachi mayor Isaniwa Yukiya and built in 1894. Built on three levels for maximum capacity, the baths remain popular and are usually crowded at peak times, such as in the early evening before dinner. While Dōgo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
