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Chisaka Takafusa
was a high-ranking samurai in Japan during the Edo period. He was a ''karō'' in the Yonezawa Domain under the Uesugi clan. He is also known as . Although he died prior to the events of the Forty-seven rōnin, he appears in fictional accounts, including the 1971 ''Daichūshingura'' starring Toshirō Mifune. He also appears in the 1999 NHK Taiga drama '' Genroku Ryōran''. The Meiji period politician-businessman Chisaka Takamasa was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who went on to become a soldier, government official, and businessman in the Meiji era. He served as a '' karō'' in the Yonezawa Domain's administration. Biography Takamasa was born in 1841 to ... was a descendant of Takafusa. Sources This article incorporates material in 千坂高房 (''Chisaka Takafusa'') in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on February 28, 2008. 1638 births 1700 deaths Karō Uesugi retainers {{samurai-stub ...
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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 ...
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Edo Period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterized by economic growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies, a stable population, perpetual peace, and popular enjoyment of arts and culture. The period derives its name from Edo (now Tokyo), where on March 24, 1603, the shogunate was officially established by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period came to an end with the Meiji Restoration and the Boshin War, which restored imperial rule to Japan. Consolidation of the shogunate The Edo period or Tokugawa period is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's regional '' daimyo''. A revolution took place from the time of the Kamakura shogunate, which existed with the Tennō's court, t ...
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Karō
were top-ranking samurai officials and advisors in service to the ''daimyōs'' of feudal Japan. Overview In the Edo period, the policy of ''sankin-kōtai'' (alternate attendance) required each ''daimyō'' to place a ''karō'' in Edo and another in the home ''Han (Japan), han'' (feudal domain). A ''karō'' who was in charge of a castle was called the ''jōdai karō'' (城代家老), while the one in Edo was called the ''Edo karō'' (江戸家老). A general term for a domain-based ''karō'' is ''kunigarō'' (国家老). Some domains referred to this position as ''bugyō'' (奉行) or ''toshiyori'' (年寄). The shogunate post of ''rōjū'' (elder) had many similarities to that of ''karō''. The famous samurai tale, ''Kanadehon Chūshingura'', describes events involving a ''karō''. The final Asano ''daimyō'' of the Akō Domain, Ako ''han'' was Asano Naganori. While he was in Edo, he was sentenced to commit seppuku for the offense of drawing a sword against Kira Yoshinaka in Ed ...
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Yonezawa Domain
was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Yamagata Prefecture), Japan. It was centered at Yonezawa castle in what is now the city of Yamagata, and its territory extended over the Okitama District of Dewa Province, in what is today southeastern Yamagata Prefecture. It was ruled throughout its history by the Uesugi clan, as '' tozama daimyō'', with an initial income of 300,000 ''koku'', which later fell to 150,000–180,000. The Uesugi were ranked as a , and as such, had the privilege of shogunal audiences in the Great Hall (''Ōhiroma'') of Edo Castle. The domain shifted from a poor, indebted, and corruptly led domain to a very prosperous one in only a few decades in the 1760s–80s. Yonezawa was declared in 1830 by the shogunate to be the paragon of a well-managed domain. Scholar Mark Ravina used Yonezawa as a case study in analysing the political status and conceptions of statehood and identity in the feudal domains of the Edo period (160 ...
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Uesugi Clan
The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries). Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its height, the clan had three main branches: the Ōgigayatsu, Inukake, and Yamanouchi. Its most well-known member is the warlord Uesugi Kenshin (1530–1578). During the Edo period, the Uesugi were a '' tozama'' or outsider clan, in contrast with the '' fudai'' or insider ''daimyō'' clans which had been hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawa clan. History The clan claims descent from the Fujiwara clan, specifically Fujiwara no Yoshikado, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003).html" ;"title="DF 71 of 80)">"Uesugi", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 67 [PDF 71 of 80)/nowiki>">DF 71 of 80)">"Uesugi", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 67 [PDF 71 of 80)/nowiki> retrieved 2013-5-11. who was a ''daijō-daijin'' during ...
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Forty-seven Rōnin
The revenge of the , also known as the or Akō vendetta, is a historical event in Japan in which a band of ''rōnin'' (lordless samurai) avenged the death of their master on 31 January 1703. The incident has since become legendary. It is one of the three major ''adauchi'' vendetta incidents in Japan, alongside the Revenge of the Soga Brothers and the Igagoe vendetta. The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless after their ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) Asano Naganori was compelled to perform ''seppuku'' (ritual suicide) for assaulting a powerful court official named Kira Yoshinaka. After waiting and planning for a year, the ''rōnin'' avenged their master's honor by killing Kira, knowing full well that the authorities would likely not tolerate this vendetta's completion. They were then obliged to commit ''seppuku'' for the crime of murder. This true story was popularized in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor that ...
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Daichūshingura
(Dai Chushingura) is a Japanese television dramatization of the events of the Forty-seven Ronin. The first episode aired on January 5, 1971, and the 52nd and final episode appeared on December 28 of the same year. The NET network broadcast it in the Tuesday evening 9:00–9:56 prime-time slot in Japan. The series featured an all-star cast. The central actor was Toshiro Mifune, who portrayed Ōishi Kuranosuke; Yoko Tsukasa his wife; and kabuki actor Onoe Kikugorō VII their son Chikara. Ichikawa Chūsha VIII took the part of Kira Yoshinaka, but died after the filming of Episode 47; his brother Kodayū replaced him. Many actors appeared as guest stars in only a few episodes. Among them were many known to audiences outside Japan. These included superstar Kinnosuke Nakamura as Wakisaka Awaji-no-kami, Matsumoto Kōshirō, Shintaro Katsu (of Zatoichi fame), Mifune's frequent co-star Takashi Shimura, Eiji Okada, Yukiyo Toake, Kinichi Hagimoto, Terumi Niki, Masaaki Sakai, and Shin ...
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Toshirō Mifune
was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Hidden Fortress'', ''Throne of Blood'', and '' Yojimbo''. He also portrayed Miyamoto Musashi in Hiroshi Inagaki's '' Samurai Trilogy'' and one earlier Inagaki film, Lord Toranaga in the NBC television miniseries ''Shōgun'', and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in three different films. Early life Toshiro Mifune was born on April 1, 1920 in Seitō, Japanese-occupied Shandong (present-day Qingdao, China), the eldest son of Tokuzo and Sen Mifune. His father Tokuzo was a trade merchant and photographer who ran a photography business in Qingdao and Yingkou, and was originally the son of a medical doctor from Kawauchi, Akita Prefecture. His mother Sen was the daughter of a ''hatamoto'', a high-ranking samurai official. Toshiro's parents, who were working as Methodist missionaries, were some of ...
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Genroku Ryōran
was a after Jōkyō and before Hōei. The Genroku period spanned the years from the ninth month of 1688 to the third month of 1704. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 415. The period was known for its peace and prosperity, as the previous hundred years of peace and seclusion in Japan had created relative economic stability. The arts and architecture flourished. There were unanticipated consequences when the shogunate debased the quality of coins as a strategy for financing the appearance of continuing Genroku affluence. This strategic miscalculation caused abrupt inflation. Then, in an effort to solve the ensuing crisis, the introduced what were called the Kyōhō Reforms. Change of era The was 1688. The new era name was created to mark the beginning of the reign of Higashiyama. The previous era ended and the new one commenced in Jōkyō 5, on the 30th day of the 9th month. A sense of optimism is suggested in the era ...
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Meiji Period
The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization by Western powers to the new paradigm of a modern, industrialized nation state and emergent great power, influenced by Western scientific, technological, philosophical, political, legal, and aesthetic ideas. As a result of such wholesale adoption of radically different ideas, the changes to Japan were profound, and affected its social structure, internal politics, economy, military, and foreign relations. The period corresponded to the reign of Emperor Meiji. It was preceded by the Keiō era and was succeeded by the Taishō era, upon the accession of Emperor Taishō. The rapid modernization during the Meiji era was not without its opponents, as the rapid changes to society caused many disaffected traditionalists from the former samurai ...
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Chisaka Takamasa
was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period who went on to become a soldier, government official, and businessman in the Meiji era. He served as a '' karō'' in the Yonezawa Domain's administration. Biography Takamasa was born in 1841 to a prominent samurai family in Akita Prefecture of the Yonezawa Domain. He was the firs son of Takaaki Chisaka, who was the chief retainer of the Yonezawa clan. Government service Takamasa entered official service in 1863 and five years later, in 1863, he was given command of the ''han'' military force. He was promoted as a ''dai-sanji'' (chief councilor) in 1870 and later accompanied the clan lord Shigenori Uesugi on his European tour. When he returned to Japan in 1875, he served in the government's Home Ministry. It is noted that his position in the ministry was not secure due to his Yonezawa roots. The installation of representatives of the central governments from among those who came from the abolished domains was not universally ...
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