|
John Blackthorne
John Blackthorne is the hero of James Clavell's 1975 novel ''Shōgun'', and is loosely based on the life of the 17th-century English navigator William Adams, who was the first Englishman to visit Japan. The character also appears in the 1980 TV miniseries ''Shōgun'', played by Richard Chamberlain. Fictional biography In the novel, Blackthorne is a described as a navigator, who is the "first English pilot ever to get through Magellan's Pass", working for Dutch traders in 1598 who navigates his ship, the ''Erasmus'', to Japan, where he and the surviving crew are immediately imprisoned. A Protestant like his crewmates, Blackthorne is branded as a heretic by the Portuguese Jesuits who control all foreign trade in Japan, though the Jesuits are powerless to kill him outright due to local political considerations. Blackthorne is taken to Lord Toranaga (also based on an historical figure, Tokugawa Ieyasu), the ''daimyō'' in control of the territory in which Blackthorne and the ''Erasm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osaka Castle
is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Layout The main tower of Osaka Castle is situated on a plot of land roughly one square kilometre. It is built on two raised platforms of landfill supported by sheer walls of cut rock, using a technique called burdock piling, each overlooking a moat. The central castle building is five stories on the outside and eight stories on the inside, and built atop a tall stone foundation to protect its occupants from attackers. The Main Tower is surrounded by a series of moats and defensive fortifications. The castle has 2 moats (an inner & outer). The inner castle moat lies within the castle grounds, and consists of 2 types: a wet (northern-easterly) and dry (south-westerly). Outer moat meanwhile surrounds the entire castle premise, denotes the castle's outer limits, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fictional English People
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditional narrow sense, "fiction" refers to written narratives in prose often referring specifically to novels, novellas, and short stories. More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games. Definition Typically, the fictionality of a work is publicly marketed and so the audience expects the work to deviate in some ways from the real world rather than presenting, for instance, only factually accurate portrayals or characters who are actual people. Because fiction is generally understood to not fully adhere to the real world, the themes and conte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asian Saga Characters
{{disambiguation ...
Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asia ** Asian (cat), a cat breed similar to the Burmese but in a range of different coat colors and patterns * Asii (also Asiani), a historic Central Asian ethnic group mentioned in Roman-era writings * Asian option, a type of option contract in finance * Asyan, a village in Iran See also * * * East Asia * South Asia * Southeast Asia * Asiatic (other) Asiatic refers to something related to Asia. Asiatic may also refer to: * Asiatic style, a term in ancient stylistic criticism associated with Greek writers of Asia Minor * In the context of Ancient Egypt, beyond the borders of Egypt and the cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian Dunross
''Noble House'' is a novel by James Clavell, published in 1981 and set in Hong Kong in 1963. It is the fourth book published in Clavell's ''Asian Saga'' and is chronologically the fifth book in the series. The "Noble House" in the title is the nickname of Struan's, the trading company first introduced in Clavell's ''Tai-Pan''. The novel is over a thousand pages long, and contains dozens of characters and numerous intermingling plot lines. In 1988, it was adapted as a television miniseries for NBC, starring Pierce Brosnan. The miniseries updates the storyline of the novel to the 1980s. Plot summary ''Noble House'' is set in 1963 and serves as a sequel to Clavell's novel ''Tai-Pan''. Ian Dunross, the 10th tai-pan of Struan's and a descendant of founder Dirk Struan, struggles to rescue the company from the precarious financial position left by his predecessor. To this end, he seeks partnership with American millionaire Lincoln Bartlett, while trying to ward off his arch-rival Q ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noble House (book)
''Noble House'' is a novel by James Clavell, published in 1981 and set in Hong Kong in 1963. It is the fourth book published in Clavell's ''Asian Saga'' and is chronologically the fifth book in the series. The "Noble House" in the title is the nickname of Struan's, the trading company first introduced in Clavell's ''Tai-Pan''. The novel is over a thousand pages long, and contains dozens of characters and numerous intermingling plot lines. In 1988, it was adapted as a television miniseries for NBC, starring Pierce Brosnan. The miniseries updates the storyline of the novel to the 1980s. Plot summary ''Noble House'' is set in 1963 and serves as a sequel to Clavell's novel ''Tai-Pan''. Ian Dunross, the 10th tai-pan of Struan's and a descendant of founder Dirk Struan, struggles to rescue the company from the precarious financial position left by his predecessor. To this end, he seeks partnership with American millionaire Lincoln Bartlett, while trying to ward off his arch-rival Qui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Izu, Shizuoka
is a city located in central Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 30,678 in 13,390 households, and a population density of 84 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Izu is located in the north-central portion of the Izu Peninsula, and includes most of the Amagi Mountains. The region is hilly and some 80% of the city area is covered by forest. The Kano River runs through the city, which has a short coastline to the west on Suruga Bay of the Pacific Ocean. The area is part of the Izu-Tobu volcanic region, and is therefore subject to frequent earthquakes, and the city also has numerous hot springs as a result. Warmed by the Kuroshio Current, the area enjoys a warm maritime climate with hot, humid summers and mild, cool winters. Surrounding municipalities *Shizuoka Prefecture **Numazu **Izunokuni ** Itō ** Higashiizu ** Kawazu ** Nishiizu Demographics Per Japanese census data, the population of Izu has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nagasaki, Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region have been recognized and included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Part of Nagasaki was home to a major Imperial Japanese Navy base during the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War. Near the end of World War II, the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made Nagasaki the second and, to date, last city in the world to experience a nuclear attack (at 11:02 am, August 9, 1945 'Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)'). , the city has an estimated population of 407,624 and a population density of 1,004 people per km2. The total area is . History Nagasaki as a Jesuit port of call The first contact with Portuguese explorers occurred in 1543. An early visitor was Fernão Mendes Pinto, who came from Sagres on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tai-Pan
A tai-pan (,Andrew J. Moody, "Transmission Languages and Source Languages of Chinese Borrowings in English", ''American Speech'', Vol. 71, No. 4 (Winter, 1996), pp. 414-415. literally "top class"汉英词典 — ''A Chinese-English Dictionary'' 1988 新华书店北京发行所发行 (Beijing Xinhua Bookshop).), sometimes spelt taipan, is a foreign-born senior business executive or entrepreneur operating in China or Hong Kong. History In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, ''tai-pans'' were foreign-born businessmen who headed large ''Hong'' trading houses such as Jardine, Matheson & Co., Swire and Dent & Co., amongst others. The first recorded use of the term in English is in the ''Canton Register'' of 28October 1834.''Oxford English Dictionary'' (2nd edn, 1989). Historical variant spellings include ''taepan'' (first appearance), ''typan'', and ''taipan''. The term also refers to the Chinese-Filipino business oligarchs who own or having involvement in various bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malcolm Struan
''Gai-Jin'' (Japanese for "foreigner") is a 1993 novel by James Clavell, chronologically the third book in his Asian Saga, although it was the last to be published. Taking place about 20 years after the events of ''Tai-Pan'', it chronicles the adventures of Malcolm Struan, the son of Culum and Tess Struan, in Japan. The story delves deeply into the political situation in Japan and the hostility Westerners faced there, and is loosely based on the Namamugi Incident and the subsequent Anglo-Satsuma War. Plot summary The story opens with a fictional rendition of the Namamugi Incident. On September 14, 1862, Phillip Tyrer, John Canterbury, Angelique Richaud, and Malcolm Struan are riding on the Tōkaidō, when they are attacked by Shorin Anato and Ori Ryoma, both Satsuma samurai and ''rōnin'' shishi in the ''sonnō jōi'' movement, cells of revolutionary xenophobic idealists. Canterbury is killed, Malcolm seriously wounded, and Tyrer receives a minor arm injury; only Angelique ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gai-Jin (novel)
''Gai-Jin'' (Japanese for "foreigner") is a 1993 novel by James Clavell, chronologically the third book in his Asian Saga, although it was the last to be published. Taking place about 20 years after the events of ''Tai-Pan'', it chronicles the adventures of Malcolm Struan, the son of Culum and Tess Struan, in Japan. The story delves deeply into the political situation in Japan and the hostility Westerners faced there, and is loosely based on the Namamugi Incident and the subsequent Anglo-Satsuma War. Plot summary The story opens with a fictional rendition of the Namamugi Incident. On September 14, 1862, Phillip Tyrer, John Canterbury, Angelique Richaud, and Malcolm Struan are riding on the Tōkaidō, when they are attacked by Shorin Anato and Ori Ryoma, both Satsuma samurai and ''rōnin'' shishi in the ''sonnō jōi'' movement, cells of revolutionary xenophobic idealists. Canterbury is killed, Malcolm seriously wounded, and Tyrer receives a minor arm injury; only Angeliq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asian Saga
The ''Asian Saga'' is a series of six novels written by James Clavell between 1962 and 1993. The novels all centre on Europeans in Asia, and together explore the impact on East and West of the meeting of these two distinct civilizations. Overview The name ''Asian Saga'' was first applied to the series after ''Shōgun'' had been published. The purpose of the ''Asian Saga'' was, according to Clavell—descendant of a family long in service to the British Empire, and who was a prisoner of war of the Japanese during the Second World War—to tell "the story of the Anglo-Saxon in Asia". Ordered by publication date: # '' King Rat'' (1962) # ''Tai-Pan'' (1966) # ''Shōgun'' (1975) # '' Noble House'' (1981) # ''Whirlwind'' (1986) # ''Gai-Jin'' (1993) Ordered by internal chronology: # ''Shōgun:'' set in feudal Japan, 1600. 1152 pages. # ''Tai-Pan:'' set in Hong Kong, 1841. 727 pages. # ''Gai-Jin:'' set in Japan, 1862. 1126 pages. # '' King Rat:'' set in a Japanese POW camp, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
