Kawakami Gensai
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Kawakami Gensai
was a Japanese samurai of the late Edo period. A highly skilled swordsman, he was one of the four most notable assassins of the Bakumatsu period. Gensai's high-speed sword discipline allowed him to assassinate targets in broad daylight. Early life He was born in Kumamoto, Higo Province, Japan in 1834 as the second son to , a retainer of the daimyō of the Kumamoto Domain and his wife . Because Genjiro's older brother Hanzaemon was chosen as the family's heir, at age 11 he was given in adoption to , another Kumamoto retainer and was renamed to Kawakami Gensai. He then entered the domain's school, the Jishūkan (時習館), and followed its academic and martial courses of study. Given his later prowess, it is rather curious to note that during his martial training he apparently did not win many bouts. With regards to this he is said to have commented "''Kenjutsu'' (swordsmanship) with bamboo '' shinai'' is nothing more than play." At age 16 he was called to serve in the Ku ...
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Kumamoto, Higo Province
is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, as of the 2000 census. , Kumamoto Metropolitan Employment Area has a GDP of US$39.8 billion. It is not considered part of the Fukuoka–Kitakyushu metropolitan area, despite their shared border. The city was designated on April 1, 2012, by government ordinance. History Early modern period Shokuhō period Katō Kiyomasa, a contemporary of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was made ''daimyō'' of half of the (old) administrative region of Higo in 1588. Afterwards, Kiyomasa built Kumamoto Castle. Due to its many innovative defensive designs, Kumamoto Castle was considered impenetrable, and Kiyomasa enjoyed a reputation as one of the finest castle-builders in Japanese history. Edo period After Kiyomasa died in 1611, his son, Tadahiro, succeeded him ...
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Shinai
A is a Japanese sword typically made of bamboo used for practice and competition in ''kendo''. ''Shinai'' are also used in other martial arts, but may be styled differently from ''kendo shinai'', and represented with different characters. The light, soft wood used in a ''shinai'' distinguishes it from other wooden swords such as a ''bokken'', which is generally made of heavier, sturdier wood. History The earliest use of a bamboo weapon to train with instead of a sword is credited to Kamiizumi Nobutsuna (1508-1572?) of the Shinkage-ryū. The modern ''shinai'', with four slats of bamboo, is generally credited to Nakanishi Chuzo Tsugutate (died 1801) of Nakanishi-ha Ittō-ryū. The ''shinai'' was developed in an effort to reduce the number of practitioners being seriously injured during practice, making a practice weapon that was less dangerous than , the hard wooden swords they were previously using. This is also the motivation behind the development of , the armour that pr ...
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Genji Yume Monogatari By Shinsai Toshimitsu
Genji may refer to: *Genji (era), an era in Japanese history (1864–65) *Hikaru Genji, the main character of the 11th-century Japanese text ''The Tale of Genji'' *Genji, an alternative name for the Minamoto clan *Genji (woreda), a district of the Oromia Region, Ethiopia Video games * '' Genji: Dawn of the Samurai'', a PlayStation 2 video game * '' Genji: Days of the Blade'', a PlayStation 3 video game * Genji (Overwatch), a player character in the video games ''Overwatch'' and ''Heroes of the Storm'' * Genji the Pollen Prophet, a player character in the video game ''Awesomenauts'' * Genji, a character from ''Pokémon'' series * Genji, a rabbit villager in the video game series ''Animal Crossing is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo. The series was conceptualized and created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. In ''Animal Crossing'', the player character is a human who lives in a village inhab ...'' See also * Kenji (disambiguati ...
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Naginata
The ''naginata'' (, ) is a pole weapon and one of several varieties of traditionally made Japanese blades (''nihontō''). ''Naginata'' were originally used by the samurai class of feudal Japan, as well as by ashigaru (foot soldiers) and sōhei (warrior monks). The naginata is the iconic weapon of the onna-musha, a type of female warrior belonging to the Japanese nobility. Naginata for fighting men and warrior monks were ''ō-naginata'' (大薙刀). The kind used by women were called ''ko-naginata'' (小薙刀). Description A ''naginata'' consists of a wooden or metal pole with a curved single-edged blade on the end; it is similar to the Chinese guan dao or the European glaive. Similar to the katana, naginata often have a round handguard (''tsuba'') between the blade and shaft, when mounted in a koshirae (furniture). The 30 cm to 60 cm (11.8 inches to 23.6 inches) ''naginata'' blade is forged in the same manner as traditional Japanese swords. The blade has a long tang ...
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Ii Naosuke
was ''daimyō'' of Hikone (1850–1860) and also Tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858, until his death, assassinated in the Sakuradamon Incident on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the Harris Treaty with the United States, granting access to ports for trade to American merchants and seamen and extraterritoriality to American citizens. He was also an enthusiastic and accomplished practitioner of the Japanese tea ceremony, in the Sekishūryū style, and his writings include at least two works on the tea ceremony. Under Ii Naosuke’s guidance, the Tokugawa shogunate navigated past a particularly difficult conflict over the succession to the ailing and childless Tokugawa Iesada. Ii Naosuke managed to coerce the Tokugawa shogunate to the last brief resurgence of its power and position in Japanese society before the start of the Meiji period. Ii was assassinated in the Sakuradamon incident by a group of 17 Mito and 1 Satsuma ...
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Ansei Purge
was a multi-year event in Japanese history of the Edo period between 1858 and 1860, during which the Tokugawa shogunate imprisoned, executed, or exiled those who did not support its authority and foreign trade policies. The purge was undertaken by Ii Naosuke in opposition to Imperial Loyalists. History The Ansei Purge was ordered by Ii Naosuke on behalf of the bakufu faction.Cullen, Louis. (2003). ''A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds'', pp. 184–188. He was the Senior Minister during the period preceding the Meiji Restoration and was part of the '' kōbu gattai'', the movement opposed by the Revere the Emperor, Expel the Foreigner (''sonnō jōi'') faction. The purge was carried out in an effort to quell opposition to trade treaties with the United States, Russia, Great Britain, France and the Netherlands, particularly under the U.S. - Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce. It involved the removal from power all opposition by way of imprisonment, torture o ...
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Hayashi Ōen
was a Japanese nationalist, priest, scholar of kokugaku, and Shinto fundamentalist. He was also a physician and military strategist. He is most often known by the pseudonyms or, rarely, . Biography A samurai by birth, Ōen was born the third child of , a retainer of the Kumamoto Domain. He studied under Nagase Masaki, and was noted for his scholarly studies of the Japanese classics of Higo as well as the writings of earlier scholars of the kokugaku movement. Among these, he was particularly influenced by the spiritual and cosmological writings of Hirata Atsutane. A deeply religious man, Ōen placed substantial emphasis on the use of the ''ukehi'' ritual in divination, calling it, "the most wondrous of all Shinto rites". In 1853, Ōen became aware of the arrival of the American naval squadron off the coast at Uraga. He immediately armed himself and, shouldering a votive image of Yahata, traveled to the scene, evidently with the intention of directly engaging the Americans. ...
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Unequal Treaties
Unequal treaty is the name given by the Chinese to a series of treaties signed during the 19th and early 20th centuries, between China (mostly referring to the Qing dynasty) and various Western powers (specifically the British Empire, France, the German Empire, the United States, and the Russian Empire), and the Empire of Japan. The agreements, often reached after a military defeat or a threat of military invasion, contained one-sided terms, requiring China to cede land, pay reparations, open treaty ports, give up tariff autonomy, legalise opium import, and grant extraterritorial privileges to foreign citizens. With the rise of Chinese nationalism and anti-imperialism in the 1920s, both the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party used the concept to characterize the Chinese experience of losing sovereignty between roughly 1840 to 1950. The term "unequal treaty" became associated with the concept of China's "century of humiliation", especially the Concessions in China, concessio ...
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Matthew C
Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chinese Elm ''Ulmus parvifolia'' Christianity * Matthew the Apostle, one of the apostles of Jesus * Gospel of Matthew, a book of the Bible See also * Matt (given name), the diminutive form of Matthew * Mathew, alternative spelling of Matthew * Matthews (other) * Matthew effect * Tropical Storm Matthew (other) The name Matthew was used for three tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean, replacing Mitch after 1998. * Tropical Storm Matthew (2004) - Brought heavy rain to the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, causing light damage but no deaths. * Tropical Storm Matt ...
{{disambiguation ...
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Sankin-kōtai
''Sankin-kōtai'' ( ja, 参覲交代/参覲交替, now commonly written as ja, 参勤交代/参勤交替, lit=alternate attendance, label=none) was a policy of the Tokugawa shogunate during most of the Edo period of Japanese history.Jansen, Marius B. (2000). ''The Making of Modern Japan'', pp. 127–141. The purpose was to strengthen central control over the ''daimyōs'' (major feudal lords). It required feudal lords, ''daimyō'', to alternate living for a year in their domain and in Edo, the capital. History Toyotomi Hideyoshi had earlier established a similar practice of requiring his feudal lords to keep their wives and heirs at Osaka Castle or the nearby vicinity as hostages to ensure their loyalty. Following the Battle of Sekigahara and the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate, this practice was continued at the new capital of Edo as a matter of custom. It was made compulsory for the ''tozama daimyōs'' in 1635, and for the ''fudai daimyōs'' from 1642. Aside fro ...
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Hosokawa Narimori
Hosokawa (typically ja, 細川, meaning "narrow river" or "little river") is a Japanese surname. People with the name include: *Bill Hosokawa (1915–2007), Japanese American author and journalist *Chieko Hosokawa (born 1929), a Japanese manga artist *Daisuke Hosokawa (born 1982), Japanese swimmer *Fumie Hosokawa (born 1971), Japanese actress *Hajime Hosokawa (1901–1970), Japanese doctor who discovered Minamata disease *Junya Hosokawa (born 1984), Japanese footballer *Kazuhiko Hosokawa (born 1970), Japanese golfer *Kozo Hosokawa (born 1971), Japanese footballer *Naomi Hosokawa (born 1974), Japanese actress *Ritsuo Hosokawa (born 1943), Japanese politician * Sachio Hosokawa (born 1940), Japanese sport shooter * Seika Hosokawa (born 1979), Japanese voice actress *Seiya Hosokawa (born 1988), Japanese baseball player *Shigeki Hosokawa (born 1971), Japanese actor and former model *Shinji Hosokawa (born 1960), Japanese judoka * Takahiro Hosokawa (born 1967), Japanese rugby union playe ...
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Miyabe Teizō
Miyabe (written: ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese volleyball player *Kingo Miyabe Kingo may refer to: * Kingo Chunagon (1577–1602), a 16th century Japanese military figure * Kingo Sunen, a fictional superhero * Thomas Kingo Thomas Hansen Kingo (15 December 1634 – 14 October 1703 Odense) was a Danish bishop, poet and h ... Japanese botanist *, Japanese Tendai monk *, Japanese writer *, Japanese samurai *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese speed skater *, Japanese speed skater {{surname Japanese-language surnames ...
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