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Kunishi Shinano
was a Japanese samurai in the service of the ''daimyō'' Mōri Takachika of Chōshū Domain, Chōshū as a senior retainer. Also known as Tomosuke (朝相), Chikasuke (親相), and Kumanosuke (熊之助). Second son of Chōshū retainer Takasu Mototada, he was adopted by the heirless Kunishi Michinori (5600 koku stipend). Succeeded to family headship in 1847, serving in the clan administration as ''Ōkumigashira'' (大組頭). He was known for wisdom beyond his years, and thus in 1863 was appointed as an autopsy director under another Chōshū retainer, Nagai Gagaku. In May 1863, he joined Kusaka Genzui and others in the bombing of an American warship. Rewarded for this success, he was made director of defenses at Shimonoseki. But in August, because of political issues, Chōshū was driven out of Kyoto, and at the same time, he was promoted to the status of senior retainer. Though he led a punitive force to Kyoto along with Masuda Kanenobu, Fukuhara Echigo, and Kijima Matabei, they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samurai
were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They had high prestige and special privileges such as wearing two swords and ''Kiri-sute gomen'' (right to kill anyone of a lower class in certain situations). They cultivated the '' bushido'' codes of martial virtues, indifference to pain, and unflinching loyalty, engaging in many local battles. Though they had predecessors in earlier military and administrative officers, the samurai truly emerged during the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1185 to 1333. They became the ruling political class, with significant power but also significant responsibility. During the 13th century, the samurai proved themselves as adept warriors against the invading Mongols. During the peaceful Edo period (1603 to 1868), they became the stewards and chamberlains of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to the Emperor of Japan, emperor and the ''kuge''. In the term, means 'large', and stands for , meaning 'private land'. From the ''shugo'' of the Muromachi period through the Sengoku period, Sengoku to the ''daimyo'' of the Edo period, the rank had a long and varied history. The backgrounds of ''daimyo'' also varied considerably; while some ''daimyo'' clans, notably the Mōri clan, Mōri, Shimazu clan, Shimazu and Hosokawa clan, Hosokawa, were cadet branches of the Imperial family or were descended from the ''kuge'', other ''daimyo'' were promoted from the ranks of the samurai, notably during the Edo period. ''Daimyo'' often hired samurai to guard their land, and they paid the samurai in land or food as relatively few could aff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mōri Takachika
was the 13th daimyo of Chōshū Domain. His domain was a traditional enemy of the Tokugawa shogunate, and he became a key player in its downfall during the Bakumatsu period. He was also the first daimyo to return his lands to the Emperor during the abolition of the han system. He was later allowed to use a character from the name of shōgun Tokugawa Ieyoshi and changed his name to Yoshichika (慶親). Life He was born on March 5, 1819, the first son of Fukubara Fusamasa (later known as Mōri Narimoto) and a concubine from the Harada clan. His father later became the 11th daimyo of Chōshū Domain. His father was the first son of Mōri Chikaaki, but at the time of Takachika's birth, his father was the adopted son of Fukubara Fusazumi, the head of the Fukubara clan, one of the eight ''karō'' families of the domain. On August 28, 1819, his father returned to the Mōri main family, and on September 10, he was adopted by Mōri Narihiro and changed his name to Narimoto, later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chōshū Domain
The , also known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871.Deal, William E. (2005) ''Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan,'' p. 81 The Chōshū Domain was based at Hagi Castle in Nagato Province, in the modern city of Hagi, located in the Chūgoku region of the island of Honshu. The Chōshū Domain was ruled for its existence by the '' tozama'' ''daimyō'' of the Mōri, whose branches also ruled the neighboring Chōfu and Kiyosue domains, and was assessed under the '' Kokudaka'' system with peak value of 369,000 '' koku''. The Chōshū Domain was the most prominent anti-Tokugawa domain and formed the Satchō Alliance with the rival Satsuma Domain during the Meiji Restoration, becoming instrumental in the establishment of the Empire of Japan and the Meiji oligarchy. The Chōshū Domain was dissolved in the abolition of the han system in 1871 by the Meiji government and its territory was abso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kusaka Genzui
, (born Kusaka Hidezaburō; May 1840 – 20 August 1864) was a samurai of the Japanese domain of Chōshū who was active during the Bakumatsu period and a key proponent of the ''sonnō jōi'' movement. Early life He was born Kusaka Hidezaburō in 1840 in Hagi, a town in Nagato Province in Chōshū Domain. He was the third son of the physician Kusaka Ryōteki and Tomiko; their eldest son was named Genki, and their second died while still young. The family belonged to a 7th-rank samurai family, but received a stipend of only 25 koku of rice. From a young age Kusaka learned the Four Books by rote at a private ''juku'' that Takasugi Shinsaku also attended. He then attended the domain's Kōseikan medical school. At fourteen his mother died, and the following year so did his brother Genki and then mere days later his father as well. As the sole surviving member of his family Genzui became the head of the family and the family's medical practice; he thus shaved his head a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kijima Matabei
, also known as Masahisa (政久), was a Japanese samurai who served as a retainer to Lord Mōri of Chōshū. Though his name was Masahisa, he is known by his "common" name of Matabei. While his income (a stipend of 59 koku) may not have been particularly high, his voice was certainly one closest to the ear of the daimyō. Though he was born into the unstipended Kitamura clan (the clan messengers/couriers), he was adopted by Kijima Masatsune, the head of another Chōshū retainer family. Matabee became greatly renowned for his martial skill, both in Chōshū and in Edo, owing to his many trips accompanying Lord Mōri. He studied swordsmanship and spearmanship with Ōishi Susumu of the Yanagawa domain, horsemanship with the Hagi-based Narasaki Shirōbei, as well as training in Edo at the dōjō of Kubota Sukeshirō. Following the Ikedaya Incident (July 1864), where the Aizu domain-sponsored Shinsengumi attacked and defeated around 20 (mostly) Chōshū samurai who were plotting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Owari Province
was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces were separated by the Sakai River, which means "border river." The province's abbreviated name was . Owari is classified as one of the provinces of the Tōkaidō. Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Owari was ranked as a "superior country" (上国) and a "near country" (近国), in relation to its distance from the capital. History Owari is mentioned in records of the Nara period, including the ''Kujiki'', although the area has been settled since at least the Japanese Paleolithic period, as evidenced by numerous remains found by archaeologists. Early records mention a powerful “Owari clan”, vaguely related to, or allied with the Yamato clan, who built massive kofun burial mounds in several locations within the province, from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satsuma Province
was an old province of Japan that is now the western half of Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Satsuma" in . Its abbreviation is . History Satsuma's provincial capital was Satsumasendai. During the Sengoku period, Satsuma was a fief of the Shimazu ''daimyō'', who ruled much of southern Kyūshū from their castle at Kagoshima city. They were the initial patrons of Satsuma ware, which was later widely exported to the West. In 1871, with the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures after the Meiji Restoration, the provinces of Satsuma and Ōsumi were combined to eventually establish Kagoshima Prefecture. Satsuma was one of the main provinces that rose in opposition to the Tokugawa shogunate in the mid 19th century. Because of this, the oligarchy that came into power after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 had a strong representation from the Satsuma province, with leaders such as Ōkubo Toshimichi and Saig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1864 Deaths
Events January–March * January 13 – American songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City, leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song " Beautiful Dreamer" is published in March. * January 16 – Denmark rejects an Austrian-Prussian ultimatum to repeal the Danish Constitution, which says that Schleswig-Holstein is part of Denmark. * January 21 – New Zealand Wars: The Tauranga campaign begins. * February – John Wisden publishes '' The Cricketer's Almanack for the year 1864'' in England; it will go on to become the major annual cricket reference publication. * February 1 – Danish-Prussian War (Second Schleswig War): 57,000 Austrian and Prussian troops cross the Eider River into Denmark. * February 15 – Heineken brewery founded in Netherlands. * February 17 – American Civil War: The tiny Confederate hand-propelled submarine ''H. L. Hunley'' s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samurai
were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They had high prestige and special privileges such as wearing two swords and ''Kiri-sute gomen'' (right to kill anyone of a lower class in certain situations). They cultivated the '' bushido'' codes of martial virtues, indifference to pain, and unflinching loyalty, engaging in many local battles. Though they had predecessors in earlier military and administrative officers, the samurai truly emerged during the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1185 to 1333. They became the ruling political class, with significant power but also significant responsibility. During the 13th century, the samurai proved themselves as adept warriors against the invading Mongols. During the peaceful Edo period (1603 to 1868), they became the stewards and chamberlains of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
