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Siege Of Shimabara Castle
The Siege of Shimabara Castle (December 12, 1637-January 8, 1638) was an unsuccessful siege of the Shimabara Castle by rebel peasants and ronin during Shimabara Rebellion. Although the castle garrison was too weak to defend the castle town, which was completely looted and burned down, the numerically superior rebels were not able to storm the heavily fortified citadel. After a siege that lasted for 20 days, the news of an upcoming Shogunate army forced the rebel forces to retreat to the south, where they fortified themselves in the dilapidated Hara Castle. Prelude Shimabara Domain, which occupies the peninsula of the same name on the island od Kyushu, was in 1637. The stage of the largest peasant uprising in the Japanese history. Several factors contributed to the peasant uprising in the Shimabara and Amakusa islands at the time. The first was the deposition of many local daimyos who fought on the losing side after the battle of Sekigahara (1600) by the newly established Tok ...
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Shimabara Rebellion
The , also known as the or , was an uprising that occurred in the Shimabara Domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan from 17 December 1637 to 15 April 1638. Matsukura Katsuie, the ''daimyō'' of the Shimabara Domain, enforced unpopular policies set by his father Matsukura Shigemasa that drastically raised taxes to construct the new Shimabara Castle and violently prohibited Christianity. In December 1637, an alliance of local ''rōnin'' and mostly Catholic peasants led by Amakusa Shirō rebelled against the Tokugawa shogunate due to discontent over Katsuie's policies. The Tokugawa Shogunate sent a force of over 125,000 troops supported by the Dutch to suppress the rebels and defeated them after a lengthy siege against their stronghold at Hara Castle in Minamishimabara. Following the successful suppression of the rebellion, Shirō and an estimated 37,000 rebels and sympathizers were executed by beheading, and the Portuguese traders suspected of helping them were expelled fr ...
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Rōnin
A ''rōnin'' ( ; ja, 浪人, , meaning 'drifter' or 'wanderer') was a samurai without a lord or master during the feudal period of Japan (1185–1868). A samurai became masterless upon the death of his master or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege.Stephane Lun (2021). ''A Guide on Shinsengumi: the background and management.'' In modern Japanese usage, usually the term is used to describe a salaryman who is unemployed or a secondary school graduate who has not yet been admitted to university. Etymology The word ''rōnin'' literally means 'wanderer'. It is an idiomatic expression for 'vagrant' or 'wandering man', someone who finds the way without belonging to one place. The term originated in the Nara and Heian periods, when it referred to a serf who had fled or deserted his master's land. In medieval times, the Ronin were depicted as the shadows of samurai, master-less and less honorable. It then came to be used for a samurai who had no master (hence the term ...
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Siege Of Tomioka Castle
The siege of Tomioka Castle (2-6 January 1638) was a defeat of the rebel peasants and ronin during Shimabara Rebellion. After a successful uprising in Shimabara Domain, several thousand of rebels crossed the sea to the nearby Amakusa islands, domain of the Terazawa family, to help the local Christians who rose to arms at the same time. The local Terazawa samurai suffered a devastating defeat at Hondo Castle, but the survivors took refuge in Tomioka Castle, where they were able to repulse several assaults. Prelude After the rebel victory at Hondo Castle on December 29, Amakusa Shiro arrived the next day from Shimabara (where the main rebel army was besieging Shimabara Castle) and assumed command of the rebel army in Lower Amakusa, which swelled to some 10 thousand men. Battle On 2 January 1638, 10 thousand rebels advanced on Shiki, a small village south of Tomioka Castle, finding it deserted and burning its small castle and the shrine to Hachiman, the Japanese god of war. ...
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Kuchinotsu, Nagasaki
was a town located in Minamitakaki District, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 6,450 and a density of 646.29 persons per km². The total area was 9.98 km². On March 31, 2006, Kuchinotsu, along with the towns of Arie, Fukae, Futsu, Kazusa, Kitaarima, Minamiarima and Nishiarie (all from Minamitakaki District), was merged to create the city of Minamishimabara. History An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Kuchinotsu as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ....US Department of State. (1906) ''A digest of international law as embodied in diplomatic discussions, treaties and other international agreements'' (John Bassett Moore, ed.), Vol. 5, ...
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Battle Of Hondo Castle
The Battle of Hondo Castle (December 29, 1637) was a victory for the rebel peasants and ronin during the Shimabara Rebellion. After a successful uprising in Shimabara Domain, several thousand rebels crossed the sea to the nearby Amakusa Islands, domain of the Terazawa family, to help the local Christians who rose to arms at the same time. The local Terazawa samurai, overconfident and believing they had to deal only with their own peasants, attacked the rebels on the open field and suffered terrible loses. The surviving Terazawa soldiers took refuge in Tomioka Castle, which was attacked within a few days. Prelude In the end of November 1637, a combination of several poor harvests, violent collection of arbitrarily doubled taxes and persecution of Christianity (which existed in Kyushu since 1549, but was outlawed in 1614) among local peasants led to violent uprising of starving peasants, Christians, and ronin in the Shimabara Domain, property of the Matsukura family. The re ...
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Kumamoto
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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Ōyano-jima
, also spelt as Ōyanojima It is administered as part of the city of Kami-Amakusa. It is connected to the Japanese mainland since 1966 by Five Bridges of Amakusa. The Japan National Route 266 passes through the island. The island primary industry is aquaculture of fish and shrimps. Large part of island belongs to Unzen-Amakusa National Park. Geography Ōyano-jima is an irregular shape, with a ragged, elongated outline oriented at north-south axis. The highest mount is which stands at 229 m. Ōyano-jima is the third largest island in the Amakusa group lying west of Kyushu, Japan. It is a northernmost island in the archipelago and serves as a gateway to entire Amakusa. Climate Ōyano-jima has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfa'') with very warm summers and mild winters. Precipitation is significant throughout the year; The summer tends to be Ōyano-jima's wettest season, with the tsuyu (梅雨 tsuyu, "plum rain") — the rainy season — occ ...
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Siege Of Hara Castle
The Siege of Hara Castle (22 January–11 April 1638) was the final battle of the Shimabara Rebellion. The news of an upcoming Shogunate army forced the rebel forces to retreat to the south, where they fortified themselves in the dilapidated Hara Castle and withstood a two month siege, inflicting heavy casulties on the government troops. Prelude After the failed sieges of Shimabara Castle (12 December 1637–8 January 1638) and Tomioka Castle (2–6 January 1638), in the middle of January 1638. the rebels retreated to the abandoned Hara Castle on the south-eastern coast of Shimabara, seeking a fortified position from where they could make a stand against the approaching government troops. Hara Castle was abandoned and mostly dismantled in 1614, with no remaining buildings, towers or living quarters, but it still had its massive stone walls around the citadel, and several thousands of rebel workers have quickly made another defensive line, digging a moat, building an outer wall ...
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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 ...
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Battle Of Fukae Village
The 12 December 1637 Battle of Fukae Village was the first recorded engagement of the Shimabara Rebellion in Japan. The battle was an early rebel victory against a punitive expedition which was sent from Shimabara Castle. Prelude Christianity in Japan The Portuguese, the first European traders, arrived in Japan in 1543. The first Christian missionaries, Jesuits led by Francis Xavier, came as early as 1549. To encourage trade with the Europeans, who brought luxury goods and firearms from India, some feudal lords in southwestern Japan permitted Christian missionaries and the construction of Catholic churches on their estates. As early as 1574, Lord Bartolomeo Omura of Nagasaki converted to Christianity with 60,000 of his subjects (under threat of exile) and burned the local Buddhist temples. In 1580, the Arima family (who ruled the nearby Shimabara Peninsula) also converted to Christianity. Omura donated Nagasaki to the Catholic Church, making Nagasaki a semi-independent Je ...
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Matsukura Katsuie
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. As the son of Matsukura Shigemasa, Katsuie was notorious for suppressing Catholics in his domain, setting high taxation and assigning intensive labour to its peasants, later causing the Shimabara Rebellion. He was also infamous for dressing disobedient peasants in straw overcoats and then setting them on fire. Although the rebellion was successfully put down, his status and domain were stripped away for misruling in May 1638. After a dead peasant's body was found inside his residence, Katsuie was sent to Edo for further investigation by the government. He was beheaded on August 28, 1638, for his misruling and brutality. He was the only daimyo to be beheaded during the Edo period, rather than allowed the honourable suicide of seppuku , sometimes referred to as hara-kiri (, , a native Japanese kun reading), is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honour ...
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Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Spanish Catholic missionary and saint who was a co-founder of the Society of Jesus. Born in Javier (Xavier in Old Spanish and in Navarro-Aragonese, or Xabier, a Basque word meaning "new house"), in the Kingdom of Navarre (in present-day Spain), he was a companion of Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty and chastity at Montmartre, Paris in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly the Portuguese Empire in the East, and was influential in evangelisation work, most notably in early modern India. He was extensively involved in the missionary activity in Portuguese India. In 1546, Francis Xavier proposed the establishment of the Goan Inquisition ...
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