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Sikhism In Japan
Sikhism in Japan is a small, minority religion (). There are gurdwaras located in Tokyo, Ibaraki and Kobe. History Pre-war period Sikh royal, Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala, visited Japan between 1903 and 1904, which left a deeply positive impression on him, leading him to write a memoir titled ''My Travel in China, Japan and Java'' in 1905. Sikhs were present in Japan in the early 1920s and first began moving to the western region of Japan after the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923. The Sikhs who lived in Yokohama at the time had their property destroyed in the earthquake and moved to Kobe to start a new beginning. The population of Sikhs in the country was small at this time. World War II Sikh soldiers encountered and fought against Imperial Japanese forces during the Second World War, with some of the Sikh soldiers being taken as POWs and executed by the Japanese, often carried out as a "target practice" exercise. Many Sikhs served in the Azad Hind army, working wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Punjabi Language
Punjabi (; ; , ), sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It has approximately 113 million native speakers. Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 80.5 million native speakers as per the 2017 census, and the 11th most widely-spoken in India, with 31.1 million native speakers, as per the 2011 census. The language is spoken among a significant overseas diaspora, particularly in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. In Pakistan, Punjabi is written using the Shahmukhi alphabet, based on the Perso-Arabic script; in India, it is written using the Gurmukhi alphabet, based on the Indic scripts. Punjabi is unusual among the Indo-Aryan languages and the broader Indo-European language family in its usage of lexical tone. History Etymology The word ''Punjabi'' (sometimes spelled ''Panjabi'') has been derived from the word ''Panj-āb'', Persian for 'Five Waters', referring to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iwaichi Fujiwara
was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, and later a lieutenant general in the post-war Japan Ground Self Defense Force. Biography A native of Hyōgo prefecture, Fujiwara graduated from the 43rd class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1931 and was assigned to the IJA 37th Infantry Regiment. After serving a tour of duty in Tianjin, China, he returned to the Army Staff College and graduated from the 50th class in 1938, whereupon he was assigned to the IJA 21st Army. In 1939, Fujiwara was transferred to the military intelligence unit within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, tasked with planning operations in south and Southeast Asia. He traveled to Bangkok in 1941, and joined the Japanese Southern Expeditionary Army Group as Chief of Staff the same year. In 1941 Fujiwara established the F Kikan, a Japanese special operations unit, which was tasked with developing and assisting independence movements in British India, Malaya and Netherland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gurmukhi
Gurmukhī ( pa, ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ, , Shahmukhi: ) is an abugida developed from the Laṇḍā scripts, standardized and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552). It is used by Punjabi Sikhs to write the language, commonly regarded as a Sikh script, Gurmukhi is used in Punjab, India as the official script of the Punjabi language. While Shahmukhi script is used in Punjab, Pakistan as the official script. The primary scripture of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, is written in Gurmukhī, in various dialects and languages often subsumed under the generic title ''Sant Bhasha'' or ''saint language'', in addition to other languages like Persian and various phases of Indo-Aryan languages. Modern Gurmukhī has thirty-five original letters, hence its common alternative term ''paintī'' or "the thirty-five," plus six additional consonants, nine vowel diacritics, two diacritics for nasal sounds, one diacritic that geminates consonants and three subscript characters. Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kirpan
The kirpan is a curved, single-edged dagger or knife carried by Sikhs. Traditionally, it was a full-sized sword but modern Sikhs have reduced the length to that of a dagger or knife due to modern considerations based on societal and legal changes since then. It is part of a religious commandment given by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, in which he gave an option to the Sikhs, if they accepted they must wear the five articles of faith (the five Ks) at all times, the kirpan being one of five Ks. The Punjabi word ਕਿਰਪਾਨ, kirpān, has a folk etymology with two roots: ''kirpa'', meaning "mercy", "grace", "compassion" or "kindness"; and ''aanaa'', meaning "honor", "grace" or "dignity". It is derived from or related to Sanskrit कृपाण (kṛpaṇa, “sword, dagger, sacrificial knife”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European stem *kerp-, from *(s)ker, meaning "to cut". Sikhs are expected to embody the qualities of a ''Sant Sipahi'' or "saint-soldier", showing no fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dastar
A dastār ( pa, ਦਸਤਾਰ/دستار, from fa, دستار; ''dast'' or "hand" with the agentive suffix -ār; also known as a ਪੱਗ ''paga'' or ਪੱਗੜੀ ''pagaṛī'' in Punjabi) is an item of headwear associated with Sikhism, and is an important part of Sikh culture. The word is loaned from Persian through Punjabi. In Persian, the word ''dastār'' can refer to any kind of turban and replaced the original word for turban, ''dolband'' (دلبند), from which the English word is derived. Among the Sikhs, the ''dastār'' is an article of faith that represents equality, honour, self-respect, courage, spirituality, and piety. The Khalsa Sikh men and women, who keep the Five Ks, wear the turban to cover their long, uncut hair ('' kesh''). The Sikhs regard the ''dastār'' as an important part of the unique Sikh identity. After the ninth Sikh Guru, Tegh Bahadur, was sentenced to death by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru created the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sikh Names
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' has its origin in the word ' (), meaning 'disciple' or 'student'. Male Sikhs generally have ''Singh'' ('lion'/'tiger') as their last name, though not all Singhs are necessarily Sikhs; likewise, female Sikhs have ''Kaur'' ('princess') as their last name. These unique last names were given by the Gurus to allow Sikhs to stand out and also as an act of defiance to India's caste system, which the Gurus were always against. Sikhs strongly believe in the idea of "Sarbat Da Bhala" - "Welfare of all" and are often seen on the frontline to provide humanitarian aid across the world. Sikhs who have undergone the ''Amrit Sanchar'' ('baptism by Khanda'), an initiation ceremony, are from the day of their initiation known as Khalsa, and they mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1985 Narita International Airport Bombing
The 1985 Narita International Airport bombing was the attempted bombing of Air India Flight 301 by Canadian Sikh terrorists which took place on June 23, 1985, and was part of a transnational aviation bomb plot which also targeted Air India Flight 182. A bomb hidden in a suitcase transiting through New Tokyo International Airport exploded at 06:19 23 June 1985 in a baggage handling room, killing two baggage handlers and injuring another four. The bomb exploded prematurely while the plane was still grounded. The attack at Narita was part of an attempted double-bombing orchestrated by the Canadian Sikh terrorist, Talwinder Singh Parmar and the Sikh terrorist organization, Babbar Khalsa. The bombs were made by Inderjit Singh Reyat. The suitcase bomb had come from Vancouver, Canada through Canadian Pacific Flight 003 and was transiting through the airport for Air India Flight 301 to Bangkok, Thailand. The initial plan was for the Air India Flight 301 bomb to explode at the same time a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Langar (Sikhism)
In Sikhism, a langar ( pa, ਲੰਗਰ, 'kitchen'Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech, 2014The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies/ref>) is the community kitchen of a gurdwara, which serves meals to all free of charge, regardless of religion, caste, gender, economic status, or ethnicity. People sit on the floor and eat together, and the kitchen is maintained and serviced by Sikh community volunteers. The meals served at a langar are always lacto-vegetarian. Etymology ''Langar'' is a Persian word that was eventually incorporated into the Punjabi language and lexicon. Origins Concept of charity and providing cooked meals or uncooked raw material to ascetics and wandering yogis has been known in eastern cultures for over 2000 years. However, in spite of institutional support from several kings and emperors of the Delhi sultanate (up to the Mughal empire), it could not be institutionalized into a sustainable community kitchen, but continued as volunteer-run free food opportunities. Suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yamato People
The (or the )David Blake Willis and Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu''Transcultural Japan: At the Borderlands of Race, Gender and Identity,'' p. 272: "“Wajin,” which is written with Chinese characters that can also be read “Yamato no hito” (Yamato person)". (was applied to the Imperial House of Japan or "Yamato Court" that existed in Japan in the 4th century; further, it was originally) are an ethnic group of the people that first settled in Yamato Province (modern-day Nara Prefecture). Generations of Japanese historians, linguists, and archeologists have debated whether the word is related to the earlier . The Yamato clan set up Japan's first and only dynasty. The clan became the ruling faction in the area, and incorporated native Japanese, Chinese and Korean migrants. The clan leaders also elevated their own belief system that featured ancestor worship into a national religion known as Shinto. The term came to be used around the late 19th century to distinguish the settlers o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dastar
A dastār ( pa, ਦਸਤਾਰ/دستار, from fa, دستار; ''dast'' or "hand" with the agentive suffix -ār; also known as a ਪੱਗ ''paga'' or ਪੱਗੜੀ ''pagaṛī'' in Punjabi) is an item of headwear associated with Sikhism, and is an important part of Sikh culture. The word is loaned from Persian through Punjabi. In Persian, the word ''dastār'' can refer to any kind of turban and replaced the original word for turban, ''dolband'' (دلبند), from which the English word is derived. Among the Sikhs, the ''dastār'' is an article of faith that represents equality, honour, self-respect, courage, spirituality, and piety. The Khalsa Sikh men and women, who keep the Five Ks, wear the turban to cover their long, uncut hair ('' kesh''). The Sikhs regard the ''dastār'' as an important part of the unique Sikh identity. After the ninth Sikh Guru, Tegh Bahadur, was sentenced to death by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru created the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kesh (Sikhism)
In Sikhism, kesh (sometimes kes) (Gurmukhi: ਕੇਸ) is the practice of allowing one's hair to grow naturally out of respect for the perfection of God's creation. The practice is one of The Five Kakaars, the outward symbols ordered by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 as a means to profess the Sikh faith. The hair is combed twice daily with a kanga, another of the five Ks, and tied into a simple knot known as a ''joora'' or ''rishi knot''. This knot of hair is usually held in place with the kanga and covered by a turban. The 52 commands of Guru Gobind Singh written at Hazur Sahib at Nanded in the state of Maharashtra, mention that the kesh (hair) should be revered as the form of the Satguru (eternal guru) whom they consider as the same as god. For this reason by practitioners they are kept with the utmost respect. This includes regular maintenance of hair which includes but is not limited to combing at least twice daily, washing regularly and not allowing for public touching. Signifi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enka
is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form, which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ''ryūkōka'' music, popular during the prewar years. Modern ''enka'', as developed in the postwar era, is a form of sentimental ballad music. Some of the first modern ''enka'' singers were Hachiro Kasuga, Michiya Mihashi, and Hideo Murata. The revival of ''enka'' in its modern form is said to date from 1969, when Keiko Fuji made her debut. The most famous male ''enka'' singers are Shinichi Mori and Kiyoshi Hikawa. Etymology The term ''enka'' was first used to refer to political texts set to music which were sung and distributed by opposition activists belonging to the Freedom and People's Rights Movement during the Meiji period (1868–1912) as a means of bypassing government curbs on speeches of political dissent – and in this sense the word is derived ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
