Ōtomo Clan
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Ōtomo Clan
The was a Japanese samurai family whose power stretched from the Kamakura period through the Sengoku period, spanning over 400 years. The clan's hereditary lands lay in Kyūshū. Origins The first family head, Ōtomo Yoshinao (1172–1223), took the name from the Ōtomo territory in Sagami Province. The clan claims descent from Emperor Seiwa (850-881) through the Seiwa Genji lineage of the Minamoto clan. Although the clan genealogy claims Yoshinao to be an illegitimate son of Minamoto no Yoritomo, it has been concluded that he was in fact a descendant of the Fujiwara clan. History Following the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate in 1185, Yoshinao were granted the post of Governor (''Shugo'') of Bungo and Buzen Provinces in Kyūshū. Ōtomo Yoshinao's descendants served as Governor of Buzen and Bungo Provinces for generations further establishing the power of Ōtomo clan in these two provinces. The clan would expand their power in Bungo Province along with the Shi ...
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Mon (badge)
, also called , , and , are Japan, Japanese emblems used to decorate and identify an individual, a family, or (more recently) an institution, municipality or business entity. While is an encompassing term that may refer to any such device, and refer specifically to emblems that are used to identify a family. An authoritative reference compiles Japan's 241 general categories of based on structural resemblance (a single may belong to multiple categories), with 5,116 distinct individual . However, it is well acknowledged that there are a number of lost or obscure . Among , the officially used by the family is called . Over time, new have been created, such as , which is unofficially created by an individual, and , which is created by a woman after marriage by modifying part of her original family's , so that by 2023 there will be a total of 20,000 to 25,000 . The devices are similar to the Heraldic badge, badges and Coat of arms, coats of arms in European Heraldry, heraldic ...
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Minamoto Clan
was a Aristocracy (class), noble surname bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the Imperial House of Japan, imperial family who were excluded from the List of emperors of Japan, line of succession and demoted into the ranks of Nobility, the nobility since 814."...the Minamoto (1192-1333)". ''Warrior Rule in Japan'', page 11. Cambridge University Press. Several noble lines were bestowed the surname, the most notable of which was the Seiwa Genji, whose descendants established the Kamakura shogunate, Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunate, Ashikaga Shogun, shogunates following the Heian era. The Minamoto was one of the four great Japanese clans, clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period, Heian period in History of Japan, Japanese history—the other three were the Fujiwara clan, Fujiwara, the Taira clan, Taira, and the Tachibana clan (kuge), Tachibana. In the late Heian period, Minamoto rivalry with the Taira culminated in the Genpei War (1180–1185 AD). T ...
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Chikugo Province
was a province of Japan in the area of northern Kyūshū, corresponding to part of southwestern Fukuoka Prefecture. Chikugo bordered on Higo and Chikugo to the southeast, and Chikuzen to the north and east, Bungo to the east and Hizen to the west. Its abbreviated form name was (a name which it shared with Chikuzen Province), although it was also called . In terms of the Gokishichidō system, Chikugo was one of the provinces of the Saikaidō circuit. Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Chikugo was ranked as one of the "superior countries" (上国) in terms of importance, and one of the "far countries" (遠国) in terms of distance from the capital. History Early history Ancient Tsukushi Province was a major power center in the Yayoi period, with contacts to the Asian mainland and may have been the site for the Kingdom of Yamatai mentioned in official Chinese dynastic Twenty-Four Histories for the 1st- and 2nd-century Eastern Han dynasty, the 3rd-century ''Recor ...
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Daimyo
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early 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 and the ''kuge'' (an aristocratic class). In the term, means 'large', and stands for , meaning 'private land'. From the '' shugo'' of the Muromachi period through the Sengoku period 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, Shimazu and 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 paid them in land or food, as relatively few could afford to pay them in money. The daimyo era ended soon after the Meiji Restoration, wi ...
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Nanboku-chō Period
The , also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period, was a period in Japanese history between 1336-1392 CE, during the formative years of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi (Ashikaga) shogunate. Ideologically, the two courts fought for 50 years, with the South giving up to the North in 1392. In reality the Northern court was under the power of the Ashikaga shogunate and had little real independence. The destruction of the Kamakura shogunate of 1333 and the failure of the Kenmu Restoration in 1336 opened up a legitimacy crisis for the new shogunate. Institutional changes in the estate system (''shōen'') that formed the bedrock of the income of nobles and warriors altered the status of the various social groups. The establishment of the Ashikaga shogunate broadened the economic base of the warriors, while undercutting the noble proprietors. However, this trend had started already with the Kamakura Shogun#Shogunate, ''bakufu''. Background During the early period, there ex ...
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Ashikaga Takauji
also known as Minamoto no Takauji was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromachi period of Japan, and ended with his death in 1358. He was a male-line descendant of the samurai of the (Minamoto) Seiwa Genji line (meaning they were descendants of Emperor Seiwa) who had settled in the Ashikaga area of Shimotsuke Province, in present-day Tochigi Prefecture. According to Zen master and intellectual Musō Soseki, who enjoyed his favor and collaborated with him, Takauji had three qualities. First, he kept his cool in battle and was not afraid of death.Matsuo (1997:105) Second, he was merciful and tolerant. Third, he was very generous with those below him. Life His childhood name was Matagorō (又太郎). Takauji was a general of the Kamakura shogunate sent to Kyo ...
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Mongol Invasions Of Japan
Major military efforts were taken by Kublai Khan of the Yuan dynasty in 1274 and 1281 to conquer the Japanese archipelago after the submission of the Korean kingdom of Goryeo to Vassal state, vassaldom. Ultimately a failure, the invasion attempts are of macro-historical importance because they set a limit on Mongol expansion and rank as nation-defining events in the history of Japan. The invasions are referred to in many works of fiction and are the earliest events for which the word ''Kamikaze (typhoon), kamikaze'' (神風 "divine wind") is widely used, originating in reference to the two typhoons faced by the Yuan fleets. The invasions were one of the earliest cases of History of gunpowder#Use by the Mongols, gunpowder warfare outside of China. One of the most notable technological innovations during the war was the use of explosive, hand-thrown bombs. Background After a series of Mongol invasions of Korea between 1231 and 1281, Goryeo signed a treaty in favor of the Mongol ...
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Shimazu Clan
The were the ''daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in contrast with the '' fudai'' or insider clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawa clan. History The Shimazu were descendants of the Seiwa Genji branch of the Minamoto. The Shimazu would become one of the families of Edo period ''daimyō'' to have held their territory continuously since the Kamakura period, and would also become, at their peak, the wealthiest and most powerful Tozama daimyō family with an income in excess of 700,000 ''koku''. The founder, Shimazu Tadahisa (d. 1227), was a son of ''Shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199) with the sister of Hiki Yoshikazu. Tadahisa's wife was a daughter of Koremune Hironobu, a descendant of the Hata clan, whose name Tadahisa took at first. He received the domain ...
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Shōni Clan
was a family of Japanese nobles descended from the Fujiwara family, many of whom held high government offices in Kyūshū. Prior to the Kamakura period (1185–1333), "Shōni" was originally a title and post within the Kyūshū ( Dazaifu) government, roughly translating to "Junior Counselor", and working under a Daini (大弐). Dominated by members of the Fujiwara branch family of Mutō, the title over time came to be used as a family name. When Minamoto no Yoritomo established the Kamakura shogunate in 1185, he reorganized the administration of Kyūshū. The post of Chinzei Bugyō replaced that of Daini, and the Shōni were similarly pushed out of their traditional hereditary position; members of the family were, however, still granted various other important posts in the region. Members of the family would play an important role in commanding the defense against the Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281. They would later ally with Ashikaga Takauji and the Northern Cou ...
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Shiga Yoshisato
Shiga Yoshisato (志賀 能郷) was a Japanese samurai lord of the Kamakura period. He was the founder of the Shiga clan, a branch of the Ōtomo clan. He was also known as Buzen Hachirō. Life Shiga Yoshisato was born as the eighth son of Ōtomo Yoshinao and Shinmyō. Yoshinao was a ''gokenin'' of shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo and the founder of the Ōtomo clan, and served as Governor of Buzen and Bungo Provinces, Defense Commissioner of the West and Lieutenant of the Left Division of Inner Palace Guards (''Sakon no shōgen'') under the Kamakura shogunate. Shimyō was the daughter of Hatakeyama Shigeyoshi, lord of Hatakeyama Manor. In 1223, his father Yoshinao died at the age of 51 and handed him over the position of governor (''jitō''), and the territory, of Kachigazuru, Buzen Province. In 1240, Yoshisato founded the Shiga clan after Shimyō handed him over the position of ''jitō'' of Shiga, Ōno Manor, Bungo Province. At the time of his Buddhist refuge, he received th ...
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Shiga Clan
is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the northeast, Mie Prefecture to the southeast, and Kyoto Prefecture to the west. Ōtsu is the capital and largest city of Shiga Prefecture, with other major cities including Kusatsu, Nagahama, and Higashiōmi. Shiga Prefecture encircles Lake Biwa, the largest freshwater lake in Japan, and 37% of the total land area is designated as Natural Parks, the highest of any prefecture. Shiga Prefecture's southern half is located adjacent to the former capital city of Kyoto and forms part of Greater Kyoto, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Japan. Shiga Prefecture is home to Ōmi beef, the Eight Views of Ōmi, and Hikone Castle, one of four national treasure castles in Japan. History Shiga was known as Ōmi Province or Gōshū before th ...
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