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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 85 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Japan
| He unified Japan, and made several attempts to conquer Korea several times but failed. Who was it? | Famous Japanese Samurai
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Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Hideyoshi Toyotomi worked under Oda Nobunaga's tutelage and eventually succeeded in accomplishing his mentor's dream of uniting all of Japan in 1598.
Minamoto Yoritomo. Backed by the Emperor, Minamoto Yoritomo rose up against the opposition Taira forces and defeated them, in 1185, to establish the shogunate.
Tokugawa Ieyasu. Tokugawa Ieyasu was perhaps the third in line to assume the position of Shogun upon the unification of Japan. After Oda Nobunaga and Hideyoshi Toyotomi died he was the only one left and so established the Tokugawa Dynasty in 1603.
Fukuzawa Yukichi. Fukuzawa Yukichi sold his swords and became a schoolmaster in the 1880s.
| In the Japanese television samurai drama, "Abarenbo Shogun", the lead character assumes the role of a samurai of low birth called Shinsan, but which Tokugawa Shogun is he actually? | Famous Japanese Samurai
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Tokugawa Yoshimune. Great Show.
| The modern Japanese are believed to be descended from a mixture of the prehistoric inhabitants of the islands and the Yayoi people, who began to migrate from mainland Asia around 500BC, inaugurating the Yayoi Period. What is the name given to the period preceding the Yayoi, when Japan was inhabited solely by those prehistoric indigenous groups? | History of Japan to 1333
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The Jômon Period. "Jômon" means "cord-patterned". Referring to the cord-marks found on ancient pottery, it is the name given by archaeologists to the prehistoric peoples who inhabited the islands before the arrival of the Yayoi culture from which modern Japan is derived.
The Ainu, whose culture now survives only on Hokkaidô, are thought to be descended from Jômon peoples. The Kôfun Period, in which the center of power shifted from Kyûshû to Honshû, succeeded the Yayoi. The Asuka Period, in which Buddhism first appeared in Japan, succeeded the Asuka.
| The earliest evidence of a unified political entity in Japan comes from the records of the Chinese Wei Dynasty in the third century AD. They described a federation of thirty tribes which fought against the surrounding tribes and sent ambassadors to China. What did the Wei call this confederation? | History of Japan to 1333
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The Queen Country. The Chinese records provide strong evidence that Japan at this time was in the process of changing from a collection of independent tribes into a unified political entity. The identity of the 'Queen' who apparently ruled over this alliance of tribes is uncertain, as is the location of the 'Queen Country' - it was possibly in the northern half of Kyûshû.
| By historic times, Japan was ruled by a unified political entity - the Yamato state. By this time, the center of power had moved from Kyûshû to Honshû, where the Yamato people had settled the two great plains still known as the Kansai and Kantô. What does the 'Kan' in these two words mean? | History of Japan to 1333
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Barrier. 'Kantô' (dominated by Tôkyô) and 'Kansai' (centering on Kyôto and Ôsaka) mean, respectively, 'east of the barrier' and 'west of the barrier'. The barrier refers to the Hakone checkpoint - the government office in the Hakone pass that led travelers through the mountains which divide the two great plains.
| The Yamato state was ruled by the Imperial family of Japan, which has survived to the present day. From early times, however, the Emperors were dominated by great aristocratic clans. The sixth century saw the great rivalry between the Soga and Mononobe clans, who were bitterly opposed to each other because of what kind of issue? | History of Japan to 1333
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Religious. In the Yamato court, the great families were tasked with different administrative responsibilities. The Mononobe were the guardians of Japan's ancient Shintô shrines. The Soga, possibly because of familial links to Korea, championed the new religion of Buddhism. Although simple greed for power was
at the heart of their conflict, the two sides descended into violence because of this religious issue. The Soga, and Buddhism, eventually triumphed.
| What are the names of the first two schools of native Japanese Buddhism, founded respectively by two monks who traveled to China on the same government-sponsored study mission in 804? | History of Japan to 1333
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Tendai and Shingon. Saichô and Kûkai were the two monks and Tendai (based on Chinese Tiantai Buddhism) and Shingon (meaning 'true word') were the schools they founded. Both schools found support from the powerful aristocrats of Kyôto and flourished.
The Enryakuji and the Tôji are two major Buddhist temples, the former a Tendai temple, the latter a Shingon temple. Nichiren and Jôdô are two later schools of native Japanese Buddhism, founded by monks who became dissatisfied with the two older schools.
| What is the name of the great aristocratic clan that dominated the court during the Heian Period (794-1185)? | History of Japan to 1333
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Fujiwara. In 645 the founder of the Fujiwara clan, Fujiwara no Kamatari, overthrew the Soga and brought his own family to prominence. During the Heian Period, Fujiwara leaders reached the pinnacle of power, by marrying a daughter to the current Emperor and thus ensuring that they would be the maternal grandfather of the next Emperor. In the Japan of the time, this was considered the most important familial relationship and the young Emperors, unable to go against their Fujiwara grandfathers, spent their time writing poetry while the Fujiwara ruled the country.
| The writings of aristocratic women during the Heian Period are considered to have much greater literary merit than those of men. What is the reason for this? | History of Japan to 1333
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Women wrote in Japanese and men wrote in Chinese. During the Heian Period, the massive cultural influence of China still dominated Japan and only literature that followed the Chinese model was considered serious, and thus fit for the distinguished male writers of the day, who represented the sounds of the Japanese language with Chinese written characters. However, the very different structure of the two languages meant the result was stilted and unnatural. The recently-invented kana, which represented Japanese sounds more naturally, were considered trivial, and fit only for the ladies of the court. As a result, the female writers produced some of the most acclaimed works in the Japanese canon, the 'Genji Monogatari' being the most famous example.
| During the middle and late Heian Period, powerful aristocrats who had been given territories in the provinces began to put themselves at the head of a new class of people in Japanese society - the samurai. What kind of people were the samurai originally? | History of Japan to 1333
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Farmers. As new lands were broken in, settler-farmers in the outer provinces found themselves in frontier conditions, menaced by bandits, local warlords, importunate tax collectors and Ainu raiders. They formed leagues to defend themselves and grew into a class of hardened, skilled fighters. Over time these new leagues of samurai began to pledge their loyalty to the great provincial aristocrats, gaining further protection in return for their allegiance.
| In the last years of the Heian Period, as power in Japan passed from the court nobility to the samurai, which two great warrior clans fought for supremacy? | History of Japan to 1333
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Taira and Minamoto. After a certain number of generations, direct descendants of the Emperors were disinherited from the Imperial family and sent to found their own aristocratic families in the provinces. The new families were given the clan name of either Minamoto or Taira.
Once in the provinces, these new families began to function as leaders of the new samurai class. As the court's ability to keep order in the country faltered, the nobility increasingly had to call on Taira or Minamoto warlords to do its fighting. Finally, it became clear that the power needed to rule the country had passed into their hands. Neither clan, however, was prepared to share power with the other.
| The conflict ended in 1185 with the battle of Dan no Ura, and the death of the Emperor Antoku. How did he die? | History of Japan to 1333
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He drowned. The Taira, under their leader Kiyomori, were originally successful, defeating the Minamoto and taking power in Kyôto. Kiyomori attempted to continue the pattern set by the Fujiwara, by marrying his daughter to the emperor Takakura, and thereby becoming the maternal grandfather of the new Emperor, Antoku.
After Kiyomori's death, however, the fortunes of the Taira turned and they were driven out of Kyôto by the Minamoto, under their leader Yoritomo, one of the most significant figures in the history of Japan. The Taira, taking Antoku with them, fled first to Shikoku, and then to Kyûshû, where they were defeated in the naval battle of Dan no Ura. Antoku, along with his grandmother, and many Taira warriors, chose to jump into the sea rather than surrender. He drowned, aged six years old.
| During the period of this first Bakufu, many new native schools of Buddhism emerged. Which school, established in the last years of the Heian Period, has a name that translates as 'Pure Land'? | History of Japan to 1333
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Jôdô. Jôdô was founded in the late twelfth century by the monk Hônen, who felt that the scholarly disciplines of Tendai and Shingon, which required years of study to reach enlightenment, did not offer enough to ordinary people. His new school taught that anyone could reach enlightenment by the simple repetition of the nembutsu, an expression of gratitude to the Buddha, who in return would allow the practitioner to be reborn in the 'Pure Land'.
Nichiren and Zen are different schools of Buddhism, which became popular in Japan during the Kamakura Period. Shinran was a disciple of Hônen and founder of a sub-sect of Jôdô, the 'True Pure Land' school.
| Japan was fortunate that the Mongol invasions of the late thirteenth century came during the relatively brief period in which she had a strong, unified military government. Which modern-day Japanese city is the site of the two Mongol landings? | History of Japan to 1333
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Fukuoka. Fukuoka, or Hakata as it was historically known, is situated in the northwest of Kyûshû, and is close to Dazaifu, the Kamakura Bakufu's administrative base on the island. It was thus the target of Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281. In the first invasion, the Mongols were dismayingly successful, driving the local government forces back inland. The Mongols then retreated, alarmed by the onset of a fierce storm that threatened to wreck their ships.
Luckily for the Japanese, the threat came during the brief window between the militarily ineffectual aristocratic rulers of the Heian Period, and the era of disunity that followed the collapse of the feudal system. The Kamakura Bakufu was able to mobilize the Kyûshû samurai who met the second invasion in Fukuoka in 1281, holding the Mongol forces on the beach for two months. When the famous typhoon, the Kamikaze, blew up, the Mongols were still on their ships and were smashed to pieces in Fukuoka's harbor.
| Which Emperor plunged the country into civil war in the early fourteenth century, by announcing that he would rule personally, without the Bakufu? | History of Japan to 1333
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Go-Daigo. Go-Daigo's blithe announcement that the era of military rule was over should have been met with polite amusement by the Hôjô regents, the military family that controlled the Minamoto Shôguns. However, in the 1220s and 30s, the Bakufu's claims on the loyalty of the samurai clans were faltering, thanks to their inability to dispense the rewards due to those who had fought against the Mongols. The aggrieved samurai were ready to give their allegiance to powerful, ambitious warriors who saw in Go-Daigo the perfect vehicle to advance themselves. Declaring themselves Imperial 'loyalists', they launched their attacks on the Bakufu ostensibly in his name.
| In 1333, the Bakufu was overthrown, and the Emperor was 'restored'. The warrior who achieved this victory was Nitta Yoshisada, one of two great generals in the Imperial camp. The other general, in the years to come, would defeat both Nitta and the Emperor, and found a new Bakufu ruled by his own clan, the Ashikaga. What was his name? | History of Japan to 1333
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Takauji. Takauji, a descendant of the Minamoto, began his career as a Bakufu general and, in 1333, was sent at the head of a Bakufu force to defeat the adherents of Go-Daigo. But Takauji turned his coat and the rest is history. While Go-Daigo might have believed that his 'restoration' meant the end of samurai rule over the country, Takauji had other ideas. He intended samurai government to continue, with himself and his heirs at the head of it. In 1335, Emperor and warlord fell out once and for all. In the long struggle that followed, Takauji's fortunes would rise and fall several times, but in the end Go-Daigo's cause withered away and Japan had a new Shôgunal family - the Ashikaga.
| In 1333, the followers of the Emperor Go-Daigo destroyed the Kamakura Bakufu (Shôgunate). In the years to come, one of them, Ashikaga Takauji, would drive Go-Daigo out of Kyôto and establish a new Bakufu ruled by his own family. This new Shôgunate is known to history as what? | History of Japan, 1333-1615
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The Muromachi Bakufu. Although the term was not used while Takauji himself was alive, the government of his descendants is known as the Muromachi Bakufu. Muromachi is a district of Kyôto which, from the time of the third Ashikaga Shôgun, Yoshimitsu, was the headquarters of the Bakufu.
Kitayama is the site of Yoshimitsu's famous palace, and is the name given to the culture that developed during his time. "Kemmu" was the Imperial era name of the years 1334-1336, during which Go-Daigo had briefly been "restored" to power. His short tenure is known as the Kemmu Restoration. The Edo Bakufu belongs to a much later era; it refers to the Shôgunate of the Tokugawa family, dating from 1603
| Although Go-Daigo had been driven out of Kyôto, he still commanded the loyalty of powerful warriors such as Nitta Yoshisada and Kusunoki Masashige. However, they were defeated by the Ashikaga in 1336, at which battle? | History of Japan, 1333-1615
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The battle of Minatogawa. Kusunoki Masashige, one of the greatest generals in the history of Japan, advised Go-Daigo not to directly confront the Ashikaga forces as they advanced north toward Kyôto, but his advice was not followed, and he was ordered to meet the enemy at Minatogawa, near the modern city of Kobe. Loyal to the end, Masashige obeyed his Emperor and met his death in the resulting defeat.
The battles of Okehazama and Nagashino are key dates in the career of Oda Nobunaga, the warlord who would begin the process of re-unifying Japan in the sixteenth century. The battle of Sekigahara, perhaps the most significant in Japan's history, sealed the triumph of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the warlord who completed the process of re-unification.
| After Go-Daigo had fled Kyôto, the Ashikaga attempted to proceed as if he had been deposed, appointing a new Emperor, Kômyô. However, Go-Daigo had other ideas and, from his base in modern-day Nara Prefecture, proclaimed that he was still the legitimate Emperor. Thus began a period in which Japan had two rival Imperial courts. What were the two courts called? | History of Japan, 1333-1615
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The Northern and Southern courts. Yoshino, Go-Daigo's mountainous base in Nara, is south of Kyôto, hence the term "Northern and Southern" to describe the two courts. The war between them dragged on for half a century, long after both Go-Daigo and Takauji were dead. By 1392, the Southern court had been worn down by the Muromachi Bakufu and agreed to re-unify with the Northern court.
| The Ashikaga Shôguns began to rely on Constables (Shugo) to administer the provinces for them. Over time, the Shugo developed into powerful lords in their own right, becoming semi-independent in their provincial strongholds. What well-known word eventually came to describe them? | History of Japan, 1333-1615
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Daimyo. The word "Daimyô" is written with the characters for "great" and "name". The "name" here refers to "name-fields" i.e. privately owned plots of land. The Shugo became powerful by acquiring large chunks of their provinces, hence "Daimyô" is best translated as "great landowner".
These original Daimyô, sent into the provinces by the Ashikaga, were members of great samurai families. They are sometimes called "Shugo-Daimyô" to distinguish them from the "Sengoku-Daimyô"; samurai from obscure and low-ranking families who took advantage of the breakdown of central government in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to carve out provincial empires for themselves.
| In 1467 began the Ônin War, a struggle between Shugo whose power now rivaled that of the Ashikaga. There had been similar conflicts between such warlords before, but what was different about the Ônin War? | History of Japan, 1333-1615
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It was fought in Kyôto itself. The Ônin War was fought in the streets and mansions of Kyôto, leaving the city, by 1477, a heap of ruins. Prior to this, the rivalries of the great families had been fought out in the provinces, and could be safely ignored by the Bakufu. The devastation of Kyôto, the political and spiritual heart of the country, destroyed the Ashikaga Shôguns as credible rulers, and precipitated the breakdown of central authority. Japan now entered the Sengoku Period - the era of fully independent regional warlords.
Guns would not be used in Japan until 1543, when they were introduced by the Portuguese. No foreign mercenaries played a role in this or, as far as I am aware, any other civil war in Japan. The two sides in the Ônin War were the Hosokawa and Yamana families. The Hosokawa leader, Katsumoto, was not the son of his rival, Yamana Sôzen, but he was his son-in-law, having married Sôzen's daughter in an unsuccessful attempt to improve their relationship.
| After the Ônin War, Ashikaga control collapsed and Japan entered a long era of disunity in which rival warlords competed for power. What is this period called? | History of Japan, 1333-1615
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Sengoku . "Sengoku" literally translates as "warring states", and thus is not really applicable to the Japan of this time, which was a single state ripped apart by internal conflict. However in this, as in much else, the Japanese borrowed a Chinese term that described an era of actual warring states on the mainland and used it to denote their period of anarchy.
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