Biographies - 3rd May Oda Nobunaga Oda Nobunaga was a daimyo who ruled over Honshu, the main island of Japan. He was born in the 1530s, and was given the nickname, in his childhood, of “Owari no Ōutsuke”, or “The Big Fool of Owari.” His father Oda Nobuhide died when Nobunaga was in his 20s, and was reputed, at the funeral, to throw incense at the altar. Nobunaga’s superiors were convinced of his lack of discipline from his behaviour at the funeral, and began to support Nobunaga’s brother, Nobuyuki. Nobunaga helped assassinate one of his uncles, with the help of Nobunaga’s younger uncle. This helped form Nobunaga as a dangerous political figure, and soon he was attacked by his brother Nobuyuki. His brother failed and was defeated at the …show more content…
Toyotomi Hideyoshi Toyotomi Hideyoshi, born in either 1536 or 1537, was a powerful daimyo, kampaku and samurai who put a stop to the Warring States period. Hideyoshi was born in the Owari Province in the late 1530s. He was the son of a peasant-ashigaru and had no surname. After joining and serving multiple clans, he returned to the Owari Province in approx. 1557, where he joined the Oda clan as a servant to Oda Nobunaga. He soon became a sandal-bearer to Nobunaga. Hideyoshi soon became a general to Nobunaga due to his skill as a negotiator. Hideyoshi captured two fortresses from the Azai and Asakura clans, which led Nobunaga to select Toyotomi as a daimyo of a district in the northern part of the Ōmi Province. After Oda Nobunaga’s assassination at the Siege of Kyoto, there was a meeting to decide Nobunaga’s successor. Hideyoshi supported Oda Nobunaga’s grandson, Oda Hidenobu. Although he was only 2 years old at the time, Hideyoshi established Hidenobu’s position as ruler of the Oda clan. The candidate expected to success Oda Nobunaga, Shibata Katsuie, was angry at Hideyoshi’s lack of support, however Katusie’s army was destroyed at the Battle of Shizugatake the following
Joseph Conlans “State of War; The Violent Order of Fourteenth Century Japan” is an depth look at Japans emerging warrior class during a time period of constant warfare in Medieval Japan. His work however doesn’t revolve around the re-fabrication and in-depth analysis of battles sieged like many contemporary examinations of wars and battles won and lost. Instead the author vies to navigate the reader on journey into the warrior class’s lives and how they evolved through a statistical analysis of records. This illustrates how warfare changed and transformed with the constant evolving of the Samurai, but it also includes how their actions affected their Political environment as well as the society in which they dwelled from the bottom up. Through his survey of records and documents, Conlan is able to give readers a compelling look into the Warrior class and at times shatters in the process many of the pre-conceived general notions that one may hold about this ancient class of professional warriors. Many of the notions & common misconceptions debunked in this scholarly piece include the idea that the Samurai was a male only fraternity, reserved for those of impeccable candor and loyalty. When truth be known, woman and young men (boys) were also trained in the art of war and thus were as likely to be found on the battle fields as men when times were tough and solider numbers were depleted. Further, another misconception (Generally thought to be caused by the popular and well known; “The Bushido Code: The Eight Virtues of the Samurai”) of the warrior class is that all of these men were truly Samurai which translated to “one who serves” when really, loyalty for the warrior class as Conlan points out only went as far as ones right to ...
Tojo Eiku (his name before he became premier) was born in Tokyo on Dec. 30 1884. The son of an army general, he graduated from the Japanese Military Academy in 1905, and 10 years later completed with honors his studies at the army war college. After World War I, he became an exponent of the theory of total war. As head of the mobilization section of the war ministry, he played an important role in drafting the first general mobilization plans of the imperial army. Committed to the principle that Japan's military strength must be rooted in a developed industrial economy, Tojo urged in the early 1930's the reorganization of the army and, at the same time, the combination of the resources of Manchuria with the economy of Japan. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tojo_Hideki)
Musui’s Story is the exciting tale of a low class samurai’s life towards the end of the Tokugawa era. Although one would normally imagine a samurai to be a noble illustrious figure, Musui’s Story portrays the rather ignominious life of an unemployed samurai. Nonetheless, this primary account demonstrates the tenacity of samurai values and privileges present at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. The social status of samurai had been elevated to such a state that even someone like Musui was easily able to gain influence in everyday affairs with his privileges. Not only that, but he had retained his values as a warrior and still kept great pride for his arts in weaponry.
Now Minamoto Yoshitsune had a older brother named Minamoto Yoritoma(1147-1199) who sat out most of the war in Kamakura. In 1180 Yomitomo had established his power base
This essay will be about the samurai class in the Tokugawa era and all the events leading to their fall. It will also talk about how they did not technically ‘fall,’ but were in fact replaced by the commoner class in Japan. This commoner class brought on an economy centred around money rather than land, making the Samurai class bow down to the commoner class, since the Samurai were already in poverty at this point, however, they were still supported by what the commoner class had to offer so there were not wars between the classes. Unfortunately, this meant Samurai no longer thrived from their land economy. They had control over that part until this series of events unfolded; then, control was limited. This was the beginning of the so called ‘fall’ of the samurai class. Before the Meiji Restoration occurred, Samurai were a very prominent class in Japan, and were well respected and known, and most importantly, they were needed. However, when the Meiji Restoration came into effect, this brought in a new era of modernization. A modern Japan, where Samurai were seen as traditional and virtually unneeded in society. During their peak of samurai life, they had access to everything and were wealthy, but as the Tokugawa declined to the Meiji restoration, samurai experienced increasing poverty. “It was worth noting, that the possession of wealth
The Tokugawa Era was brought about by Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was a military dictatorship and helped achieve hegemony and stability over the entire country after the control and ruling of Japan for over 200 years since the 1600s. The author is an Asian history professor and knows what he is writing and many years of research and effort have been put into this book which is apparent. In conclusion, this book provides relevant and sufficient research on this topic of interest. Sadler, A. L., & Sadler, A. L. (2009).Shogun: the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu : the dramatic story of the man who united feudal Japan and established the traditional Japanese way of life. Tokyo: Tuttle Pub. & Co. Tokugawa Ieyasu was quoted as “one of the greatest men the world has seen yet” in the book and he is already very well known as one of the legendary leaders in Japanese history who is also the founder and the leader who started off the Tokugawa Era.
Takeda Shingen was a swift and meticulous daimyo in feudal Japan during the late stage of the Sengoku period. He ruled the Kai Province from 1541-1573. Born on December 1, 1521, Takeda Shingen was the eldest of 3 sons of Japanese warlord, Takeda Nobutora of the Kai Province. During his childhood, Shingen was called “Taro” (a commonly used pet name for a Japanese family’s eldest son) or “Katsuchiyo.” Around 1535, Katsuchiyo had an elaborate coming of age ceremony which included court notable Sanjo Kinyori, a retired Dainagon, whose daughter Katsuchiyo would soon marry. In addition, shogun Ashikaga Yoshiharu sent word for Katsuchiyo to add “Haru” into his adult name, thus he became known as Harunobu. In feudal Japan, it was common practice for a high-ranking warrior to grant a character from his own name to a subordinate as a symbol of recognition. Upon discovery that his father, Nobutora, was planning to name his second son, Nobushige, as his heir, it caused great strife between Harunobu and Nobutora. It was in 1541 that Harunobu rebelled against his father and Nobutora was exiled to Suruga, ruled by the Imagawa clan. Many of Nobutora’s top Takeda retainers saw advantage in supporting Harunobu, as many held personal grudges against his father. An alliance was formed with the Imagawa clan for their support in this bloodless coup.
Isoroku Yamamoto was Japan’s commander in chief. He took part in many changes of the Imperial J...
“Isoroku Sadayoshi later known as Yamamoto was born in Nagaoka Japan August 4th, 1884. He was was the son of an impoverished school teacher, Takano Teikichi, and his second wife Mineko. Isoroku belonged to the Echigo clan, a clan of warriors who had resisted unification of Japan during the reign of the Meiji emperor. He was given the name “Isoroku” which meant 56 by his father who was that age when Isoroku was born in the small village of “Kishigun Sonshomura” which was an island that produced mostly sailors which would be an influence in Isoroku’s love of the sea and navy. At age 16, after taking competitive examinations, He enrolled in the Naval Academy at Etajima, off the shore of Hiroshima where he overtook rigorous physical and mental training.Graduating in 1904 as seventh in his class, he fought against Russia's Baltic Fleet at Tsushima, a strait between Japan and Korea, in an engagement recognized by historians as a major decisive battle. As an ensign on the cruiser Nisshin,part of the protective screen for Admiral Togo Heihachiro's flagship Mikasa,Isorok...
The Japanese Empire became an empire in the year 1868. They quickly spread their empire out and became rulers over 7,400,000 square kilometers of land. “They quickly became known for war crimes against their ow...
In the late 1860’s and early1870’s Japan underwent a change when Emperor Mutushito came to power under the title Meji “enlightened peace”. This change came to be known as the Meji Era which called for westerni...
... one who killed his own son. He did not want to look weak in front of his fellow clan members. Okonkwo suffered internally for what he did.
Unoka, his father, was a man of many debts and was far too lazy to have ambition to one day pay them back. As soon as Okonkwo was of age, he moved away and created a title for himself. He became a great warrior of Umuofia, and gained a seat with the elders. “Okonkwo’s prosperity was visible in his household. He had a large compound… Each of his three wives had her own hut… and long stacks of yam stood out prosperously in it” (Achebe 14). Okonkwo was a man of great fortune, and he stood very proud of this. After returning from his banishment of several years, Okonkwo believed his people would have been thrilled and had a large feast prepared, but they took little notice, as their tribe had been burdened with the white men. Many converted over to Christianity, and one day a convert killed an egwugwu of Umuofia. An egwugwu was seen as an ancestral spirit represented through a man’s
With the fall of the Aristocracies during the Heian period, the first establishment of a Shogunate system was created. The Kamakura Era of Japan “takes its name from the garrison town of Kamakura on Sagami Bay in central Honshu, not far from modern Tokyo.” (Colcutt). The Kamakura Era lasted from 1192 until 1333 C.E. and began what is referred to as Japan’s 700 year medieval period. This era defined the foundation of the hierarchical Shogunate system and the role of the legendary samurai warriors. Founded by Minamoto no Yoritomo, the Samurai were part of the warrior government system known as Bakufu. This historically famous system was established after the Genpei War. “The war between [the] Minamoto... and Taira
There are many historical aspects of the Japanese, but the most interesting is the history of the Samurai. In Japans history war played a large role in the country. Controlling clans fought for parts of the land and overall control of the country. These clans were powerful families that resided in the country and who all wanted power and control of Japan for themselves. The families that would be in control were known as Shoguns. These shoguns would have warriors that fought for them if any of the other clan families would try to attack him in order to overthrow him and take his power from him. The Samurai followed a code that developed from Chinese beliefs when in battle. The Samurais code was known as the Bushido. This code was also known as “The Way of The Warrior” which was the main belief s...