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| General information; Ikko - Ikki here, Ikko - Ikko there, but who are they? Expand your knowledge of feudal Japan. | |
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| Topic Started: 04/09/2011 - 07:12 am (443 Views) | |
| Deleted User | 04/09/2011 - 07:12 am Post #1 |
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Ikkō-ikki (一向一揆?), literally "Ikkoshū Uprising", were mobs of peasant farmers, Buddhist monks, Shinto priests and local nobles, who rose up against samurai rule in 15th to 16th century Japan. They followed the beliefs of the Jōdo Shinshu (True Pure Land) sect of Buddhism which taught that all believers are equally saved by Amida Buddha's grace. The Ikkō-ikki were, at first, disparate and disorganized followers of Rennyo's teachings. His missionary work, and his appointment to the position of abbot of Hongan-ji, was in 1457, so perhaps it can be said that the Ikkō-ikki began then. -(BTW, what years is in the game atm?) In 1471, Rennyo was forced to flee Kyoto, and established a new Hongan-ji branch temple in Yoshizaki, in Echizen Province; it was at this temple that he began to attract a significant following among peasants and farmers. - So, basically tha clan rose having one man as a base. 1488 brought the first violent uprising, the first major organized action on the part of the Ikkō-ikki. They overthrew the samurai rulers of Kaga Province, and took control of it for themselves; this represented the first time in Japanese history that a group of commoners ruled a province. - So, the first "military" move of theirs. Isn't Kaga on the upper-western border of north shinano? Rennyo was a pacifist, and taught pacifism as any other Buddhist clergyman would. He advocated self-defense only as a guard against the particularly tumultuous times in which he lived. Daimyo, samurai warlords, fought one another for territory nearly constantly, across the entire country. Rennyo thus saw to it that the temples of his sect were fortified and defended from attackers. Though it was his charismatic leadership and populist teachings that inspired the fervor which powered the Ikkō-ikki uprisings, he never advocated or supported them. - Oh well, isn't it just human nature to ignore understanding and go fighting? War born from war...i guess. Towards the end of the 16th century, however, their growing numbers and strength caught the attention and concern of the great samurai leaders of the time. Tokugawa Ieyasu worried that the monks of Mikawa would rise up and seize the province. In 1564, his forces, with the help of Jōdo sect warrior monks, defeated the Ikkō-ikki of Mikawa in the Battle of Azukizaka. - Look, the tokugawa brought Ikko-Ikki's demise. Funny how we gave them their existance in the campaign just to be our fodder. I guess it'll end the same way as it happened in real life. If you want to know more, go here. |
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| Deleted User | 04/09/2011 - 07:42 am Post #2 |
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NAGINATA Well, we know there are in the game the naginata warriors (or something), so I was surfing Wikipedia and it came up. Naginata has a way bigger legacy than i had ever thought. Let's get it started. The information comes from here. I will only discuss the transition of the weapon to the modern age. If anyone is intrigued or want to discuss it's origins feel free to comment. So: During the Edo Period (What period? Worth researching. Oh, look what I have discovered) --> Spoiler: click to toggle , as the naginata became less useful for men on the battlefield, it became a symbol of the social status of women of the samurai class.[10] A functional naginata was often a traditional part of a samurai daughter's dowry. Although they did not typically fight as normal soldiers, women of the samurai class were expected to be capable of defending their homes while their husbands were away at war. The naginata was considered one of the weapons most suitable for women, since it allows a woman to keep opponents at a distance, where any advantages in height, weight, and upper body strength would be lessened. An excellent example of the role of women in Japanese society and martial culture is Itagaki, who, famous for her naginata skills, led the garrison of 3,000 warriors stationed at Toeizakayama castle. Ten thousand Hōjō clan warriors were dispatched to take the castle, and Itagaki led her troops out of the castle, killing a significant number of the attackers before being overpowered. The naginata saw its final uses in combat in 1868, at Aizu, and in 1876, in Satsuma. - So basically, as new and better weapons were brought on the battlfields, the naginata were left home, and soon became more like a symbol. I personally did not know that women actually used them to defend their homes. Makes sense if you look at it, after all, their husbands took the weaponry, leaing it behind, they had to defend themselves somehow.Spoiler: click to toggle Due to the influence of Westernization after the Meiji Restoration the perceived value of martial arts, the naginata included, dropped severely. It was from this time that the focus of training became the strengthening of the will and the forging of the mind and body. During the Showa period, naginata training became a part of the public school system in 1912; and it "remains a staple of girls’ physical education" - At this pint I thought this was like one of those sports you do at school at physical education but never know where it came from. You just do it 'cas your teacher makes you do it. Martial arts training in Japan was banned for five years by the Allied Forces after Japan's surrender at the end of World War II. After the lifting of the ban in 1950, a modern form of naginata training, known as Atarashii naginata ("new naginata"), was developed. Since World War II, naginata has primarily been practiced as a sport with a particular emphasis on etiquette and discipline, rather than as military training. - Well, I can affirm, with any remains of doubt, that naginata wasn't/isn't just a weapon, but at some point it was more like a way of life. I never had any ideia that naginatajutsu actally exists as an modern sport martial art. And this video actally shows how great of an advantage can naginata have against a katana. |
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| Deleted User | 10/09/2011 - 02:45 am Post #3 |
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Tokugawa Ieyasu --> Childhood. Tokugawa Ieyasu was born in Okazaki Castle in Mikawa. He was the son of Matsudaira Hirotada, the daimyo of Mikawa of the Matsudaira clan. (At this moment impersonated by damo in our RP). His mother and father were step-siblings.(Nowdays we have incest. How did the society react to marriage between siblings at the time. Did they not know and it was only discovered now, or was it accepted?) They were just 17 and 15 years old, respectively, when Ieyasu was born. Two years later, Odainokata(Ieasu's mother) was sent back to her family and the couple never lived together again. As both husband and wife remarried and both went on to have further children, Ieyasu in the end had 11 half-brothers and sisters. The Matsudaira family was split in 1550: one side wanted to be vassals of the Imagawa clan, while the other side preferred the Oda. As a result, much of Ieyasu's early years were spent in danger as wars with the Oda and Imagawa clans were fought. This family feud was the reason behind the murder of Hirotada's father (Heh damo, your father was assassinated, but I don't seem to recall him, or his death in our campaign). Unlike his father and the majority of his branch of the family, Ieyasu's father, Hirotada, favored the Imagawa clan. In 1548, when the Oda clan invaded Mikawa, Hirotada turned to Imagawa Yoshimoto, the head of the Imagawa clan, for help to repel the invaders. Yoshimoto agreed to help under the condition that Hirotada send his son Takechiyo to Sumpu as a hostage. Hirotada agreed. Oda Nobuhide, the leader of the Oda clan, learned of this arrangement and had Ieyasu abducted from his entourage en route to Sumpu. Ieyasu was just six years old at the time. This is starting to sound familiar doesn't it? Nobuhide threatened to execute Takechiyo unless his father severed all ties with the Imagawa clan. Hirotada replied that sacrificing his own son would show his seriousness in his pact with the Imagawa clan. Despite this refusal, Nobuhide chose not to kill Takechiyo but instead held him for the next three years at the Manshoji Temple in Nagoya. (Wait, so Hirotada woudl sacrifice a son to prove his loyalty to Imagawa, even thou a greater part of the clan favoured Oda. Dangerous decision.) In 1549, when Takechiyo was 7,[3] his father Hirotada died of natural causes. At about the same time, Oda Nobuhide died during an epidemic. The deaths dealt a heavy blow to the Oda clan. An army under the command of Imagawa Sessai laid siege to the castle where Oda Nobuhiro, Nobuhide's eldest son and the new head of the Oda, was living. With the castle about to fall, Imagawa Sessai offered a deal to Oda Nobunaga (Oda Nobuhide's second son). Sessai offered to give up the siege if Ieyasu was handed over to the Imagawa clan. Nobunaga agreed and so Takechiyo (now nine) was taken as a hostage to Sumpu. Here he lived a fairly good life as hostage and potentially useful future ally of the Imagawa clan until 1556 when he was age 15. (This is very interesting. So, after Hirotada's death, the imagawa still had interests in his son Ieyasu. So interested that they didn't conquer a city when they could have. Admitting they weren't interested in the conquest, the onyl reason of the siege was Ieyasu. I think thy wanted to use him for personal interests. Hirotada was dead and there was probably no need to prova any kind of friendship. But all this are speculations.) --> Adulthood At the age of 16 (according to East Asia age reckoning), he married his first wife. Allowed to return to his native Mikawa, the Imagawa ordered him to fight the Oda clan in a series of battles. Motoyasu fought his first battle at the Siege of Terabe and later succeeded in delivering supplies to a border fort through a bold night attack. In 1560 the leadership of the Oda clan had passed to the brilliant leader Oda Nobunaga(I love this guy. He is the reason why i voted for the Oda clan when we were choosing the clan for damo to play with). Yoshimoto, leading a large Imagawa army (perhaps 20,000 strong) then attacked the Oda clan territory. Motoyasu with his Mikawa troops captured a fort at the border and then stayed there to defend it. As a result, Motoyasu and his men were not present at the Battle of Okehazama where Yoshimoto was killed by Oda Nobunaga's surprise assault. (So, the Imagawa leader was slain in battle, what now?) With Yoshimoto dead, Motoyasu decided to ally with the Oda clan. A secret deal was needed because Motoyasu's wife and infant son, Nobuyasu were held hostage in Sumpu by the Imagawa clan. In 1561, Motoyasu openly broke with the Imagawa and captured the fortress of Kaminojo. Motoyasu was then able to exchange his wife and son for the wife and daughter of the ruler of Kaminojo castle. In 1563 Nobuyasu was married to Nobunaga's daughter Tokuhime. (So Ieasu allied himself with Nobunaga, exachanged hostages, his wife and son, and married his son to Nobunaga's daughter. Wasn't his son an infant? Just two years after the hostage exchange thei had a marriage. It seems the political and social pressure was great.) For the next few years Motoyasu set to reform the Matsudaira clan and pacifying Mikawa. He also strengthened his key vassals by awarding them land and castles in Mikawa. (His father's legacy. It seemes he did not forget his roots. I think he di dthat to win followers, and what better followers than your own family.) Motoyasu defeated the military forces of the Mikawa Monto within Mikawa province at the Battle of Azukizaka. The Monto were a warlike group of monks that were ruling Kaga Province and had many temples elsewhere in Japan. They refused to obey Motoyasu's commands and so he went to war with them, defeating their troops and pulling down their temples. In one battle, Motoyasu was nearly killed when he was struck by a bullet which did not penetrate his armor. Both Motoyasu's Mikawa troops and the Monto forces were using the new gunpowder weapons which the Portuguese had introduced to Japan just 20 years earlier. (I will assme this is a reference to the Ikko Ikki battles). Ieyasu remained an ally of Oda Nobunaga and his Mikawa soldiers were part of Nobunaga's army which captured Kyoto in 1568. At the same time Ieyasu was expanding his own territory. He and Takeda Shingen, the head of the Takeda clan in Kai Province made an alliance for the purpose of conquering all the Imagawa territory. In 1570, Ieyasu's troops captured Tōtōmi Province while Shingen's troops captured Suruga province (including the Imagawa capital of Sumpu). (Well, he was a prisioner, and they also held his wife and son as hostages, and he needed to expand. I suppose they were the best choice afterall.) Ieyasu ended his alliance with Takeda and sheltered their former enemy, Imagawa Ujizane; he also allied with Uesugi Kenshin of the Uesugi clan—an enemy of the Takeda clan. Later that year, Ieyasu led 5,000 of his own men supporting Nobunaga at the Battle of Anegawa against the Azai and Asakura clans. (Whait what? He, allied with the Takeda conquered the Imagawa, but later he broke the alliance and sheltered his enemy? I wonder what his reasons were for doing this. Maybe something personal, maybe not. Probably just creating a reason to have an expansion route towards kai...yet again, i'm speculating. And we can also see that his allienece with nobunaga was a strong one..or so it seems.) In October 1571, Takeda Shingen, now allied with the Hōjō clan, attacked the Tokugawa lands of Tōtōmi. Ieyasu asked for help from Nobunaga, who sent him some 3,000 troops. Early in 1573 the two armies met at the Battle of Mikatagahara. The Takeda army, under the expert direction of Shingen, hammered at Ieyasu's troops until they were broken. Ieyasu fled with just 5 men to a nearby castle. This was a major loss for Ieyasu, but Shingen was unable to exploit his victory because Ieyasu quickly gathered a new army and refused to fight Shingen again on the battlefield. (And so the Takeda dealt a great blow. My question is. Can you actually refuse to battle? Was that a cod of honour? Why did Shingen respect Ieyasu's wish, because he had another army yet again and his own army was depleted fromt he last battle? Hum...) Fortune smiled on Ieyasu a year later when Takeda Shingen died at a siege early in 1573. Shingen was succeeded by his less capable son Takeda Katsuyori. In 1575, the Takeda army attacked Nagashino Castle in Mikawa province. Ieyasu appealed to Nobunaga for help and the result was that Nobunaga personally came at the head of his very large army (about 30,000 strong). The Oda-Tokugawa force of 38,000 won a great victory on June 28, 1575, at the Battle of Nagashino, though Takeda Katsuyori survived the battle and retreated back to Kai province. For the next seven years, Ieyasu and Katsuyori fought a series of small battles. Ieyasu's troops managed to wrest control of Suruga province away from the Takeda clan. (With a little luck, and a great ally, Ieyasu seemes to get the advantage on the Takeda. I love you Oda Nobunaga, you sir, win.) n 1579, Ieyasu's wife, and his eldest son, Matsudaira Nobuyasu, were accused by Nobunaga of conspiring with Takeda Katsuyori to assassinate Nobunaga, whose daughter Tokuhime (1559–1636) was married to Nobuyasu. Ieyasu's wife was executed and Nobuyasu was forced to commit seppuku. Ieyasu then named his third and favorite son, Tokugawa Hidetada, as heir, since his second son was adopted by another rising power: Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the future ruler of all Japan. (WOOOOOW, WHAT THE HELL?!... This people are crazy. Well, after being basically saved by Nobunaga, condemning is wife and son, which he saved from Imagawa, to death, was quite something. I wonder if Nobunaga made a false acusation, maybe his daughter, Tokuhime had something to do it, or maybe he just wanted to see how grtefull Ieyasu was. Or, going into a darker area, Ieyasu needed a reason to get rid of these two... Or maybe the acusations were simply true. Well, but I guess Ieyasu must have had many more wives and sons. Sacrificing one of each, assuming they were innocent, for the empire is a decision only a someone with great ambitions would do. Still, I personally think this situation had interesting reasons, and interesting consequences.) The end of the war with Takeda came in 1582 when a combined Oda-Tokugawa force attacked and conquered Kai province. Takeda Katsuyori, as well as his eldest son Takeda Nobukatsu, were defeated at the Battle of Temmokuzan and then committed seppuku. (Sooo, ws Kai under Tokugawa or Oda control? Or it didn't matter? I suppose after the las situation their alliance was unquestionable.) In late 1582, Ieyasu was near Osaka and far from his own territory when he learned that Nobunaga had been assassinated by Akechi Mitsuhide(YOU BASTARD!!). Ieyasu managed the dangerous journey back to Mikawa, avoiding Mitsuhide's troops along the way, as they were trying to find and kill him. One week after he arrived in Mikawa, Ieyasu's army marched out to take revenge on Mitsuhide. But they were too late, Hideyoshi—on his own—defeated and killed Akechi Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki. (Hideyoshi was Nobunaga's heir, hegave continuum to his predecessor's work, continuing the shogunate. If you read all thi post you'll understand that Nobunaga conquered Kyoto, establishing a new era. Also known as Sengoku period. It preceeded the Edo period (tokugawa shogunate). And on more think I'd liek to point out. You take revenge for your friends... The death of Nobunaga meant that some provinces, ruled by Nobunaga's vassals, were ripe for conquest. The leader of Kai province made the mistake of killing one of Ieyasu's aides. Ieyasu promptly invaded Kai and took control. Hōjō Ujimasa, leader of the Hōjō clan responded by sending his much larger army into Shinano and then into Kai province. No battles were fought between Ieyasu's forces and the large Hōjō army and, after some negotiation, Ieyasu and the Hōjō agreed to a settlement which left Ieyasu in control of both Kai and Shinano provinces, while the Hōjō took control of Kazusa province (as well as bits of both Kai and Shinano province). (Oh, so Kai remained under Oda control. And now we have the Hojo in the equation) At the same time (1583) a war for rule over Japan was fought between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie. Ieyasu did not take a side in this conflict, building on his reputation for both caution and wisdom. Hideyoshi defeated Katsuie at Battle of Shizugatake—with this victory, Hideyoshi became the single most powerful daimyo in Japan. (Well, I guess Ieasy didn't share the same relationship with Hideyoshi as he did with Nobunaga.) In 1584, Ieyasu decided to support Oda Nobukatsu, the eldest son and heir of Oda Nobunaga, against Hideyoshi. This was a dangerous act and could have resulted in the annihilation of the Tokugawa. (Well, cntinuing my last line of thought, it seems he actually didn't agree with Hideyoshi. Rising against the most powerfull daymio...Interesting...) Tokugawa troops took the traditional Oda stronghold of Owari, Hideyoshi responded by sending an army into Owari. The Komaki Campaign was the only time any of the great unifiers of Japan fought each other: Hideyoshi vs. Ieyasu. The campaign proved indecisive and after months of fruitless marches and feints, Hideyoshi settled the war through negotiation. First he made peace with Oda Nobukatsu, and then he offered a truce to Ieyasu. The deal was made at the end of the year; as part of the terms Ieyasu's second son, O Gi Maru, became an adopted son of Hideyoshi. Ieyasu's aide, Ishikawa Kazumasa, chose to join the pre-eminent daimyo and so he moved to Osaka to be with Hideyoshi. However, only a few other Tokugawa retainers followed this example. Hideyoshi was understandably distrustful of Ieyasu, and five years passed before they fought as allies. The Tokugawa did not participate in Hideyoshi's successful invasions of Shikoku and Kyūshū. (Shikoku is the chosokabe island, and Kyushu is where the Shimaza clan is settled. So, they started neutral, continued as enemies, and ended as allies. If Hideyoshi conquered those two islands, you can basically conclude the he had southern Japan under his control...) In 1590 Hideyoshi attacked the last independent daimyo in Japan, Hōjō Ujimasa. The Hōjō clan ruled the eight provinces of the Kantō region in eastern Japan. Hideyoshi ordered them to submit to his authority and they refused. Ieyasu, though a friend and occasional ally of Ujimasa, joined his large force of 30,000 samurai with Hideyoshi's enormous army of some 160,000. Hideyoshi attacked several castles on the borders of the Hōjō clan with most of his army laying siege to the castle at Odawara. Hideyoshi's army captured Odawara after six months (oddly for the time period, deaths on both sides were few). During this siege, Hideyoshi offered Ieyasu a radical deal. He offered Ieyasu the eight Kantō provinces which they were about to take from the Hōjō in return for the five provinces that Ieyasu currently controlled (including Ieyasu's home province of Mikawa). Ieyasu accepted this proposal. Bowing to the overwhelming power of the Toyotomi army, the Hōjō accepted defeat, the top Hōjō leaders killed themselves and Ieyasu marched in and took control of their provinces, so ending the clan's reign of over 100 years. (Woooow, a dangerous deal... ruling over people you just fought agains is dangerous, and even more dangerous is leaving your settlements to the strongest daymio. What if Ieyashu refuses? And also, the hojo reached their end.) The post is not finished, I'll finish it in the evening. |
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| Deleted User | 10/09/2011 - 01:34 pm Post #4 |
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Ieyasu now gave up control of his five provinces (Mikawa, Tōtōmi, Suruga, Shinano, and Kai) and moved all his soldiers and vassals to the Kantō region. He himself occupied the castle town of Edo in Kantō. This was possibly the riskiest move Ieyasu ever made — to leave his home province and rely on the uncertain loyalty of the formerly Hōjō samurai in Kantō. In the event, it worked out brilliantly for Ieyasu. He reformed the Kantō provinces, controlled and pacified the Hōjō samurai and improved the underlying economic infrastructure of the lands. Also, because Kantō was somewhat isolated from the rest of Japan, Ieyasu was able to maintain a unique level of autonomy from Hideyoshi's rule. Within a few years, Ieyasu had become the second most powerful daimyo in Japan. There is a Japanese proverb which likely refers to this event "Ieyasu won the Empire by retreating."(Risky move. Good thing he did a good managment. Also wise, he didn't defy the most powerful man at the time, yet managed to be the second most powerfull and keep peace in such tumultuous times. He indeed won the empire by retreating.) In 1598, with his health clearly failing, Hideyoshi called a meeting that would determine the Council of Five Elders, who would be responsible for ruling on behalf of his son after his death. There were five, and Ieyasu the most powerfull of them. Hideyoshi, after three more months of increasing sickness, died on September 18, 1598. He was nominally succeeded by his young son Hideyori but as he was just five years old, real power was in the hands of the regents. Over the next two years Ieyasu made alliances with various daimyo, especially those who had no love for Hideyoshi. Happily for Ieyasu, the oldest and most respected of the regents died after just one year. With the death of Regent Maeda Toshiie in 1599, Ieyasu led an army to Fushimi and took over Osaka Castle, the residence of Hideyori. This angered the three remaining regents and plans were made on all sides for war. (wait, he conquered the residence of the heir of the most powerful daymio? a bold move, a bold move indeed) Opposition to Ieyasu centered around Ishida Mitsunari, a powerful daimyo but not one of the regents. Mitsunari plotted Ieyasu's death and news of this plot reached some of Ieyasu's generals. They attempted to kill Mitsunari but he fled and gained protection from none other than Ieyasu himself. It is not clear why Ieyasu protected a powerful enemy from his own men but Ieyasu was a master strategist and he may have concluded that he would be better off with Mitsunari leading the enemy army rather than one of the regents, who would have more legitimacy. (well, we've seen Ieyasu protecting the imagawa after crushing them and turning on their allies, the takda, who helped him, so I'm gonna agree with the text and suppose he had good reasons. I can see some, but no need to seculate anymore) Nearly all of Japan's daimyo and samurai now split into two factions—Mitsunari's group and the anti-Mitsunari Group. Ieyasu supported the anti-Mitsunari Group, and formed them as his potential allies. Ieyasu's allies were the Date clan, the Mogami clan, the Satake clan and the Maeda clan. Mitsunari allied himself with the three other regents: Ukita Hideie, Mori Terumoto, and Uesugi Kagekatsu as well as many daimyo from the eastern end of Honshū. In June 1600, Ieyasu and his allies moved their armies to defeat the Uesugi clan who was accused of planning to revolt against Toyotomi administration (Led by Ieyasu, top of Council of Five Elders). Before arriving to Uesugi's territory, Ieyasu had got information that Mitsunari and his allies moved their army against Ieyasu. Ieyasu held a meeting with daimyo, and they agreed to ally Ieyasu. He then led the majority of his army west towards Kyoto. In late summer, Ishida's forces captured Fushimi.(no he didn't, NO HE DIDN'T!! whas this a plot? It seems to e this was a plot, and a seucessfuul one. Luring th enemy by atacking one of their clans, but having them join with Ieyasu and march to Kyoto. He is indeed a genius of his period.) Ieyasu and his allies marched along the Tōkaidō, while his son Hidetada went along the Nakasendō with 38,000 soldiers. A battle against Sanada Masayuki in Shinano Province delayed Hidetada's forces, and they did not arrive in time for the main battle. This battle was the biggest and likely the most important battle in Japanese history. It began on October 21, 1600 with a total of 160,000 men facing each other. The Battle of Sekigahara ended with a complete Tokugawa victory.[8] The Western bloc was crushed and over the next few days Ishida Mitsunari and many other western nobles were captured and killed. Tokugawa Ieyasu was now the de facto ruler of Japan. (Just one thing to say. Fortune favours the audacious.) On March 24, 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu received the title of shogun from Emperor Go-Yōzei.[9] Ieyasu was 60 years old. He had outlasted all the other great men of his times: Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, Shingen, Kenshin. He was the shogun and he used his remaining years to create and solidify the Tokugawa shogunate (That was eventually to become the Edo period, about two hundred years under Ieyasu's Shogunate). The Tokugawa Shogunate would rule Japan for the next 250 years. --> Death In 1616, Ieyasu died at age 73.[3] The cause of death is thought to have been cancer or syphilis. The first Tokugawa shogun was posthumously deified with the name Tōshō Daigongen (東照大権現), the "Great Gongen, Light of the East". (A Gongen (the prefix Dai- meaning great) is believed to be a buddha who has appeared on Earth in the shape of a kami(god) to save sentient beings). In life, Ieyasu had expressed the wish to be deified after his death in order to protect his descendants from evil. (Well...history is written b the victors, and this one was a genius indeed. There is no saint man, but with his doings, I agree that he should be seen as a great man. May his soul rest in peace.) Ieyasu had a number of qualities that enabled him to rise to power. He was both careful and bold—at the right times, and at the right places. Calculating and subtle, Ieyasu switched alliances when he thought he would benefit from the change. He allied with the Hōjō clan; then he joined Hideyoshi's army of conquest, which destroyed the Hōjō clan; and he himself took over their lands. In this he was like other daimyo of his time. This was an era of violence, sudden death, and betrayal. He was not very well liked nor personally popular, but he was feared and he was respected for his leadership and his cunning. For example, he wisely kept his soldiers out of Hideyoshi's campaign in Korea. He was capable of great loyalty: once he allied with Oda Nobunaga, he never went against Nobunaga; and both leaders profited from their long alliance. He was known for being loyal towards his personal friends and vassals, whom he rewarded. However, he also remembered those who had wronged him in the past. It is said that Ieyasu executed a man who came into his power because he had insulted him when Ieyasu was young. Ieyasu protected many former Takeda retainers from the wrath of Oda Nobunaga, who was known to harbor a bitter grudge towards the Takeda. He managed to successfully transform many of the retainers of the Takeda, Hōjō, and Imagawa clans—all whom he had defeated himself or helped to defeat—into loyal followers. He had nineteen wives and concubines, by whom he had eleven sons and five daughters. --> Hobby Ieyasu's favorite pastime was falconry. He regarded it as excellent training for a warrior. "When you go into the country hawking, you learn to understand the military spirit and also the hard life of the lower classes. You exercise your muscles and train your limbs. You have any amount of walking and running and become quite indifferent to heat and cold, and so you are little likely to suffer from any illness.".[15] Ieyasu swam often; even late in his life he is reported to have swum in the moat of Edo Castle. Two of his famous quotes: "Life is like unto a long journey with a heavy burden. Let thy step be slow and steady, that thou stumble not. Persuade thyself that imperfection and inconvenience are the lot of natural mortals, and there will be no room for discontent, neither for despair. When ambitious desires arise in thy heart, recall the days of extremity thou have passed through. Forbearance is the root of all quietness and assurance forever. Look upon the wrath of thy enemy. If thou only knows what it is to conquer, and knowest not what it is to be defeated; woe unto thee, it will fare ill with thee. Find fault with thyself rather than with others." "The strong manly ones in life are those who understand the meaning of the word patience. Patience means restraining one's inclinations. There are seven emotions: joy, anger, anxiety, adoration, grief, fear, and hate, and if a man does not give way to these he can be called patient. I am not as strong as I might be, but I have long known and practiced patience. And if my descendants wish to be as I am, they must study patience." He claimed that he fought, as a warrior or a general, in 90 battles. He was interested in various kenjutsu skills, was a patron of the Yagyū Shinkage-ryū school, and also had them as his personal sword instructors. AND DONE |
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| Deleted User | 13/09/2011 - 01:32 pm Post #5 |
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What would you want to know about feudal japan? post here and I shall investigate. |
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| Deleted User | 13/09/2011 - 02:11 pm Post #6 |
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Deleted User
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Virtual High five! This is great work and a lot of time spent into it gave you great results! Well done. |
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| Deleted User | 18/09/2011 - 02:37 am Post #7 |
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Deleted User
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hhahahaha, VIRTUAL HIGH FIVE (barney ftw) I'm still amazed how people don't have th need to strive for knowledge. Just give me the first thing that comes to your mind about feudal japan. If nothing does, it's kinda sad. |
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