imported>Soranin m moving things around |
imported>Soranin |
||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
==Echoes of Shadows== | ==Echoes of Shadows== | ||
===Blue links=== | |||
<!-- | <!-- | ||
==Locations== | ==Locations== | ||
===Iga=== | ===[[Iga]]=== | ||
Iga is a small province surrounded by mountains in central Japan. It's just a little bit to the southeast of the capital of Kyoto. It's surrounded by the lands of Nobunaga and those loyal to him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref> | Iga is a small province surrounded by mountains in central Japan. It's just a little bit to the southeast of the capital of Kyoto. It's surrounded by the lands of Nobunaga and those loyal to him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref> | ||
| Line 18: | Line 18: | ||
It is now a domain administered by one of Nobunaga's retainers. It would go on to be a domain held by a Daimyo underneath the Edo Period shogun of the Tokukawa.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/> | It is now a domain administered by one of Nobunaga's retainers. It would go on to be a domain held by a Daimyo underneath the Edo Period shogun of the Tokukawa.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/> | ||
===Nagasaki=== | ===[[Nagasaki]]=== | ||
he discovered that Nagasaki had been raised up into this great port by the Jesuits who had effectively been given Nagasaki by a local warlord so the extraordinary influence that a foreign power preaching of foreign religion had in Kyushu I think upset Hideyoshi very much<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref> | he discovered that Nagasaki had been raised up into this great port by the Jesuits who had effectively been given Nagasaki by a local warlord so the extraordinary influence that a foreign power preaching of foreign religion had in Kyushu I think upset Hideyoshi very much<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref> | ||
| Line 25: | Line 25: | ||
Gaspar Vilela is one who stands out. He was a very keen propagator of the Christian faith, and he could convert some warlords to Christianity. One of them was Omura Sumitada, who eventually would give a port to the Jesuits, which was called Nagasaki.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | Gaspar Vilela is one who stands out. He was a very keen propagator of the Christian faith, and he could convert some warlords to Christianity. One of them was Omura Sumitada, who eventually would give a port to the Jesuits, which was called Nagasaki.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | ||
=== | ===[[Kyoto]]=== | ||
So Kyoto is the absolute heart of Japan, it's exactly in the middle. And geomantically, let's go to geomantics, it's a perfectly placed to be the capital city, which is what it was for a thousand years. It's got mountains behind it on three sides, it's got the sea in front, it's got two rivers running through, it fulfils all the necessary requirements of Feng Shui to be the perfect place for capital<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | So Kyoto is the absolute heart of Japan, it's exactly in the middle. And geomantically, let's go to geomantics, it's a perfectly placed to be the capital city, which is what it was for a thousand years. It's got mountains behind it on three sides, it's got the sea in front, it's got two rivers running through, it fulfils all the necessary requirements of Feng Shui to be the perfect place for capital<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | ||
| Line 53: | Line 50: | ||
And then in Kyoto, there is an Emperor and has been residing all the time. So the Kyoto people like residents will be more aware of what's happening around the courtiers and so on. [...] And then medieval Japan as well, this Kamakura headquarters of the samurai has been moved and taken by a different family. And the samurai headquarters became the Kyoto as well. So in Kyoto, the dual structure of this courtiers and Emperor's house and the Shogunate. So the Kyoto people will be really subject to what political moves are. But other people like say around outside of Kyoto, they will be happily living in their regions and then they will have those like farming going on and they will have rather stable time so they could enjoy.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 08">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 8: How To Fit In: Feudal Japan</ref> | And then in Kyoto, there is an Emperor and has been residing all the time. So the Kyoto people like residents will be more aware of what's happening around the courtiers and so on. [...] And then medieval Japan as well, this Kamakura headquarters of the samurai has been moved and taken by a different family. And the samurai headquarters became the Kyoto as well. So in Kyoto, the dual structure of this courtiers and Emperor's house and the Shogunate. So the Kyoto people will be really subject to what political moves are. But other people like say around outside of Kyoto, they will be happily living in their regions and then they will have those like farming going on and they will have rather stable time so they could enjoy.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 08">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 8: How To Fit In: Feudal Japan</ref> | ||
===Nara=== | ===[[Nara]]=== | ||
And before his time, the capital had been in Nara, but it was kind of taken over by the Buddhist priests. [...] There were all sorts of scandals to do with these Buddhist clergy. And then he, Emperor Kanmu, founded a capital in Nagoka, which is near Nara.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | And before his time, the capital had been in Nara, but it was kind of taken over by the Buddhist priests. [...] There were all sorts of scandals to do with these Buddhist clergy. And then he, Emperor Kanmu, founded a capital in Nagoka, which is near Nara.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | ||
There were the different sects of Buddhism arrived in Japan at different times. And the first sect grew up in Nara, as I said, and caused trouble. And that stayed in Nara. The whole point was to leave those priests behind in Nara and move to Kyoto.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/> | There were the different sects of Buddhism arrived in Japan at different times. And the first sect grew up in Nara, as I said, and caused trouble. And that stayed in Nara. The whole point was to leave those priests behind in Nara and move to Kyoto.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/> | ||
===Tokyo=== | ===[[Tokyo]]=== | ||
So it didn't take as long as it would have taken to rebuild London, to rebuild Kyoto. It didn't take that long. So it could be rebuilt pretty quickly. And it happened again and again in the history of Kyoto, and also in the history of Edo, which was the city that later became Tokyo. Time and time again they were burnt down. So Kyoto was back on its feet quite quickly, but it was just known to be the capital. The name Kyoto means capital city.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | So it didn't take as long as it would have taken to rebuild London, to rebuild Kyoto. It didn't take that long. So it could be rebuilt pretty quickly. And it happened again and again in the history of Kyoto, and also in the history of Edo, which was the city that later became Tokyo. Time and time again they were burnt down. So Kyoto was back on its feet quite quickly, but it was just known to be the capital. The name Kyoto means capital city.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | ||
And so they [Imperial side of Boshin War] marched up, they took Edo castle. And in 1868, the then emperor [Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji] who was 14, I think, or 16, he was a teenager, marched or didn't march. He was carried by Palanquin, top with a Phoenix, up to Edo and into Edo castle, which became the imperial palace and Edo became Tokyo, which is the eastern capital. So therefore, Kyoto was no longer the capital at all. It was no longer the official capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/> | And so they [Imperial side of Boshin War] marched up, they took Edo castle. And in 1868, the then emperor [Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji] who was 14, I think, or 16, he was a teenager, marched or didn't march. He was carried by Palanquin, top with a Phoenix, up to Edo and into Edo castle, which became the imperial palace and Edo became Tokyo, which is the eastern capital. So therefore, Kyoto was no longer the capital at all. It was no longer the official capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/> | ||
==Timeline== | ==Timeline== | ||
=== | ===[[Tenshō Iga War]] [1579-1581]=== | ||
We're at the end of the Sengoku period where Oda Nobunaga is in charge and extending his influence across the land. Specifically the conflict takes place with one invasion in 1579 and then another invasion in 1581.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref> | We're at the end of the Sengoku period where Oda Nobunaga is in charge and extending his influence across the land. Specifically the conflict takes place with one invasion in 1579 and then another invasion in 1581.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref> | ||
| Line 154: | Line 82: | ||
Nobunaga invades. He outnumbers the Iga defenders about four or five to one. And the Iga defenders are spread across the province. They can't concentrate in one location. They end up being concentrated in two castles, one in the north Hijiyama Castle, and one in the south Kashiwara Castle. But it all ends with the surrender of Kashiwara Castle on October 8th. At that point, there's no more organized resistance to Nobunaga. Nobunaga himself visits Iga in early November to take a tour of his new province, and then withdraws it and gives it to his son Nobukatsu as part of his domain to administer.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/> | Nobunaga invades. He outnumbers the Iga defenders about four or five to one. And the Iga defenders are spread across the province. They can't concentrate in one location. They end up being concentrated in two castles, one in the north Hijiyama Castle, and one in the south Kashiwara Castle. But it all ends with the surrender of Kashiwara Castle on October 8th. At that point, there's no more organized resistance to Nobunaga. Nobunaga himself visits Iga in early November to take a tour of his new province, and then withdraws it and gives it to his son Nobukatsu as part of his domain to administer.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/> | ||
===Honnō-ji incident [1582]=== | ===[[Honnō-ji incident]] [1582]=== | ||
By the time that he died in the 1580s as a result of treachery on the part of some of his own men, actually, he had controlled most of Japan's main island of Honshu and he was on the verge of going to its second biggest island, Kyushu, down south. He actually at that point looked unstoppable.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 1: Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period</ref> | By the time that he died in the 1580s as a result of treachery on the part of some of his own men, actually, he had controlled most of Japan's main island of Honshu and he was on the verge of going to its second biggest island, Kyushu, down south. He actually at that point looked unstoppable.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 1: Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period</ref> | ||
| Line 171: | Line 99: | ||
He [Nobunaga] had a very dramatic and spectacular assassination by one of his own men. It's an amazing story, but that happened in Kyoto. He was in a temple where it was his land. He thought he was absolutely fine. He didn't have that many guards, and one of his own generals turned against him. So he was killed there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | He [Nobunaga] had a very dramatic and spectacular assassination by one of his own men. It's an amazing story, but that happened in Kyoto. He was in a temple where it was his land. He thought he was absolutely fine. He didn't have that many guards, and one of his own generals turned against him. So he was killed there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | ||
===Imjin War [1592-1598]=== | ===[[Imjin War]] [1592-1598]=== | ||
Hideyoshi once he's taken Kyushu just a few years later launches invasions of Korea so he sends troops across including some of Christian warlords commanding them across to Korea wanting to use it almost as China's driveway if you think about the geography of it send these troops up through Korea take over the peninsula eventually invade and take over China and after that he also wanted to take over India as well<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref> | Hideyoshi once he's taken Kyushu just a few years later launches invasions of Korea so he sends troops across including some of Christian warlords commanding them across to Korea wanting to use it almost as China's driveway if you think about the geography of it send these troops up through Korea take over the peninsula eventually invade and take over China and after that he also wanted to take over India as well<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref> | ||
| Line 178: | Line 106: | ||
And then Hideyoshi asked him [Gaspar Coelho], I want to invade Korea. Then you provide two Portuguese ships to help me in this invasion. And if I conquer Korea, I will make it that there are a lot of churches being built. So Koelyo said, yes, I will do that for you. And I will make sure that we have two Portuguese ships, the Karak ships, as they were called by the English, gigantic ships. So Hideyoshi could very well use them for his invasion in Korea. And then he went a step further and he said, I will make sure that the Christian warlords in Kyushu will also support you. And I think at that moment that Hideyoshi, that there was a ring bell in his head, that the Christians, the Jesuits had too much influence in Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | And then Hideyoshi asked him [Gaspar Coelho], I want to invade Korea. Then you provide two Portuguese ships to help me in this invasion. And if I conquer Korea, I will make it that there are a lot of churches being built. So Koelyo said, yes, I will do that for you. And I will make sure that we have two Portuguese ships, the Karak ships, as they were called by the English, gigantic ships. So Hideyoshi could very well use them for his invasion in Korea. And then he went a step further and he said, I will make sure that the Christian warlords in Kyushu will also support you. And I think at that moment that Hideyoshi, that there was a ring bell in his head, that the Christians, the Jesuits had too much influence in Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | ||
===Battle of Sekigahara [1600]=== | ===[[Battle of Sekigahara]] [1600]=== | ||
great battles in Japanese history the battle of Sekigahara which happens in 1600 so you've got a couple of nervous years or a bit less than that after the death of Hideyoshi this council in place but people are wondering really whether it will stick and what happens instead I think is you get the buildup of two sides that take the form in the end of an eastern and a western army and Tokugawa Ieyasu was at the head of the eastern army and in the autumn of Sekigahara he wins out and really everything goes to him and shortly afterwards he has himself appointed shogun<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref> | great battles in Japanese history the battle of Sekigahara which happens in 1600 so you've got a couple of nervous years or a bit less than that after the death of Hideyoshi this council in place but people are wondering really whether it will stick and what happens instead I think is you get the buildup of two sides that take the form in the end of an eastern and a western army and Tokugawa Ieyasu was at the head of the eastern army and in the autumn of Sekigahara he wins out and really everything goes to him and shortly afterwards he has himself appointed shogun<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref> | ||
he does this enormous reshuffling of territory in Japan I think it's the biggest reshuffling of territory in terms of who controls what in Japan's history so lots of the people who are on the losing side at the battle of Sekigahara either lose everything or their territory is drastically cut down or they're shipped off to another part of the country entirely perhaps all these things that are designed to damage their power<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/> | he does this enormous reshuffling of territory in Japan I think it's the biggest reshuffling of territory in terms of who controls what in Japan's history so lots of the people who are on the losing side at the battle of Sekigahara either lose everything or their territory is drastically cut down or they're shipped off to another part of the country entirely perhaps all these things that are designed to damage their power<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/> | ||
===Siege of Osaka [1614-1615]=== | ===[[Siege of Osaka]] [1614-1615]=== | ||
Hideyori is still around and that really isn't taken care of until a very famous incident 1614 to 15 which is the siege of Osaka it's one of these events in Japanese history which is told and retold on the stage in books in films in art even where the forces of the Tokugawa and their allies gather around Osaka castle trying to do some kind of deal trying to force Hideyori and those around him to give up but in the end the siege turns bloody the castle is on fire and we have these famous scenes of Hideyori and his mother huddled together as everyone around them is burning up and dying so the siege of Osaka<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref> | Hideyori is still around and that really isn't taken care of until a very famous incident 1614 to 15 which is the siege of Osaka it's one of these events in Japanese history which is told and retold on the stage in books in films in art even where the forces of the Tokugawa and their allies gather around Osaka castle trying to do some kind of deal trying to force Hideyori and those around him to give up but in the end the siege turns bloody the castle is on fire and we have these famous scenes of Hideyori and his mother huddled together as everyone around them is burning up and dying so the siege of Osaka<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref> | ||
=== | ===[[Boshin War]] [1868-1869]=== | ||
But towards the end [of the Tokugawa Shogunate], things were probably not as great as they might have been. Added to which the Tokugawas had ancient enemies and they had defeated them in the battle of Sekigahara. And those enemies were from the southwest, from the Kyushu area. From the sort of southwestern part of Honshu. And they wanted their revenge and they rose up. And with the help of the British, and they actually toppled the last of the Tokugawa Shoguns, who abdicated. And at that point, the southwestern lords took over. So they once again didn't have legitimacy, but they once again immediately said, oh, we represent the emperor. And that gave them legitimacy. But they decided in that 250 years, the Tokugawa's capital was not Kyoto. The official capital was Kyoto, but the Tokugawa city was Edo. So the center of policy, the center of government, the center of culture, more and more gravitated towards Edo. And so these southwestern lords decided that they would make the capital, not Kyoto, but Edo. And so they marched up, they took Edo castle. And in 1868, the then emperor [Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji] who was 14, I think, or 16, he was a teenager, marched or didn't march. He was carried by Palanquin, top with a Phoenix, up to Edo and into Edo castle, which became the imperial palace and Edo became Tokyo, which is the eastern capital. So therefore, Kyoto was no longer the capital at all. It was no longer the official capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | But towards the end [of the Tokugawa Shogunate], things were probably not as great as they might have been. Added to which the Tokugawas had ancient enemies and they had defeated them in the battle of Sekigahara. And those enemies were from the southwest, from the Kyushu area. From the sort of southwestern part of Honshu. And they wanted their revenge and they rose up. And with the help of the British, and they actually toppled the last of the Tokugawa Shoguns, who abdicated. And at that point, the southwestern lords took over. So they once again didn't have legitimacy, but they once again immediately said, oh, we represent the emperor. And that gave them legitimacy. But they decided in that 250 years, the Tokugawa's capital was not Kyoto. The official capital was Kyoto, but the Tokugawa city was Edo. So the center of policy, the center of government, the center of culture, more and more gravitated towards Edo. And so these southwestern lords decided that they would make the capital, not Kyoto, but Edo. And so they marched up, they took Edo castle. And in 1868, the then emperor [Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji] who was 14, I think, or 16, he was a teenager, marched or didn't march. He was carried by Palanquin, top with a Phoenix, up to Edo and into Edo castle, which became the imperial palace and Edo became Tokyo, which is the eastern capital. So therefore, Kyoto was no longer the capital at all. It was no longer the official capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | ||
==Groups== | ==Groups== | ||
=== | ===[[Jesuits]]=== | ||
And at the same time you had the Society of Jesus which started in 1540 and soon after the Papal Bull was ordained. Francis Xavier was a Jesuit and one of the founding members of the Jesuits. He was asked to travel to Asia to begin doing missionary work there. He was asked especially by King John III of Portugal because he was very keen on trying to get as many Asians adhering to the Christian religion.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | And at the same time you had the Society of Jesus which started in 1540 and soon after the Papal Bull was ordained. Francis Xavier was a Jesuit and one of the founding members of the Jesuits. He was asked to travel to Asia to begin doing missionary work there. He was asked especially by King John III of Portugal because he was very keen on trying to get as many Asians adhering to the Christian religion.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | ||
| Line 232: | Line 137: | ||
Jesuits can't carry swords or weapons, but they can employ people that do. And the Jesuits were a perfect employee in that sense, a bodyguard.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref> | Jesuits can't carry swords or weapons, but they can employ people that do. And the Jesuits were a perfect employee in that sense, a bodyguard.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref> | ||
===Portuguese Empire=== | ===[[Portuguese Empire]]=== | ||
When does that contact begin? Well, that begins in the middle of the 16th century, in 1549 to be correct. The Portuguese, they travelled to the east from the 15th century on and in 1498 I think they established a sea route to India and they went even further and in the beginning of the 16th century they already were in Malacca but then it still took some time for them to reach Japan. It was in 1542 or 43, it's still being disputed, that the first Portuguese merchants reached Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | When does that contact begin? Well, that begins in the middle of the 16th century, in 1549 to be correct. The Portuguese, they travelled to the east from the 15th century on and in 1498 I think they established a sea route to India and they went even further and in the beginning of the 16th century they already were in Malacca but then it still took some time for them to reach Japan. It was in 1542 or 43, it's still being disputed, that the first Portuguese merchants reached Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | ||
| Line 238: | Line 143: | ||
==Three Great Unifiers== | ==Three Great Unifiers== | ||
===Oda Nobunaga=== | ===[[Oda Nobunaga]]=== | ||
But he's from the small province of Owari. But he's a really good example of someone who was able to use a combination of smart tactics, smart use of weaponry, judicious use of alliances to gradually expand beyond that province. So he takes another province for himself right early on. This is the middle of the 1500s. Then he makes some alliances. By 1568, after really only a few short years, and he's still relatively speaking a young man, he's able to do what most daimyo ultimately wanted to do, which is to mount a successful march on Kyoto and have the emperor under his BDI and also have the shogun under his control.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 1: Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period</ref> | But he's from the small province of Owari. But he's a really good example of someone who was able to use a combination of smart tactics, smart use of weaponry, judicious use of alliances to gradually expand beyond that province. So he takes another province for himself right early on. This is the middle of the 1500s. Then he makes some alliances. By 1568, after really only a few short years, and he's still relatively speaking a young man, he's able to do what most daimyo ultimately wanted to do, which is to mount a successful march on Kyoto and have the emperor under his BDI and also have the shogun under his control.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 1: Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period</ref> | ||
| Line 329: | Line 234: | ||
He [Nobunaga] had a very dramatic and spectacular assassination by one of his own men. It's an amazing story, but that happened in Kyoto. He was in a temple where it was his land. He thought he was absolutely fine. He didn't have that many guards, and one of his own generals turned against him. So he was killed there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/> | He [Nobunaga] had a very dramatic and spectacular assassination by one of his own men. It's an amazing story, but that happened in Kyoto. He was in a temple where it was his land. He thought he was absolutely fine. He didn't have that many guards, and one of his own generals turned against him. So he was killed there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/> | ||
===Toyotomi Hideyoshi=== | ===[[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]]=== | ||
so Hideyoshi Toyotomi was one of those [ashigaru] now and again he carried the sandals of Oda Nobunaga Oda Nobunaga used to refer to him affectionately as that bald rat Hideyoshi's famously sort of short on a bit of hair but nevertheless he rises through the ranks to be a senior and trusted man under Oda Nobunaga so immediately he rushes from where he's been fighting over to take care of the traitors and he brings the traitors head back to Kyoto to effectively lay at the feet of Oda Nobunaga's body to say here we are you know I've taken care of this for you and Hideyoshi really then becomes the inheritor I think of this project to try to unify Japan and his major next step one of the steps that Oda Nobunaga would have taken had he lived was to attack Kyushu<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref> | so Hideyoshi Toyotomi was one of those [ashigaru] now and again he carried the sandals of Oda Nobunaga Oda Nobunaga used to refer to him affectionately as that bald rat Hideyoshi's famously sort of short on a bit of hair but nevertheless he rises through the ranks to be a senior and trusted man under Oda Nobunaga so immediately he rushes from where he's been fighting over to take care of the traitors and he brings the traitors head back to Kyoto to effectively lay at the feet of Oda Nobunaga's body to say here we are you know I've taken care of this for you and Hideyoshi really then becomes the inheritor I think of this project to try to unify Japan and his major next step one of the steps that Oda Nobunaga would have taken had he lived was to attack Kyushu<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref> | ||
| Line 362: | Line 267: | ||
Were there games in medieval Japan that we know about? Right. One thing that the samurai ruler, especially the unifier, Toyotomi Hideyoshi liked, was the noh play. So there are theatres all over Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 08">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 8: How To Fit In: Feudal Japan</ref> | Were there games in medieval Japan that we know about? Right. One thing that the samurai ruler, especially the unifier, Toyotomi Hideyoshi liked, was the noh play. So there are theatres all over Japan.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 08">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 8: How To Fit In: Feudal Japan</ref> | ||
===Tokugawa Ieyasu=== | ===[[Tokugawa Ieyasu]]=== | ||
What he succeeds in doing is very early on gaining control of a neighboring province and then he makes a very fortuitous alliance with the man who becomes Tokugawa Ieyasu. He doesn't yet have that name at this point in the 1550s but that's a great alliance. It allows Oda Nobunaga not to have to worry too much about the territory to one side of his own province and so he can look elsewhere for his focus [...]<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref> | What he succeeds in doing is very early on gaining control of a neighboring province and then he makes a very fortuitous alliance with the man who becomes Tokugawa Ieyasu. He doesn't yet have that name at this point in the 1550s but that's a great alliance. It allows Oda Nobunaga not to have to worry too much about the territory to one side of his own province and so he can look elsewhere for his focus [...]<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref> | ||
| Line 378: | Line 283: | ||
==The Jesuits== | ==The Jesuits== | ||
===Francis Xavier=== | ===[[Francis Xavier]]=== | ||
Francis Xavier was a Jesuit and one of the founding members of the Jesuits. He was asked to travel to Asia to begin doing missionary work there. He was asked especially by King John III of Portugal because he was very keen on trying to get as many Asians adhering to the Christian religion. Xavier had quite a correspondence with King John about all what he did in Asia and it wasn't what he expected. In 1542 he came to India but he didn't get good results so he tried to go to Malacca but there also there was not much interest for his propagating of the faith. And there he met with a Japanese called Anjiro, probably his real name was Yajiro, and he told him about Japan and also some Portuguese merchants who had gone to Japan told him that that will be the country where you really are going to get a lot of people converted to Christianity. So he had a lot of expectations for Japan and in 1549 he finally set foot on Japan. So that was really the first time that the Jesuits arrived in Japan only six or seven years after the first Portuguese came there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | Francis Xavier was a Jesuit and one of the founding members of the Jesuits. He was asked to travel to Asia to begin doing missionary work there. He was asked especially by King John III of Portugal because he was very keen on trying to get as many Asians adhering to the Christian religion. Xavier had quite a correspondence with King John about all what he did in Asia and it wasn't what he expected. In 1542 he came to India but he didn't get good results so he tried to go to Malacca but there also there was not much interest for his propagating of the faith. And there he met with a Japanese called Anjiro, probably his real name was Yajiro, and he told him about Japan and also some Portuguese merchants who had gone to Japan told him that that will be the country where you really are going to get a lot of people converted to Christianity. So he had a lot of expectations for Japan and in 1549 he finally set foot on Japan. So that was really the first time that the Jesuits arrived in Japan only six or seven years after the first Portuguese came there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | ||
| Line 392: | Line 297: | ||
===Gaspar Vilela=== | ===[[Gaspar Vilela]]=== | ||
Gaspar Vilela is one who stands out. He was a very keen propagator of the Christian faith, and he could convert some warlords to Christianity. One of them was Omura Sumitada, who eventually would give a port to the Jesuits, which was called Nagasaki.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | Gaspar Vilela is one who stands out. He was a very keen propagator of the Christian faith, and he could convert some warlords to Christianity. One of them was Omura Sumitada, who eventually would give a port to the Jesuits, which was called Nagasaki.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | ||
And they also had a problem that after a while you have [Francisco] Cabral, you have [Gaspar] Coelho, so two Jesuits who became the head of the Japan sector. And they weren't very keen to adopt Japanese customs. They wanted to be as strictly Jesuits as in Europe. So they already have a problem from the Jesuit side and many like Vilela or Fróis were more inclined to adopt Japanese customs. But the heads of the provincials, as they call them, were against that.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/> | And they also had a problem that after a while you have [Francisco] Cabral, you have [Gaspar] Coelho, so two Jesuits who became the head of the Japan sector. And they weren't very keen to adopt Japanese customs. They wanted to be as strictly Jesuits as in Europe. So they already have a problem from the Jesuit side and many like Vilela or Fróis were more inclined to adopt Japanese customs. But the heads of the provincials, as they call them, were against that.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/> | ||
=== | ===[[Alessandro Valignano]]=== | ||
And then you have, of course, Valignano, which was the visitor, as he was called, to the Orient. So he was the head of all the actions in the Orient, and he spent a lot of time in Japan, because Japan was the place where the Jesuits thought they would have the best results.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | And then you have, of course, Valignano, which was the visitor, as he was called, to the Orient. So he was the head of all the actions in the Orient, and he spent a lot of time in Japan, because Japan was the place where the Jesuits thought they would have the best results.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | ||
| Line 406: | Line 308: | ||
Valignano himself, the visitor, the chief inspector of churches, if you like, was a big proponent of learning any language. He started the concept of Asian studies. Asian language studies in Europe were started by him. He was the person who insisted that his missionaries study Chinese, Japanese, various Indian languages, so it's conceivable that Yasuke had already started to learn Japanese before he arrived.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/> | Valignano himself, the visitor, the chief inspector of churches, if you like, was a big proponent of learning any language. He started the concept of Asian studies. Asian language studies in Europe were started by him. He was the person who insisted that his missionaries study Chinese, Japanese, various Indian languages, so it's conceivable that Yasuke had already started to learn Japanese before he arrived.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/> | ||
===[[Francisco Cabral]]=== | |||
And they also had a problem that after a while you have [Francisco] Cabral, you have [Gaspar] Coelho, so two Jesuits who became the head of the Japan sector. And they weren't very keen to adopt Japanese customs. They wanted to be as strictly Jesuits as in Europe. So they already have a problem from the Jesuit side and many like Vilela or Fróis were more inclined to adopt Japanese customs. But the heads of the provincials, as they call them, were against that.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | |||
==Other== | |||
===[[Mutsuhito]], Emperor Meiji=== | |||
And in 1868, the then emperor [Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji] who was 14, I think, or 16, he was a teenager, marched or didn't march. He was carried by Palanquin, top with a Phoenix, up to Edo and into Edo castle, which became the imperial palace and Edo became Tokyo, which is the eastern capital. So therefore, Kyoto was no longer the capital at all. It was no longer the official capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | |||
===[[Akechi Mitsuhide]]=== | |||
he's just setting out in early part of 1582 for the next part of that campaign staying at a temple called Honnoji in Kyoto when he's attacked actually not by his enemies but by someone who is supposed to be on his side one of the famous treacherous figures I suppose in Japanese history man by the name of Akechi Mitsuhide who persuades his men to turn their guns on Oda Nobunaga and his own men and so you have these stories of Oda Nobunaga shouting out treachery or traitors or something like that trying to fight them off himself the temple ends up in flames and Oda Nobunaga retreats further into the temple and dies by his own hand.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref> | |||
There's quite a lot of emphasis on how important this is. And this could be the masterstroke that basically secures Western Honshu for Nobunaga. So he's returned to Kyoto, and Nobunaga sends his retainer Akechi Mitsuhide with Akechi's army as the initial force to go reinforce Hideyoshi out west. And for reasons that are not quite clear, but of course, lead to lots of speculation and dramatic interpretation. Akechi decides that instead of turning west to go support Hideyoshi, he's going to turn his forces east, march into Kyoto, surround the residence of Nobunaga, which is the Honnō-ji Temple in central Kyoto. It's where he normally took up residence when he was in the city, and attack his own war.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref> | |||
We don't really know why we don't really get any full explanation of Akechi's motives. There's lots of speculation that it had to do with resentment at court treatment by Nobunaga. One thing that we do know is that Akechi's mother had been killed by a rival clan where Akechi had given them his mother as a hostage, as insurance essentially against an attack. And Nobunaga superseded that and ordered the attack anyway. So they killed Akechi's mother. Other things are rumors that he was physically abusive and verbally abusive to Mitsuhide personally.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/> | |||
But for whatever reason, Akechi decides that this is his moment while Nobunaga is lightly guarded. He's certainly not expecting anybody to attack him in Kyoto. They surround Nobunaga's residence, set out on fire. Nobunaga and his guards fight back, but are eventually overwhelmed. Nobunaga commits suicide. And then his heir as well, who was also in Kyoto, is attacked by Akechi's forces and dies. So in one stroke, the Akechi have eliminated, basically decapitated the Oda family and thus ended Nobunaga's career.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/> | |||
===[[Yasuke]]=== | |||
we know that he's from Africa, but we don't know for certain which parts of Africa, apart from that it would have been on the East Coast. The descriptions we have from Japanese descriptions are very much of somebody from what is now South Sudan, very tall, very black, very strong. Whereas there's a couple of sources which suggest he might have come from the Mozambique area. However, he doesn't fit the description very much of people from that region. There's also the full possibility that he could have been somehow trafficked from the South Sudan area down south and come through Mozambique as well.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref> | |||
He arrived in May 1579 on a ship from Macau to get from Africa, whichever part of Africa it was to Macau and then to Japan. He'd already spent time in India. He'd spent time in Malacca in modern day Malaysia. And I think it was about six to nine months in Macau. He was the bodyguard of a Jesuit, the head Jesuit in Asia, essentially the head of the Christian church in Asia, a man called Alessandro Valignano. And Valignano was on a tour from Rome.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/> | |||
It's highly likely that he would have been Christian, at least on paper.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/> | |||
In those days, he was considered a giant<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/> | |||
Yasuke is recorded two years afterwards as having quite a good level of Japanese. [...] He [Valignano] was the person who insisted that his missionaries study Chinese, Japanese, various Indian languages, so it's conceivable that Yasuke had already started to learn Japanese before he arrived.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/> | |||
Another one, when getting to Miyako, which is now Kyoto, a huge mob literally surrounded the mission and almost pushed the mission down, throwing stones. There were dead people in the crowd outside. And at that point, Nobunaga, who was the most powerful warlord in Japan at the time, was five minutes walk away. He heard this huge hullaballo, which he liked. He heard what was going on. And he demanded to see who was disturbing the peace, demanded that this person be brought before him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/> | |||
Somehow within a few days, Yasuke has entered Nobunaga's service. Within a month, he's gone to Nobunaga's castle town. There's another Jesuit record from there. And there's a Japanese record from there as well that says how much Nobunaga enjoyed talking to him, that he gave him a house, that he gave him a sword. And that's where the idea that he became a samurai comes into it.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/> | |||
There's another record of their first audience where Nobunaga gifts him what is essentially 30 kilos of coins. And you can imagine that as a kind of joke as well. Give the strong man 30 kilos worth of money and see if he can actually carry it. It doesn't say whether he carried it away on his own or not, but that was a lot of money.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/> | |||
So Yasuke was there at Nobunaga's death. He possibly was the last person to see him alive. Nobunaga was killed in a coup d'etat, essentially. He was heading to the front with this small corps of men over which Yasuke was one, around 30 people. And one of his generals, basically, we still don't know to this day why, he brought his whole army of 13,000 and attacked. They were all gunned down, essentially. Nobunaga, with Yasuke and his lover, [Mori] Ranmaru, come into the middle of the temple where their last moments are held. The temple's on fire around them. And Nobunaga really is going to know what happened in that room because there's only three people and they all died, except for Yasuke. But we only know that Yasuke survived because the Jesuits recorded as such. We don't know what he saw, unfortunately. The normal legend goes Nobunaga cut his belly, Ranmaru took his head off as his second, and then one supposes that Ranmaru then cut his belly and Yasuke took off Ranmaru's head. And the supposed last order is Yasuke save my head. Yasuke runs with the head to Nobunaga's son, who is probably about five to ten minutes walk away, very close, in a different temple. So about to be attacked. Also just putting up the defenses for a last ditch stand. Of course, that doesn't last very long. He's dead within the hour or so. And all we know from the Jesuit source, there are no more Japanese sources, all we know from the Jesuit source is that Yasuke was there at the last. He was one of the few survivors. He was taken prisoner. He surrendered his sword. And he was then escorted to the Jesuit mission, which was again only five minutes walk away. This is a very small area of Kyoto where all this happens. The Jesuits give thanks to God for his deliverance.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/> | |||
===[[Hattori Hanzō]]=== | |||
Many of them [Iga warriors] went to work for a retainer of Tokugawa Iyasu who has become famous in kind of ninja lore, man by the name of Hattori Hanzo. And Hattori Hanzo had family ties to Iga. He's often referred to or portrayed as in pop culture as a ninja, but he was a samurai retainer, a warrior just like many of the warriors that fought for any of the Daimyo of this period. He appears in most of Tokugawa Iyasu's battles until Hanzo dies in 1590s. He is considered one of Tokugawa Iyasu's closest retainers, but because through his family ties, he had a knowledge base of these sort of unconventional guerilla tactics. He also had through those ties, the ability to kind of act as a landing place for many of these men of Iga. And so many of them went to work for Tokugawa Ieyasu under the command of Hattori Hanzo.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref> | |||
There's actually a gate of what is now the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, but underneath the Tokugawa Shoguns was the Shogun's Palace. One of the gates is named the Hanzo Mon, the Gate of Hanzo, the Hanzo Gate. And this is because Hattori Hanzo and the men of Iga that he recruited acted as a special guard force for the Tokugawa Shoguns.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/> | |||
{{Reflist}} | |||
--> | |||
===Redlinks=== | |||
<!-- | |||
==Locations== | |||
===Owari=== | |||
So once Nobunaga has control of Owari province, how does he then go about looking outward and beyond his own borders? Because his province is quite a small one comparatively as well, isn't it? Yes, so Owari is small, but it centers on a plane, the Nobuy plane, Japan is very mountainous, right? There's only a few large flat areas where cultivation can take place at large scale, and Owari happens to sit in one of these, the Nobuy plane. So while it's a small province, it's a particularly wealthy one in terms of agricultural income. So it's a good place to be based out of. It's far enough away from the capital that you're not in the middle of the intrigues and plots going on there, but it's close enough that you can get there if you decide to be part of those plots.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref> | |||
===Mount Hiei=== | |||
when Emperor Kamu had the capital built there, one of the things he knew was that there was already in the northwest a mountain called Mount Hiei on which was a huge Buddhist temple. So that therefore counteracted the unluckiness. That was very important. And then more Buddhist temples and more Buddhist temples were built on that same mountain. And in the end, there was something like 3000 Buddhist temples up there, which was all an excellent thing for countering the unluckiness, except it became rather unlucky itself, because those Buddhist priests then came down and started rampaging around the city. And then, unluckily, Nobunaga had to go up and destroy the entire temple compound, which he did. He burnt down the whole lot. But there are temples there again.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | |||
===Kamakura=== | |||
Okay, that's really interesting question. So the first segment of the samurai rule, the samurai's so-called headquarters was in Kamakura that's currently Kamakura city near Tokyo. So the Tokyo city was not known at the time that Tokyo was a city yet, but the Kamakura was not known nationwide. So when the Kamakura rulership was going on and being consolidated, it's not that many people would know about the politics. So it's like say regional understandings of this is where Shogun lives and this is what Shogun does. [...] So around the first sort of segment of time, the very first samurai rules, I would say that not so many people would know about the politics. That will continue the middle segments of the samurai rule that we call usually medieval Japan. And then medieval Japan as well, this Kamakura headquarters of the samurai has been moved and taken by a different family.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 08">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 8: How To Fit In: Feudal Japan</ref> | |||
==Landmarks== | |||
===Gifu Castle=== | |||
So you had, for example, Oda Nobunaga, which showed great familiarity to the Christians, to for example, Fróis, who he invited in Kyoto in Gifu Castle and showed him around in the castle. So it was very positively inclined towards the Christians, but still he never adopted the Christian faith himself.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | |||
So Nobunaga, his next target is this province to his north, Mino Province, which is much larger in size than Owari, and it's somewhat kind of the nexus of road networks in central Japan, where two of the major roads from Chiyoto into the capital in central Japan to the east runs through it. So it's a pretty strategic province to have. So he goes to war against Saitou Dousan and it takes a while, but through diplomacy and bribery of the Saitou generals, he's able to convince many of them to join his side. And by 1567, he's weakened them enough to besiege and take the main castle at Inabayama, which he then renames Gifu.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref> | |||
So shortly after Nobunaga establishes himself in Gifu, Yoshiaki arrives on his doorstep in 1568, thus giving him a pretext to make his move on the capital.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/> | |||
===Silver Pavilion, aka [[Ginkaku-ji=== | |||
If anyone listening to this has been to Kyoto and they've been to see the silver pavilion, they may have been disappointed to find that there's no actual silver on it. It was supposed to be covered in glorious silver the way that the Golden Temple is gloriously covered in gold. But the pavilion was built in the early 1480s. This is the exact period after the Onin War when the Ashikaga shogunate is descending really into complete impotence. Their writ doesn't run far outside Kyoto and they haven't got much income. So they simply couldn't afford to put the silver on there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 1: Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period</ref> | |||
Meanwhile, the shogun who lived at that point was a guy called Yoshimasa, who was living during the end of the 15th century. And he retired. He was very interested in the arts, and he was not remotely interested in fighting. And he kept well out of this fighting. And he went off to the east of the city, and there he built a fabulous pavilion, the silver pavilion. And there he carried on having a life of leisure and art with his friends. While all this was going on in Kyoto, his pavilion was facing away from the city, so it didn't have to see it was burning. And it was facing towards the lovely mountains on the east.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | |||
==Timeline== | |||
===Ōnin War]] [1467-1477]=== | |||
Ōnin War, running from 1467 to 1477. Huge damage done to Kyoto in the process of this war. It begins as a kind of succession dispute within the shogunate, but an enormous proportion of Kyoto is destroyed in fire. Lots of these different warrior constables from around the country end up coming to the Kyoto region to get involved. When that war ends, some of them go back to their provinces to find that someone else has usurped them. And that's someone else who has usurped them, manages to solidify their own power until they become what we would call daimyo, this real independent warlord. And in other cases, the warrior constables, when they go back to their provinces, they're the ones who managed to do that. Because this war, this Onin War, this 10 year conflict, pretty much destroys the idea of a functional shogunate. And so there really is no one in Kyoto anymore that you have to answer to.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 1: Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period</ref> | |||
So it's a period when central authority in Japan has completely gone. So you've still got the emperor in Kyoto, but as we were saying a moment ago, they're kind of impoverished and not really able to do very much politically or militarily. You've also still got a shogun in Kyoto. So if we go to the end of the Onin War, 1477, which is also pretty much the beginning of this Sengoku era, you've got a shogun there, but they're also extremely poor.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01"/> | |||
This is the exact period after the Onin War when the Ashikaga shogunate is descending really into complete impotence. Their writ doesn't run far outside Kyoto and they haven't got much income. So they simply couldn't afford to put the silver on there.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01"/> | |||
So you mentioned the Onin War there, 1467 to 77, a bit of a succession crisis. Should we view that as the catalyst for the Sengoku period? I think that's right, yes.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01"/> | |||
These two lords, I think it was the Hashimoto's and the Yamunas, have been itching to fight for a long time, and they fought for 10 years. It's said that they destroyed the whole of Kyoto. That's not quite true. They destroyed the upper class part of Kyoto. So 10 years of fighting included looting, arson, and all these other things. But this mainly happened. This was the temples. This was the palaces. That lot got destroyed. Meanwhile, the shogun who lived at that point was a guy called Yoshimasa, who was living during the end of the 15th century. And he retired. He was very interested in the arts, and he was not remotely interested in fighting. And he kept well out of this fighting. And he went off to the east of the city, and there he built a fabulous pavilion, the silver pavilion. And there he carried on having a life of leisure and art with his friends. While all this was going on in Kyoto, his pavilion was facing away from the city, so it didn't have to see it was burning. And it was facing towards the lovely mountains on the east. And he was, again, an amazing patron of the arts. And under him, ink painting flourished, pottery flourished, every possible art form. Oh, linked verse became very important. So the war came to an end.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | |||
The part of the city that had not burnt down was the part where the merchants and the artisans were, because they were poor chaps. And so nobody bothered with looting them, but they weren't that poor. So they were actually supplying and selling stuff to both sides in this war and getting richer. And the end of the Onin war, this is the Onin war, everything had sort of fallen apart, because Kyoto was in such a state of devastation.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/> | |||
The result of that was the whole society kind of fell apart. And a lot of the lords headed out to the provinces, partly because they were broke, because they'd had their houses burnt down. I mean, there are quite a lot of peasants and serfs could come out of the countryside into the city and recreate themselves as merchants or as artisans, because they could make things, they could sell things. And so a whole new culture grew from that period of incredible disaster.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07"/> | |||
===Battle of Okehazama]] [1560]=== | |||
In 1560, the powerful daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto to his east, enrolled [????] Toutomi, Suroga, and the Kawa provinces, and came from the illustrious Imagawa line, which was one of the pillars of the former Ashikaga shogunate. He decides, or it's usually assumed at least that he decides that he's going to make a run at marching on the capital of Kyoto to take charge of the central government. So he gathers together an army of 25,000 troops and begins his march east. And the first stop is, of course, his neighbor in Owari province, Nobunaga. So he has to go through Nobunaga's domain. On paper, this is going to be very easy. He's got 25,000 troops, which at the time was a very large army. And Nobunaga only has a few thousand men, maybe 2,500. So we're looking at roughly around a 10 to 1 disadvantage. But Nobunaga, despite the fact that his advisors all counsel him to withdraw into his castle at Kyosu and withstand a siege, he decides that that's a losing strategy. Because what's he going to do against an attack by an army that size? He decides that his best course of action is to try to seek an opening and attack.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref> | |||
But the Imagawa forces by midday had made significant progress against the Odo forces invading. So the Imagawa army was much larger. It was rather spread out and divided. The vanguard had taken several of these forts that Nobunaga had. Yoshimori himself was with only a few thousand troops. And at his command post, they took a bit of a siesta, almost, if you will, in this small narrow gorge called Dengaku Hazama. And they were celebrating some of the Imagawa troops had already broken into the celebration sake in anticipation of their great victory that they saw coming because, you know, how could you see anything else? A little bit after this, there's a rainstorm. This was in the summer. So the rainy season in Japan. This thunderstorm breaks out and it really helps Nobunaga maneuver his forces through the mountains, through these narrow passes into position to attack Imagawa Yoshimoto's headquarters camp. They broke out of the tree line to attack the camp. And at first Yoshimoto assumes that it's a drunken brawl taking place amongst his men. Too late, he realizes that it's not that he's actually under attack. And shortly after that, two of the Otis samurai relieve him up his head. In the aftermath, the Imagawa forces deprived of their commander melt away in confusion. And we have this almost legendary victory by other Nobunaga outmanned ten to one, destroying the forces of this great daimyo.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/> | |||
So it kind of makes a name for Nobunaga. Another key thing about this battle, though, and the aftermath is that in the confusion of the Imagawa family with the loss of their head, several of their more talented and younger retainers, one of which we know today as Tokugawa Ieyasu, are able to claim independence. And Ieyasu establishes himself in his home territory of Mikawa, which is just to the east of Owari, and establishes an alliance with Nobunaga, thus providing a secure flank to Nobunaga's east, allowing Nobunaga to then look in other directions as he begins to expand.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/> | |||
===Siege of Kanegasaki]] (1570)=== | |||
In 1570, Nobunaga sends an invitation, sensibly on Yoshiaki's behalf, to local warlords for a reception in Kyoto. And this is almost a way to test who was going to accept his authority and who wasn't. And the daimyo of Ichizen province, Asakura Yoshikage, refuses the summons. So Nobunaga launches a campaign to besiege the Asakura's main castle. But unfortunately for Nobunaga, the Azai, his brother-in-law's family, his brother-in-law being Azai Nagamasa, had a multi-generational alliance relationship with the Asakura. So Nagamasa feels obligated to go to the Asakura's aid, and he launches an attack on Nobunaga's army's rear, forcing Nobunaga to break off the siege and retreat while a rear guard held off the Asai and the Asakura forces. So Nobunaga feels personally betrayed by this man who was a relative by marriage. And the Asai and Asakura are one of the initial threats that he faces.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref> | |||
===Battle of Anegawa=== | |||
The two sides meet in July of 1570 at the Battle of Anegawa, where Nobunaga was joined by his ally Tokugawa Iyasu. And they fight this battle in the shallow Anagawa River, both sides plunging into the water to engage the enemy. So if you picture this dramatic battle in this shallow river, Tokugawa, on Nobunaga's right flank, managed to route the Asakura and then crash into the flank of the Asai while at the same time Nobunaga sent his reserves around the other flank. And it causes the collapse of the enemy to create victory.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref> | |||
But the surviving members of the Asakura and the Asai forces find refuge on Mount Hiei, which is a mountain just to the northeast of the capital. And it's the site of the Enuryakuji Temple, which is the headquarters of the Tendai Sept of Buddhism and a military power in its own right. what that matters is that, you know, this was a Buddhist temple that had essentially an army of its own. And so this prevents Nobunaga from cutting off the Asai and the Asakura forces and completely destroying them. And he has to back off,<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/> | |||
===Ishiyama Hongan-ji War]] [1570-1580]=== | |||
I suppose there's a really good example of siege warfare involving Oda Nobunaga. So in Japan, you have these different Buddhist sects and one of them, Ojoro Shinshu, was particularly powerful and particularly worrying for Oda Nobunaga because the people in this particular sect could be almost pitted out at the last minute to become a kind of pop-up army so that the patriarch, for want of a better word, of this particular sect could issue a statement against Oda Nobunaga as he did, declaring him an enemy and saying that people would be rewarded in the next life if they stand up against him. And the followers of this sect included some fairly wealthy merchants who could effectively equip themselves and feed themselves. So the danger of these pop-up armies appearing almost out of nowhere was extraordinary for Oda Nobunaga and he worried about it and he actually resented it very much. And so he launched a siege against the main compound in Osaka of the Jodo Shinshu sect, which lasted actually for a while. It wasn't entirely successful because Osaka, of course, is on the water and so the patriarch had allies, pirate Daimyo, I suppose you could call them, who for a while would supply the castle by sea. But Oda Nobunaga managed to defeat those pirates at sea and so after a while the Jodo Shinshu sect holed up in this fortified temple complex in Osaka had to give up. They did at the last minute, the sun, I think, of the patriarch, if I've got it right, when he was forced to come out, set fire to the place just before he came out on the basis that if the Jodo Shinshu sect cannot have that fortress anymore, then Oda Nobunaga certainly can't have it either.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 1: Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period</ref> | |||
===Siege of Mount Hiei]] [1571]=== | |||
So there were quite remarkable sieges along the way, a company that has to be said, certainly in the case of someone like Nobunaga, with extraordinary slaughter. I think he particularly hated the idea that Buddhist sects would interfere in the running of the country. So there's another Buddhist sect, the Tendai sect, which he attacked on their mountain base called Mount Hiei, sent thousands of troops up there, killed everybody, burned everything, just destroyed the entire sect, including people unrelated to the sect who were living on the mountain. So this gives you an idea of how bloody and uncompromising some of this warfare could be.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 01">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 1: Civil War in Feudal Japan: The Sengoku Period</ref> | |||
But in 1571, he realizes that the only way to solve his problem of encirclement is to break kind of the circle. So he starts with Mount Hiei, the Enuryakuchi temple complex that had given refuge to his enemies. And in the fall, he brings them out and has his troops advance up deliberately. And according to eyewitness accounts from the time that are written down, his troops are killing anything that's alive, whether it be monks, laymen, women, children, reportedly even every animal that's on the mountain. And they burn almost every building of this massive temple complex.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref> | |||
And of course, in addition to the human toll, which is horrific, this is a massive loss of life, but it's also a loss of culture, of history. This was a major religious complex. So it had important documents, texts, artwork that all went up in flames with the exception of one small building that got overlooked.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/> | |||
when Emperor Kamu had the capital built there, one of the things he knew was that there was already in the northwest a mountain called Mount Hiei on which was a huge Buddhist temple. So that therefore counteracted the unluckiness. That was very important. And then more Buddhist temples and more Buddhist temples were built on that same mountain. And in the end, there was something like 3000 Buddhist temples up there, which was all an excellent thing for countering the unluckiness, except it became rather unlucky itself, because those Buddhist priests then came down and started rampaging around the city. And then, unluckily, Nobunaga had to go up and destroy the entire temple compound, which he did. He burnt down the whole lot. But there are temples there again.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | |||
===Shimabara Rebellion]] [1637-1638]=== | |||
in Kyushu where you have what's called the Shimabara rebellion 1637 to 1638 where basically a ragtag bunch of peasants with a little bit of samurai leadership managed to hold themselves up in a castle and fight off wave after wave of samurai who come in to try and pacify them and take the castle and it's extraordinarily embarrassing you know these samurai try everything they send ninjas into the castle they send spies in who get caught they try and dig tunnels under the castle but the people inside the castle fill the tunnels with feces and urine they try all sorts of things and it takes months and months and months and reinforcements to finally get this rebellion under control and the story that the Tokugawa tell after the Shimabara rebellion is that this was a case of foreign interference you know these people these peasants couldn't possibly hold off samurai unless they were somehow being supported and orchestrated by these nefarious foreign christian powers and so probably the last development in this long process of unification is the shutting down almost completely of Japan's borders they'll still deal with China and Korea at particular points within Japan they'll have that trade with Southeast Asia they'll have a limited trade as well but the Portuguese are thrown out the Spanish are thrown out the English aren't terribly interested in the end anyway the Japanese will only deal when we're thinking about European powers with the Dutch and only at this little artificial island called Dejima just a few feet worth of wooden bridge off the coast of Nagasaki<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 2: The Unification of Japan</ref> | |||
==Groups== | |||
===Iga ikki=== | |||
Iga at this time is ruled by an independent league or ikki that did not recognize any daimyo's hegemony and even gone so far as to expel the military governor of the province that had been appointed by the Ashkaga.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref> | |||
we have the names of a couple of the senior leaders, if you will, but it really was more of a collective than any hierarchical organization that we would associate with like there being a daimyo and samurai underneath him and so forth. That's not to say that there wasn't a hierarchy there was, but it's really hard to just name one person as an acting figure on the Iga side of things. And part of this is because of the way that they constructed it. This is born out of sort of the chaos resulting in the wake of the Onin War of 1467 to 1477.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/> | |||
In response to this as a way to limit internal conflict in their own ranks, in 1494 we see two documents. They're not quite constitutions in the way that we would think of it, but they kind of form the rules for local life within Iga as a community. The first one is a document signed by 350 commoners, peasants, villagers, and so forth. And it's an agreement to abide by specific rules that limit conflict over rice paddy land, access to forests, mountains, and fields, and it kind of gives a general code of conduct. So in the absence of authority coming from the center, they decide to create their own sort of rules for them to live by. And then later on that same year, we see another document signed by 46 people representing families of note from Iga Province.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/> | |||
So these 46 families sign an oath, vowing not to fight over taxes or the collection thereof to work together to prevent insubordination of the peasants underneath them. And these two groups form a united front in coordination to maintain local order and peace and limit the amount of violence, whether it's internal or whether it's coming from external sources like bandits or even larger warrior organizations like Daimyo from a neighboring province who wants to move in. [...] There is a hierarchy. There are the upper class. Those 46 samurai families are in charge and so forth. But it is much more of a collective, we driven organization than certainly the Daimyo houses that we are normally associated with this period. Other leagues like this have risen up in other places at this time, fairly common in the absence of central authority for locals to take measures to protect themselves. But most other places, they didn't last very long [...] So it was much easier for the Iga Iki to keep outsiders out than it would have been for other similar organizations, which is why they lasted as long as they did.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/> | |||
Some advantages that the Iga ikki had. One is this long experience with unconventional warfare, we'll say. Another is that because of their makeup, it's not quite egalitarian or democratic in the way that we would think of it, but they're led by lower level warriors, localized power base holding warriors, but they integrate the commoner population, if you will, into their organization. Often you'll hear people talk about the Iga Shinobi clan or ninja clan or something like that. And that's misleading because this wasn't a family based organization in the way that we think of like the Oda being a military and political entity organized around the Oda family. That's not what this was, but they were able to conscript almost the members of the community from all levels, give them military training and utilize them in ways that we don't necessarily see to the same extent in other locations. So it wasn't just these 46 families that signed the oath document saying that they would work together and their household warriors. It was a mobilization of the entire community in essence to resist external aggression.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06"/> | |||
===Ikkō-ikki=== | |||
Another group that around this time rises up to challenge his authority and one that will probably his longest running enemy is what's known as the Ikkō-ikki or the Ikko League. This was a confederation of followers of the true Pure Land Sept of Buddhism. And its headquarters was the Ishiyama Hongan-ji, which was located in what is now present day Osaka. But it had groups of adherents called these Ikki or leagues scattered throughout the provinces of central Japan. And in 1570, Nobunaga starts a war with them because the self-defense groups, these Ikki and the Ishiyama Hongan-ji itself resisted political and military control by local warrior rule. In fact, in 1486, the Ikko Ikki of Kaga Province overthrew the local dainyo and ruled the province without any samurai rule for almost 100 years.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref> | |||
For 10 years until 1580, he's in this constant on and off war with the Ishiyama Hongan-ji and their ikko followers in various locations throughout the provinces. And they're really the linchpin of the various coalitions that are opposing Nobunaga. You know, at this point, these are kind of like the main enemies that he's looking at.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/> | |||
But in 1571, he realizes that the only way to solve his problem of encirclement is to break kind of the circle. So he starts with Mount Hiei, the Enuryakuchi temple complex that had given refuge to his enemies. And in the fall, he brings them out and has his troops advance up deliberately. And according to eyewitness accounts from the time that are written down, his troops are killing anything that's alive, whether it be monks, laymen, women, children, reportedly even every animal that's on the mountain. And they burn almost every building of this massive temple complex.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/> | |||
The Ikko-ikki finally surrenders through the agency of the Court, the court noble is sent by the emperor to broker a settlement and a surrender by the Ishiyama Hongan-ji, which ends that.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/> | |||
==The Jesuits== | |||
===Luis de Almeida=== | |||
Luis de Almeida was the merchant and the surgeon, and he came to Japan in connection with the select trade between China and Japan. He was very wealthy, but in 1555, after three years in Japan, he decided to become a Jesuit himself. And so he gave all his wealth to the church, and he was also instrumental in establishing a hospital and an orphanage in Funai, which was the capital of Bungo, which was the domain of Otomo Yoshishige, a very powerful warlord in Kyushu.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 3: Portuguese Missionaries in Japan</ref> | |||
===Luís Fróis=== | ===Luís Fróis=== | ||
| Line 413: | Line 454: | ||
So you had, for example, Oda Nobunaga, which showed great familiarity to the Christians, to for example, Fróis, who he invited in Kyoto in Gifu Castle and showed him around in the castle. So it was very positively inclined towards the Christians, but still he never adopted the Christian faith himself.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/> | So you had, for example, Oda Nobunaga, which showed great familiarity to the Christians, to for example, Fróis, who he invited in Kyoto in Gifu Castle and showed him around in the castle. So it was very positively inclined towards the Christians, but still he never adopted the Christian faith himself.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 03"/> | ||
===Gaspar Coelho=== | ===Gaspar Coelho=== | ||
| Line 446: | Line 484: | ||
So then he works to consolidate his position by doing some preliminary campaigns into neighboring Issei province and establishing diplomatic relations. So he marries his younger sister, Oichi, to a warlord named Azai Nagamasa who rules northern Omi province. And this is significant because Omi is the province that lies between Mino and Owari, which he owns, and the capital of Kyoto. So he's in essence securing a line of, you know, advance for future endeavors.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref> | So then he works to consolidate his position by doing some preliminary campaigns into neighboring Issei province and establishing diplomatic relations. So he marries his younger sister, Oichi, to a warlord named Azai Nagamasa who rules northern Omi province. And this is significant because Omi is the province that lies between Mino and Owari, which he owns, and the capital of Kyoto. So he's in essence securing a line of, you know, advance for future endeavors.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref> | ||
===Oda Nobukatsu/Kitabatake Tomotoyo=== | ===Oda Nobukatsu]]/Kitabatake Tomotoyo=== | ||
He gained control of neighboring Issei province by first having his second son Nobukatsu adopted into the Kitabatake family, which ruled that province. And then later on, having the members of the Kitapatake clan assassinated so that his son rose up the hierarchy and essentially took over the clan from within.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref> | He gained control of neighboring Issei province by first having his second son Nobukatsu adopted into the Kitabatake family, which ruled that province. And then later on, having the members of the Kitapatake clan assassinated so that his son rose up the hierarchy and essentially took over the clan from within.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref> | ||
| Line 460: | Line 498: | ||
==Imperial Court== | ==Imperial Court== | ||
===Michihito, Emperor Ōgimachi=== | ===Michihito]], Emperor Ōgimachi=== | ||
I think that was one difference between Yoshiaki and say the imperial court, the Emperor Ogimachi at this time, it had been well established by this point that the Emperor was, you know, the head of the imperial court and the sovereign of the nation. But normal day to day political power was delegated to you know, some sort of warrior governing body, one of the previous shogunates or so forth. So that sort of conflict was not present with the imperial court.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref> | I think that was one difference between Yoshiaki and say the imperial court, the Emperor Ogimachi at this time, it had been well established by this point that the Emperor was, you know, the head of the imperial court and the sovereign of the nation. But normal day to day political power was delegated to you know, some sort of warrior governing body, one of the previous shogunates or so forth. So that sort of conflict was not present with the imperial court.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 5: Oda Nobunaga</ref> | ||
| Line 467: | Line 505: | ||
So the Emperor [Michihito, Emperor Ōgimachi] was still rather broke. The Emperor throughout centuries was very often very poor, and very often just basically getting pocket money from whoever is in power, but still had respect and was still officially descended from the Sun Goddess, the most respected person in the entire land. So Nobunaga then gave the Emperor lots of money and furnished the Imperial Palace made it good. So he gave himself legitimacy as a ruler by helping out the Emperor.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | So the Emperor [Michihito, Emperor Ōgimachi] was still rather broke. The Emperor throughout centuries was very often very poor, and very often just basically getting pocket money from whoever is in power, but still had respect and was still officially descended from the Sun Goddess, the most respected person in the entire land. So Nobunaga then gave the Emperor lots of money and furnished the Imperial Palace made it good. So he gave himself legitimacy as a ruler by helping out the Emperor.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | ||
===Yamabe, Emperor Kanmu=== | ===Yamabe]], Emperor Kanmu=== | ||
it was created as capital city. Emperor Kamu, who was the greatest emperor in Japanese history, he was the Charlemagne of Japan. And before his time, the capital had been in Nara, but it was kind of taken over by the Buddhist priests. [...] There were all sorts of scandals to do with these Buddhist clergy. And then he, Emperor Kamu, founded a capital in Nagoka, which is near Nara. And that one, there was an uprising, people got killed, there were ghosts, obviously not going to be any good as the capital. So he then set out on a supposed hunting trip with his geomancers to find the perfect place. People were not particularly concerned with practical considerations, they were concerned with where it would be auspicious. And so he settled on Kyoto as the place to be his capital. And he then had it built, and that was an enormous job to build it. And it was in 794 that he was an enormous entourage of his attendants and his army and everybody else arrived by Palanquin in Kyoto, in the Imperial Palace there. And so it is, Kamu then still remembered as a foundational figure in Japanese history. Yes, he was the greatest emperor. He was the only emperor that really wielded a lot of power. After him, emperors stopped wielding power. And also before him, quite a lot didn't wield that power. There were always regents who were ruling instead. But Kamu was a very decisive emperor who was actually very strong and very brilliant.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | it was created as capital city. Emperor Kamu, who was the greatest emperor in Japanese history, he was the Charlemagne of Japan. And before his time, the capital had been in Nara, but it was kind of taken over by the Buddhist priests. [...] There were all sorts of scandals to do with these Buddhist clergy. And then he, Emperor Kamu, founded a capital in Nagoka, which is near Nara. And that one, there was an uprising, people got killed, there were ghosts, obviously not going to be any good as the capital. So he then set out on a supposed hunting trip with his geomancers to find the perfect place. People were not particularly concerned with practical considerations, they were concerned with where it would be auspicious. And so he settled on Kyoto as the place to be his capital. And he then had it built, and that was an enormous job to build it. And it was in 794 that he was an enormous entourage of his attendants and his army and everybody else arrived by Palanquin in Kyoto, in the Imperial Palace there. And so it is, Kamu then still remembered as a foundational figure in Japanese history. Yes, he was the greatest emperor. He was the only emperor that really wielded a lot of power. After him, emperors stopped wielding power. And also before him, quite a lot didn't wield that power. There were always regents who were ruling instead. But Kamu was a very decisive emperor who was actually very strong and very brilliant.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | ||
==Shoguns== | ==Shoguns== | ||
| Line 491: | Line 526: | ||
So one of their descendants, Yoshiyaki, was around and he was a pretty hopeless guy. But he was officially the Shogun. So Nobunaga's excuse for entering Kyoto was to reinstate him as Shogun. But actually, he, like a lot of these guys, is this Yoshiyaki. The Shogun was very treacherous. We wanted to get rid of Nobunaga, and he instigated a plot against him. So Nobunaga had him arrested and taken off to a castle in the middle of nowhere and left there forever. So that was the end of him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | So one of their descendants, Yoshiyaki, was around and he was a pretty hopeless guy. But he was officially the Shogun. So Nobunaga's excuse for entering Kyoto was to reinstate him as Shogun. But actually, he, like a lot of these guys, is this Yoshiyaki. The Shogun was very treacherous. We wanted to get rid of Nobunaga, and he instigated a plot against him. So Nobunaga had him arrested and taken off to a castle in the middle of nowhere and left there forever. So that was the end of him.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 07">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 7: Kyoto: Japan's Imperial City</ref> | ||
===Ashikaga Yoshimasa=== | ===Ashikaga Yoshimasa=== | ||
| Line 571: | Line 597: | ||
In 1570, Nobunaga sends an invitation, sensibly on Yoshiaki's behalf, to local warlords for a reception in Kyoto. And this is almost a way to test who was going to accept his authority and who wasn't. And the daimyo of Ichizen province, Asakura Yoshikage, refuses the summons. So Nobunaga launches a campaign to besiege the Asakura's main castle. But unfortunately for Nobunaga, the Azai, his brother-in-law's family, his brother-in-law being Azai Nagamasa, had a multi-generational alliance relationship with the Asakura. So Nagamasa feels obligated to go to the Asakura's aid, and he launches an attack on Nobunaga's army's rear, forcing Nobunaga to break off the siege and retreat while a rear guard held off the Asai and the Asakura forces. So Nobunaga feels personally betrayed by this man who was a relative by marriage. And the Asai and Asakura are one of the initial threats that he faces.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/> | In 1570, Nobunaga sends an invitation, sensibly on Yoshiaki's behalf, to local warlords for a reception in Kyoto. And this is almost a way to test who was going to accept his authority and who wasn't. And the daimyo of Ichizen province, Asakura Yoshikage, refuses the summons. So Nobunaga launches a campaign to besiege the Asakura's main castle. But unfortunately for Nobunaga, the Azai, his brother-in-law's family, his brother-in-law being Azai Nagamasa, had a multi-generational alliance relationship with the Asakura. So Nagamasa feels obligated to go to the Asakura's aid, and he launches an attack on Nobunaga's army's rear, forcing Nobunaga to break off the siege and retreat while a rear guard held off the Asai and the Asakura forces. So Nobunaga feels personally betrayed by this man who was a relative by marriage. And the Asai and Asakura are one of the initial threats that he faces.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 05"/> | ||
==Other== | ==Other== | ||
| Line 586: | Line 603: | ||
Hideyori is still around and that really isn't taken care of until a very famous incident 1614 to 15 which is the siege of Osaka it's one of these events in Japanese history which is told and retold on the stage in books in films in art even where the forces of the Tokugawa and their allies gather around Osaka castle trying to do some kind of deal trying to force Hideyori and those around him to give up but in the end the siege turns bloody the castle is on fire and we have these famous scenes of Hideyori and his mother huddled together as everyone around them is burning up and dying so the siege of Osaka<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/> | Hideyori is still around and that really isn't taken care of until a very famous incident 1614 to 15 which is the siege of Osaka it's one of these events in Japanese history which is told and retold on the stage in books in films in art even where the forces of the Tokugawa and their allies gather around Osaka castle trying to do some kind of deal trying to force Hideyori and those around him to give up but in the end the siege turns bloody the castle is on fire and we have these famous scenes of Hideyori and his mother huddled together as everyone around them is burning up and dying so the siege of Osaka<ref name="Echoes Shadows 02"/> | ||
===Mori Ranmaru=== | ===Mori Ranmaru=== | ||
So Yasuke was there at Nobunaga's death. He possibly was the last person to see him alive. Nobunaga was killed in a coup d'etat, essentially. He was heading to the front with this small corps of men over which Yasuke was one, around 30 people. And one of his generals, basically, we still don't know to this day why, he brought his whole army of 13,000 and attacked. They were all gunned down, essentially. Nobunaga, with Yasuke and his lover, [Mori] Ranmaru, come into the middle of the temple where their last moments are held. The temple's on fire around them. And Nobunaga really is going to know what happened in that room because there's only three people and they all died, except for Yasuke. But we only know that Yasuke survived because the Jesuits recorded as such. We don't know what he saw, unfortunately. The normal legend goes Nobunaga cut his belly, Ranmarutook his head off as his second, and then one supposes that Ranmaru then cut his belly and Yasuke took off Ranmaru's head. And the supposed last order is Yasuke save my head. Yasuke runs with the head to Nobunaga's son, who is probably about five to ten minutes walk away, very close, in a different temple.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04"/> | So Yasuke was there at Nobunaga's death. He possibly was the last person to see him alive. Nobunaga was killed in a coup d'etat, essentially. He was heading to the front with this small corps of men over which Yasuke was one, around 30 people. And one of his generals, basically, we still don't know to this day why, he brought his whole army of 13,000 and attacked. They were all gunned down, essentially. Nobunaga, with Yasuke and his lover, [Mori] Ranmaru, come into the middle of the temple where their last moments are held. The temple's on fire around them. And Nobunaga really is going to know what happened in that room because there's only three people and they all died, except for Yasuke. But we only know that Yasuke survived because the Jesuits recorded as such. We don't know what he saw, unfortunately. The normal legend goes Nobunaga cut his belly, Ranmarutook his head off as his second, and then one supposes that Ranmaru then cut his belly and Yasuke took off Ranmaru's head. And the supposed last order is Yasuke save my head. Yasuke runs with the head to Nobunaga's son, who is probably about five to ten minutes walk away, very close, in a different temple.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 04">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 4: Yasuke: The First African Samurai</ref> | ||
===Takigawa Kazumasu=== | ===Takigawa Kazumasu=== | ||
In 1578, he [Nobukatsu] dispatches one of his generals, men by the name of Takigawa Kazumasu, to build a castle just across the Iga border that they're going to use as a staging point for a future invasion. Well, the warriors of Iga are alerted to this and realize what this means. So they decide to attack and destroy it, which they do in November of 1578. Takigawa is taken completely by surprise. The castle is burned. Takigawa and his small force is forced to retreat. Obviously, they cease work on the castle and retreat back to Issei after losing a second battle where they tried to retake the ground.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref> | In 1578, he [Nobukatsu] dispatches one of his generals, men by the name of Takigawa Kazumasu, to build a castle just across the Iga border that they're going to use as a staging point for a future invasion. Well, the warriors of Iga are alerted to this and realize what this means. So they decide to attack and destroy it, which they do in November of 1578. Takigawa is taken completely by surprise. The castle is burned. Takigawa and his small force is forced to retreat. Obviously, they cease work on the castle and retreat back to Issei after losing a second battle where they tried to retake the ground.<ref name="Echoes Shadows 06">''[[Echoes of History]]'' – Shadows – Episode 6: The Tensho Iga War</ref> | ||
{{Reflist}} | {{Reflist}} | ||
--> | |||
==Animus Training Program - Quickstart== | ==Animus Training Program - Quickstart== | ||
<!-- | <!-- | ||
My secondary sandbox.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Ever since Darius, a Proto-Assassin, eliminated the Persian king Xerxes,
the hidden blade has become the signature weapon of the Brotherhood of Assassins.
It is usually hidden using an armband and can be deployed in a flash, revealing a formidably sharp point. Thanks to modifications made by Altaïr, you no longer need to cut off a finger to use it to its best advantage. Some Assassins, however, continue to mutilate themselves out of tradition and devotion to the Brotherhood.Made under duress by Leonardo da Vinci for the Baron de Valois, this pistol of rare precision includes several innovations never seen on weapons of this era. It can be immediately identified thanks to its golden metal spinning wheel.
In Venice, the Doge is the first magistrate of the republics of Venice and Genoa. He is elected for life. From the Palazzo Ducale, he leads the armies, presides over the Senate, can declare war and sign peace. He is responsible for the Council of Ten, an assembly made up of the lords of the most powerful Venetian families. The current Doge, elected in 1501, is Leonardo Loredan. He is a cultured merchant and a fine politician.
Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, born in 1480, is the most famous of Leonardo da Vinci's apprentices. He maintains an ambiguous relationship with the Maestro, made of a deep friendship, but also of some mischief due to the young apprentice's passion for gambling. A few years ago, this passion almost cost the Assassins dearly when Salaì failed to keep track of his mission: Protect Leonardo. Fortunately his courage, his insight and some decisive help from Ezio allowed the Assassins to find the Maestro safe and sound. Salaì would do just about anything for Leonardo da Vinci, and the feeling is probably mutual.
Leonardo da Vinci, aged 57 in 1509, is one of those rare people who are gifted in all they choose to do. His first meeting with Ezio was more than thirty years ago and Ezio still carries the hidden blade that the genius repaired and upgraded for him. As a staunch ally, Leonardo enabled the Assassins to technologically surpass their Templar enemies thanks to numerous inventions, including the flying machine. The Maestro, as we sometimes call him, has the habit of appearing without warning, whether in Rome, Florence or where he is now, Venice.
Niccolò Orsini di Pitigliano (1442 - 1510) was a Leader of Italian mercenaries. He was the Captain-General of the Venetians during the war against the Cambrai league.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, born in 1469, is a Florentine with many talents. Philosopher, politician and member of the Brotherhood of Assassins since he was 19, Niccolò is one of those who allowed Ezio to join the Brotherhood. He is a powerful enemy of the Borgias and has helped Ezio dismantle one of their bases in Rome. He faithfully supports Ezio in all circumstances, despite the apparent discord between the two men. It was probably at his request that Niccolò temporarily left his native Florence to lend a hand once again to the Assassins in Rome. His political visions will have to wait a few more years before being written down on paper in his famous book: The Prince.
The Bocca di Leone ("Lion's Mouth") were boxes made for denunciation. They often bore the shape of a human or animal mouth. Some were dedicated to various types of accusations: Concealment of income, favors, misdemeanors linked to public health, etc. Denunciations could not be completely anonymous (except in case of emergency) and were processed according to a sophisticated investigation system. The lion sometimes appeared on the boxes as a reference to the Lion of Venice, emblem of the Republic.
The Assassins know the secrets of a civilization that existed long before humanity. lts members were known under the names Isus, Precursors or First Civilization. Some elements of their technology have endured, such as the Pieces of Eden. As rare as they are powerful, they have been used repeatedly to influence the course of humankind's history. The Assassins are trying by all means to prevent Templars from finding and using the fragments.
Among the Pieces of Eden, the Staves were created to take control of the body and mind of humans. Used properly, they are an extremely powerful instrument of control, which can be used for good or evil. Doubt remains as to whether their extraordinary powers, such as levitation or invisibility, are real or are simply illusions.
The famous Lion of Venice is none other than a representation of Saint Mark, decorated with wings inspired by the Bible. When its fore paws are crossed, one rests on the ground and the other on the water, symbolizing the balance of Venetian powers between land and water. When depicted with a book, it symbolizes peace, whereas it is sometimes holding a sword during periods of armed conflict.
The Animus was originally a technological project of Abstergo Industries, a facade for the Order of the Templars. Thanks to a DNA fragment, it allows the person who is connected to explore and relive the memories of their ancestors - their Genetic Memories. Improved over time, used by both Assassins and Templars, the latest versions of the Animus are no longer dependent on the user's DNA and allow anyone to explore the memories of a subject as long as they have their DNA. The newest versions of the Animus, HR-8 and HR-8.5, developed under the supervision of Sophia Rikkin and Layla Hassan, are now portable and do away with the need to use a DNA sample. The Memory only needs to be saved in order to share it with others. However, it happens that the Animus experiences some failures when displaying the Memories. These are the glitches that Assassins sometimes fear. It is rumored that some of these glitches may have been intentionally introduced into the Animus code by the Templars... If so, only an Assassin from the present day can help us!
Lucrezia Borgia, from a famous family of Templars, is cruel and merciless, just like her brother Cesare. Her use of excessive violence and her poisonings are almost legendary. Bold and independent, she defied social conventions by entertaining many romantic relationships during her numerous marriages. The few people who have really known her have been able to recognize the fragility beneath her arrogance and violence, no doubt linked to her family's turbulent history. During her two encounters with Ezio, they both tried to take advantage of the situation by playing the muddle game of seduction. She is still mad with rage at having let herself be taken in by her own game. She ruminates on a revenge that will certainly be terrible.
Cynical, sarcastic and self-confident, Shaun works for the Brotherhood as a historian and analyst. His knowledge is a valuable source of information for modern Assassins who are looking for Pieces of Eden and other First Civilization resources from the memories of various historical figures. Shaun offers precious help to people who visualize their genetic memories through the Animus. He creates databases for the Assassins by analyzing people, locations and eras from historical experiences. With Rebecca Crane, Desmond Miles and William Miles, Shaun was na essential member of the Assassins team who located an Apple of Eden and then the Great Temple in 2012, which changed the course of the conflict between Assassins and Templars. After perilous missions to London and Madrid, Shaun seems to have disappeared. Rumors of his reappearance were true!
When Leonardo da Vinci was forced to create war machines for the Borgias in 1499, his creative genius took over and he invented a whole system of combat automatons - it was still theoretical at that time - that can be set up in advance so that they travel a certain distance before setting off the bomb they are harboring. Overcome by remorse, he managed to hide his blueprints, but the Borgias were finally able to get their hands on them and turned them over to the Favero, who managed to finalize them. Fortunately, the Brotherhood also managed to create working prototypes thanks to Leonardo.
This small group of fierce Templars aims to fight the Assassins with their own methods. Trained like true counter-Assassins, the Crows are specialists in disguise, infiltration and, of course, assassination. They all wear clothes and accessories that evoke their favorite animal, the crow. Moreover their former leader, Sirus Favero, was nicknamed il corvo (the raven). In an attempt to preserve their anonymity, they use the names of the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The Assassins will have to face the four Crows led by Cesare Borgia including the formidable Matteo Favero, son of the historic leader of the Crows.
This megacorporation, created in 1937, is the result of a strategy of the Order of the Temple to sustainably transform the world and make it conform to the values and visions of the Templars. Today, it is a sprawling conglomerate that extends its sinister wings over sectors as varied as medical, pharmaceutical or video game industries. Abstergo is the inventor of the Animus.
These are taken from the WIP rulebook from the kickstarter, so they are VERY subject to change and shouldn't be used in ANY pages.
Shao Jun (born in 1505) is a famous Assassin of the Chinese Brotherhood of Assassins.
A former concubine of the Zhengde Emperor, she was rescued by the Assassins after the emperor’s death and devoted her life to the Brotherhood as a result.
During the interregnum following the Zhengde Emperor’s death, Zhang Yong—the leader of the Eight Tigers, a Templar faction—ordered a purge of all those who opposed him, which included the Assassins. Shao Jun and her Mentor, Zhu Jiuyuan, fled west to seek out the retired Mentor of the Italian Brotherhood, Ezio Auditore da Firenze. After helping Ezio fight off a Templar attack in his villa in Tuscany, he gave her a Precursor box to help her rebuild the Chinese Brotherhood.Measuring up to 12 feet, it is one of the most dangerous animals one can encounter in the region. It will bite and inject a potent venom that can kill an adult human in thirty minutes if no antidote is taken. Amazingly, even the very young ones can bite as dangerously as adults. It is not uncommon for expert handlers to extract their venom and use it to poison weapons.
Quick as lightning, the mongoose is the forever enemy of the cobra snake. Thanks to their incredible reflexes, they can face the venomous snakes and exploit any weakness, striking at the right time in the right spot. The mongooses found in this region have developed a resistance to the snake’s venom that allows them to continue fighting, even after a bite. They are greatly admired and revered by the inhabitants of the region, who sometimes tame and train them to help against the snakes.