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Ōtsu Castle
270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is part of ancient Ōmi Province and has been settled since at least the Yayoi period. It was an important center of inland water transportation on Lake Biwa and was referred to in the Man'yōshū as and . It was also on the main land routes, the Tōkaidō and the Nakasendō connecting the eastern provinces with the ancient capitals of Japan. Additionally, the ancient Hokurikudō, which connected Kyoto to the provinces of northern Honshu, ran through Ōtsu. From 667 to 672, the Ōmi Ōtsu Palace was founded by Emperor Tenji was the capital of Japan. Following the Jinshin War Ōtsu was renamed . A new capital, Heian-kyō, (now Kyoto), was established in the immediate neighborhood in 794, and Ōtsu (meaning "big port") was revived as an imp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Core Cities Of Japan
A is a class or category of cities of Japan, Japanese cities. It is a local administrative division created by the national government.Web-Japan.org"Local self-government", p. 3 retrieved 2012-11-28. Core cities are delegated many functions normally carried out by Prefectures of Japan, prefectural governments, but not as many as Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated cities. To become a candidate for core city status, a city must have a population greater than 300,000 and an area greater than 100 square kilometers, although special exceptions may be made by order of the cabinet for cities with populations under 300,000 but over 200,000. After the abolition of Special cities of Japan, special city status on April 1, 2015, any city with a population above 200,000 may apply for core city status. Application for designation is made by a city with the approval of both the city and prefectural assemblies. History The term "core city" was created by the first c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Kanji
are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequently-derived Syllabary, syllabic scripts of and . The characters have Japanese pronunciations; most have two, with one based on the Chinese sound. A few characters were invented in Japan by constructing character components derived from other Chinese characters. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan made its own efforts to simplify the characters, now known as , by a process similar to China's simplified Chinese characters, simplification efforts, with the intention to increase literacy among the general public. Since the 1920s, the Japanese government has published character lists periodically to help direct the education of its citizenry through the myriad Chinese characters that exist. There are nearly 3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Ōmi Ōtsu Palace
The was an imperial palace built by Emperor Tenchi in Asuka period Japan in what is now the city of Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. It served as the capital of Japan for a five-year period from 667 to 672 AD. Also known as the , , it was most frequently referred to in ancient sources as the . It was at this location that the Ōmi Code and the family registry system were promulgated, which laid the foundations for the later ''ritsuryō'' state. It location was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1979, with the area under protection expanded in 2007 History In 660 AD, during the reign of Empress Saimei, the Korean kingdom of Baekje fell to an alliance of Silla and Tang China. Baekje was a close ally of ancient Japan, it was viewed as a bulwark against possible Silla or Tang expansion and Yamato's foothold in the mainland. Crown Prince Naka no Ōe, later to become Emperor Tenji, and Empress Saimei decided to dispatch an expeditionary force to restore the Baekje kingd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Honshu
, historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by population, second-most populous after the list of islands of Indonesia, Indonesian island of Java. Honshu had a population of 104 million , constituting 81.3% of the entire population of Japan, and mostly concentrated in the coastal areas and plains. Approximately 30% of the total population resides in the Greater Tokyo Area on the Kantō Plain. As the historical center of Japanese cultural and political power, the island includes several past Japanese capitals, including Kyoto, Kyōto, Nara (city), Nara, and Kamakura. Much of the island's southern shore forms part of the Taiheiyō Belt, a megalopolis that spans several of the Japanese islands. Honshu also contains Japan's highest mountain, Mount Fuji, and its largest lake, Lake Biwa. Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Hokurikudō
is a Japanese geographical term. It means both an ancient division of the country and the main road running through the old Japanese geographical region.Nussbaum, "''Hokurikudō''" in Both were situated along the northwestern edge of Honshū. The name literally means 'North Land Way'. It also refers to a series of roads that connected the capitals (国府 ''kokufu'') of each of the provinces that made up the region. When the Gokishichidō system was initially established after the Taika reforms, it consisted of just two provinces: Wakasa and Koshi. During the reign of Emperor Temmu, Koshi was divided into three regions: Echizen, Etchū and Echigo and Sado Island was added as a fifth province. Later, Noto and Kaga were carved out of Echizen to form seven provinces in total. The Hokuriku subregion of Chūbu region constitutes Hokurikudō region today. See also * Comparison of past and present administrative divisions of Japan * Hokuriku subregion * Koshi Province Note ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Nakasendō
The , also called the ,Richard Lane, ''Images from the Floating World'' (1978) Chartwell, Secaucus ; pg. 285 was one of the centrally administered Edo Five Routes, five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected the ''de facto'' capital of Japan at Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto. There were 69 Stations of the Nakasendō, 69 stations (staging-posts) between Edo and Kyoto, crossing through Musashi Province, Musashi, Kōzuke Province, Kōzuke, Shinano Province, Shinano, Mino Province, Mino and Ōmi Province, Ōmi Old provinces of Japan, provinces.Nakasendou Jouhou . NEC Corporation. Retrieved August 18, 2007. In addition to Tokyo and Kyoto, the Nakasendō runs through the modern-day prefectures of Saitama Prefecture, Saitama, Gunma Prefecture, Gunma, Nagano Prefecture, Nagano, Gifu Prefecture, Gifu and Shiga Prefect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Tōkaidō (road)
The , which roughly means "eastern sea route," was the most important of the Edo Five Routes, Five Routes of the Edo period in Japan, connecting Kyoto to the ''de facto'' capital of Japan at Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Unlike the inland and less heavily travelled Nakasendō, the Tōkaidō travelled along the sea coast of eastern Honshū, hence the route's name. The Tōkaidō was first used in ancient times as a route from Kyoto to central Honshu before the Edo period. Traveling the Tōkaidō Most of the travel was on foot, as wheeled carts were almost nonexistent, and heavy cargo was usually sent by boat. Members of the higher class, however, traveled by ''kago''. Women were forbidden from travelling alone and had to be accompanied by men. Other restrictions were also put in place for travelers, but, while severe penalties existed for various travel regulations, most seem not to have been enforced. Captain Sherard Osborn, who traveled part of the road in around 1858, noted that: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
