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Fumimaro Konoe
Prince was a Japanese politician and prime minister. During his tenure, he presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and the breakdown in relations with the United States, which ultimately culminated in Japan's entry into World War II. He also played a central role in transforming his country into a totalitarian state by passing the National Mobilization Law and founding the Imperial Rule Assistance Association. Despite Konoe's attempts to resolve tensions with the United States, the rigid timetable imposed on negotiations by the military and his own government's inflexibility regarding a diplomatic resolution set Japan on the path to war. Upon failing to reach a peace agreement, Konoe resigned as Prime Minister on 18 October 1941, prior to the outbreak of hostilities. However, he remained a close advisor to the Emperor until the end of World War II. Following the end of the war, he committed suicide on 16 December 1945. Early life Fumimaro Konoe was born in T ...
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Kazoku
The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the 1947 constitution. Kazoku ( 華族) should not be confused with ''"kazoku ( 家族)"'', which is pronounced the same in Japanese, but with a different character reading that means "immediate family" (as in the film '' Kazoku'' above). Origins Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the ancient court nobility of Kyoto, the , regained some of its lost status. Several members of the , such as Iwakura Tomomi and Nakayama Tadayasu, played a crucial role in the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the early Meiji government nominated to head all seven of the newly established administrative departments. The Meiji oligarchs, as part of their Westernizing reforms, merged the with the former into an expanded aristocratic class on 25 July 1869, to recognize that the and former were a social c ...
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Rafu Shimpo
is a Japanese-English language newspaper based in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California and is the largest bilingual English-Japanese daily newspaper in the United States. As of February 2021, it is published online daily. In print publication is only on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The paper began in 1903 as a one-page, mimeographed Japanese-language newspaper produced by Rippo Iijima, Masaharu Yamaguchi, and Seijiro Shibuya. H. T. Komai became publisher in 1922, beginning a family dynasty. He was succeeded by son Akira and grandson Michael. The name of the newspaper essentially translates as "Los Angeles area newspaper" ("''ra''" abbreviated from "''rashogiri''" (羅省枝利), a historic Chinese name for Los Angeles, "''fu''" meaning " prefecture", and "''shinpo''", a term for newspaper). See als "Honoring the 100th Anniversary of the ''Rafu Shimpo'' a speech of U.S. Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard in the '' Congressional Record'', October 10, 2003, p. ...
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NHK Symphony Orchestra
The is a Japanese broadcast orchestra based in Tokyo. The orchestra gives concerts in several venues, including the NHK Hall, Suntory Hall, and the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. History The orchestra began as the ''New Symphony Orchestra'' on October 5, 1926, and was the country's first professional symphony orchestra. Later, it changed its name to the ''Japan Symphony Orchestra''. In 1951, after receiving financial support from Nippon Hoso Kyokai, NHK, the orchestra took its current name. The most recent conductor with the title of music director of the orchestra was Vladimir Ashkenazy, from 2004 to 2007. Ashkenazy now has the title of conductor laureate. Charles Dutoit, the orchestra's music director from 1998 to 2003, is now its music director emeritus. Wolfgang Sawallisch, honorary conductor from 1967 to 1994, held the title of honorary conductor laureate until his death. The orchestra's current permanent conductors are Yuzo Toyama, since 1979, and Tadaaki Otaka, since ...
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Hidemaro Konoye
Viscount was a Japanese conductor and composer of classical music. He was the younger brother of pre-war Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe. Biography Konoye was born in Kōjimachi, Tokyo. He was the younger son of Duke Konoe Atsumaro, scion of one of the Five Regent Houses of the Fujiwara clan. The Konoe clan traditionally provided ''gagaku'' musicians to the Imperial Household. Despite this, Konoye pursued music over the objections of his family, who wished for him a career in politics. His decision was supported by his older brother, Fumimaro. Konoye attended the Gakushuin Peers School, where he became a close friend of Takashi Inukai. In 1913, he entered the Tokyo University of the Arts, where he specialized in the violin. In 1915, he went to Germany briefly to study musical composition. On his return to Japan he became a pupil of Kosaku Yamada. His debut as a conductor was in 1920, with an amateur orchestra led by Tokichi Setoguchi. Konoye returned to Europe for ...
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Sumitomo Group
The is one of the largest Japanese ''keiretsu'', or business groups, founded by Masatomo Sumitomo (1585-1652) around 1615 during the early Edo period. History The Sumitomo Group traces its roots to a bookshop in Kyoto founded circa 1615 by Masatomo Sumitomo, a former Buddhist monk. Even today management of the group is guided by his "Founder's Precepts", written in the 17th century. Copper refining made the company famous. Riemon Soga, Masatomo Sumitomo's brother-in-law, learned Western methods of copper refining. In 1590 he established a smelting business, ''Izumiya'', literally meaning "spring shop". Riemon perfected techniques that allowed the extraction of silver from copper ore, something Japanese technology had not previously accomplished. The smelting and smithing business was moved from Kyoto to Osaka by the late 17th century. Soga passed control of the company to his son Tomomochi who managed its transformation into a major trading house during the Edo period. Sum ...
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Zaibatsu
is a Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertically integrated business conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over significant parts of the Japanese economy from the Meiji period until the end of World War II. A ''zaibatsu'' general structure included a family-owned holding company on top, and a bank which financed the other, mostly industrial subsidiaries within them. Although the ''zaibatsu'' played an important role in the Japanese economy from the 1860s to 1945, they increased in number and importance following the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, World War I and Japan's subsequent attempt to conquer East Asia during the inter-war period and World War II. After World War II they were dissolved by the Allied occupation forces and succeeded by the '' keiretsu'' (groups of banks, manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors). Equivalents to the ''zaibatsu'' can still be found in other countries, such as the '' chaeb ...
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Konoe Atsumaro
was a Japanese politician and journalist of the Meiji era. He served as the 3rd President of the House of Peers and 7th President of the Gakushūin Peer's School in Meiji period Japan. He was also the father of Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe. Political career After the Meiji Restoration, the Konoe family were devolved from the ranks of the nobility and given the peerage title of Duke (''koshaku'') under the new ''kazoku'' peerage system. From 1885 to 1890, Konoe visited Europe, attending the University of Bonn and University of Leipzig in Germany. After returning to Japan, he became a member of the House of Peers and in 1895 became president of Gakushuin Peer's School. Later Konoe served as the 3rd President of the House of Peers, presiding over its 10th through 18th sessions from October 3, 1896, to December 4, 1903. From 1903 he concurrently served as a Privy Councillor. Domestically, Konoe was a strong critic of clan-based politics, which continued to dominate the po ...
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Five Regent Houses
The Five Regent Houses (五摂家; ''go-sekke'') is a collective term for the five families of the Fujiwara clan that monopolized the regent position of '' Sekkan'' in Japan from 1252 until 1868. The five houses are Konoe, Takatsukasa, Kujō, Ichijō, and Nijō, which were established during the split of the Fujiwara Hokke. After the abolition of the regency in 1868, the Five Regent Houses were all appointed Duke under the new hereditary peerage. Overview Out of the four houses of the Fujiwara clan, the Fujiwara Hokke monopolized the regent position of '' Sekkan''. In the Kamakura period, the Hokke split into the Five Regent Houses, Konoe, Takatsukasa, Kujō, Ichijō, and Nijō. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Go-sekke" at p. 260 These families continued to monopolize the regency from 1252 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. When the regency was abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration, a new hereditary peerage (''kazoku'') was established, and these houses were all ...
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Minamoto No Yoritomo
was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his death. Yoritomo was the son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo and belonged to Seiwa Genji's prestigious Kawachi Genji family. After setting himself the rightful heir of the Minamoto clan, he led his clan against the Taira clan from his capital in Kamakura, beginning the Genpei War in 1180. After five years of war, he finally defeated the Taira clan in the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. Yoritomo thus established the supremacy of the warrior samurai caste and the first shogunate ('' bakufu'') at Kamakura, beginning the feudal age in Japan, which lasted until the mid-19th century. Early life Yoritomo was the third son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, heir of the Minamoto (Seiwa Genji) clan, and his official wife, Yura-Gozen, daughter of Fujiwara no Su ...
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Fujiwara Clan
was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since the ancient times and dominated the imperial court until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. They held the title of Ason. The abbreviated form is . The 8th century clan history ''Tōshi Kaden'' (藤氏家伝) states the following at the biography of the clan's patriarch, Fujiwara no Kamatari (614–669): "Kamatari, the Inner Palace Minister who was also called ‘Chūrō'',''’ was a man of the Takechi district of Yamato Province. His forebears descended from Ame no Koyane no Mikoto; for generations they had administered the rites for Heaven and Earth, harmonizing the space between men and the gods. Therefore, it was ordered their clan was to be called Ōnakatomi" The clan originated when the founder, Nakatomi no Kamatari (614–669) of the Nakatomi clan, was rewarded by Emperor Tenji with the ho ...
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Konoe Family
is a Japanese aristocratic family. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Konoe," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 24 retrieved 2013-8-13. The family is a branch of Hokke and, by extension, a main branch of the Fujiwara clan. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Go-sekke"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 260. History The Konoe claim descent from Konoe Iezane (1179–1242),. The origin of the family name was the residence of Iezane's grandfather Konoe Motozane, which was located on a road in Kyoto named "Konoe-Ōji" (近衛大道). Despite Konoe at first being the senior line of the Fujiwara clan, the clan was eventually split up into Five regent houses during the Kamakura period, with each of the five families having the right to assume the regency. During the following Nanboku-chō period, a succession dispute of Konoe emerged, between Tsunetada and his cousin Mototsugu - they served in rival courts, the Sout ...
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Fumimaro Konoe In His 20s
Prince was a Japanese politician and prime minister. During his tenure, he presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and the breakdown in relations with the United States, which ultimately culminated in Japan's entry into World War II. He also played a central role in transforming his country into a totalitarian state by passing the National Mobilization Law and founding the Imperial Rule Assistance Association. Despite Konoe's attempts to resolve tensions with the United States, the rigid timetable imposed on negotiations by the military and his own government's inflexibility regarding a diplomatic resolution set Japan on the path to war. Upon failing to reach a peace agreement, Konoe resigned as Prime Minister on 18 October 1941, prior to the outbreak of hostilities. However, he remained a close advisor to the Emperor until the end of World War II. Following the end of the war, he committed suicide on 16 December 1945. Early life Fumimaro Konoe was born in To ...
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