|
Military Communication In Feudal Japan
A variety of procedures were used to communicate across the battlefield in feudal Japan, much like in any other culture. These methods included visual signals like flags and banners and audible signals using drums and horns. Messengers on horseback used ciphers and other methods to prevent their messages from falling into the wrong hands. By the beginning of the Sengoku Period, battlefield communications had become fairly complicated affairs, with larger armies than ever before, and a multitude of flags and banners covered in a myriad of colors and designs. Flags and banners Since the beginnings of what we would today recognize as Japanese culture, and probably earlier, various symbols, crests, banners, or markings on armor were used to help identify and distinguish warriors on the battlefield. The '' mon'', or symbol, of a clan or a ''daimyō'' was particularly common, identifying which side a warrior fought on; some samurai used their own names or ''mon'' rather than that of thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sengoku Period
The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Various samurai warlords and clans fought for control over Japan in the power vacuum, while the emerged to fight against samurai rule. The arrival of Europeans in 1543 introduced the arquebus into Japanese warfare, and Japan ended its status as a tributary state of China in 1549. Oda Nobunaga dissolved the Ashikaga shogunate in 1573 and launched a war of political unification by force, including the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War, until his death in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582. Nobunaga's successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his campaign to unify Japan and consolidated his rule with numerous influential reforms. Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592, but their eventual failure damaged his prestige before his death in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conch
Conch () is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point at both ends). In North America, a conch is often identified as a queen conch, indigenous to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Queen conches are valued for seafood and are also used as fish bait. The group of conches that are sometimes referred to as "true conches" are marine gastropod molluscs in the family Strombidae, specifically in the genus '' Strombus'' and other closely related genera. For example, '' Lobatus gigas'', the queen conch, and '' Laevistrombus canarium'', the dog conch, are true conches. Many other species are also often called "conch", but are not at all closely related to the family Strombidae, including '' Melongena'' species (family Melongenidae) and the horse conch '' Triplofusus papillosus'' (family Fasciolariidae). Speci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military History Of Japan
The military history of Japan covers a vast time-period of over three millennia - from the Jōmon ( 1000 BC) to the present day. After a long period of clan warfare until the 12th century, there followed feudal wars that culminated in military governments known as the Shogunate. Japanese history records that a military class and the Shōgun ruled Japan for 676 years - from 1192 until 1868. The Shōgun and the samurai warriors stood near the apex of the Japanese social structure - only the aristocratic nobility nominally outranked them. The sakoku policy effectively closed Japan from foreign influences for 212 years - from 1641 to 1853. Feudal militarism transitioned to imperialism in the 19th century after the arrival of Admiral Perry in 1853 and the elevation of Emperor Meiji in 1868. Western colonial powers and their imperialist policies impacted on Japan's outlook and led to Japanese colonialism and rampant imperialism ( 1895 - 1945) until Japan's defeat in World War ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Communication In Feudal Japan
A variety of procedures were used to communicate across the battlefield in feudal Japan, much like in any other culture. These methods included visual signals like flags and banners and audible signals using drums and horns. Messengers on horseback used ciphers and other methods to prevent their messages from falling into the wrong hands. By the beginning of the Sengoku Period, battlefield communications had become fairly complicated affairs, with larger armies than ever before, and a multitude of flags and banners covered in a myriad of colors and designs. Flags and banners Since the beginnings of what we would today recognize as Japanese culture, and probably earlier, various symbols, crests, banners, or markings on armor were used to help identify and distinguish warriors on the battlefield. The '' mon'', or symbol, of a clan or a ''daimyō'' was particularly common, identifying which side a warrior fought on; some samurai used their own names or ''mon'' rather than that of thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kami
are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the spirits of venerated dead people. Many ''kami'' are considered the ancient ancestors of entire clans (some ancestors became ''kami'' upon their death if they were able to embody the values and virtues of ''kami'' in life). Traditionally, great leaders like the Emperor could be or became ''kami''. In Shinto, ''kami'' are not separate from nature, but are of nature, possessing positive and negative, and good and evil characteristics. They are manifestations of , the interconnecting energy of the universe, and are considered exemplary of what humanity should strive towards. ''Kami'' are believed to be "hidden" from this world, and inhabit a complementary existence that mirrors our own: . To be in harmony with the awe-inspiring aspects of na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whistling-bulb Arrow
is a type of Japanese arrow used by the samurai class of feudal Japan. Kabura-ya were arrows which whistled when shot and were used in ritual archery exchanges before formal medieval battles. Like a Wind instrument, the sound was created by a specially carved or perforated bulb of deer horn or wood attached to the tip. In English, these are often called "whistling-bulb arrows", "messenger arrows", or "signal arrows." ''Kabura'' literally translates to "turnip", and thus the Japanese term technically means "turnip shapedarrows." The Chinese ''xiangjian'' (sometimes pronounced and written ''mingdi'') was quite similar, and until the end of the Warlord Era were commonly used by bandits to announce the gang's approach. In ''Shinto'', the sound made by the ''Kabura-ya'' arrow in mid-flight is thought to ward-off evil influences, and, like the '' Hama Ya'', '' Hama Yumi'' and the ''Azusa Yumi'', it is used is ''Shinto'' cleansing rites of sites, shrine grounds, parks, etc. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takeda Shingen
, of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful Daimyo, daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great skill and military leadership. Name Shingen was called "Tarō" (a commonly used pet name for the eldest son of a Japanese family) or Katsuchiyo (勝千代) during his childhood. When he celebrated his Coming of Age Day, coming of age, he was given the formal name Harunobu (晴信), which included a character from the name of Ashikaga Yoshiharu (足利義晴), the 12th Ashikaga clan, Ashikaga ''shōgun''. It was a common practice in feudal Japan for a higher-ranked samurai, warrior to bestow a character from his own name to his inferiors as a symbol of recognition. From the local lord's perspective, it was an honour to receive a character from the shogunate, although the authority of the latter had greatly degenerated in the mid-16 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genpei War
The was a national civil war between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yoritomo, who appointed himself as '' Shōgun'' in 1192, governing Japan as a military dictator from the eastern city of Kamakura. It followed a '' coup d'état'' by the Taira in 1179 with the removal of rivals from all government posts, and subsequently banishing them, and a call to arms against the Taira, led by the Minamoto in 1180. The ensuing Battle of Uji took place just outside Kyoto, starting a five-year-long war, concluding with a decisive Minamoto victory in the naval Battle of Dan-no-ura. However, it has been pointed out that the Battle of Ōshū in 1189 was the last battle during this period of civil war, as it completed Yoritomo's nationwide domination through the annexation of Northeast Japan. The name "Genpei" (sometimes romanized as ''Gempei'') ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uesugi Kenshin
, later known as was a Japanese ''daimyō''. He was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. Known as the "Dragon of Echigo", while chiefly remembered for his prowess on the battlefield as a military genius, Kenshin is also regarded as an extremely skillful administrator who fostered the growth of local industries and trade and his rule saw a marked rise in the standard of living of Echigo. Kenshin is famed for his honourable conduct, his military expertise, a long-standing rivalry with Takeda Shingen, his numerous defensive campaigns to restore order in the Kantō region as the '' Kanto Kanrei'', and his belief in the Buddhist god of war— Bishamonten. Many of his followers and others believed him to be the Avatar of Bishamonten, and called Kenshin the "God of War". Name His original name was Nagao Kagetora (長尾景虎). He cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Conch")
.svg "Click for more on -> Uesugi Kenshin")