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Gyokusen-ji
is a Buddhist temple located in the city of Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is noteworthy in that it served as the first American consulate in Japan. The temple and its grounds were designated as a National Historic Site of Japan in 1951. History The exact date of the foundation of Gyokusen-ji is uncertain, but temple records indicate that it was originally a Shingon sect hermitage converted to the Sōtō Zen sect in the Tenshō period (1573–1592). The current '' Hondō'' was built in 1848, but soon after its completion it was commandeered by the Tokugawa shogunate for use as a residence for foreign visitors to Shimoda during negotiations to end Japan's national isolation policy. It hosted officers from American Commodore Matthew Perry’s flotilla of Black Ships, and Japanese authorities allowed the bodies of dead American sailors to be buried in its graveyard. Visit by Admiral Putyatin Gyokusen-ji was selected by officials of the Tokugawa shogunate to host Im ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shimoda, Shizuoka
270px, Shimoda City Hall is a city and port located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 19,670 in 10,436 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . In the 1850s, Japan was in political crisis over its increasing inability to maintain its national seclusion policy and the issue of what relations, if any, it should have with foreign powers. For a few years, Shimoda was central to this debate. Geography Shimoda is located at the southern tip of the Izu Peninsula about southwest of Tokyo. Shimoda's location, with the Amagi Mountains to the north, and the warm Kuroshio Current to the south give the city a humid, sub-tropical climate. Surrounding municipalities *Shizuoka Prefecture ** Kawazu ** Matsuzaki ** Minamiizu Demographics Per Japanese census data, the population of Shimoda has been in slow decline since 1980. Climate The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild win ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century Before the Common Era, BCE. It is the Major religious groups, world's fourth-largest religion, with about 500 million followers, known as Buddhists, who comprise four percent of the global population. It arose in the eastern Gangetic plain as a movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia. Buddhism has subsequently played a major role in Asian culture and spirituality, eventually spreading to Western world, the West in the 20th century. According to tradition, the Buddha instructed his followers in a path of bhavana, development which leads to Enlightenment in Buddhism, awakening and moksha, full liberation from ''Duḥkha, dukkha'' (). He regarded this path as a Middle Way between extremes su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flotilla
A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as frigates, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats, or minesweepers. Groups of larger warships are usually called squadrons, but similar units of non-capital ships may be called squadrons in some instances, and flotillas in others. Formations including more than one capital ship, e.g. men-of-war, battleships, and aircraft carriers, typically alongside smaller ships and support craft, are typically called fleets, each portion led by a capital ship being a squadron or task force. A flotilla is usually commanded by a rear admiral, a commodore or a captain, depending on the importance of the command (a vice admiral would normally command a squadron). A flotilla is often divided into two or more divisions, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russian Frigate Diana
''Diana'' was a frigate of the Imperial Russian Navy. She was built in 1853 and was the flagship of the Russian explorer Yevfimy Putyatin when he visited Japan in 1854 to negotiate what would become the Treaty of Shimoda. Putyatin's fleet was damaged in a tsunami, following the powerful Ansei-Tōkai earthquake of 23 December 1854. ''Diana'' was spun round 42 times on its moorings and was so badly damaged that it sank in a later storm in the bay of Miyajima-mura (宮島村) (Now an area of Fuji), while sailing from Shimoda to Heda for repairs. Three hundred Japanese carpenters worked with the Russian sailors to build a Western-style ship in two months, with the help of plans salvaged from ''Diana''. They eventually built a two-masted schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iturup
Iturup (; ), also historically known by #Names, other names, is an island in the Kuril Archipelago separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. The town of Kurilsk, administrative center of Kurilsky District, is located roughly midway along its western shore. Iturup is the largest and northernmost of the southern Kurils, Kuril Islands dispute, ownership of which is disputed between Japan and Russia. It is located between Kunashiri to its southwest and Urup to its northeast. The Vries Strait between Iturup and Urup forms the Miyabe Line dividing the predominant plants of the Kurils. The native inhabitants of the islands since at least the 14th century were the Ainu people, Ainu. Various Age of Exploration, European explorers passed the area over the years but settlement varied between Russian and Japanese. The island was formally claimed as Japanese territory in 1855. Near the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Soviet Union occupied the southern Kurils and f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urup
Urup (; , ) is an uninhabited volcanic island in the Kuril Islands chain in the south of the Sea of Okhotsk, northwest Pacific Ocean. Its name is derived from the Ainu language word ''urup'', meaning "sockeye salmon". Geography and climate Urup is essentially rectangular in shape, with a long axis of 120 kilometers (75 miles) and a narrow axis of about 20 kilometers (12 miles). It is the fourth largest of the Kuril Islands, with an area of . The highest point is Gora Ivao at . A number of tiny islets and rocks are scattered around the coast of Urup. The strait between Urup and Iturup is known as the Vries Strait, after Dutch explorer Maarten Gerritsz Vries, the first recorded European to explore the area. The strait between Urup and Simushir is known as Bussol Strait, after the French word for "compass", which was the name of one of French naval officer La Pérouse's vessels. This French mariner explored the area of the Kuril Islands in 1787. Urup consists of four m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kurile Islands
The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands are a volcanic archipelago administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the Russian Far East. The islands stretch approximately northeast from Hokkaido in Japan to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the north Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many minor islets. The Kuril Islands consist of the Greater Kuril Chain and, at the southwest end, the parallel Lesser Kuril Chain. The group termed the 'South Kurils' consists of those of the Lesser Kuril Chain together with Kunashir and Iturup in the Greater Kuril Chain. The Vries Strait between Iturup and Urup forms the Miyabe Line dividing the North and South Kurils. The Kuril Islands cover an area of around , with a population of roughly 20,000. The islands have been under Russian administration since their 1945 invasion by the Soviet Union near the end of World War II. Japan claims the four southernmost islands, including two of the three largest ( Iturup an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nagasaki, Nagasaki
, officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region have been recognized and included in the World Heritage Sites in Japan, UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. Part of Nagasaki was home to a major Imperial Japanese Navy base during the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War. Near the end of World War II, the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made Nagasaki the second city in the world to experience a nuclear attack. The city was rebuilt. , Nagasaki has an estimated population of 392,281, and a population density of 966 people per km2. The total area is . History Nagasaki as a Jesuit port of call The first recorded contact between Portuguese e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hakodate
is a Cities of Japan, city and seaports of Japan, port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of January 31, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 239,813 with 138,807 households, and a population density of . The total area is . The city is the third largest in Hokkaido after Sapporo and Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Asahikawa. History Hakodate was Japan's first city whose port was opened to foreign trade in 1854, as a result of Convention of Kanagawa, and used to be the most important port in northern Japan. The city was the biggest city in Hokkaido before the Great Fire of Hakodate in 1934. Pre–Meiji Restoration Hakodate (like other parts of around Hokkaido) was originally populated by the Ainu people, Ainu. The name "Hakodate" may have originated from an Ainu word, "hak-casi" ("shallow fort"). Another possibility is that it means "box" or "building" in Japanese which refers to the castle built by the Kono (Kan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treaty Of Shimoda
The Treaty of Shimoda (下田条約, ''Shimoda Jouyaku'') (formally Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan and Russia 日露和親条約, ''Nichi-Ro Washin Jouyaku'') of February 7, 1855, was the first treaty between the Russian Empire, and the Empire of Japan, then under the administration of the Tokugawa shogunate. Following shortly after the Convention of Kanagawa signed between Japan and the United States, it effectively meant the end of Japan's 220-year-old policy of national seclusion (''sakoku''), by opening the ports of Nagasaki, Shimoda and Hakodate to Russian vessels. The treaty also established the position of Russian consuls in Japan and defined the borders between Japan and Russia. The isolation of Japan Since the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Tokugawa shogunate pursued a policy of isolating the country from outside influences. Foreign trade was maintained only with the Dutch, Koreans, and the Chinese and was conducted exclusively at Nagasaki u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heda, Shizuoka
was a village located in Tagata District, Shizuoka, Japan on the Suruga Bay coast of Izu Peninsula. Views of Mount Fuji can be seen from the village, which is a tourist resort. As of March 1, 2005, the village had an estimated population of 3,681 and a density of 105.4 persons per km2. The total area was 34.92 km2. On April 1, 2005, Heda was merged into the expanded city of Numazu. On December 23, 1854, ''Diana'', the flagship of the Russian fleet bearing Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin and his delegation for the negotiation of the Treaty of Shimoda was struck by a tsunami from the Ansei Tōkai earthquake and sank. The survivors stayed in Heda, where they cooperated with Japanese carpenters and shipbuilders to construct a new vessel (christened '' Heda'') to take them back to Russia. This marked the first cooperative venture between Japanese and Europeans since the start of the national seclusion policy at the start of the Edo period. In the April 1, 1889 cadastral reform ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1854 Tōkai Earthquake
The 1854 Tōkai earthquake was the first of the Ansei great earthquakes (1854–1855). It occurred at about 09:00 local time on 23 December 1854. It had a magnitude of 8.4 and caused a damaging tsunami. More than 10,000 buildings were destroyed and there were at least 2,000 casualties. It was the first of the three Ansei great earthquakes; the 1854 Ansei-Nankai earthquake of similar size hit southern Honshu the following day. Background The southern coast of Honshu runs parallel to the Nankai Trough, which marks the subduction of the Philippine Sea plate beneath the Eurasian plate. Movement on this convergent plate boundary leads to many earthquakes, some of them of megathrust type. The Nankai megathrust has five distinct segments (A-E) that can rupture independently, the segments have ruptured either singly or together repeatedly over the last 1300 years. Megathrust earthquakes on this structure tend to occur in pairs, with a relatively short time gap between them. In addi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
