Categories:
-
Earth and the Environment
-
Atmosphere and Weather
-
Biographies
-
Ecology and Environmentalism
-
Geography
-
Geology and Oceanography
-
Minerals, Mining, and Metallurgy
-
History
-
Ancient Greece and Rome
-
Asia and Africa
-
Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific
-
Biographies
-
Historians and Chronicles
-
Latin America and the Caribbean
-
Modern Europe
-
United States and Canada
-
Literature and the Arts
-
Art and Architecture
-
Biographies
-
Classical Literature, Mythology, and Folklore
-
Fashion, Design, and Crafts
-
Journalism and Publishing
-
Language, Linguistics, and Literary Terms
-
Literature in English
-
Literature in Other Modern Languages
-
Performing Arts
-
Scholars and Historians
-
Medicine
-
Anatomy and Physiology
-
Biographies
-
Diseases and Conditions
-
Divisions, Diagnostics, and Procedures
-
Drugs
-
Psychology
-
People
-
History
-
Literature and the Arts
-
Medicine
-
Philosophy and Religion
-
Science and Technology
-
Social Sciences and the Law
-
Sports and Games
-
Philosophy and Religion
-
Ancient Religions
-
Biographies
-
Christianity
-
Eastern Religions
-
Islam
-
Judaism
-
Other Religious Beliefs and General Terms
-
Philosophy
-
The Bible
-
Places
-
Africa
-
Asia
-
Australia and Oceania
-
Britain, Ireland, France, and the Low Countries
-
Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic Nations
-
Germany, Scandinavia, and Central Europe
-
Latin America and the Caribbean
-
Oceans, Continents, and Polar Regions
-
Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and the Balkans
-
United States and Canada
-
Plants and Animals
-
Agriculture and Horticulture
-
Animals
-
Biographies
-
Botany
-
Microbes, Algae, and Fungi
-
Plants
-
Zoology and Veterinary Medicine
-
Science and Technology
-
Astronomy and Space Exploration
-
Biochemistry
-
Biographies
-
Biology and Genetics
-
Chemistry
-
Computers and Electrical Engineering
-
Mathematics
-
Physics
-
Technology
-
Social Sciences and the Law
-
Anthropology and Archaeology
-
Biographies
-
Economics, Business, and Labor
-
Education
-
Law
-
Political Science and Government
-
Sociology and Social Reform
-
Sports and Everyday Life
-
Biographies
-
Crafts and Household Items
-
Days and Holidays
-
Fashion and Clothing
-
Food and Drink
-
Games
-
Manners and Customs
-
Social Organizations
-
Sports
Documents for "Japanese History":
-
bushido
[Jap.,=way of the warrior], code of honor and conduct of the Japanese nobility. Of ancient origin, it grew out of the old feudal bond that required unwavering loyalty on the part of the vassal. It...
-
daimyo
[Jap.,=great name], the great feudal landholders of Japan, the territorial barons as distinguished from the kuge, or court nobles. Great tax-free estates were built up from the 8th cent. onward by...
-
Forty-seven Ronin
Jap. Chushingura, group of Japanese samurai who avenged the disgrace and seppuku (suicide) of their master, Lord Asano, in 1703 by assassinating Lord Kira, the official responsible for his death. After a year of debate at all levels of...
-
genro
[ Jap.,=elder statesmen], a group that exercised collective leadership in Japan from the end of the Meiji period until c.1932. After the Meiji restoration (1868), Westernizers from the former Choshu and Satsuma domains came to power, abolishing feudalism and modernizing society. Weakened in number by death and political disagreement, surviving...
-
hara-kiri
[Jap.,=belly-cutting], the traditional Japanese form of honorable suicide, also known by its Chinese equivalent, seppuku. It was practiced by the Japanese feudal warrior class in order to avoid falling into enemy hands. Around 1500, it became a privileged alternative to execution, granted to daimyo and samurai guilty of disloyalty to the emperor. The condemned man received a jeweled dagger from the emperor. He selected as his second a faithful friend, received official witnesses, and plunged the dagger...
-
kamikaze
[Jap.,=divine wind], the typhoon that destroyed Kublai Khan's fleet, foiling his invasion of Japan in 1281. In World War II the term was used for a Japanese suicide air force composed of fliers who...
-
Liberal Democratic party
(LDP), Japanese political party. It began as the conservative Liberal party, which, under Shigeru Yoshida , became the dominant political force in Japan following World War II. In 1955 the Liberals merged with the newly created Japan Democratic party. Retaining control of the Japanese government for 38...
-
Meiji restoration
The term refers to both the events of 1868 that led to the "restoration" of power to the emperor and the entire period of revolutionary changes that coincided with the Meiji emperor's reign (1868-1912). The power of the Tokugawa shogunate, weakened by debt and internal division, had declined, and much opposition had built up in the early 19th cent. The intrusion of Western powers, particularly the Americans under Admiral...
-
mikado
a former title of the emperor of Japan used chiefly in the English language.
-
Minseito
Japanese political party. It is usually called the Liberal party in English. Founded by Shigenobu Okuma in 1882 as the Kaishinto, or Progressive party, it was dissolved in 1884, reformed into the Shimpoto, and merged with the Jiyuto (see Seiyukai ) in 1898 to form the Kenseito. Okuma later took his group out of the Kenseito and set up the Kenseihonto, which became the Kokuminto in 1910. A faction of the Kokuminto joined Taro Katsura's...
-
ronin
in Japanese history, masterless samurai. Ronin were retainers who were deprived of their place in the usual loyalty patterns of Japanese feudalism. The daimyo they had served might have died, been exiled, or become so poor that the samurai had to abandon his lord. Ronin became farmers, monks, soldiers of fortune, or even bandits. In demand in times of...
-
samurai
knights of feudal Japan, retainers of the daimyo. This aristocratic warrior class arose during the 12th-century wars between the Taira and Minamoto clans and was consolidated in the Tokugawa period. Samurai were privileged to wear two swords, and...
-
Seiyukai
Japanese political party, founded in 1900. It was derived, via the Kenseito (see Minseito ) from the Jiyuto, organized by Taisuke Itagaki in 1881. Under the astute political leadership of Takashi Hara , it was the most powerful party in Japan from 1900 to 1921. Hirobumi Ito was its first president, and Kimmochi Saionji its second, but these great statesmen were more powerful in their own right than as party leaders. The first real party cabinet, marking the decline of the old genro oligarchy, was formed by Takashi Hara in 1918. Party governments prevailed from 1924 to 1932, the Seiyukai cabinets of Giichi Tanaka (1927-29) and Ki Inukai (1931-32) alternating with Minseito...
-
shogun
title of the feudal military administrator who from the 12th cent. to the 19th cent. was, as the emperor's military deputy, the actual ruler of Japan. The title itself, Sei-i-tai Shogun...
-
Twenty-one Demands
(1915), instrument by which Japan secured temporary hegemony over China. Japan used its declaration of war against Germany (Aug., 1914) as grounds for invading Kiaochow, the German leasehold in...
|
|