. A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史

March 2025 Updates

Eli — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 14:27:30 +0000

March 2025 Updates

Akazome Emon

We are back in the swing of it now with the website and things are going to start going swimmingly we hope from now on.

We have been going through a small back log of notes we made quite some time ago so several of the pages we added since the last update may seem a little random. But as the website continues to grow and we cover more topics they will all connect to other pages better.

Total created pages: 1680.

Total pages waiting to be made: 1023.

Conflicts

Ako Incident

Literature

People

You can listen to the full podcast episodes here: Japan Archives, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

We also started a Youtube channel for Japan Archives.

And another for other creative endeavours!

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January 2025 Updates

Eli — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 10:22:55 +0000

January 2025 Updates

Happy New Year to everyone!

Bashō no sei

It has been a busy two months with other projects but we have managed to add a small amount on the website since our last update.

Most importantly we now have all the yōkai from the Konjaku Hyakki Shūi on the site so we can turn our attention now to the next yōkai compendium. Additionally we have brought together a little bit of information we have for a few new pieces of literature, and no doubt we will continue to expand them as time goes on.

Total created pages: 1670.

Total pages waiting to be made: 1016.

Literature

People

Sugawara no Fumitoki
Sugawara no Michizane (Updated)

Yokai

You can listen to the full podcast episodes here: Japan Archives, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

We also started a Youtube channel for Japan Archives.

And another for other creative endeavours!

The post January 2025 Updates appeared first on . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史.

November 2024 Updates

Eli — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 01:46:24 +0000

Kosode no te

November 2024 Updates

We have managed to add a few new yōkai onto the site for you this month which has completed the collection of creatures featured in the Konjaku Hyakki Shūi as well as researching and adding a few more poets that were featured in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

Have a great November everyone.

Total created pages: 1651.

Total pages waiting to be made: 1003.

Literature

People

Fujiwara no Michitoshi

Yōkai

You can listen to the full podcast episodes here: Japan Archives, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

We also started a Youtube channel for Japan Archives.

And another for other creative endeavours!

The post November 2024 Updates appeared first on . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史.

September 2024 Updates

Eli — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 03:19:04 +0000

September 2024 Updates

This month we added a new family to the website, the Amago Family, got several new yōkai on the website as well as all information concerning Emperor Keikō that resides in the nihongi.

We have plans to finish off the yōkai in the konjaku hyakki shūi this coming month, and we shall see where else our research takes us!

Hope you have all had a great month!

Total created pages: 1635.

Total pages waiting to be made: 1001.

Clans

Emperor Keiko

Amago Family
Emishi (Updated)

Imperial Family

Emperor Keikō (Updated)
Mimorowake
Takeuchi no Sukune (Updated)
Yamato Takeru (Updated)

Literature

Poems and Songs of Yamato Takeru

People

Amago Katsuhisa

Yōkai

You can listen to the full podcast episodes here: Japan Archives, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

We also started a Youtube channel for Japan Archives.

And another for other creative endeavours!

The post September 2024 Updates appeared first on . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史.

August 2024 Updates

Eli — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 16:00:00 +0000

August 2024 Updates

We made good progress this month with the August 2024 Updates! Continuing adding information about Emperor Keikō’s reign from the nihongi and almost all of his children. We also have some new yōkai and clans added to the website.

We aim to try and add a bit of variety right now each month and not just add one topic to keep broadening the topics we have on the site.

Hope you have all had a great month!

Total created pages: 1617.

Total pages waiting to be made: 992.

Battles

Kumaso Rebellions (Updated)

Clans

Akamatsu Family
Emishi (Updated)

Imperial Family

Yamato Takeru fighting the Kumaso Leader.

Kami

Literature

Page from the Azuma Kagami

People

Yōkai

The Kosamebō

You can listen to the full podcast episodes here: Japan Archives, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

We also started a Youtube channel for Japan Archives.

And another for other creative endeavours!

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July 2024 Updates

Eli — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 08:25:33 +0000

July 2024 Updates

This month was definately an interesting month, so here we go with the July 2024 Updates. We did endeavour to finish all of the information pertaining to Emperor Keikō, but there is just so much we are still working through it.

Momiji-gari

Progress has been made though thankfully and we also added a few new yōkai and some new literature to the website this month for a little bit of extra content in a different theme to keep the website expanding and being useful to as many people as possible.

And we finally brought all the research we have on the site to create a page for the important Shrine of Ise.

Total created pages: 1562.

Total pages waiting to be made: 1003.

Battles

Kumaso Rebellions

Imperial Family

Literature

People

Places

Ise Grand Shrine
Kii Province (Updated)
Mino Province (Updated)
Palaces (Updated)

Supernatural Creatures

You can listen to the full podcast episodes here: Japan Archives, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

We also started a Youtube channel for Japan Archives.

And another for other creative endeavours!

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June 2024 Updates

Eli — Sat, 01 Jun 2024 12:50:42 +0000

June 2024 Updates

It has been a few months since we were last able to update the website, and we apologise for that. Work gets in the way, yuu know how it is. When you have a full time job, passion projects often have to wait.

Hoping one day we can change that and be able to focus alot more on the website for you all!

Emperor Keikō

As it stands we only have a few new pages for the start of June as we have been remembering where we were at when we last updated the website. So this month we will be getting the information surrounding the reign of Emperor Keikō all updated and expanded on for you before we turn our eyes to something new.

Perhaps the next Emperor, perhaps we can look at that and something new as well to expand the database in new directions.

Thanks to everyone who has continued to come and use the website these past few months, it means alot to us to see this online resource being used so much!

Total created pages: 1517

Total Wanted Pages waiting to be made: 978.

Imperial Family

People

Places

Kyushu (Updated)

You can listen to the full podcast episodes here: Japan Archives, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

We also started a Youtube channel for Japan Archives.

And another for other creative endeavours!

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Ninigi`s Descent to Earth

Eli — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Show Notes for episode 92 of our Podcast – The Descent of Ninigi.

Story Notes

The grandchild of Amaterasu was known as Ninigi, or Amatsuhikohohoninigi for his full name. This boy was a child through the sun kami’s son Masayaakatsukatsuhayahi Amanooshihomimi and his wife Takuhatachihime

A meeting is held by Ninigi’s grandfather Takamimusubi (grandfather on his mothers side) as they wish to instate Ninigi as the ruler of Japan, however, they wish to try and find a way to subdue the evil kami which still reside on the land, and so the kami Amenohohi is sent down.

Three years pass with no word from Amenohohi as he decided to gain the favour of Ōkuninushi who currently ruled over Japan and so it is decided his son Ohoseihi will be sent. However, he followed in the footsteps of his father and made no report back up to Heaven.

Takamimusubi again causes a meeting to occour again asking who they could send down to subdue Japan. This time Amewakahiko is chosen, and he is gifted a deer bow and arrows before he leaves.

This kami decides to marry Shitateruhime and remain in Japan, again making no report up to Heaven and so Takamusubi sends down the pheasant Nanaki to see what is going on.

Amewakahiko seeing the pheasant shoots at the bird as it rests in a tree, the arrow flying straight through its chest to land in Heaven infront of Takamimusubi. This kami, seeing blood upon the arrow thinks it to mean Amewakahiko is fighting the evil kami down in Japan as he was tasked to do, and so he decides to throw it back down to Japan. The arrows hits Amewakahiko killing him immediately, and the laments of his wife reach up to Heaven and his body is placed into a mortuary house in Heaven.

His friend at the time Ajisukitakahikone goes to Heaven to give his condolences but is mistaken for his dead friend, and so angered by this he takes up his sword and cuts down his friends mortuary house, with it falling to Japan and becoming Moyama.

And as they say, third time is the charm, with Takamusubi calling another meeting with Futsunushi being decided as the person who will go down to Japan. Takemikadzuchi also comes forth from his home in the Rock Cave Amaterasu once hid in saying he will also accompany him. And so they go together.

The two of them approach Ōkuninushi stating that Takemimusubi wishes to send down his grandson to rule over Japan and wonder if he will allow this to happen.

Ōkuninushi replies saying he will first need to ask his son Kotoshironushi, with his son finally replying that his father should allow this to be done. And so Kotoshironushi withdraws from the world (ie. dies), and his father follows, gifting the spear that he subdued the land with to the two kami saying it should be given to Ninigi. And with that Ōkuninushi ‘withdraws,’ implying he departed for Yomi.

And so with that Futsunushi and Takemikadzuchi subdue all of Japan ready for the arrival of Ninigi.

There are so alternative writings in the nihongi which state that the only kami who refused to submit was the Star-Kami Kagase-wo (this interestingly is the only star kami mentioned in Japanese mythology) and so Takehadzuchi comes down to subdue the Star Kami.

Once this is all done the kami return up to Heaven to make their report with Ninigi descending down soon after arriving on the peak of Takachiho in Kyushu.

The Sacred Treasures

There are alternative writings here, so many in fact I have decided just to mention one of them, saying that it was to be Amaterasu’s son who was to come down and rule Japan, however during these events Ninigi had been born and so his asked his mother to send Ninigi instead. She consented and gives his the three Sacred Treasures to descend to Japan, with an entourage consisting of Ameno Koyane, Futodama, Ameno Uzume, Ishikoridome and Tamayanooya.

A little confusingly here in the nihongi, it then say after this Ninigi went from The Floating Bridge of Heaven, finally giving us a location of it being on the twin summits of Kushibi, eventually making his way to Japan where he came across Konohananosakuyahime.

She was the daughter of the kami Ohoyamatsumi and Ninigi favouring her, made her his wife. After their first night together she became pregnant, but Ninigi was unable to believe it was his child after only one night. And so Konohananosakuyahime constructed a doorless house and went to live inside.

She then makes a declaration saying that if this is Ninigi’s child fire cannot hurt them, if it isn’t then it shall perish in fire, and so she sets fire to the house. The children survive the fire and she gives birth to three boys, Honosusori, Hikohohodemi and finally Honoakari.

It is then said that after a long time Ninigi finally passed away and was buried in his misasagi in Hiuga, Kyushu.

References

Aston. W.G. (1896) “Nihongi Volume 1: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD697”. Tuttle Publishing.
Chamberlain, B. H. (1932) “Translation of the Kojiki.” Kobe: J.L. Thompson & Co.
Yasumaro. O, translated by Gustav Heldt. (2014) “Kojiki. An Account of Ancient Matters”. New York: Columbia University Press.

You can listen to the full podcast episodes here: Japan Archives, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

We also started a Youtube channel for Japan Archives.

And another for other creative endeavours!

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The Blind Bankers of Edo

Eli — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Show Notes for episode 91 of our Podcast – Blind Bankers of Edo.

Story Notes

During the Edo Period, also known as the Tokugawa Period, there was a surprising amount of professions that were available to the blind or visually impaired. From acupuncture, to playing the koto, to even performing in kabuki and creating historical documents; the blind definitely were a big part of the Edo Period society. They even took a main role in reciting and creating the Tale of the Heike, an epic account of the Genpei War between the Clans of the Taira and Minamoto.

We see this group of people also being the retainers of shoguns, daimyo and wealthy families throughout their lives.

In the Edo Period a guild came into being known as the tōdō or tōdō-za (meaning in a sense ‘Our Way Guild) which was created to help with the economic and political activities of the blind and visually impaired. Where the headquarters of the guild itself were based in Kyoto, a large chuck of the guild did find themselves living in the city of Edo.

But we are here today to look into the Blind Bankers that formed a part of this guild, just to dip our feet into this topic until we come back and look at them in its entirety.

So looking at the members of the Guild who turned into the moneylending business, first of all, it is a rather surprising turn of events that such a thing could even have occurred. As we know, and even to this day, Japan is still rather hierarchical in their thinking. There was in the past, and still to a degree today a group of people known as the hinin, which could translate as ‘non-human,’ people who fulfilled the roles of begging, street performances as the burial of executed people.

The blind were never classed as part of the hinin which therefore allowed them to in theory have some form of better role within society, though of course the prospect of moneylending was still seen as something reserved for the merchant class. So the question remains, how did they manage to get this role?

Tale of the Heike

In a way it all stems back to the initial creation of the members which performed the Tale of the Heike. The blind or visually impaired people had strong connections to the royal court and major clans such as the Minamoto, and they also cooked up a legend about how the first blind lute players were taught by a 9th century blind Imperial Prince, the Prince Saneyasu. So they were trying to link themselves to a high lineage. All of these things allowed them to ultimately ‘rise’ above their station as it could have been seen back then.

During the time of the Tokugawa Shogunate, of course the Emperor of Japan has become nothing more than a figurehead for Japan, but due to their associations with previous high ranking houses and their constant connection to the Imperial Family; who claimed descent from the Sun kami the Blind Guild somehow managed to argue successfully that they were answering to a higher power and authority in Japan. And it was this connection which allowed them to become exempt from the caste system still happening in Japan at the time. This allowed them to become bankers, but it even garnered them the bonus of immunity from any government debt amnesty.

So what exactly is meant by this?

In terms of the Blind Bankers Guild, at times the government would turn around during monetary disputes and wash their hands of the problem, in essence telling the parties involved they had to figure it out themselves. And if the parties involved included one of a higher rank, of course they would ultimately be the victor in the dispute even if they were in the wrong. The interesting thing here, like we said, was the immunity this guild had to debt amnesty, which meant that if you were in debt to this guild you had to pay and they would do anything to get their money back.

We have records stating that members of the guild would stand outside the homes of those that owed them money, throwing obscenities at you and telling everyone how you had a debt you would not pay back.

And it worked, with Japan being very linked still to honour and shame, the shame of being admonished publicly would always ensure they paid back what they owed. A good tactic, but of course one that wasn’t going to get the Blind Bankers many friends over the years. However, it was known that all money lending guilds would resort to such tactics, though it seemed it affected the Blind Bankers the most in terms of their bad image.

A group of blind men by Hokusai.

So why did people begin to need loans in the first place? Well, many of the warrior class were moved in the 17th century into urban areas and with currency being in short supply, coupled with a higher demands for good, monetary loans became a necessity for many people.

They became an extraordinarily powerful guild over the course of the Edo Period, to the point where the shogunate calm to be alarmed as they noticed they had begin to act more like a bank, lending out not just their own money but the money of others which had been deposited with them. So in 1712 the shogunate limited them somewhat in the loans they could give. One such rule was to not allow loans to be given to rōnin or townspeople who were falsely stating they wanted to have a loan to use the money to achieve a higher rank in society. In the 1770’s the problem had continued to rise to the point the Shogunate arrested some of the more notorious loan sharks, even sentencing some to banishment or death.

1778 sees some of the worst of it when it was learnt that a retainer by the name of Mori Chūemon and his son had fled Edo as they had no means of repaying what they owed to the Blind Bankers. This led to a string of arrests and the discovery that the normal interest rate of 30% was not always being followed. For some it was 60% and for some poor few it was 100%.

Such was the money making of this guild, many members became exceedingly rich, however, it did serve to tarnish the image of the blind or visually impaired community as a whole.

Some writing came to be published saying things such as ‘audacious and selfish, and especially cruel, thinking of nothing but how to trick and exploit people,’ as well as, ‘split a blind man’s chest and gold falls out.’

Such was the bad image now of this group of people, medical texts started to appear saying blindness was caused by immoral and immodest behaviour.

And so with an increasingly bad image, the guild finally found itself disbanded by the government during the Meiji Restoration.

References

Blind Bankers of Edo.
Groemer, G. (Autumn 2001) “The Guild of the Blind in Tokugawa Japan” Monumenta Nipponica. Vol.56 No.3 pp.349-380
The Burakumin
Todoza – Traditional Guild for the Blind.

You can listen to the full podcast episodes here: Japan Archives, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

We also started a Youtube channel for Japan Archives.

And another for other creative endeavours!

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Jesus in Japan

Eli — Mon, 25 Dec 2023 12:00:00 +0000

Show Notes for episode 90 of our Podcast – Jesus in Japan.

Story Notes

The podcasts return has aligned with Christmas Day, so why not talk a little about Jesus. For there are some that believe Jesus didn’t die on the cross, but in fact made his way to Japan to live out the rest of his life and later died.

This supposed grave can be found in the village of Shingō, Aomori Prefecture, but what exactly is the story of how Christ came to be in Japan?

According to the tale, Jesus has already once been to Japan when he was aged 21, wanting to collect divine knowledge and eventually returned to Judea, via Morocco, at the age of 31 to tell of his know knowledge and teach the people. Of course he would later find himself crucified upon the cross, but at the site of his grave in Aomori it will tell you that his brother Isukiri was actual the one who was placed upon the cross.

He took his brother Jesus’ place allowing Christ to return to Japan via Siberia, with him he took a lock of his mothers hair and one of the ears of his brother Isukiri. This tale finishes with Christ settling down in Shingō village where he would live to the age of 106. Here he took the name of Toraitarō Daitenkū, marrying a woman called Miyuko in the village and having 3 daughters.

He spent the rest of his days with his wife helping the needy and was aid to have had the name of “long nosed-goblin” due to his distinctive nose. After his passing his body was left exposed on the hilltop for 4 years before finally being interred.

At the site there are actually two graves, one for the body of Christ and the other for Isukiri’s ear.

So where did this story come from? Well, it appears to be a relatively recent one as it only dates from 1934. A man known as Toya Banzan had been hired to conduct a survey of the region, and this man was fascinated by apocryphal documents known as the Takeuchi Manuscripts. The documents created by a Takeuchi Kyomaro who had founded a new Shintō style religion which claimed to show the secret histories of Japan which included tales of Buddha, Confucius, Mencius and Moses all having trained while in Japan. Though most people saw them as a hoax, he still stood by them and his beliefs.

Eventually in 1935 Toya invited Takeuchi to join him in surveying the area where he miraculously discovered the tomb of Christ, exclaiming “I knew it was here!”

Now the villagers were said to be surprised, they had never heard of his grave being here before, and the residents seem to have wanted to part of it. The grave was even forgotten for a time after World War 2.

Documents detailing all of these stories of Christs journey to Japan were coincidently lost during World War 2 and only modern transcriptions remain, one of them signed with ‘Jesus Christ, father of Christmas,’

Interest in the site resurfaced in the 1970’s and nowadays the village holds a Christ Festival in the summer each year though the ceremony is in a Shintō style. The site does continue to be maintained though, villagers and other locals saying that even before it was declared to be the tomb of Christ they respected and maintained the area believing it to have been some form of ancestor to their village. And so they maintain the grave out of historical respect.

References

Christs Tomb in Aomori
Japan Travel – Jesus in Aomori.
Smithsonian Magazine – The little known legend of Jesus.

You can listen to the full podcast episodes here: Japan Archives, or wherever you listen to Podcasts.

We also started a Youtube channel for Japan Archives.

And another for other creative endeavours!

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