User:Wikimania1989

君が代
君(きみ)が代(よ)は 千代(ちよ)に八千代に さざれ石(いし)の 岩(いわ)となりて 笞(こけ)のむすまで

君が代は 千代に八千代に さざれ石の いわおとなりて こけのむすまで

｢君が代」の成り立ち
今から千数十年ほど前、延喜五年に出た歌集「古今和歌集」の巻７、賀歌の初めに「題 しらず」「読み人知らず」として載っているのが初めです. その後、新撰和歌集にも、和漢 朗詠集にも、その他数々の歌集にも載せられました. また、神様のお祭りにも、仏様の供養にも、酒宴の席でも、そして、盲目の乙女の物乞 いにも歌われました. これに曲がつけられたのは、明治２年10月ごろ、当時横浜の英国公使館を護衛するた めに、日本に来ていたイギリス歩兵隊の軍楽長、ジョン・ウィリアム・フェントンが言い出し たからということです. 彼は、 「儀礼音楽が必要だから、何かふさわしい曲を選んだらどうでしょうか. 」 と、当時薩摩藩の大山巌に進言し、それに基づいて、大山が数人と相談して、平素自分 が、愛唱している琵琶歌の「蓬莱山」に引用されている「君が代」を選び、その作曲をフェ ントンに頼んだということとなっています. しかし、その曲は、日本人の音感にふさわしくないということになりました. 1880年（明治 13年）、宮内省雅樂課に委嘱し、課員数名の中から奥好義の作品が選ばれ、一等伶人 （雅楽を奏する人）の林広守が補作して、発表されたのがこの曲です. これに洋楽の和 声をつけたのは、当時教師として日本に滞在していたドイツ人の音楽家フランツ・エッケ ルトです. この曲については、次のようなエピソードがあります. 日本の代表的作曲家山田耕作氏 は、若い頃ドイツに留学していました. その頃、ドイツの大学の音楽教授たちが、世界の 主な国歌について品定めをしました. その結果第一位に選ばれたのが日本の「君が代」 でした.

Japanese National Anthem (Kimigayo)
The Japanese national anthem (kokka) is "Kimigayo." When the Meiji period began in 1868 and Japan made its start as a modern nation, there was no Japanese national anthem. In fact the person who emphasized the necessity of a national anthemwas a British military band instructor, John William Fenton.

The words were taken from a tanka (31-syllable poem) found in the Kokin-wakashu, a 10th-century anthology of poems. The music was composed in 1880 by Hiromori Hayashi, an Imperial Court musician and was later harmonized according to the Gregorian mode by Franz Eckert, a German bandmaster. "Kimigayo (The Emperor's Reign)" became Japan's national anthem in 1888.

The word "kimi" refers to the Emperor and the words contain the prayer: "May the Emperor's reign last forever." The poem was composed in the era when the Emperor reigned over the people. During WWII, Japan was an absolute monarchy which moved the Emperor to the top. The Japanese Imperial Army invaded many Asian countries. The motivation was that they were fighting for the holy Emperor.

After WWII, the Emperor became the symbol of Japan by the Constitution, and has lost all political power. Since then various objections have been raised about singing "Kimigayo" as a national anthem. However, at present it remains sung at national festivals, international events, schools, and on national holidays.

The words of "Kimigayo":

May the reign of the Emperor continue for a thousand, nay, eight thousand generations and for the eternity that it takes for small pebbles to grow into a great rock and become covered with moss.





Osaka Castle Nishinomaru Garden
The Osaka Castle was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1582 and was his place of rule until he died. There were five towers with the main one being nine stories tall. Osaka's tenshu was more of a storehouse than anything else. It was not a place for receiving guests like some other castles did, (Okayama and Kumamoto). There were reception halls for guests in the palace near the tenshu though. The walls of these rooms were covered with paintings of landscapes and legendary Japanese and Chinese history. Hideyoshi's guests wrote that there were three reception rooms with 18 tatami mats in each one. The fusuma, (which usually separated the rooms), were removed and displayed behind Hideyoshi's seat on the jodan. The beautiful fusuma had paintings of birds, flowers, and trees set on gold screens.

The entire castle was surrounded by a huge moat. This moat could only be crossed two ways and each one was strategically built and placed. A small bridge was one of the ways. This was very smart because in time of attack, it could easily be destroyed and then the moat would protect the castle.

The tenshu of the Osaka was hevaily fortified. It had three stone walls surrounding it and in those, three turrets before one could reach the actual tenshu. Even with all this protection, it was defeated by Tokugawa forces. The Sieges of Osaka Castle, (from 1614-1615), is why so little remains of the castle. The leader of the sieges, Tokugawa Ieyasu then built another castle in 1620 with a new tenshu. The last Tokugawa shogun, Keiki stayed here while at Kyoko to surrender to the supporters of the Meiji Restoration. The grand tenshu was destroyed by lightning in 1665 and to this day, it has not been rebuilt.

It is thought that the palace in the honmaru of the Osaka Castle was built around the same time as some of the buildings in the Nijo Castle were. This is because in 1984 when the Nijo Castle was being repaired, some of the materials found were actually intended for the building of the Osaka Castle.



Kochi Castle
Kazutoyo Yamanoshi built this castle on a 42 meter hill in the middle of Kochi City in 1603. It remained in the possession of the Yamanoshi family until 1869, when the Emperor Meiji took over the lands it was located on. During this time, political disorder was at its worst, so Yamanoshi knew he needed a strong castle. He built in huge wooden doors with iron frames and windows in the gates so he could defend his castle from inside without letting his enemies see him.

In 1707, a earthquake did some severe damage to the Kochi Castle and just five years later, a fire almost destroyed the whole castle. In 1729, the original tenshu of the castle from 1603 was burned down. The new tenshu of the castle was completed in 1747 and was an exact copy of the original. Its design was similar to that of the Inuyama Castle. Since the tenshu was a military post, a strategy to trick attackers was used in its construction. From the outside, it would seem as if there were only 3 floors, but actually, there were 6 floors inside.



Hikone Castle
A Tokugawa adminastrator, Ii Naosuke received it as a fief from Tokugawa Ieyasu for his work in the Battle of Sekigahara. Since he died in 1602, his son, Ii Naotsugu took over the work and completed the castle in 1622.

Tokugawa's policy of destroying all castles except for one in each feudal domain led to the building of this castle. Many gates and yagura from the remains of the destroyed castles were used in the Hikone. These castles include the Sawayama, Otsu, and Kotani.

The tenshu of the Hikone Castle was originally five floors and part of the Ostu Castle. After it was destroyed, the tenshu was removed and went to the Hikone Castle with three floors. Having only three floors, it was considerably small. The different sized windows built on the walls of the tenshu made the interior of the tenshu full of light. Some of the windows near the upper part of the tenshu are lotus-petal shaped. This unusual shape adds to the beauty and uniqueness of the castle. The roof gables also added to the complexity of the small tenshu.

There are three moats surrounding and within the castle grounds with each one surrounded by a thick wall. They were so heavily fortified and protected that there were watchtowers for each moat. In the grounds within the inner moat was where the high officials and samurai lived. The largest population in the Hikone Castle grounds lived in its southern areas. Because of this, many new crafts developed.



Himeji Castle
From 1577 until 1581, a tenshu only three stories high was constructed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1585, Hideyoshi's wife's (Kinoshita Iesada) brother took residence at the Himeji. The presentday Himeji Castle was built after the Battle of Sekigahara with the victory of Tokugawa Ieyasu over the defeat of Toyotomi's men. In 1601, Tokugawa Ieyasu then gave the castle to his son-in-law, Ikeda Terumasa. For the next eight years until 1609, Terumasa overlooked the rebuilding and renovating of the Himeji Castle.

Tadashige Igi was placed in charge by Terumasa of overseeing the construction of the Himeji Castle. Igi was an intelligent man and planned out everything by creating different groups for building the castle. Some of the groups included finance, materials, and plot plan. The plot plan was very important in determining the degree of protection of the castle. The main goal of the plot plan team was to take full advantage of the geographical features on which the castle was built near.

The Himeji Castle was built on Mount Hime with the plain-like grounds surrounding it. The plot plan team wanted the castle grounds to include the land around the Mount Hime in a spiral type shape. The inner most circle of the spiral included the honmaru, ninomaru, sannomaru, and nishinomaru. The warriors' residences were located in the next circle of the spirial and the lower class warrior residences along with temples were built on the third and outer circle of the spiral. To better fortify the castle grounds, moats were built around each circle of the spiral.

The interesting thing of the the Himeji Castle is its tenshu complex. The original tenshu was removed and its size was increased to a width of 25.6 meters and a length of 19.7 meters when Terumasa renovated the castle. The main tenshu was five-stories tall and had seven floors. It was connected to three smaller surrounding tenshus. All of the tenshus were connected by two story passageways and made a box-like shape. To enter this tenshu complex, one had to go through a gate into a court where all four tenshus were able to choose whether they wanted to attack or not. On top of the tenshus were turrets with even more passageways connecting them. In this maze, there was a kitchen built into this military post in case of a siege. The wooden walls of the tenshu were very thick and were filled with bamboo strips and clay for support. The overhanging edges of the roofs had plaster over them and were whitewashed so they weren't as vulnerable to fire and rain damage. It is the color of the whitewashing that has given the Himeji its alternate name of the White Heron Castle (Shirasagi).

The tenshus of the Himeji Castle are declared Japan's National Treasures and its turrets, gates, and moats are all name Important Cultural Property.



Kumamoto Castle
In 1550, Sourin Otomo destroyed the original castle here in Kumamoto. Later, the castle was rebuilt, but Toyotomi Hideyoshi destroyed it. He then placed the castle in Narimasa Sassa's rule, but he killed himself in April 1588, and then Kato Kiyomasa (1562-1611) became lord of the castle. He was very loyal to the Toyotomi family. Kiyomasa thought that the castle was not large enough, so he built another castle from 1601 to 1607. He then named his newly built pride the Kumamoto.

In 1608, a smaller tenshu for the Kumamoto was built and included a room with tokonoma and tsukeshoin, (probably for receiving the shogun). Though this room existed, other numerous residential areas were around the castle grounds and the tenshu was used largely for emergencies.

During the Meiji Period, on February 19 1877, the Satsuma Rebellion destroyed the main and side towers. The tenshu was rebuilt in 1960, though.



Hiroshima Castle
In 1589 during the Azuchi-Momoyama Period, the construction of this castle great castle began. On April 15, Naritoki Ninomiya and Motokiyo Hoita were placed in charge of the building of this castle. During the next year, plans for the castle grounds and the buildings it would include were planned. The large constructions such as the moat were starting to take shape. In 1591, Mori Terumoto finished building this magnificent castle on the Otagawa River delta. He then moved in two years later. This castle brought a lot of people into the town. New constructions for the area were built, (bridges and roads). These allowed trade and communication to prosper.

Later, Fukushima took Terumoto's place at Hiroshima. A disastrous flood created a lot of destruction to the castle. Fukushima asked the government to repair the damage, but his pleas were left in the air. The Tokugawa law said that to build or fix any castle, one needed to ask the government. Since Fukushima never got permission he decided to do it himself. When the government found out, he was taken away and the castle became the government's.

The Sino-Japanese War made the Hiroshima Castle known throughout the land because on September 15, 1894, Emperor Meiji decided to stay at the Hiroshima Castle and direct forces from there. The emperor left 7 months later, but during the time he stayed there, the city grew industrially and economically. Trade flourished and people went to and through the city.

In 1931, the Hiroshima was named a National Treasure, but was bombed juss a few years later by an atomic bomb. The present day building was reconstructed later in 1958.



Matsuyama Castle
This hirayamajiro was built on Katsuyama Hill with its ninomaru and sannomaru on the lower land surrounding it. The hill was the center of the Dogo Plain. Though the location of the castle was good, many geographical problems came along with it. Financial problems were also run into and in the end, the planned five-story tenshu could only be built with three-stories.

The five-story tenshu of this castle was built in 1601 by Yoshiaki Katoh. In 1624, the tenshu was rebuilt, but was destroyed by lightning on the first of January in 1784. It took many years before reconstruction started in 1820. The present tenshu was rebuilt in 1854. This one included a main one with three smaller ones close by. These three tenshus were destroyed in a fire in 1933. Just eight years later, its towers were bombed and destroyed in World War II. In 1969, the people of the town of Matsuyama decided to rebuild this historical site.



Poverty to Shogun-hood of Toyotomi Hideyoshi by RYO SHIBANO
Toyotomi Hideyoshi is one of the most significant shoguns in Japanese history. (Hooker 2) During the sixteenth century, Hideyoshi started his career as a son of a poor peasant. (Dening 4) He worked under Oda Nobunaga, the shogun who unsuccessfully attempted to unify Japan. (Yoshida 1) Hideyoshi rose from humble status to power following Oda’s failure because of his skills as a general and a politician. In 1591, Hideyoshi became the second of the three unifiers of Japan. By 1597, he extended his power overseas. (Hooker 1) How did Toyotomi Hideyoshi rise from poverty to shogun-hood?

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was born in 1536 and was first named Hiyoshimaru without having a last name. Hideyoshi was the homeless son of a peasant. Every day, Hideyoshi and his family had to work hard on the farm in order to survive. Hideyoshi’s father, Kinoshita Yaemon, was a lower class soldier under the Oda family. (Nagaoka 7-9) Hideyoshi thought that if a poor son of a peasant could become a shogun, Hideyoshi’s family would not have to work as hard. When Hideyoshi was still little, he left home to find a shogun who he thought could unify Japan. Hideyoshi walked around the country in search of a shogun. Hideyoshi first went to Totomi and became a retainer of the daimyo of Matsushita Naganori for three years. (Nagaoka 24-31) Hideyoshi realized that staying in Totomi would not make him to be strong daimyo, so Hideyoshi returned home and decided to be a foot soldier of the great shogun, Oda Nobunaga. (Yoshida 1)

Oda Nobunaga lived in Owari and was known as "a stupid shogun." Nobunaga was uneducated and rarely listened to his parents when Nobunaga was a child. (Fukuoka 7) Oda was one of the youngest to become a shogun. (Yoshida 15)(Nagahara 2) Hideyoshi tried to get Nobunaga’s attention in order to rise up to higher ranking. During the wintertime, when Nobunaga was about to walk outside, Hideyoshi prepared a shoe which had been warmed by Hideyoshi. (Nagahara 58) Nobunaga appreciated Hideyoshi's offering, and in return Nobunaga trained Hideyoshi as his general. Oda Nobunaga gave Hideyoshi a new soldier’s name, Toukichirou, instead of Hiyoshimaru. (Nagaoka 74) One day, the warlord Nobunaga asked his generals which one would like to build a castle in the city of Sunomata. Sunomata was in the middle of where many of his enemies often fought. Many of Oda’s generals failed, but Hideyoshi successfully built his castle in only a few days. (Furukawa 7) Hideyoshi used his intelligence to defeat many of the soldiers. Fighting in battle after battle around the country, Hideyoshi finally became a samurai, a military retainer. Hideyoshi emerged as one of the leading generals for Oda. (Nagahara 25)

Before Hideyoshi became a samurai, his goal was to be the shogun. To make his family have a better life, Hideyoshi worked hard under the warlord Oda Nobunaga and finally Hideyoshi became a shogun. (Nagahama 21) Toyotomi shogun invited Hideyoshi’s family to live in his castle. In 1573, by Oda’s order, Hideyoshi overthrew two huge daimyo, Hideyoshi became a lord of Nagahama, Omi province. (Dening 4) Hideyoshi’s main goal was to unify Japan as well as to establish a national structure, which allowed various regional feudatories to remain independent and yet still cooperate among one another. (Hooker 1)

In 1582, Hideyoshi’s lord, Oda Nobunaga, committed suicide after one of his generals, Akechi Mitsuhide, attacked him in Honnouji church. Hideyoshi received this message when he was fighting with strong daimyo, Shimizu Muneharu. He returned immediately and defeated Akechi Mitsuhide. (Yoshida 16)

After the Nobunaga’s death, Hideyoshi continued working toward the unification of Japan. In 1585, Hideyoshi took two years to build the biggest castle in Japan called Osaka-jo. (Nagaoka 73) Even though Hideyoshi defeated most of his enemies, not everyone agreed to his unification. The rival that Hideyoshi had not fought yet was Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu made an attack teaming up with one of the sons of Oda Nobunaga, Oda Nobukatsu. Hideyoshi knew that this battle would take a long time and would be hard for them to win over Ieyasu’s team. When Hideyoshi’s team started to lose, Hideyoshi used his knowledge to make peace with Ieyasu and Nobukatsu. (Furukawa 8) Hideyoshi took all twenty-five hundred people and moved north. Hideyoshi then defeated many daimyo and the biggest daimyo in Kyushu, Shimazu Yoshihisa. Hideyoshi’s dream finally came true and successfully unified Japan. (Furukawa 8)(Nagaoka 80)

After Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan, Hideyoshi had many accomplishments during the reign. One of his most famous accomplishments was katana kari, sword hunting, in 1588. Sword hunting means to take the weapons from non-samurai in order to stop having unnecessary strongholds for farmers, merchants, and monks. Toyotomi also made samurai, who were the professional soldiers of Japan, into a separate class and forbade anyone from the non-samurai class to carry weapons. (Dening 4) Hideyoshi had done these actions to have peace around the country. Another accomplishment he did was kenchi; he conducted surveys of farmland to better ascertain how much rice should be collected in taxes. Hideyoshi measured each farmer’s farm to collect taxes. If peasants had a large farm then they would have to pay more taxes. (Dening 1)

In 1592, Hideyoshi attempted a conquest of China. Hideyoshi sent about three thousand soldiers into Korea. The Japanese seized much territory in order to enter China through Korea. (Hooker 1) When the Japanese reached the city, Pyongyang, Korea started to fight back against the Japanese with the help of China. The Japanese had to return back to Japan. (Nagaoka 118-119) Hideyoshi attempted for the second time in 1598. But once again, Hideyoshi failed to successfully invade China.

With the sudden illness in 1598, Hideyoshi finished the career. It was hard for Toyotomi Hideyoshi, started his life in the most obscure circumstances, to be a shogun. (Hooker 2) Hideyoshi was intelligent enough to rise up quickly to become samurai, leading general for Oda shogun, big daimyo, and became second of the only three unifiers of Japan. (Stanley 1) Hideyoshi passed away leaving Hideyoshi’s only son who was still five-year old. (Dening 4) What made him significant was how Toyotomi Hideyoshi rose up quickly from lowly beginning to a complete master of Japan. Toyotomi Hideyoshi is one of the most important characters in Japanese history.



Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) had an unpromising childhood as hostage of the Imagawa, for whom he fought as a young man against Oda Nobunaga. His first experience of battle was at the siege of Terabe. When Imagawa Yoshimoto invaded Nobunaga's territories Ieyasu played a distinguished role in the capture of the fortress of Marune, where he made use of concentrated arquebus fire. Following the death of Imagawa Yoshimoto at the battle of Okehazama in 1560 Ieyasu allied himself to Oda Nobunaga and fought loyally at Azukizaka (1564) against the Ikkō-ikki sectarians. Ieyasu took part in the battle of the Anegawa (1570), when his army took much of the brunt of the fighting. He was defeated by Takeda Shingen at Mikata ga hara (1572), but avoided the loss of Hamamatsu castle by a tactical withdrawal and a night attack. He also accompanied Nobunaga in the relief of Nagashino castle in 1575, which led to the famous battle of Nagashino. The death of Nobunaga placed Ieyasu against Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but through adroit political skills Ieyasu avoided the fate of other rivals, and their major conflict at Nagakute (1584) ended in stalemate.

Following the defeat of the Hōjō in 1590, Ieyasu received their territories and transferred his capital to Edo (Tokyo). As his army had avoided service in Korea he was in a strong position when Hideyoshi died, and challenged the Toyotomi family for the succession against a powerful alliance under Ishida Mitsunari, whom he defeated at the epic battle of Sekigahara. Tokugawa Ieyasu became shogun in 1603, and finally vanquished the Toyotomi heir, Hideyori, with the long and bitter siege of Osaka castle in 1614-15. He died peacefully in bed, having established a dynasty that would last for two and a half centuries. Tokugawa Ieyasu is remembered as a skilled general and statesman, who laid the foundations for the long rule of his family.

The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa ( 福澤諭吉 )
philosopher, schoolmaster, discoverer of the West The first edition of this book was published in 1899, with the first English translation in 1934. The following paragraphs, taken from Carmen Blaker's "Forward" to the edition offering the revised translaton by Eiichi Kiyooka, Columbia University Press, New York and London, 1966.

Here is the autobiography of a remarkable man. Fukuzawa Yukichi's life covered the sixty-six years between 1835 and 1901, a period which comprised greater and more extraordinary changes that an other in the history of Japan. At the time of his birth Japan was almost entirely isolated from the outside world, with a hierarchical feudal system based on a Confucian code of morals. Her notions of warfare were medieval, her economy largely agricultural, her knowledge of modern science confined to the trickle of Dutch books which found their way into the country through the trading stations at Nagasaki. At the time of his death Japan was to all effects a modern state. Her army and navy were so well disciplined and equipped that six years before they had defeated China and four years later they were to defeat Russia. She had a parliament, compulsory education, rapidly growing industries, and distinguished universities.

For these astonishing changes we can hold responsible both the impersonal forces of history and the very personal power of certain individual men. Among the latter Fukuzawa Yukichi was one of the most remarkable. He is generally acknowledged to have been the leading educator of the new Japan, the man who above all others explained to his countrymen the ideas behind the dazzling material evidence of western civilization; who insisted that it was not enough for Japan merely to have the "things" of civilization - the trains, the guns, the warships, the hats, the umbrellas - in order to take her place with dignity and confidence among the nations of the modern world. It was also necessary for her to comprehend the learning which in the West had led to the discovery and production of these things. And this would require a drastic reconsideration of some of her most ancient and unquestioned assumptions about the nature of the universe.

To explain these new and unfamiliar ideas Fukuzawa wrote voluminously over a period of some thirty years. He started a newspaper which continued for half a century as one of the great Tokyo dailies. He founded a school which is one of the largest and most distinguished universities in Japan.

The autobiography of such a man, a philosopher and a schoolmaster, might be expected to be perhaps a little dry, an abstract, inward account of ideas and conflicting principles. Not so this book. From the first page we are captivated, enthralled by both the author and the tale he tells. 

福澤諭吉 ( Yukichi Fukuzawa )

福澤 諭吉（ふくざわ ゆきち、天保5年12月12日（1835年1月10日） - 明治34年2月3日（1901年2月3日））は、日本の武士（中津藩士）、著述家、啓蒙思想家、新聞時事新報の創刊・発行者、教育者、東京学士会院（現在の日本学士院）初代会長、慶應義塾創設者. また、専修大学（当時の専修学校）の創設にも尽力した、明治の六大教育家のひとり.

現代では「福沢諭吉」と記載される事が多い. なお「中村諭吉」と名乗っていた時期がある. 諱は範（はん）. 字は子囲（しい）. もともと苗字は「ふくさわ」と発音していたが、明治維新以後は「ふくざわ」と発音するようになった.

慶應義塾大学をはじめとする学校法人慶應義塾の運営する学校では、創立者の福澤諭吉のみを「福澤先生」と呼ぶ伝統があり、他は教員も学生も公式には「○○君」と表記される. 



Natsume Sōseki ( 夏目 漱石 )
This first paragraph opens the chapter on Soseki in my book. We now move to the Meiji period (1868-1912), when Japan opens itself to the rest of the world, and on into the twentieth century, when Japanese prose fiction suddenly becomes more impressive than it has been since the days of Lady Murasaki during the Heian Period (794-1185)--and to Tokyo, the new capital and symbol of modern Japan. To represent this period we choose an early twentieth- century novelist who does indeed catch its temper, in almost all its aspects, Natsume Soseki. Soseki is generally judged to be the greatest novelist of the Meiji Period, when the influence from the West was arriving in Japan in almost overwhelming waves, and--in part because he was not long lived, died in his forties--his dates (above) are very close to the dates the Meiji emperor ruled. While teaching a Saturday-morning seminar on Soseki my last semester at Washburn, I showed a video on the Meiji period in which Soseki was presented as epitomizing its strong appetite for, and ultimate frustration with, those influences from the West.

But he was not alone. Futabatai Shimei (1864-1909) was the first truly modern, thus realistic, Japanese novelist, his The Drifting Cloud (1887-89), with its timid anti-hero, Bunzo, setting the tone for many of those to come. And the author whose career offers the closest comparison to Soseki's (most would say he was the second greatest novelist of the period), was Mori Ogai (1862-1922). He graduated as a doctor from Tokyo University and then went for advanced study in Germany, as Soseki, under somewhat different circumstances, was to do in England--both to be deeply influenced by European fiction, in Ogai's case, naturally, mostly German. He later became surgeon general of the Japanese army, but continued to write. The Wild Goose, a somewhat autobiographical novel, may be his best, but he is perhaps better known in Japan for a number of historical novels that capture a sense of how he and his generation saw the Japanese traditions of honor that he served in the military. Higuchi Ichiyo (1872-1896) was the principal female writer of fiction of the Meiji Period. Her Growing Up (1895) is the tale of children growing up in the Yoshiwara, the Tokyo pleasure quarters, particularly a boy and a girl who are attracted to each other (but he is fated to be a priest, like his father, she a geisha, like her sister), in what might be called a degenerate shadow of the floating world of the Renaissance, or early Tokugawa, period. It is a story more in the tradition of Saikaku, so, in a sense, the last flowering of Tokugawa literature, but its realism is modern, and impressive. Shimazaki Toson (1872-1943) based his The Broken Commandment on the moral problem of an untouchable Eta who is able to pass, like some blacks were able to do in this country, so was a pioneer social problem novel. So others were beginning to write important fiction, as well, and all of these--very different from one another--are available, at least in these titles, in English translation.

But, in the general critical judgment, Soseki remains the greatest Japanese novelist of the Meiji period, and closest to the center of what that period was all about--responding to the enormous possibilities and problems posed by the West after Perry's "black ships" had appeared in Japanese waters, embracing a wide range of knowledge from the West, but doomed to an identity crisis that would frustrate hopes of spiritual tranquillity. And Soseki is most available to an American reader--at least ten of his novels have been translated into English (about as many as of Mishima's).

Soseki majored in English at Tokyo University (Ogai in German, Toson in Russian), and, after he had taught at the high school level out in the country for four years, he was then sent to England to continue his study of English literature, as young men in the Meiji period were being sent around the world to bring back whatever was found to be of value--for the Japanese to adopt/adapt/and become adept at. He absolutely hated the experience in England, for he was a proud man living in poverty on a very limited stipend while surrounded by racial prejudice. And, while he came back to the most prestigious position for teaching English literature in Japan (replacing the very popular lecturer Lafcadio Hearn at Tokyo University), he hated that, too--was a writer, with little of Hearn's charisma in the classroom. He began to publish serialized fiction in the most important Tokyo newspaper, the Asahi, and, just about the time he might have become a tenured professor, quit teaching to write fiction, and criticism, for the newspaper full time (at more money). His novels definitely owe a lot to his years of study of the English literary tradition, but it is hard to point to any single English author as a model, as he found his way to speak in his own voice, adapting the Japanese language to his purposes in the process, as he explored a range of style and subject matter in his early, serialized novels of more variety than in most novelists' work, whatever their nationality. His novels are all are set in Japan, and come to deal more and more with problems of the modern Japanese intellectual's psyche, always informed by mastery of his craft and a rare intelligence.

Since his fiction was a part of his newspaper work, all his longer works of fiction were serialized, accumulating as they were published--as a high percentage of modern Japanese fiction has. The first, I Am a Cat, began as a single essay, turning on the clever idea of making the cat the narrator, the point of view character, as it comments on the foibles of the human beings it lives among. His master is a college professor, so the satire on this character, and those who surround him, came easily for Soseki. The essay was so popular that Soseki wrote more, and this loose set of satirical pieces accumulated until they amounted to a three volume collection in the English translation.

Next came Soseki's most popular novel, or at least his most popular character, in Botchan. This novel has become as much a juvenile classic in Japan as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn have in this country. The central character does also begin as a rascal of a boy, always in trouble with authority, but rejected by his parents, then becoming an orphan, with an older brother with whom he does not get along. The only person close to him is his nurse--their affection for each other is real, and enduring. But Bochan grows up and becomes a teacher in a rural community (the experience based on Soseki's own in those years shortly after he graduated from college--perhaps the happiest years of his life--though Botchan, almost an anti-intellectual, is certainly not modeled on Soseki himself). He is still always at odds with authority figures, insisting on having his own way, based on traditional moral principles seen to be drawn from the samurai code. The Japanese are obviously attracted to this temperament, the rebel on principal, though those impulses are strongly disciplined by Japanese society. It is a safe bet that every Japanese high school graduate knows this novel, and can talk about the character.

The Three-Cornered World came soon after, and, in some respects, is my favorite Soseki novel. It is almost as loosely organized as I Am a Cat, but, in other respects, could hardly be more different. Its subject matter is art, and in its style it is truly prose as art--a haiku-like novel, as Soseki called it himself. It tells the story of an artist who is wandering, searching for something--but what? In a sense the novel seems to be a romance, for the artist is attracted to a woman with whom he keeps crossing paths, but nothing ever comes of the relationship--so, thematically, the novel it is extremely ambiguous, and, no doubt, was largely experimental, as Soseki was testing his range as a writer.

After those three very different early novels Soseki became more and more interested in the realistic portrayal of the psychological problems of his own class, the Meiji intelligentsia. Kokoro is generally seen as his masterpiece, as it examines patterns of responsibility. It is a three-part novel, tracing the story of a relationship between a young man and an older man that he calls Sensei ("teacher," but suggesting the more spiritual, more characteristically Oriental, relationship of master and disciple, for Sensei does not teach the young man anything in particular, rather introduces him to the moral dilemmas of life). In the first part there is the meeting of the young man and Sensei, and the young man's gradual winning of the older man's respect. In the second the young man goes home to his rural home and simple parents, but realizes how far he has left them behind in his intellectual quest. Drawn back to Sensei, he leaves as his father is dying, and will carry the guilt of that action as Sensei has carried the guilt of killing his best friend for most of his life. The last part is a long letter from Sensei the student reads on the train telling him the story of that earlier relationship and betrayal, and informing him that Sensei will have committed suicide before he gets back to Tokyo. So what he inherits is this malaise, the modern intellectual's sense of his own failure and culpability--almost in spite of himself. I have taught the novel three or four times, and American students like it (it is provocative of good discussion and good papers). 

夏目漱石

夏目 漱石（なつめ そうせき、慶応3年1月5日〈旧暦〉（1867年2月9日 - 大正5年（1916年）12月9日）〈新暦〉は、日本の小説家、評論家、英文学者. 本名、金之助. 『吾輩は猫である』『こゝろ』などの作品で広く知られる、森鴎外と並ぶ明治・大正時代の大文豪である. 江戸の牛込馬場下横町（現在の東京都新宿区喜久井町）出身. 俳号は愚陀仏.

大学時代に正岡子規と出会い、俳句を学ぶ. 帝国大学英文科卒業後、松山中学などの教師を務めた後、イギリスへ留学. 帰国後東大講師を勤めながら、「吾輩は猫である」を雑誌『ホトトギス』に発表. これが評判になり「坊つちやん」「倫敦塔」などを書く. その後朝日新聞社に入社し、「虞美人草」「三四郎」などを掲載. 当初は余裕派と呼ばれた.

「修善寺の大患」後は、『行人』『こゝろ』『硝子戸の中』などを執筆. 「則天去私」（そくてんきょし）の境地に達したといわれる. 晩年は胃潰瘍に悩まされ、「明暗」が絶筆となった. 

The History and Traditions of Sumo
Historians agree that the origins of sumo date back 2000 years; however, it never really flourished as a spectator sport until the early 1600's. Like any other social group in Japan, there are strict rules and traditions that are observed throughout the sport. The beginner watching his first sumo broadcast on television soon realizes that very little time is actually spent grappling. Rather, the rikishi spend most of their time performing pre-bout ceremonies steeped in Shinto tradition.

Shinto is the native religion of Japan and is more a set of rituals and ceremonies than a system of beliefs or a definite code of ethics. The word itself means "way of the gods." Sumo was originally performed to entertain the gods (kami) during festivals (matsuri). Sumo as part of Shinto ritual dates as far back as the Tumulus period (250-552), but it wasn't until the 17th century that it began adopting the intense purification rituals that we see in sumo today.

Most of the Shinto that we see in sumo occurs symbolically. To begin with, the sand that covers the clay of the dohyo is itself a symbol of purity in the Shinto religion. And the canopy above the ring (yakata) is made in the style of the roof of a Shinto shrine. The four tassels on each corner of the canopy represent the four seasons, the white one as autumn, black as winter, green as spring and red as summer. The purple bunting around the roof symbolizes the drifting of the clouds and the rotation of the seasons. The referee (gyoji) resembles a Shinto priest in his traditional robe. And kelp, cuttlefish, and chestnuts are placed in the ring along with prayers for safety.

Each day of the tournament (basho), a ring entering ceremony is held, wherein each wrestler's body and spirit undergoes purification. Yokozuna are dressed in mawashi with five white zigzag folded strips of paper on the front, the same as those found at the entrance of Shinto shrines. On the front of all mawashi are sagari, which are fringes of twisted string tucked into the belt, and they represent the sacred ropes in front of shrines. Numbers of strings are odd, between seventeen and twenty-one, which are lucky numbers in the Shinto tradition. And of course, the salt that is tossed before each bout is an agent for purification and one of sumo's most visible rituals.

As a religion of customs and not laws, Shinto developed as a religion to please the gods in order to ensure a good harvest and divine protection, but soon made headway into the sport of sumo as a way to entertain those same gods, purify the sport itself and protect the rikishi from harm.

The first ceremony of the day is the dohyo-iri, or ring ceremony performed by Juryo and Makuuchi rikishi before their bouts begin. The rikishi are grouped into two groups—East and West—and each group takes a turn entering the ring. The lowest-ranked rikishi enters first and walks a complete circle around the ring followed by the other rikishi in ascending order according the rank. Before the individual rikishi enter the ring, they are introduced to the spectators. Once the last rikishi in the group has been introduced, the rikishi, who are facing the spectators, turn inward and face each other around the ring. After clapping their hands once, they raise their right hand, lift their kesho-mawashi (decorative aprons created for the ring ceremony), and finally raise both hands in unison. This tradition goes back to the samurai days and represents the rikishi showing each other that none is armed. During the Makuuchi ring ceremony, the Yokozuna are notably absent from the group as they must perform their own individual ring ceremonies. When a Yokozuna performs his ring ceremony, he will wear a white tsuna, or zuna (braided rope with five zig-zag strips hanging from the front ), around his waist to signify his rank.

Once the actual bouts begin, the two rikishi spend several minutes before their match lifting their legs high in the air and stomping them down, a practice said to scare away any demons. They also throw several handfuls of salt into the ring, which is said to purify the ring. Many rikishi will also sprinkle salt around their bodies as a means of protecting them from injury. After the last bout of the day, the yumi-tori (bow twirling) ceremony is performed by a makushita-ranked rikishi from the same stable as a Yokozuna. True fans of the sport will not leave their seats until this ritual is performed.

Presently, sumo consists of six major tournaments a year called hon-basho. The tournament months and sites are as follows: January-Tokyo, March-Osaka, May-Tokyo, July-Nagoya, September-Tokyo, and November-Fukuoka. Up through the early 20th century, there were only two basho a year; however, as sumo's popularity grew, the number of major tournaments increased to four basho a year and then in 1958, the current six-basho-a-year format was established. Also, up until 1949 a basho only lasted for 10 days; currently a basho runs for 15 days. In between basho, the rikishi constantly keep busy by touring the outskirts of Japan giving exhibitions for fans who might otherwise not get a chance to see the sport up close and live. This touring is called jungyo, and while the rikishi do battle each other in front of the fans, they are more concerned about avoiding injury than winning. This type of exhibition sumo is called hana-sumo, or flower sumo.

Throughout the history of the sport, there is record of only 68 rikishi having been crowned as Yokozuna. Currently only #68 Asashoryu is still actively fighting. Asashoryu is the third foreign rikishi to have ever received this honor behind #66 Musashimaru and #64 Akebono, who come from Hawaii; Asashoryu is from Mongolia. Often, sumo eras are defined by the Yokozuna who fought in them. In order to receive promotion to the rank of Yokozuna nowadays, a rikishi must win two tournaments in a row. To emphasize how difficult this task is, out of the hundreds of thousands of youngsters to have ever stepped in the ring only 68 have ever reached the pinnacle. In times past when there were no active Yokozuna, exceptions to the two tournament rule were made if a rikishi won one tournament and then followed that performance up with a record "worthy" of a Yokozuna.

Another fascinating aspect of sumo are the daily practice sessions (called keiko) just prior to and during the major tournaments. Practice begins around 5:00 am for the lowest ranked rikishi and starts with stretching followed by actual practice bouts in a makeshift ring. The most common form of keiko is called moshi-ai-geiko. This form of keiko is basically winner stays in the ring until someone can beat him. As soon as one bout ends, every rikishi at the practice session is expected to rush into the ring towards the winner in hopes that he will be chosen as his next opponent. There is no formal teaching of holds or maneuvers; rather, the rikishi learn these themselves by watching their seniors and practicing endlessly. The higher-ranked a rikishi is, the later in the morning he may enter the practice ring. The Makuuchi rikishi usually arrive at the practice session at 8:30 am and bark out instructions to their inferiors as they stretch ringside. As the higher-ranked rikishi begin their practice, those of lower ranks are busy in the kitchen preparing the first meal of the day.

At around 11:00 am the rikishi sit down to this meal. The higher-ranked rikishi eat first while the others stand at attention around the table waiting to serve their superiors. The main meal of the day consists of a stew dish called chanko-nabe. The broth is derived from seaweed, and different meats, fish, vegetables, and noodles are added to create a high-calorie meal. Chanko-nabe is eaten with rice and washed down with bottles of beer. The higher-ranked rikishi eat and eat sometimes only leaving scraps for the younger rikishi to finish up. After the mid-morning meal, the rikishi lie down for afternoon naps as there are no more official duties to be taken care of at the stable.



Terakoya for girls



能の舞台イメージ.
説明図などをアップロードしていきたいと思います. よろしくお願いします.

定期的に参照していないのでなにかありましたら、Wikipedia(Ja)：Toto-tarouにも連絡していただけると、早く対応できるかと思います.

Mountfujijapan
Mount Fuji (Fujisan) is with 3776 meters Japan's highest mountain. It is not surprising that the nearly perfectly shaped volcano has been worshipped as a sacred mountain and experienced big popularity among artists and common people.

Mount Fuji is a dormant volcano, which most recently erupted in 1708. It stands on the border between Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures and can be seen from Tokyo and Yokohama on clear days.

富士山に登るには3つのルートがあります. まず静岡県側からは、”富士宮口”があります. 富士山の南面を登るルートで、駿河湾や伊豆半島が作り出す大パノラマが楽しめます. 標高2400ｍまで車で登れ、最短距離で頂に立てるのも魅力です.

二つ目の登山ルートは”御殿場口”. 東表口登山道という別名もあるこのルートは、火山灰地を登る健脚向き登山道. 新五合目以上どこでも拝められる御来光は、大自然のドラマを感じさせてくれます.

最後に山梨県側からは”須走口”. 新五合目から頂上の登山コースと下山コースが異なるたのしいルートで誰でも安心して登れます. 新五合目からは小富士までのハイキングコースもあり、富士山特有の植物もみられます.

五合目（新五合目）から頂上までの所要時間は登山に5～7時間程度、下山に2～3時間程度かかりますが、体力や小休止時間により異なります.

3つのルートともよく整備され登山家が迷わないようにわかりやすい矢印が所々にたっています. しかし、日本一の山です｡また、山の天気は大変変わりやすいので温かい格好で、自分の体調に合わせ無理をせずにゆっくり富士登頂に挑戦してください｡





Winter Sonata ( 冬のソナタ )
Winter Sonata (a.k.a. Winter Ballad/Winter Love Story) was the second part of the KBS TV drama series Endless Love. This installment was produced in March 2002 in South Korea. It was broadcast on Japan's NHK and has been a major part of the (so called) Korean wave both there and throughout Asia. Known as 冬のソナタ in Japanese, 冬日戀歌 in Chinese, and Bản tình ca mùa Đông in Vietnamese. 

『冬のソナタ』（ふゆのソナタ、キョウルヨンガ）は、2002年に韓国KBSで放送されたテレビドラマ（韓国ドラマ）である. 韓国KBSにて2002年1月～3月の毎週月曜と火曜の夜に放送されていた.

監督はユン・ソクホ. 同監督の前作である「オータム・イン・マイ・ハート 〜秋の童話〜」と同様に、ロケ（屋外撮影）をふんだんに使用した作品として知られる.

日本ではまず2003年にNHKBS2で放送したところ、反響が大きかったため2003年末に再放送され、さらに「地上波で放送してほしい」という視聴者の要望により、2004年4月～8月にはNHK総合でも放送された. また2004年12月20～30日までNHKBS2で未公開シーンも含まれた完全版が日本語字幕版として放送. 2004年度流行語大賞の上位にノミネートされた.

ドラマのDVDの発売元はNHKソフトウェア、販売元は日本テレビの連結子会社バップである.

2009年秋にテレビアニメが日本と韓国で放送されることが発表された. 各話30分、全26話予定. 

X Japan
X Japan (エックス ジャパン, Ekkusu Japan) is a popular Japanese band founded in 1982 by Toshimitsu "Toshi" Deyama and Yoshiki Hayashi.[1] Originally named X (エックス), the group achieved its breakthrough success in 1989 with the release of their second album Blue Blood. They started out as a power/speed metal band and later gravitated towards a progressive sound, at all times retaining an emphasis on ballads. After three more albums, X Japan disbanded in 1997. 

X JAPAN（エックス ジャパン）は日本のロックバンド. 1989年にX（エックス）としてメジャーデビュー. その後1992年にX JAPANへと改名する. 1997年解散. 2007年再結成. 通称としてXと呼ばれる.

1982年、千葉県館山市で当時高校生だったYOSHIKIとTOSHIを中心に結成. アメリカのバンド「キッス」に影響を受けた派手なルックスで日本では後に「ヴィジュアル系」といわれるロックの先駆者的存在とされ、Janne Da Arc、Dir en grey、ナイトメアなどに影響を与えている. また、小泉純一郎元総理がファンの一人として知られている. 

The History of Yahoo! - How It All Started...
Yahoo! began as a student hobby and evolved into a global brand that has changed the way people communicate with each other, find and access information and purchase things. The two founders of Yahoo!, David Filo and Jerry Yang, Ph.D. candidates in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, started their guide in a campus trailer in February 1994 as a way to keep track of their personal interests on the Internet. Before long they were spending more time on their home-brewed lists of favorite links than on their doctoral dissertations. Eventually, Jerry and David's lists became too long and unwieldy, and they broke them out into categories. When the categories became too full, they developed subcategories ... and the core concept behind Yahoo! was born.

The Web site started out as "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web" but eventually received a new moniker with the help of a dictionary. The name Yahoo! is an acronym for "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle," but Filo and Yang insist they selected the name because they liked the general definition of a yahoo: "rude, unsophisticated, uncouth." Yahoo! itself first resided on Yang's student workstation, "Akebono," while the software was lodged on Filo's computer, "Konishiki" - both named after legendary sumo wrestlers.

Jerry and David soon found they were not alone in wanting a single place to find useful Web sites. Before long, hundreds of people were accessing their guide from well beyond the Stanford trailer. Word spread from friends to what quickly became a significant, loyal audience throughout the closely-knit Internet community. Yahoo! celebrated its first million-hit day in the fall of 1994, translating to almost 100 thousand unique visitors.

Due to the torrent of traffic and enthusiastic reception Yahoo! was receiving, the founders knew they had a potential business on their hands. In March 1995, the pair incorporated the business and met with dozens of Silicon Valley venture capitalists. They eventually came across Sequoia Capital, the well-regarded firm whose most successful investments included Apple Computer, Atari, Oracle and Cisco Systems. They agreed to fund Yahoo! in April 1995 with an initial investment of nearly $2 million.

Realizing their new company had the potential to grow quickly, Jerry and David began to shop for a management team. They hired Tim Koogle, a veteran of Motorola and an alumnus of the Stanford engineering department, as chief executive officer and Jeffrey Mallett, founder of Novell's WordPerfect consumer division, as chief operating officer. They secured a second round of funding in Fall 1995 from investors Reuters Ltd. and Softbank. Yahoo! launched a highly-successful IPO in April 1996 with a total of 49 employees.

Today, Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet communications, commerce and media company that offers a comprehensive branded network of services to more than 345 million individuals each month worldwide. As the first online navigational guide to the Web, www.yahoo.com is the leading guide in terms of traffic, advertising, household and business user reach. Yahoo! is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and reaches the largest audience worldwide. The company also provides online business and enterprise services designed to enhance the productivity and Web presence of Yahoo!'s clients. These services include Corporate Yahoo!, a popular customized enterprise portal solution; audio and video streaming; store hosting and management; and Web site tools and services. The company's global Web network includes 25 World properties. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Yahoo! has offices in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Australia, Canada and the United States.

Flickr History
Flickr was developed by Ludicorp, a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based company founded in 2002. Ludicorp launched Flickr in February 2004. The service emerged out of tools originally created for Ludicorp's Game Neverending, a web-based massively multiplayer online game. Flickr proved a more feasible project and ultimately Game Neverending was shelved.

Yahoo! Japan Corporation (ヤフー株式会社)
Yahoo! Japan Corporation (ヤフー株式会社, Yafū) is the Japan affiliate of American internet company Yahoo!. The head office is in the Tokyo Midtown complex in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo. The largest stockholder is SoftBank.

The naming rights of Fukuoka Dome were acquired in 2005, the dome subsequently being known as "Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome". 

Yahoo! JAPAN（ヤフー! ジャパン）は、ヤフー株式会社が運営するポータルサイトである.

Yahoo!の日本語版であり、日本に於ける検索・ポータルサイトでは『MSN Japan』、『Google日本』、『goo』、『エキサイト』や『BIGLOBE』『@nifty』などの各プロバイダを抑えて業界1位の座にある. 日本以外のYahooはほとんどの場合米Yahoo社が筆頭株主となっているが、日本ではソフトバンクグループが筆頭株主である. その為、他のYahooのドメインが".com"であるのに対してYahoo! JAPANは".co.jp"であり、アカウントが共通して使えず、また、Yahoo! BBなど日本独自のサービスを展開することも多い. 現在では検索のときに｢ヤフる｣といわれることもある（Google=「ググる」）. 

Naver ( エヌエイチエヌ株式会社 )
Naver is the most popular search portal in South Korea. Naver was launched in June 1999, the first portal in Korea that used its own proprietary search engine. Among Naver's innovations was "Comprehensive Search", launched in 2000, which provides results from multiple categories on a single page, and was later benchmarked

 

NHNは、大韓民国に本社を置く同国最大のインターネットサービス会社. 1999年6月2日に設立された. 社名は、'Next Human Network'の頭文字を取ったもの.

 

Daum ( ダウム )
Daum is a popular web portal in South Korea, with its rival Naver. Daum offers many Internet services to web users, including a popular free web-based e-mail, messaging service, forums, shopping and news.

The popularity of Daum is a reflection of the high level of internet use in South Korea. The country has the highest level of broadband users, and one of the most widespread levels of computer and Internet access. 

Daum（ダウム, Daum Communications Corp）は、大韓民国最大のポータルサイト. またはこれを運営する企業. 1995年2月に創業した.

ウェブベースのフリー電子メールサービス、インスタントメッセージ、フォーラム、ニュース、ショッピングサイトなどを運営している. ダウムはインターネット利用者に人気が高く、ブロードバンド利用者が多く回線速度が世界有数の速さを誇る韓国において一定の影響力を持っている. ポータルサイト事業においてネイバーが第一の競合企業となる. 

Empas ( エムパス )
Empas is one of the most popular total internet search tools and web portal sites in South Korea. The Jisik Baljeonso was established in 1998, and changed its name to Empas Corporation in 2004. The name Empas is a combination of e-media and compass. Empas is Korea's national web search engine, and is in direct competition with Yahoo! Korea, Daum, Cyworld, and Naver.

Aiming to check its main competition Naver's rapid expansion, SK Communications, which owns the Korea's popular social networking Website Cyworld, acquired Empas on October 19th, 2006. 

Empas（エムパス）は、韓国のポピュラーな検索エンジン/ポータルサイト. Jisik Baljeonso(知識発電所)により1998年に設立され、2004年にEmpasに改称した. Empasはe-mediaとcompassの造語である. 2006年 10月 19日、SK Communicationsに引き受けられ子会社になった. 

Yahoo! Korea Corporation
Yahoo! Korea Corporation is the South Korean affiliate of Yahoo!. Its headquarters is the Yahoo! Tower on Teheranno in the Gangnam district of Seoul

Mitsubishi Motors
Mitsubishi Motor’s automotive tradition goes back to 1917 when the Mitsubishi Model A, Japan’s first series-production automobile, was introduced. Over the next two decades the company established themselves as an innovator, developing, amongst others, Japan’s first diesel engine, its first large-sized bus (the start of the world famous Fuso commercial vehicle series), its first four-wheel drive passenger car prototype, and its first diesel-powered truck.

At the end of the Second World War Japan’s large industrial groups were dismantled by order of the Allied powers and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was split into three regional companies, each with an involvement in motor vehicle development.

The country’s major need at this time was for commercial vehicles, the situation being further complicated during the first few years by a severe fuel shortage. In consequence 1946 saw the introduction of a bus which could be run on either petrol or alternative fuels, and, in 1947, an electric bus; in the truck field the innovations continued with Japan’s first truck to be equipped with an air suspension system, as well as the first tilt-cab truck. Passenger vehicle production was confined primarily to Mitsubishi’s first scooter.

By the beginning of the 1960s, however, Japan’s economy was gearing up: wages were rising and the idea of family motoring was taking off. The Mitsubishi 500, a mass market saloon, fulfilled this need; followed, in 1962, by a four-seater micro-compact with a two-stroke air-cooled 359cc engine, the Minica - a name which still lives today. The first Colt -a larger, more comfortable family car, not a predecessor of the modern Colt - was also introduced in the same year, and the first Galant in 1969. This was a genuine pacesetter in the Japanese market, representing the best and latest in automotive technology and was to sire a long and illustrious line with a string of motor sports honours and consumer awards to its name.

With similar growth in its commercial vehicle production it was decided that the company should create a single operation to focus on the automotive industry and, in 1970, the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) was formed.

The 1970s saw the beginning of Mitsubishi’s considerable international rallying success with Galants and Lancers, demonstrating the qualities of performance and reliability for which they are known today. As part of a global expansion programme in 1974 UK distribution was ensured with the formation of "The Colt Car Company", a joint venture between the Mitsubishi Corporation and Colt Automotive Limited.

By the end of the decade Mitsubishi vehicles were picking up honours both at home and abroad, including South Africa’s 1977 "Car of the Year" (the Galant) and 1979 "USA’s Pick-up of the Year" (the L200). But this was just the start. In 1982 the Shogun (named Pajero or Montero in other parts of the world) was launched, a 4x4 which was quite different from anything that had been seen before. Quite incredibly, just a few months later in the Paris-Dakar rally, it took honours in the Production Class and the Marathon Class, as well as the Best Team award. Two years later it won outright and a legend was born. The Shogun became a global best-seller, winning "4x4 of the Year" awards in Britain, France, Australia, Spain and West Germany. And it was not alone on the honours list - Galants, Colts, Lancers and L200s were all being honoured worldwide.

Throughout the 1990s the Shogun continued to dominate rally events like the Dakar, and Mitsubishi vehicles also began to make their mark on the World Rally Championships. By the end of the century Tommi Makinen in a Lancer had won the Championship an historic four consecutive times whilst Lancers totally dominated the Group N Championships - for vehicles which are basically showroom standard.

Technologically this decade saw incredible advances. In 1990 MMC introduced the world’s first Traction Control System, followed by Super Select 4WD and Multi-mode ABS in 1991 and INVECS in 1992. Commercial production of the Libero electric car began in 1994 whilst 1996 saw the development of the GDI engine.

Overseas production expansion was attained with the first Carismas rolling off the line at NedCar, Holland in 1995 - a joint venture between MMC, Volvo and the Dutch government - as well as the opening of production lines in Australia and Thailand. NedCar became a wholly owned MMC facility within a year.

In 2000, MMC and DaimlerChrysler (DC) developed a business partnership that involved design, development and production co-operation. DC purchased a 37% stake in MMC and at NedCar Volvo production was replaced by Smart Four-Fours. In 2004 DC’s stake in MMC was sold to the Mitsubishi Family (comprising of Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi). However, MMC and Daimler Chrysler have maintained a successful business relationship and continue to share B & C segment platforms and engines.

In terms of motor-sport, the strength of Mitsubishi’s 4x4 heritage was yet again demonstrated by a record breaking 12th victory in the 2007 Dakar rally - the seventh successive victory for the Japanese manufacturer.

Today, MMC has manufacturing facilities in over 30 countries and its sales and after-sales organisation is present in more than 170 countries. 





Itsukushima Shinto Shrine



東郷平八郎 とうごう‐へいはちろう〔トウガウヘイハチラウ〕
［1847～1934］軍人. 海軍大将・元帥. 鹿児島の生まれ. 日露戦争では連合艦隊司令長官となり、日本海海戦でバルチック艦隊を全滅させた. のち、軍令部長・東宮御学問所総裁を歴任



On February 8, 1904, Imperial Japan launched war against Tsarist Russia and changed the global balance of power. A Japanese armada under Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō attacked the Russian Far Eastern fleet—inflicting heavy losses, driving the Russians back into their anchorage at Port Arthur, and clamping a blockade on them.

接摘艦見之警報聯合

艦隊欲直出動擊滅之

本日天氣晴朗波高



Yamato class battleship
The Yamato class battleships (大和型戦艦, Yamatogatasenkan) of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) were the largest naval vessels of World War II and were the largest, heaviest battleships ever constructed to this day, displacing 72,800 metric tons (at full load). The class carried the largest naval artillery ever fitted to any warship - 460 mm (18.1 in) guns which fired 1.36 tonne shells. 

平沼騏一郎( ひらぬま－きいちろう )
岡山県出身の司法官、政治家、敬神家. 津山藩士平沼晋の次男として生まれる. 兄は経済史学者平沼淑郎. 一家の上京に伴い、兄と共に宇田川興斎らの家塾で学び、大学予備門から東京大学法学部へ進む. 明治二十一（1888）年東大法科（帝国大学法科大学）を卒業. 当時は東大法科卒業生には無試験で官僚への道が開かれていたが、平沼は内務省を選ばず、司法省に入省、見習期間としての試補を経て、判事に任用される. このとき、彼が在学中通っていた古本屋の店主は、 「平沼さんのような人は、当世に不向きです・・・・・田舎廻しでしょうね」 と言った. 平沼がのちにあらわにしてゆく国粋的側面を憂慮したものであったのかは分らないが、予言ははずれ、この後、順当に昇進を重ねていく. 東京地方裁判所判事、東京控訴院判事、東京控訴院部長を経て、突然検事畑に転出し、東京控訴院検事となるが、当時三十二歳の若さである. 平沼四十歳の時には大審院検事となり、続いて司法省民刑局長となり、この時期に際会した大逆事件を処断してその名を各界に知らしめた. 大正元（1912）年、検事総長に就任し、以後十年間在職することによって司法官界内に牢固たる平沼閥を創り上げるが、この間に携わったシーメンス事件（平沼は自叙伝中で、同事件に関与した斎藤実について「彼は将来有望であったので故意に見逃してやった」という風な記述が見えるが、そのためにのちに平沼は首相の座を斎藤に先んじられる事となった）、大浦事件などがあげられる. 大正十（1922）年、大審院長についたが、大正十二（1924）年には第二次山本権兵衛内閣（いわゆる「地震内閣」）の法相に就任した. 第二次山本内閣総辞職後（内閣総辞職の理由は摂政宮暗殺未遂の虎ノ門事件であったことは平沼に大きな衝撃であっただろう）の大正十三（1924）年、国粋主義団体「国本社」を創立し、会長となる. 「国本社」メンバーは現在、ほぼ平沼閥というものと重なると考えられているが、その中に司法官としては原嘉道、鈴木喜三郎、山岡万之助ら、内務官僚では後藤文夫ら、海軍軍人系では加藤寛治、末次信正ら、陸軍軍人では荒木貞夫、真崎甚三郎、小磯国昭らが加わっている. また、平沼はこの間に貴族院議員、枢密顧問官を拝命、男爵. 大正十五（1926）年には枢密院副議長となるが、この頃から平沼閥は大きく注目され、平沼は政権交代が行われるたびに「中間内閣の首班候補」として取り沙汰された. これを猛烈に嫌ったのは元老西園寺公望である. 彼は平沼の敬神家的側面を天皇親政を支持するものと見、時代に逆行するものとして忌避したのである. 故に倉富勇三郎枢密院議長の退職時も平沼の昇格を許さず、一木喜徳郎の就任を支持した. 平沼が「ファッショ」と見なされたのは国内だけではなく、国外からもそう目されていた. 彼は昭和七（1932）年、内外に向けてこれを強く否定する声明を発したが、これを見ても、西園寺が彼を忌避してもやむを得ないと思わせるだけの客観的事情はある. だが、牧野伸顕、湯浅倉平など宮中に近い人々の中での平沼評は悪くなく、むしろ人格的な讃辞を送る人々も少なくなかった. 彼らは西園寺の平沼アレルギーにやや辟易した思いをしていたものと察せられる（西園寺公と政局）. 長く副議長として封じ込めを喰らっていた平沼が議長昇任を許されたのは、一木議長が病躯を理由に再々引退を申し込んだためである. そして枢府議長に一木に代る人材は、平沼しか見いだせなかった. しかし平沼は昇格の前に踏み絵を要求された. 国本社会長の辞任である（国本社自体もこの後解散する）. さて、平沼議長はこののち、第一次近衛内閣崩壊に当って後継首班ともなる. 内閣奏薦の任に当ってきた西園寺にとって、実にこのことは苦渋以外の何者でもなかったが、西園寺は平沼の反共反ソ姿勢の裏返しとしての英米協調路線を信頼するという、なんとも間接的な理由で平沼を支持したのである. しかし実際には西園寺はあくまでも平沼には冷ややかであって、枢府議長昇任に当り国本社会長を辞したこと、また首相の椅子が廻ってくる段になると右傾的政治姿勢を正すポーズを見せた（と西園寺は思っていた）ことを諷して、 「平沼はエラスティック（elastic）だからね」 と評している. その平沼内閣は日独防共協定強化問題の紛糾があり、また独ソ不可侵条約の衝撃のあおりをもろに喰らって、「欧州の情勢は複雑怪奇」なる迷言を残して内閣総辞職となる. しかし、軍部・右翼の衆望を担って登場した平沼内閣がこうした尻切れトンボな終わり方をすることに非常に不満を抱く向きもあり、「平沼は元老・重臣に取り込まれた」と見る向きも多く、その後第二次近衛内閣の内相として近衛新体制の空洞化に努めた平沼を「勤王まことむすび」なる右翼組織が狙撃、彼は重傷を負っている. 東條内閣によって日米戦争の火ぶたが切られると、重臣の一人として憂慮この上なく、いささか思想的ベクトルを異にするものの、若槻礼次郎、近衛文麿、岡田啓介などとともに精力的に東條内閣更迭のクーデタに関与し、小磯内閣奏薦にあたっては、旧国本社人脈につらなる小磯を「敬神家でもあり、良い人柄なり」として強く推薦する. 昭和二十（1945）年四月、鈴木貫太郎に代り枢密院議長に再任. 天皇のお召により御前会議に出席する権利を得たが、アメリカから事実上の無条件降伏を要求されると、出席するたびに国体論から降伏に反対した. しかしついに日本降伏、彼は身を「く」の時に折って泣いたという. 米軍の進駐がはじまると、ほぼ同じくして戦犯の収監がはじまった. 東條英機らのほか、平沼も収監されることとなったが、それに先だってソ連の係官が彼を尋問するために自宅に訪れ、茶飲み話のように、 「あなたは今後、責任ある地位に立たれた場合、依然として共産党に弾圧を加えますか」 と質問した. 平沼は平然として、 「もちろん、弾圧します. （その理由は）共産主義はわが国体に反するからです」 平沼は、東京裁判で終身刑を受けた. 当時八十一歳. 保釈中の昭和二十七（1952）年八月、八十四歳で死去した. なお、平成十二（2000）年成立の第二次森喜朗内閣で通産相を務めた平沼赳夫は血縁上の孫で養子である.



