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Okada Saburosuke (12 January 1869 - 23 September, 1939) was a Japanese yōga (Western-style) painter. He was influenced by great yōga painters such as Kuroda Seiki and Kume Keiichiro, and became one of the founding members of Hakuba-kai (White Horse Society), an artists' association. He was awarded the Order of Culture in 1937, the highest honour in the Japanese cultural world.
Japan: Japanese propaganda woodcut print showing Tsar Nicholas II waking from a nightmare of the battered and wounded Russian forces returning from battle. By Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915), c. 1904-1905, Library of Congress. The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was the first great war of the 20th century and grew out of the competing imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea.
Ibaraki-doji was an <i>oni</i> (demon / ogre) in Japanese tales and legends from the Heian Era. The demon was known to go on murderous rampages throughout the countryside and across Kyoto. She would also fool innocent travellers and kill them, wearing various disguises to lure them in.<br/><br/> Once, she tried to kill the legendary samurai Watanabe no Tsuna as he was travelling, appearing as a beautiful maiden who needed help. When Tsuna approached, the girl transformed into an <i>oni</i> and grabbed him by his hair, flying through the air to Mount Atago. Tsuna, not panicking, easily cut off the demon's arm however, causing Ibaraki-doji to flee. Tsuna took the arm back as a trophy to his estate.<br/><br/> Seven days later, Tsuna was visited by his aunt Mashiba, and when he told her of his ordeal with the <i>oni</i>, she asked to see the severed arm. When Tsuna complied and brought it out, Mashiba suddenly transformed into Ibaraki-doji, who grabbed the arm and then flew away. So shocked was Tsuna that he did not try to stop the demon.
Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865), also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III, was the most popular and prolific designer of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th-century Japan. His reputation and financial success far exceeded those of his contemporaries.<br/><br/> Surprisingly, not many details of Kunisada's life are recorded, aside from a few well-established events. He was born in 1786 in Honjo, a district of Edo (now Tokyo), with the given name Sumida Shogoro IX. His family owned a fairly successful ferry-boat service, and he soon developed an artistic talent as he grew up. So impressive were his early sketches that he caught the eye of Toyokuni, great master of the Utagawa school, who soon took him as an apprentice.<br/><br/> His skills and renown quickly grew, and he became head of the Utagawa school in 1825, where he would teach and design woodblock prints until his death in 1865, having produced the largest collection of woodblock prints of any designer in 19th-century Japan.
Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865), also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III, was the most popular and prolific designer of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th-century Japan. His reputation and financial success far exceeded those of his contemporaries.<br/><br/> Surprisingly, not many details of Kunisada's life are recorded, aside from a few well-established events. He was born in 1786 in Honjo, a district of Edo (now Tokyo), with the given name Sumida Shogoro IX. His family owned a fairly successful ferry-boat service, and he soon developed an artistic talent as he grew up. So impressive were his early sketches that he caught the eye of Toyokuni, great master of the Utagawa school, who soon took him as an apprentice.<br/><br/> His skills and renown quickly grew, and he became head of the Utagawa school in 1825, where he would teach and design woodblock prints until his death in 1865, having produced the largest collection of woodblock prints of any designer in 19th-century Japan.
Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865), also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III, was the most popular and prolific designer of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th-century Japan. His reputation and financial success far exceeded those of his contemporaries.<br/><br/> Surprisingly, not many details of Kunisada's life are recorded, aside from a few well-established events. He was born in 1786 in Honjo, a district of Edo (now Tokyo), with the given name Sumida Shogoro IX. His family owned a fairly successful ferry-boat service, and he soon developed an artistic talent as he grew up. So impressive were his early sketches that he caught the eye of Toyokuni, great master of the Utagawa school, who soon took him as an apprentice.<br/><br/> His skills and renown quickly grew, and he became head of the Utagawa school in 1825, where he would teach and design woodblock prints until his death in 1865, having produced the largest collection of woodblock prints of any designer in 19th-century Japan.
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (30 April 1839 – 9 June 1892) was a Japanese artist and Ukiyo-e woodblock print master.<br/><br/> He is widely recognized as the last great master of Ukiyo-e, a type of Japanese woodblock printing. He is additionally regarded as one of the form's greatest innovators. His career spanned two eras – the last years of Edo period Japan, and the first years of modern Japan following the Meiji Restoration. Like many Japanese, Yoshitoshi was interested in new things from the rest of the world, but over time he became increasingly concerned with the loss of many aspects of traditional Japanese culture, among them traditional woodblock printing.<br/><br/> By the end of his career, Yoshitoshi was in an almost single-handed struggle against time and technology. As he worked on in the old manner, Japan was adopting Western mass reproduction methods like photography and lithography. Nonetheless, in a Japan that was turning away from its own past, he almost singlehandedly managed to push the traditional Japanese woodblock print to a new level, before it effectively died with him.
Toyohara Kunichika (30 June 1835 – 1 July 1900) was a Japanese woodblock print artist. Talented as a child, at about thirteen he became a student of Tokyo's then-leading print maker, Utagawa Kunisada. His deep appreciation and knowledge of kabuki drama led to his production primarily of ukiyo-e actor-prints, which are woodblock prints of kabuki actors and scenes from popular plays of the time.<br/><br/> A drinker and womanizer, Kunichika also portrayed women deemed beautiful (<i>bijinga</i>), contemporary social life, and a few landscapes and historical scenes. He worked successfully in the Edo period, and carried those traditions into the Meiji period. To his contemporaries and now to some modern art historians, this has been seen as a significant achievement during a transitional period of great social and political change in Japan's history.
<i>Nishiki-e</i> were a type of multi-coloured woodblock prints from Japan. The technique was primarily used in <i>Ukiyo-e</i>, and was invented in the 1760s. Before, woodblock prints were usually in black-and-white and were coloured either by hand or with the addition of one or two colour ink blocks, but <i>nishiki-e</i> printing changed that.<br/><br/><i>Nishiki-e</i> was credited to an engraver named Kinroku, but it was popularised and perfected by Suzuki Harunobu. <i>Nishiki-e</i> is sometimes also known as <i>Edo-e</i>, and became very popular during the Meiji Period, especially during the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), where over 3,000 prints were made in the 9-month period.
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) was a renowned arist and ukyo-e painter of the late Edo Period. Born in Edo, Hokusai was from an artisan family and bore the childhood name of Tokitaro. As he grew and became an artist, he would use more than thirty names throughout his lifetime, exceeding that of any other major Japanese artist.<br/><br/> His best known work was the series 'Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji', which secured his fame not only in Japan but also overseas. Though he had a long career, his most important work was arguably produced after he turned 60, when his work transformed the artwork of ukiyo-e from not just focusing on courtesans and actors to also portraying landscapes, animals and plants.
Kawanabe Kyosai (1831-1889) was a 19th century Japanese artist described by some as 'perhaps the last virtuoso in traditional Japanese painting'. Born in Koga, Kyosai was the son of a samurai and was briefly tutored under Utagawa Kuniyoshi before settling in the Kano school.<br/><br/> Kyosai picked up a reputation for himself as a caricaturist, the first political caricaturist in Japan, after the revolution of 1867 that led to the Meiji Restoration. His caricatures resulted in multiple arrests and imprisonment by the shogunate authority. He was considereed by many as Hokusai's greatest successor, despite not studying under him.<br/><br/> In his personal life, Kyosai was wild and undisciplined, abandoning formal tradition for greater freedom. He loved to drink and was very exuberant, lacking the dignity, power and reticence of Hokusai and some other renowned Japanese painters of the time.
Utagawa Yoshitora (active 1850-1880) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist and book illustrator. Though both his date of birth and death are unknown, what is known is that Yoshitora was born in Edo and that he eventually became Utagawa Kuniyoshi's oldest pupil.<br/><br/> Yoshitora soon showed excellence in his prints of <i>bijinga</i> (beautiful women), <i>kabuki</i> actors and warriors, producing over 60 print series and illustrating more than 100 books. He was imprisoned and manacled for forty days by censors who interpreted one of his prints as a criticism of authority, which resulted in his expulsion from Kuniyoshi's studio, though he still continued to illustrate prolifically.<br/><br/> From the 1860s onwards, Yoshitora began to produce <i>Yokohama-e</i> prints of foreigners after Japan's rapid modernisations and opening up. He would collaborate on many landscape series and began working in newspapers in the Meiji Period. His last known work appeared in 1882.
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (30 April 1839 – 9 June 1892) was a Japanese artist and Ukiyo-e woodblock print master.<br/><br/> He is widely recognized as the last great master of Ukiyo-e, a type of Japanese woodblock printing. He is additionally regarded as one of the form's greatest innovators. His career spanned two eras – the last years of Edo period Japan, and the first years of modern Japan following the Meiji Restoration. Like many Japanese, Yoshitoshi was interested in new things from the rest of the world, but over time he became increasingly concerned with the loss of many aspects of traditional Japanese culture, among them traditional woodblock printing.<br/><br/> By the end of his career, Yoshitoshi was in an almost single-handed struggle against time and technology. As he worked on in the old manner, Japan was adopting Western mass reproduction methods like photography and lithography. Nonetheless, in a Japan that was turning away from its own past, he almost singlehandedly managed to push the traditional Japanese woodblock print to a new level, before it effectively died with him.
Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815) was a Japanese <i>ukiyo-e</i> artist from the Torii school. Born as Sekiguchi Shinsuke in Edo, he enrolled into the Torii school at a young age, where he would eventually succeed his master Torii Kiyomitsu as head of the school.<br/><br/> Kiyonaga was considered one of the great masters of the <i>nishiki-e</i> print and of <i>bijinga</i>, images of beautiful courtesans and women. He also produced a great many prints of <i>kabuki</i> actors and other theatre-related subjects, as well as producing <i>shunga</i> (erotic images).
Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865), also as known as Utagawa Toyokuni III, was the most popular and prolific designer of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints during 19th-century Japan. His reputation and financial success far exceeded those of his fellow contemporaries.<br/><br/> Surprisingly, not many details of Kunisada's life are recorded, aside from a few well-established events. He was born in 1786 in Honjo, a district of Edo, with the given name Sumida Shogoro IX. His family owned a fairly successful ferry-boat service, and he soon developed an artistic talent as he grew up. So impressive were his early sketches that he caught the eye of Toyokuni, great master of the Utagawa school, who soon took him as an apprentice.<br/><br/> His skills and renown quickly grew, and he became head of the Utagawa school in 1825, where he would teach and design woodblock prints until his death in 1835, having achieved the largest collection of woodblock prints of any designer in 19th-century Japan.
Japan: 'Actor Ichikawa Danjuro VIII (1823-1854) in a Loin-Cloth', woodblock print by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865), 1857. Ichikawa Danjūrō was a Japanese kabuki actor of the prestigious Ichikawa Danjūrō line.<br/><br/> Utagawa Kunisada, also as known as Utagawa Toyokuni III, was the most popular and prolific designer of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints during 19th-century Japan. His reputation and financial success far exceeded those of his fellow contemporaries.
Inari Okami, also known as Oinari, is a deity in Shintoism, the <i>kami</i> of foxes, fertility, rice, tea, sake, agriculture, industry and general prosperity. In earlier times, Inari was also the patron of merchants and swordsmiths, and has been represented in various art forms as male, female or androgynous.<br/><br/> Inari is almost always accompanied by white foxes (<i>kistune</i>), who act as his/her/their messengers. Inari's male and female aspects have often been conflated or identified with other Shinto and Buddhist deities, and Inari him/her/themself has sometimes been seen as a collective rather than an individual <i>kami</i>.<br/><br/> Worship of Inari dates back to at least 711 CE, with a shrine on Inari Mountain, although some scholars date worship back to the late 5th century. The <i>kami</i> became more popular during the Edo Period (1603 - 1868). Today more than one-third of Shinto shrines in Japan are dedicated to Inari.
Yukio Mishima is the pen name of Kimitake Hiraoka (January 14, 1925 – November 25, 1970), a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, and film director. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century; he was nominated three times for the Nobel Prize in Literature and was poised to win the prize in 1968 but lost the award to his fellow countryman Yasunari Kawabata.<br/><br/> His avant-garde work displayed a blending of modern and traditional aesthetics that broke cultural boundaries, with a focus on sexuality, death, and political change. He is remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'etat attempt, known as the 'Mishima Incident'.
Toyohara Kunichika (30 June 1835 – 1 July 1900) was a Japanese woodblock print artist. Talented as a child, at about thirteen he became a student of Tokyo's then-leading print maker, Utagawa Kunisada. His deep appreciation and knowledge of kabuki drama led to his production primarily of ukiyo-e actor-prints, which are woodblock prints of kabuki actors and scenes from popular plays of the time.<br/><br/> A drinker and womanizer, Kunichika also portrayed women deemed beautiful (<i>bijinga</i>), contemporary social life, and a few landscapes and historical scenes. He worked successfully in the Edo period, and carried those traditions into the Meiji period. To his contemporaries and now to some modern art historians, this has been seen as a significant achievement during a transitional period of great social and political change in Japan's history.
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a series of battles fought in the Ryukyu Islands, centered on the island of Okinawa, and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War.The 82-day-long battle lasted from 1 April until 22 June 1945.<br/><br/> The Battle of Okinawa was remarkable for the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of kamikaze attacks from the Japanese defenders, and the great number of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War.<br/><br/> Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945. The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements.<br/><br/> Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War.<br/><br/> Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945. The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements.<br/><br/> Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War.<br/><br/> Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945. The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements.<br/><br/> Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
Inari Okami, also known as Oinari, is a deity in Shintoism, the <i>kami</i> of foxes, fertility, rice, tea, sake, agriculture, industry and general prosperity. In earlier times, Inari was also the patron of merchants and swordsmiths, and has been represented in various art forms as male, female or androgynous.<br/><br/> Inari is almost always accompanied by white foxes (<i>kistune</i>), who act as his/her/their messengers. Inari's male and female aspects have often been conflated or identified with other Shinto and Buddhist deities, and Inari him/her/themself has sometimes been seen as a collective rather than an individual <i>kami</i>.<br/><br/> Worship of Inari dates back to at least 711 CE, with a shrine on Inari Mountain, although some scholars date worship back to the late 5th century. The <i>kami</i> became more popular during the Edo Period (1603 - 1868). Today more than one-third of Shinto shrines in Japan are dedicated to Inari.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War.<br/><br/> Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945. The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements.<br/><br/> Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
Katsushika Hokusai (October 31, 1760 – May 10, 1849) was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. He was influenced by such painters as Sesshu, and other styles of Chinese painting. Born in Edo (now Tokyo), Hokusai is best known as author of the woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku Sanjūroku-kei, c. 1831) which includes the internationally recognized print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, created during the 1820s.<br/><br/> Hokusai created the 'Thirty-Six Views' both as a response to a domestic travel boom and as part of a personal obsession with Mount Fuji. It was this series, specifically The Great Wave print and Fuji in Clear Weather, that secured Hokusai’s fame both in Japan and overseas.
The Japanese Empire occupied the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of the War in 1945. The period was one of the most critical in Indonesian history.<br/><br/> Initially, most Indonesians welcomed the Japanese, as liberators from their Dutch colonial masters. The sentiment changed, as Indonesians were expected to endure more hardship for the war effort. In 1944–1945, Allied troops largely bypassed Indonesia and did not fight their way into the most populous parts such as Java and Sumatra. As such, most of Indonesia was still under Japanese occupation at the time of their surrender, in August 1945.
The Meiji period, also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 8, 1868 through July 30, 1912.<br/><br/> This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan during which Japanese society moved from being an isolated feudal society to its modern form. Fundamental changes affected its social structure, internal politics, economy, military, and foreign relations.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War.<br/><br/> Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945. The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements.<br/><br/> Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The Meiji period, also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 8, 1868 through July 30, 1912.<br/><br/> This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan during which Japanese society moved from being an isolated feudal society to its modern form. Fundamental changes affected its social structure, internal politics, economy, military, and foreign relations.
On December 7–8, 1941, Japanese forces carried out surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor, attacks on British forces in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong and declared war, bringing the US and the UK into World War II in the Pacific.<br/><br/> After the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender on August 15. The war cost Japan and the rest of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere millions of lives and left much of the nation's industry and infrastructure destroyed.
Manzanar is most widely known as the site of one of ten camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in California's Owens Valley between the towns of Lone Pine to the south and Independence to the north, it is approximately 230 miles (370 km) northeast of Los Angeles.<br/><br/> Long before the first incarcerees arrived in March 1942, Manzanar was home to Native Americans, who mostly lived in villages near several creeks in the area. Ranchers and miners formally established the town of Manzanar in 1910, but abandoned the town by 1929 after the City of Los Angeles purchased the water rights to virtually the entire area.<br/><br/> Since the last incarcerees left in 1945, former incarcerees and others have worked to protect Manzanar and to establish it as a National Historic Site to ensure that the history of the site, along with the stories of those who were unjustly incarcerated there, are remembered by current and future generations.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War.<br/><br/> Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945. The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements.<br/><br/> Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
Kamikaze ('divine wind') were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible.<br/><br/> Kamikaze pilots would attempt to crash their aircraft into enemy ships in planes laden with explosives, bombs, torpedoes and full fuel tanks. The aircraft's normal functions (to deliver torpedoes or bombs or shoot down other aircraft) were put aside, and the planes were converted to what were essentially manned missiles in an attempt to reap the benefits of greatly increased accuracy and payload over that of normal bombs.<br/><br/> The goal of crippling as many Allied ships as possible, particularly aircraft carriers, was considered critical enough to warrant the combined sacrifice of pilots and aircraft.<br/><br/> These attacks, which began in October 1944, followed several critical military defeats for the Japanese. They had long lost aerial dominance due to outdated aircraft and the loss of experienced pilots. On a macroeconomic scale, Japan experienced a decreasing capacity to wage war, and a rapidly declining industrial capacity relative to the United States. The Japanese government expressed its reluctance to surrender. In combination, these factors led to the use of kamikaze tactics as Allied forces advanced towards the Japanese home islands.
Irezumi (入れ墨, 入墨, 紋身, 刺花, 剳青, 黥 or 刺青) is a Japanese word that refers to the insertion of ink under the skin to leave a permanent, usually decorative mark; a form of tattooing.<br/><br/> The word can be written in several ways, each with slightly different connotations. The most common way of writing irezumi is with the Chinese characters 入れ墨 or 入墨, literally meaning to 'insert ink'. The characters 紋身 (also pronounced bunshin) suggest 'decorating the body'. 剳青 is more esoteric, being written with the characters for 'stay' or 'remain' and 'blue' or 'green', and probably refers to the appearance of the main shading ink under the skin. 黥 (meaning 'tattooing') is rarely used, and the characters 刺青 combine the meanings 'pierce', 'stab', or 'prick', and 'blue' or 'green', referring to the traditional Japanese method of tattooing by hand.
Okada Saburosuke (12 January 1869 - 23 September, 1939) was a Japanese yōga (Western-style) painter. He was influenced by great yōga painters such as Kuroda Seiki and Kume Keiichiro, and became one of the founding members of Hakuba-kai (White Horse Society), an artists' association. He was awarded the Order of Culture in 1937, the highest honour in the Japanese cultural world.
Nichiren (February 16, 1222 – October 13, 1282) was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, entitled Myoho-Renge-Kyo in Japanese, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo as the essential practice of the teaching. Various schools with diverging interpretations of Nichiren's teachings comprise Nichiren Buddhism.<br/><br/> Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川 国芳, January 1, 1797 - April 14, 1862) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting. He is associated with the Utagawa school.<br/><br/> The range of Kuniyoshi's preferred subjects included many genres: landscapes, beautiful women, Kabuki actors, cats, and mythical animals. He is known for depictions of the battles of samurai and legendary heroes. His artwork was affected by Western influences in landscape painting and caricature.
After the defeat of Imperial Japan in 1945, the Japanese authorities feared that US occupation forces might exploit Japanese women in the same way that the Japanese army had raped and brutalized women throughout East Asia during the war years. Accordingly, a ‘Recreation and Amusement Association’ was set up to ‘construct a dike to hold back the mad frenzy of the occupation troops and cultivate and preserve the purity of our race long into the future…’. By 1946 it was clear that the American forces were not about to go on raping sprees, and also that Japanese prostitutes, operating independently and often dressed as ‘geisha’ to appeal to the GIs, were doing brisk business. Faced with this reality, the Recreation and Amusement Association was shut down in 1946.
Jean-François de Galoup, Comte de La Pérouse (August 23, 1741-1788) was a French explorer and naval officer. In 1785, the King of France commissioned La Perouse to head an expedition to explore the Pacific Ocean, to investigate whaling and fur prospects, and to establish French claims in this area. La Pérouse had admired the explorer James Cook, and wanted to continue his work.<br/><br/> La Perouse was assigned two 500-ton ships called the Astrolabe and the Boussole. His crew of 114 included sailors, scientists, a physicist, three draftsmen, three naturalists, clergymen, and a mathematician. They left France in August, 1785.<br/><br/> La Perouse mapped the west coast of North America in 1786, and visited Easter Island and Hawaii. His ships reached the west coast of Alaska in 1786 and did extensive mapping of the North American west coast from Alaska to Monterey, California.<br/><br/> Next La Pérouse landed at Botany Bay (Port Jackson), Australia, before heading for the Solomon Islands. La Pérouse took the opportunity to send his journals, some charts and also some letters back to Europe with a British naval ship. He wrote that he expected to be back in France by June 1789, however neither he, nor any of his men, were seen again. Fortunately the valuable written documents that he dispatched with the Sirius from the in-progress expedition were returned to Paris, where they were published posthumously.<br/><br/> Both of La Perouse's ships were lost in a storm close to the Solomons in 1788. No survivors were ever found.
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as Boxer Uprising or Yihetuan Movement, was a proto-nationalist movement by the Righteous Harmony Society in China between 1898 and 1901, opposing foreign imperialism and Christianity.<br/><br/> The uprising took place in response to foreign spheres of influence in China, with grievances ranging from opium traders, political invasion, economic manipulation, to missionary evangelism. In China, popular sentiment remained resistant to foreign influences, and anger rose over the 'unequal treaties', which the weak Qing state could not resist.<br/><br/> Concerns grew that missionaries and Chinese Christians could use this decline to their advantage, appropriating lands and property of unwilling Chinese peasants to give to the church. This sentiment resulted in violent revolts against foreign interests.
The koto (Japanese: 箏) is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument, similar to the Chinese zheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh.<br/><br/> The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about 180 centimetres (71 in) length, and made from kiri wood (Paulownia tomentosa). They have 13 strings that are strung over 13 movable bridges along the width of the instrument. Players can adjust the string pitches by moving the white bridges in the picture before playing, and use three finger picks (on thumb, index finger, and middle finger) to pluck the strings, otherwise known as plectra.
Nightclub entertainer Jean Clery has just become engaged to Lili, his attractive psychoanalyst. Meanwhile, the nightclub where he works is being used by a counterfeit ring, and Paris police suspect owner Paul Latour of being the ringleader.<br/><br/> Finding it expedient to leave town, Paul leaves his 'baby' daughter with Jean, who discovers too late that she's a wild, carefree, shapely sex-kitten with a talent for getting Jean into amusing scrapes. Contemporaneous Japanese version of a sexy French comedy.
Irezumi (入れ墨, 入墨, 紋身, 刺花, 剳青, 黥 or 刺青) is a Japanese word that refers to the insertion of ink under the skin to leave a permanent, usually decorative mark; a form of tattooing.<br/><br/> The word can be written in several ways, each with slightly different connotations. The most common way of writing irezumi is with the Chinese characters 入れ墨 or 入墨, literally meaning to 'insert ink'. The characters 紋身 (also pronounced bunshin) suggest 'decorating the body'. 剳青 is more esoteric, being written with the characters for 'stay' or 'remain' and 'blue' or 'green', and probably refers to the appearance of the main shading ink under the skin. 黥 (meaning 'tattooing') is rarely used, and the characters 刺青 combine the meanings 'pierce', 'stab', or 'prick', and 'blue' or 'green', referring to the traditional Japanese method of tattooing by hand.
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as Boxer Uprising or Yihetuan Movement, was a proto-nationalist movement by the Righteous Harmony Society in China between 1898 and 1901, opposing foreign imperialism and Christianity.<br/><br/> The uprising took place in response to foreign spheres of influence in China, with grievances ranging from opium traders, political invasion, economic manipulation, to missionary evangelism. In China, popular sentiment remained resistant to foreign influences, and anger rose over the 'unequal treaties', which the weak Qing state could not resist.<br/><br/> Concerns grew that missionaries and Chinese Christians could use this decline to their advantage, appropriating lands and property of unwilling Chinese peasants to give to the church. This sentiment resulted in violent revolts against foreign interests.
Nichiren (February 16, 1222 – October 13, 1282) was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, entitled Myoho-Renge-Kyo in Japanese, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo as the essential practice of the teaching. Various schools with diverging interpretations of Nichiren's teachings comprise Nichiren Buddhism.
Nichiren (February 16, 1222 – October 13, 1282) was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, entitled Myoho-Renge-Kyo in Japanese, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo as the essential practice of the teaching. Various schools with diverging interpretations of Nichiren's teachings comprise Nichiren Buddhism.
Irezumi (入れ墨, 入墨, 紋身, 刺花, 剳青, 黥 or 刺青) is a Japanese word that refers to the insertion of ink under the skin to leave a permanent, usually decorative mark; a form of tattooing.<br/><br/> The word can be written in several ways, each with slightly different connotations. The most common way of writing irezumi is with the Chinese characters 入れ墨 or 入墨, literally meaning to 'insert ink'. The characters 紋身 (also pronounced bunshin) suggest 'decorating the body'. 剳青 is more esoteric, being written with the characters for 'stay' or 'remain' and 'blue' or 'green', and probably refers to the appearance of the main shading ink under the skin. 黥 (meaning 'tattooing') is rarely used, and the characters 刺青 combine the meanings 'pierce', 'stab', or 'prick', and 'blue' or 'green', referring to the traditional Japanese method of tattooing by hand.
Nikkō (日光市 Nikkō-shi, literally 'sunlight') is a city in the mountains of Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Approximately 140 km north of Tokyo and 35 km west of Utsunomiya, the capital of Tochigi Prefecture, it is a popular destination for Japanese and international tourists.<br/><br/> Attractions include the mausoleum of shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (Nikkō Tōshō-gū) and that of his grandson Iemitsu (Iemitsu-byō Taiyū-in), and the Futarasan Shrine, which dates to the year 767. There are also many famous hot springs (onsen) in the area.<br/><br/> Elevations range from 200 to 2,000 m. The mountains west of the main city are part of Nikkō National Park and contain some of the country's most spectacular waterfalls and scenic trails.
Produced by Dai Nippon Seitō Kabushiki Kaisha sugar manufacture and refining company, Tokyo.
Irezumi (入れ墨, 入墨, 紋身, 刺花, 剳青, 黥 or 刺青) is a Japanese word that refers to the insertion of ink under the skin to leave a permanent, usually decorative mark; a form of tattooing.<br/><br/> The word can be written in several ways, each with slightly different connotations. The most common way of writing irezumi is with the Chinese characters 入れ墨 or 入墨, literally meaning to 'insert ink'. The characters 紋身 (also pronounced bunshin) suggest 'decorating the body'. 剳青 is more esoteric, being written with the characters for 'stay' or 'remain' and 'blue' or 'green', and probably refers to the appearance of the main shading ink under the skin. 黥 (meaning 'tattooing') is rarely used, and the characters 刺青 combine the meanings 'pierce', 'stab', or 'prick', and 'blue' or 'green', referring to the traditional Japanese method of tattooing by hand.
The Battle of Shanghai (1937), known in Chinese as the Battle of Songhu, was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and the Imperial Japanese Army of the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the entire war.<br/><br/> According to historians Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Kentaro Awaya, gas weapons, such as tear gas, were used only sporadically in 1937 but in early 1938, the Imperial Japanese Army began full-scale use of sneeze and nausea gas (red), and from mid-1939, used mustard gas (yellow) against both Kuomintang and Communist Chinese troops.<br/><br/> According to historians Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Seiya Matsuno, the chemical weapons were authorized by specific orders given by Emperor Hirohito himself, transmitted by the chief of staff of the army. For example, the Emperor authorized the use of toxic gas on 375 separate occasions during the Battle of Wuhan from August to October 1938.<br/><br/> They were also profusely used during the invasion of Changde. Those orders were transmitted either by prince Kotohito Kan'in or general Hajime Sugiyama. The Imperial Japanese Army used mustard gas and the US-developed (CWS-1918) blister agent Lewisite against Chinese troops and guerrillas. Experiments involving chemical weapons were conducted on live prisoners (Unit 731 and Unit 516).
Kubo Shunman (1757-1820) was a Japanese artist and writer. Shunman was born with the given name Kubo / Kubota Yasubei and was orphaned at a young age. He studied under the painter Katori Nahiko and the ukiyo-e artist Kitao Shigemasa, and took the art name Shunman upon finishing his studies. Other names he used were Shosado and Sashodo, hinting at his left-handed nature.<br/><br/> His earliest works date back to 1774, and he would go on to produce ukiyo-e prints, book illustrations, paintings, illustrated novels and poetry. He became the most prolific artist in the Kitao school, with more than 70 paintings to his name surviving.<br/><br/> Shunman was a member of various poets' clubs as well, notably the Rokujuen and Bakuro-ren clubs, the latter of which he became head. He eventually stopped designing commercial prints in 1790 to focus primarily on commissioned prints and his poetry.
Keisai Eisen (1790-1848), also known as Ikeda Eisen, was an early 19th century <i>ukiyo-e</i> artist. Born to the Ikeda family in Edo, he was apprenticed to Kano Hakkeisai, from whom he took the name Keisai. After his father's death he studied under Kikgawa Eizan, who would heavily influence his early works.<br/><br/> Eisen's specialisation was in <i>bijinga</i> (pictures of beautiful women), but he also did landscapes, <i>surimono</i> (privately issued prints) and erotic prints. His <i>bijinga</i> prints portrayed women differently than earlier artists, giving them a worldly sensuality instead of the previous elegance and grace. His best works were the <i>okubi-e</i> (large head pictures) and were masterpieces of the 'decadent' Bunsei Period (1818-1830).<br/><br/> He was also known as a prolific writer, under the pen name Ippitsuan, and produced biographies for the Forty-seven Ronin and for other <i>ukiyo-e</i> artists.
Japan: Woodblock print of the actor Segawa Kikunojo V (1802-1832) in the role of the courtesan Oiso no Tora, by Yashima Gakutei (1786-1868), 1823, Rikjsmuseum, Amsterdam. Yashima Gakutei was a Japanese artist and poet of the 19th century. Born in Osaka, Gakutei was the illegitimate son of a samurai, and spent much of his early life working on woodblock prints in Osaka. He eventually studied under renowned woodblock printers Totoya Hokkei and Hokusai.
<i>Nishiki-e</i> were a type of multi-coloured woodblock print from Japan. The technique was primarily used in <i>ukiyo-e</i>, and was invented in the 1760s. Before this woodblock prints were usually in black-and-white and were coloured either by hand or with the addition of one or two colour ink blocks, but <i>nishiki-e</i> printing changed that.<br/><br/><i>Nishiki-e</i> was credited to an engraver named Kinroku, but it was popularised and perfected by Suzuki Harunobu. <i>Nishiki-e</i> is sometimes also known as <i>Edo-e</i>, and became very popular during the Meiji Period, especially during the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), where over 3,000 prints were made in that 9-month period.
Japan: 'A Woman Standing on the Strings of a Kite', Katsushika Taito II (active 1810-1853), 1822, <i>Nishiki-e</i> woodblock print, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. <i>Nishiki-e</i> were a type of multi-coloured woodblock print from Japan. The technique was primarily used in <i>ukiyo-e</i>, and was invented in the 1760s. Before, woodblock prints were usually in black-and-white and were coloured either by hand or with the addition of one or two colour ink blocks.
Chobunsai Eishi (1756-1829) was a Japanese <i>ukiyo-e</i> artist. Born Hosoda Tokitomi to a well-off samurai family from the prestigious Fujiwara clan, Eishi became family head when his father died in 1772, and from there he held a position in the palace of Shogun Tokugawa Ieharu.<br/><br/> Eishi appeared to have studied art under Kano Michinobu of the Kano school, and he left the official service of the Shogun in 1784 to pursue his artistic talents, giving up his samurai rank. His earliest works were <i>nishki-e</i> prints of literary fare such as 'The Tale of Genji', but he soon went to specialise in <i>bijinga</i> portraits of women. Eishi also occasionally illustrated books of <i>shunga</i> erotica. He abandoned woodblock printing for painting sometime after 1801.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (January 1, 1798 - April 14, 1861) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese <i>ukiyo-e</i> style of woodblock prints and painting. He is associated with the Utagawa school.<br/><br/> The range of Kuniyoshi's preferred subjects included many genres: landscapes, beautiful women, Kabuki actors, cats, and mythical animals. He is known for depictions of the battles of samurai and legendary heroes. His artwork was affected by Western influences in landscape painting and caricature.
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head and torso and the tail of a fish. Mermaids are represented broadly in folklore, literature, and popular culture. In Japan, mermaids are called ningyo or 'fish people'. An old Japanese belief was that eating the flesh of a ningyo could grant immortality.
Li Tieguai, also known as Tieguai Li and born as Li Yuan, is a Chinese mythological character and one of the Eight Immortals. Though he is often portrayed as being ill-tempered and irascible, he is benevolent and kind to the poor, sick and the needy, curing and alleviating the pain of others with special medicine from his magical gourd. Li Tieguai was said to have been born during the Yuan Dynasty.<br/><br/> In Chinese folklore, Li Tieguai was said to have originally been Laozi's apprentice, which would have put his birth some time in the sixth century BCE rather than during the Yuan Dynasty. Either way, he is said to have devoted himself to religious contemplation for 40 years, overcoming various tests and tasks Laozi set for him eventually becoming an immortal.<br/><br/> Li Tieguai was said to have been a handsome man once, but during his path towards immortality, there was an incident when his spirit left his body and ascended to Heaven to meet other immortals. While away, his body was cremated, and when Li's spirit returned, he had to enter the corpse of an ugly and disheveled homeless beggar who had just recently starved to death. Li Tieguai is the second most popular of the Eight Immortals, and associated with medicine.
Irezumi (入れ墨, 入墨, 紋身, 刺花, 剳青, 黥 or 刺青) is a Japanese word that refers to the insertion of ink under the skin to leave a permanent, usually decorative mark; a form of tattooing.<br/><br/> The word can be written in several ways, each with slightly different connotations. The most common way of writing irezumi is with the Chinese characters 入れ墨 or 入墨, literally meaning to 'insert ink'. The characters 紋身 (also pronounced bunshin) suggest 'decorating the body'. 剳青 is more esoteric, being written with the characters for 'stay' or 'remain' and 'blue' or 'green', and probably refers to the appearance of the main shading ink under the skin. 黥 (meaning 'tattooing') is rarely used, and the characters 刺青 combine the meanings 'pierce', 'stab', or 'prick', and 'blue' or 'green', referring to the traditional Japanese method of tattooing by hand.
Irezumi (入れ墨, 入墨, 紋身, 刺花, 剳青, 黥 or 刺青) is a Japanese word that refers to the insertion of ink under the skin to leave a permanent, usually decorative mark; a form of tattooing.<br/><br/> The word can be written in several ways, each with slightly different connotations. The most common way of writing irezumi is with the Chinese characters 入れ墨 or 入墨, literally meaning to 'insert ink'. The characters 紋身 (also pronounced bunshin) suggest 'decorating the body'. 剳青 is more esoteric, being written with the characters for 'stay' or 'remain' and 'blue' or 'green', and probably refers to the appearance of the main shading ink under the skin. 黥 (meaning 'tattooing') is rarely used, and the characters 刺青 combine the meanings 'pierce', 'stab', or 'prick', and 'blue' or 'green', referring to the traditional Japanese method of tattooing by hand.
Nichiren (February 16, 1222 – October 13, 1282) was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, entitled Myoho-Renge-Kyo in Japanese, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo as the essential practice of the teaching. Various schools with diverging interpretations of Nichiren's teachings comprise Nichiren Buddhism.
The national flag of Japan is a white rectangular flag with a large red disc (representing the sun) in the center.<br/><br/> This flag is officially called Nisshōki (日章旗, sun-mark flag) in Japanese, but is more commonly known as Hinomaru (日の丸, 'circle of the sun').