60ty's strolling

In 646, the Japanese Imperial Court declared all land as state-owned and conducted a population census. Adult citizens were given land, but were obligated to pay taxes on it. The legal system was also reformed, following the example of the Tang Dynasty in China. This resulted in imperial bureaucrats being selected to govern the country, and powerful aristocrats gradually became government officials. These reforms strengthened the centralized control of the emperor. Although the idea of giving land equally to all…

During the time of Taira no Masakado, Japan was a centralized state system ruled by the emperor, with local regions being governed and taxed by officials sent from the capital. The ruling class never left the capital and had no understanding of the corruption and heavy taxation imposed by local officials. Taira no Masakado initially followed the emperor’s officials, but in 929, when the Khitan leader Yelü Abaoji established himself as emperor and sent an envoy to Japan In 939,…

Kawashima Yoshiko was the 14th daughter of Prince Su, an eminent member of the Qing Dynasty who was one of the “Iron Hat Princes,” a title given to the eight most distinguished Manchu princes who had contributed to the founding of the dynasty. The first Prince Su was the eldest son of Emperor Hong Taiji and his primary consort, Empress Ulanara. Prince Su Zhong, the 10th Prince Su, played a role in protecting Japanese residents during the Boxer Rebellion in…

The ideal of a central government centered around the emperor that would govern the land and its people began in the 7th century, but by the end of the 12th century, it had largely disappeared. Internal conflicts within the imperial family and among the aristocracy led to nobles being expelled from the court and settling in various regions, gradually accumulating independent power from the central government. At the same time, they wanted to have influence in the capital and eventually…

The Emperor was the highest authority in the center of aristocratic society and traditional culture, but he granted wide-ranging powers to the samurai Yoritomo to govern the country. This led to Yoritomo becoming known as the shogun when he established the Kamakura shogunate in 1192. Before becoming shogun, Yoritomo eliminated anyone who might compete with him for power, including his own half-brother. He ordered the pregnant wife of his brother, Shizu, who he had captured, to dance at a shrine…

The Japanese word “mai” translates to “dance,” but its meaning goes beyond that. ” mai” is a dance performed to please the gods, as indicated by its Chinese characters. It was also used to entertain the emperor. The movie “Myth,” starring Jackie Chan, offers a good example of this. In the movie, Qin Shi Huangdi, the emperor of China, collected beautiful princesses from neighboring countries to be kept in his palace. Among them were Korean princesses. One of the Korean…

Chinese characters are hieroglyphs whose origins can be traced back to the Cossack script. The Koukou script was written on shells and bones during the Shang Dynasty to the Warring States Period, from the 14th century B.C. to the 3rd century B.C., to record divination and rituals, and to manage finances and supplies. The Chinese character “道” is often used for “paving the way,” “mastering the way,” and “judo.” The “道” in the Koukouji character comes from the picture of…

During the Shang Dynasty in ancient China, people used to practice divination by burning tortoise shells and cattle scapulae over a fire and interpreting the cracks that formed on them as the will of the gods. These divinations were used to govern themselves. The turtle shells and animal bones used for divination were engraved with the date and time of the divination, the name of the diviner, the matter divined, and the result of the divination. These engravings are called…

The Boshin War was a Japanese civil war fought between Imperial and shogunate forces from 1868 to 1869. While many foreigners may view the Meiji Restoration that followed as a positive development, it is important to recognize the tragedies that befell the regions that were defeated in the war. In these regions, residents often lacked basic necessities such as food, and some samurai families were forced to sell their daughters into servitude in Tokyo, where they became mistresses of Meiji…

In 1936, a Labour government was formed in New Zealand, and the new Prime Minister, Michael Joseph, promised to improve relations with Samoa. The new government reviewed several rules and laws, including establishing Samoan associate judges in the courts and hiring Samoans and local Europeans in the public sector. They also set up a registry office to recognize land rights. In 1947, Samoan leaders sent a letter to the United Nations asking for autonomy. The UN sent a delegation to…

New Zealand governed Samoa from 1919 to 1962, but initially struggled to understand and rule the country effectively. Samoa had a self-governing system in which chiefs in each village held important roles and responsibilities. However, the New Zealand government forbade Samoans from fulfilling these roles and transferred power from the matai, or village chiefs, to the New Zealand government. The New Zealand government even had the power to revoke the title of matai, which was deeply hurtful to Samoans as…

After Samoa became a colony in 1925, the Colonial Act was implemented, causing many issues as it failed to acknowledge the realities of Samoa. In 1929, during protests, Prince Tamasese was killed by New Zealand violence, which led to increasing momentum to oppose the colonial law and pursue independence and self-government by Samoans. Samoa appealed to New Zealand and the United States for independence. In 1948, the Samoan flag was allowed to fly next to the New Zealand flag, and…