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The 1st of September 2023 marked the 100th anniversary of the Great Kantō Earthquake. The Great Kantō Earthquake (関東大地震 Kantō daijishin) was a massive tremor that hit Tōkyō and the surrounding prefectures on 1 September 1923. The Japanese term Kantō daishinsai (関東大震災) also refers to the damage...

The Matsudaira (松平氏 Matsudaira-shi) were a samurai family (武家 buke) from the Matsudaira area in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). Although its exact origins are unclear, the clan claimed descent from the medieval Seiwa Genji (清和源氏) branch of the Minamoto. Its founder was said to be...

Takeda Shingen (1521-1573), also known as the "Tiger of Kai" (甲斐の虎), was one of the foremost daimyō of the Sengoku Period (1467-1568) and the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600). After deposing his father, he conquered his neighbours' territories and established control over the provinces of Kai...

Iwakura Tomomi (岩倉具視, 1825-1883) was a courtier and statesman who played a vital role in the Meiji Restoration. The only court noble in the early Meiji government, he was described as shrewd and cunning but instrumental in mediating between Satsuma and Chōshū. He had a strong influence on...

The lwakura Mission (岩倉使節団 Iwakura Shisetsudan, 1871-1873) was an eighteen-month embassy to the United States and Europe by leading members of the early Meiji government and one of the most remarkable journeys in world history. It was commissioned by Emperor Meiji and was said to have cost one...

The Father of Japanese Capitalism Shibusawa Eiichi. entrepreneur and business leader during the Meiji and Taishō periods Shibusawa Eiichi (渋沢 栄一, 1840-1931) was born in the village of Chiaraijima in modern-day Saitama Prefecture. Although Shibusawa's family consisted of small farmers with only...

Haniwa (埴輪) is a collective term for the unglazed earthenware cylinders and hollow sculptures that decorated the surface of the great mounded tombs (kofun) built for the Japanese elite during the fourth to seventh centuries. Haniwa (埴輪) statues were as tall as 1.5 metres and were made in various...

Taira no Masakado, a member of the Kanmu Taira clan, was the son of Taira no Yoshimasa, a provincial lord in the Kantō region. In 939, Masakado organised a rebellion and attacked the government post in Hitachi (modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture), capturing the province's governor. In the same year...

The Kamakura Period (鎌倉時代 Kamakura jidai, 1185-1333) is the historical period that corresponds to the rule of the Kamakura shōgun. It is named after Kamakura, where the shogunal government was located. While 1333 - the year in which the Kamakura shogunate was destroyed - is the undisputed end...

The Ashikaga Shogunate The Muromachi shogunate (1338-1573) was the second of Japan's three military regimes (幕府, bakufu), following the Kamakura shogunate (1192-1333) and preceding the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867). Established by Ashikaga Takauji (足利尊氏, 1305-1358), its name derives from the...

The Later Hōjō clan (後北条氏 Go-Hōjō-shi) were powerful regional lords at the end of the Muromachi Period (1333-1568) and in the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568-1600) and must not be confused with the warrior family by the same name who were hereditary regents (執権 shikken) of the Kamakura shogunate in...

Terje Solum is the author of the series "Saga of the Samurai". Over the past 14 years, he has published six volumes on the Kai Takeda clan. He will release his next volume dedicated to the Ōmi Gamō in late autumn. We interviewed Terje in August 2017. Q: Tell us a bit more about your...