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Historical Biographies

Historical Biographies

Kojima Iken (児島惟謙, 1837-1908), also known as Kojima Korekata (児島惟謙), was born in the Uwajima Domain (宇和島藩 Uwajima-han), Iyo Province (伊予国 iyo-no-kuni, modern-day Ehime Prefecture), into a family of samurai of the Uwajima clan. Separated from his biological mother at an early age, it is said that...
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5,896
Godai Tomoatsu (五代友厚, 1836-1885), also known as Godai Saisuke, was born in the castle town of Kagoshima, Satsuma domain (modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture), as the second son of Takashi Shigeru Saemon (左衛門秀尭), a local magistrate holding the hereditary title of atai (直, regional administrator) and...
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12,365
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Born into a samurai family from Akune City, Satsuma domain (modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture), Terashima (寺島宗則, 1832-1893) studied rangaku (蘭学, “Dutch studies” consisting of Dutch language and European sciences) in Edo and specialised in Western medicine. In 1856, he was appointed a personal...
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5,778
Born into a low-ranking samurai family from Sanuki Province (讃岐国 Sanuki-no kuni, modern-day Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku), Hiraga Gennai (平賀源内, 1728-1780) was also known as Kunitomo (国倫) and under his pen names Fūrai Sanjin (風来山人, “Wind Straddler”), Kyūkei (鳩渓, “Valley of Doves”), Fukuchi Kigai...
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10,629
Also known under the name Komatsu Kiyokado (小松清廉), Tatewaki (小松帯刀, 1835-1870) was born as the third son to Kimotsuki Kiire (肝付兼善), a high-ranking retainer of the Satsuma domain with an annual rice stipend of 5,500 koku (石), and was later adopted by Komatsu Kiyoshi (小松清), another retainer of the...
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8,415
Mito daimyō and an iconic drama character Tokugawa Mitsukuni (徳川 光圀, 1628-1701) was the second lord of the Mito Domain, one of the Tokugawa Gosanke (徳川御三家), the three highest-ranking branches of the Tokugawa clan, located in present-day Ibaraki Prefecture. He was a grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu...
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8,888
Mito lord and reactionary reformerTokugawa Nariaki (徳川斉昭, 1800-1860) was the ninth daimyō of the Mito domain (modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture) and father of the fifteenth and last Tokugawa shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu. An active reformer in the domain’s government and a leader in the sonnō jōi...
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7,701
Lord of Hikone and ill-fated Tokugawa regent Ii Naosuke (井伊直弼, 1815-1860) was the fourteenth daimyō of the Hikone Domain (modern-day Shiga Prefecture) and as tairō (大老, “regent”) of the Tokugawa shogunate the de-facto ruler of Japan for almost two years (1858-60). During his short rule, Ii...
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11,936
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Court scholar, poet, and prominent Heian figure Sugawara no Michizane (菅原道真, 845-903) was a leading court scholar, poet, and political figure of the Heian Period (794-1185) who challenged the powerful Fujiwara family and was sent into exile where he died in disgrace. The Sugawara descended from...
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35,496
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Legendary Asuka statesman and devout follower of Buddhism As regent for Empress Suiko (推古天皇 Suiko-tennō, 554-628), Prince Shōtoku (聖徳太子 Shōtoku Taishi, 572-622) exercised political leadership, instituting such measures as the Kan’i Jūnikai (冠位十二階, Twelve Level Cap and Rank System) and the...
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19,511
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Senhime (千姫, 1597-1666) or Lady Sen was the daughter of the third Tokugawa shōgun Hidetada (徳川秀忠, 1579-1632) and the wife of Toyotomi Hideyori (豊臣秀頼, 1593-1615), himself son of the national unifier Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Her mother Tatsuhime and Hideyori’s mother Yodogimi were sisters, while her...
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8,535
Gamo Ujisato (1556-1595) Also known under his childhood name Tsuruchiyo (鶴千代), as Utahide (賦秀) and under his Christian name Leão, Gamo Ujisato (蒲生氏郷 1556-1595) was a daimyō of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568-1600) and son of Gamō Katahide (蒲生 賢秀, 1534-1584), lord of Hino Castle in Ōmi...
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9,315
Master swordsman and accomplished painter Master swordsman and painter of the Edo period (1600-1868), also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke, Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara no Genshin (新免武蔵守藤原玄信), and under his artistic name Niten. Miyamoto Musashi (宮本武蔵 1584-1645), born in either...
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9,743
A samurai with a vision A pro-imperial activist in the Bakumatsu Period who helped forge the alliance between Satsuma and Chōshū that would eventually topple the Tokugawa shogunate. Sakamoto Ryōma (坂本龍馬, 1836-1867) was born to a rural samurai (郷士 gōshi or 郷侍 gōzamurai) family in the castle town...
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Motonari and his three arrowsA Sengoku daimyō and military leader in the Chūgoku Region of western Japan. Mōri family crestMōri Motonari (毛利元就, 1497-1571), the second son of Mōri Hiromoto (d. 1556), became head of the Mōri clan of Aki Province (安芸国 Aki no kuni) or Geishū (芸州, modern-day...
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12,993
Also called Sakuma Zōzan, Shōzan (佐久間象山, 1811-1864) was a progressive samurai intellectual of the Bakumatsu period. Born in Matsushiro, the castle town of the Matsushiro domain (松代藩 Matsushiro-han, modern-day Nagano Prefecture), Shozan studied Chinese learning (漢学) under his father, a...
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11,290
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Second shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu Born at the castle of Hamamatsu, Tokugawa Hidetada (徳川秀忠, 1579-1632) served as the general of one of his father's armies in the campaign that led to the Battle of Sekigahara (1600) and the sieges of Ōsaka Castle (1614-15). In...
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9,926
Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光, 1604-1651) was the third shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate, the eldest legitimate son of the second shōgun, grandson of Ieyasu. Tokugawa Iemitsu Born under his childhood name Tokugawa Takechiyō (徳川竹千代) to his father Tokugawa Hidetada and a younger sister of Lady...
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13,970
A prominent administrator of the early Tokugawa shogunate, also known as Chie Izu (知恵伊豆, “The Clever Izu”). Born to Ōkōchi Hisatsuna, a senior retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu of modest background, Nobutsuna (松平信綱, 1596-1662) was adopted as the heir of his uncle, Matsudaira Masatsuna, in 1601. He was...
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8,590
The fourth shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate, the eldest son of the third shōgun Iemitsu, great-grandson of Ieyasu. Tokugawa Ietsuna (Kanō Yasunobu, 1613-1685) The eldest son of Iemitsu, Tokugawa Ietsuna (徳川家綱, 1641-1680) succeeded his father at the age of 10. He was assisted by regents, all...
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10,138

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