Edo Castle

Castles were used in feudal Japan and medieval Europe as homes for the noble classes and as defensive fortresses. They were both very effective at protecting the inhabitants and stop attacking forces however, there are a few important differences. Japanese castles were not just used for defensive reasons they are also artistic and beautiful through the architecture and surrounding environment while European castles focussed more on defensive capabilities and functionality. In feudal Japan…

Several lands to the north of the Callaghan’s Kingdom stood a massive ironstone castle on a land called Rosemore. A castle embedded in a colossus of mountains that overlooks a waterfall, encase by a vast forest of swirling cherry wood trees with leaves the color of charcoal. The people of this land-name after their beloved queen, holds the castle as a beacon of hope, which represents the paragon of the late King Phillip Wylie. Throughout the Battles of the Lands, King David Callaghan, and his…

A siege tower was used to attack or capture an opposition’s castle. The siege tower was a large and tall tower on wheels, it would roll up to the castle in an attempt to overpower the defenders on the walls. Six large wheels, with three on either side would usually hold the tower up, and obviously move it forward. Inside the siege tower would have multiple levels that would hold troops of knights, so they are ready to cross the drawbridge at the second from the top level. A drawbridge at the top…

Prince Louis utilized it when he employed it at Dover Castle as he attempted to take the English thrown. The first siege of the castle started in July 19, 1216 and ended October 14th and a truce was struck between the castle of Dover and Prince Louis. The second siege was started in May 17, 1217 with prince Louis setting up a trebuchet trying to fire on the walls and gate but this proved…

Edo Era was a strong military run government, highest members of society were the samurai, the knights of Japan, and also leader of the country was named the Shogun. Being a strong lover of the Bushido Code, Hisashi really enjoyed many subjects the Edo Era had to show including the art styles of the street vendors, being this is a time before the western craze hit Japan it was…

Imagining a country that is totally closed off from all exterior surroundings is very difficult do, as there are very few countries that even have the resources for such an endeavor. This is the perceived vision of what Japan was like during the Tokugawa period, where the Shoguns employed an idea of Sakoku in Japan. But what does Sakoku mean? There is a literal translation of closing down the country, but the foreign relations policy did not follow this word for word translation . Along with…

minutest physical characteristics, like hair color, can give reason for this baseless prejudice. Early records in japan indicate an “untouchable” social class that occupied undesirable jobs like tending to the dead and butchery. Since the Japanese Edo Period from 1600 to 1867, there has existed a strict social hierarchy. In the lowest rung of this hierarchy are burakumin, which translates to “village people”. The offensiveness of this designation is not apparent until it is…

Saigō Takamori was born on on 1827/12/7 in the Castletown of Kagoshima, an isolated area within the Satsuma domain under the control of the Shimazu clan which had established themselves as the oldest living clan in Japan at the time of his birth. The Shimazu clan were of notable prestige in that they were the only clan that received foreign ambassadors in a time when, under the orders of the Tokugawa Shogunate (the shogunate was a council of military commanders led primarily by a single domain),…

Gender Roles Throughout the Meiji Era, gender roles were redefined following the Western standards, many roles were outlined in the Imperial Constitution and other legal documents. Women faced harder segregation compared to the Tokugawa Era. In the Imperial Constitution it defined the definition of a “family”. It segregated women, men, and children into roles in the traditional family, with the father as the head of the household. The Imperial Constitution allowed polygamy, which is where a…

The Creation of a Nation The Japan of today is often seen as a cohesive, homogenous nation with a strong sense of national pride and identity. However, this was not always the case; the image of Japan as a nation, as a group of people with a common identity, did not exist in the pre-Tokugawa period. Instead, it was through the centralizing forces of the Meiji Revolution, on both political and social levels, that ultimately resulted in the creation of Japan, the nation state. The political…