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Using blogger is a sort of a pain compared to Google+ - probably on purpose!  So, if you like this blog - you might want to follow me on G+ or twitter because I'll post on those services more often because its easier.

Ears and noses

Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea twice in the late 1500s. For the Japanese things went pretty well until they didn't - China sent in troops and that was the end of that.
But back in the day, decapitation was akin to getting a receipt for service. To prove you'd been brave in the field of battle Samurai dressed in outlandish colours and crazy helmets so everyone would know who had done what. They even occasionally had battle-bureaucrats record and document the action as they found that being focussed on head-collection could come at the cost of actual battle victory.
What's this got to do with Korea?
Well head collecting and returning to Japan was totally impractical : too many heads were collected and they are kind of big and heavy. So, they collected ears (and noses), put them in barrels and sent them back to Japan where they put in this huge mound called Mimitzuka - Ear Mound.
Not surprisingly, the Korean government is not thrilled about such a monument still existing is the quiet suburbs of Kyoto and has asked for the remains to be returned.

Honno-ji Incident

Honno-ji is the temple Oda Nobunaga was relaxing in when Akechi Mitsuhide, a general in Oda's service, betrayed him and sent his soldiers to burn/kill.
It is alleged that he intended to take over the nation building business that Oda Nobunaga had established. It went so badly for Akechi Mitsuhide that he is known as the Mikka Kubo - The 3 Day Shogun. He was killed by peasants following his defeat by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

While I was sitting in the courtyard soaking in the atmosphere, a little old lady came over and struck up a conversation. She showed me the grave (not really a grave with his remains per se, more of a memorial stone) of Oda Nobunaga which was round the back and allegedly contains his sword.
Next to that, was a memorial to an artist if the Edo era known for being somewhat of a wandering epicurean - a drunk painter and poet whose skill was known to improve on alcohol. Much like my karaoke.

Fun facts

Fun fact 1
The Gifu bus company provides a TV for customers which includes your star sign predictions : "today you will go on a journey......"

Fun fact 2
Onsen usually have a sign itemizing the mineral content of the water you will bathe in.

Inuyama

Inuyama is a gorgeous town North of Nagoya. It is a Jokamachi style : Castle Town. The castle is actually one of Japanese oldest extant castles and is perched on top of the mountain by the river. This photo was taken from the onsen of my ryokan (Inuyama-kan) which was a pretty nice way to relax. The keep itself is great inside and you can explore the grounds and climb to the top level for a great view; a view that none other than Hideyoshi himself once saw when he occupied the castle during his brief campaign against Tokugawa Ieyasu. The entry ticket gets you in a few other museums near the castle.

Samurai armour

Samurai armour was much lighter than that of European knights. Large sheets of metal were not common and the panels were designed to absorb and diffuse shock rather than resist. I think Thomas Conlan did some work on the nature of injuries from 14th Century Samurai records, but I recall that facial injuries were common (you often see Samurai doing a bit of battlefield medicine by pulling arrows out of the eyes of comrades in scrolls) and that explains the decorative metal coverage of the face. They often included (like this one)  fearsome facial hair and expressions. Another feature was the helmet: specifically designed to stand out on the battlefield so that acts of bravery would be conspicuous.

3 great unifiers

Together again in Okazaki castle Tokugawa museum

Oranamon C

I agree with this guy.

Coin Locker blues

just love that awesome feeling you have a second after you close a coin locker and realise that I left something inside. #kechi

Shinshiro

Apart from the impressive history, Shinshiro is a beautiful town. Definitely worth a visit and the Sakura Bekkan Ryokan has a view of the Toyokawa river: full of keeping fish and surrounded by dozens of birds all chattering away.

Storm the palisades!

This is the view from the creek separating the Takeda and Oda forces. Much of the topography has changed because of 400 years of agriculture and industry, but you can see from the re-creation of the palisades that the logs were stout enough to block charging cavalry and also offer some minor protection to the arqubusiers in a melee.
Gaps in the palisades allowed infantry to break Takeda units fortunate enough to be intact after volleys of gunfire.
The museum curator told me that the foliage was very different back in the day with much of the hills that divide the creeks that flow into the valley being denuded of larger trees.
That's important because from the pic you can see that the thick forest also might have prevented attack (let alone Oda generals directing their soldiers).

For relaxing times

Had a massive and excellent day exploring Shinshiro and now it's time for King of Zipangu (taiga drama)  and a biiru in one of the nicest ryokan I've ever been in

Welcome to Shinshiro

There are signs and posters all across this town of Suemon, a Samurai who chose a painful death by crucifixion in order to tell his comrades inside the castle that everyone's favourite Oda was on way to relieve them

Smoke?

Japan still has a lot of smokers and with a pack costing about $5 (compared to $20 in Australia) it's hard to see the government taxing enough to offset healthcare costs.

Having said that, not that long ago people smoked anywhere and everywhere but nowadays more venues like the Yasukuni Shrine expect smokers to go into little rooms.

Shitaragahara museum

There is a great library in this museum. Nothing but sengokujidau material. Nothing.

The Aquaducts of Edo

In Edo people found that digging deep wells was not that practical because the ground was soft, sandy and somewhat salty - which makes sense the proximity to the Pacific.  What they decided to do in the suburbs of Edo was lay the wooden aquaduct pipes about 1m underground and link them with large wooden wells.  The wood was kept pest free because of the salty soil and were also, therefore pretty long lasting.  The aquaducts were fed from reservoirs in the mountains.

The commoners had a community well rather than water to their house - and this was also close to the community toilet and bath.

Commoners were forbidden to have fires in their houses because of the risk of burning the enitre city to the ground (which happened many times bankrupting the daimyo had had to sustain a residence in Edo and back home) and the city was even alid out with very very wide streets to form as fire-breaks.  The bath was a place for locals to meet and have legal fire - and that history is the reason that in many Japanese cities today you still find community bath houses in the inner, older suburbs.

Shitamachi museum tokyo

Yesterday I went to Shitamachi Museum near Ueno and it was bloody awesome. Inside is a recreation of a merchant business and 2 commoner tenements. This pic is of the copper smith's tea pot and sake warmer. The sake was placed in a container full of water warmed from the coals: but not so hot as to boil. Perfect sake temperature, I'm told, is 38C.

Pachinko: retro

Pachinko was much cooler 100years ago.

Closed

Japan was tough on immigration with a policy called "sakoku". No one was allowed in or out upon pain of death but there were exceptions. The bakufu really liked trade monopolies and no small part of the sakoku policy can be explained this way. Trade with Korea and China continued and the Dutch were allowed to trade in Nagasaki via a small artificial Island called Dejima. Each year the Dutch were asked to report to bakufu on the affairs around the world. One of those things was the French Revolution. Needless to say, Japanese Peasants did not get told about 'egalitaire, fraternity and liberty'. One could argue (I would)  that the average Japanese person (assuming that average is a peasant) wasn't to be properly exposed to those concepts until 1945.

Here is a pic of the policy document of sakoku

Me and an old friend

Tokugawa deified and waiting for the bird to sing.

Maybe some karaoke tonight?

Edo museum

Next time you walk past the Edo Museum, pause for a moment to remember that the Edo castle was the same height. It must have dominated the growing city back in the 16 diggities

Oh canada

When Japan formally surrendered on the USS Missouri, the allies signed the document. But bloody Canada buggered it up. They signed on the French line forcing all other countries to sign on the wrong row. Poor New Zealand got left off!

Be mount Fuji

You know how frustrating it is to be invited to Geography themed dress up parties? Worry no more

A Short Tour of Japan

So, in just 21 hours I'll be heading out to Tokyo, Shinshiro, Inuyama, Sekigahara, Azuchi and Kyoto on a bit of a history tour of Japan.  I'll be posting my pics and thoughts in this blog.

My plan is to also talk to as many Japanese people as possible to not only practice my terrible Japanese skills - but also to learn more about how the Japanese see their own history.

If you have any feedback, I'd really appreciate it!