KyotoKyoto (ˈkjoʊtoʊ; Japanese: 京都, Kyōto kjoꜜːto), officially Kyoto City, is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the ninth most populous city in Japan. The city is the cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Kyoto, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 3.
DaimyoDaimyo were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to the emperor and the kuge. In the term, dai means 'large', and myō stands for 名田, meaning 'private land'. From the shugo of the Muromachi period through the Sengoku to the daimyo of the Edo period, the rank had a long and varied history.
History of JapanThe first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38-40,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inventions were introduced from Asia. During this period, the first known written reference to Japan was recorded in the Chinese Book of Han in the first century AD. Around the 3rd century BC, the Yayoi people from the continent immigrated to the Japanese archipelago and introduced iron technology and agricultural civilization.
ShogunShogun (ˈʃoʊgʌn ; shōgun, ɕoːɡɯɴ), officially 征夷大将軍, was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, although during part of the Kamakura period, shoguns were themselves figureheads, with real power in the hands of the Shikken of the Hōjō clan. The office of shogun was in practice hereditary, although over the course of the history of Japan several different clans held the position.
Satsuma DomainThe Satsuma Domain, briefly known as the Kagoshima Domain, was a domain (han) of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1602 to 1871. The Satsuma Domain was based at Kagoshima Castle in Satsuma Province, the core of the modern city of Kagoshima, located in the south of the island of Kyushu. The Satsuma Domain was ruled for its existence by the Tozama daimyō of the Shimazu clan, who had ruled the Kagoshima area since the 1200s, and covered territory in the provinces of Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga.
KimonoThe kimono is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono is traditionally worn with a broad sash, called an obi, and is commonly worn with accessories such as zōri sandals and tabi socks. Kimono have a set method of construction and are typically made from a long, narrow bolt of cloth known as a tanmono, though Western-style fabric bolts are also sometimes used.
Economy of JapanThe economy of Japan is a highly developed/advanced social market economy, often referred to as an East Asian model. It is the third-largest in the world by nominal GDP and the fourth-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It is the world's second-largest developed economy. Japan is a member of both the G7 and G20. According to the IMF, the country's per capita GDP (PPP) was at $51,809 (2023). Due to a volatile currency exchange rate, Japan's GDP as measured in dollars fluctuates sharply.
KeiretsuA keiretsu is a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings that have dominated the Japanese economy since the second half of the 20th century. In the legal sense, it is a type of informal business group that are loosely organized alliances within the social world of Japan's business community. It rose up to replace the zaibatsu system that was dissolved in the Occupation of Japan following the Second World War, and, though their influence has shrunk since the late 20th century, they continue to be important forces in Japan's economy in the early 21st century.
Taishō eraThe Taishō era, taiɕoː dʑidai was a period in the history of Japan dating from 30 July 1912 to 25 December 1926, coinciding with the reign of Emperor Taishō. The new emperor was a sickly man, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of elder statesmen (or genrō) to the Imperial Diet of Japan and the democratic parties. Thus, the era is considered the time of the liberal movement known as Taishō Democracy; it is usually distinguished from the preceding chaotic Meiji era and the following militaristic-driven first part of the Shōwa era.
Sonnō jōi尊王攘夷 was a yojijukugo (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement sought to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate and restore the power of the Emperor of Japan. During the Spring and Autumn period of China, Chancellor Guan Zhong of Qi initiated a policy known as Zunwang Rangyi (尊王攘夷 ; lit. "Revere the King, Expel the Barbarians"), in reference to the Zhou kings.
