Important Periods
The latest period of Japanese history we studied, from 1603-1868; shared its name with the capital of the time
What is the Edo period?
A curved, steel blade, key to the samurai's defence - he won't even walk around town without it
What is a katana?
No females can play roles in this traditional form of Japanese theatre, even though a woman started the whole thing in the 16th century
What is kabuki?
The first of his clan to hold this title for the Tokugawa, Ieyasu
What is a shogun?
A simple matter of saying 'hello' in Japanese
What is konnichiwa?
The time period that saw those pesky Portuguese enter Japanese harbours; I'll take a decade...
What is the 1540s?
What is a rikishi?
Shorter syllable
Form of poetic prose made
Famous in Japan
What is a haiku?
The policy of sakoku, the banning of trading and associating with foreigners really made it hard on one particular Christian-loving nation
Who are the Portuguese?
'daisho'
What is 'big and little' (referring to swords)?
You'd be hard-pressed to find some peace and quiet in this period, 1467-1615
What is the Sengoku Jidai/Warring States/Civil War period?
What is bushido?
What is a mie pose?
The death of this Tokugawa clan leader in 1858 coincided with the end of their stranglehold over the nation
Who is Iesada?
'bakufu'
What is a military government?
The earliest period we covered in our lessons, 794-1185, considered a golden age of Japanese literature, sounds a bit like if you were greeting your Vietnamese friend
What is the Heian period?
A two-metre bow, usually fired from horseback, oddly shaped but deadly accurate
What is a yumi?
What is chanko-nabe?
Choshu, Satsuma and Tosi are all of this rank with Japanese society, responsible for bringing down the weak Tokugawa Shogunate in the 1860s
What are daimyo?
'dohyo'
What is a sumo wrestling ring?
The exact year Commodore Perry signed the Treaty of Kanagawa, strong arming the Japanese into trading with America
When is 1854?
When samurai realised they could take their blade, and place it on the end of a large pole to increase their range of attack - seen quite often in movies and television shows, like Shogun...
What is a naginata?
The noh play we discussed; the occupation of the man who finds the angelic robe that he gives to the spirit so that she can return to the afterlife?
What is a fisherman?
A wealth system based in measures of rice - what could go wrong? Oh, only massive deforestation of Japan
What is the koku/daka?