Famous Japanese Swordsmen of the Period of Unification

Famous Japanese Swordsmen of the Period of Unification PDF Author: William De Lange
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781891640544
Category : Japan
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"The Period of Unification was the final great epoch in Japan's long period of civil strife. Finally, after more than two centuries of terrible turmoil, Japan found its way back to peace and order under three successive rulers. The final drive came in the fall of 1600, when Japan's eastern and western warlords faced each other in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara. Each and every man who called himself a warrior now faced the stark choice between the forces of division and those of unification." "Two such men were Ono Jiroemon Tadaaki and Yagyu Tajima no Kami Munenori. Tadaaki, a swordsman from the Kanto, had lost his family and home and become a ronin, a masterless samurai. Munenori hailed from the Home Provinces. His clan had lost its lands and castle, and had been reduced to lives as dependents. Having lost everything, both men staked their lives and futures on the victory of the eastern forces." "Their story, told against the greater historical backdrop of ruthless political intrigue and vast military campaigns, is a story of the tragedy of civil war experienced at the personal level - it is a story of loyalty, of betrayal, of seemingly insurmountable setbacks. Yet their courage in the face of overwhelming odds still stands as moving testimony to the kind of perseverance and dedication that can have no equal in times of peace."--BOOK JACKET.

Famous Japanese Swordsmen of the Period of Unification

Famous Japanese Swordsmen of the Period of Unification PDF Author: William De Lange
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781891640544
Category : Japan
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
"The Period of Unification was the final great epoch in Japan's long period of civil strife. Finally, after more than two centuries of terrible turmoil, Japan found its way back to peace and order under three successive rulers. The final drive came in the fall of 1600, when Japan's eastern and western warlords faced each other in the decisive Battle of Sekigahara. Each and every man who called himself a warrior now faced the stark choice between the forces of division and those of unification." "Two such men were Ono Jiroemon Tadaaki and Yagyu Tajima no Kami Munenori. Tadaaki, a swordsman from the Kanto, had lost his family and home and become a ronin, a masterless samurai. Munenori hailed from the Home Provinces. His clan had lost its lands and castle, and had been reduced to lives as dependents. Having lost everything, both men staked their lives and futures on the victory of the eastern forces." "Their story, told against the greater historical backdrop of ruthless political intrigue and vast military campaigns, is a story of the tragedy of civil war experienced at the personal level - it is a story of loyalty, of betrayal, of seemingly insurmountable setbacks. Yet their courage in the face of overwhelming odds still stands as moving testimony to the kind of perseverance and dedication that can have no equal in times of peace."--BOOK JACKET.

Famous Japanese Swordsmen of the Two Courts Period

Famous Japanese Swordsmen of the Two Courts Period PDF Author: William De Lange
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
From the author of the best-selling Famous Japanese Swordsmen: The Warring States comes more solid sword history in the guise of thrilling narrative. The Two Courts Period was a turning point in Japan's medieval era - a time when an unbridgeable rift appeared in the fragile fabric of Japanese feudal society. On each side stood a separate imperial court, each with its own army and its own agenda. As the schism deepened and the positions hardened, every warrior faced the terrible choice between loyalty and friendship. Two such men were Nennami Okuyama Jion and Chûjô Hyôgo no Kami Nagahide. Jion, an impoverished warrior monk who had lost his father through the treachery of a Bakufu official, joined the side of the loyalists, the forces fighting on behalf of the Southern Court. Nagahide, whose ancestors had stood at the cradle of feudal society and had risen to high rank within the Bakufu, was bound by duty to the Northern Court. Their stories, set against the greater historical backdrop of ruthless political intrigue and vast military campaigns, tell of loyalty, of betrayal, and of seemingly insurmountable setbacks; they describe the tragedy of civil war experienced at the personal level.

The Tale of the Heike

The Tale of the Heike PDF Author:
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101601094
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 1079

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Book Description
The Tale of the Heike is Japan's great martial epic; a masterpiece of world literature and the progenitor of all samurai stories, now in a major and groundbreaking new translation by Royall Tyler, acclaimed translator of The Tale of Genji. First assembled from scattered oral poems in the early fourteenth century, The Tale of the Heike is Japan's Iliad - a grand-scale depiction of the wars between the Heike and Genji clans. Legendary for its magnificent and vivid set battle scenes, it is also a work filled with intimate human dramas and emotions, contemplating Buddhist themes of suffering and separation, as well as universal insights into love, loss and loyalty. The narrative moves back and forth between the two great warring clans, between aristocratic society and street life, adults and children, great crowds and introspection. No Japanese work has had a greater impact on subsequent literature, theatre, music and films, or on Japan's sense of its own past. Royall Tyler's new translation is the first to capture the way The Tale of the Heike was originally performed. It re-creates the work in its full operatic form, with speech, poetry, blank verse and song that convey its character as an oral epic in a way not seen before, fully embracing the rich and vigorous language of the original texts. Beautifully illustrated with fifty-five woodcuts from the nineteenth-century artistic master, Katsushika Hokusai, and bolstered with maps, character guides, genealogies and rich annotation, this is a landmark edition. Royall Tyler taught Japanese language and literature for many years at the Australian National University. He has a B.A. from Harvard University and a PhD from Columbia University and has taught at Harvard, Stanford and the University of Wisconsin. His translation of The Tale of Genji was acclaimed by publications such as The New York Times Book Review.

Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi PDF Author: William De Lange
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781891640629
Category : Swordsmen
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A full biography of Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi

Famous Japanese Swordsmen

Famous Japanese Swordsmen PDF Author: William De Lange
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781891640438
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The most destructive epoch in Japan's long history of civil strife, the Warring States period began when the dearly won supremacy of the Ashikaga clan was squandered by a weak and indecisive ruler, allowing the jealous rivalry between local warlords to spiral irrevocably out of control.

Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai PDF Author: Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Publisher: Xist Publishing
ISBN: 1681950448
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 105

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Book Description
A Collection of Thoughts, Sayings and Meditations on the Way of the Samurai "It is said that what is called "the spirit of an age" is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world's coming to an end. For this reason, although one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation." — Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai A formerly secret text known only to the Samurai, Hagakure is a classic text on Bushido--the Way of the Warrior. More than just a handbook for battle, Hagakure is a text that filled with teachings that still apply in business, political and social situations today. This Xist Classics edition has been professionally formatted for e-readers with a linked table of contents. This eBook also contains a bonus book club leadership guide and discussion questions. We hope you’ll share this book with your friends, neighbors and colleagues and can’t wait to hear what you have to say about it.

Famous Samurai

Famous Samurai PDF Author: William De Lange
Publisher: Toyo Press
ISBN: 9781891640957
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
True stories of the two greatest sword heroes of the Waring States Period (1469-1573). This was the most destructive period in Japan's history. It was a time when thousands of warriors either perished or persevered on the strength of their martial skills.

The Book of Five Rings

The Book of Five Rings PDF Author: Musashi Miyamoto
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 9780877739982
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Covers the art of war, focusing on the psychology and physics of lethal assault and decisive victory as the essence of warfare.

Samurai

Samurai PDF Author: Mitsuo Kure
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 146291490X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 613

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Book Description
Samurai: An Illustrated History brings the violent, tumultuous, and, at the same time, elegant world of the medieval Japanese samurai to life. This book of Japanese history traces the story of a unique historical phenomenon: a period of 700 years--equivalent to the entire stretch of Western history between the reigns of the Crusader king Richard the Lionhearted and of Queen Victoria at the height of the British Empire--during which an enclosed civilization was dominated by a single warrior caste. The historical narrative of samurai history is supported by explanations of samurai armor, weapons, fortifications, tactics, and customs, and illustrated with nearly 800 fascinating color photographs, maps, and sketches, including ancient scroll paintings and surviving suits of armor preserved for centuries in Japanese shrines. From the 12th to the 19th centuries the history of Japan was effectively the history of the samurai--the class of professional fighting men. At first, they were no more than lowly soldiery employed by the court aristocracy of Kyoto, but the growing power of the provincial warrior clans soon enabled them to brush aside the executive power of the imperial court and to form their own parallel military government. Though individual dynasties came and went in cycles of vigor and decadence, the dominance of the samurai as a class proved uniquely resilient.

African Samurai

African Samurai PDF Author: Thomas Lockley
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN: 1488098751
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 518

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Book Description
This biography of the first foreign-born samurai and his journey from Africa to Japan is “a readable, compassionate account of an extraordinary life” (The Washington Post). When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traveled much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child, he had ended up a servant and bodyguard to the head of the Jesuits in Asia, with whom he traversed India and China learning multiple languages as he went. His arrival in Kyoto, however, literally caused a riot. Most Japanese people had never seen an African man before, and many of them saw him as the embodiment of the black-skinned Buddha. Among those who were drawn to his presence was Lord Nobunaga, head of the most powerful clan in Japan, who made Yasuke a samurai in his court. Soon, he was learning the traditions of Japan’s martial arts and ascending the upper echelons of Japanese society. In the four hundred years since, Yasuke has been known in Japan largely as a legendary, perhaps mythical figure. Now African Samurai presents the never-before-told biography of this unique figure of the sixteenth century, one whose travels between countries and cultures offers a new perspective on race in world history and a vivid portrait of life in medieval Japan. “Fast-paced, action-packed writing. . . . A new and important biography and an incredibly moving study of medieval Japan and solid perspective on its unification. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal (starred review) “Eminently readable. . . . a worthwhile and entertaining work.” —Publishers Weekly “A unique story of a unique man, and yet someone with whom we can all identify.” —Jack Weatherford, New York Times–bestselling author of Genghis Khan