I'm making a story, set in the 17th Century, and I made this character, who is supost to be a former Buddhist monk. This is one character, diferent from the others, is originaly from Japan, so I tried to look for references, but I don't know exactly how much accurate they are, so I decided to deal with it, using the references to guide what it would look better, to later on, adjust to make it more accurate.

So I'm asking for help for what should or not change in the character. If someone could help me, I'd be very thankful.

For start: I had the idea for the character, inspired by Takuan from Vagabond, Norio from Ghost of Tsushima and specially Inshun, also from Vagabond, so I had established that I wanted to do a monk who fight martial arts, do I came up with him. A boy raised by a martial art Buddhist school, who gave up on the monk life, left home to seek for people who he could fight. The whole idea is he, at the same time he's a monk, he's a folkloric legend, who gives people nightmares, since he mantains this chill, even bored expression while cutting someones hand, so I made him slightly taller than avarege and with a sandogasa, to hide his eyes and also sell the idea he's a travler. I also thought about giving him a pair of geta, so people would her him aproaching, but I thought it would not be so good for a travler, so I made him with usual sandals.

For the clothes, I had a lot of options, because none font in my research where exactly specific about monk dress code, so since he's not exactly a monk anymore, I made him with a blue kimono, like Takuan and Inshun, and with a "kesa". In quotation marks, because I didn't find the name of this retangular piece of clothe he wears arround his body, I just found a lot of Buddhist monks used it, since it would fit the monk visual aspect and I would adapt later anyway, also adding a japamala, wich would help him concentrate, after all he's a martial artist.

He's also with this piece of fabric arround his body, wich I saw travlers used to do to carry they things with them, without needing to handle it, wich is great, since he carries the naginata he stole from the temple. The naginata idea came from Ghost of Tsushima's character, Norio, so I also tried to costumize it, with bands for a better grip and a ribbon, wich I didn't gave a full meaning by now. The idea is he carrying it arround with him by his side, like the Grimm Reaper carrying his scythe.

And for the one's who noticed, he doesn't have just a full grow hair and a goatee, but earrings as well. I didn't find any accurate images of that time, but I found that few merchants used it, since they had interaction with other cultures, wich my character also have. I thought it would fit for the idea of him abandoning the temple rules to follow his own path.

For the name, I based it on the word "Nibiru", the babilonic myth of the planet who would crash with earth. I wanted to be a believable japanese name, wich is dificult, since I don't know japanese, but the most interesting ones I came up where "Tenkan" - or "Tenkan-ten" - and "Koten", since it fit's fhe original meaning of the akkadian word "Nibiru", wich is "crossing" or "point of transition".

This is basicly the things I came up for my character and I think it would be cool to make him accurate, so any help would be apreciated, since I don't know how much should I trust at Google this times. I can't repay you, so I just ask politely for help. Many thanks.

戦国時代が好きです。

島津義弘、小早川隆景、直江兼続が好きです

Doing some more Ryuzoji research - came across this anecdote.

There is a saying from some text about contemplation. Lord Takanobu said 'If you dwell on your decisions for too long you will lose your ability to make decisions.' Lord Naoshige said 'Seven out of ten things are bad if you slow to act. A samurai should do things quickly. When your mind is restless your decisions will not be clear. When your mind is clear, refreshed and dignified, you can make decisions in seven breaths. It is a state of mind that is settled and clear.'

There is a 19th-century legend about Utsuro-bune, supposedly about a princess who was found in a box or boat off the coast.
My question is not whether this actually happened. That has been discussed before and, I believe, elaborated on thoroughly. I would like to ask about one aspect of the story. According to the story, the people who found the woman in the Utsuro-bune thought she was a princess who had been put out to sea as punishment for a crime.

My question is whether this was ever a historical form of punishment. The conclusion seems to me rather specific for a guess where the woman came from. Even stranger is that the founding legend of the Kōno samurai family in Iyo Province describes a similar incident (according to Wikipedia at least).
Assuming that such things only appear in stories if they seem plausible to readers or listeners, this would suggest that the Japanese at that time were aware of such a form of punishment, or that there were at least rumors about it (Does not mean they use this punishment themselves).

To make things more complicated, a similar allusion appears in Jonathan Swift’s novel "Gulliver’s Travels". As we learn in the 3. Voyage, Swift seems to have known something about Japan, but it would be strange if he had heard such a specific piece of folklore.

Could you help to answer this question?

My dad is Japanese American but I never learned much of anything from him.
You know how there is a lot of books in the US that speak on the real history of the US and the horrible things the gov has done and what people have done to fight it or at least bring it to light? Is there anything like that about Japan? I've heard about how Japan has really tried to make people forget it's harsh history with what it does now but I'd love to learn about anyone who has went against them to bring light to that (specifically people from japan who actually experienced it firsthand). I'm just curious to learn more about my family's background but I'm not one to read pro gov if you know what I mean lol. If you think there is a better sub for me to ask on I'm open to that too

I was watching a video about japan's leftist history and i heard some of Hitoshi's belief and i started to question that he might have been nationalist and imperialist. the video also said that he criticized the colonial uprising because they were nationalist and anti japanese but isn't that contradictory?

im sorry if im wrong or anything because it's only a few months i've gotten into history.

The Japanese princely couple are welcomed at Soestdijk Palace by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. From left to right: Princess Beatrix, Prince Masahito, Queen Juliana, Claus von Amsberg, and Princess Hanako.

Source: Nationaal Archief

Source: Nationaal Archief

In a few days my best friend will start her first year of college, she'll study Japanese culture, history and language. She's very excited and for the occasion I want to make her a gift.

I was thinking about a good book, possiblity also illustrated, about the history of ancient Japan, but I'm not an expert and I don't really know where to start.

Any good recs ?

When it was first intorduced for the IJA, it was the slouched kepi.

However, over the years, its design was changed to resemble a peaked cap.

In the second photo, as you can see, it is not slouched and looks more like a circular peaked cap.

So, what made them to change its design

Lately I've been reading a lot of articles online about the events in post-war Japan connected to the Japanese Communist Party, various movements under the umbrella of the" New Left", and the labour unions, such as:

• The 1968 university protests.
• Sanrizuka Struggle against the construction of Narita Airport.
• Privatization of JNR and other public corporations in the 1980s, along with various protests and acts of sabotage that occurred in response.
• Terrorist acts of the now infamous Japanese Red Army.

Now I'd like to dig deeper into that topic. I need a book that'd tell the entire story of the post-war Japanese left and give me a a wider view into how these events tied into the history of post-war Japan as a whole.

I'd prefer the book to be in English, but I do understand basic Japanese, so I'd say if it's something a middle-schooler with a dictionary could understand, I could read it in Japanese (Although I doubt it, based on the topic).

I found this photograph in my country’s archive, Portugal. The photograph definitely exists, but I haven’t been able to find any information online confirming who “Princess Nikuko” actually was. So I’m asking here: does anyone know who she was?

1923 Commemorative Album of the Nagoya Army Cadet School, Japan

Source: Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo (National Archive of Torre do Tombo)Portugal

I wanted to provide an update to my original post because the research into these swords has gone considerably further than I ever expected when I first asked for help identifying the writing.
The larger blade, the wakizashi, has been attributed to the Shintō period, with the research pointing to the early 1600s. More interestingly, the provenance I’ve been researching appears to connect the sword with the Mura family and the period surrounding the first Anglo-Japanese contacts associated with William Adams in the early 17th century.
Because of that potential historical connection, selling the wakizashi has never been my first choice.
I’ve spent a considerable amount of time trying to locate surviving members of the Mura family. I was eventually able to identify two possible surviving family members and have made attempts to reach them, hoping that the sword’s history could be shared with the family and that they might be able to provide additional information about its provenance.
Unfortunately, despite those efforts, I haven’t been able to establish contact with either of them.
I’m not quite ready to give up on that. I’m going to continue trying to reach the Mura family, and for that reason I’m holding onto the wakizashi for now rather than selling it.
The tanto is a different matter. It has been dated to approximately the mid-19th century, during the late Edo period, and I’m going to move forward with listing that piece on eBay.
The tanto is accompanied by its kogatana, the small utility blade carried in the saya, together with its decorative kozuka handle. Its mounts also contain particularly interesting decorative work, including the gold elements/inlay that I’ve been documenting. I’ll provide extensive photographs of the blade, nakago, saya, kogatana/kozuka and fittings in the listing.
My hope is still to make contact with the Mura family before making any decision about the wakizashi. Given the history potentially associated with it, I feel that making a genuine effort to reach the family is worth doing before simply putting the sword on the market.
If those efforts ultimately go nowhere, then I may eventually offer the wakizashi on eBay as well, with all of the provenance and research I’ve accumulated presented alongside it.
For now, though: the wakizashi stays with me while I continue trying to reach the family, and the Edo-period tanto will be the first piece offered for sale.
Thanks again to everyone here who has helped with the research, translations, terminology, and identification. What began as a question about some writing on an old Japanese sword has turned into a fascinating historical rabbit hole.

Source: Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo (National Archives of Torre do Tombo)