Edo - the EDOPEDIA -

5/05/2016

bijin beauties of Edo

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. Ukiyo-e　浮世絵　"pictures of the floating world" - Introduction .
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Edo no bijin 江戸の美人 the beauties of Edo

. kanban musume 水茶屋の看板娘 Kamban "advertising servant girl" .

CLICK for more photos !

Beauties with a sumptuous body and plump face 豊かな体, ふくよかな顔 in the Early Edo period,
but the ideals for "beauty" were changing with time.

弾琴美人 Beauty playing the Koto / 鈴木春信 Suzuki Harunobu

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. bijin 美人 beauty - beauty amulet 美守 - bijin kigan 美人祈願お守り .
Next to prayers for good health, prayers for a beautiful face, skin or body were quite popular.
biyoo jisha 美容寺社 praying for beauty at a Shinto Shrine

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- quote
江戸時代における美人の条件は？ Conditions for a beauty in the Edo period.

面長
切れ長で涼しげな一重
鼻筋の通った中高の鼻
小さな口
きめこまやかで白い肌
美しく豊かな黒髪

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biidoro o fuku musume ビードロを吹く娘 girl blowing a poppen
美人画の大家・喜多川歌麿 Kitagawa Utamaro
This Bijin is a normal girl from the village 町娘. Her kimono is special, with an Ishimatsu pattern and cherry blossoms, signs of Spring.

. poppen, hoppen ぽっぺん / ポッペン glass ball plopping .
The glass balls are also known as "biidoro ビードロ", from the Portuguese vidro.

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江戸美人の原点？江戸時代初期の美人 Early Edo Period

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「浮世絵の祖」ともいわれる浮世絵師・菱川師宣 Hishikawa Moronobu (1618 - 1694)
Japanese artist known for popularizing the ukiyo-e genre of woodblock prints and paintings in the late 17th century.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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美人というより美少女 - Beautiful Young Girls
明和期（1764 - 72年）の美人 Meiwa period

chaya no kanban musume 看板娘 Kamban Musume Girls
水茶屋「鍵屋」の看板娘・お仙 Kagiya no S-Sen
浅草寺奥山の楊枝屋「柳屋」の看板娘・お藤 Yanagiya no O-Fuji
二十軒茶屋の水茶屋「蔦屋」の看板娘・およし。Tsutaya no O-Yoshi

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抜群のプロポーション！ Nice proportions
健康美人 Healthy Bijin

人気絵師・鳥居清長の美人画 Torii Kiyonaga (1752 - 1815)
『当世遊里美人合　たち花』Tachibana
- Conditions for a nice body:
すらりとした長身
長い手足
あごは細めのシャープな顔立ち
きりりとした濃い眉
切れ長で涼しげな目元

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女性らしさ満点、グラマラスな寛政美人 100 points for being a beautiful Female
寛政期（1789～1801年）
Three beauties of the Kanei period 寛政の三美人

浅草寺随神門前の水茶屋「難波屋」のおきた O-Kita from Asakusa、
両国の煎餅屋「高島屋」のお久 O-Hisa from Ryogoku, Takashimaya
吉原芸者の富本豊雛（とよひな）Toyohina Geisha from Yoshiwara
by . Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川歌麿 (1753 - 1806).

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個性的すぎる文政美人 Beauties around 1818 - 1830 文政 Bunei
with strong personalities
painted by 渓斎英泉 Keisai Eisen (1790 - 1884)
- Conditions
6頭身
首が短く猫背ぎみ
細長い顔
小さくつり上がり鋭い目
受け口

. . . CLICK here for more Photos !

Keisai Eisen (渓斎英泉, 1790–1848) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist who specialised in bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women). His best works, including his ōkubi-e ("large head pictures"), are considered to be masterpieces of the "decadent" Bunsei Era (1818–1830). He was also known as Ikeda Eisen, and wrote under the name of Ippitsuan.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

【おすすめ】こちらの江戸トリビアもどうぞ - further literature and links
- source : edo-g.com/blog/2016/

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daidokoro bijin　台所美人 "kitchen beauties"

Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川歌麿

. . . CLICK here for more Ukiyo-E Bijin on stamps !

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浮世絵に見る江戸美人の化粧 Cosmetics of the Edo Bijin Beauties in Ukiyo-E
白、紅、黒―三色の美 The beauty of the three colors white, red and black
white 白粉 o-shiro for face powder
beni 紅 red for lip coloring
black for teeth coloring (o-haguro お歯黒) and eyebrows 眉

白、紅、黒はそれぞれ「白粉の白」「口紅の紅」「お歯黒と眉化粧の黒」で、それぞれについて浮世絵と化粧道具が展示されていました。

展示品の主な所有者はポーラ研究所で、なるほど化粧品メーカー、と印象アップ。江戸期の美人画にはそれぞれの店（勤務先）や、描かれてる化粧品の店構えが小窓に描かれてたりで、勤務先が描かれてる場合はそれこそ「看板娘」で、商品扱う店が描かれてる場合は「販促チラシ」みたいなものかと。そういえばどこかの茶屋の娘が大層美人でファッションリーダーになってたとかいう話をどこかで見かけたな…芸者や遊女や歌舞伎役者がいわゆるプロで、ファッションリーダーやった時代に茶屋の娘（看板娘）となるとさしずめ読モみたいな感じだろうか。
- reference : cella.fem.jp -

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oshiroi, o-shiroi (hakufun) おしろい / 白粉 white face powder
Rice bran powder was often used to wash the face until it was white.

- quote -
During the Nara Period (710–94), women painted their face with a white powder called oshiroi, and in the Heian Period (794–1185), a white facial color continued to stand as a symbol of beauty.
During the Edo Period (1603–1868), the culture of fair skin gained ground among commoners. The look sought after at this time, however, was a natural one. Ukkiri, a term for moist, naturally colored skin, appeared in a manual on beauty titled Miyako fūzoku kewaiden (A Handbook of Cosmetics in the Capital), which was published in 1813 and remained a bible for beauty through the next century. The work introduces a range of techniques for making the skin “beautifully white,” including facial cleansing, facial packs made from a natural mineral form of lead oxide, and herbal treatments for acne.
... “The tone the Japanese seek to achieve is not milky white but translucent, like a polished stone. Since the Edo period, women have gone to great pains to achieve this.” Records show that women spent a great deal of time putting on makeup and that cosmetics were geared toward accentuating the natural beauty of the skin. Miyako fūzoku kewaiden, for example, describes how oshiroi should be repeatedly applied and removed and the cheeks rubbed with a towel in order to make the skin look like porcelain.
- source : nippon.com/en -
- reference : edo o-shiroi white -

oshiroishi, o-shiroi shi 白粉師 making white face powder

source : メタボンのブログ

Different kinds of O-Shiroi were available, from Kyoto 京白粉, from Ise 伊勢おしろい, "natural white" 生白粉 and others.
Some were made including metal powders not really suited for the skin. Some were in powder form, some hard like soap, but all were applied with a special face brush.
suigin 水銀 mercury cloride was a main ingredient, so even the craftsmen who made the powder were exposed to this poison.
Others were white lead oxide, see below.
They had a special shop sign with a 白鷺 white heron.

新たな仙女香七変化粧 - Yokai Novel

A famous brand of the time was 仙女香 Sennyo-Ko.
The name was taken from the stage name of the Kabuki actor Segawa Kikunojō 瀬川菊之丞 Segawa Kikunojo (1693 - 1749).
The poor people had to use some face wash to keep the face as white as possible, but with the rise of rich merchants in Edo the use white powder among the townspeople spread quite fast.

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In time new products arrived on Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese ships. "Among the various compounds used, oshiroi [白粉 or おしろい], a white powder, and beni (rouge) [紅 or べに] contributed in constructing a woman's beauty. White powder was used to whiten the face and other parts of the body. The oldest form of face powder was made from white soil and rice flour. In the seventh century, the manufacture of keifun (mercury chloride) [けいふん] and empaku (white lead) [鉛白 or えんぱく] was imported from China. Their use was confined to the upper classes until the seventeenth century, when it became popular among the general public." The empaku "...was used extensively during the Edo period... It was mixed with water and applied with a brush. In the 1870s, the toxic quality of lead was recognized, and soon after a lead-free facial powder began to be domestically produced." (Ibid.)

In A Treatise on Chemistry by Roscoe, Cain and Schorlemmer (published by MacMillan, 1913, p. 685) the production of keifun is described: "Calomel has long been known and manufactured in China and Japan under the name keifun (light powder). This product occurs as a light bulky powder, consisting of very thin minute scales, lustrous, transparent, and white or faintly cream coloured. It is quite free from corrosive sublimate and is manufactured by heating balls of porous earth and salt, soaked in bittern (the mother-liquor of partially evaporated sea-water), along with mercury in iron pots lined with earth. The forms hydrochloric acid from the magnesium chloride in the bittern, the mercury sublimes into the clay covers of the pots, air enters by diffusion and the following reaction occurs: 4Hg + 4HCl + O2 = 2Hg2Cl + 2H2O. The cover thus becomes filled with a network of micaceous particles of calomel."

There is an article on "Gender and Hierarchical Differences in Lead-Contaminated Japanese Bone from the Edo Period" from the Japan Society for Occupational Health (Journal of Occupational Health, vol. 40, no. 1, 1998). In this study it was found that members of the samurai class had far higher lead content in their systems than did that of farmers and fishermen. Women in both strata had higher lead deposits in their bones than did their male counterparts. In the abstract to this article it states: "We assume that facial cosmetics (white lead) comprised one of the main routes of lead exposure among the samurai class, because cosmetics were a luxury in that period." While male samurai may not have used white lead makeup they were exposed to it through their contact with samurai females and this accounts for the lead content found in their bones. In fact it would seem that the wealthier the samurai the higher the lead content.
- source : printsofjapan.com/Index -

. Edo shokunin 江戸の職人 Edo craftsmen .

. shinise　老舗　a long-established store .
The store Sakamotoya 坂本屋 selling oshiroi白粉 the white powder for faces.

. oshiroi hake 白粉刷毛 cosmetic brush .

. beni 紅 lip color and
kurenaishi 紅師 making lip red from safflowers .

- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -
8 tales about 白粉 to explore.

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. ohaguro, o-haguro お歯黒 / 鉄漿 / おはぐろ Ohaguro, black teeth .

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Edo no bijin
- reference - Edo no bijin -

Edo no bijin ga: Kanei Kanbunki no nikuhitsu ga
Paintings of Beautiful Ladies in Edo Period
- reference : books.google.co.jp -

浮世絵美人 - 解体新書 : 安村敏信

CLICK for more books about Edo Bijin !

hyooban musume 評判娘 girl with a good reputation

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Women of Edo in the eighteenth century

Spectators gathered in Fukiyacho and Sakaicho in Nihombashi from early morning to see the many performances that were given there like Kabuki plays and puppet shows with storylines that resonated with the townspeople.
Among them were those who even competed with each other in investing much money on authors and actors.
Haiku, kyoka, and senryu poetry were a popular part of the culture of self-expression.
There were even those who became haiku, kyoka, etc. poets on their own.
Furthermore, some made business ventures by investing in publishers or by introducing woodblock prints to the world upon starting their own publishing businesses.
The demand for women’s goods such as ornamental hairpins and essential items for men such as pocketbooks and tobacco pouches led to the improvement of the craftsmen’s skills; establishing whole new genres in the unique Edo culture.
The appearance of exquisite restaurants frequented by wealthy townspeople also developed the food culture of Edo.
- source : nihombashi-tokyo.com/history ... -

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

Aichi
馬の鞍が荷をつけたままひっくり返ったので馬喰が困っていると、妙齢の美人が現れた。美人は馬を河原に引き出した。ふと気づいた馬喰が針を帛紗と共に背中につけると、美人は一塊になって淵に飛び込んだ。淵の主は蛇ではないかという話がある。

- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -
美人 89 to explore

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. Persons and People of Edo - Personen .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. Hanga 版画 in the Daruma Museum .

. Ukiyo-e in the Daruma Museum .

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
- - - - - #edobijin #bijinedo #edobeauties #ukiyoebijin #woman #women - - - -
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5/04/2016

kenyaku frugality

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. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .
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kenyaku 倹約 frugality, thrift - Sparsamkeit

. Buke shohatto 武家諸法度 Laws for the Samurai .

- - - - - Articles promulgated in 1615
12 Samurai throughout the realm are to practice frugality.

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A Model of Ecological Sustainability
Craft guilds and craftspeople that specialized in repairing broken goods were not rare in the pre-industrial world, but Japan during the Edo Period was a uniquely closed-off island location where frugality was an important virtue and self-sufficiency was crucial to survival.
- Eisuke Ishikawa

. Recycling and Reuse in Edo - リサイクルと　再生　/ 再使用 .

bakusei kaikaku 幕政改革 Shogunate government reform
seitaku 贅沢 luxury
shashi kinshihoo 奢侈禁止法
- - - - - shashi kinshi rei 奢侈禁止令 law against luxury
shisso kenyaku 質素倹約 frugal life, modest life

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kenyakurei, kenyaku rei 倹約令
laws regulating expenditures; sumptuary edicts; thrift ordinance

source : blogs.yahoo.co.jp/kitasandou2
「寛政の倹約令」Kansei no Kenyaku Rei

During the long Edo period, quite a few laws to promote frugality were made.
One of the most famous it the
shashi kinshi rei 奢侈禁止令 law against luxury 1787
after the great famine of Tenmei 天明の大飢饉, ordered by
松平定信 Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Food, robes and the general lifestyle were greatly influenced by this law.

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The common people were forbidden to wear silk robes 絹布着用禁.
To pass aroung this law, the clever Edokko stopped using silk on the outside of their Kimono, but used them inside for linings.

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Special materials like yuuki tsumugi 結城紬 Yuki tsumugi used a cotton warp thread for weaving and were thus permitted.

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Yūki-tsumugi 結城紬 is the Japanese craft of silk cloth practised chiefly in the vicinity of Yūki in Ibaraki Prefecture.
Developing from earlier silk techniques, the name Yūki-tsumugi was adopted in 1602. Weavers were invited from Ueda and the cloth, at first plain, was used as gifts for the shogun. Currently approximately one hundred and thirty craftsmen transmit the technique in Yūki and Oyama.
Silk floss is extracted from silkworm cocoons and spun by hand into yarn. Patterns are added by tie-dyeing, before weaving with a loom known as a jibata (地機). The strap around the weaver's waist enables the tension of the vertical thread to be adjusted. It can take up to fifteen days to weave enough plain fabric for an adult garment, and up to forty-five days for patterned fabric.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

. momen　木綿 cotton in the Edo period .

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This is a modern Daruma from Celuloid, looking like bekko.

Accesories and hair decorations from tortoiseshell were forbidden. So the crafstmen pretended their pieces were made from cheap suppon スッポン Suppon turtle, Pelodiscus sinensis

. bekkoo 鼈甲 / べっこう / べっ甲 tortoiseshell .

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Some luxury was appearing within the regulations 規制内で贅沢.

Since large 雛人形 Hina dolls for the Doll festival were forbidden, craftsmen made small but very luxurious ones.

Yukuta robes from cotton were allowed, so the craftsmem made them with ever more elaborate patterns.
Bright red and yellow colors were not allowed any more. so the craftsmen prepares
. hyaku nezumi 百鼠 a hundred shades of gray .
so show their individual tastes.

CLICK for more nezu colors !

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Viewing Japanese Prints
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FAQ: What were sumptuary edicts?
Numerous sumptuary regulations were issued throughout the Edo period (1615-1868) to control the expression of ideas that were deemed a threat to public decorum, safety, or morality, or that were subversive to the ruling Tokugawa shogunate. Ostentatious and inappropriate behavior and display for all the classes was proscribed.
The earliest sumptuary laws were based on similar practices from China, where consumption was correlated positively with status. In Japan these regulations were called ken'yakurei ("laws regulating expenditures": 儉約令) for all classes of society. They did not constitute a distinct body of laws, but rather were part of the occasional regulatory proclamations (ofuregaki: 御觸書) issued by the rôjû ("council of elders": 牢中) and disseminated through various intermediaries to the intended group or class.

Although the chônin ("persons of the town": 町人) often complained about the repressive measures, the government generally relied more on threats and exhortations than on imposing punishments. There were only a limited number of recorded cases of arrest for violating sumptuary edicts cited in Tokugawa-period legal documents or the popular literature. Throughout the Edo period the sumptuary regulations frequently referred to previous edicts, suggesting that many were not considered permanent or practically enforceable, and that compliance among the targeted groups was often a problem. An expression of the time, mikka hatto ("three-day laws": 三日法度), suggested that violations of sumptuary laws often followed after only brief periods of compliance.

Content and the Expression of Ideas
There were during the Edo period various periodic restrictions on "content," such as edicts that prohibited publishing about current events, unorthodox theories, rumors, scandals, erotica, government officials, or anything directly related to the Tokugawa rulers or the Imperial Family. One of the most repressive set of edicts was known as the Kansei Reforms, named after the era name Kansei (I/1789 - II/1801) in which they were enacted. With the death of the shogun Ieharu in 1786, his successor Ienari (1773-1841; ruled 1787-1837) remained a minor until 1793, and the real governing power was in the hands of Matsudaira Sadanobu (1758-1829), a grandson of the shogun Yoshimune and the daimyô (military lord, literally "great name") of the Shirakawa domain.
Sadanobu held the post of chief councilor (rojû shuseki) from 1787 to 1793. He initiated reforms that he believed were needed after a series of riots in various cities in the summer of 1787 were precipitated by high rice prices following several years of poor harvests and famines. The early stages of the Kansei Reforms focused on the removal from power of corrupt officials and the institution of various specific measures to check inflation and stabilize prices. The reforms were later extended to the field of publishing in 1790. In the fifth month of that year, no new books were to be published except by special permission. Current events were not to be depicted in prints, and gorgeous and extravagant works were to be avoided. No unorthodox theories were to be published, while the publication of erotica was to be gradually halted.
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Appearance and Expenditures
Other sumptuary edicts attempted to proscribe "appearance" and the expenditure of wealth as appropriate to each class. As some of the merchants began to amass large fortunes and live in a manner previously reserved only for the samurai class, the bakafu ("tent government," the shôgun's ruling officials) issued sumptuary laws to reinforce the distinctions between the classes, to encourage frugality, and to maintain a Neo-Confucian system of moral conduct. The government was particularly concerned that the morale and discipline of the samurai class should not be undermined by ostentatious displays of wealth among the 'chônin'. Many regulations proscribed the consumption of goods and services and placed limits on luxurious entertainment, identifying what was appropriate for members of each social level and closely correlating consumption with social status.
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Ukiyo-e researchers have long cited examples of edicts that affected printmaking, such as the banning of prints with bust portraits of women in the first month of Kansei 12 (1800). The edict was a curious one, as it admitted that there was nothing really wrong with such prints, but that they were to be proscribed as medatsu ("conspicuous"). Another example was the ban in 1793 on prints with the names of women other than courtesans.
- snip -
Among the worst of the later set of edicts were the repressive Tenpô kaikaku ("Tenpô Reforms") of 1842-1847.

- Read the full text here:
- reference source : viewingjapaneseprints.net/texts - John Fiorillo

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- reference -

- reference : norenkai.net -

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. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .

. Japanese Architecture - Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

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[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]- - - - - #kenyaku #frugalityedo - - - -
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5/03/2016

Hachiman Shrines Edo

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. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .
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Hachiman Shrines in the Edo period
八幡宮 Hachiman Gu, 八幡神社 Hachiman Jinja 八幡社 Hachiman no Yashiro / Hachiman Sha

The Warrior Deity Hachiman 八幡神, deification of Emperor Oojin 応神天皇　Ojin,
is quite popular in Japan and there are many shrines in his name.
Another reading of the Chinese characters is YAHATA or YAWATA.

僧形八幡神坐像　東大寺八幡殿蔵
Hachiman as a monk, soogyoo Hachiman
Temple Todai-Ji, Hachiman Hall

Today there are approximately 30,000 Hachimangū shrines nationwide, with the head shrine at
Usa Hachimangū 宇佐八幡宮 Usa Hachimangu in Ōita.

. WKD : Hachiman Shrines and their festivals .

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. Minamoto no Yoshiie Hachimantaro 源八幡太郎義家 Hachimantarō, Hachiman Taro .
(1039 - 1106)
Hachimantaro, an ancestor of Tokugawa Ieyasu 八幡太郎義家は徳川家康の先祖

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Hamamatsu Hachimangu 浜松八幡宮 Shizuoka

Iga Hachimangu 伊賀八幡宮 Aichi

Iwashimizu Hachimangu 石清水八幡宮 Kyoto

Katayama Hachiman Jinja 片山八幡神社 Aichi

Katsushika Hachimangu 葛飾八幡宮 Chiba

Matsudaira Toshogu Hachiman Jinja 松平東照宮八幡神社 Aichi

Nukada Jinja 鹿嶋八幡神社 Ibaraki

Wakamiya Hachiman Sha 若宮八幡社 Aichi

Yamanaka Hachimangu 山中八幡宮 Aichi

source :　okazaki-city.forluck.info
伊賀八幡宮家康 - Iga Hachimangu - Tokugawa Ieyasu
天照大権現 / 東照大権現 Tosho Daigongen 「東の天照大神」

- to be updated
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. Akabane Hachiman Jinja 赤羽八幡神社 . Kita

. Ana Hachimangu 穴八幡宮 .
2 Chome-1-11 Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku

. Mita Hachimangū 三田八幡宮 / 御田八幡宮 Mita Hachimangu . - Tokyo

. Ōmiya Hachimangū 大宮八幡宮 Shrine Omiya Hachimangu . - Saitama

. Senzoku Hachiman Jinja 千束八幡神社 Senzoku Hachiman Shrine . - Ota ward

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Setagaya Hachimangū 世田谷　八幡宮 Setagaya Hachimangu

Painted by Hasegawa Settan 1834-1836

Setagaya Hachimangū Shrine is said to have originated when Minamoto no Yoshiie called upon Usa Hachimangū Shrine in Buzen-no-Kuni (now Fukuoka Prefecture) to express gratitude for the successful subjugation of Ōshū. After Tokugawa Ieyasu opened the shogunate government, the shrine received a shogunal charter and became a tutelary shrine of Setagaya village.
- source : library.metro.tokyo.jp/portals -

. Setagaya ku 世田谷区 Setagaya ward .

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. Sunamura 砂むら元はちまん」（砂村元八幡）Moto-Hachiman Shrine . - Fukagawa

. Tabata Hachiman Jinja 田端八幡神社 .
- - - and 上田端八幡神社 Kami-Tabata Hachiman Jinja
Kita ward　北区

. Takinogawa Hachiman Jinja 瀧野川八幡神社 .
Kita ward　北区

. Tomioka Hachimangu　富岡八幡宮 .
Fukagawa Tokyo　深川

. Yoyogi Hachimangu 代々木八幡宮 .
Shibuya, Tokyo 渋谷

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Sailing under the mitsudomoe: Eastern pirates and their worship of Hachiman
Bernhard Scheid (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna)

In the medieval period, an international network of pirates affected the sea trade between China, Korea, Japan, and the Ryūkyū Islands and even raided the coasts of these countries quite frequently. Although they were known in China as wokou 倭寇 (“Japanese bandits,” Jp. wakō), it is clear from various sources that their ethnic composition was quite diverse and changed over time, including more and more people of Chinese origin. The question of wakō ethnicity has therefore become a focus of recent wakō scholarship. Less attention has been given to the fact that the wakō were obviously devout worshippers of Hachiman, or at least put the name of Hachiman Daibosatsu or his symbols, such as the mitsudomoe (a ring consisting of three interwoven comma shapes), on the flags or sails of their ships.
This seems to be related not only to the Hachiman cult of contemporary warrior houses in Japan, but also to Hachiman worship at the Ryūkyū court. In my paper, I will shed more light on the reasons for this predilection of Hachiman among seafaring outlaws.

- source : eastasian.ucsb.edu/seareligion-

橋本八幡宮の神紋は「右三つ巴」。
綿津見神社の神紋も「右三つ巴」。右三つ巴は宇美八幡宮と織幡神社の神紋と同じ。

- reference source : yascovicci.exblog.jp 橋本八幡宮 -
Fukuoka, Hashimoto 福岡市西区橋本

. mitsudomoe 三つ巴 threefold Tomoe .
... The crest of Hachiman is in the design of a mitsudomoe, a round whirlpool or vortex with three heads swirling right or left.
... the threefold division (Man, Earth, and Sky) at the heart of the Shinto religion.
Originally, it was associated with the Shinto war deity Hachiman, and through that was adopted by the samurai as their traditional symbol.

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- reference : 徳川家康　八幡 -

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The Political Meaning of the Hachiman Cult in Ancient and Early Medieval Japan
"Hachiman River" -- Religious Meanings of the Hachiman Cult: Releasing Living Beings in Hojogawa
The Hachiman Cult and the Dōkyō Incident
Metamorphosis of a Deity: The Image of Hachiman in Yumi Yawata
Tamukeyama Hachimangu Tegaie 2012
- Books and articles by Ross Bender
- source : Ross Bender -

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. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

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- - - - - #hachimanshrines #hachimangu - - - -
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4/30/2016

teppo guns

source : kotobank

- quote -
Tanegashima (種子島), also hinawajū (火縄銃), was a type of matchlock configured arquebusfirearm introduced to Japan through the Portuguese in 1543.Tanegashima were used by the samurai class and their foot soldiers (ashigaru) and within a few years the introduction of the tanegashima in battle changed the way war was fought in Japan forever.

1 History
1.1 Origins
The tanegashima seems to have been based on snap matchlocks that were produced in Portuguese India, at the armory of Goa (a colony of Portugal since 1510). The name tanegashima came from the Japanese island (Tanegashima) where a Chinese junk with Portuguese adventurers on board was driven to anchor by a storm in 1543.
The lord of the Japanese island, Tanegashima Tokitaka (1528–1579), purchased two matchlock muskets from the Portuguese and put a swordsmith to work copying the matchlock barrel and firing mechanism. The smith (Yaita) did not have much of a problem with most of the gun but "drilling the barrel helically so that the screw (bisen bolt) could be tightly inserted" was a major problem as this "technique did apparently not exist in Japan until this time." The Portuguese fixed their ship and left the island and only in the next year when a Portuguese blacksmith was brought back to Japan was the problem solved.
Within ten years of its introduction, over 300,000 tanegashima firearms were reported to have been manufactured.
1.2 Sengoku period
1.3 Edo period
1.4 Modern use
2 Parts of the tanegashima
3 Gallery
- source : wikipedia -

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- quote
Teppô is the Japanese term for arquebuses, or matchlocks, the first European firearm to be introduced to Japan. Though some forms of gunpowder weapons existed in Japan earlier, having been introduced from China via Korea or the Ryukyus, European firearms made a major impact upon Sengoku period samurai warfare.
While the term teppô might literally be translated as "iron cannon," or "metal gun," the term hinawajû is sometimes also used, meaning literally "fire rope gun," and referring to the matchlock mechanism.

Introduction to Japan
The introduction of the European matchlock began in 1543, during the Sengoku period. In that year, two or three Portuguese arrived aboard a Chinese junk off the coast of Tanegashima, south of Kyushu. Though the account by Fernao Mendes Pinto is oft-cited, that by Antonio Galvano, governor of Malacca from 1536-1540, is considered by some scholars more reliable. According to his account, published posthumously in 1557, the three Portuguese were Christopher Antonio da Mota, Francis Zimoro, and Antonio Perota, who had abandoned their Portuguese compatriots in Siam and found passage aboard this Chinese junk.

After trying out the arquebuses the Portuguese had with them, the lord of the island, Tanegashima Tokitaka, purchased from the strangers two examples of the firearms for his family treasury and is said to have occupied himself ceaselessly with learning to use them. He instructed a retainer to learn to make the gunpowder, and another, the swordsmith Yasuita Kinbei Kiyosada, to reproduce the weapon itself. According to some accounts, Tokitaka gave his daughter to the Portuguese in exchange for the weapons, and/or for instruction in their production. Kiyosada encountered difficulties, however, in reproducing the spring mechanism, and also in properly sealing the end of the barrel. Fortunately the next year a Portuguese ship arrived (by some accounts bearing the same Portuguese men), and a smith on board was able to teach Kiyosada about the spring mechanism, and how to close the barrel. This discovery led to the production of several tens of firearms in a period of a little over a year. Tokitaka instructed his retainers to practice on the new weapon, and many beccame proficient. Later, the Sakai merchant Tachibana Iemonzaburô, later known as Teppô-mata, came and stayed on the island for one or two years and learned the craft. From him, the knowledge spread throughout the country.

After that the Portuguese had begun to openly trade with other cities in Japan. Nagasaki had become a major trade port for trade between the Japanese and Portuguese, and the traders brought a variety of novelties including wool, velvet, tobacco, clocks and eyeglasses. But the most popular and less novel item brought to Japan by Europe, was the matchlock arquebus.

Many of the daimyô were impressed after seeing the European matchlock; by 1549 many daimyô ordered their weaponsmiths to copy and mass-produce this advanced weapon. One daimyô in particular who saw potential in this weapon was Oda Nobunaga; he placed an order for 500 arquebuses, the largest order to date...

Soon the Japanese demonstrated not only their ability to quickly assimilate objects from other cultures, but also their ability to improve upon it. Many metalsmiths went to work and even improved the teppô. This weapon was found to be more powerful then the bow, and easier to use. Eventually the teppô replaced many archer units in battle.

A look at the Teppô
The First 30 Years
1549 - Oda Nobunaga's father placed an order for 500 arquebuses.
1570 - Oda Nobunaga's army of 30,000 were forced to withdraw by a fierce counter attack of the Ikko-ikki of Ishiyama Honganji. 3,000 Ikko-ikki matchlockmen used controlled volley firing against Nobunaga's men. .....

- - - - - Edo Period
Firearms continued to be used by both samurai authorities and by peasants & commoners in the Edo period. Sakai and Kunitomo continued to be the chief sites of production, and matchlocks continued to be the dominant form of firearms used; firearms technology did not advance much within Japan over the course of the 17th to mid-19th centuries. Flintlocks, which had replaced the matchlock in Europe, were known and occasionally produced, but the matchlock remained dominant in Japan, possibly in part because they produced less recoil. These sorts of muskets were by far the most common form of firearm in the country, with some estimates claiming that roughly 150,000 to 200,000 firearms were in circulation at any given time in Tokugawa Japan. Peasants' weapons generally fired shot two to three monme in weight, equivalent to .440 to .495 caliber, in today's terminology. At the request of the shogunate, gunsmiths also on occasion produced handguns and small cannon.
David Howell argues that over the course of the period, within the countryside at least, firearms came to be seen less as weapons (i.e. for military purposes) and more as essential agricultural equipment. Peasants maintained possession of their guns after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Sword Hunts in the 1580s-90s, which specifically targeted swords, and not firearms. It was only in 1657 that regulations on peasant ownership of weapons began to be put into place; even then, hunters, and farmers who claimed they needed guns to help defend themselves and their crops against wild boar and other such threats, were permitted to continue to own firearms. .....
..... A series of edicts issued in the 1720s not only permitted the use of weapons by peasants year-round, but actually encouraged their use, and the borrowing of weapons, for the purposes of scaring away animals.
..... In the early 19th century, the shogunate began to worry about the amorphous imagined threat of "bad guys" - including rônin, jobless commoners, and the like - hoarding weapons and planning violence or other criminal activities. Numerous edicts banned peasants from engaging in martial activities, including firing practice.
- - - - - Bakumatsu
Meiji Period
- source : wiki.samurai-archives.com

Tanegashima / Teppo / Hinawaju ... Japanese Matchlock Guns
source : militaria.co.za/nmb/topic

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Teppo-machi, teppoochoo　鉄砲町 Teppocho, Gunsmith's village
now 日本橋本町3・4 - - - Nihonbashi

Teppokaji 鉄砲鍛冶 Craftsmen producing guns were only allowed to work in this district.

. teppoo kaji 鉄砲鍛冶 gunsmith producing Teppo matchlocks .
- Introduction -

There is also a Teppo-machi in other cities of Japan.
Nagasaki.
Not far from Shimabara Castle in Nagasaki's Shimabara City sits the town's well-preserved samurai district. Known as "teppo-machi" or "gun town", this district once housed foot soldiers of the local clan who were skilled in firearms use.
Today, the neighborhood is a quiet place. The single main street boasts a small canal running through its center; on either side, many of the imposing gates of old samurai mansions still stand. Three of the old samurai houses are open to the public and admission to all of the properties is free.
Low-class samurais lived in Teppo-machi (what is called 'Samurai-house zone')
- source : en.japantravel.com/nagasaki -

- - - - - List of Teppo-Cho in Japan
鉄砲町（てっぽうちょう、てっぽうまち）
- reference : wikipedia -

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

O-Teppo Matsuri お鉄砲まつり Teppo Festival

In 宮城県 Miyagi, Kurihara District at 花山村 Hanayama village after the festival when all guns are shot, if there was one that did not fire properly, the family of this man will have bad luck. Therefore they all keep the weapons very clean and free of ritual impurities.

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Gunma 群馬県勢多郡横野村

daija 大蛇 huge serpent
「樽」の酒屋は大身代で、守護の大蛇が棲んでいた。大蛇のために、毎年36石入り、6尺の大樽の酒を用意していたが、ある時主人が、蛇さえいなければ身代ももっと上がると考え、火縄銃で撃ち殺してしまった。遺骸を埋めたのが蛇塚で、その後、酒屋は没落してしまった。

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Ibaraki 茨城県水戸市 Mito

mujina ムジナ Badger
ある人が雨の日の夜に月を見て、それが狢の化けているものだと知り、油断をさせて火縄銃でその月を打ち落とした。狢は月に化けることがある。

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Kochi 高知県幡多郡黒潮町

tanuki 狸
炭焼をしていた話者が夜竃をしていた所、自分の娘が呼びに来た。怪しんで火縄銃を差し付けたら、逃げて行った。また別の日、隣の男が来て「お前の女房が病気だから帰ってくれ」という。怪しんだ紺蔵が男を竃の前で待たせて観察していると、男は居眠りを始め、耳も口もすっかり狸の相を現してしまった。そこで燃える炭を叩き付けると狸は逃げ、翌朝、焼け爛れた大狸が谷川に浮いていた。

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土佐山村 Tosayama
山で妖怪に行き会ったときは、火縄銃にある照尺の小穴からのぞくと正体が分かる。

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Nara 奈良県添上郡月ヶ瀬村石打 Tsukigase Ishiuchi

Toosuke Jizoo 藤助地蔵 Tosuke Jizo

source : geografi.nu/region
The mountain path toward Tosuke Jizo at Tukigaseishiuchi

Once upon a time,
a hunter named Tosuke took his beloved dog and went hunting in the mountains. He waited in his mountain hut for a prey. Suddenly he heard a loud noise and run outside, but he did not see anything. His dog seemed to see or sense something, but he trembled in fear.
Tosuke became afraid, took the last bullet and shot his gun into the dark. But out of his gun came a ball of fire toward himself and he died almost on the spot. His dog pulled him inside the hut and watched over him.
But then the hut burned down in the fire in no time and the body of Tosuke became a 黒仏 "Black Buddha".
The villagers built a small sanctuary for him, Tosuke Jizo, and came here to pray every year on the 6th day of the 8th month.
Many years later when his descendants tried to re-built the hut, they found a hinawaju 縄銃 gun in the straw roof of the building.
This is near 小字堂山 Shoji Doyama. There are actually two stone statues, one of 不動明王Fudo Myo-O and one of 藤助地蔵 Tosuke Jizo.

source : panoramio.com/photo

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- - - - - 上北山村 - - - - - ippon datara イッポンダタラ
「ハテノハツカに伯母ヶ峯越すな」と言う。伯母ヶ峯にはイッポンダタラが出て通る人を食らった。西原の射場兵庫という鉄砲名人が退治したのが12月20日で、この日にはイッポンダタラの供養がある。ハテノハツカにはその時の火縄銃が汗をかくという。

. Ippondatara, Ippon-datara 一本ダタラ - Ippon tatara .
Yoshitsune and his horses 義経の馬 .

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Saitama 埼玉県秩父郡 Chichibu district

daija 大蛇 huge serpent
沼の主の大蛇を火縄銃で撃ち殺すと、その人の子孫は背中や脇の下にうろこのようなあざがあり、毛の生えている子供が生まれる。大蛇が殺された時、沼が決壊して大水になった。死んでいる大蛇を見た人は病気になった。

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- reference : nichibun yokai database -
222 to explore
火縄銃 OK

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source : militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/14557
Woodblock prints with matchlocks!

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- - - - - H A I K U and S E N R Y U - - - - -

- source : Kobayashi Issa - David Lanoue -

鉄砲の三尺先の小てふかな
teppô no san jaku saki no ko chô kana

three feet
from the musket's barrel...
little butterfly

Susumu Takiguchi points out that guns were "brought to Japan for the first time by the shipwrecked Portuguese in 1543 (some say 1542), and revolutionised the way battles were fought and castles were designed. They were initially 'hinawa-ju' (matchlock or firelock) and this must be the type of 'teppo' which Issa was talking about."

鉄砲の先に立たり女郎花
eppô no saki ni tachitari ominaeshi

in the musket's
line of fire...
a maiden flower

木がらしや鉄砲かつぎて小脇差
kogarashi ya teppô katsugite ko wakizashi

winter wind--
he shoulders a musket
and a short sword

雨乞にから鉄砲のきげん哉
amagoi ni kara teppô no kigen kana

after praying for rain
in a mood
to shoot the musket

. Kobayashi Issa 小林一茶 in Edo .

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sugideppo 杉鉄砲 blowing toy for children made from Sugi wood

春や昔杉鉄砲の痛きこと
川名大

杉鉄砲借りしが縁児と笑ふ
浜田みずき

良寛堂ひとりやだれの杉鉄砲
松田ひろむ

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神杉を突いて鉄砲宮相撲
茨木和生

鉄砲射堋(あづち)霧間の樹神(こだま)かよひけり
調古

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. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .

. Japanese Architecture - Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]- - - - - #teppoguns #gunsteppo #hinawaju #tanegashima #matchlock #kunitomo #国友- - - -
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4/28/2016

Tokugawa Yoshimune

He was the first Shogun not born in Edo castle and brought up to become a Shogun. Thus his views on life were quite different from the Tokugawa Shoguns before him.
Since he lived with the common people in his youth in Wakayama, he knew about the problems of the poor and tried to improve their lot throughout his life.

- quote
... the eighth shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son of Tokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson of Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
... Yoshimune was from the branch of Kii. The founder of the Kii house was one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's sons, Tokugawa Yorinobu. Ieyasu appointed him daimyo of Kii. Yorinobu's son, Tokugawa Mitsusada, succeeded him. Two of Mitsusada's sons succeeded him, and when they died, Tokugawa Yoshimune, Mitsusada's fourth son, became daimyo of Kii in 1705. Later, he became shogun. ...
... In 1697, Genroku underwent the rites of passage and took the name Tokugawa Shinnosuke. In 1705, when Shinnosuke was just 21 years old, his father Mitsusada and two older brothers died. Thus, the ruling shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi appointed him daimyo of Kii. ...

Shogun (1716–1745)
Yoshimune succeeded to the post of the shogun in Shōtoku-1 (1716). His term as shogun would last for 30 years.
Yoshimune is considered among the best of the Tokugawa shoguns.

Yoshimune established the gosankyō to augment (or perhaps to replace) the gosanke. Two of his sons, together with the second son of his successor Ieshige, became the founders of the Tayasu, Hitotsubashi and Shimizu lines. Unlike the gosanke, they did not rule domains. Still, they remained prominent until the end of Tokugawa rule, and some later shoguns were chosen from the Hitotsubashi line.

Yoshimune is known for his financial reforms. He dismissed the conservative adviser Arai Hakuseki and he began what would come to be known as the Kyōhō Reforms.

Yoshimune also tried to resurrect the Japanese swordsmithing tradition. Since the beginning of the Edo period, it was quite difficult for smiths to make a living and to be supported by Daimyō, because of the lack of funds. But Yoshimune was quite unhappy with this situation, causing a decline of skills. And so, he gathered smiths from Daimyō fiefs for a great contest, in 1721.
The four winners who emerged were all great masters, Mondo no Shô Masakiyo (主水正正清), Ippei Yasuyo (一平安代), the 4th generation Nanki Shigekuni (南紀重国) and Nobukuni Shigekane (信国重包). But it didn't worked well to arouse interest, quite like tournaments in modern Japan.
Yoshimune also ordered the compilation of Kyōhō Meibutsu Chō (享保名物帳), listing the best and most famous swords all over Japan. This book allowed the beginning of the Shinshintō period of Nihontō history, and indirectly contributed to the Gassan school, who protected the Nihontō tradition before and after the surrender of Japan.

Although foreign books had been strictly forbidden since 1640, Yoshimune relaxed the rules in 1720, starting an influx of foreign books and their translations into Japan, and initiating the development of Western studies, or rangaku.

Ogosho (1745–1751)
In 1745, Yoshimune retired, took the title Ōgosho and left his public post to his oldest son. The title is the one that Tokugawa Ieyasu took on retirement in favor of his son Hidetada, who in turn took the same title on his retirement.
Yoshimune died on the 20th day of the 5th month of the year Kan'en-4 (July 12, 1751).
- source : wikipedia

- quote -
Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684-1751)
was a Japanese ruler, or shogun. He attempted most energetically to revitalize the Tokugawa shogunate after it began to encounter economic and other difficulties in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. ....
- source : yourdictionary.com/tokugawa-yoshimune-

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..... Yoshimune is known for taking a more proactive tack in effecting shogunate control over many facets of the economy of the realm. Among his many policies, he effected a dramatic increase in the domestic production of sugar, silk, and ginseng, three goods which had previously been heavily imported, as part of efforts to stem the outflow of silver from the country. He also imposed a variety of sumptuary laws, and granted authorization to merchant groups to form kabunakama, groups which paid the shogunate fees in exchange for monopoly rights to production and distribution of certain goods. .....
..... The ritual protocols and procedures surrounding Yoshimune's accession to the position of shogun are an oft-cited example of shogunal ritual, and in particular of shogunal proclamations (宣下, senge), the most important type of ritual in the Tokugawa Book of Rites (Tokugawa reiten roku).
- source : wiki.samurai-archives.com -

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Yoshimune installed the
meyasubako 目安箱 petition box
suggestion box / complaints box / Vorschlagskasten für Petitionen
sojoobako, sojōbako 訴状箱

Only he had to key to open it, thus hearing the voice of the people directly and giving them a chance to complain about their superiors.

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Petition box
The petition box was a process employed at various times and places, notably in Edo period Tosa han, to allow members of society, regardless of their status, to have their comments and suggestions heard by the lord.
..... The first shogun to implement a petition box system was Tokugawa Yoshimune.
He did so in 1721, after having overseen a similar system as daimyô of Wakayama han, installing the box in front of the hyôjôsho (judicial offices). Prior to this, people often petitioned the shogunate illegally, through petitions known as osso (direct appeals to high officials) and sutebumi (anonymous petitions left at the gates of the castle); the creation of a petition box allowed for a legal avenue for such grievances to be expressed.
While social commentary could be submitted into the shogunate's petition box easily enough, petitions which called for legal appeals could only be submitted in certain types of cases, where other legal avenues had already been tried. The petition box system was considered quite successful, however, and was not only maintained, but was expanded to Kyoto, Osaka, and Sunpu, and remained in place until 1868. A number of policy moves, such as the establishment of the Edo fire brigades, have been traced to suggestions made in petitions placed in the box. ....
- reference source : wiki.samurai-archives.com/index -

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Yoshimune established a public hospital at the garden in
Koishikawa 小石川養生所　 Koishikawa Yojosho
with free treatment for all and a large herb garden for medicine.

... The hospital was established in 1722 by the shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune in the herb gardens of what is now the Koishikawa Botanical Gardens at the suggestion of the town physician Ogawa Shosen. The hospital offered its services only to the indigent. It was eventually merged into Tokyo University's medical school.
- source : wikipedia -

小石川養生所の開設

. - Edo 江戸 the Castle Town - .
Matsuo Basho at Koishikawa

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hanabi 花火 Fireworks after an epidemy

..... Yahei studied large-scale fireworks and showed his marvelous works at the Water God Festival in 1717. When the country suffered many deaths due to famine in Kansai (west) and cholera in Edo, the 8th shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune held a Water God Festival at Sumida River to console the souls of the dead, with Yahei’s fireworks.
This is said to be the beginning of Sumidagawa Fireworks that continues to attract millions of people in Tokyo today.
. HANABI 花火 Japanese Fireworks - Introduction .

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Along the new river banks and open spaces to protect from fire he had many cherry trees planted and thus supported the old custom of
hanami　花見 cherry blossom viewing and merrymaking.
He wanted to give the townspeople a chance to enjoy life.
The most famous spots are 飛鳥山 Asukayama, 御殿山 Gotenyama, Koganei and Mukojima.

飛鳥山 - 広重 Asukayama, Hiroshige

「飛鳥山花見」勝川春潮 Katsukawa Shuncho (1781 - 1788)
The ladies wore special Hanami Kimono for the occasion.

And the food was of course
. hanami bentoo 花見弁当 Bento lunch box for blossom viewing .

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In the early eighteenth century, shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune planted many cherry trees in the area and opened up the land for the enjoyment of the "Edokko" or citizens of Tokyo. The park was formally established, alongside Ueno Park, Shiba Park, Asuka Park, and Fukagawa Park, in 1873 by the Dajō-kan, as Japan's first public parks.
- source :wikipedia -

御殿山花見之図 - 広重 Gotenyama, Hiroshige

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To boost the coffers of the Bakufu, he encouraged the development of new rice fields -
shinden kaihatsu 新田開発 reclamation projects.
development program of newly cultivable lands / developing new farming land

source : edo/kaikaku/sinden
町人請負新田

He also initiated reforms for the use of koban 小判　gold money.

. shinden kaihatsu　新田開発 developing new farm land .
and the taxing system (nengu　年貢) for farmers

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. Tokugawa Muneharu 徳川宗春 (1696 - 1764) .

「増税派の吉宗」Yoshimune for more taxes
and
「減税派の宗春」Muneharu for less taxes

. kenyaku 倹約 frugality, thrift - Sparsamkeit .
. Buke shohatto 武家諸法度 Laws for the Samurai .
12 Samurai throughout the realm are to practice frugality.

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. takagari 鷹狩 hunting with hawks and falcons .
The hunting grounds of the Shogun

. Ohanajaya お花茶屋 Ohanajaya district Katsushika .
よ】吉宗の病治したお花さん Yoshimune no yamai naoshita O-Hana san
Hanafuda flower trump card for the letter よ YO - Yoshimune.

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Oka Echizen　大岡越前 - Ōoka Tadasuke 大岡忠相　
(1677 – February 3, 1752)
as a Japanese samurai in the service of the Tokugawa shogunate. During the reign of Tokugawa Yoshimune, as a magistrate (machi-bugyō) of Edo, his roles included chief of police, judge and jury, and Yamada Magistrate (Yamada bugyō) prior to his tenure as South Magistrate (Minami Machi-bugyō) of Edo. With the title Echizen no Kami (Governor of Echizen or Lord of the Echizen), he is often known as Ōoka Echizen (大岡越前). He was highly respected as an incorruptible judge. In addition, he established the first fire brigade made up of commoners, and the Koishikawa Yojosho (a city hospital). Later, he advanced to the position of jisha bugyō, and subsequently became daimyo of the Nishi-Ōhira Domain (10,000 koku).

..... Ōoka Tadasuke has been the central character in two jidaigeki television series. In one, Ōoka Echizen, actor Gō Katō played the lead. In the other, Meibugyō! Ōoka Echizen, Kinya Kitaōji played the same role.
In addition, series such as Abarenbo Shogun have portrayed Ōoka as an intimate of the shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

. Akasaka Hitotsugi choo 赤坂一木町 / 一ツ木町 Edo .
Around 1696, the residence of the city magistrate 大岡忠相 Oka Tadasuke Echizen no Kami was located here.
The 豊川稲荷 Toyokawa Inari Shrine in the compound is still there now.

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Yoshimune is well loved as a Jidaigeki hero, the

aberenbo Shogun 暴れん坊将軍 "The Wild Shogun".
He was rather large for his times and very strong, throwing huge Sumo wrestlers in the sand like nothing in his youth.

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Abarenbō Shōgun
a Japanese television program on the TV Asahi network. Set in the eighteenth century, it showed fictitious events in the life of Yoshimune, the eighth Tokugawa shogun. The program started in 1978 under the title Yoshimune Hyōbanki: Abarenbō Shōgun (Chronicle in Praise of Yoshimune: The Bold Shogun) who went after rogue Councillors and Daimyo who were abusing their power. After a few seasons, they shortened the first two words and ran for two decades under the shorter title until the series ended in 2003; a two-hour special aired in 2004, and then restarted from Oct. 13, 2013 at 7:00PM (Japan time) and still runs today. The earliest scripts occasionally wove stories around historic events such as the establishment of firefighting companies of commoners in Edo, but eventually the series adopted a routine of strictly fiction.

Along with Zenigata Heiji and Mito Kōmon, it ranks among the longest-running series in the jidaigeki genre. Like so many other jidaigeki, it falls in the category of kanzen-chōaku, loosely, "rewarding good and punishing evil."

Goyō toritsugi
The goyō toritsugi (御用取次) (his reform of the soba yōnin (側用人) was a Hatamoto person who scheduled appointments for the Shogun. He is generally a man of advanced years. In the first two casts, the character's name was Kanō Gorozaemon (played by comic Ichirō Arishima). Next came Tanokura Magobei (Eiji Funakoshi), and a few followed in the cast changes of the last years of the show.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Jidaigeki (時代劇) is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan.
Literally "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—Portrait of Hell, for example, is set during the late Heian period—and the early Meiji era is also a popular setting. Jidaigeki show the lives of the samurai, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants of their time. Jidaigeki films are sometimes referred to as chambara movies, a word meaning "sword fight", though chambara is more accurately a subgenre of jidaigeki. Jidaigeki rely on an established set of dramatic conventions including the use of makeup, language, catchphrases, and plotlines.
..... List of jidaigeki films
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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