Respuestas
Historia
Throughout the history of Japan (or at least since 660AD), Japan has been ruled by the descendants of the same family, the “Imperial House of Japan”. The aristocratic “Fujiwara” family however has always had a strong influence by marrying into the Imperial House of Japan. Needless to say, the mothers of many emperors were from the Fujiwara family.
The Imperial House of Japan is sometimes referred to as the “Imperial Family” or the “Yamato Dynasty”. The first documented emperor was “Emperor Jimmu” in 660BC and the current reigning Emperor is “Emperor Akihito”. There have been 125 Imperial Family monarchs so far! This makes them the world’s oldest continuous hereditary monarchy. The Imperial crest is a Chrysanthemum flower.
However as you would expect, the role of the Emperor has changed significantly over time.
The first permanent significant Imperial capital city “Heijo-kyo” was founded in 710 AD. It became a centre for Buddhist religious teachings & art, and is the modern-day city of “Nara”.
The success of Heijo-kyo lead to a new larger Imperial city during the “Heian Period” from 794 AD to 1185 AD. The new capital was named “Heian-kyo” and is now the city of “Kyoto”. At this point in Japanese history, Chinese influences such as Buddhism were at their peak. The literature and poetry of this period are renowned. This is I think reflected by the fact that “Heian” means “peace” in Japanese!
Unsurprisingly, over time the influence and power of the one ruling Emperor dwindled. The centralised ruling became more and more fractured. So much so, by the 1400’s, Japan was divided into many different “domains” and each domain was controlled by a ruler or “daimyo”. This part of history is now more familiar to us in the West, as each daimyo had its’ own army of Samurai Warriors.
Again unsurprisingly, the domains fought amongst themselves and thrust the country into a long and bloody civil war. “Tokugawa Ieyasu” finally unified Japan following the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Consequently, he was appointed head of the domains (“shogun”) by the then emperor “Emperor Go-Yozei” in 1603.
Tokugawa settled in “Edo” (now “Tokyo”) and split the land he had seized amongst his trusted supporters. This time, referred to by historians as the “Edo Period” was peaceful and the people were prosperous. Emperor Go-Yozei lived in Koyoto during this time and cut Japan off from the outside world.
This peaceful time came into an end when the Shogun & Samurai powers were forcibly revoked and replaced by absolute rule by the then Emperor, Meiji in 1868.
This period is familiar to most of us as it is fantastically depicted in our Top Most Inspirational Film “The Last Samurai”.
The “Meiji Period” started Japan down the path of Westernization. Meiji ordered the abolition of the feudal land system in 1871, creation of a new school structure in 1872 and the creation of a government cabinet system in 1885. Meiji also led Japan into war with China in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) and Russia in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05).
When he died in Tokyo on the 30th July 1912 at the age of 60, the New York Times published the following statement:
“the contrast between that which preceded the funeral car and that which followed it was striking indeed.
Before it went old Japan; after it came new Japan.”
“Emperor Taishō” followed Meiji and a strong Japan was instrumental in keeping the Imperial German Navy out of the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. Things changed however after the war, when Japan began to struggle economically. 1923 brought the Great Kanto Earthquake which devastated Tokyo and Yokohama worsening the situation. Taishō died of a heart attack aged 37 years at 1:25 am on Christmas Day 1926 forcing a new regime to take over the reigns and lead Japan through the depression of 1929.
His successor “Emperor Shōwa” (or “Hirohito” as he is known outside Japan) brought Japan out of the depression although he is best known for leading the Japanese military to invade Manchuria in 1931 in a war known as the “Manchurian Incident”.
This started the second Sino-Japanese War as Japan declared all out war on China and set up a “puppet regime” called “Manchukuo” which controlled the major cities and the coast. Japan’s invasion of China was brutal. It is said that Shōwa authorized 375 separate toxic gas attacks on the Chinese in Wuhan, in the three months between August and October 1938. Within 2 years Japan had signed the “Tripartite Pact” with Germany and Italy taking us into another World War.
Shōwa’s reign ended on the 7th of January 1989 and this time Japan was the World’s second largest economy. His successor “Emperor Akihito” is the current Emperor of Japan.
Las tradiciones te las dejo en este link https://www.thejapaneseshop.co.uk/blog/9-japanese-traditions/