Ninomiya Sontoku: The Power of Curiosity & Passion

The power of passion and curiosity, a subject I always wanted to write about. Incidentally, the desire to do so, first emerged during my stint in Japan, quite some time ago. But having months of transition behind me and needing to lay out my future anew now, it resurfaced and I suddenly felt the urge to finally write it down. Long enough it has been sitting in the back of my head …

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Sontoku’s classic image emerging during the Meiji period. Him using every opportunity to read in the Teachings of Confucius (論語;ろんご and 大学;だいがく) while carrying firewood or working the fields. Although a sort of romanticized depiction of his and not an actuality, it is this image which remains in the hearts of the people.
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The unfulfilled Ambition of an Edo Police Chief Inspector

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「待っていたぞっ、火付盗賊改メ、長谷川平蔵じゃ!」・’I have been waiting for you! This is chief inspector of the arson and robbery department, Hasegawa Heizou – freeze!’, he proclaims in typical manner as he catches criminals red-handed on the crime scene. He wears his signature soldier helmet of authorized rank, the Jingasa (陣笠・じんがさ) and in his hand he thrusts out a short, metallic truncheon, called a Jitte (十手・じって, usually of metal with a hook on the side to ward off sword attacks). Nothing escapes his sharp sight and what he aimed for, he will not let of the hook again – watch out you villains out there!

After my first stint into Japanese history with the article about the Shimabara Rebellion, this article I like to devote to Hasegawa Nobutame (長谷川宣以・はせがわのぶため; 1745-1795), a historic figure of the same era, the Edo Period (江戸・えど; 1603-1868). The name Hasegawa Nobutame might not ring many bells because in Japan he is more commonly known by the name of Hasegawa Heizou (長谷川平蔵・はせがわへいぞう), or his alias Onihei (鬼平・おにへい).

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Silence the Movie

If I had posted this about a week ago, it would have been the turkey, but now it’s just a rest of gravy. Nonetheless, I like to write an article about it, as it represents a part of Japanese history that is very fascinating to me. The talk is – as the above trailer gives away – Martin Scorsese‘s (マーティン・スコセッシ; The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street, Gangs of New York) latest work and pet project with the adaption of ‘Silence’. A movie based on the best-seller novel of Endou Shuusaku (Shūsaku Endō; 遠藤 周作・えんどう しゅうさく; Japanese author from March 27, 1923 – September 29, 1996) by the same name, published in 1966, revolving around Christianity in Japan.

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Shimabara Rebellion – The Christian Uprising that wasn’t One

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Amakusa Shirou (天草 四郎・あまくさ しろう) as he is often portrayed – a young and handsome teenager of fair skin in Western fashion, laying his protecting hands over the lands. His is appearance in reality likely to be quite a different one – read why, later in the post.

In this post I talk about the Shimabara Rebellion (島原の乱・しまばらのらん) that took place in Japan in the years of 1637-38, pretty much at the beginning of the Edo Period (江戸時代・えどじだい; from 1603-1868), my favorite era in Japanese history. This is going to be my first historical article on MyLittle Dejima and I am happy this particular topic marks the starting point of my journey💓. I hope to be able to write more about historical accounts in the future and to share my findings with readers on this blog. Conducting research 📚🔬 was one of the main purposes in setting up this page and it is my hope that you will find the results of my first work interesting. Here we raise the curtains:

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