Katsushika Hokusai was a prominent Japanese ukiyo-e artist active in the late Edo period. He lived to the age of 90 during the Edo period (1600-1860), a time when the average life expectancy was less than 50 years, and created approximately 30,000 works before his passing. Many of his works, produced over about 70 years, continue to be highly acclaimed even 170 years after his death.
View More JAPANESE SAMURAI / Hokusai Katsushika
Hanaoka Seishu was a doctor active during the Edo period. While studying Chinese herbal medicine, he also mastered Dutch-style surgery and other cutting-edge medical techniques. After repeatedly mixing various medicinal herbs, he perfected the anesthetic “Tsusensan,” composed mainly of mandarage (datura alba) berries and other ingredients.
View More JAPANESE SAMURAI / Seishu Hanaoka
Ino Tadataka was the first person to complete a map of Japan, and his map was so highly accurate that it was used for 100 years after its completion.
View More JAPANESE SAMURAI / Ino Tadataka
The Life of a Man Devoted to the Future of Japan, and His Unfortunate Death Before He Saw the Meiji Era
View More JAPANESE SAMURAI / Shintaro Nakaoka
There are four major Ukiyo-e artists: Sharaku for kabuki actor portraits, Hiroshige for landscapes, Hokusai for the world, and Utamaro for paintings of beautiful women.
View More JAPANESE SAMURAI / Kitagawa Utamaro
The Oda family is one of the most powerful families in Japanese history.
Katsuie Shibata was a vassal of the Oda family.
He was such a strong warrior that he was also called “Oni Shibata,” which translates to “demon-Shibata,” and played a major role in expanding Oda Nobunaga’s power.
View More JAPANESE SAMURAI / Katsuie Shibata
Fujiwara no Michinaga is an important figure that always appears in Japanese history textbooks. While he was a powerful man who held political power, he was also known as a man of culture who loved poetry and waka poems and passed on his valuable literary works to the modern age.Fujiwara no Michinaga is an important figure that always appears in Japanese history textbooks. While he was a powerful man who held political power, he was also known as a man of culture who loved poetry and waka poems and passed on his valuable literary works to the modern age.Fujiwara no Michinaga is an important figure that always appears in Japanese history textbooks. While he was a powerful man who held political power, he was also known as a man of culture who loved poetry and waka poems and passed on his valuable literary works to the modern age.
View More JAPANESE SAMURAI / Fujiwara no Michinaga
Do you know someone who is famous for haiku? In Japan, there are several people that are famous for their haiku. Among them, Matsuo Basho, who was active in the Edo period (1603-1867), is known worldwide for developing haikai, the original form of haiku.
In this article, we will introduce who Matsuo Basho was and what his masterpiece “Oku no Hosomichi” (The Narrow Road to the Interior) is all about.
View More JAPANESE SAMURAI / Matsuo Bashō
What would you do if you were asked to choose between attempting to shoot an arrow through a fan 70 meters (230 feet) away and being killed if you failed, or committing seppuku (Japanese: “self disembowelment”)? There was a man in the past who was faced with such an ultimate choice. This article will introduce a man named Nasu No Yoichi, who succeeded in making that choice.
View More JAPANESE SAMURAI / Nasu no Yoichi
Tomoe Gozen is known as a woman who distinguished herself in battles. Nevertheless, she appears only in military tales such as “The Tale of the Heike” and does not appear in historical records. Therefore, it is not certain whether she really existed. In this article, we will discuss Tomoe Gozen based on the information found in the tales.
View More JAPANESE SAMURAI / Tomoe Gozen
Sugita Genpaku is a prominent figure who made significant contributions to the medical field in Japan during the Edo period. His groundbreaking work in his time has had a profound impact on modern medicine. So, let’s dive into his incredible accomplishments and their lasting influence.
View More JAPANESE SAMURAI / Sugita Genpaku
Tokugawa Yoshimune was born in 1684 in Japan. He became the eighth shogun, or military leader, of the Tokugawa shogunate from 1716 to 1745, during the time in history when Japan was ruled by samurais.
View More JAPANESE SAMURAI / Tokugawa Yoshimune