Japanese History – The Japan Box

Shinsengumi

The Shinsen Gumi (新選組, newly selected group) was a group of samurai from the late Tokugawa Shogunate.Primarily composed of rōnins, the Shinsen Gumi was responsible for the security of Kyoto during the events of the Bakumatsu (1853-1868), first under the...

Kunoichi

The kunoichi (くノ一) are female ninja or ninpo practitioners. They were used as assassins and spies.The usual training of the kunoichi differed radically in the skill set of the ninja, although they maintained a common core: taijutsu, ninjutsu, etc. They...

Kabukimono

Kabukimono (傾奇者 (カブキもの) Kabukimono lit. "Deviants" or "Those who wiggle") or hatamoto yakko (旗本奴) were bands of wandering samurai from Japan's feudal era, found especially between the end of the Muromachi period and the early Edo period. Although several of...

Kojiki

The Kodjiki (古事記, Old Time Records) is the oldest surviving Japanese chronicle (711-712), containing myths, legends, historical and genealogical data, and song settings. In addition to describing in detail the myths of Japanese belief, it provides a basis for the...

Dotaku

Dōtaku (Japanese 銅鐸) is a domeless, thin-walled and richly decorated bell cast from bronze in Japan. It was used almost exclusively for decorative purposes in rituals over a period of about 400 years, between the 2nd century BC and the...