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Administrative division. Administrative divisions[1] (also administrative units,[2][3][4] administrative regions,[5] subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divided. Such a unit usually has an administrative authority with the power to take administrative or policy decisions for its area.[3] Administrative divisions are often used as polygons in geospatial analysis.[6] Usually, sovereign states have several levels of administrative division. Common names for the principal (largest) administrative divisions include: states (subnational states, rather than sovereign states), provinces, lands, oblasts and regions. These in turn are often subdivided into smaller administrative units known by names such as comarcas, raions or districts, which are further subdivided into municipalities, communes or communities constituting the smallest units of subdivision (the local governments). Some administrative division names (such as departments, cantons, prefectures, counties or governorates) can be used for principal, second-level, or third-level divisions. The levels of administrative divisions and their structure largely varies by country (and sometimes within a single country). Usually the smaller the country is (by area or population), the fewer levels of administrative divisions it has. For example, Vatican City does not have any administrative subdivisions, and Monaco has only one level (both are city-states), while such countries as France and Pakistan have five levels each. The United States is composed of states, possessions, territories, and a federal district, each with varying numbers of subdivisions. The principal administrative division of a country is sometimes called the first-level (or first-order) administrative division or first administrative level. Its next subdivision might be called second-level administrative division or second administrative level and so on.[1][4][7] An alternative terminology is provided by the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics which terms the principal division as the second level or NUTS-2. Administrative divisions are conceptually separate from dependent territories, with the former being an integral part of the state and the other being only under some lesser form of control. However, the term administrative division can include dependent territories as well as accepted administrative divisions (for example, in geographical databases).[citation needed]
Unitary state. A unitary state is a (sovereign) state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create or abolish administrative divisions (sub-national or sub-state units). Such units exercise only the powers that the central government chooses to delegate. Although political power may be delegated through devolution to regional or local governments by statute, the central government may alter the statute, to override the decisions of devolved governments or expand their powers. The modern unitary state concept originated in France; in the aftermath of the Hundred Years War, national feelings that emerged from the war unified France. The war accelerated the process of transforming France from a feudal monarchy to a unitary state. The French then later spread unitary states by conquests, throughout Europe during and after the Napoleonic Wars, and to the world through the vast French colonial empire.[1] Presently, prefects remain an illustration of the French unitary state system, as the representatives of the State in each department, tasked with upholding central government policies. Unitary states stand in contrast to federations, also known as federal states. A large majority of the UN member countries, 166 out of 193, have a unitary system of government, while significant population and land mass is under some kind of federation.[2] A unitary system of government can be considered to be the opposite of federalism. In federations, the provincial/regional governments share powers with the central government as equal actors through a written constitution, to which the consent of both is required to make amendments. This means that the sub-national units have a right to existence and powers that cannot be unilaterally changed by the central government.[3] Italics: States with limited recognition from other sovereign states or intergovernmental organizations.
Kagawa Prefecture. Kagawa Prefecture (香川県, Kagawa-ken; Japanese pronunciation: [kaꜜ.ɡa.wa, -ŋa.wa, ka.ɡa.waꜜ.keɴ, -ŋa.waꜜ-][4]) is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku.[5] Kagawa Prefecture has a population of 949,358 (as of 2020)[2] and is the smallest prefecture by geographic area at 1,877 square kilometres (725 sq mi).[1] Kagawa Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the southwest and Tokushima Prefecture to the south. Takamatsu is the capital and largest city of Kagawa Prefecture,[6] with other major cities including Marugame, Mitoyo, and Kanonji. Kagawa Prefecture is located on the Seto Inland Sea across from Okayama Prefecture on the island of Honshu, which is connected by the Great Seto Bridge. Kagawa Prefecture includes Shōdoshima, the second-largest island in the Seto Inland Sea, and the prefectures southern land border with Tokushima Prefecture is formed by the Sanuki Mountains. Kagawa was formerly known as Sanuki Province.[7] For a brief period between August 1876 and December 1888, Kagawa was made a part of Ehime Prefecture.[8]
Tottori Prefecture. Tottori Prefecture (鳥取県, Tottori-ken; Japanese pronunciation: [tot.to.ɾʲi, tot.to.ɾʲiꜜ.keɴ][2]) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu.[3] Tottori Prefecture is the least populous prefecture of Japan at 538,525 (2023) and has a geographic area of 3,507.13 square kilometres (1,354.11 sq mi). Tottori Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to the west, Hiroshima Prefecture to the southwest, Okayama Prefecture to the south, and Hyōgo Prefecture to the east. Tottori is the capital and largest city of Tottori Prefecture, with other major cities including Yonago, Kurayoshi, and Sakaiminato.[4] Tottori Prefecture is home to the Tottori Sand Dunes, the largest sand dunes system in Japan, and Mount Daisen, the highest peak in the Chūgoku Mountains. The word Tottori in Japanese is formed from two kanji characters. The first, 鳥, means bird and the second, 取 means to get. Early residents in the area made their living catching the regions plentiful waterfowl. The name first appears in the Nihon shoki in the 23rd year of the Emperor Suinin (213 AD) when Yukuha Tana, an elder from the Izumo, visits the emperor. The imperial Prince Homatsu-wake was unable to speak, despite being 30 years of age. Yukuha Tana presented the swan to the emperor. Homatsu-wake no Mikoto played with this swan and at last learned to speak. Therefore, Yukaha Tana was liberally rewarded, and was granted the title of Tottori no Miyakko. (Aston, translation)[5] Tottori Prefecture was settled very early in the prehistoric period of Japan, as evidenced by remains from the Jōmon period (14,000 – 300 BC).[6] The prefecture has the remains of the largest known Yayoi period (300 BC – 250 AD) settlement in Japan, the Mukibanda Yayoi remains, located in the low foothills of Mount Daisen[7] in the cities of Daisen and Yonago.[8] Numerous kofun tumuli from the Kofun period (250 – 538) are located across the prefecture.[9] In 645, under the Taika reforms, the area in present-day Tottori Prefecture became two provinces, Hōki and Inaba.[10]
John Tenniel. John Tenniel (/ˈtɛniəl/;[1] 28 February 1820 – 25 February 1914)[2] was an English illustrator, graphic humourist and political cartoonist prominent in the second half of the 19th century. An alumnus of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, he was knighted for artistic achievements in 1893, the first such honour ever bestowed on an illustrator or cartoonist. Tenniel is remembered mainly as the principal political cartoonist for Punch magazine for over 50 years and for his illustrations to Lewis Carrolls Alices Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871). Tenniels detailed black-and-white drawings remain the definitive depiction of the Alice characters, with comic book illustrator and writer Bryan Talbot stating, Carroll never describes the Mad Hatter: our image of him is pure Tenniel.[3] Tenniel was born in Bayswater, West London, to John Baptist Tenniel, a fencing and dancing master of Huguenot descent,[4][5] and Eliza Maria Tenniel. Tenniel had five siblings; two brothers and three sisters. One sister, Mary, was later to marry Thomas Goodwin Green, owner of the pottery that produced Cornishware. Tenniel was a quiet and introverted person, both as a boy and as an adult. He was content to remain firmly out of the limelight and seemed unaffected by competition or change. His biographer Rodney Engen wrote that Tenniels life and career was that of the supreme gentlemanly outside, living on the edge of respectability.[6] In 1840, Tenniel, while practising fencing, received a serious eye wound from his fathers foil, which had accidentally lost its protective tip. Over the years, Tenniel gradually lost sight in his right eye;[7] he never told his father of the severity of the wound, as he did not wish to upset him further.[8]
Literary nonsense. Literary nonsense (or nonsense literature) is a broad categorization of literature that balances elements that make sense with some that do not, with the effect of subverting language conventions or logical reasoning.[1] Even though the most well-known form of literary nonsense is nonsense verse, the genre is present in many forms of literature. The effect of nonsense is often caused by an excess of meaning, rather than a lack of it. Its humor is derived from its nonsensical nature, rather than wit or the joke of a punch line.[2] Literary nonsense, as recognized since the nineteenth century, comes from a combination of two broad artistic sources. The first and older source is the oral folk tradition, including games, songs, dramas, and rhymes, such as the nursery rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle.[3] The literary figure Mother Goose represents common incarnations of this style of writing. The second, newer source of literary nonsense is in the intellectual absurdities of court poets, scholars, and intellectuals of various kinds. These writers often created sophisticated nonsense forms of Latin parodies, religious travesties, and political satire, though these texts are distinguished from more pure satire and parody by their exaggerated nonsensical effects.[4]
Time zone. A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it is convenient for areas in frequent communication to keep the same time. Each time zone is defined by a standard offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The offsets range from UTC−12:00 to UTC+14:00, and are usually a whole number of hours, but a few zones are offset by an additional 30 or 45 minutes, such as in India and Nepal. Some areas in a time zone may use a different offset for part of the year, typically one hour ahead during spring and summer, a practice known as daylight saving time (DST). In the table below, the locations that use daylight saving time (DST) are listed in their UTC offset when DST is not in effect. When DST is in effect, approximately during spring and summer, their UTC offset is increased by one hour (except for Lord Howe Island, where it is increased by 30 minutes). For example, during the DST period California observes UTC−07:00 and the United Kingdom observes UTC+01:00.
Kujūkuri Beach. Kujūkuri Beach (九十九里浜, Kujūkuri-hama) is a sandy beach that occupies much of the northeast coast of the Bōsō Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.[1][2] Kujūkuri Beach is a popular swimming and surfing destination for inhabitants of Greater Tokyo.[3][4] The beach is protected as part of Kujūkuri Prefectural Natural Park.[1] The beach is approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) long, making it the second longest beach in Japan.[5] Kujūkuri Beach extends in the shape of an arc from Cape Gyōbumi in Asahi to the north to Cape Taitō in Isumi, Chiba Prefecture to the south.[4][6] The beach is relatively straight, in contrast to the typically irregular coastlines of Japan.[7] The tides and the Kuroshio Current create sand deposits along the length of the beach which form sand dunes of 4 metres (13 ft) to 6 metres (20 ft).[1] Kujūkuri Beach has no reef.[7] The coastal region of the beach is the north-eastern end of Kuroshio Current influence in Japan. Kujūkuri Beach extends across ten municipalities in Chiba Prefecture. They include:
Keiyō Industrial Zone. Keiyō Industrial Zone (京葉工業地域, Keiyō Kōgyō Chiiki),[1] also known as the Keiyō Industrial Region, the Keiyō Industrial Area, or the Keiyō Industrial Belt, is an industrial zone on the northeastern coast of Tokyo Bay that crosses 8 cities in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The zone spans from the western part of Urayasu in the northeast to Futtsu in the southeast of the region. The zone has no political or administrative status.[2] The name of the industrial zone is formed from two kanji characters. The first, 京, means capital city and refers to Tokyo. The second, 葉, meaning leaf, is the second kanji in Chiba and refers to Chiba Prefecture, and the compound refers to the Tokyo-Chiba region.[3] The Keiyō Industrial Zone spans the coast of Tokyo Bay from Urayasu in the northeast, through Funabashi, Chiba City, Kisarazu, Kimitsu, Ichihara, Sodegaura, and ends in Futtsu to the southeast. Numerous small rivers empty into the industrial region, and provide a source of water to support industry. They include the Edo River, the Yōrō River, and the Koito River. Before industrialization the Keiyō region was originally home to nori seaweed collection, the shellfish industry, mixed small-scale fishing and agricultural villages, and beach resorts.[4] The Keihin region, spanning west from Tokyo to Yokohama, was developed after World War I. With the rapid development of the defense industry in Japan from the beginning of the Shōwa period in 1926, a plan for the decentralization of industry from the immediate Tokyo area was planned in 1935. The Keiyō Industrial Region was fully developed after World War II. Some land reclamation had been carried out in coastal areas of Tokyo Bay as part of the industrialization of Japan in the early 20th century. Reclaimed land areas replaced traditional fishing areas and supported small factories. The construction of the Kawasaki Steel Works in Chiba City in 1953 marked the beginning of the large-scale construction of heavy industry infrastructure in the industrial zone,[5] and other industries soon followed. The deepwater ports of the Keiyō Industrial Zone were built starting in the 1950s. Thermal power generators were built,[6] and large tracts of land were reclaimed from the bay for expansion of the Keiyō region. Keiyō was significantly expanded in the 1960s. Heavy metal and chemical production were among the highest in Japan by the 1970s. The zone is a major base for the electric power generation, petrochemical, petroleum, shipbuilding, logistics, shipping, and steel industries.[7] The Port of Chiba is a major component to the Keiyō Industrial Region.
Lewis Carroll. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglican deacon. His most notable works are Alices Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass (1871). He was noted for his facility with word play, logic, and fantasy. His poems Jabberwocky (1871) and The Hunting of the Snark (1876) are classified in the genre of literary nonsense. Some of Alices nonsensical wonderland logic reflects his published work on mathematical logic. Carroll came from a family of high-church Anglicans, and pursued his clerical training at Christ Church, Oxford, where he lived for most of his life as a scholar, teacher and (necessarily for his academic fellowship at the time) Anglican deacon. Alice Liddell – a daughter of Henry Liddell, the Dean of Christ Church – is widely identified as the original inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, though Carroll always denied this. An avid puzzler, Carroll created the word ladder puzzle, which he called Doublets and published in his weekly column for Vanity Fair magazine between 1879 and 1881. In 1982 a memorial stone to Carroll was unveiled at Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey. There are societies in many parts of the world dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of his works.[1][2] Dodgsons family background was predominantly northern English, conservative, and high-church Anglican. Most of his male ancestors were army officers or Anglican clergymen. His great-grandfather, Charles Dodgson, had risen through the ranks of the church to become the Bishop of Elphin in rural Ireland.[3] His paternal grandfather, also named Charles, was an army captain fatality of the Irish rebellion of 1803, when his two sons were hardly more than babies.[4] The elder of these sons, yet another Charles Dodgson, was Carrolls father. He went to Rugby School and then to Christ Church, a constituent college of the University of Oxford.[5] He reverted to the other family tradition and took holy orders. He was mathematically gifted and won a double first degree, which could have been the prelude to a brilliant academic career. Instead, he became a country parson.[6][7]
Cape Inubō. Cape Inubō (犬吠埼, Inubōsaki) is a cape on the Pacific Ocean, in Chōshi, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The cape is near the midpoint of the Japanese Archipelago on the island of Honshū. The name of the cape is constructed from two Chinese characters, the first (犬) meaning dog, and the second (吠) meaning howling. Various traditions exist as to the origin of the name, one being that when Minamoto no Yoshitsunes pet dog Wakamaru was left behind on the peninsula, he howled for seven days and nights. Another explanation is that the region was home to numerous Japanese sea lions, whose barking voice resembles that of a dog. The name may also be of ancient Ainu origin.[1] Cape Inubō is technically a small peninsula, but is customarily referred to as a cape. While references exist to the Inubō Peninsula, the name has fallen out of use. An extensive marine cave exists in the reef areas under the lighthouse. The cape forms the easternmost point in Chiba Prefecture, close to the mouth of the Tone River. It is part of Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park. Cape Inubō is noted for its Inubōsaki Lighthouse, built in 1874. It is notable as one of the few lighthouses whose original lens was a first order Fresnel lens, the strongest type of Fresnel lens. It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan. Cape Inubō is mentioned in numerous literary works. Markers related to the poems of Shōwa period author Kyoshi Takahama (1874 – 1959) and Naturalist tanka poet Bokusui Wakayama (1885 – 1928) are on the cape.[2]
Romanization of Japanese. The romanization of Japanese is the use of Latin script to write the Japanese language.[1] This method of writing is sometimes referred to in Japanese as rōmaji (ローマ字; lit. Roman letters, [ɾoːma(d)ʑi] ⓘ or [ɾoːmaꜜ(d)ʑi]). Japanese is normally written in a combination of logographic characters borrowed from Chinese (kanji) and syllabic scripts (kana) that also ultimately derive from Chinese characters. There are several different romanization systems. The three main ones are Hepburn romanization, Kunrei-shiki romanization (ISO 3602) and Nihon-shiki romanization (ISO 3602 Strict). Variants of the Hepburn system are the most widely used. Romanized Japanese may be used in any context where Japanese text is targeted at non-Japanese speakers who cannot read kanji or kana, such as for names on street signs and passports and in dictionaries and textbooks for foreign learners of the language. It is also used to transliterate Japanese terms in text written in English (or other languages that use the Latin script) on topics related to Japan, such as linguistics, literature, history, and culture. All Japanese who have attended elementary school since World War II have been taught to read and write romanized Japanese. Therefore, almost all Japanese can read and write Japanese by using rōmaji. However, it is extremely rare in Japan to use it to write Japanese (except as an input tool on a computer or for special purposes such as logo design), and most Japanese are more comfortable in reading kanji and kana.
Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow. Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version are 1996 role-playing video games (RPGs) developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. They are the first installments of the Pokémon video game series, and were first released in Japan as Pocket Monsters Red[a] and Pocket Monsters Green,[b] followed by the special edition Pocket Monsters Blue[c] later that year. The games were released internationally in 1998 and 1999 as Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue, while an enhanced version named Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition,[d][e] was released in Japan in 1998 and in other regions in 1999 and 2000. The player controls the protagonist from an overhead perspective and navigates the fictional region of Kanto in a quest to master Pokémon battling. The goal is to become the champion of the Indigo League by defeating the eight Gym Leaders and the top Pokémon trainers in the land, the Elite Four. Another objective is to complete the Pokédex, an in-game encyclopedia, by obtaining all 151 Pokémon. Red and Blue use the Game Link Cable, which connects two Game Boy systems and allows Pokémon to be traded or battled between games. Both versions feature the same plot,[1] and while they can be played separately, players must trade between both games to obtain all of the original 151 Pokémon. Red and Blue were well-received, with critics praising the multiplayer options, especially the concept of trading. They received an aggregated score of 89% on GameRankings and are considered among the greatest games ever made, perennially ranked on top game lists including at least four years on IGNs Top 100 Games of All Time. The games marked the beginning of a multibillion-dollar franchise, jointly selling over 400 million copies worldwide. The Red and Blue versions were remade for Game Boy Advance as FireRed and LeafGreen (2004) while Yellow was remade for Nintendo Switch as Lets Go, Pikachu! and Lets Go, Eevee! (2018). The originals were rereleased on the Virtual Console service for the Nintendo 3DS in 2016 to commemorate their twentieth anniversaries. Pokémon Red and Blue are played in a third-person view, overhead perspective and consist of three basic screens: an overworld, in which the player navigates the main character;[3] a side-view battle screen;[4] and a menu interface, in which the player may configure their Pokémon, items, or gameplay settings.[5]
Japanese yen. The yen (Japanese: 円; symbol: ¥; code: JPY) is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro.[2] It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. The New Currency Act of 1871 introduced Japans modern currency system, with the yen defined as 1.5 g (0.048 troy ounces) of gold, or 24.26 g (0.780 troy ounces) of silver, and divided decimally into 100 sen or 1,000 rin. The yen replaced the previous Tokugawa coinage as well as the various hansatsu paper currencies issued by feudal han (fiefs). The Bank of Japan was founded in 1882 and given a monopoly on controlling the money supply.[3] Following World War II, the yen lost much of its pre-war value as Japan faced a debt crisis and hyperinflation. Under the Bretton Woods system, the yen was pegged to the US dollar alongside other major currencies. After this system was abandoned in 1971 with the Nixon Shock, the short-lived Smithsonian Agreement temporarily reinstated a fixed exchange rate. However, since the end of that system in February 1973, the yen has been a floating currency.[4] The Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Japan have sometimes intervened in the currency market in recent years, to try to slow down exchange rate movements. There were intermittent interventions from 1998 to 2003 and from 2010 to 2011 to curb excessive and speculative appreciation of the yen, and again in 2022 and 2024 to slow down speculative selling of the currency.[5] The first two interventions were coordinated with respective[clarification needed] countries,[6][7] and the IMF has repeatedly stated that Japan is committed to a flexible exchange rate.[8][9][10]
Fantasy. Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or magical elements, often including completely imaginary realms and creatures.[1][2] The genres roots lie in oral traditions, which later became fantasy literature and drama. From the twentieth century onward, it has expanded into various media, including film, television, graphic novels, manga, animation, and video games. The expression fantastic literature is often used for this genre by Anglophone literary critics.[3][4][5][6] An archaic spelling for the term is phantasy.[7] Fantasy is generally distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by an absence of scientific or macabre themes, although these can occur in fantasy. In popular culture, the fantasy genre predominantly features settings that reflect the actual Earth, but with some sense of otherness.[8]
Marine coastal ecosystem. A marine coastal ecosystem is a marine ecosystem which occurs where the land meets the ocean. Worldwide there is about 620,000 kilometres (390,000 mi) of coastline. Coastal habitats extend to the margins of the continental shelves, occupying about 7 percent of the ocean surface area. Marine coastal ecosystems include many very different types of marine habitats, each with their own characteristics and species composition. They are characterized by high levels of biodiversity and productivity. For example, estuaries are areas where freshwater rivers meet the saltwater of the ocean, creating an environment that is home to a wide variety of species, including fish, shellfish, and birds. Salt marshes are coastal wetlands which thrive on low-energy shorelines in temperate and high-latitude areas, populated with salt-tolerant plants such as cordgrass and marsh elder that provide important nursery areas for many species of fish and shellfish. Mangrove forests survive in the intertidal zones of tropical or subtropical coasts, populated by salt-tolerant trees that protect habitat for many marine species, including crabs, shrimp, and fish. Further examples are coral reefs and seagrass meadows, which are both found in warm, shallow coastal waters. Coral reefs thrive in nutrient-poor waters on high-energy shorelines that are agitated by waves. They are underwater ecosystem made up of colonies of tiny animals called coral polyps. These polyps secrete hard calcium carbonate skeletons that builds up over time, creating complex and diverse underwater structures. These structures function as some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, providing habitat and food for a huge range of marine organisms. Seagrass meadows can be adjacent to coral reefs. These meadows are underwater grasslands populated by marine flowering plants that provide nursery habitats and food sources for many fish species, crabs and sea turtles, as well as dugongs. In slightly deeper waters are kelp forests, underwater ecosystems found in cold, nutrient-rich waters, primarily in temperate regions. These are dominated by a large brown algae called kelp, a type of seaweed that grows several meters tall, creating dense and complex underwater forests. Kelp forests provide important habitats for many fish species, sea otters and sea urchins. Directly and indirectly, marine coastal ecosystems provide vast arrays of ecosystem services for humans, such as cycling nutrients and elements, and purifying water by filtering pollutants. They sequester carbon as a cushion against climate change. They protect coasts by reducing the impacts of storms, reducing coastal erosion and moderating extreme events. They provide essential nurseries and fishing grounds for commercial fisheries. They provide recreational services and support tourism. These ecosystems are vulnerable to various anthropogenic and natural disturbances, such as pollution, overfishing, and coastal development, which have significant impacts on their ecological functioning and the services they provide. Climate change is impacting coastal ecosystems with sea level rises, ocean acidification, and increased storm frequency and intensity. When marine coastal ecosystems are damaged or destroyed, there can be serious consequences for the marine species that depend on them, as well as for the overall health of the ocean ecosystem. Some conservation efforts are underway to protect and restore marine coastal ecosystems, such as establishing marine protected areas and developing sustainable fishing practices. The Earth has approximately 620,000 kilometres (390,000 mi) of coastline. Coastal habitats extend to the margins of the continental shelves, occupying about 7 percent by area of the Earths oceans.[1] These coastal seas are highly productive systems, providing an array of ecosystem services to humankind, such as processing of nutrient effluents from land and climate regulation.[2] However, coastal ecosystems are threatened by human-induced pressures such as climate change and eutrophication. In the coastal zone, the fluxes and transformations of nutrients and carbon sustaining coastal ecosystem functions and services are strongly regulated by benthic (that is, occurring at the seafloor) biological and chemical processes.[2]
Kyushu Sangyo University. Kyushu Sangyo University (九州産業大学, Kyūshū Sangyō Daigaku) was founded in 1960 in Fukuoka City, and currently has twenty departments and six graduate schools. It is a private university. 33°40′11″N 130°26′41″E / 33.66972°N 130.44472°E / 33.66972; 130.44472 This article on a Fukuoka Prefecture institute of higher education or related topic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Nagi, Okayama. Nagi (奈義町, Nagi-chō) is a town located in Katsuta District, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 December 2024[update], the town had a population of 5,512 in 2,437 households and a population density of 79.3 persons per km².[1] The total area of the town is 69.52 square kilometres (26.84 sq mi). Nagi is located in the northeastern part of Okayama Prefecture, bordered by Tottori Prefecture to the north. Located on the southern side of the Chugoku Mountains, mountains and forests occupy the northern town area; and the town is designated as a heavy snowfall area. Mount Nagi (1255 meters) from which the town derives its name, is located on the border between Nagi and Chizu, Tottori. The southern part of the city is a plateau called the Nihonbara Plateau, where the Ground Self-Defense Force Camp Nihonbara and the Nihonbara Maneuver Area are located. Okayama Prefecture Tottori Prefecture Nagi has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The average annual temperature in Nagi is 13.4 °C (56.1 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,511.0 mm (59.49 in) with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.7 °C (78.3 °F), and lowest in January, at around 1.8 °C (35.2 °F).[2] The highest temperature ever recorded in Nagi was 37.2 °C (99.0 °F) on 6 August 1994; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −15.5 °C (4.1 °F) on 3 February 2012.[3]
Manga artist. A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (Japanese: 漫画家), is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the industry as a primary creator. More rarely a manga artist breaks into the industry directly, without previously being an assistant. For example, Naoko Takeuchi, author of Sailor Moon, won a Kodansha Manga Award contest and manga pioneer Osamu Tezuka was first published while studying an unrelated degree, without working as an assistant.[1] A manga artist will rise to prominence through recognition of their ability when they spark the interest of institutions, individuals or a demographic of manga consumers. For example, there are contests which prospective manga artist may enter, sponsored by manga editors and publishers. This can also be accomplished through producing a one-shot. While sometimes a stand-alone manga, with enough positive reception it can be serialized in a weekly, monthly, or quarterly format. They are also recognized for the number of manga they run at any given moment.[2][3] The original Japanese word can be broken down into two parts: manga (漫画) and ka (家). The manga corresponds to the medium of art the artist uses: comics, or Japanese comics, depending on how the term is used inside or outside Japan.[citation needed]
Okayama Prefecture. Okayama Prefecture (岡山県, Okayama-ken; Japanese pronunciation: [o.kaꜜ.ja.ma, o.ka.ja.maꜜ.keɴ][2]) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu.[3] Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture borders Tottori Prefecture to the north, Hyōgo Prefecture to the east, and Hiroshima Prefecture to the west. Okayama is the capital and largest city of Okayama Prefecture, with other major cities including Kurashiki, Tsuyama, and Sōja.[4][5][6] Okayama Prefectures south is located on the Seto Inland Sea coast across from Kagawa Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, which are connected by the Great Seto Bridge, while the north is characterized by the Chūgoku Mountains. Prior to the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the area of present-day Okayama Prefecture was divided between Bitchū, Bizen and Mimasaka Provinces. Okayama Prefecture was formed and named in 1871 as part of the large-scale administrative reforms of the early Meiji period (1868–1912), and the borders of the prefecture were set in 1876.[5][7] Okayama Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture, Tottori Prefecture, and Hiroshima Prefecture.[5] It faces Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku across the Seto Inland Sea and includes 90 islands in the sea. Okayama Prefecture is home to the historic town of Kurashiki. Most of the population is concentrated around Kurashiki and Okayama. The small villages in the northern mountain region are aging and declining in population - more than half of the prefectures municipalities are officially designated as depopulated.[8]
United States dollar. The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD[a]) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it into 100 cents, and authorized the minting of coins denominated in dollars and cents. U.S. banknotes are issued in the form of Federal Reserve Notes, popularly called greenbacks due to their predominantly green color. The U.S. dollar was originally defined under a bimetallic standard of 371.25 grains (24.057 g) (0.7734375 troy ounces) fine silver or, from 1834,[2] 23.22 grains (1.505 g) fine gold, or $20.67 per troy ounce. The Gold Standard Act of 1900 linked the dollar solely to gold. From 1934, its equivalence to gold was revised to $35 per troy ounce. In 1971 all links to gold were repealed.[3] The U.S. dollar became an important international reserve currency after the First World War, and displaced the pound sterling as the worlds primary reserve currency by the Bretton Woods Agreement towards the end of the Second World War. The dollar is the most widely used currency in international transactions,[4] and a free-floating currency. It is also the official currency in several countries and the de facto currency in many others,[5][6] with Federal Reserve Notes (and, in a few cases, U.S. coins) used in circulation. The monetary policy of the United States is conducted by the Federal Reserve System, which acts as the nations central bank. As of February 10, 2021, currency in circulation amounted to US$2.10 trillion, $2.05 trillion of which is in Federal Reserve Notes (the remaining $50 billion is in the form of coins and older-style United States Notes).[7][failed verification] As of January 1, 2025, the Federal Reserve estimated that the total amount of currency in circulation was approximately US$2.37 trillion.[8] Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution provides that Congress has the power to coin money.[9] Laws implementing this power are currently codified in Title 31 of the U.S. Code, under Section 5112, which prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued.[10] These coins are both designated in the section as legal tender in payment of debts.[11] The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, in contrast to the American Silver Eagle which is pure silver. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins, which have values ranging from one cent (U.S. Penny) to 100 dollars.[11] These other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar.
Shueisha. Shueisha Inc. (株式会社集英社, Kabushiki gaisha Shūei-sha) is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan.[3] It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Manga magazines published by Shueisha include the Jump magazine line, which includes shonen magazines Weekly Shōnen Jump, Jump SQ, and V Jump, and seinen magazines Weekly Young Jump, Grand Jump and Ultra Jump, and the online magazine Shōnen Jump+. They also publish other magazines, including Non-no. Shueisha, along with Shogakukan, owns Viz Media, which publishes manga from both companies in North America.[4] In 1925, Shueisha was created by major publishing company Shogakukan (founded in 1922). Jinjō Shōgaku Ichinen Josei (尋常小學一年女生) became the first novel published by Shueisha in collaboration with Shogakukan—the temporary home of Shueisha. In 1927, two novels titled Danshi Ehon, and Joshi Ehon were created. In 1928, Shueisha was hired to edit Gendai Humor Zenshū (現代ユーモア全集, Gendai Yūmoa Zenshū), a compilation. Gendai Humor Zenshū continued 12 volumes, some issues being Joshi Shinjidai Eishūji-chō and Shinjidai Eishūji-chō (新時代英習字帳). In the 1930s another novel called Tantei-ki Dan was launched and Gendai Humor Zenshū was completed in 24 volumes. In 1931 two more novels were launched, Danshi Yōchien and Joshi Yōchien. After World War II, Shueisha started publishing a manga line called Omoshiro Book. Omoshiro Book published a picture book called Shōnen Ōja, which became a huge hit among boys and girls. The first full volume of Shōnen Ōja was released as Shōnen Ōja Oitachi Hen, which became an instant best-seller.
Nihonga. Nihonga (Japanese: 日本画) is a Japanese style of painting that typically uses mineral pigments, and occasionally ink, together with other organic pigments on silk or paper. The term was coined during the Meiji period (1868–1912) to differentiate it from its counterpart, known as Yōga (洋画) or Western-style painting. The term translates to pictures in a Japanese style.[1] In the narrow sense, it refers to paintings that were developed during the 77 years from the Meiji Restoration to the end of World War II based on traditional Japanese techniques and styles, such as calligraphy and hand-painted painting , rather than oil painting. In contrast, oil paintings were called Yōga. In a broader sense, the term can be extended to include works made before the Meiji Restoration and after World War II. In such cases, the term is often used with some ambiguity as to whether it refers to works that have Japanese characteristics in terms of subject matter or style despite being of Chinese origin, or whether it refers generally to drawings made in Japan before the arrival of oil painting techniques. The former, Meiji-era Nihonga, began when Okakura Tenshin and Ernest Fenollosa sought to revive traditional Japanese painting in response to the rise of a new Western painting style, Yōga. Hashimoto Gahō, a painter of the Kano School, was the founder of the practical side of this revival movement. He did not simply paint Japanese-style paintings using traditional techniques, but revolutionized traditional Japanese painting by incorporating the perspective of Yōga and set the direction for the later Nihonga movement. As the first professor at the Tokyo Fine Arts School (now Tokyo University of the Arts), he trained many painters who would later be considered Nihonga masters, including Yokoyama Taikan, Shimomura Kanzan, Hishida Shunsō, and Kawai Gyokudō.[2][3]
Narita International Airport. Narita International Airport (成田国際空港, Narita Kokusai Kūkō) (IATA: NRT, ICAO: RJAA) — formerly and originally known as New Tokyo International Airport (新東京国際空港, Shin Tōkyō Kokusai Kūkō) — is the secondary international airport serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other being Haneda Airport (HND). It is about 60 km (37 mi) east of central Tokyo in Narita, Chiba.[2] The facility, since July 2019, covers 1,137 hectares (2,810 acres) of land and construction to expand to nearly 2,300 ha (5,700 acres) is underway.[3] The conceptualization of Narita was highly controversial and remains so to the present day, especially among local residents in the area. This has led to the Sanrizuka Struggle, stemming from the governments decision to construct the airport without consulting most residents in the area, as well as expropriating their lands in the process. Even after the airport was eventually completed, air traffic movements have been controlled under various noise related operating restrictions due to its direct proximity with residential neighborhoods, including a house with a farm that is located right in between the runways.[4] As a result, the airport must be closed from 00:00 (12:00am) to 06:00 (6:00am) the next day to minimize the noise pollution impact around the airport.[5] Narita is the busiest airport in Japan by international passenger and international cargo traffic.[6] In 2018, Narita had 33.4 million international passengers and 2.2 million tonnes of international cargo.[7] In 2018, Narita was also the second-busiest airport in Japan in terms of aircraft movements (after Haneda Airport in Tokyo)[7] and the tenth-busiest air freight hub in the world.[8] Its 4,000-meter (13,123 ft) main runway shares the record for longest runway in Japan with the second runway at Kansai International Airport in Osaka.[9] Narita serves as the main international hub of Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Nippon Cargo Airlines, and United Airlines, and as an operating base for low-cost carriers Air Japan, Jetstar Japan, Peach Aviation, Spring Airlines Japan, and Zipair Tokyo. In 2022, Narita was named the fourth-best airport in the world after Hamad International Airport in Doha, Haneda Airport in Tokyo, and Changi Airport in Singapore by Skytraxs Worlds Top 100 airports. Before Narita opened, Tokyo International Airport (also known as Haneda Airport) was Tokyos main international airport. Haneda, located in Tokyo Bay was surrounded by densely populated residential and industrial areas, and began to suffer capacity and noise issues in the early 1960s as jet aircraft became common. The Japanese transport ministry commissioned a study of alternate airport locations in 1963, and in 1965 selected a plan to build a five-runway airport in the village of Tomisato.[10] The site was later moved 5 km (3.1 mi) northeast to the villages of Sanrizuka and Shibayama, where the Imperial Household had a large farming estate. This development plan was made public in 1966.[11]
Othello (character). Othello[a] is the titular protagonist in Shakespeares Othello (c. 1601–1604). The characters origin is traced to the tale Un Capitano Moro in Gli Hecatommithi by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. There, he is simply referred to as the Moor. Othello was first mentioned in a Revels account of 1604 when the play was performed on 1 November at Whitehall Palace with Richard Burbage almost certainly Othellos first interpreter. Modern notable performers of the role include Paul Robeson, Orson Welles, Richard Burton, James Earl Jones, Laurence Fishburne, Laurence Olivier, Patrick Stewart, and Avery Brooks. Othello is a Venetian soldier. After their time in Venice, Othello is appointed general in the Venetian Army. Iago, his jealous ensign, tricks him into believing that his wife Desdemona is having an affair with Michael Cassio, his captain. Othello kills his wife out of jealousy by strangling her, only to realize that his wife was faithful after Emilia reveals the truth, at which point he commits suicide. There is no final consensus over Othellos ethnicity; whether of Maghrebi origin as in the generally accepted definition of Moor, or of Sub-Saharan African.
Hyōgo Prefecture. Hyōgo Prefecture (兵庫県, Hyōgo-ken; Japanese pronunciation: [çoꜜː.ɡo, -ŋo, çoː.ɡoꜜ.keɴ, -ŋoꜜ.keɴ][3]) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu.[4] Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 (as of 1 June 2019[update]) and a geographic area of 8,400 square kilometres (3,200 square miles). Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, and Okayama and Tottori prefectures to the west. Kobe is the capital and largest city of Hyōgo Prefecture, and the seventh-largest city in Japan, with other major cities including Himeji, Nishinomiya, and Amagasaki.[5] Hyōgo Prefectures mainland stretches from the Sea of Japan to the Seto Inland Sea, where Awaji Island and a small archipelago of islands belonging to the prefecture are located. Hyōgo Prefecture is a major economic center, transportation hub, and tourist destination in western Japan, with 20% of the prefectures land area designated as Natural Parks. Hyōgo Prefecture forms part of the Kobe metropolitan area and Osaka metropolitan area, the second-most-populated urban region in Japan after the Greater Tokyo area and one of the worlds most productive regions by GDP. Present-day Hyōgo Prefecture includes the former provinces of Harima, Tajima, Awaji, and parts of Tanba and Settsu.[6] In 1180, near the end of the Heian period, Emperor Antoku, Taira no Kiyomori, and the Imperial court moved briefly to Fukuhara, in what is now the city of Kobe. There the capital remained for five months. Himeji Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is in the city of Himeji. Southern Hyōgo Prefecture was severely devastated by the 6.9 Mw Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995, which destroyed major parts of Kobe and Awaji, as well as Nishinomiya and Ashiya and the neighboring Osaka Prefecture, killing nearly 6,500 people.
Yamato people. The Yamato (大和民族, Yamato minzoku; lit. Yamato ethnicity) or Wajin (和人 / 倭人; lit. Wa people)[4] are an East Asian ethnic group that comprises over 98% of the population of Japan. Genetic and anthropometric studies have shown that the Yamato people predominantly descend from the Yayoi people, who migrated to Japan from the continent beginning during the 1st millennium BC, and to a lesser extent the indigenous Jōmon people who had inhabited the Japanese archipelago for millennia prior.[5] It can also refer to the first people that settled in Yamato Province (modern-day Nara Prefecture). Generations of Japanese archeologists, historians, and linguists have debated whether the word is related to the earlier Yamatai (邪馬臺). Around the 6th century, the Yamato clan set up Japans first and only dynasty. The clan became the ruling faction in the area, and incorporated the natives of Japan and migrants from the mainland.[6] The clan leaders also elevated their own belief system that featured ancestor worship into a national religion known as Shinto.[6] The term came to be used around the late 19th century to distinguish the settlers of mainland Japan from minority ethnic groups inhabiting the peripheral areas of the then Empire of Japan, including the Ainu, Ryukyuans, Nivkh, as well as Chinese, Koreans, and Austronesians (Taiwanese indigenous peoples and Micronesians) who were incorporated into the empire in the early 20th century. The term was eventually used as race propaganda. After Japans surrender in World War II, the term became antiquated for suggesting pseudoscientific racist notions that have been discarded in many circles.[7] Ever since the fall of the Empire, Japanese statistics only count their population in terms of nationality, rather than ethnicity. The Wajin (also known as Wa or Wō) or Yamato were the names early China used to refer to an ethnic group living in Japan around the time of the Three Kingdoms period. Ancient and medieval East Asian scribes regularly wrote Wa or Yamato with one and the same Chinese character 倭, which translated to dwarf, until the 8th century, when the Japanese found fault with it, replacing it with 和 harmony, peace, balance. Retroactively, this character was adopted in Japan to refer to the country itself, often combined with the character 大, literally meaning Great.
Abd al-Rahman al-Awzai. Abū ʿAmr ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAmr al-Awzāʿī (Arabic: أَبُو عَمْرو عَبْد ٱلرَّحْمَٰن بْن عَمْرو ٱلْأَوْزَاعِيّ; 707–774) was a Sunni Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, and the chief representative and eponym of the Awzai school of Islamic jurisprudence. Awzāʿī was of Sindhi origin,[2] born in Baalbek (in modern-day Lebanon) in 707. He was referred to by his nisbah Awzā (الأوزاع), part of Banu Hamdan.[3] The biographer and historian Al-Dhahabi reports that Awzāʿī was from Sindh, and he was a mawali of ʾAwzā tribe in his early life.[4][5] He may have descended from the Zutt (Jats), who had a strong presence in Syria and Iraq during Islamic Golden Age.[6] Very little of al-Awzāʿīs writings survive, but his style of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) is preserved in Abu Yusufs book Al-radd ʿala siyar al-Awzāʿī, in particular his reliance on the living tradition, or the uninterrupted practice of Muslims handed down from preceding generations. For Awzāʿī, this was the true Sunnah of Muhammad. Awzāʿīs school flourished in Syria, the Maghreb, and Al Andalus but was eventually overcome and replaced by the Maliki school of Islamic law in the 9th century. He died in 774 and was buried near Beirut, Lebanon, where his tomb is still visited.[7] Theologically, he was known as a persecutor of the Qadariyah, but also one of the main historical witnesses of them. He said the Qadariyya merely appropriated the heretical doctrines of Christians. Al-Awzai had met their founder Mabad al-Juhani.[8] Al-Awzai differed with other schools of jurisprudence in holding that apostates from Islam ought not be executed unless their apostasy is part of a plot to take over the state.[9] In the introduction to his work al-Jarh wa-l-Tadil, Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi preserves a corpus of ten letters attributed to al-Awzai. In these letters, al-Awzai addresses a series of high-ranking officials in order to plead the cause of individuals and groups. Among other things, he encouraged the Abbasids to ransom Muslims who were captured by the Byzantines in Erzurum, and to increase the wages of the Syrian soldiers in charge of protecting the Levantine coast.[10]
Othello (disambiguation). Othello (full title: The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice) is a tragic play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603. Othello or Otello may also refer to:
Akihito (disambiguation). Akihito was the Japanese emperor from 1989 to 2019. Akihito may also refer to:
Japanese people. Japanese people (Japanese: 日本人, Hepburn: Nihonjin; IPA: [ɲihoɲdʑiꜜɴ]) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago.[26][27] Japanese people constitute 97.1% of the population of the country of Japan.[1] Worldwide, approximately 125 million people are of Japanese descent, making them one of the largest ethnic groups. Approximately 119.9 million Japanese people are residents of Japan,[1] and there are approximately five million members of the Japanese diaspora, known as Nikkeijin (日系人).[2] In some contexts, the term Japanese people might be used to refer specifically to the Yamato people, who are primarily from the historically principal islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku and constitute by far the largest group. In other contexts, the term could include other groups native to the Japanese archipelago, including Ryukyuan people, who share connections with the Yamato but are often regarded as distinct, and Ainu people.[28] In recent decades, there has also been an increase in the number of people with both Japanese and non-Japanese roots, including those who are half Japanese. Archaeological evidence indicates that Stone Age people lived in the Japanese archipelago during the Paleolithic period between 39,000 and 21,000 years ago.[29][30] Japan was then connected to mainland Asia by at least one land bridge, where nomadic hunter-gatherers crossed to Japan. Flint tools and bony implements of this era have been excavated in Japan.[31] In the 18th century, Arai Hakuseki suggested that the ancient stone tools in Japan were left behind by the Shukushin. Later, Philipp Franz von Siebold argued that the Ainu people were indigenous to northern Japan.[32] Iha Fuyū suggested that Japanese and Ryukyuan people have the same ethnic origin, based on his 1906 research on the Ryukyuan languages.[33] In the Taishō period, Torii Ryūzō claimed that Yamato people used Yayoi pottery and Ainu used Jōmon pottery.[32]
Javanese language. Javanese (/ˌdʒɑːvəˈniːz/ JAH-və-NEEZ,[3] /dʒævə-/ JAV-ə-, /-ˈniːs/ -⁠NEESS;[4] Basa Jawa, Javanese script: ꦧꦱꦗꦮ, Pegon: باسا جاوا‎, IPA: [bɔsɔ d͡ʒɔwɔ]) is an Austronesian language spoken primarily by the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, Indonesia. There are also pockets of Javanese speakers on the northern coast of western Java. It is the native language of more than 68 million people.[5] Javanese is the largest of the Austronesian languages in number of native speakers. It has several regional dialects and a number of clearly distinct status styles.[6] Its closest relatives are the neighboring languages such as Sundanese, Madurese, and Balinese. Most speakers of Javanese also speak Indonesian for official and commercial purposes as well as a means to communicate with non-Javanese-speaking Indonesians. There are speakers of Javanese in Malaysia (concentrated in the West Coast part of the states of Selangor and Johor) and Singapore. Javanese is also spoken by traditional immigrant communities of Javanese descent in Suriname, Sri Lanka and New Caledonia.[7] Along with Indonesian, Javanese is an official language in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.[2]
Emperor Sutoku. Emperor Sutoku (崇徳天皇, Sutoku-tennō; July 7, 1119 – September 14, 1164) was the 75th emperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2] Sutokus reign spanned the years from 1123 through 1142.[3] Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (his imina)[4] was Akihito (顕仁).[5] Sutoku was the eldest son of Emperor Toba. Some old texts say he was instead the son of Tobas grandfather, Emperor Shirakawa. In 1151, Sutoku ordered Waka imperial anthology Shika Wakashū. In 1156, after being defeated by forces loyal to Emperor Go-Shirakawa in the Hōgen Rebellion, he was exiled to Sanuki Province (modern-day Kagawa prefecture on the island of Shikoku). Emperor Sutokus reign lasted for 19 years: 2 years in the nengō Tenji, 5 years in Daiji, 1 year in Tenshō, 3 years in Chōshō, 6 years in Hōen, and 1 year in Eiji.[10]
Island. An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been part of a continent. Oceanic islands can be formed from volcanic activity, grow into atolls from coral reefs, and form from sediment along shorelines, creating barrier islands. River islands can also form from sediment and debris in rivers. Artificial islands are those made by humans, including small rocky outcroppings built out of lagoons and large-scale land reclamation projects used for development. Islands are host to diverse plant and animal life. Oceanic islands have the sea as a natural barrier to the introduction of new species, causing the species that do reach the island to evolve in isolation. Continental islands share animal and plant life with the continent they split from. Depending on how long ago the continental island formed, the life on that island may have diverged greatly from the mainland due to natural selection. Humans have lived on and traveled between islands for thousands of years at a minimum. Some islands became host to humans due to a land bridge or a continental island splitting from the mainland, or by boat travel. In the far north or south some islands are joined by seasonal or glacial ice. Today, up to 10% of the worlds population lives on islands. Islands are popular targets for tourism due to their perceived natural beauty, isolation, and unique cultures.
Tragedy. A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character or cast of characters.[1] Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a pain [that] awakens pleasure, for the audience.[2][3] While many cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, the term tragedy often refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilization.[2][4] That tradition has been multiple and discontinuous, yet the term has often been used to invoke a powerful effect of cultural identity and historical continuity—the Greeks and the Elizabethans, in one cultural form; Hellenes and Christians, in a common activity, as Raymond Williams puts it.[5] Originating in the theatre of ancient Greece 2500 years ago, where only a fraction of the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides survive, as well as many fragments from other poets, and the later Roman tragedies of Seneca; through its singular articulations in the works of Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, Jean Racine, and Friedrich Schiller to the more recent naturalistic tragedy of Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg; Natyaguru Nurul Momens Nemesis tragic vengeance & Samuel Becketts modernist meditations on death, loss and suffering; Heiner Müller postmodernist reworkings of the tragic canon, tragedy has remained an important site of cultural experimentation, negotiation, struggle, and change.[6][7] A long line of philosophers—which includes Plato, Aristotle, Saint Augustine, Voltaire, Hume, Diderot, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, Benjamin,[8] Camus, Lacan, and Deleuze—have analysed, speculated upon, and criticised the genre.[9][10][11] In the wake of Aristotles Poetics (335 BCE), tragedy has been used to make genre distinctions, whether at the scale of poetry in general (where the tragic divides against epic and lyric) or at the scale of the drama (where tragedy is opposed to comedy). In the modern era, tragedy has also been defined against drama, melodrama, the tragicomic, and epic theatre.[11][12][13] Drama, in the narrow sense, cuts across the traditional division between comedy and tragedy in an anti- or a-generic deterritorialization from the mid-19th century onwards. Both Bertolt Brecht and Augusto Boal define their epic theatre projects (non-Aristotelian drama and Theatre of the Oppressed, respectively) against models of tragedy. Taxidou, however, reads epic theatre as an incorporation of tragic functions and its treatments of mourning and speculation.[7] The word tragedy appears to have been used to describe different phenomena at different times. It derives from Ancient Greek τραγῳδία goat song, which comes from τράγος tragos he-goat and ᾠδή ōidḗ singing, ode. Scholars suspect this may be traced to a time when a goat was either the prize[14] in a competition of choral dancing or was what a chorus danced around prior to the animals ritual sacrifice.[15] In another view on the etymology, Athenaeus of Naucratis (2nd–3rd century CE) says that the original form of the word was trygodia from trygos (grape harvest) and ode (song), because those events were first introduced during grape harvest.[16]
Enthronement of the Japanese emperor. The Enthronement ceremony (即位の礼, Sokui no rei) is an ancient ceremony that marks the accession of a new emperor to the Chrysanthemum Throne. The Three Sacred treasures are given to the new sovereign during the course of the rite. It is the most important out of the Japanese Imperial Rituals. The most recent enthronement was that of Emperor Naruhito on 22 October 2019. The enthronement ceremony consist of five sub-ceremonies, which are conducted as constitutional functions (国事行為) based on Article 3 of the Constitution of Japan as follows:[1] The presentation of the Three Sacred Treasures (剣璽等承継の儀, Kenji-tō-Shōkei-no-gi) takes place immediately after the death or abdication of the previous sovereign. The successor is formally presented with boxes containing two of the three items that compose the Imperial Regalia of Japan: The three items of the imperial regalia were originally said to have been given by the Sun goddess, Amaterasu, to her grandson when he first descended to earth and became the founder of the imperial dynasty.
Théodore Chassériau. Théodore Chassériau (French pronunciation: [teɔdɔʁ ʃaseʁjo]; Spanish: Teodoro Chasseriau; September 20, 1819 – October 8, 1856) was a Dominican-born French Romantic painter noted for his portraits, historical and religious paintings, allegorical murals, and Orientalist images inspired by his travels to Algeria. Early in his career he painted in a Neoclassical style close to that of his teacher Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, but in his later works he was strongly influenced by the Romantic style of Eugène Delacroix. He was a prolific draftsman, and made a suite of prints to illustrate Shakespeares Othello. The portrait he painted at the age of 15 of Prosper Marilhat makes Chassériau the youngest painter exhibited at the Louvre museum.[1] Chassériau was born in El Limón, Samaná, in the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo (now the Dominican Republic).[2] His father Benoît Chassériau was a French adventurer who had arrived in Santo Domingo in 1802 to take an administrative position in what was until 1808 a French colony.[3] Theodores mother, Maria Magdalena Couret de la Blagniére, was the daughter of a mulatto landowner born in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). In December 1820 the family left Santo Domingo for Paris, where the young Chassériau soon showed precocious drawing skill. He was accepted into the studio of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres in 1830, at the age of eleven, and became the favorite pupil of the great classicist, who regarded him as his truest disciple.[4] (An account that may be apocryphal has Ingres declaring Come, gentlemen, come see, this child will be the Napoleon of painting.)[5] After Ingres left Paris in 1834 to become director of the French Academy in Rome, Chassériau fell under the influence of Eugène Delacroix, whose brand of painterly colorism was anathema to Ingres. Chassériau first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1836, and was awarded a third-place medal in the category of history painting.[6] In 1840 Chassériau travelled to Rome and met with Ingres, whose bitterness at the direction his students work was taking led to a decisive break. While in Italy, Chassériau made landscape sketches and studied Renaissance frescoes.[7] Among the chief works of his early maturity are Susanna and the Elders and Venus Anadyomene (both 1839), Diana Surprised by Actaeon (1840), Andromeda Chained to the Rock by the Nereids (1840), and The Toilette of Esther (1841), all of which reveal a very personal ideal in depicting the female nude.[8] Chassériaus major religious paintings from these years, Christ on the Mount of Olives (a subject he treated in 1840 and again in 1844) and The Descent from the Cross (1842), received mixed reviews from the critics; among the artists champions was Théophile Gautier. In 1843, Chassériau painted murals depicting the life of Saint Mary of Egypt in the Church of Saint-Merri in Paris, the first of several commissions he received to decorate public buildings in Paris.[7] Portraits from this period include the Portrait of the Reverend Father Dominique Lacordaire, of the Order of the Predicant Friars (1840), and The Two Sisters (1843), which depicts Chassériaus sisters Adèle and Aline.
Shikoku dog. The Shikoku (四国犬, Shikoku Inu,[2][3] Shikoku-ken[3][4]; Japanese pronunciation: [ɕi̥.ko.kɯꜜ i.nɯ][2]) or Kōchi Inu[5] (高知犬) is a Japanese breed of dog from Shikoku island, Japan.[1] Under the name Tosa Inu (土佐犬, Tosa Inu,[2][6] Tosa-ken[6]; [to.sa i.nɯ, -sa.keɴ][2][6]), the breed was designated a Living National Monument of Japan in 1937 by the Nihon jen Hozonkai (Japanese Dog Preservation Society).[4] However, to avoid confusion with the Tosa Fighting Dog, and the breed was also found in other prefectures, it was referred to as the Shikoku Ken after 1932.[4] The Shikoku Ken is listed as a Foundation Stock Service breed with the American Kennel Club (AKC) and is fully recognized by the United Kennel Club.[7] Its name is often abbreviated to merely Shikoku.[1][7] It is one of the medium-sized large game hunting dogs native to Japan, originating from the mountainous island of Shikoku where they were prevalent hunters of deer, boar and other indigenous wildlife. They are typical of other Japanese spitz-type hounds with a dense and harsh coat, erect ears, and a tail that is held over their back. Their development in rough terrain has allowed for Shikokus to be excellent hiking companions and adept climbers.[1][8] According to AKC, the Shikoku is a dog of marked endurance, keen in sense with a naive feeling, energetic and highly alert. He is an enthusiastic hunter and docile towards his master.[7] This is a rare breed, even in Japan. The Shikoku Kens numbers are in gradual decline, similar to the fellow Nihon Ken Hozonkai breed Kishu Ken. The Shikoku is one of the six native Japanese breeds. Its size is intermediate, between the large Akita Inu and the smaller Shiba Inu; all are in the Spitz family of dogs.[1]
Tokyo. Tokyo,[a] officially the Tokyo Metropolis,[b] is the capital and most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is one of the most populous urban areas in the world. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of six neighboring prefectures, is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, with 41 million residents as of 2024[update]. Lying at the head of Tokyo Bay, Tokyo is part of the Kantō region, on the central coast of Honshu, Japans largest island. It is Japans economic center and the seat of the Japanese government and the Emperor of Japan. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government administers Tokyos central 23 special wards, which formerly made up Tokyo City; various commuter towns and suburbs in its western area; and two outlying island chains, the Tokyo Islands. Although most of the world recognizes Tokyo as a city, since 1943 its governing structure has been more akin to that of a prefecture, with an accompanying Governor and Assembly taking precedence over the smaller municipal governments that make up the metropolis. Special wards in Tokyo include Chiyoda, the site of the National Diet Building and the Tokyo Imperial Palace; Shinjuku, the citys administrative center; and Shibuya, a hub of commerce and business. Tokyo, originally known as Edo, rose to political prominence in 1603 when it became the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate, and by the mid-18th century, Edo had evolved from a small fishing village into one of the largest cities in the world, with a population surpassing one million. After the Meiji Restoration (1868), the imperial capital in Kyoto was moved to Edo, and the city was renamed Tokyo (lit. Eastern Capital). Tokyo was greatly damaged by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and by allied bombing raids during World War II. From the late 1940s, Tokyo underwent rapid reconstruction and expansion, which fueled the Japanese economic miracle, in which Japans economy became the second-largest in the world at the time, behind that of the United States.[9] As of 2023[update], Tokyo is home to 29 of the worlds 500 largest companies, as listed in the annual Fortune Global 500—the second highest number of any city.[10] Tokyo was the first city in Asia to host the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, in 1964 and then in 2021. It also hosted three G7 summits, in 1979, 1986, and 1993. Tokyo is an international hub of research and development and an academic center, with several major universities, including the University of Tokyo, the top-ranking university in Japan.[11][12] Tokyo Station is the central hub for the Shinkansen, the countrys high-speed railway network; and the citys Shinjuku Station is the worlds busiest train station. Tokyo Skytree is the worlds tallest tower.[13] The Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, which opened in 1927, is the oldest underground metro line in Asia.[14]
Shikoku (film). Shikoku (死国; Land of The Dead) is a 1999 Japanese supernatural thriller film directed by Shunichi Nagasaki and written by Kunimi Manda and Takenori Sento. Years after moving to Tokyo with her parents, Hinako returns to her hometown in rural Shikoku. She soon learns that her childhood friend, Sayori, died several years ago and that Sayoris mother, a Shinto priestess(?)[clarification needed] who used to perform séances and exorcisms, has gone almost insane with grief. After seeing Sayoris yūrei several times during the night, Hinako consults with some local experts on the paranormal and discovers that Sayoris mother has something planned for her daughter. Shikoku was released in Japan on January 23, 1999 where it was distributed by Toho.[1] It was released as a double feature with Ring 2.[2] Shikoku was later shown at the Vancouver International Film Festival as part of a program of modern Japanese horror films at the festival, including Ring, Ring 2, Audition and Gemini.[3] The film was released directly to video in the United States on October 26, 2004 by Adness.[1] Jasper Sharp writing for Midnight Eye referred to the film as a pedestrian addition to the late 1990s horror boom. He added: Hideo Nakatas high-concept popcorn movie Ring had proven pretty convincingly that the supernatural could be a lucrative cash cow in late-1990s recessional Japan. A contract job, co-written by one of Rings original producers, Takenori Sento, and circulating on the lower half of a double bill with Ring 2, Shikoku is less an indication of either Bando or Nagasakis thematic interests than an obvious attempt to milk the current interest in horror before it dried up. As such, it doesnt deviate too far from the path forged by its model in either style or formula.[4] John Kenneth Muir in his book Horror Films of the 1990s gave the film a three and a half star rating out of five, finding the film Beautifully shot and visually realized and that the film had more on its mind than scary dead girls with long hair[5][6]
Reversi. Reversi is a strategy board game for two players, played on an 8×8 uncheckered board. It was invented in 1883. Othello, a variant with a fixed initial setup of the board, was patented in 1971. Two players compete, using 64 identical game pieces (disks) that are light on one side and dark on the other. Each player chooses one color to use throughout the game. Players take turns placing one disk on an empty square, with their assigned color facing up. After a play is made, any disks of the opponents color that lie in a straight line bounded by the one just played and another one in the current players color are turned over. When all playable empty squares are filled, the player with more disks showing in their own color wins the game. Englishmen Lewis Waterman and John W. Mollett[citation needed] both claim to have invented the game of reversi in 1883, each denouncing the other as a fraud. The game gained considerable popularity in England at the end of the 19th century.[1] The games first reliable mention is in the 21 August 1886 edition of The Saturday Review. Later mention includes an 1895 article in The New York Times, which describes reversi as something like Go Bang, [...] played with 64 pieces.[2] In 1893, the German games publisher Ravensburger started producing the game as one of its first titles. Two 18th century continental European books dealing with a game that may or may not be reversi are mentioned on page fourteen of the Spring 1989 Othello Quarterly, and there has been speculation, so far without documentation, that the game has older origins.[citation needed] A Japanese publication in 1907 titled World Games Rules Complete Collection (世界遊戯法大全) describes the board game reversi with the same rules as Othello where the first four pieces go in the center in a diagonal pattern and the player who cannot make a move simply passes.[3]
Tokyo Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace (皇居, Kōkyo; lit. Imperial Residence) is the main residence of the emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda district of the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo and contains several buildings including the Fukiage Palace (吹上御所, Fukiage gosho) where the emperor has his living quarters, the main palace (宮殿, Kyūden) where various ceremonies and receptions take place, some residences of the Imperial Family, an archive, museums and administrative offices. The 1.15-square-kilometer (0.44 sq mi) palace grounds and gardens are built on the site of the old Edo Castle.[1] After the capitulation of the shogunate and the Meiji Restoration, the inhabitants, including the Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu, were required to vacate the premises of the Edo Castle. Leaving the Kyoto Imperial Palace on November 26, 1868, the Emperor arrived at the Edo Castle, made it to his new residence and renamed it to Tōkei Castle (東京城, Tōkei-jō). At this time, Tōkyō had also been called Tōkei. He left for Kyōto again, and after coming back on May 9, 1869, it was renamed to Imperial Castle (皇城, Kōjō).[2][user-generated source] Previous fires had destroyed the Honmaru area containing the old donjon (which itself burned in the 1657 Meireki fire). On the night of May 5, 1873, a fire consumed the Nishinomaru Palace (formerly the shōguns residence), and the new imperial Palace Castle (宮城, Kyūjō) was constructed on the site in 1888. The castle has many gardens.
Japanese archipelago. The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, Hepburn: Nippon/Nihon Rettō; Japanese pronunciation: [ɲip.pon/ɲi.hon ɾeꜜt.toː][1]) is an archipelago of 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan.[2] It extends over 3,000 km (1,900 mi)[3] from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China and Philippine seas in the southwest along the Pacific coast of the Eurasian continent, and consists of three island arcs from north to south: the Northeastern Japan Arc, the Southwestern Japan Arc, and the Ryukyu Island Arc. The Daitō Islands, the Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc, and the Kuril Islands neighbor the archipelago. Japan is the largest island country in East Asia and the fourth-largest island country in the world with 377,975.24 km2 (145,937.06 sq mi).[4][5] It has an exclusive economic zone of 4,470,000 km2 (1,730,000 sq mi).[6] The term Mainland Japan is used to distinguish the large islands of the Japanese archipelago from the remote, smaller islands; it refers to the main islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku.[7] From 1943 until the end of the Pacific War, Karafuto Prefecture (south Sakhalin) was designated part of the mainland. Geographically speaking the term mainland is somewhat inaccurate, as this refers to an expanse of territory that is attached to a continental landmass. The term home islands was used at the end of World War II to define the area where Japanese sovereignty and constitutional rule of its emperor would be restricted.[citation needed] The term is also commonly used today to distinguish the archipelago from Japans colonies and other territories.[8] The archipelago consists of 14,125 islands[2] (here defined as land more than 100 m in circumference), of which 430 are inhabited.[9] The five main islands, from north to south, are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa.[7] Honshu is the largest and is referred to as the Japanese mainland.[10]
Physical geography. Physical geography (also known as physiography) is one of the three main branches of geography.[1][2][3][4][5] Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere. This focus is in contrast with the branch of human geography, which focuses on the built environment, and technical geography, which focuses on using, studying, and creating tools to obtain, analyze, interpret, and understand spatial information.[4][5] The three branches have significant overlap, however. Physical geography can be divided into several branches or related fields, as follows: Main category: Geography Journals Physical geography and earth science journals communicate and document the results of research carried out in universities and various other research institutions. Most journals cover a specific field and publish the research within that field, however unlike human geographers, physical geographers tend to publish in inter-disciplinary journals rather than predominantly geography journal; the research is normally expressed in the form of a scientific paper. Additionally, textbooks, books, and magazines on geography communicate research to laypeople, although these tend to focus on environmental issues or cultural dilemmas. Examples of journals that publish articles from physical geographers include The Professional Geographer, Journal of Maps, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, and Nature. From the birth of geography as a science during the Greek classical period and until the late nineteenth century with the birth of anthropogeography (human geography), geography was almost exclusively a natural science: the study of location and descriptive gazetteer of all places of the known world. Several works among the best known during this long period could be cited as an example, from Strabo (Geography), Eratosthenes (Geographika) or Dionysius Periegetes (Periegesis Oiceumene) in the Ancient Age. In more modern times, these works include the Alexander von Humboldt (Kosmos) in the nineteenth century, in which geography is regarded as a physical and natural science through the work Summa de Geografía of Martín Fernández de Enciso from the early sixteenth century, which indicated for the first time the New World.
Mount Ishizuchi. Mount Ishizuchi (石鎚山, Ishizuchi-san) is a 1,982-metre-high (6,503 ft) mountain on the border of Saijō and Kumakōgen, in Ehime, Japan. This mountain is one of the 100 famous mountains in Japan. It is the highest mountain in Western Japan and the island of Shikoku. Once upon a time it was a stratovolcano with large scale magma activity. Over time the magma activity ceased and it became extinct with no eruption activities in the past 10,000 years or recent signs of eruption Mount Ishizuchi is the highest mountain on the island of Shikoku and also the highest mountain west of Mount Haku. It is known as the roof of Shikoku and the sharp, rocky summit resembles a huge stone hammer (石鎚, ishizuchi). Mount Ishizuchi is an important object of worship in this region and one of the major centers of Shugendō, a sect of mixture of Shinto and Buddhism. At the top of the mountain there is a small shrine called the Ishizuchi Shrine. This mountain is also known as one of Seven Holy Mountains (七霊山, nana reizan). There are several sets of heavy iron chains (鎖, kusari), the longest set being 68 metres (223 ft), leading up to the summit and this is the route many pilgrims opt to take. However, it is possible to hike all the way to the peak along a trail which includes stairs and ramps with handrails. The climbing season opens every year on July 1, and women are forbidden from climbing the mountain on this day.[2] Between mid-October and mid-November, people come from far and wide to view the autumn colours.
Landform. A landform is a land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. They may be natural or may be anthropogenic[1][2] (caused or influenced by human activity). Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement in the landscape is known as topography. Landforms include hills, mountains, canyons, and valleys, as well as shoreline features such as bays, peninsulas, and seas,[3] including submerged features such as mid-ocean ridges, volcanoes, and the great oceanic basins. Landforms are categorized by characteristic physical attributes such as elevation, slope, orientation, structure stratification, rock exposure, and soil type. Gross physical features or landforms include intuitive elements such as berms, cliffs, hills, mounds, peninsulas, ridges, rivers, valleys, volcanoes, and numerous other structural and size-scaled (e.g. ponds vs. lakes, hills vs. mountains) elements including various kinds of inland and oceanic waterbodies and sub-surface features. Hills, mountains, plains, and plateaus are the four major types of landforms on Earth. Minor landforms include basins, buttes, canyons, and valleys. Tectonic plate movements under Earths crust can create landforms by pushing up hills and mountains. Continents and oceans exemplify the highest-order landforms.[citation needed] Landform elements are parts of a high-order landforms that can be further identified and systematically given a cohesive definition such as hill-tops, shoulders, saddles, foreslopes and backslopes. Some generic landform elements including: pits, peaks, channels, ridges, passes, pools and plains.
Channel of Vivari. The Vivari Channel (Albanian: Kanali i Butrintit, also known as Butrinto River) links Lake Butrint in the extreme south of Albania with the Straits of Corfu, and forms a border of the peninsula of Butrint. The natural channel flows in both directions every six hours, from the lake to the sea and vice versa during the rising tide facilitating the access of saline waters into Lake Butrint.[1] A pontoon is situated near the gate of the Butrint National Park. Two small forts, the Ali Pasha Castle and the Venetian Triangular Castle, are located near the mouth of the channel; both were built during the rule of Ali Pasha of Ioannina.[2] According to international organizations, the channel serves as the demarcation line where the Adriatic Sea ends and the Ionian Sea begins. The channel creates a unique situation in Lake Butrint, which is partly fed with fresh water and partly with salt water, thereby creating ideal conditions for mollusks farming. During the communist regime, many students used to volunteer in the summer time to search for ancient ruins in the Butrint National Park.[3]
Edo. Edo (Japanese: 江戸, lit. bay-entrance or estuary), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.[2] Edo, formerly a jōkamachi (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the de facto capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. Edo grew to become one of the largest cities in the world under the Tokugawa. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the Meiji government renamed Edo to Tokyo (東京, Eastern Capital) and relocated the Emperor from the historic capital of Kyoto to the city. The era of Tokugawa rule in Japan from 1603 to 1868 is known as the Edo period. Before the 10th century, there is no mention of Edo in historical records, but for a few settlements in the area. That name for the area first appears in the Azuma Kagami chronicles, which have probably been used since the second half of the Heian period. Edos development started in the late 11th century with a branch of the Kanmu-Taira clan (桓武平氏) called the Chichibu clan (秩父氏) coming from the banks of the then-Iruma River, present-day upstream of the Arakawa river. A descendant of the head of the Chichibu clan settled in the area and took the name Edo Shigetsugu (江戸重継), likely based on the name used for the place, and founded the Edo clan. Shigetsugu built a fortified residence, probably around the edge of the Musashino Terrace, that would become Edo castle. Shigetsugus son, Edo Shigenaga (江戸重長), took the Tairas side against Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1180 but eventually surrendered to Minamoto and became a gokenin for the Kamakura shogunate. At the fall of the shogunate in the 14th century, the Edo clan took the side of the Southern Court, and its influence declined during the Muromachi period. In 1456, a vassal of the Ōgigayatsu branch of the Uesugi clan started to build a castle on the former fortified residence of the Edo clan and took the name Ōta Dōkan. Dōkan lived in the castle until his assassination in 1486. Under Dōkan, with good water connections to Kamakura, Odawara and other parts of Kanto and the country, Edo expanded as a jōkamachi, with the castle bordering a cove (now Hibiya Park) opening into Edo Bay, and the town developing along the Hirakawa River running into the cove, and on Edomaeto (江戸前島), the stretch of land on the eastern side of the cove (now roughly where Tokyo Station is). Some priests and scholars fleeing Kyoto after the Ōnin War came to Edo during that period.
Hirohito. Hirohito (裕仁; 29 April 1901 – 7 January 1989), posthumously honored as Emperor Shōwa (昭和天皇, Shōwa Tennō),[a] was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. He remains the longest-reigning emperor in Japanese history and one of the longest-reigning monarchs in the world. As emperor during the Shōwa era, Hirohito presided over Japans rise in militarism, its imperial expansion in Asia, the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Second World War, as well as the nations postwar economic miracle. Hirohito was born during the reign of his paternal grandfather, Emperor Meiji, as the first child of the Crown Prince Yoshihito and Crown Princess Sadako (later Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei). When Emperor Meiji died in 1912, Hirohitos father ascended the throne, and Hirohito was proclaimed crown prince and heir apparent in 1916. In 1921, he made an official visit to the United Kingdom and western Europe, marking the first time a Japanese crown prince traveled abroad. Owing to his fathers ill health, Hirohito became his regent that year. In 1924, Hirohito married Princess Nagako Kuni, with whom he would go on to have seven children. He became emperor upon his fathers death in 1926. As Japans head of state, Emperor Hirohito presided over the rise of militarism in Japanese politics. In 1931, he made no objection when Japans Kwantung Army staged the Mukden incident as a pretext for its invasion of Manchuria. Following the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, tensions steadily grew between Japan and the United States. Once Hirohito formally sanctioned his governments decision to go to war against the US and its allies on 1 December 1941, the Pacific War began one week later with a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as well as on other US and British colonies in the region. After atomic bombs were dropped on Japan and the Soviet Union invaded Japanese-occupied Manchuria, Hirohito called upon his countrys forces to surrender in a radio broadcast on 15 August 1945. The extent of his involvement in military decision-making and wartime culpability remain subjects of historical debate. Following the surrender of Japan, Emperor Hirohito was not prosecuted for war crimes at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE) even though the Japanese had waged war in his name. The head of the Allied occupation of the country, Douglas MacArthur, believed that a cooperative emperor would facilitate a peaceful occupation and other US postwar objectives. MacArthur therefore excluded any evidence from the tribunal which could have incriminated Hirohito or other members of the imperial family.[2] In 1946, Hirohito was pressured by the Allies into renouncing his divinity. Under Japans new constitution drafted by US officials, his role as emperor was redefined in 1947 as the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people. Upon his death in January 1989, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Akihito.
List of islands by area. This list includes all islands in the world larger than 1,000 km2 (390 sq mi). For size and location reference, the four continental landmasses are also included after the list. Continental landmasses are not usually classified as islands despite being completely surrounded by water.[Note 2] However, because the definition of continent varies between geographers, the Americas are sometimes defined as two separate continents while mainland Australia is sometimes defined as an island as well as a continent. Nevertheless, for the purposes of this list, mainland Australia along with the other major landmasses have been listed as continental landmasses for comparison. The figures are approximations and are for the four major continental landmasses only.[Note 3] 126 countries6 de facto states 22 countriesFrench Guiana
Sasakia charonda. Sasakia charonda, the Japanese emperor or great purple emperor, is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is native to Japan (from Hokkaidō to Kyūshū), the Korean Peninsula, China, northern Taiwan and northern Vietnam. Its wingspan averages 50 mm (2.0 in) for males, and 65 mm (2.6 in) for females. They are common in the upper canopies of forests, only coming down to feed or to find salt sources. The larvae of the species feed on hackberries, like Celtis jessoensis, Celtis japonica and Celtis sinensis.[3][4] S. charonda is the national butterfly of Japan.[5][6] This article related to members of the butterfly subfamily Apaturinae is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Hiroshige (given name). Hiroshige (written: 広重, 啓成 or 弘成) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
Tenno (disambiguation). Tennō (天皇) is a Japanese word for the Emperor of Japan. Tenno may also refer to:
Hydrology. Hydrology (from Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr) water and -λογία (-logía) study of) is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydrologist. Hydrologists are scientists studying earth or environmental science, civil or environmental engineering, and physical geography.[1] Using various analytical methods and scientific techniques, they collect and analyze data to help solve water related problems such as environmental preservation, natural disasters, and water management.[1] Hydrology subdivides into surface water hydrology, groundwater hydrology (hydrogeology), and marine hydrology. Domains of hydrology include hydrometeorology, surface hydrology, hydrogeology, drainage-basin management, and water quality. Oceanography and meteorology are not included because water is only one of many important aspects within those fields. Hydrological research can inform environmental engineering, policy, and planning.
Kunisada. Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese: 歌川国貞; 1786 – 12 January 1865), also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III (三代歌川豊国, Sandai Utagawa Toyokuni), was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist. He is considered the most popular, prolific and commercially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th-century Japan. In his own time, his reputation far exceeded that of his contemporaries, Hokusai, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi. At the end of the Edo period (1603–1867), Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi and Kunisada were the three best representatives of the Japanese color woodcut in Edo (capital city of Japan, now Tokyo). However, among European and American collectors of Japanese prints, beginning in the late 19th and early 20th century, all three of these artists were actually regarded as rather inferior to the greats of classical ukiyo-e, and therefore as having contributed considerably to the downfall of their art. For this reason, some referred to their works as decadent. Beginning in the 1930s and 1970s, respectively, the works of Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi were submitted to a re-evaluation, and these two are now counted among the masters of their art. Thus, from Kunisada alone was withheld, for a long time, the acknowledgment which is due to him. With a few exceptions, such as actor portraits (yakusha-e) and portraits of beautiful women (bijin-ga), at the beginning of his career, and some series of large-size actor head-portraits near the end, it was thought that he had produced only inferior works. It was not until the early 1990s, with the appearance of Jan van Doesburgs overview of the artistic development of Kunisada, and Sebastian Izzards extensive study of his work, that this picture began to change, with Kunisada more clearly revealed as one of the giants of the Japanese print that he was. Although not much is known of the details of Kunisadas life, there are some well-established records of particular events. He was born in 1786 in Honjo, an eastern district of Edo. His given name was Sumida Shōgorō IX (角田庄五朗), and he was also called Sumida Shōzō (角田庄蔵). A small licensed and hereditary ferry-boat service belonged to his family, and the income derived from this business provided a certain basic financial security to engage in leisure activities such as painting.[1] His father, who was an amateur poet of some renown, died in the year after his birth. While growing up, he developed an early talent for painting and drawing. His early sketches at that time impressed Toyokuni, the great master of the Utagawa school[1] and prominent designer of kabuki and actor-portrait prints. In the year 1800 or shortly thereafter Kunisada was accepted by Toyokuni I as an apprentice in his workshop. In keeping with a tradition of Japanese master-apprentice relations, he was then given the official artist name of KUNI-sada, the first character of which was derived from the second part of the name Toyo-KUNI. His first known print dates to the year 1807.[1] However this seems to have been an exceptional design, and further full-sized prints appear starting only in 1809–1810. As of 1808 he had already begun work as an illustrator of e-hon (woodblock print illustrated books) and his popularity rapidly increased. In 1809 he was referred to in contemporary sources as the star attraction of the Utagawa school, and soon thereafter was considered as at least equal to his teacher Toyokuni in the area of book illustration. Kunisadas first actor portraits appeared in either 1808 or 1809. It is known that his first bijin-ga series and a series of pentaptychs of urban scenes of Edo, appear simultaneously in 1809. By 1813 he had risen as a star in the constellation of Edos artistic world; a contemporary list of the most important ukiyo-e artists places him in second place behind Toyokuni I. Kunisada remained one of the trendsetters of the Japanese woodblock print until his death in early 1865.
Hiroshige (crater). Hiroshige is a crater on Mercury. Its name was adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1976, after the Japanese artist Andō Hiroshige.[1] Hiroshige is east of the craters Murasaki and Kuiper. Kuipers rays overlie Hiroshige. This article about an impact crater on Mercury is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
List of emperors of Japan. Japan has been ruled by emperors since antiquity. The sequence, order and dates of the early emperors are almost entirely based on the 8th-century Nihon Shoki, which was meant to retroactively legitimise the Imperial House by dating its foundation further back to the year 660 BC.[1][2][3] Emperor Kinmei (r. 539–571) is often considered the first historical emperor,[4][5] but the first Japanese ruler supported by historical evidence is actually Emperor Yūryaku (r. 456–479), who is mentioned in the 5th-century Inariyama and Eta Funayama Swords.[6][7] According to Chinese sources, the unification of Japan took place between the 2nd and 3rd centuries.[8][9] The terms Tennō (Emperor, 天皇), as well as Nihon (Japan, 日本), were not adopted until the late 7th century AD.[10][2] In the nengō system which has been in use since the late 7th century, years are numbered using the Japanese era name and the number of years which have elapsed since the start of that nengō era.[11] This is a list of individuals who did not reign as emperor during their lifetime but were later recognized as Japanese emperors posthumously. Unless otherwise noted (as BC), years are in CE / AD * Imperial Consort and Regent Empress Jingū is not traditionally listed.
Hokusai. Katsushika Hokusai[a] (葛飾北斎; c. 31 October 1760 – 10 May 1849), known mononymously as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker.[2] His woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji includes the iconic print The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Hokusai was instrumental in developing ukiyo-e from a style of portraiture largely focused on courtesans and actors into a much broader style of art that focused on landscapes, plants, and animals. His works had a significant influence on Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet during the wave of Japonisme that spread across Europe in the late 19th century. Hokusai created the monumental Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji as a response to a domestic travel boom in Japan and as part of a personal interest in Mount Fuji.[3] It was this series, specifically, The Great Wave off Kanagawa and Fine Wind, Clear Morning, that secured his fame both in Japan and overseas.[4] Hokusai was best known for his woodblock ukiyo-e prints, but he worked in a variety of mediums including painting and book illustration. Starting as a young child, he continued working and improving his style until his death, aged 88. In a long and successful career, Hokusai produced over 30,000 paintings, sketches, woodblock prints, and images for picture books. Innovative in his compositions and exceptional in his drawing technique, Hokusai is considered one of the greatest masters in the history of art. Hokusais date of birth is unclear, but is often stated as the 23rd day of the 9th month of the 10th year of the Hōreki era (in the old calendar, or 31 October 1760) to an artisan family, in the Katsushika[ja] district of Edo, the capital of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate (currently Katsushika-ku, Tokyo).[5] His childhood name was Tokitarō.[6] It is believed his father was Nakajima Ise, a mirror-maker for the shōgun.[6] His father never made Hokusai an heir, so it is possible that his mother was a concubine.[5] Hokusai began painting around the age of six, perhaps learning from his father, whose work included the painting of designs around mirrors.[5]
Corfu. Corfu (/kɔːrˈf(j)uː/ kor-FEW, -⁠FOO, US also /ˈkɔːrf(j)uː/ KOR-few, -⁠foo) or Kerkyra (Greek: Κέρκυρα, romanized: Kérkyra, pronounced [ˈcercira] ⓘ)[a] is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands;[1] including its small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greeces northwestern frontier.[2] The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered by three municipalities with the islands of Othonoi, Ereikoussa, and Mathraki.[3] The principal city of the island (pop. 32,095) is also named Corfu.[4] Corfu is home to the Ionian University. The island is bound up with the history of Greece from the beginnings of Greek mythology, and is marked by numerous battles and conquests. Ancient Korkyra took part in the Battle of Sybota which was a catalyst for the Peloponnesian War, and, according to Thucydides, the largest naval battle between Greek city states until that time. Thucydides also reports that Korkyra was one of the three great naval powers of Greece in the fifth century BCE, along with Athens and Corinth.[5] Ruins of ancient Greek temples and other archaeological sites of the ancient city of Korkyra are located in Palaiopolis. Medieval castles punctuating strategic locations across the island are a legacy of struggles in the Middle Ages against invasions by pirates and the Ottomans. Two of these castles enclose its capital, which is the only city in Greece to be surrounded in such a way. As a result, Corfus capital has been officially declared a kastropolis (castle city) by the Greek government.[6] From medieval times and into the 17th century, the island, as part of the Republic of Venice since 1204, successfully repulsed the Ottomans during several sieges, was recognised as a bulwark of the European States against the Ottoman Empire and became one of the most fortified places in Europe.[7] The fortifications of the island were used by the Venetians to defend against Ottoman intrusion into the Adriatic. In November 1815 Corfu came under British rule following the Napoleonic Wars, and in 1864 was ceded to modern Greece by the British government along with the remaining islands of the United States of the Ionian Islands under the Treaty of London. Corfu is the origin of the Ionian Academy, the first university of the modern Greek state, and the Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù, the first Greek theatre and opera house of modern Greece. Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first governor of independent Greece after the revolution of 1821, founder of the modern Greek state, and a distinguished European diplomat, was born in Corfu. In 2007, the citys old town was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, following a recommendation by ICOMOS.[8][9][10] The 1994 European Union summit was held in Corfu.[11] The island is a popular tourist destination.[12][13]
The Great Wave off Kanagawa. The Great Wave off Kanagawa (Japanese: 神奈川沖浪裏, Hepburn: Kanagawa-oki Nami Ura; lit. Under the Wave off Kanagawa)[a] is a woodblock print by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai, created in late 1831 during the Edo period of Japanese history. The print depicts three boats moving through a storm-tossed sea, with a large, cresting wave forming a spiral in the centre over the boats and Mount Fuji in the background. The print is Hokusais best-known work and the first in his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, in which the use of Prussian blue revolutionized Japanese prints. The composition of The Great Wave is a synthesis of traditional Japanese prints and use of graphical perspective developed in Europe, and earned him immediate success in Japan and later in Europe, where Hokusais art inspired works by the Impressionists. Several museums throughout the world hold copies of The Great Wave, many of which came from 19th-century private collections of Japanese prints. Only about 100 prints, in varying conditions, are thought to have survived into the 21st century. The Great Wave off Kanagawa has been described as possibly the most reproduced image in the history of all art,[1] as well as being a contender for the most famous artwork in Japanese history.[2] This woodblock print has influenced several Western artists and musicians, including Claude Debussy, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet. Hokusais younger colleagues, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi were inspired to make their own wave-centric works. Ukiyo-e is a Japanese printmaking technique which flourished in the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of subjects including female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; Japanese flora and fauna; and erotica. The term ukiyo-e (浮世絵) translates as picture[s] of the floating world.
Flag of Japan. The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner with a red circle at its center. The flag is officially called the Nisshōki (日章旗, flag of the sun) but is more commonly known in Japan as the Hinomaru (日の丸, ball of the sun). It embodies the countrys sobriquet: the Land of the Rising Sun. The Nisshōki flag is designated as the national flag in the Act on National Flag and Anthem, which was promulgated and became effective on 13 August 1999. Although no earlier legislation had specified a national flag, the sun-disc flag had already become the de facto national flag of Japan. Two proclamations issued in 1870 by the Daijō-kan, the governmental body of the early Meiji period, each had a provision for a design of the national flag. A sun-disc flag was adopted as the national flag for merchant ships under Proclamation No. 57 of Meiji 3 (issued on 27 January 1870),[1] and as the national flag used by the Navy under Proclamation No. 651 of Meiji 3 (issued on 3 October 1870).[2] Use of the Hinomaru was severely restricted during the early years of the Allied occupation of Japan after World War II; these restrictions were later relaxed. The sun plays an important role in Japanese mythology and religion, as the Emperor is said to be the direct descendant of the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu, and the legitimacy of the ruling house rested on this divine appointment. The name of the country as well as the design of the flag reflect this central importance of the sun. The ancient history Shoku Nihongi says that Emperor Monmu used a flag representing the sun in his court in 701, the first recorded use of a sun-motif flag in Japan.[3][4] The oldest existing flag is preserved in Unpō-ji temple, Kōshū, Yamanashi, which is older than the 16th century, and an ancient legend says that the flag was given to the temple by Emperor Go-Reizei in the 11th century.[5][6][7] During the Meiji Restoration, the sun disc and the Rising Sun Ensign of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army became major symbols in the emerging Japanese Empire. Propaganda posters, textbooks, and films depicted the flag as a source of pride and patriotism. In Japanese homes, citizens were required to display the flag during national holidays, celebrations and other occasions as decreed by the government. Different tokens of devotion to Japan and its Emperor featuring the Hinomaru motif became popular among the public during the Second Sino-Japanese War and other conflicts. These tokens ranged from slogans written on the flag to clothing items and dishes that resembled the flag.
Empress of Japan. The empress of Japan[c] is the title given to the wife of the Emperor of Japan or a female ruler in her own right. The current empress consort is Empress Masako, who ascended the throne with her husband on 1 May 2019. There were eight female imperial reigns (six empresses regnant including two who reigned twice) in Japans early history between 593 and 770, and two more in the early modern period (Edo period). Although there were eight reigning empresses, with only one exception their successors were selected from amongst the males of the paternal Imperial bloodline.[5] After many centuries, female reigns came to be officially prohibited only when the Imperial Household Law was issued in 1889 alongside the new Meiji Constitution. The eight historical empresses regnant are: Other than the eight historical empresses regnant, two additional empress are traditionally believed to have reigned, but historical evidence for their reigns is scant and they are not counted among the officially numbered Emperors/Empresses regnant: Under Shinto religious influence, the goddess Amaterasu, who is of the highest rank in the kami system, might suggest that Japans first rulers were women.[6] According to the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki chronicles in Japanese mythology, the Emperors of Japan are considered to be direct descendants of Amaterasu.
Body of water. A body of water or waterbody[1] is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more rarely, puddles. A body of water does not have to be still or contained; rivers, streams, canals, and other geographical features where water moves from one place to another are also considered bodies of water.[2] Most are naturally occurring and massive geographical features, but some are artificial. There are types that can be either. For example, most reservoirs are created by engineering dams, but some natural lakes are used as reservoirs. Similarly, most harbors are naturally occurring bays, but some harbors have been created through construction. Bodies of water that are navigable are known as waterways. Some bodies of water collect and move water, such as rivers and streams, and others primarily hold water, such as lakes and oceans. Bodies of water are affected by gravity, which is what creates the tidal effects.[3] The impact of climate change on water is likely to intensify as observed through the rising sea levels, water acidification and flooding. This means that climate change has pressure on water bodies.[4] Climate change significantly affects bodies of water through rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and sea-level rise. Warmer temperatures lead to the melting of glaciers and polar ice, contributing to rising sea levels and affecting coastal ecosystems. Freshwater bodies, such as rivers and lakes, are experiencing more frequent droughts, affecting water availability for communities and biodiversity. Moreover, ocean acidification, caused by increased carbon dioxide absorption, threatens marine ecosystems like coral reefs.[5] Collaborative global efforts are needed to mitigate these impacts through sustainable water management practices.[6]
Itsukushima. Itsukushima (厳島) is an island in the western part of the Inland Sea of Japan, located in the northwest of Hiroshima Bay. It is popularly known as Miyajima (宮島), which in Japanese means Shrine Island.[1] The island is one of Hayashi Gahōs Three Views of Japan specified in 1643.[2] Itsukushima is part of the city of Hatsukaichi in Hiroshima Prefecture. The island was part of the former town of Miyajima before the 2005 merger with Hatsukaichi.[3] Itsukushima is famous for the Itsukushima Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[4] The shrine was considered a sacred site for a long time, it is possible that locals built a simple shrine on the site before the complex was built in 593 AD. In 1168 AD, Taira no Kiyomori, a warrior-courtier, greatly contributed to giving the shrine its current form. In the 16th century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a famed Japanese warlord and shogun, built a large building, the Senjō-kaku, on a hill above the shrine.[5] Itsukushima has a number of temples, including Toyokuni Shrine with a five-storied pagoda,[6] and Daiganji Temple - one of the three most famous Benzaiten temples of Japan.[7] The island is also famous for its upper hill side cherry blossoms and maple leaf autumn foliage.[8] The island of Itsukushima, including the waters around it (part of Seto Inland Sea), lies within Setonaikai National Park. This sea is affected by strong tides. At low tide, the bottom of the sea is exposed past the islands torii. At high tide, the sea covers all the previously exposed seabed mud and fills areas underneath the shrine boardwalk. Itsukushima is mountainous and sparsely settled. It has an elementary school and a middle school. There are no traffic signals. It is rural and mountainous, only 30.39 square kilometres (11.73 sq mi), and has a population of about 2000. There are no cities, only small towns with simple houses and privately owned shops. The islanders work hard to preserve the forests and respect nature.
Adventure Story (play). Adventure Story is a 1949, play by the English dramatist Terence Rattigan.[2] The play tells the story of Alexander the Great and his conquests.[3] In this play Rattigan portrays the historical Alexander faithfully, at the same time revealing that his life was what it was because he was the kind of person who very well might have wept because nothing remained to conquer. The play focuses on the transformation of Alexander after his conquest of Persia from a military adventurist to an uncompromising despot with grand vision of a world empire which estranges him from his erstwhile friends. Driven by a deep-felt insecurity, he has to kill people close to him including even the father figure Cleitus. He tries to justify his actions in the name of his dreams of the world empire, but is haunted by loneliness in the end The play holds a deeper significance, that the conquests of Alexander were actually trials to find himself and achieve spiritual enlightenment, through becoming a god (see Theosis).
The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple. The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple (simplified Chinese: 火烧红莲寺; traditional Chinese: 火燒紅蓮寺; pinyin: Huǒshāo Hóngliánsì) is a lost Chinese silent film serial directed by Zhang Shichuan, widely considered to be the founding father of Chinese cinema.[1][2] The film is adapted from the novel The Tale of the Extraordinary Swordsman.[3] The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple, in 16 parts, is among the longest films ever produced and the longest major release,[specify] running 27 hours in total. The Mingxing Film Company production was released in 19 feature-length parts between 1928 and 1931. No copies have survived. The craze of the film series eventually led the Kuomintang to ban all wuxia films by the early 1930s because wuxia was thought to be inciting anarchy and rebellion.[4] This article related to a Chinese film of the 1920s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Tokugawa shogunate. The Tokugawa shogunate,[a] also known as the Edo shogunate,[b] was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868.[20][21][22] The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars of the Sengoku period following the collapse of the Ashikaga shogunate. Ieyasu became the shōgun, and the Tokugawa clan governed Japan from Edo Castle in the eastern city of Edo (Tokyo) along with the daimyō lords of the samurai class.[23][24][21] The Tokugawa shogunate organized Japanese society under the strict Tokugawa class system and banned the entry of most foreigners under the isolationist policies of Sakoku to promote political stability. Japanese subjects were also barred from leaving the country. The Tokugawa shoguns governed Japan in a feudal system, with each daimyō administering a han (feudal domain), although the country was still nominally organized as imperial provinces. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan experienced rapid economic growth and urbanization, which led to the rise of the merchant class and Ukiyo culture. The Tokugawa shogunate declined during the Bakumatsu period from 1853 and was overthrown by supporters of the Imperial Court in the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The Empire of Japan was established under the Meiji government, and Tokugawa loyalists continued to fight in the Boshin War until the defeat of the Republic of Ezo at the Battle of Hakodate in June 1869.
Drainage basin. A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the drainage divide,[1] made up of a succession of elevated features, such as ridges and hills. A basin may consist of smaller basins that merge at river confluences, forming a hierarchical pattern.[2] Other terms for a drainage basin are catchment area, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin, water catchment, water basin,[3][4] and impluvium.[5][6][7] In North America, they are commonly called a watershed, though in other English-speaking places, watershed is used only in its original sense, that of the drainage divide line.[citation needed] A drainage basins boundaries are determined by watershed delineation, a common task in environmental engineering and science. In a closed drainage basin, or endorheic basin, rather than flowing to the ocean, water converges toward the interior of the basin, known as a sink, which may be a permanent lake, a dry lake, or a point where surface water is lost underground.[8] Drainage basins are similar but not identical to hydrologic units, which are drainage areas delineated so as to nest into a multi-level hierarchical drainage system. Hydrologic units are defined to allow multiple inlets, outlets, or sinks. In a strict sense, all drainage basins are hydrologic units, but not all hydrologic units are drainage basins.[8]
Pulp magazine. Pulp magazines (also referred to as the pulps) were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term pulp derives from the wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, due to their cheap nature. In contrast, magazines printed on higher-quality paper were called glossies or slicks. The typical pulp magazine was 128 pages,[1] 7 inches (18 cm) wide by 10 inches (25 cm) high, and 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) thick, with ragged, untrimmed edges. Pulps were the successors to the penny dreadfuls, dime novels, and short-fiction magazines of the 19th century. Although many respected writers wrote for pulps, the magazines were best known for their lurid, exploitative, and sensational subject matter, even though this was but a small part of what existed in the pulps. Digest magazines and mens adventure magazines were incorrectly regarded as pulps, though they have different editorial and production standards and are instead replacements. Modern superhero comic books are sometimes considered descendants of hero pulps; pulp magazines often featured illustrated novel-length stories of heroic characters, such as Flash Gordon, The Shadow, Doc Savage, and The Phantom Detective. The pulps gave rise to the term pulp fiction in reference to run-of-the-mill, low-quality literature. Successors of pulps include paperback books, such as hardboiled detective stories and erotic fiction.[2][3][4] Before pulp magazines, Newgate novels (1840s-1860s) fictionalized the exploits of real-life criminals. Later, British sensation novels gained peak popularity in the 1860s-1870s. Sensation novels focused on shocking stories that reflected modern-day anxieties, and were the direct precursors of pulp fiction.[5][6]
Short story. A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest types of literature and has existed in the form of legends, mythic tales, folk tales, fairy tales, tall tales, fables, and anecdotes in various ancient communities around the world. The modern short story developed in the early 19th century.[1] The short story is a crafted form in its own right. Short stories make use of plot, resonance and other dynamic components as in a novel, but typically to a lesser degree. While the short story is largely distinct from the novel or novella/short novel, authors generally draw from a common pool of literary techniques.[citation needed] The short story is sometimes referred to as a genre.[2] Determining what exactly defines a short story remains problematic.[3] A classic definition of a short story is that one should be able to read it in one sitting, a point most notably made in Edgar Allan Poes essay The Philosophy of Composition (1846).[4] H. G. Wells described the purpose of the short story as The jolly art, of making something very bright and moving; it may be horrible or pathetic or funny or profoundly illuminating, having only this essential, that it should take from fifteen to fifty minutes to read aloud.[5] According to William Faulkner, a short story is character-driven and a writers job is to ...trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.[6] Some authors have argued that a short story must have a strict form. Somerset Maugham thought that the short story must have a definite design, which includes a point of departure, a climax and a point of test; in other words, it must have a plot.[5] Hugh Walpole had a similar view: A story should be a story; a record of things happening full of incidents, swift movements, unexpected development, leading through suspense to a climax and a satisfying denouement.[5] This view of the short story as a finished product of art is however opposed by Anton Chekhov, who thought that a story should have neither a beginning nor an end. It should just be a slice of life, presented suggestively. In his stories, Chekhov does not round off the end but leaves it to the readers to draw their own conclusions.[5]
Pacific Ocean. Main five oceans division: Further subdivision: The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earths five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. At 165,250,000 square kilometers (63,800,000 square miles) in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), the Pacific Ocean is the largest division of the World Ocean and the hydrosphere and covers approximately 46% of Earths water surface and about 32% of the planets total surface area, larger than its entire land area (148,000,000 km2 (57,000,000 sq mi)).[1] The centers of both the water hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere, as well as the oceanic pole of inaccessibility, are in the Pacific Ocean. Ocean circulation (caused by the Coriolis effect) subdivides it[2] into two largely independent volumes of water that meet at the equator, the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean (or more loosely the South Seas). The Pacific Ocean can also be informally divided by the International Date Line into the East Pacific and the West Pacific, which allows it to be further divided into four quadrants, namely the Northeast Pacific off the coasts of North America, the Southeast Pacific off South America, the Northwest Pacific off Far Eastern/Pacific Asia, and the Southwest Pacific around Oceania.
Novel. A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book.[1] The word derives from the Italian: novella for new, news, or short story (of something new), itself from the Latin: novella, a singular noun use of the neuter plural of novellus, diminutive of novus, meaning new.[2] According to Margaret Doody, the novel has a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years, with its origins in the Ancient Greek and Roman novel, Medieval chivalric romance, and the tradition of the Italian Renaissance novella.[3] The ancient romance form was revived by Romanticism, in the historical romances of Walter Scott and the Gothic novel.[4] Some novelists, including Nathaniel Hawthorne,[5] Herman Melville,[6] Ann Radcliffe,[7] and John Cowper Powys,[8] preferred the term romance. Such romances should not be confused with the genre fiction romance novel, which focuses on romantic love. M. H. Abrams and Walter Scott have argued that a novel is a fiction narrative that displays a realistic depiction of the state of a society, like Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird.[9][10] The romance, on the other hand, encompasses any fictitious narrative that emphasizes marvellous or uncommon incidents.[11][12][13] In reality, such works are nevertheless also commonly called novels, including Mary Shelleys Frankenstein[14] and J. R. R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings.[15] The spread of printed books in China led to the appearance of the vernacular classic Chinese novels during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), and Qing dynasty (1616–1911). An early example from Europe was Hayy ibn Yaqdhan by the Sufi writer Ibn Tufayl in Muslim Spain.[16] Later developments occurred after the invention of the printing press. Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote (the first part of which was published in 1605), is frequently cited as the first significant European novelist of the modern era.[17] Literary historian Ian Watt, in The Rise of the Novel (1957), argued that the modern novel was born in the early 18th century with Robinson Crusoe.[18] Recent technological developments have led to many novels also being published in non-print media: this includes audio books, web novels, and ebooks. Another non-traditional fiction format can be found in graphic novels. While these comic book versions of works of fiction have their origins in the 19th century, they have only become popular recently. A novel is a long, fictional narrative. The novel in the modern era usually makes use of a literary prose style. The development of the prose novel at this time was encouraged by innovations in printing, and the introduction of cheap paper in the 15th century. Several characteristics of a novel might include:
Edo period. The Edo period,[a] also known as the Tokugawa period,[b] is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868[3] in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional daimyo, or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterized by prolonged peace and stability, urbanization and economic growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies, and popular enjoyment of arts and culture. In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu prevailed at the Battle of Sekigahara and established hegemony over most of Japan, and in 1603 was given the title shogun by Emperor Go-Yōzei. Ieyasu resigned two years later in favor of his son Hidetada, but maintained power, and defeated the primary rival to his authority, Toyotomi Hideyori, at the Siege of Osaka in 1615 before his death the next year. Peace generally prevailed from this point on, making samurai largely redundant. Tokugawa shoguns continued Ieyasus policies of conformity, including a formalization of social classes in a strict hierarchy. By 1639, all foreigners were expelled under the policy of sakoku, with the exception of Dutch traders on the island of Dejima in Nagasaki, beginning a period of isolation. From 1635, daimyō had to spend alternating years in the capital Edo, where their family was required to reside permanently, in a system of alternate attendance in order to keep them in check. During the Edo period, merchants greatly prospered, and laid the foundation for Japans later zaibatsu business conglomerates. Despite general restrictions on travel within the country, daimyō processions to and from Edo developed a network of roads and inns. A commoner culture emerged in Edo and cities such as Ōsaka and Kyōto, and art forms such as kabuki and ukiyo-e flourished. Japanese scholars developed schools of neo-Confucian philosophy, and samurai, now mostly employed as administrators, formalized their code of morality in the bushido code. In 1853, Japan was forcibly opened to Western trade by United States Commodore Matthew C. Perry, beginning the Bakumatsu (end of the bakufu) era. The Edo period came to an end in 1868 with the Meiji Restoration and the Boshin War, which restored imperial rule to Japan. A revolution took place from the time of the Kamakura shogunate, which existed with the Tennōs court, to the Tokugawa, when the samurai became the unchallenged rulers in what historian Edwin O. Reischauer called a centralized feudal form of the shogunate. Instrumental in the rise of the new bakufu was Tokugawa Ieyasu, the main beneficiary of the achievements of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.[4] Already a powerful daimyo (feudal lord), Ieyasu profited by his transfer to the rich Kantō area. He maintained two million koku, or thirty-six hectares of land, a new headquarters at Edo, a strategically situated castle town (the future Tokyo), and also had an additional two million koku of land and thirty-eight vassals under his control. After Hideyoshis death, Ieyasu moved quickly to seize control of the Toyotomi clan.[citation needed] Ieyasus victory over the western daimyo at the Battle of Sekigahara (October 21, 1600, or in the old Japanese calendar, on the 15th day of the ninth month of the fifth year of the Keichō era) gave him control of all Japan. He rapidly abolished numerous enemy daimyo houses, reduced others, such as that of the Toyotomi, and redistributed the spoils of war to his family and allies. Ieyasu still failed to achieve complete control of the western daimyo, but his assumption of the title of shōgun helped consolidate the alliance system. After further strengthening his power base, Ieyasu installed his son Hidetada (1579–1632) as shōgun and himself as retired shōgun in 1605. The Toyotomi were still a significant threat, and Ieyasu devoted the next decade to their eradication. In 1615, the Tokugawa army destroyed the Toyotomi stronghold at Osaka.
Zhang Shichuan. Zhang Shichuan (Wade–Giles: Chang Shih-chuan; 1889–1953[1] or 1890–1954[2]), also credited as S. C. Chang, was a Chinese entrepreneur, film director, and film producer, who is considered a founding father of Chinese cinema. He and Zheng Zhengqiu made the first Chinese feature film, The Difficult Couple, in 1913, and cofounded the Mingxing (Star) Film Company in 1922, which became the largest film production company in China under Zhangs leadership. Zhang directed about 150 films in his career, including Laborers Love (1922), the earliest complete Chinese film that has survived; Orphan Rescues Grandfather (1923), one of the first Chinese box-office hits; The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple (1928), the first martial arts film; and Sing-Song Girl Red Peony (1931), Chinas first sound film. After the destruction of Mingxings studio by Japanese bombing during the 1937 Battle of Shanghai, Zhang Shichuan made films for the China United Film Production Company (Zhonglian) in Japanese-occupied Shanghai, which led to accusations of treason after the surrender of Japan in 1945. He never recovered from the humiliation, and died in 1953 or 1954. Zhang Shichuan was born Zhang Weitong (张伟通) in Beilun, Ningbo, Zhejiang province. Shichuan was his courtesy name, originally written with the different characters 蚀川. His father Zhang Heju (张和巨) was a small merchant dealing with silkworms. His father died when Zhang was 16 years old, and he had to quit school and move to Shanghai to live with his maternal uncle Jing Runsan (经润三), a successful comprador. In Shanghai, he worked at the American-owned Huayang Company by day and studied English at night.[3] In 1913, Yashell and Suffert, two Americans in Shanghai who had acquired the Asia Film Company, asked Zhang to be their consultant.[2] Despite his lack of experience in filmmaking, Zhang took over the companys work responsibilities. He sought help from Zheng Zhengqiu, a well-known playwright, and the two cofounded the Xinmin (新民) Film Company to make film for the Asia Company. Soon they made Chinas first feature film, The Difficult Couple, in 1913. However, Xinmin and Asia went out of business when their supply of German film stock was cut off after the outbreak of World War I.[1][2][3] When his uncle died, Zhang was asked by his aunt to manage the familys New World amusement park.[3]
Sea. A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order sections of the oceanic sea (e.g. the Mediterranean Sea), or certain large, nearly landlocked bodies of water. The salinity of water bodies varies widely, being lower near the surface and the mouths of large rivers and higher in the depths of the ocean; however, the relative proportions of dissolved salts vary little across the oceans. The most abundant solid dissolved in seawater is sodium chloride. The water also contains salts of magnesium, calcium, potassium, and mercury, among other elements, some in minute concentrations. A wide variety of organisms, including bacteria, protists, algae, plants, fungi, and animals live in various marine habitats and ecosystems throughout the seas. These range vertically from the sunlit surface and shoreline to the great depths and pressures of the cold, dark abyssal zone, and in latitude from the cold waters under polar ice caps to the warm waters of coral reefs in tropical regions. Many of the major groups of organisms evolved in the sea and life may have started there. The ocean moderates Earths climate and has important roles in the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles. The surface of water interacts with the atmosphere, exchanging properties such as particles and temperature, as well as currents. Surface currents are the water currents that are produced by the atmospheres currents and its winds blowing over the surface of the water, producing wind waves, setting up through drag slow but stable circulations of water, as in the case of the ocean sustaining deep-sea ocean currents. Deep-sea currents, known together as the global conveyor belt, carry cold water from near the poles to every ocean and significantly influence Earths climate. Tides, the generally twice-daily rise and fall of sea levels, are caused by Earths rotation and the gravitational effects of the Moon and, to a lesser extent, of the Sun. Tides may have a very high range in bays or estuaries. Submarine earthquakes arising from tectonic plate movements under the oceans can lead to destructive tsunamis, as can volcanoes, huge landslides, or the impact of large meteorites. The seas have been an integral element for humans throughout history and culture. Humans harnessing and studying the seas have been recorded since ancient times and evidenced well into prehistory, while its modern scientific study is called oceanography and maritime space is governed by the law of the sea, with admiralty law regulating human interactions at sea. The seas provide substantial supplies of food for humans, mainly fish, but also shellfish, mammals and seaweed, whether caught by fishermen or farmed underwater. Other human uses of the seas include trade, travel, mineral extraction, power generation, warfare, and leisure activities such as swimming, sailing, and scuba diving. Many of these activities create marine pollution.
Martial arts. Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preservation of a nations intangible cultural heritage.[1] The concept of martial arts was originally associated with East Asian tradition,[2] but subsequently the term has been applied to practices that originated outside that region. Martial arts is a direct English translation of the Sino-Japanese word (Japanese: 武芸, romanized: bu-gei, Chinese: 武藝; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bú-gē; pinyin: wǔyì). Literally, it refers to 武 martial and 芸 arts. The term martial arts was popularized by mainstream popular culture during the 1960s to 1970s, notably by Hong Kong martial arts films (most famously those of Bruce Lee) during the so-called chopsocky wave of the early 1970s.[3] According to John Clements, the term martial arts itself is derived from an older Latin term meaning arts of Mars, the Roman god of war, and was used to refer to the combat systems of Europe (European martial arts) as early as the 1550s.[4]
Hand-to-hand combat. Hand-to-hand combat is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of ranged weapons.[1] The phrase hand-to-hand sometimes includes use of melee weapons such as knives, swords, clubs, spears, axes, or improvised weapons such as entrenching tools.[1] While the term hand-to-hand combat originally referred principally to engagements by combatants on the battlefield, it can also refer to any personal physical engagement by two or more people, including law enforcement officers, civilians, and criminals.[1] Combat within close quarters, to a range just beyond grappling distance, is commonly termed close combat or close-quarters combat. It may include lethal and non-lethal weapons and methods depending upon the restrictions imposed by civilian law, military rules of engagement, or ethical codes. Close combat using firearms or other distance weapons by military combatants at the tactical level is referred to in contemporary parlance as close-quarters battle. The United States Army uses the term combatives to describe various military fighting systems used in hand-to-hand combat training, systems which may incorporate eclectic techniques from several different martial arts and combat sports. Hand-to-hand combat is the most ancient form of fighting known. A majority of cultures have their own particular histories related to close combat, and their own methods of practice. The pankration, which was practiced in Ancient Greece and Rome, is an example of a form which involved nearly all strikes and holds, with biting and gouging being the only exceptions (although allowed in Sparta).[2] Many modern varieties of martial arts and combat sports, such as some boxing styles, wrestling and MMA, were also practiced historically. For example, Celtic wrestling is mentioned in the Tailteann Games dating back from somewhere between 1839 BC to 632 BC (academics disagree) to the 12th century AD when the Normans invaded. Other historical forms of close combat include the gladiator spectacles of ancient Rome and medieval tournament events such as jousting or medieval martial arts. Military organizations have always taught some sort of unarmed combat for conditioning and as a supplement to armed combat. Soldiers in China were trained in unarmed combat as early as the Zhou dynasty (1022 BCE to 256 BCE). Despite major technological changes such as the use of gunpowder, the machine gun in the Russo-Japanese War and the trench warfare of World War I, hand-to-hand fighting methods with the knife and bayonet remain common in modern military training, though the importance of formal training declined after 1918. By 1944 some German rifles were being produced without bayonet lugs.
Municipalities of Japan. Municipalities are a level of administration in Japan. The country has three levels of governments: national, prefectural, and municipal. The nation is divided into 47 prefectures (within these, one metropolis, one regional prefecture, and two urban prefectures). Each prefecture consists of numerous municipalities, with 1,719 in total as of January 2014.[1] There are four types of municipalities in Japan: cities, towns, villages and special wards of Tokyo (ku). In Japanese, this system is known as shikuchōson (市区町村), where each kanji in the word represents one of the four types of municipalities. In Tokyo, because the wards are at the center, the system is officially referred to as kushichōson (区市町村), with the wards first, and cities second.[2][3][4] Some designated cities also have further administrative subdivisions, also known as wards, but, unlike the special wards of Tokyo, these wards are not municipalities.
Tang dynasty. The Tang dynasty (/tɑːŋ/,[7] [tʰǎŋ]; Chinese: 唐朝[a]), or the Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilisation, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture.[9] Tang territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivalled that of the Han dynasty. The Li family founded the dynasty after taking advantage of a period of Sui decline and precipitating their final collapse, in turn inaugurating a period of progress and stability in the first half of the dynastys rule. The dynasty was formally interrupted during 690–705 when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Wu Zhou dynasty and becoming the only legitimate Chinese empress regnant. The An Lushan rebellion (755–763) led to devastation and the decline of central authority during the latter half of the dynasty. Like the previous Sui dynasty, the Tang maintained a civil-service system by recruiting scholar-officials through standardised examinations and recommendations to office. The rise of regional military governors known as jiedushi during the 9th century undermined this civil order. The dynasty and central government went into decline by the latter half of the 9th century; agrarian rebellions resulted in mass population loss and displacement, widespread poverty, and further government dysfunction that ultimately ended the dynasty in 907.
Subprefectures of Japan. Subprefecture of Japan (支庁, shichō) are a Japanese form of self-government which focuses on local issues below the prefectural level. It acts as part of the greater administration of the state and as part of a self-government system.[1] They were given a definite form in 1878 (Meiji 11).[2] The Meiji government established the sub-prefecture (郡, -gun) as an administrative unit.[1] In 1888 (Meiji 21), the sub-prefecture as a form of self-government was officially recognized as more general than civic corporations like cities, towns and villages.[2] Certain prefectures of Japan are now, or once were, divided into subprefectures. The subprefecture is the jurisdiction surrounding a branch office of the prefectural government. Normally, the area of a subprefecture consists of a few to a dozen cities, towns, and/or villages. Subprefectures are formed to provide services of the prefectural government in geographically remote areas. They are usually not used in postal addresses.
Naruto. Naruto[a] is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young, socially isolated ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. The story is told in two parts: the first is set in Narutos pre-teen years (volumes 1–27), and the second in his teens (volumes 28–72). The series is based on two one-shot manga by Kishimoto: Karakuri (1995), which earned Kishimoto an honorable mention in Shueishas monthly Hop Step Award the following year, and Naruto (1997). Naruto was serialized in Shueishas shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from September 1999 to November 2014, with its 700 chapters collected in 72 tankōbon volumes. Viz Media licensed the manga for North American production and serialized Naruto in their digital Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The manga was adapted into two anime television series by Pierrot and Aniplex, which ran from October 2002 to March 2017 on TV Tokyo. Pierrot also produced 11 animated films and 12 original video animations (OVAs). The franchise additionally includes light novels, video games, and trading cards. The story continues in Boruto, where Narutos son Boruto Uzumaki creates his own ninja path as opposed to of following his fathers. Naruto is one of the best-selling manga series of all time, having 250 million copies in circulation worldwide. It has become one of Viz Medias best-selling manga series; their English translations of the volumes have appeared on USA Today and The New York Timess bestseller list several times, and the seventh volume won a Quill Award in 2006. Naruto has been praised for its character development, storylines, and action sequences, though some felt the latter slowed the story down. Critics noted that the manga, which contains coming-of-age themes, often makes cultural references to Japanese mythology and Confucianism. A powerful fox known as the Nine-Tails attacks Konoha, the hidden leaf village in the Land of Fire, one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries in the Ninja World. In response, the leader of Konoha and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, at the cost of his life, seals the fox inside the body of his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki, making him a host of the beast.[i] The Third Hokage returns from retirement to become the leader of Konoha again. Naruto is often scorned by Konohas villagers for being the host of the Nine-Tails. Due to a decree by the Third Hokage forbidding any mention of these events, Naruto learns nothing about the Nine-Tails until 12 years later, when Mizuki, a renegade ninja, reveals the truth to him. Naruto defeats Mizuki in combat, earning the respect of his teacher, Iruka Umino.[ii]
Administrative divisions of Japan. Naruhito Fumihito
Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million visitors in 2023, it is the most-visited museum in the United States and the fifth-most visited art museum in the world.[6] In 2000, its permanent collection had over two million works;[1] it currently lists a total of 1.5 million works.[7] The collection is divided into 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park on Manhattans Upper East Side, is by area one of the worlds largest art museums. The first portion of the approximately 2-million-square-foot (190,000 m2) building was built in 1880. A much smaller second location, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, contains an extensive collection of art, architecture, and artifacts from medieval Europe. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870, the museum was established by a group of Americans, including philanthropists, artists, and businessmen, with the goal of creating a national institution that would inspire and educate the public.[8] The museums permanent collection consists of works of art ranging from the ancient Near East and ancient Egypt, through classical antiquity to the contemporary world. It includes paintings, sculptures, and graphic works from many European Old Masters, as well as an extensive collection of American, modern, and contemporary art. The Met also maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, and Islamic art. The museum is home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes, and decorative arts and textiles, as well as antique weapons and armor from around the world. Several notable interiors, ranging from 1st-century Rome through modern American design, are installed in its galleries. The Mets permanent collection is curated by seventeen separate departments, each with a specialized staff of curators and scholars, as well as six dedicated conservation departments and a Department of Scientific Research.[9] The permanent collection includes works of art from classical antiquity and ancient Egypt; paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters; and an extensive collection of American and modern art. The Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, and Islamic art.[10] The museum is also home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, and antique weapons and armor from around the world.[11] A great number of period rooms, ranging from first-century Rome through modern American design, are permanently installed in the Mets galleries.[12] Since the late 1800s, the Museum has been collecting diverse materials from all over the world. Its outreach to exhibition designers, architects, graphic designers, lighting designers, and production designers helps the museum to maintain its collection in good condition.[13]
Core cities of Japan. A core city (中核市, chūkakushi; Japanese pronunciation: [tɕɯː.ka.kɯ̥ꜜ.ɕi, -kaꜜ.kɯ̥-][1]) is a class or category of Japanese cities. It is a local administrative division created by the national government.[2] Core cities are delegated many functions normally carried out by prefectural governments, but not as many as designated cities. To become a candidate for core city status, a city must have a population greater than 300,000 and an area greater than 100 square kilometers, although special exceptions may be made by order of the cabinet for cities with populations under 300,000 but over 200,000.[3] After the abolition of special city status on April 1, 2015, any city with a population above 200,000 may apply for core city status.[4] Application for designation is made by a city with the approval of both the city and prefectural assemblies. The term core city was created by the first clause of Article 252, Section 22 of the Local Autonomy Law of Japan.[5] As of 1 April 2021, 62 cities have been designated core cities:[4] The following cities have populations greater than 200,000 but have not yet been nominated. (Special cities and cities planning to apply for core city status are not shown.)
Whirlpool (disambiguation). A whirlpool is a swirling body of water. Whirlpool may also refer to:
Action film. The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as David Bordwell suggested they were films that favor spectacle to storytelling, others such as Geoff King stated they allow the scenes of spectacle to be attuned to storytelling. Action films are often hybrid with other genres, mixing into various forms such as comedies, science fiction films, and horror films. While the term action film or action adventure film has been used as early as the 1910s, the contemporary definition usually refers to a film that came with the arrival of New Hollywood and the rise of anti-heroes appearing in American films of the late 1960s and 1970s drawing from war films, crime films and Westerns. These genres were followed by what is referred to as the classical period in the 1980s. This was followed by the post-classical era where American action films were influenced by Hong Kong action cinema and the growing using of computer generated imagery in film. Following the September 11 attacks, a return to the early forms of the genre appeared in the wake of Kill Bill and The Expendables films. Scott Higgins wrote in 2008 in Cinema Journal that action films are both one of the most popular and popularly derided of contemporary cinema genres, stating that in mainstream discourse, the genre is regularly lambasted for favoring spectacle over finely tuned narrative.[2] Bordwell echoed this in his book, The Way Hollywood Tells It, writing that the reception to the genre as being the emblem of what Hollywood does worst.[3] In the Journal of Film and Video, Lennart Soberson stated that the action film genre has been a subject of scholarly debate since the 1980s.[4] Soberson wrote that repeated traits of the genre include chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work while other scholars asserted there were more underlying traits that define the genre.[4] David Bordwell in The Way Hollywood Tells It wrote that audiences are told that spectacle overrides narrative in action cinema while Wheeler Winston Dixon echoed that these films were typified by excessive spectacle as a desperate attempt to mask the lack of content.[3][5] Geoff King argued that the spectacle can also be a vehicle for narrative, opposed to interfering with it.[6] Soberson stated that Harvey OBrien had perhaps the most convincing understanding of the genre, stating that the action film was best understood as a fusion of form and content. It represents the idea and ethic of action through a form in which action, agitation and movement are paramount.[4] OBrien wrote further in his book Action Movies: The Cinema of Striking Back to suggest action films being unique and not just a series of action sequences, stating that that was the difference between Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Die Hard (1988), that while both were mainstream Hollywood blockbusters with a hero asserting masculinity and overcoming obstacles to a personal and social solution, John McClane in Die Hard repeatedly firing his automatic pistol while swinging from a high rise was not congruent with the image of Indiana Jones in Raiders swinging his whip to fend off villains in the backstreets of Cairo.[7] British author and academic Yvonne Tasker expanded on this topic, stating that action films have no clear and constant iconography or settings. In her book The Hollywood Action and Adventure Film (2015), she found that the most broadly consistent themes tend to be a characters quest from freedom from oppression such as a hero overcoming enemies or obstacles and physical conflicts or challenge, usually battling other humans or alien opponents.[8]
Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan. A city designated by government ordinance (政令指定都市, seirei shitei toshi; [sei.ɾei ɕi̥.tei toꜜ.ɕi, seː.ɾeː- -teː-][1]), also known as a designated city (指定都市, shitei toshi; [ɕi̥.tei toꜜ.ɕi, -teː-][1]) or government ordinance city (政令市, seireishi; [sei.ɾeꜜi.ɕi, seː.ɾeꜜː-][1]), is a Japanese city that has a population greater than 500,000 and has been designated as such by order of the Cabinet of Japan under Article 252, Section 19, of the Local Autonomy Law.[2] Designated cities are delegated many of the functions normally performed by prefectural governments in fields such as public education, social welfare, sanitation, business licensing, and urban planning. The city government is generally delegated the various minor administrative functions in each area, and the prefectural government retains authority over major decisions. For instance, pharmaceutical retailers and small clinics can be licensed by designated city governments, but pharmacies and hospitals are licensed by prefectural governments. Designated cities are also required to subdivide themselves into wards (区, ku) (broadly equivalent to the boroughs of London or the boroughs of New York City), each of which has a ward office conducting various administrative functions for the city government, such as koseki and juminhyo resident registration and tax collection. In some cities, ward offices are responsible for business licensing, construction permits, and other administrative matters. The structure and the authorities of the wards are determined by municipal ordinances. The 23 special wards of Tokyo are not part of this system, as Tokyo is a prefecture, and its wards are effectively independent cities. Although the two largest wards of Tokyo, Setagaya and Nerima, are populous enough to become designated cities, they are not considered to be cities within the meaning of the Local Autonomy Law and so are not designated as such.
Animation. Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animation has been recognized as an artistic medium, specifically within the entertainment industry. Many animations are either traditional animations or computer animations made with computer-generated imagery (CGI). Stop motion animation, in particular claymation, is also prominent alongside these other forms, albeit to a lesser degree. Animation is contrasted with live action, although the two do not exist in isolation. Many filmmakers have produced films that are a hybrid of the two. As CGI increasingly approximates photographic imagery, filmmakers can relatively easily composite 3D animated visual effects (VFX) into their film, rather than using practical effects. Computer animation can be very detailed 3D animation, while 2D computer animation (which may have the look of traditional animation) can be used for stylistic reasons, low bandwidth, or faster real-time renderings. Other common animation methods apply a stop motion technique to two- and three-dimensional objects like paper cutouts, puppets, or clay figures. An animated cartoon, or simply a cartoon, is an animated film, usually short, that features an exaggerated visual style. This style is often inspired by comic strips, gag cartoons, and other non-animated art forms. Cartoons frequently include anthropomorphic animals, superheroes, or the adventures of human protagonists. The action often revolves around exaggerated physical humor, particularly in predator/prey dynamics (e.g. cats and mices, coyotes and birds), where violent pratfalls such as falls, collisions, and explosions occur, often in ways that would be lethal in the real life.
Gulf of Corryvreckan. The Gulf of Corryvreckan (from the Gaelic Coire Bhreacain, meaning cauldron of the speckled seas or cauldron of the plaid), also called the Strait of Corryvreckan, is a narrow strait between the islands of Jura and Scarba, in Argyll and Bute, off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is possible for tourists to visit the site by way of boat trips from local harbours or sightseeing flights from Oban Airport. Strong Atlantic currents and unusual underwater topography together produce a particularly intense tidal race in the Corryvreckan channel. As the flood tide enters the narrow area between the two islands it speeds up to 8.5 knots (16 km/h) and meets a variety of seabed features, including a deep hole and a rising pinnacle. These features combine to create whirlpools, standing waves and a variety of other surface effects. The Corryvreckan is the third largest whirlpool in the world,[1] and is on the northern side of the gulf, surrounding a pyramid-shaped basalt pinnacle that rises from depths of 70 to 29 m (230 to 95 ft) at its rounded top. Flood tides and outflow to the Firth of Lorne in the west can drive the waters of Corryvreckan to waves of more than 30 ft (9 m), and the roar of the resulting maelstrom can be heard 10 mi (16 km) away.
Saiyuki (manga). Saiyuki (Japanese: 最遊記, Hepburn: Saiyūki) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuya Minekura. It was originally serialized in Enixs Shōnen magazine Monthly GFantasy between February 1997 and November 2001, with its chapters collected in nine tankōbon volumes. It was later republished by Ichijinsha, who released nine volumes with new covers from October 2002 to June 2003, and a five-volume bunkoban edition which was released from April to August 2015. The story, which is loosely based on the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, follows a monk named Genjo Sanzo who receives a mission to travel to the west with a group of three yokai (demons) to stop the revival of Gyumao, an evil god. The manga was licensed for an English release by Tokyopop, who published nine volumes between March and July, 2005. The most recent publication in North America is by Kodansha, the series receiving a hardcover release with a new translation between February 2020 and January 2021. Minekuras manga includes two sequels titled Saiyuki Reload and Saiyuki Reload Blast, as well as two prequels titled Saiyuki Gaiden and Saiyuki Ibun. The series has spawned a media franchise that includes five anime series. Pierrot produced a 50-episode anime television series titled Gensomaden Saiyuki that aired from April 2000 to March 2001, and won the twenty-third annual Animage Anime Grand Prix prize for best anime. The same studio developed an anime film adaptation and two anime sequel series titled Saiyuki Reload and Saiyuki Reload Gunlock, which were broadcast together in Japan from October 2003 to September 2004. Two other animes were produced; Platinum Vision made Saiyuki Reload Blast in 2017 and Liden Films made Saiyuki Reload: Zeroin, in 2022. Three original video animations (OVAs), ten stage musicals, a light novel adaptation, numerous video games, drama CDs, and artbooks have also been made. As of July 2017, the Saiyuki franchise has sold 25 million copies in circulation worldwide, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. It has become a mainstay of manga/anime culture, and its entries have continually garnered critical praise and accolades.
Whirlpool Corporation. Whirlpool Corporation is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of home appliances headquartered in Benton Charter Township, Michigan, United States.[2] In 2023, the Fortune 500 company had an annual revenue of approximately $19 billion in sales, around 59,000 employees, and more than 55 manufacturing and technology research centers globally.[3] The company’s flagship brand, Whirlpool, is marketed alongside a range of other brands including Maytag, KitchenAid, JennAir, Amana, Gladiator GarageWorks, Inglis, Estate, Brastemp, Bauknecht and Consul.[4] In its domestic U.S. market, Whirlpool has eleven manufacturing facilities which employs about 15,000 workers.[5] On November 11, 1911, Louis Upton (1886–1952), who worked as an insurance salesman, and his uncle, Emory Upton, who owned a machine shop, founded the Upton Machine Company. Following a failed business venture, Lou acquired a patent to a manual clothes washer. He approached Emory to determine if he could add an electric motor to the design. With the aid of a $5,000 investment from retailing executive Lowell Bassford, they began producing electric motor-driven wringer washers.[6][7] Soon after its founding, Lous younger brother Fred joined the company.[8]
Night in Tunisia (short story collection). Night in Tunisia was the first book by Irish writer Neil Jordan in 1976, containing ten stories, which was published by The Irish Writers Co-operative (Co-op Books) in Dublin, Ireland. The storys title is a jazz standard composed by Dizzy Gillespie. In 1979, the book won the Guardian Fiction Prize[1] and was then published by Writers and Readers in the UK and by George Braziller in the US. From Scribd the book is praised:[2]
Vortex. In fluid dynamics, a vortex (pl.: vortices or vortexes)[1][2] is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved.[3][4] Vortices form in stirred fluids and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in the wake of a boat, and in the winds surrounding a tropical cyclone, tornado, or dust devil. Vortices are a major component of turbulent flow. The distribution of velocity, vorticity (the curl of the flow velocity), as well as the concept of circulation are used to characterize vortices. In most vortices, the fluid flow velocity is greatest next to its axis and decreases in inverse proportion to the distance from the axis. In the absence of external forces, viscous friction within the fluid tends to organize the flow into a collection of irrotational vortices, possibly superimposed to larger-scale flows, including larger-scale vortices. Once formed vortices can move, stretch, twist, and interact in complex ways. A moving vortex carries some angular and linear momentum, energy, and mass, with it. In the dynamics of fluid, a vortex is fluid that revolves around the line of flow. The flow of fluid might be curved or straight. Vortices form from stirred fluids: they might be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools, in the wake of a boat or the winds around a tornado or dust devil. Vortices are an important part of turbulent flow. Vortices can otherwise be known as a circular motion of a liquid. In the cases of the absence of forces, the liquid settles. That makes the water stay still instead of move.
Guardian Fiction Prize. The Guardian Fiction Prize was a literary award sponsored by The Guardian newspaper.[1][2] Founded in 1965 by the Guardians Literary Editor, W.L. Webb, and chaired by him until 1987, it recognized one fiction book per year written by a British or Commonwealth writer and published in the United Kingdom. The award ran for 33 years before being terminated. In 1999, the Guardian replaced the Fiction Prize with the Guardian First Book Award, for début works of both fiction and non-fiction,[3] which was discontinued in 2016, with the 2015 awards being the last.[4]
Anime. Anime (Japanese: アニメ; IPA: [aꜜɲime] ⓘ;[a] derived from a shortening of the English word animation) is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, anime refers specifically to animation produced in Japan.[1] However, anime, in Japan and in Japanese, describes all animated works, regardless of style or origin. Many works of animation with a similar style to Japanese animation are also produced outside Japan. Video games sometimes also feature themes and art styles that may be labelled as anime. The earliest commercial Japanese animation dates to 1917. A characteristic art style emerged in the 1960s with the works of cartoonist Osamu Tezuka and spread in the following decades, developing a large domestic audience. Anime is distributed theatrically, through television broadcasts, directly to home media, and over the Internet. In addition to original works, anime are often adaptations of Japanese comics (manga), light novels, or video games. It is classified into numerous genres targeting various broad and niche audiences.[2] Anime is a diverse medium with distinctive production methods that have adapted in response to emergent technologies. It combines graphic art, characterization, cinematography, and other forms of imaginative and individualistic techniques.[3] Compared to Western animation, anime production generally focuses less on movement, and more on the detail of settings and use of camera effects, such as panning, zooming, and angle shots.[3] Diverse art styles are used, and character proportions and features can be quite varied, with a common characteristic feature being large and emotive eyes.[4] The anime industry consists of over 430 production companies, including major studios such as Studio Ghibli, Kyoto Animation, Sunrise, Bones, Ufotable, MAPPA, Wit Studio, CoMix Wave Films, Madhouse, Inc., TMS Entertainment, Pierrot, Production I.G, Nippon Animation and Toei Animation. Since the 1980s, the medium has also seen widespread international success with the rise of foreign dubbed, subtitled programming, and since the 2010s due to the rise of streaming services and a widening demographic embrace of anime culture, both within Japan and worldwide.[5][6] As of 2016,[update] Japanese animation accounted for 60% of the worlds animated television shows.[7]
Tribeca Festival. The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in 2002 to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of Lower Manhattan following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Until 2020, the festival was known as the Tribeca Film Festival. The festival hosts over 600 screenings with approximately 150,000 attendees each year, and awards independent artists in 23 juried competitive categories.[1] The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, and Craig Hatkoff, in response to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the Tribeca neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.[2] The inaugural festival launched after 120 days of planning with the help of more than 1,300 volunteers. It was attended by more than 150,000 people[3] and featured several up-and-coming filmmakers. The festival included juried narrative, documentary and short film competitions; a restored classics series; a best of New York series curated by Martin Scorsese; 13 major panel discussions; an all-day family festival; and the premieres of independent and studio films Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones - made independently,[4] About A Boy,[5] the American remake of Insomnia, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The 2003 festival brought more than 300,000 people.[3] The festival showcased an expanded group of independent features, documentaries and short films from around the world, coupled with studio premieres, panel discussions, music and comedy concerts, a family festival, sports activities, and outdoor movie screenings along the Hudson River. The family festival featured childrens movie screenings, storytelling, family panels, workshops, and interactive games culminating in a daylong street fair that drew a crowd estimated at 250,000 people.[6]
List of science fiction and fantasy artists. This is a list of science fiction and fantasy artists, notable and well-known 20th- and 21st-century artists who have created book covers or interior illustrations for books, or who have had their own books or comic books of fantastic art with science fiction or fantasy themes published. Artists known exclusively for their work in comic books are not included. Many of the artists are known for their work in both the fantasy and sf fields. Artists who have won the Hugo Award, the World Fantasy Award, or the Chesley Award are noted, as are inductees into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
List of fantasy anime. This is a list of fantasy anime television series, films, and OVAs. Titles are in alphabetical order.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938 film). The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a 1938 American drama film produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Norman Taurog who had previously directed Huckleberry Finn (1931) with Jackie Coogan and Junior Durkin. The film starred Tommy Kelly in the title role, with Jackie Moran and Ann Gillis. The screenplay by John V. A. Weaver was based on the classic 1876 novel of the same name by Mark Twain. The movie was the first film version of the novel to be made in color. The United Artists release includes most of the sequences familiar to readers of the book, including the fence-whitewashing episode; Tom and Huckleberry Finns attendance at their own funeral, after the boys, who were enjoying an adventure on a remote island, are presumed dead; the murder trial of local drunkard Muff Potter; and Tom and Becky Thatchers flight through a cave as they try to escape Injun Joe, who is revealed to be the real killer. Note: Many cast lists included an uncredited Spring Byington as Widow Douglas. However, Hucks adoption is not included in this version, and Byingtons role does not appear to have survived editing. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was the fourth film adaptation of the Twain novel, following versions released in 1907, 1917, and 1930, and this is the first filmed in Technicolor.
Fantastic art. Fantastic art is a broad and loosely defined art genre.[1] It is not restricted to a specific school of artists, geographical location or historical period. It can be characterised by subject matter—which portrays non-realistic, mystical, mythical or folkloric subjects or events—and style, which is representational and naturalistic, rather than abstract—or in the case of magazine illustrations and similar, in the style of graphic novel art such as manga.[citation needed] Fantasy has been an integral part of art since its beginnings,[2] but has been particularly important in mannerism, magic realist painting, romantic art, symbolism, surrealism and lowbrow. In French, the genre is called le fantastique, in English it is sometimes referred to as visionary art, grotesque art or mannerist art. It has had a deep and circular interaction with fantasy literature.[citation needed] The subject matter of fantastic art may resemble the product of hallucinations, and Fantastic artist Richard Dadd spent much of his life in mental institutions. Salvador Dalí famously said: the only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad.[3] Some recent fantastic art draws on the artists experience, or purported experience, of hallucinogenic drugs. The term fantasy art is closely related, and is applied primarily to recent art (typically 20th century on wards) inspired by, or illustrating fantasy literature.[citation needed]

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