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Phenotype. In genetics, the phenotype (from Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō) to appear, show and τύπος (túpos) mark, type) is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism.[1][2] The term covers the organisms morphology (physical form and structure), its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological properties, and its behavior. An organisms phenotype results from two basic factors: the expression of an organisms genetic code (its genotype) and the influence of environmental factors. Both factors may interact, further affecting the phenotype. When two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the same population of a species, the species is called polymorphic. A well-documented example of polymorphism is Labrador Retriever coloring; while the coat color depends on many genes, it is clearly seen in the environment as yellow, black, and brown. Richard Dawkins in 1978[3] and again in his 1982 book The Extended Phenotype suggested that one can regard bird nests and other built structures such as caddisfly larva cases and beaver dams as extended phenotypes. Wilhelm Johannsen proposed the genotype–phenotype distinction in 1911 to make clear the difference between an organisms hereditary material and what that hereditary material produces.[4][5] The distinction resembles that proposed by August Weismann (1834–1914), who distinguished between germ plasm (heredity) and somatic cells (the body). More recently in The Selfish Gene (1976), Dawkins distinguished these concepts as replicators and vehicles. Despite its seemingly straightforward definition, the concept of the phenotype has hidden subtleties. It may seem that anything dependent on the genotype is a phenotype, including molecules such as RNA and proteins. Most molecules and structures coded by the genetic material are not visible in the appearance of an organism, yet they are observable (for example by Western blotting) and are thus part of the phenotype; human blood groups are an example. It may seem that this goes beyond the original intentions of the concept with its focus on the (living) organism in itself. Either way, the term phenotype includes inherent traits or characteristics that are observable or traits that can be made visible by some technical procedure.[citation needed] The term phenotype has sometimes been incorrectly used as a shorthand for the phenotypic difference between a mutant and its wild type, which would lead to the false statement that a mutation has no phenotype.[6] Behaviors and their consequences are also phenotypes, since behaviors are observable characteristics. Behavioral phenotypes include cognitive, personality, and behavioral patterns. Some behavioral phenotypes may characterize psychiatric disorders[7] or syndromes.[8][9]
Lunar calendar. A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moons phases (synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based on the solar year, and lunisolar calendars, whose lunar months are brought into alignment with the solar year through some process of intercalation – such as by insertion of a leap month. The most widely observed lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar.[a] The details of when months begin vary from calendar to calendar, with some using new, full, or crescent moons and others employing detailed calculations. Since each lunation is approximately 29+1⁄2 days,[1] it is common for the months of a lunar calendar to alternate between 29 and 30 days. Since the period of 12 such lunations, a lunar year, is 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, 34 seconds (354.36707 days),[1] lunar calendars are 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar year. In lunar calendars, which do not make use of lunisolar calendars intercalation, the lunar months cycle through all the seasons of a solar year over the course of a 33–34 lunar-year cycle (see, e.g., list of Islamic years). Scholars have argued that ancient hunters conducted regular astronomical observations of the Moon back in the Upper Palaeolithic.[2] Samuel L. Macey dates the earliest uses of the Moon as a time-measuring device back to 28,000–30,000 years ago.[3] Lunar and lunisolar calendars differ as to which day is the first day of the month. Some are based on the first sighting of the lunar crescent, such as the Hijri calendar observed by most of Islam. Alternatively, in some lunisolar calendars, such as the Hebrew calendar and Chinese calendar, the first day of a month is the day when an astronomical new moon occurs in a particular time zone. In others, such as some Hindu calendars, each month begins on the day after the full moon. The length of each lunar cycle varies slightly from the average value. In addition, observations are subject to uncertainty and weather conditions. Thus, to minimise uncertainty, there have been attempts to create fixed arithmetical rules to determine the start of each calendar month. The best known of these is the Tabular Islamic calendar: in brief, it has a 30-year cycle with 11 leap years of 355 days and 19 years of 354 days. In the long term, it is accurate to one day in about 2,500 solar years or 2,570 lunar years. It also deviates from observation by up to about one or two days in the short term. The algorithm was introduced by Muslim astronomers in the 8th century to predict the approximate date of the first crescent moon, which is used to determine the first day of each month in the Islamic lunar calendar.[4]
Indonesia (disambiguation). Indonesia is an island chain country in Southeast Asia. Indonesia may also refer to:
Samaná (town). Samaná (old spelling: Xamaná), in full Santa Bárbara de Samaná, is a town and municipality in northeastern Dominican Republic and the capital of Samaná Province. It is on the northern coast of Samaná Bay. The town is an important tourism destination and the main center for whale-watching tours in the Caribbean region.[4][5] The town has three municipal districts: El Limón, Las Galeras, and Arroyo Barril. According to the 2012 population and housing census, the municipality has a total population of 108,179. Samaná is on a small plain close to the coast but most of the town is in the hills that enclose the plain. It is the largest municipality of the province. It has a total area of 412.11 km² (almost 49% of the total area of the province), including the three municipal districts that are part of the municipality. Most of the territory is occupied by the Sierra de Samaná, a short mountain range with steep slopes but no high mountains. The highest mountain is Monte Mesa (605 m).[2]
Shuihu. A shuihu or shui hu (Chinese: 水虎; pinyin: shuǐhǔ; Wade–Giles: shui-hu; Japanese pronunciation: suiko; lit. water tiger),[b] is a legendary creature said to have inhabited river systems in what is now Hubei Province, China. The name shuihu (or suiko) derives from the creature possessing physical characteristics reminiscent of a tiger (虎, Chinese pronunciation: hu; Japanese: ko/tora). The water tiger is described as similar (in size) to a 3 or 4-year old human child, with tiger-like head and lower limb, and covered with tough scales resisting arrows. It basks on sandbars, while keeping their claws submerged in water. If a human tries to tamper with he may be killed. Japanese books during the Tokugawa Period read the Chinese text rather differently. Wakan Sansai Zue, an influential encyclopedia of the early 18th-century, gave a considerably divergent reading and stated that the suiko possessed kneecaps like tiger-claws. This odd feature was replicated in its woodcut illustration, and propagated in Toriyama Sekiens drawing of the suiko in his yōkai anthology.
Emperor Heizei. Emperor Heizei (平城天皇, Heizei-tennō; 773 – August 5, 824), also known as Heijō-tennō, was the 51st emperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2] Heizeis reign lasted from 806 to 809.[3] Heizei was the eldest son of the Emperor Kanmu and empress Fujiwara no Otomuro.[4] Heizei had three empresses and seven sons and daughters.[5] Heizei is traditionally venerated at his tomb; the Imperial Household Agency designates Yamamomo no Misasagi (楊梅陵, Yamamomo Imperial Mausoleum), in Nara, as the location of Heizeis mausoleum.[1] The site is publicly accessible.[6] Although one of the largest kofun monuments in Japan, archaeological investigations in 1962–1963 indicate that it was constructed in the early 5th century, and that portions of it were destroyed during the construction of Heijō-kyō, calling into question the designation by the Imperial Household Agency.
Selective breeding. Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant males and females will sexually reproduce and have offspring together. Domesticated animals are known as breeds, normally bred by a professional breeder, while domesticated plants are known as varieties, cultigens, cultivars, or breeds.[1] Two purebred animals of different breeds produce a crossbreed, and crossbred plants are called hybrids. Flowers, vegetables and fruit-trees may be bred by amateurs and commercial or non-commercial professionals: major crops are usually the provenance of the professionals. In animal breeding artificial selection is often combined with techniques such as inbreeding, linebreeding, and outcrossing. In plant breeding, similar methods are used. Charles Darwin discussed how selective breeding had been successful in producing change over time in his 1859 book, On the Origin of Species. Its first chapter discusses selective breeding and domestication of such animals as pigeons, cats, cattle, and dogs. Darwin used artificial selection as an analogy to propose and explain the theory of natural selection but distinguished the latter from the former as a separate process that is non-directed.[2][3][4] The deliberate exploitation of selective breeding to produce desired results has become very common in agriculture and experimental biology. Selective breeding can be unintentional, for example, resulting from the process of human cultivation; and it may also produce unintended – desirable or undesirable – results. For example, in some grains, an increase in seed size may have resulted from certain ploughing practices rather than from the intentional selection of larger seeds. Most likely, there has been an interdependence between natural and artificial factors that have resulted in plant domestication.[5]
Emperor Saga. Emperor Saga (嵯峨天皇, Saga-tennō; October 3, 786 – August 24, 842) was the 52nd emperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2] Sagas reign lasted from 809 to 823.[3] Saga was the second son of Emperor Kanmu and Fujiwara no Otomuro.[4][5] His personal name was Kamino (神野).[6] Saga was an accomplished calligrapher able to compose in Chinese who held the first imperial poetry competitions (naien).[7] According to legend, he was the first Japanese emperor to drink tea. Saga is traditionally venerated at his tomb; the Imperial Household Agency designates Saganoyamanoe no Misasagi (嵯峨山上陵, Saganoyamanoe Imperial Mausoleum), in Ukyō-ku, Kyoto, as the location of Sagas mausoleum.[1] Soon after his enthronement, Saga himself took ill. At the time the retired Heizei had quarreled with his brother over the ideal location of the court, the latter preferring the Heian capital, while the former was convinced that a shift back to the Nara plain was necessary, and Heizei, exploiting Sagas weakened health, seized the opportunity to foment a rebellion, known historically as the Kusuko Incident; however, forces loyal to Emperor Saga, led by taishōgun Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, quickly defeated the Heizei rebels which thus limited the adverse consequences which would have followed any broader conflict.[11] This same Tamuramaro is remembered in Aomoris annual Nebuta Matsuri which feature a number of gigantic, specially-constructed, illuminated paper floats. These great lantern-structures are colorfully painted with mythical figures; and teams of men carry them through the streets as crowds shout encouragement. This early ninth century military leader is commemorated in this way because he is said to have ordered huge illuminated lanterns to be placed at the top of hills; and when the curious Emishi approached these bright lights to investigate, they were captured and subdued by Tamuramaros men.[12]
Fujiwara no Otomuro. Fujiwara no Otomuro (藤原乙牟漏; [ɸu͍ʑiwaɽa no otomuɽo], 760 – April 28, 790) was a Japanese noblewoman and empress consort of Japan.[1] Her sister was Fujiwara no Moroane. Fujiwara no Otomuro was a daughter of a noble called Fujiwara no Yoshitsugu;[2] her mother was the granddaughter of general Fujiwara no Umakai, who died in 737.[3] She married Emperor Kanmu.[4] Their children included: She also had a daughter, Princess Koshi. Her daughter-in-law was Lady Tachibana no Kachiko.[7]
Samaná Province. Samaná (Spanish pronunciation: [samaˈna]) is a province of the Dominican Republic in the Samaná Peninsula located in the eastern region. Its capital is Santa Bárbara de Samaná, usually known as Samaná.[1] The province is on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the northeastern part of the Dominican Republic. It is known for the mountains of which it is almost entirely formed. Samaná has numerous beaches. Samaná was originally larger covering the area of what is now the María Trinidad Sánchez province, before being divided during the Trujillo era. Samaná was also once known as the Samana Bay Company of Santo Domingo. The Samaná province is occupied by the Sierra de Samaná mountain range, which reaches many of the coastal areas. The highest mountain in this range (and in the province) is located in the eastern portion and is called La Meseta. Samaná has a tropical rainforest climate, with an annual average temperature of 25.9 degrees Celsius. Annual precipitation in the Sierra de Samaná is greater than 2,000 millimeters. There are numerous rivers and streams throughout the province, including the final part of the Yuna River, which flows into the western end of the Samaná Bay.
Emperor Kōnin. Emperor Kōnin (光仁天皇, Kōnin-tennō; November 18, 708 – January 11, 782) was the 49th emperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2] Kōnins reign lasted from 770 to 781.[3] The personal name of Emperor Kōnin (imina) was Shirakabe (白壁).[4] As a son of Imperial Prince Shiki and a grandson of Emperor Tenji,[5] his formal style was Prince Shirakabe. Initially, he was not in line for succession, as Emperor Tenmu and his branch held the throne. He married Imperial Princess Inoe, a daughter of Emperor Shōmu, producing a daughter and a son. After his sister-in-law Empress Shōtoku died, he was named her heir. The high courtiers claimed the empress had left her will in a letter in which she had appointed him as her successor. Prior to this, he had been considered a gentle man without political ambition. Kōnin had five wives and seven Imperial sons and daughters.[6]
Flag of Indonesia. The national flag of Indonesia is bicolor, with two horizontal bands, red (top) and white (bottom) with an overall ratio of 2:3.[1] It was introduced and hoisted in public during the proclamation of independence on 17 August 1945 at 56 Jalan Proklamasi (formerly Jalan Pegangsaan Timur) in Jakarta, and again when the Dutch formally transferred sovereignty on 27 December 1949. The design of the flag has remained unchanged since. The flag of Indonesia is graphically similar to the flag of Monaco, with a slight difference in the shade of red, and ratio of its dimensions. The flag of Poland has similar dimensions but has the colours reversed: white on top and red on the bottom. In both Monacos and Polands flags, the reds are of a slightly darker shade than that of Indonesia. The flag of Singapore has exactly the same dimensions as Indonesias, but supplemented with a white crescent moon and five stars in a pentagram at the upper left corner of the flag, of which the red is of a slightly lighter shade. The Naval Jack of Indonesia is reserved for sole use by the Indonesian Navy. It flies from the jackstaff of every active Indonesian warship while anchored or moored pierside and on special occasions. The design of the jack is described as nine alternating stripes, consisted of five red and four white stripes. It is nicknamed Sang Saka Merah Putih, lit. The Heirloom Red-White. The naval jack dates to the age of Majapahit Empire. This empire, renowned for its great maritime strength, flew similar jacks on its vessels.[2]
Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world.[1][a] It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull Inter gravissimas issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years slightly differently to make the average calendar year 365.2425 days long rather than the Julian calendars 365.25 days, thus more closely approximating the 365.2422-day tropical or solar year that is determined by the Earths revolution around the Sun. The rule for leap years is that every year divisible by four is a leap year, except for years that are divisible by 100, except in turn for years also divisible by 400. For example 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, but 2000 was.[2] There were two reasons to establish the Gregorian calendar. First, the Julian calendar was based on the estimate that the average solar year is exactly 365.25 days long, an overestimate of a little under one day per century, and thus has a leap year every four years without exception. The Gregorian reform shortened the average (calendar) year by 0.0075 days to stop the drift of the calendar with respect to the equinoxes.[3] Second, in the years since the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325,[b] the excess leap days introduced by the Julian algorithm had caused the calendar to drift such that the March equinox was occurring well before its nominal 21 March date. This date was important to the Christian churches, because it is fundamental to the calculation of the date of Easter. To reinstate the association, the reform advanced the date by 10 days:[c] Thursday 4 October 1582 was followed by Friday 15 October 1582.[3] In addition, the reform also altered the lunar cycle used by the Church to calculate the date for Easter, because astronomical new moons were occurring four days before the calculated dates. Whilst the reform introduced minor changes, the calendar continued to be fundamentally based on the same geocentric theory as its predecessor.[4][failed verification] The reform was adopted initially by the Catholic countries of Europe and their overseas possessions. Over the next three centuries, the Protestant and Eastern Orthodox countries also gradually moved to what they called the Improved calendar,[d] with Greece being the last European country to adopt the calendar (for civil use only) in 1923.[5] However, many Orthodox churches continue to use the Julian calendar for religious rites and the dating of major feasts. To unambiguously specify a date during the transition period (in contemporary documents or in history texts), both notations were given, tagged as Old Style or New Style as appropriate. During the 20th century, most non-Western countries also adopted the calendar, at least for civil purposes.
Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. Bhinneka Tunggal Ika is the official national motto of Indonesia. It is inscribed in the national emblem of Indonesia, the Garuda Pancasila, written on the scroll gripped by the Garudas claws. The phrase comes from Old Javanese, meaning Unity in Diversity, and is enshrined in article 36A of the Constitution of Indonesia. The motto refers to the unity and integrity of Indonesia, a nation consisting of various cultures, regional languages, races, ethnicities, religions, and beliefs. The phrase is a quotation from an Old Javanese poem Kakawin Sutasoma, written by Mpu Tantular, a famous poet of Javanese literature during the reign of the Majapahit empire in the 14th century, under the reign of King Rājasanagara (also known as Hayam Wuruk). Translated word for word, bhinnêka is a sandhi form of bhinna meaning different; the word tunggal means one and the word ika means it. Literally, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika is translated as It is different, [yet] it is one. Conventionally, the phrase is translated as Unity in Diversity,[1] which means that despite being diverse, the Indonesian people are still one unit. This motto describes the unity and integrity of Indonesia, which consists of various cultures, regional languages, races, ethnicities, religions, and beliefs. As head of the Faculty of Philosophy of Gadjah Mada University, Rizal Mustansyir, writes, the motto of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika explains clearly that there is diversity in various aspects of life that makes the Indonesian nation a unified nation.[2] The phrase originated from the Old Javanese poem Kakawin Sutasoma, written by Mpu Tantular a famous poet of Javanese Literature during the reign of the Majapahit empire sometime in the 14th century, under the reign of King Rājasanagara, also known as Hayam Wuruk.[3] The Kakawin contains epic poems written in metres. The poem is notable as it promotes tolerance between Hindus (especially Shivaites) and Buddhists.[4]
Ingres (disambiguation). Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867) was a French painter. Ingres may also refer to:
Film director. A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a films artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, production design and all the creative aspects of filmmaking in cooperation with the producer.[1] The film director gives direction to the cast and crew and creates an overall vision through which a film eventually becomes realized or noticed. Directors need to be able to mediate differences in creative visions and stay within the budget. There are many pathways to becoming a film director. Some film directors started as screenwriters, cinematographers, producers, film editors or actors. Other film directors have attended film school. Directors use different approaches. Some outline a general plotline and let the actors improvise dialogue, while others control every aspect and demand that the actors and crew follow instructions precisely. Some directors also write their own screenplays or collaborate on screenplays with long-standing writing partners. Other directors edit or appear in their films or compose music score for their films.[2] A film directors task is to envisage a way to translate a screenplay into a fully formed film, and then to realize this vision.[3] To do this, they oversee the artistic and technical elements of film production.[2][4] This entails organizing the film crew in such a way to achieve their vision of the film and communicating with the actors.[5][6] This requires skills of group leadership, as well as the ability to maintain a singular focus even in the stressful, fast-paced environment of a film set.[7] Moreover, it is necessary to have an artistic eye to frame shots and to give precise feedback to cast and crew,[8] thus, excellent communication skills are a must.[9] Because the film director depends on the successful cooperation of many different creative individuals with possibly strongly contradicting artistic ideals and visions, they also need to possess conflict-resolution skills to mediate whenever necessary.[10] Thus the director ensures that all individuals involved in the film production are working towards an identical vision for the completed film.[5] The set of varying challenges they have to tackle has been described as a multi-dimensional jigsaw puzzle with egos and weather thrown in for good measure.[11] It adds to the pressure that the success of a film can influence when and how they will work again, if at all.[12]
National emblem of Indonesia. The national emblem of Indonesia is called Garuda Pancasila in Indonesian.[2] The main part is the Garuda with a heraldic shield on its chest and a scroll gripped by its legs. The shields five emblems represent Pancasila, the five principles of Indonesias national ideology. The Garuda claws gripping a white ribbon scroll inscribed with the national motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika written in black text, which can be loosely translated as Unity in Diversity. Garuda Pancasila was designed by Sultan Hamid II from Pontianak, supervised by Sukarno, and was adopted as the national emblem on 11 February 1950. Garuda, the discipled carrier or vehicle (vahana) of the Hindu god Vishnu, appears in many ancient Hindu-Buddhist temples of ancient Indonesia. Temples such as Mendut, Borobudur, Sajiwan, Prambanan, Kidal, Penataran, Belahan, and Sukuh depict the images (bas-relief or statue) of Garuda. In Prambanan temple complex, there is a single temple located in front of Vishnu temple, dedicated to Garuda. However, there is no statue of Garuda inside the chamber today. In the Shiva temple, also in Prambanan complex, there is a relief telling an episode of Ramayana about Garudas nephew who also belongs to the bird-god race, Jatayu, tried to rescue Sita from Ravanas hand. The deified statue of King Airlangga depicted as Vishnu mounting Garuda from Belahan, probably the most famous statue of Garuda from ancient Java. Now the statue is one of the important collection of Trowulan Museum. Garuda appear in many traditions and stories, especially in Java and Bali. In many stories Garuda symbolises the virtue of knowledge, power, bravery, loyalty, and discipline. As the vehicle of Vishnu, Garuda also bears the attributes of Vishnu, which symbolise preservation of cosmic order. Balinese tradition venerated Garuda as the lord of all flying creatures, and the majestic king of birds. In Bali, Garuda traditionally portrayed as a divine creature with head, beak, wings, and claw of an eagle, while has the body of a human. Usually portrayed in intricate carving with golden and vivid colours, as the vehicle of Vishnu or in battle scene against Nāga (dragon) serpents. The important and noble position of Garuda in Indonesian tradition since ancient times has venerated Garuda as the national symbol of Indonesia, the embodiment of Indonesian ideology, Pancasila. Garuda also chosen as the name of Indonesian national airlines, Garuda Indonesia. After the Indonesian National Revolution ended and followed by the Dutch acknowledgement of the Indonesian independence in 1949, there was a need to create a national emblem of United States of Indonesia. On 10 January 1950 the Committee of State Seal was formed, under co-ordination of Sultan Hamid II of Pontianak as the State Minister of No Portfolio, with Muhammad Yamin as the chairman, and Ki Hajar Dewantara, M. A. Melkias Agustinus Pellaupessy, Mohammad Natsir, and Raden Mas Ngabehi Poerbatjaraka as committee members. The committee task is to select the proposals of United States of Indonesia national emblem to be presented to the government.
1988 in film. The following is an overview of events in 1988 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths. The top 10 films released in 1988 by worldwide gross are as follows:[1] A World Apart Palme dOr (Cannes Film Festival)
1982 in film. The following is an overview of events in 1982 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths. The top ten 1982 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: The highest-grossing 1982 films in countries outside of North America. The following table lists known worldwide gross revenue figures for several high-grossing films that originally released in 1982. Note that this list is incomplete and is therefore not representative of the highest-grossing films worldwide in 1982.
Indonesian language. Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) is the official and national language of Indonesia.[7] It is a standardized variety of Malay,[8] an Austronesian language that has been used as a lingua franca in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries. With over 280 million inhabitants,[9] Indonesia ranks as the fourth-most populous nation globally. According to the 2020 census, over 97% of Indonesians are fluent in Indonesian,[10] making it the largest language by number of speakers in Southeast Asia and one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.[11]: 14 Indonesian vocabulary has been influenced by various native regional languages such as Javanese, Sundanese, Minangkabau, Balinese, Banjarese, and Buginese, as well as by foreign languages such as Arabic, Dutch, Hokkien, Portuguese, Sanskrit, and English. Many borrowed words have been adapted to fit the phonetic and grammatical rules of Indonesian, enriching the language and reflecting Indonesias diverse linguistic heritage. Most Indonesians, aside from speaking the national language, are fluent in at least one of the more than 700 indigenous local languages; examples include Javanese and Sundanese, which are commonly used at home and within the local community.[12][13] However, most formal education and nearly all national mass media, governance, administration, and judiciary and other forms of communication are conducted in Indonesian.[14] Under Indonesian rule from 1976 to 1999, Indonesian was designated as the official language of East Timor. It has the status of a working language under the countrys constitution along with English.[6][15]: 3 [16] In November 2023, the Indonesian language was recognized as one of the official languages of the UNESCO General Conference. The term Indonesian is primarily associated with the national standard dialect (bahasa baku).[17] However, in a looser sense, it also encompasses the various local varieties spoken throughout the Indonesian archipelago.[8][18] Standard Indonesian is confined mostly to formal situations, existing in a diglossic relationship with vernacular Malay varieties, which are commonly used for daily communication, coexisting with the aforementioned regional languages and with Malay creoles;[17][12] standard Indonesian is spoken in informal speech as a lingua franca between vernacular Malay dialects, Malay creoles, and regional languages.
Kingdom of France. The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from the High Middle Ages to 1848 during its dissolution. It was also an early colonial power, with colonies in Asia and Africa, and the largest being New France in North America geographically centred on the Great Lakes. The Kingdom of France was descended directly from the western Frankish realm of the Carolingian Empire, which was ceded to Charles the Bald with the Treaty of Verdun (843). A branch of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, when Hugh Capet was elected king and founded the Capetian dynasty. The territory remained known as Francia and its ruler as rex Francorum (king of the Franks) well into the High Middle Ages. The first king calling himself rex Francie (King of France) was Philip II, in 1190, and officially from 1204. From then, France was continuously ruled by the Capetians and their cadet lines under the Valois and Bourbon until the monarchy was abolished in 1792 during the French Revolution. The Kingdom of France was also ruled in personal union with the Kingdom of Navarre over two time periods, 1284–1328 and 1572–1620, after which the institutions of Navarre were abolished and it was fully annexed by France (though the King of France continued to use the title King of Navarre through the end of the monarchy). France in the Middle Ages was a decentralised, feudal monarchy. In Brittany, Normandy, Lorraine, Provence, East Burgundy and Catalonia (the latter now a part of Spain), as well as Aquitaine, the authority of the French king was barely felt. West Frankish kings were initially elected by the secular and ecclesiastical magnates, but the regular coronation of the eldest son of the reigning king during his fathers lifetime established the principle of male primogeniture, which became codified in the Salic law. During the Late Middle Ages, rivalry between the Capetian dynasty, rulers of the Kingdom of France and their vassals the House of Plantagenet, who also ruled the Kingdom of England as part of their so-called competing Angevin Empire, resulted in many armed struggles. The most notorious of them all are the series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years War (1337–1453) in which the kings of England laid claim to the French throne. Emerging victorious from said conflicts, France subsequently sought to extend its influence into Italy, but after initial gains was defeated by Spain and the Holy Roman Empire in the ensuing Italian Wars (1494–1559). France in the early modern era was increasingly centralised; the French language began to displace other languages from official use, and the monarch expanded his absolute power in an administrative system, known as the Ancien Régime, complicated by historic and regional irregularities in taxation, legal, judicial, and ecclesiastic divisions, and local prerogatives. Religiously, France became divided between the Catholic majority and a Protestant minority, the Huguenots, which led to a series of civil wars, the Wars of Religion (1562–1598). Subsequently, France developed its first colonial empire in Asia, Africa, and in the Americas. In the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over 10 million square kilometres (3.9 million square miles), the second-largest empire in the world at the time behind the Spanish Empire. Colonial conflicts with Great Britain led to the loss of much of its North American holdings by 1763. French intervention in the American Revolutionary War helped the United States secure independence from King George III and the Kingdom of Great Britain, but was costly and achieved little for France.
Supernatural (film). Supernatural is a 1933 American pre-Code supernatural horror film directed by Victor Halperin, and starring Carole Lombard and Alan Dinehart. The film follows a woman who attends a staged séance only to find herself possessed by the spirit of an executed murderess. The film was the followup to Halperins White Zombie and uses many members of the crew from that film in its production. Trouble grew on the set between Carole Lombard and the director as Lombard felt she was more suited for comedy films. Tensions on the set were compounded by the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, which temporarily stopped production. The film was not as financially successful as White Zombie on its initial release. In New York City, Ruth Rogen is on death row for murdering three of her former lovers. Her fourth lover, a charlatan psychic named Paul Bavian, betrayed her to the police. Dr. Carl Houston believes the evil spirit of an executed murderer goes abroad to commit more crimes after death, and he gets permission to experiment on Rogens body after she is executed via the electric chair. Meanwhile, heiress Roma Courtney is contacted by Bavian, who claims her recently deceased twin brother, John, wants to send her a message. When Bavians landlady threatens to expose him, he murders her with a ring that has a poisoned needle. Roma and her fiancé, Grant Wilson, attend a séance performed by Bavian. Bavian tricks Roma into believing her brother was murdered by Hammond, manager of the Courtney estate. Roma and Grant leave the séance, and visit Dr. Houston. He is busy in his laboratory trying to reanimate Rogens body by pumping the corpse full of electricity. When Rogens eyes open, the shocked couple are asked to leave the lab as Dr. Houston explains what he is attempting to do. Suddenly, a wind bursts through the room and the spirit of Rogen tries to enter Romas body, leaving fingerprints on Romas neck. In an attempt to prove Bavian a fraud, Grant schedules a second séance at Romas home. Once more, Bavian uses tricks to convince Roma that Hammond is a murderer. Hammond scuffles with Bavian, and Bavian uses his ring to kill Hammond. At that moment, Rogens spirit enters Romas body. The possessed Roma agrees to leave with Bavian. They go to her former apartment. Bavian doesnt realize Roma is possessed and Bavian declares his disdain for Rogen and his desire for Roma. When the landlord tells them to leave, Bavian suggests they adjourn to Romas yacht. They passionately embrace. Meanwhile, Grant aided by Johns ghost, realizes Roma is possessed and rushes to the yacht. At the yacht during afterglow, Bavian and Roma exchange chatter and Bavian gets spooked by Romas mannerisms that seem similar to Rogens. Grant arrives just in time to prevent Rogen/Roma from strangling Bavian and Bavian from killing Roma. Exposed, Bavian runs and as he tries to leave, Rogens spirit follows and wraps a rope around his neck, hanging him. Rogens spirit departs. Johns spirit subtly urges the two to marry.
Montauban. Montauban (US: /ˌmɒntoʊˈbɒn, ˌmoʊntoʊˈbɒ̃/,[3] French: [mɔ̃tobɑ̃] ⓘ; Occitan: Montalban [muntalˈβa]) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies 50 kilometres (31 mi) north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Occitanie behind Toulouse, Montpellier, Nîmes, Perpignan and Béziers. In 2019, there were 61,372 inhabitants, called Montalbanais. The town has been classified in the French Towns and Lands of Art and History network since 2015. The town, built mainly of a reddish brick, stands on the right bank of the Tarn at its confluence with the Tescou. Montauban is the second oldest (after Mont-de-Marsan) of the bastides of southern France. Its foundation dates from 1144 when Count Alphonse Jourdain of Toulouse, granted it a liberal charter. The inhabitants were drawn chiefly from Montauriol, a village which had grown up around the neighbouring monastery of St Théodard. In the 13th century the town suffered much from the ravages of the Albigensian war and from the Inquisition, but by 1317 it had recovered sufficiently to be chosen by John XXII as the head of a diocese of which the basilica of St Théodard became the cathedral.
Virtual Pro Wrestling. Virtual Pro Wrestling (Japanese: バーチャル・プロレスリング) is a professional wrestling video game series developed by AKI Corporation and published by Asmik Ace exclusively in Japan. The series started in 1996 with the release of the first Virtual Pro Wrestling for the PlayStation,[1] which was localized in the West as WCW vs. the World. Two other games in the series were released exclusively for the Nintendo 64, Virtual Pro Wrestling 64[2] and Virtual Pro Wrestling 2.[3] All games in the series feature characters largely based on real-life wrestlers working for Japanese professional wrestling promotions. The series has been highly regarded for its gameplay engine, featuring weak/strong attacks and maneuvers and the Nintendo 64 games have been popular import titles.[3][4] The games served as the basis for several games published by THQ and based on the American wrestling promotions World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The first game in the series was released outside Japan as WCW vs. the World.[1] The last two games in the series had Western counterparts in WCW vs. nWo: World Tour[2] and WWF WrestleMania 2000.[3] Although AKI stopped producing Virtual Pro Wrestling titles, they continued to use tweaked versions of the gameplay system in newer titles such as Def Jam Vendetta,[5] Def Jam: Fight for NY[4] and games based on the Ultimate Muscle franchise such as Ultimate Muscle: Legends vs. New Generation.[6]
Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic[a] is a country in the Caribbean located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and a land border with Haiti to the west, occupying the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola which, along with Saint Martin, is one of only two islands in the Caribbean shared by two sovereign states.[15][16] In the Antilles, the country is the second-largest nation by area after Cuba at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi) and second-largest by population after Haiti with approximately 11.4 million people in 2024, of whom 3.6 million reside in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city.[4] The native Taíno people had inhabited Hispaniola prior to European contact, dividing it into five chiefdoms. Christopher Columbus claimed the island for Castile, landing there on his first voyage in 1492. The colony of Santo Domingo became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which became the independent First Empire of Haiti in 1804. A group of Dominicans deposed the Spanish governor and declared independence from Spain in November 1821, but were annexed by Haiti in February 1822. Independence came 22 years later in 1844, after victory in the Dominican War of Independence. The next 72 years saw several civil wars, failed invasions by Haiti, and a brief return to Spanish colonial status, before permanently ousting the Spanish during the Dominican Restoration War of 1863–1865. From 1930, the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo ruled until his assassination in 1961. Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. The Dominican Civil War of 1965 preceded the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer (1966–1978 and 1986–1996). Since 1978, the Dominican Republic has moved towards representative democracy. The Dominican Republic has the largest economy in the Caribbean and the seventh-largest in Latin America.[17][18] Over the last 25 years, the Dominican Republic has had the fastest-growing economy in the Western Hemisphere – with an average real GDP growth rate of 5.3% between 1992 and 2018.[19] GDP growth in 2014 and 2015 reached 7.3 and 7.0%, respectively, the highest in the Western Hemisphere.[19] Recent growth has been driven by construction, manufacturing, tourism, and mining. The country is the site of the third largest (in terms of production) gold mine in the world, the Pueblo Viejo mine.[20][21] The gold production of the country was 31 metric tonnes in 2015.[22] The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean.[23] A geographically diverse nation, the Dominican Republic is home to both the Caribbeans tallest mountain peak, Pico Duarte, and the Caribbeans largest lake and lowest point, Lake Enriquillo.[24] The island has an average temperature of 26 °C (78.8 °F) and great climatic and biological diversity.[25] The country is also the site of the first cathedral, palace, monastery, and fortress built in the Americas, located in Santo Domingos Colonial Zone, a World Heritage Site.[26][27]
Second French Empire. The Second French Empire,[a] officially the French Empire,[b] was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed himself Emperor of the French as Napoleon III. The period was one of significant achievements in infrastructure and economy, while France reasserted itself as the dominant power in mainland Europe. Historians in the 1930s and 1940s disparaged the Second Empire as a precursor of fascism,[5] but by the late 20th century it was re-evaluated as an example of a modernizing regime.[6][7] Historians have generally given the Second Empire negative evaluations on its foreign policy, and somewhat more positive assessments of domestic policies, especially after Napoleon III liberalised his rule after 1858. He promoted French business and exports. The greatest achievements included a railway network that facilitated commerce and tied the nation together with Paris as its hub. This stimulated economic growth and brought prosperity to most regions of the country. The Second Empire is credited with renovating Paris with broad boulevards, striking public buildings, and elegant residential districts for wealthier Parisians. Internationally, Napoleon III tried to emulate his uncle Napoleon Bonaparte, engaging in numerous imperial ventures around the world as well as several wars in Europe. He began his reign with French victories in Crimea and in Italy, gaining Savoy and Nice, and very briefly, Venetia (before in turn ceding to Italy). Using very harsh methods, he built up the French Empire in North Africa, in East Africa and in French Indochina. Napoleon III also launched an intervention in Mexico seeking to erect the Second Mexican Empire and bring it into the French orbit, but this ended in a fiasco. He mishandled the Prussian threat, and by the end of his reign, the French emperor found himself without allies in the face of overwhelming German forces.[8] The Second Empire came to an end during the Franco-Prussian War, following Napoleon IIIs capture at the Battle of Sedan and the proclamation of the Third French Republic on 4 September 1870. On 2 December 1851, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, who had been elected President of the Republic in 1848, staged a coup détat by dissolving the National Assembly without having the constitutional right to do so. He thus became sole ruler of France, and re-established universal suffrage, previously abolished by the Assembly. His decisions were popularly endorsed by a referendum later that month that attracted 92 percent support.[9]
Languedoc. The Province of Languedoc (/ˌlɒ̃ɡ(ə)ˈdɒk/, French: [lɑ̃ɡ(ə)dɔk], locally [lãᵑɡəˈdɔk]; Occitan: Lengadòc [ˌleŋɡɔˈðɔ(k)]) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately 42,700 square kilometers (16,500 square miles). The Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis fell to the Visigothic Kingdom from the 5th to the 8th centuries. Occupied briefly by the Emirate of Córdoba between 719 and 759, it was conquered and incorporated into the Kingdom of the Franks by Pepin the Short in 759 following the Siege of Narbonne. The term Languedoc originated to describe a cultural region that was not necessarily politically unified. After the decline of the Carolingian Empire political rule fragmented into small territorial divisions.[1] King John of England lost his holdings in northern Languedoc to Philip II of France. He visited the region in 1214 seeking the restoration of those lands.[2]
Takaoka District, Kōchi. Takaoka (高岡郡, Takaoka-gun) is a district located in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. As of the Shimanto merger but with 2003 population statistics, the district has an estimated population of 68,854 and a density of 45.1 persons per km2. The total area is 1,527.65 square kilometres (589.83 sq mi). As with the majority of Kochi, the terrain in Takaoka is mostly mountainous. The Shimanto River, that disperses further west in the Hata district, has its source in Tsuno. Like most rural areas in Kochi, transport is limited for residents and visitors without private vehicles. The JR Dosan line that runs from Kochi passes through Hidaka, Sakawa and Kure (Nakatosa) on the way to Kubokawa (Shimanto Town). The other. Local buses do operate within areas of Takaoka, such as a regular but infrequent set of routes servicing Sakawa, Ochi and Niyodogawa.
Sakawa, Kōchi. Sakawa (佐川町, Sakawa-chō) is a town located in Takaoka District, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 August 2022[update], the town had an estimated population of 12,306 in 6036 households and a population density of 120 persons per km2.[1] The total area of the town is 100.8 square kilometres (38.9 sq mi). Sakawa is located in a basin along the Yanase River, a tributary of the Niyodo River, in the midwestern part of Kochi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. The landscape is hilly and the roads and footpaths are winding and narrow. The town is 28 km west of Kōchi City. The tallest mountain in Sakawa is Mt. Kokuzo, with an elevation of 675 meters. Many rivers also run through the town, which are tributaries of the Niyodo River. Kōchi Prefecture Sakawa has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light snowfall. The average annual temperature in Sakawa is 15.3 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2688 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.0 °C.[2] Sakawa experiences extreme seasons. Spring and Fall are mild and cool. Summer is very warm and temperatures routinely reach 35 °C with 100% humidity. The coldest months are January and February with temperatures around 10 °C during the day. There are usually one or two light snowfalls in January. The rainy season is from June to August and typhoons are common during this time. Per Japanese census data,[3] the population of Sakawa has been decreasing slowly since the 1980s.
Naoki Prize. The Naoki Prize, officially Naoki Sanjugo Prize (直木三十五賞, Naoki Sanjūgo Shō), is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. It was created in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan, then editor of the Bungeishunjū magazine, and named in memory of novelist Naoki Sanjugo.[1] Sponsored by the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature, the award recognizes the best work of popular literature in any format by a new, rising, or (reasonably young) established author.[2] The winner receives a watch and one million yen.[3] Kikuchi founded the Naoki Prize with the Akutagawa Prize, which targets a new or rising author of literary fiction. The two prizes are viewed as two sides of the same coin and inseparable from one another. Because of the prestige associated with the Naoki Prize and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it, along with the Akutagawa Prize, is one of Japans most sought after literary awards of recognition.[3][4] Bungeishunjū maintains the official archive of past Naoki Prize winners.[5] (As of 2024)[39]
Supernatural. Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the laws of the nature.[1] The term is derived from Medieval Latin supernaturalis, from Latin super- above, beyond, outside of + natura nature.[1] Although the corollary term nature has had multiple meanings since the ancient world, the term supernatural emerged in the Middle Ages[2] and did not exist in the ancient world.[3] The supernatural is featured in religious and folkloric contexts,[4] but can also feature as an explanation in more secular contexts, as in the cases of superstitions or belief in the paranormal.[5] The term is attributed to non-physical entities, such as spirits, angels, demons, and gods. It also includes claimed abilities embodied in or provided by such beings, including magic, telekinesis, levitation, precognition and extrasensory perception. The supernatural is hypernymic to religion. Religions are standardized supernaturalist worldviews, or at least more complete than single supernaturalist views. Supernaturalism is the adherence to the supernatural (beliefs, and not violations of causality and the physical laws). Occurring as both an adjective and a noun, antecedents of the modern English compound supernatural enter the language from two sources: via Middle French (supernaturel) and directly from the Middle Frenchs terms ancestor, post-Classical Latin (supernaturalis). Post-classical Latin supernaturalis first occurs in the 6th century, composed of the Latin prefix super- and nātūrālis (see nature). The earliest known appearance of the word in the English language occurs in a Middle English translation of Catherine of Sienas Dialogue (orcherd of Syon, around 1425; Þei haue not þanne þe supernaturel lyȝt ne þe liȝt of kunnynge, bycause þei vndirstoden it not).[6] The semantic value of the term has shifted over the history of its use. Originally the term referred exclusively to Christian understandings of the world. For example, as an adjective, the term can mean belonging to a realm or system that transcends nature, as that of divine, magical, or ghostly beings; attributed to or thought to reveal some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature; occult, paranormal or more than what is natural or ordinary; unnaturally or extraordinarily great; abnormal, extraordinary. Obsolete uses include of, relating to, or dealing with metaphysics. As a noun, the term can mean a supernatural being, with a particularly strong history of employment in relation to entities from the mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.[6]
Nara Womens University. Nara Womens University (奈良女子大学, Nara joshi daigaku) is a national womens university located in Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It is one of two national womens universities in the country, the other being Ochanomizu University.[1] Nara Womens University was originally created in 1908 with the aim of training women teachers for ordinary schools, later to be reorganized and renamed with its current name in 1949. Until 1949 there were only two womens imperial quasi-universities in Japan, the Ochanomizu University and Nara Womens University. Nara Womens University was formerly called Nara joshi kōtō shihan gakkō (奈良女子高等師範学校; Nara advanced teachers college for women). As of 2013, the university has three faculties: As of 2013, the university has two graduate programs:
Yokohama. Yokohama (Japanese: 横浜; pronounced [jokohama] ⓘ) is the second-largest city in Japan by population[1] as well as by area, and the countrys most populous municipality.[a] It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a population of 3.7 million in 2023. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu. Yokohama is also the major economic, cultural, and commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area along the Keihin Industrial Zone. Yokohama was one of the cities to open for trade with the West following the 1859 end of the policy of seclusion and has since been known as a cosmopolitan port city, after Kobe opened in 1853. Yokohama is the home of many Japans firsts in the Meiji era, including the first foreign trading port and Chinatown (1859), European-style sport venues (1860s), English-language newspaper (1861), confectionery and beer manufacturing (1865), daily newspaper (1870), gas-powered street lamps (1870s), railway station (1872), and power plant (1882). Yokohama developed rapidly as Japans prominent port city following the end of Japans relative isolation in the mid-19th century and is today one of its major ports along with Kobe, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Tokyo and Chiba. Yokohama is the largest port city and high tech industrial hub in the Greater Tokyo Area and the Kantō region. The city proper is headquarters to companies such as Isuzu, Nissan, JVCKenwood, Keikyu, Koei Tecmo, Sotetsu and Bank of Yokohama. Famous landmarks in Yokohama include Minato Mirai 21, Nippon Maru Memorial Park, Yokohama Chinatown, Motomachi Shopping Street, Yokohama Marine Tower, Yamashita Park, and Ōsanbashi Pier. Yokohama (横浜) means horizontal beach.[2] The current area surrounded by Maita Park, the Ōoka River and the Nakamura River have been a gulf divided by a sandbar from the open sea. This sandbar was the original Yokohama fishing village. Since the sandbar protruded perpendicularly from the land, or horizontally when viewed from the sea, it was called a horizontal beach.[3]
Kōchi Prefecture. Kōchi Prefecture (高知県, Kōchi-ken; Japanese pronunciation: [koꜜː.tɕi, koː.tɕi̥ꜜ.keɴ], locally [koː.tɕi][2]) is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku.[3] Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 669,516 (1 April 2023) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and Tokushima Prefecture to the northeast. Kōchi is the capital and largest city of Kōchi Prefecture, with other major cities including Nankoku, Shimanto, and Kōnan.[4] Kōchi Prefecture is located on Japans Pacific coast surrounding a large bay in the south of Shikoku, with the southernmost point of the island located at Cape Ashizuri in Tosashimizu. Kōchi Prefecture is home to Kōchi Castle, considered the most intact Japanese castle, and the Shimanto River, one of the few undammed rivers in Japan. In the Kujiki, first recorded governments in Kōchi Prefecture were Hata (in the west) and Tosa (in the center). Hata was established first, so it is thought that it had more influence and contact with the Yamato court. Written records from this time period are sparse, however it is believed that the first governors of Hata and Tosa were from the Kamo clan based in modern Osaka. In the Nihon Shoki, the first report from an official in the Kōchi region described the damages caused by the 684 Hakuhō earthquake. From this report, it can be inferred that by 684 at the latest, the Tosa Province (a predecessor to modern-day Kōchi Prefecture) had been established. The first report from a named official was written by Hiketa no Mushiro in 743. Up until the Genpei War, 106 governors were appointed to govern the Tosa Province. Eventually, like many other provinces Tosa also was appointed absentee governors, given additional rights, and began amassing wealth. Due to being located far from the capital, many prisoners were exiled to the Tosa Province.
Romanticism (disambiguation). Romanticism was a cultural movement. Romanticism may also refer to:
The Snake Charmer. The Snake Charmer is an oil-on-canvas painting by French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme produced around 1879.[1] After it was used on the cover of Edward Saids book Orientalism in 1978, the work attained a level of notoriety matched by few Orientalist paintings,[2] as it became a lightning-rod for criticism of Orientalism in general and Orientalist painting in particular, although Said himself does not mention the painting in his book. It is in the collection of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, which also owns another controversial Gérôme painting, The Slave Market. The painting depicts a naked boy standing on a small carpet in the center of a room with blue-tiled walls, facing away from the viewer, holding a python which coils around his waist and over his shoulder, while an older man sits to his right playing a fipple flute. The performance is watched by a motley group of armed men from a variety of Islamic tribes, with different clothes and weapons. Sarah Lees catalogue essay for the painting examines the setting as a conflation of Ottoman Turkey and Egypt, and also explains the young snake charmers nudity, not as an erotic display, but to obviate charges of fraud in his performance: The Snake Charmer…brings together widely disparate, even incompatible, elements to create a scene that, as is the case with much of his oeuvre, the artist could not possibly have witnessed. Snake charming was not part of Ottoman culture, but it was practiced in ancient Egypt and continued to appear in that country during the nineteenth century. Maxime du Camp, for example, described witnessing a snake charmer in Cairo during his 1849–51 trip with Gustave Flaubert in terms that are comparable to Gérôme’s depiction, including mention of the young male disrobing in order to obviate charges of fraud. The artist has placed this performance, however, in a hybrid, fictional space that derives from identifiably Turkish, as well as Egyptian, sources.[3] The blue tiles are inspired by İznik panels in the Altınyol (Golden Passage) and Baghdad Kiosk of Topkapı Palace in Ottoman-era Constantinople. Some parts of the inscriptions on the walls cannot easily be read, but the large frieze at the top of the painting, running from right to left, is perfectly legible. It is the famous Koranic verse 256 from Surah II, al-Baqara, The Cow, written in thuluth script, and reads
Film industry. The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post-production, film festivals, distribution, and actors. Though the expense involved in making film almost immediately led film production to concentrate under the auspices of standing production companies, advances in affordable filmmaking equipment, as well as an expansion of opportunities to acquire investment capital from outside the film industry itself, have allowed independent film production to evolve. In 2019, the global box office was worth $42.2 billion.[1] When including box office and home entertainment revenue, the global film industry was worth $136 billion in 2018.[2] Hollywood is the worlds oldest national film industry, and largest in terms of box-office gross revenue. The worldwide theatrical market had a box office of US$42.2 billion in 2019. The top three continents/regions by box-office gross were Asia-Pacific with US$17.8 billion, the U.S. and Canada with US$11.4 billion, and Europe, the Middle East and North Africa with US$10.3 billion. As of 2019[update], the largest markets by box office were, in decreasing order, the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, France, and India.[1] As of 2019[update], the countries with the largest number of film productions were India, and the United States.[3] Artificial intelligence (AI) is potentially increasingly playing a role as technology advances. In Europe, significant centres of movie production are France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom.[4] The cinema of China is one of three distinct historical threads of Chinese-language cinema together with the cinema of Hong Kong and the cinema of Taiwan. Cinema was introduced in China in 1896 and the first Chinese film, Dingjun Mountain, was made in 1905, with the film industry being centered on Shanghai in the first decades. China is the home of one of the largest film studios in the world, the Hengdian World Studios, and in 2010 it had the third largest film industry by number of feature films produced annually. For the next decade, the production companies were mainly foreign-owned, and the domestic film industry was centered on Shanghai, a thriving entrepot and the largest city in the Far East. In 1913, the first independent Chinese screenplay, The Difficult Couple, was filmed in Shanghai by Zheng Zhengqiu and Zhang Shichuan.[5] As the Sixth Generation[clarification needed] gained international exposure, many subsequent films were joint ventures and projects with international backers but remained quite resolutely low-key and low-budget [citation needed]. Jias Platform (2000) was funded in part by Takeshi Kitanos production house,[6] while his Still Life was shot on HD video. Still Life was a surprise addition and Golden Lion winner of the 2006 Venice International Film Festival. Still Life, which concerns provincial workers around the Three Gorges region, sharply contrasts with the works of Fifth Generation Chinese directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige who were at the time producing House of Flying Daggers (2004) and The Promise (2005). It featured no star of international renown and was acted mostly by non-professionals. In 2012 the country became the second-largest market in the world by box office receipts. In 2014, the gross box office in China was ¥29.6 billion (US$4.82 billion), with domestic films having a share of 55%.[7] China has also become a major hub of business for Hollywood studios.[8][9]
Ghost. In folklore, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes to realistic, lifelike forms. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance. Other terms associated with it are apparition, haunt, haint, phantom, poltergeist, shade, specter, spirit, spook, wraith, demon, and ghoul. The belief in the existence of an afterlife, as well as manifestations of the spirits of the dead, is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary, human-like essences, though stories of ghostly armies and the ghosts of animals other than humans have also been recounted.[2][3] They are believed to haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life. According to a 2009 study by the Pew Research Center, 18% of Americans say they have seen a ghost.[4] The overwhelming consensus of science is that there is no proof that ghosts exist.[5] Their existence is impossible to falsify,[5] and ghost hunting has been classified as pseudoscience.[6][7][8] Despite centuries of investigation, there is no scientific evidence that any location is inhabited by the spirits of the dead.[6][9] Historically, certain toxic and psychoactive plants (such as datura and hyoscyamus niger), whose use has long been associated with necromancy and the underworld, have been shown to contain anticholinergic compounds that are pharmacologically linked to dementia (specifically DLB) as well as histological patterns of neurodegeneration.[10][11] Recent research has indicated that ghost sightings may be related to degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimers disease.[12] Common prescription medication and over-the-counter drugs (such as sleep aids) may also, in rare instances, cause ghost-like hallucinations, particularly zolpidem and diphenhydramine.[13] Older reports linked carbon monoxide poisoning to ghost-like hallucinations.[14] In folklore studies, ghosts fall within the motif index designation E200–E599 (Ghosts and other revenants).
Orientalism (book). Orientalism is a 1978 book by Edward Said, in which he establishes the term Orientalism as a critical concept to describe the Western worlds commonly contemptuous depiction and portrayal of the Eastern world—that is, the Orient. Societies and peoples of the Orient are those who inhabit regions throughout Asia and North Africa. Said argues that Orientalism, in the sense of the Western scholarship about the Eastern world, is inextricably tied to the imperialist societies that produced it, which makes much Orientalist work inherently political and servile to power.[1] According to Said, in the Middle East, the social, economic, and cultural practices of the ruling Arab elites indicate they are imperial satraps who have internalized a romanticized version of Arab culture created by French and British (and later, American) Orientalists. Examples used in the book include critical analyses of the colonial literature of Gustave Flaubert. Through the critical application of post-structuralism in its scholarship, Orientalism influenced the development of literary theory, cultural criticism, and the field of Middle Eastern studies, especially with regard to how academics practice their intellectual inquiries when examining, describing, and explaining the Middle East.[2] Moreover, the scope of Saids scholarship established Orientalism as a foundational text in the field of post-colonial studies by denoting and examining the connotations of Orientalism, and the history of a given countrys post-colonial period.[3] As a public intellectual, Said debated historians and scholars of area studies, notably historian Bernard Lewis, who described the thesis of Orientalism as anti-Western in nature.[4] For subsequent editions of Orientalism, Said wrote an Afterword (1995)[5]: 329–52 and a Preface (2003)[5]: xi–xxiii addressing discussions of the book as cultural criticism. The term Orientalism denotes the exaggeration of difference, the presumption of Western superiority, and the application of clichéd analytical models for perceiving the Oriental world. This intellectual tradition is the background for Saids presentation of Orientalism as a European viewpoint reflecting a contrived Manichean duality.
Deity. A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life.[1][2] The Oxford Dictionary of English defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine.[3] C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as a being with powers greater than those of ordinary humans, but who interacts with humans, positively or negatively, in ways that carry humans to new levels of consciousness, beyond the grounded preoccupations of ordinary life.[4] Religions can be categorized by how many deities they worship. Monotheistic religions accept only one deity (predominantly referred to as God),[5][6] whereas polytheistic religions accept multiple deities.[7] Henotheistic religions accept one supreme deity without denying other deities, considering them as aspects of the same divine principle.[8][9] Nontheistic religions deny any supreme eternal creator deity, but may accept a pantheon of deities which live, die and may be reborn like any other being.[10]: 35–37 [11]: 357–358 Although most monotheistic religions traditionally envision their god as omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, and eternal,[12][13] none of these qualities are essential to the definition of a deity[14][15][16] and various cultures have conceptualized their deities differently.[14][15] Monotheistic religions typically refer to their god in masculine terms,[17][18]: 96 while other religions refer to their deities in a variety of ways—male, female, hermaphroditic, or genderless.[19][20][21] Many cultures—including the ancient Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Germanic peoples—have personified natural phenomena, variously as either deliberate causes or effects.[22][23][24] Some Avestan and Vedic deities were viewed as ethical concepts.[22][23] In Indian religions, deities have been envisioned as manifesting within the temple of every living beings body, as sensory organs and mind.[25][26][27] Deities are envisioned as a form of existence (Saṃsāra) after rebirth, for human beings who gain merit through an ethical life, where they become guardian deities and live blissfully in heaven, but are also subject to death when their merit is lost.[10]: 35–38 [11]: 356–359
Jean-Léon Gérôme. Jean-Léon Gérôme (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ leɔ̃ ʒeʁom]; 11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was arguably the worlds most famous living artist by 1880.[1] The range of his works includes historical paintings, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits, and other subjects. He is considered among the most important painters from the academic period and was, with Meissonier and Cabanel, one of the three most successful artists of the Second Empire.[2] He was also a teacher with a long list of students, including Mary Cassatt, Thomas Eakins, and Osman Hamdi Bey, among others. Jean-Léon Gérôme was born at Vesoul, Haute-Saône. It was here that Gérôme first received instruction in drawing during his youth in school. He was instructed by local artist and teacher Claude-Basile Cariage, under whom he produced work of sufficient quality to merit more auspicious tutelage.[3] In 1840 he was sent to Paris at the age of 16 where he studied under Paul Delaroche, whom he later accompanied to Italy in 1843. He visited Florence, Rome, the Vatican and Pompeii. On his return to Paris in 1844, like many students of Delaroche, he joined the atelier of Charles Gleyre and studied there for a brief time. He then attended the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1846 he tried to enter the prestigious Prix de Rome, but failed in the final stage because his figure drawing was inadequate.[4] His painting The Cock Fight (1846) is an academic exercise depicting a nude young man and a very thinly draped young woman with two fighting cocks, with the Bay of Naples in the background. He sent this painting to the Paris Salon of 1847, where it gained him a third-class medal. This work was seen as the epitome of the Neo-Grec movement that had formed out of Gleyres studio (including Henri-Pierre Picou and Jean-Louis Hamon), and was championed by the influential French critic Théophile Gautier, whose review made Gérôme famous and effectively launched his career.[5]
Clark Art Institute. The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, commonly referred to as the Clark, is an art museum and research institution located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. Its collection consists of European and American paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, photographs, and decorative arts from the fourteenth to the early twentieth century. The Clark, along with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) and the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA), forms a trio of art museums in the Berkshires. The institute also serves as a center for research and higher learning. It is home to various research and academic programs, which include the Fellowship Program and the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art, as well as one of the most distinguished research libraries in the country, with more than 295,000 volumes in over 72 languages.[1] The Clark is visited by 200,000 people a year, and offers many educational programs for visitors of all ages throughout the year.[2] The Clark was created in 1955 in association with Williams College by entrepreneur, soldier and prominent art collector Robert Sterling Clark, and his wife, Francine. After traveling in the Far East, Sterling settled in Paris in 1911 and used a considerable fortune inherited from his grandfather (a principal in the Singer Sewing Machine Company) to begin amassing a private art collection. Francine joined him in collecting works of art after their marriage in 1919. The Clarks kept their collection largely private, rarely lending out any works. With the onset of the Cold War and rapid nuclear armament, they became increasingly worried about the safety of their artworks. They wanted to protect their collection from a possible attack on New York City, where they lived and where the expected heir of their collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was located. As such, the Clarks began looking at sites in rural New York and Massachusetts with the intention of founding a museum for their art. They visited Williamstown, Massachusetts in 1949 and began having conversations with town leaders and the administrators of Williams College and the Williams College Museum of Art. Sterling had ties to the college through his grandfather and father, both of whom had been trustees. A charter for the Robert Sterling Clark Art Institute was signed on March 14, 1950, incorporating the organization with the intention of becoming both a museum and educational institution. A special meeting was held by Sterling soon after the first cornerstone was laid in 1953 that changed the name to the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, as it is today. Sterling wrote that Francines inclusion was because of her constant enthusiasm for the Institutes objectives, her participation in the accumulation of the collections which the Institute will house and her contributions to the planning of the project.[3]
Fukuoka Stock Exchange. Fukuoka Stock Exchange (FSE) is a stock exchange located in Fukuoka, Japan. It operates Q-Board, a special market for new companies.[2] In August 2000, the exchange closed its trading floor and adopted the electronic trading system of Tokyo Stock Exchange.[3] In January 2002, FSE reached an agreement with the four other Japanese stock exchanges and Japan Securities Dealers Association, JSDA to establish Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC).[4] This article about stock exchanges is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. This article about a Japanese corporation- or company-related topic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog. Wanderer above the Sea of Fog[a] is a painting by German Romanticist artist Caspar David Friedrich made in 1818.[2] It depicts a man standing upon a rocky precipice with his back to the viewer; he is gazing out on a landscape covered in a thick sea of fog through which other ridges, trees, and mountains pierce, which stretches out into the distance indefinitely. It has been considered one of the masterpieces of the Romantic movement and one of its most representative works. The painting has been interpreted as an emblem of self-reflection or contemplation of lifes path, and the landscape is considered to evoke the sublime. Friedrich was a common user of Rückenfigur (German: Rear-facing figure) in his paintings; Wanderer above the Sea of Fog is perhaps the most famous Rückenfigur in art due to the subjects prominence. The painting has also been interpreted as an expression of Friedrichs German liberal and nationalist feeling. While Friedrich was respected in German and Russian circles, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog and Friedrichs work in general were not immediately regarded as masterpieces. Friedrichs reputation improved in the early 20th century, and in particular during the 1970s; Wanderer became particularly popular, appearing as an example of popular art as well as high culture on books and other works. The provenance of the artwork after its creation is unknown, but by 1939, it was on display in the gallery of Wilhelm August Luz in Berlin, and in 1970, it was acquired by the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Hamburg, Germany, where it has been displayed ever since. In the foreground, a man stands upon a rocky precipice with his back to the viewer. He is wrapped in a dark green overcoat, and grips a walking stick in his right hand.[3] His hair caught in a wind, the wanderer gazes out on a landscape covered in a thick sea of fog. In the middle ground, several other ridges, perhaps not unlike the ones the wanderer himself stands upon, jut out from the mass.[4] Through the wreaths of fog, forests of trees can be perceived atop these escarpments. In the far distance, faded mountains rise in the left, gently leveling off into lowland plains in the right. Beyond here, the pervading fog stretches out indefinitely, eventually commingling with the horizon and becoming indistinguishable from the cloud-filled sky.[3] The painting is composed of various elements from the Elbe Sandstone Mountains in Saxony and Bohemia, sketched in the field but in accordance with his usual practice, rearranged by Friedrich himself in the studio for the painting. In the background to the right is the Zirkelstein.[5] The mountain in the background to the left could be either the Rosenberg or the Kaltenberg. The group of rocks in front of it represent the Gamrig near Rathen. The rocks on which the traveller stands are a group on the Kaiserkrone.[6]
Caspar David Friedrich. Caspar David Friedrich (German: [ˌkaspaʁ ˌdaːvɪt ˈfʁiːdʁɪç] ⓘ; 5 September 1774 – 7 May 1840) was a German Romantic landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation, whose often symbolic, and anti-classical work, conveys a subjective, emotional response to the natural world. Friedrichs paintings often set contemplative human figures silhouetted against night skies, morning mists, barren trees or Gothic ruins. Art historian Christopher John Murray described their presence, in diminished perspective, amid expansive landscapes, as reducing the figures to a scale that directs the viewers gaze towards their metaphysical dimension.[1] Friedrich was born in the town of Greifswald on the Baltic Sea in what was at the time Swedish Pomerania. He studied in Copenhagen 1794–1798, before settling in Dresden. He came of age during a period when, across Europe, a growing disillusionment with materialistic society was giving rise to a new appreciation of spirituality. This shift was often expressed through a reevaluation of the natural world, as artists such as Friedrich, J. M. W. Turner and John Constable sought to depict nature as a divine creation, to be set against the artifice of human civilization.[2] Friedrichs work brought him renown early in his career. Contemporaries such as the French sculptor David dAngers spoke of him as having discovered the tragedy of landscape. His work nevertheless fell from favour during his later years, and he died in obscurity.[3] As Germany moved towards modernisation in the late 19th century, a new sense of urgency characterised its art, and Friedrichs contemplative depictions of stillness came to be seen as products of a bygone age. The early 20th century brought a renewed appreciation of his art, beginning in 1906 with an exhibition of thirty-two of his paintings in Berlin. His work influenced Expressionist artists and later Surrealists and Existentialists. The rise of Nazism in the early 1930s saw a resurgence in Friedrichs popularity, but this was followed by a sharp decline as his paintings were, by association with the Nazi movement, seen as promoting German nationalism.
The Death of Sardanapalus. The Death of Sardanapalus (La Mort de Sardanapale) is an 1827 oil painting on canvas by the French artist Eugène Delacroix, now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.[1] A smaller replica he made in 1844 is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.[2] It is a work of Romanticism based on the tale of Sardanapalus, a king of Assyria, from Greek historian Diodorus Siculuss library. It uses rich, vivid and warm colours and broad brushstrokes, was inspired by Lord Byrons play Sardanapalus (1821) and inspired a Hector Berlioz cantata, Sardanapale (1830), and an unfinished Franz Liszt opera, Sardanapalo (1845–1852). The main focus of Death of Sardanapalus is a large bed draped in rich red fabric. On it lies a man with a disinterested eye overseeing a scene of chaos. He is dressed in flowing white fabrics and sumptuous gold around his neck and head. A woman lies dead at his feet, prone across the lower half of the large bed. She is one of six in the scene, all in various shades of undress, and all in assorted throes of death by the hands of the half dozen men in the scene. Several people are being stabbed with knives and one man is dying from a self-inflicted wound from a sword, and a man in the left foreground is attempting to kill an intricately adorned horse. A young man by the kings right elbow is standing behind a side table which has an elaborate golden decanter and a cup. There are golden elephant heads at the base of the bed, as well as various valuable trinkets scattered amongst the carnage. In the background, several architectural elements are visible but difficult to discern. Delacroix used a painterly brushstroke in this painting, which allows for a strong sense of movement in the work. This scene is chaotic and violent, as showcased by the movement, weapons, and the colors used. The redness of the bed stands out against the somewhat obscured, dark background. The whiteness of Sardanapaluss robe, the creamy lines of the dying womens limbs, and the shimmers of gold objects throughout the scene pull the viewers eye quickly around the painting. There is asymmetry in the work, but the composition remains balanced. One woman reclined by an elephant head on the end of the bed is the only figure to engage with the viewer. Everyone else in the painting is focused on the task at hand: death.
Toho (disambiguation). Toho is a Japanese film production and distribution company. Toho or Tōhō may also refer to:
Oriental Orthodox Churches. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology,[1] with approximately 50 million members worldwide.[2][3] The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to the Nicene Christian tradition. Oriental Orthodoxy is one of the oldest branches in Christianity.[4] As some of the oldest religious institutions in the world, the Oriental Orthodox Churches have played a prominent role in the history and culture of countries and regions such as Armenia, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, the Levant, Iraq and the Malabar region of southern India. As autocephalous churches, their bishops are equal by virtue of episcopal ordination. Their doctrines recognize the validity of only the first three ecumenical councils.[5][1] The Oriental Orthodox communion is composed of six autocephalous national churches: the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria; the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch; the Armenian Apostolic Church comprising the autocephalous Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin in Armenia and the Catholicosate of Cilicia in the Levant and of diaspora; the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.[6][4] The Malabar Independent Syrian Church—based in India—and the British Orthodox Church in the UK are independent Oriental Orthodox churches, having formerly been part of one of the mainstream Oriental Orthodox churches.[7] Oriental Orthodox Christians consider themselves to be the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission, and its bishops as the successors of Christs apostles. Three primary rites are practiced by the churches: the western-influenced Armenian Rite, the West Syriac Rite of the Syriac Church (including its Malankara Rite) and the Alexandrian Rite of the Copts, Ethiopians and Eritreans.
Media conglomerate. A media conglomerate, media company, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as music, television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, video games, amusement parks, or the Internet. The weekly magazine The Nation commented, Media conglomerates strive for policies that facilitate their control of the markets around the world.[1] A conglomerate is a large company composed of a number of companies (subsidiaries) engaged in generally unrelated businesses. Some media conglomerates use their access in multiple areas to share various kinds of content such as: news, video and music, between users. The media sectors tendency to consolidate has caused formerly diversified companies to appear less diverse to prospective investors in comparison with similar companies that are traded publicly and privately. Therefore, the term media group may also be applied, however, it has not yet replaced the more traditional term.[2] Critics have accused the large media conglomerates of dominating the media and using unfair practices. During a protest in November 2007, critics such as Jesse Jackson spoke out against consolidation of the media.[3] This can be seen in the news industry, where corporations refuse to publicize information that would be harmful to their interests. Because some corporations do not publish any material that criticizes them or their interests, media conglomerates have been criticized for limiting free speech or not protecting free speech.[4] These practices are also suspected of contributing to the merging of entertainment and news (sensationalism[5]) at the expense of the coverage of serious issues. They are also accused of being a leading force behind the standardization of culture (see globalization,[4] Americanization) and are frequently criticized by groups that perceive news organizations as being biased toward special interests of the owners.[4]
Shuto Expressway. The Shuto Expressway (首都高速道路, Shuto Kōsoku-dōro; Metropolitan Expressway, lit. Capital Expressway) is a network of tolled expressways in the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is operated and maintained by the Metropolitan Expressway Company Limited (首都高速道路株式会社, Shuto Kōsoku-dōro Kabushiki-gaisha). Most routes are grade separated and have many sharp curves and multi-lane merges that require caution to drive safely. The speed limit is 60 km/h on most routes, 80 km/h on the Bayshore Route, and 50 km/h on the Inner Circular Route. As of 2014, the cash toll for a standard-size car is ¥1300 regardless of distance traveled. Vehicles using the ETC toll-collection system pay a distance-based toll ranging from ¥300 to ¥1300 for ordinary vehicles (see toll price) – in some cases substantially less than the previous fixed-rate toll. Lower cash rates exist for certain radial routes (where there are only a few kilometers of expressway remaining) and ETC users have various time-of-day discounts. For large vehicles, the toll is doubled. There are 24 routes currently in operation: The Metropolitan Expressway was first built between Kyobashi Exit in Chūō, Tokyo and Shibaura Exit in Minato, Tokyo in 1962 for the purpose of increasing traffic flow efficiency in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, thus optimizing and improving the functionality of the traffic system. Since then, 280 kilometers of highway network has been built in the Tokyo metropolitan area; 30 kilometers more of highway are either constructed or planned, making the Metropolitan Expressway a vast network of urban expressways in the Tokyo region.
Eugène Delacroix. Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix (/ˈdɛləkrwɑː, ˌdɛləˈkrwɑː/ DEL-ə-krwah, -⁠KRWAH;[1] French: [øʒɛn dəlakʁwa]; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist who was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school.[2] In contrast to the Neoclassical perfectionism of his chief rival Ingres, Delacroix took for his inspiration the art of Rubens and painters of the Venetian Renaissance, with an attendant emphasis on colour and movement rather than clarity of outline and carefully modelled form. Dramatic and romantic content characterized the central themes of his maturity, and led him not to the classical models of Greek and Roman art, but to travel in North Africa, in search of the exotic.[3] Friend and spiritual heir to Théodore Géricault, Delacroix was also inspired by Lord Byron, with whom he shared a strong identification with the forces of the sublime, of nature in often violent action.[4] However, Delacroix was given to neither sentimentality nor bombast, and his Romanticism was that of an individualist. In the words of Baudelaire, Delacroix was passionately in love with passion, but coldly determined to express passion as clearly as possible.[5] Together with Ingres, Delacroix is considered one of the last old Masters of painting and is one of the few who was ever photographed. As a painter and muralist, Delacroixs use of expressive brushstrokes and his study of the optical effects of colour profoundly shaped the work of the Impressionists, while his passion for the exotic inspired the artists of the Symbolist movement. A fine lithographer, Delacroix illustrated various works of William Shakespeare, the Scottish author Walter Scott, and the German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Polignac (card game). Polignac (a.k.a. Jeux des Valets) is a French 18th century trick-taking card game ancestral to Hearts and Black Maria.[1] It is played by 3-6 players with a 32-card deck. It is sometimes played as a party game with the 52-card pack; however, it is better as a serious game for four, playing all against all. Other names for this game include Quatre Valets and Stay Away.[2] Knaves is a variant and it is also similar to the Austrian and German games, Slobberhannes, Eichelobern and Grasobern.[3] Polignac is named after an ultra-royalist French politician, Count Jules de Polignac, who incensed the local population in 1830 and was imprisoned following the July Revolution. The game, however, is far older.[4] The aim of the game is to avoid capturing any Jacks in tricks, especially the J♠, called Polignac. Polignac is played with a Piquet pack of 32 cards. However, unless four play, remove the black Sevens. The rank of the cards are: K Q J A T 9 8 7 in each suit. The turn to deal and play passes always to the left. The cards should be divided evenly among the players, with the dealer dealing the cards in 2s and 3s.
Yurikamome. New Transit Yurikamome (新交通ゆりかもめ, Shinkōtsū Yurikamome), formerly the Tokyo Waterfront New Transit Waterfront Line (東京臨海新交通臨海線, Tōkyō Rinkai Shinkōtsū Rinkai-sen), is an automated guideway transit service operated by Yurikamome, Inc. in Tokyo, Japan. It connects Shimbashi to Toyosu, via the artificial island of Odaiba, a market in which it competes with the Rinkai Line. The line is named after the black-headed gull (yurikamome in Japanese),[3] a common denizen of Tokyo Bay and the official metropolitan bird.[4] The line was one of the two lines constructed to transport people into the Rinkai subcenter, the other line being the Rinkai Line. The Rinkai subcenter was planned to be the seventh subcenter of Tokyo as far as back in 1979. In April 1989, the subcenter was planned to have 60,000 residents and 110,000 workers by the start of the 21st century. This plan was forced to be revised upon the collapse of the asset price bubble. The opening of the Yurikamome and the Rinkai line in 1995 and 1996 was planned to be ready by the start of the World City Expo [ja] in 1996. However, the expo was cancelled by Yukio Aoshima in April 1995.[5] On 1 November 1995, the section between Shimbashi and Ariake opened, using a temporary Shimbashi station. In the first few months of operation, ridership hovered around 27,000 passengers per day.[6] In 1996, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government re-zoned Odaiba from pure business and residential to also permit entertainment zones. The island provided Tokyo with a strip of livable seaside, and within one year, ridership doubled to 60,000. As more and more restaurants, shopping malls, exhibition centers and museums opened, traffic continued to grow.[6] On 22 March 2001, the current Shimbashi station opened and the temporary station closed. Shiodome Station opened on 2 November 2002. [7] On 27 March 2006, the section between Ariake and Toyosu opened and stations adopted letter and number codes based on Tokyo Metro.[8]
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]
Daiba Route. The Daiba Route (台場線, Daiba-sen), signed as Route 11, is one of the tolled routes of the Shuto Expressway system serving the Greater Tokyo Area. Route 11 runs from Shibaura Junction (with the Haneda Route) in Minato-ku and runs for 3.9 km through the Rainbow Bridge. Route 11 ends at the Ariake Junction connecting with the Bayshore Route in Kōtō-ku. Originally, the route number was 12 in urban planning. It runs through Rainbow Bridge which is renowned for its scenery. The entirety of the Daiba Route was opened to traffic on 26 August 1993. Instead of being opened in phases, like many of the other routes in the Shuto Expressway network.[1]
Royal household. A royal household or imperial household is the residence and administrative headquarters in ancient and post-classical monarchies, and papal household for popes, and formed the basis for the general government of the country as well as providing for the needs of the sovereign and their relations. It is the core of the royal court, though a court includes many courtiers who are not directly employed by the monarch as part of the household. Traditionally there often have been large numbers of employees in the household, strictly differentiated by rank, from nobles with highly sought-after positions that gave close access to the monarch, to all the usual servants such as cooks, footmen, and maids. Traditionally the household typically includes military forces providing security. Specialists such as artists, clock-makers and poets might be given a place in the household, often by appointing them as valet de chambre or the local equivalent. Among many of these households there are certain great offices which have become, in course of time, merely hereditary. In most cases, as the name of the office would suggest, they were held by those who discharged personal functions about the sovereign. Gradually, in ways or for reasons which might vary in each individual case, the office alone survived, the duties either ceasing to be necessary or being transferred to officers of less exalted station.[1] In the modern period, royal households have evolved into entities which are variously differentiated from national governments. Most modern households have become merely titular. An example of a present-day royal household that employs hundreds of people, with many job descriptions, is the household of Charles III. In Japan, the Imperial Household Agency (宮内庁, Kunaichō) is the agency within the Government of Japan responsible for supporting the Emperor and the Imperial Family as well as keeping the Privy Seal and Great Seal of Japan.
Suspension bridge. A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders.[5] The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s.[6][7] Simple suspension bridges, which lack vertical suspenders, have a long history in many mountainous parts of the world. Besides the bridge type most commonly called suspension bridges, covered in this article, there are other types of suspension bridges. The type covered here has cables suspended between towers, with vertical suspender cables that transfer the live and dead loads of the deck below, upon which traffic crosses. This arrangement allows the deck to be level or to arc upward for additional clearance. Like other suspension bridge types, this type often is constructed without the use of falsework. The suspension cables must be anchored at each end of the bridge, since any load applied to the bridge is transformed into tension in these main cables. The main cables continue beyond the pillars to deck-level supports, and further continue to connections with anchors in the ground. The roadway is supported by vertical suspender cables or rods, called hangers. In some circumstances, the towers may sit on a bluff or canyon edge where the road may proceed directly to the main span. Otherwise, the bridge will typically have two smaller spans, running between either pair of pillars and the highway, which may be supported by suspender cables or their own trusswork. In cases where trusswork supports the spans, there will be very little arc in the outboard main cables. The earliest suspension bridges were ropes slung across a chasm, with a deck possibly at the same level or hung below the ropes such that the rope had a catenary shape.
French-suited playing cards. French-suited playing cards or French-suited cards are cards that use the French suits of trèfles (clovers or clubs ♣), carreaux (tiles or diamonds ♦), cœurs (hearts ♥), and piques (pikes or spades ♠). Each suit contains three or four face/court cards. In a standard 52-card deck these are the valet (knave or jack), the dame (lady or queen), and the roi (king). In addition, in Tarot packs, there is a cavalier (knight) ranking between the queen and the jack. Aside from these aspects, decks can include a wide variety of regional and national patterns, which often have different deck sizes. In comparison to Spanish, Italian, German, and Swiss playing cards, French cards are the most widespread due to the geopolitical, commercial, and cultural influence of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. Other reasons for their popularity were the simplicity of the suit insignia, which simplifies mass production, and the popularity of whist and contract bridge. The English pattern of French-suited cards is so widespread that it is also known as the International or Anglo-American pattern. Playing cards arrived in Europe from Mamluk Egypt around 1370 and were already reported in France in 1377. The French suit insignia was derived from German suits around 1480. Between the transition from the suit of bells to tiles there was a suit of crescents.[1] One of the most distinguishing features of the French cards is the queen. Mamluk cards and their derivatives, the Latin-suited and German-suited cards, all have three male face cards. Queens began appearing in Italian tarot decks in the mid-15th century and some German decks replaced two kings with queens. While other decks abandoned the queen in non-tarot decks, the French kept them and dropped the knight as the middle face card. Face card design was heavily influenced by Spanish cards that used to circulate in France. One of the most obvious traits inherited from Spain are the standing kings; kings from Italian, Portuguese, or Germanic cards are seated. Spanish-suited cards are still used in France, mostly in Northern Catalonia, and Brittany and the Vendée with the latter two using the archaic Aluette cards. In the 19th century, corner indices and rounded corners were added and cards became reversible, relieving players from having to flip face cards right-side up. The index for aces and face cards usually follow the local language but most decks of the Paris pattern use the numeral 1 for aces. The French suited pack has spawned many regional variations known as standard patterns based on their artwork and deck size. The Paris pattern was heavily exported throughout continental Europe which is why most French-suited patterns share a similar appearance. The English pattern, based on the extinct Rouennais pattern, is the most well known pattern in the world. It is also called the International or Anglo-American pattern.
Minato, Tokyo. Minato (港区, Minato-ku) [minato] ⓘ is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is also called Minato City in English. Minato was formed in 1947 as a merger of Akasaka, Azabu and Shiba wards following Tokyo Citys transformation into Tokyo Metropolis. The modern Minato ward exhibits the contrasting Shitamachi and Yamanote geographical and cultural division. The Shinbashi neighborhood in the wards northeastern corner is attached to the core of Shitamachi, the original commercial center of Edo-Tokyo. On the other hand, the Azabu and Akasaka areas are typically representative Yamanote districts.[2] As of 1 July 2015[update], Minato had an official population of 243,094,[3] and a population density of 10,850 persons per km2. The total area is 20.37 km2.[4] Known as one of Tokyos largest business areas, Minato is home to the headquarters of many large domestic companies, including Honda, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, NEC, Nikon, SoftBank Group,[5] Sony[6] and Fujitsu.[7] Minato is also known for being one of the wealthiest residential areas in Japan, and for its relatively high concentration of foreign expats due to the number of embassies and multinational corporations located in and around the area.[8][9] Notable neighborhoods and districts of Minato include Akasaka, Aoyama, Azabu, Roppongi and Toranomon. Minato is located southwest of the Imperial Palace and has boundaries with the special wards of Chiyoda, Chūō, Kōtō (in Odaiba), Shinagawa, Shibuya, and Shinjuku.
Yasuhiko Nishimura. Yasuhiko Nishimura (Japanese: 西村泰彦, Hepburn: Nishimura Yasuhiko; born 29 June 1955) is a Japanese official who has served as the Grand Steward of the Imperial Household since 2019.[1] Yasuhiko Nishimura was born in Toba, Mie.[2] He was educated at Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo, graduating in March 1979.[3] Yasuhiko started off as a top law enforcement official for the National Police Agency, holding many roles such as superintendent general of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.[3][4] At a 2010 conference, Yasuhiko, responding to a question by Hiroshi Nakai about Japanese right wing groups, asking if it was appropriate to call them right wing, he expressed that They are not engaged in violent destructive activities, so the term extreme right-wing does not fit. [5] He would later retire from this role in 2014.[6] In the same year, he would become the Cabinet Crisis Management Officer.[7][2][8] In 2016 he became Deputy Director-General of the Imperial Household Agency.[9] Yasuhiko was appointed on the 17 of December 2019 as Grand Steward of the Imperial Household.[1] The beginning of his role as Grand Steward coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] Because it was so close to the 2020 Summer Olympics, the event was postponed until 2021.[11] Yasuhiko released a statement about the Olympics saying “From what I gather, the emperor is concerned about holding the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, for which he serves as honorary president, while people are voicing anxiety over whether it will lead to a spread of infections,”. To which the then Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga, said that “Nishimura had purely voiced his personal views.”[12] An argument was also made against his comments, saying, “The Japanese Emperor is not allowed to engage politically according to the Constitution. He must make sure to observed it.”[12][13] In April 2021, Yasuhiko also precised over the marriage of then Princess Mako of Akishino, to Kei Komuro. He said that a previous statement she made on her marriage was “Explained very well” but also said that “The public will make their own assessment”.[14] The marriage later went through.[15] After Kei Komuro released documents explaining his mothers financial issues, which were put into question and quite controversial, Yasuhiko said that This document has allowed me to understand the facts and circumstances.[16] In 2024, he went on to speak about the Japanese imperial succession debate by saying that it was an “Extremely important matter” and “Steps will be taken after sufficient debate has occurred.”[17]
Ministry of the Imperial Household. The Ministry of the Imperial Household (宮内省, Kunai-shō) was a division of the eighth century Japanese government of the Imperial Court in Kyoto,[1] instituted in the Asuka period and formalized during the Heian period. The Ministry was reorganized in the Meiji period and existed until 1947, before being replaced by the Imperial Household Agency. The needs of the Imperial Household has changed over time. The ambit of the Ministrys activities encompassed, for example: When this government agency was initially established in 645, it functioned as a tax collector on Imperial land.[3] The organization and functions of the Imperial Household were refined and regulated in the Taiho Code, which was promulgated in 701–702 during the reign of Emperor Monmu. The fundamental elements of this system evolved over the course of centuries, but the basic structures remained in place until the Meiji Restoration.[4] This Ministry came to be responsible for everything to do with supporting the Emperor and the Imperial Family.[3] Significant modifications were introduced in 1702, 1870, and 1889.[5] It was reorganized into the Imperial Household Office (宮内府, Kunai-fu) in 1947, with its staff size was downscaled from 6,200 to less than 1,500, and the Office was placed under the Prime Minister. In 1949, the Imperial Household Office became the Imperial Household Agency (the current name), and placed under the fold of the newly created Prime Ministers Office (総理府, Sōri-fu), as an external agency attached to it.
Imperial Household Department. The Imperial Household Department (traditional Chinese: 內務府; simplified Chinese: 内务府; pinyin: Nèiwùfǔ; Manchu: ᡩᠣᡵᡤᡳᠪᠠᡳᡨᠠᠪᡝᡠᡥᡝᡵᡳᡴᠠᡩᠠᠯᠠᡵᠠᠶᠠᠮᡠᠨ, Möllendorff: dorgi baita be uheri kadalara yamun) was an institution of the Qing dynasty of China. Its primary purpose was to manage the internal affairs of the Qing imperial family and the activities of the inner palace (in which tasks it largely replaced eunuchs), but it also played an important role in Qing relations with Tibet and Mongolia, engaged in trading activities (jade, ginseng, salt, furs, etc.), managed textile factories in the Jiangnan region, and even published books.[1] This department was also in charge of the ceremonial and spiritual activities of the Qing imperial household. These activities include the maintenance of the mausoleums of Qing emperors, polytheist worships and posthumous affairs of the royal family (the giving of temple names and posthumous names).[2] The department was established before[when?] the Manchu-led Qing dynasty defeated the Ming dynasty in 1644, but it became mature only after 1661, following the death of the Shunzhi Emperor and the accession of his son, who reigned as the Kangxi Emperor.[3] In 1654, the department was temporarily substituted by the Thirteen Yamen (十三衙門) which had similar functions. In 1661, the thirteen yamen were abolished with the re-establishment of the imperial household department.[4] The department was manned by booi (Manchu: booi, Chinese: 包衣; pinyin: baoyi), or bondservants, who were selected from the bondservants of the upper three banners.[5] Booi was sometimes synonymous with booi aha, which literally means household person, but aha usually referred to the hereditary and legally servile people who worked in fields, whereas booi usually referred to household servants who performed domestic service.[6] The booi who operated the Imperial Household Department can be divided into roughly four groups:
Tokyo City. Tokyo City (東京市, Tōkyō-shi) was a municipality in Japan and capital of Tokyo Prefecture (or Tokyo-fu) which existed from 1 May 1889 until the establishment of Tokyo Metropolis on 1 July 1943.[1] The historical boundaries of Tokyo City are now occupied by the special wards of Tokyo. The defunct city and its prefecture became what is now Tokyo, also known as the Tokyo Metropolis or, ambiguously, Tokyo Prefecture. In 1868, the city of Edo, seat of the Tokugawa government, was renamed Tokyo, and the offices of Tokyo Prefecture (-fu) were opened.[1] The extent of Tokyo Prefecture was initially limited to the former Edo city, but rapidly augmented to be comparable with the present Tokyo Metropolis. In 1878, the Meiji governments reorganization of local governments[a] subdivided prefectures into counties or districts (gun, further subdivided into towns and villages, later reorganized similar to Prussian districts) and districts or wards (ku) which were in ordinary prefectures cities as a whole, e.g. todays Hiroshima City (-shi) was then Hiroshima-ku; the three major cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto were each subdivided into several such wards. In Tokyo Prefecture, this created 15 wards (listed below) and six counties/districts.[2] In 1888, the central government created the legal framework for the current system of cities (shi)[b] that granted some basic local autonomy rights – with some similarities to Prussias system of local self-government as Meiji government advisor Albert Mosse heavily influenced the organization of local government.[3] But under a special imperial regulation,[c] Tokyo City, like Kyoto City and Osaka City, initially did not maintain a separate mayor; instead, the (appointed) governor of Tokyo Prefecture served as mayor of Tokyo City. The Tokyo city council/assembly (Tōkyō-shikai) was first elected in May 1889.[2] Each ward also retained its own assembly. City and prefectural government were separated in 1898.,[2] and the government began to appoint a separate mayor of Tokyo City in 1898, but retained ward-level legislation, which continues to this day in the special ward system. From 1926, the mayor was elected by the elected city council/assembly from its own ranks. The city hall of Tokyo was located in the Yūrakuchō district, on a site now occupied by the Tokyo International Forum.[4] Tokyo became the second-largest city in the world (population 4.9 million) upon absorbing several outlying districts in July 1932, giving the city a total of 35 wards.[1]
Tokyo Prefecture (1868–1943). Tokyo Prefecture (東京府, Tōkyō-fu) was a Japanese government entity that existed between 1868 and 1943.[1] When the prefecture was established with the merger of the two shogunate city administrations in the Meiji restoration in 1868, Tokyo initially consisted only of the former city area of the shogunate capital Edo. Beginning in 1871, the territory of Tokyo was expanded beyond Edo in several steps to reach roughly its present extent with the Tama transfer in 1893. The surrounding former shogunate domain (incl. hatamoto fiefs) in Musashi province was initially administered by Musashi governors, but then split up between the prefectures Shinagawa, Kosuge and Ōmiya/Urawa. In 1871/72, the surrounding rural areas from these three prefectures and the Setagaya exclave of Hikone ex-domain/prefecture were merged into Tokyo. The system of large and small/major and minor districts (大区小区制, daiku-shōku-sei) which was tied to the modernized family registration system (koseki) created an (unpopular) subdivision of all prefectures into numbered subunits. In 1878, the ancient ritsuryō districts were reactivated as administrative units in rural areas, and the status of urban districts (-ku) was newly introduced for major cities. Under the gunkuchōson-hensei-hō (郡区町村編制法, Law on the organization of -gun/-ku/-chō/-son), both urban and rural districts were further subdivided into urban and rural units (-machi and -mura, i.e. towns and villages in the countryside, but neighbourhood-sized units in larger settlements; for example, there were 13 -machi/-chō and 93 -mura in Ebara District in the 1870s, including five (one North, three South, one New) for Shinagawa alone; the >100 subdivisions of Ebara were merged into only 1 town and 18 villages in 1889, today there are only four special wards left in its former territory: Shinagawa, Meguro, Ōta, Setagaya). Initially, Tokyo contained only six [rural] districts, but other rural areas were added to Tokyo later (Izu & Ogasawara islands 1878/80, the three Tama districts 1893).
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.
Yata no Kagami. Yata no Kagami (八咫鏡) is a sacred bronze mirror that is part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan.[1][2] The Yata no Kagami represents wisdom or honesty, depending on the source.[2] Its name literally means The Eight Ata Mirror, a reference to its size.[3][4] Mirrors in ancient Japan represented truth because they merely reflected what was shown, and were objects of mystique and reverence (being uncommon items). According to Shinsuke Takenaka at the Institute of Moralogy, Yata no Kagami is considered the most precious of the three sacred treasures.[5] In the year 1040 (Chōkyū 1, 9th month), the compartment which contained the Sacred Mirror was burned in a fire.[6] The mirror was not damaged and managed to survive the incident. It is considered to be housed today in Ise Grand Shrine, in Mie Prefecture, Japan,[1] although a lack of public access makes this difficult to verify. Concurrently, a replica is enshrined in Three Palace Sanctuaries of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.[2]
Amaterasu. Amaterasu Ōmikami (天照大（御）神; Japanese pronunciation: [aꜜ.ma.te.ɾa.sɯ \| oː.mʲiꜜ.ka.mʲi][2][3]), often called Amaterasu ([aꜜ.ma.te.ɾa.sɯ]) for short, also known as Amateru Kami (天照神)[4] and Ōhirume no Muchi (大日孁貴),[5] is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (kami) of the Shinto pantheon,[6][7][8] she is also portrayed in Japans earliest literary texts, the Kojiki (c. 712 CE) and the Nihon Shoki (720 CE), as the ruler (or one of the rulers) of the heavenly realm Takamagahara and as the mythical ancestress of the Imperial House of Japan via her grandson Ninigi. Along with two of her siblings (the moon deity Tsukuyomi and the impetuous storm-god Susanoo) she ranks as one of the Three Precious Children (三貴子, mihashira no uzu no miko / sankishi), the three most important offspring of the creator god Izanagi. Amaterasus chief place of worship, the Grand Shrine of Ise in Ise, Mie Prefecture, is one of Shintos holiest sites and a major pilgrimage center and tourist spot. As with other Shinto kami, she is also enshrined in a number of Shinto shrines throughout Japan. The goddess is referred to as Amaterasu Ōmikami (天照大御神 / 天照大神; historical orthography: あまてらすおほみかみ, Amaterasu Ohomikami; Old Japanese: Amaterasu Opomi1kami2) in the Kojiki, while the Nihon Shoki gives the following variant names: Amaterasu is thought to derive from the verb amateru to illuminate / shine in the sky (ama sky, heaven + teru to shine) combined with the honorific auxiliary verb -su,[11] while Ōmikami means great august deity (ō great + honorific prefix mi-[a] + kami). Notably, Amaterasu in Amaterasu Ōmikami is not technically a name the same way Susanoo in Susa no O no Mikoto or Ōkuninushi in Ōkuninushi no Kami is. Amaterasu is an attributive verb form that modifies the noun after it, ōmikami. This epithet is therefore, much more semantically transparent than most names recorded in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, in that it means exactly what it means, without allusion, inference or etymological opacity, literally The Great August Goddess Who Shines in Heaven. This usage is analogous to the use of relative clauses in English, only different in that Japanese clauses are placed in front of the noun they modify. This is further exemplified by (1) an alternative epithet, Amateru Kami (天照神,[12] The Goddess Who Shines in Heaven), which is a plain, non-honorific version of Amaterasu Ōmikami, (2) alternative forms of the verb amaterasu used elsewhere, for example its continuative form amaterashi (天照之) in the Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku,[13] and (3) similar uses of attributive verb forms in certain epithets, such as Emperor Jimmus Hatsu Kunishirasu Sumeramikoto (始馭天下之天皇,[14] His Majesty Who First Rules the Land). There are, still, certain verb forms that are treated as proper names, such as the terminal negative fukiaezu in Ugayafukiaezu no Mikoto (鸕鷀草葺不合尊, His Augustness, Incompletely-Thatched-with-Cormorant-Feathers). Her other name, Ōhirume, is usually understood as meaning great woman of the sun / daytime (cf. hiru day(time), noon, from hi sun, day + me woman, lady),[15][16][17] though alternative etymologies such as great spirit woman (taking hi to mean spirit) or wife of the sun (suggested by Orikuchi Shinobu, who put forward the theory that Amaterasu was originally conceived of as the consort or priestess of a male solar deity) had been proposed.[15][18][19][20] A possible connection with the name Hiruko (the child rejected by the gods Izanagi and Izanami and one of Amaterasus siblings) has also been suggested.[21] To this name is appended the honorific muchi,[22] which is also seen in a few other theonyms such as Ō(a)namuchi[23] or Michinushi-no-Muchi (an epithet of the three Munakata goddesses[24]).
Palace (disambiguation). A palace is a grand residence, usually for royalty or other high-ranking dignitaries. Palace may also refer to:
Italy. Italy,[a] officially the Italian Republic,[b] is a country in Southern and Western Europe.[c] It consists of a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land border, as well as nearly 800 islands, notably Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares land borders with France to the west; Switzerland and Austria to the north; Slovenia to the east; and the two enclaves of Vatican City and San Marino. It is the tenth-largest country in Europe by area, covering 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi), and the third-most populous member state of the European Union, with nearly 59 million inhabitants. Italys capital and largest city is Rome; other major cities include Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Bologna, Florence, Genoa, and Venice. The history of Italy goes back to numerous Italic peoples – notably including the ancient Romans, who conquered the Mediterranean world during the Roman Republic and ruled it for centuries during the Roman Empire. With the spread of Christianity, Rome became the seat of the Catholic Church and the Papacy. Barbarian invasions and other factors led to the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire between late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. By the 11th century, Italian city-states and maritime republics expanded, bringing renewed prosperity through commerce and laying the groundwork for modern capitalism. The Italian Renaissance flourished during the 15th and 16th centuries and spread to the rest of Europe. Italian explorers discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World, contributing significantly to the Age of Discovery. After centuries of political and territorial divisions, Italy was almost entirely unified in 1861, following wars of independence and the Expedition of the Thousand, establishing the Kingdom of Italy. From the late 19th to the early 20th century, Italy industrialised – mainly in the north – and acquired a colonial empire, while the south remained largely impoverished, fueling a large immigrant diaspora to the Americas. From 1915 to 1918, Italy took part in World War I with the Entente against the Central Powers. In 1922, the Italian fascist dictatorship was established. During World War II, Italy was first part of the Axis until an armistice with the Allied powers (1940–1943), then a co-belligerent of the Allies during the Italian resistance and the liberation of Italy (1943–1945). Following the war, the monarchy was replaced by a republic and the country made a strong recovery. A developed country with an advanced economy, Italy has the eighth-largest nominal GDP in the world, the second-largest manufacturing sector in Europe, and plays a significant role in regional and – to a lesser extent – global economic, military, cultural, and political affairs. It is a founding and leading member of the European Union, and is part of numerous other international organizations and forums. As a cultural superpower, Italy has long been a renowned global centre of art, music, literature, cuisine, fashion, science and technology, and the source of multiple inventions and discoveries. It has the highest number of World Heritage Sites (60) and is the fifth-most visited country in the world.
Ōta Dōkan. Ōta Dōkan (太田道灌; Japanese pronunciation: [oː.ta (\|) doꜜː.kaɴ],[1] 1432 - August 25, 1486), also known as Ōta Sukenaga (太田資長),[2] was a Japanese samurai lord, poet and Buddhist monk. He took the tonsure as a Buddhist priest in 1478, and he also adopted the Buddhist name, Dōkan, by which he is known today.[3] Dōkan is best known as the architect and builder of Edo Castle (now the Imperial Palace) in what is today modern Tokyo; and he is considered the founder of the castle town which grew up around that Ōnin era fortress. The Ōta clan originated in 15th-century Musashi Province.[4] They claimed descent from Minamoto no Yorimasa, and through that branch of the Minamoto they claimed kinship with the Seiwa-Genji.[5] The feudal progenitor of the clan name, Ōta Sukekuni, established himself at Ōta in Tanba Province, and he adopted this location name as his own. He traced his lineage as a fifth-generation descendant of Yorimasa.[5] In a special context created by the Tokugawa shogunate, the Ōta clan were identified as tozama or outsiders, in contrast with the fudai or insider daimyō clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawas.[4] In, 1638, Ōta Sukemune, the grandson of Ōta Yasusuke, was granted Nishio Domain in Mikawa Province; and then, in 1645, he and his family was transferred to Hamamatsu Domain (35,000 koku) in Tōtōmi Province. Yasusukes descendants were moved several times by shogunate decree, residing successively in 1687 at Tanaka Domain in Suruga Province, in 1703 at Tanakura Domain in Mutsu Province, and in 1728 at Tatebayashi Domain in Kōzuke Province.[5] Then, in the period spanning the years 1746 through 1868, this branch of the Ōta clan established itself at Kakegawa Domain (53,000 koku)[6] in Tōtōmi.[4]
Observation tower. An observation tower is a tower used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least 20 metres (66 ft) tall and are made from stone, iron, and wood. Many modern towers are also used as TV towers, restaurants, or churches. The towers first appeared in the ancient world, as long ago as the Babylonian Empire. Observation towers that are used as guard posts or observation posts over an extended period to overlook an area are commonly called watchtowers instead. Similar instances of observation towers are recognised as crows nests, observatories, viewing platforms, etc. Observation towers are an easily visible sight on the countryside, as they must rise over trees and other obstacles to ensure clear vision. Older control rooms have often been likened to medieval chambers. The heavy use of stone, iron, and wood in their construction helps to create this illusion. Modern towers frequently have observation decks or terraces with restaurants or on the roof of mountain stations of an aerial ropeway. Frequently observation towers are used also as location of radio services within the UHF/VHF range (FM sound broadcasting, TV, public rural broadcasting service, and portable radio service). In some cases this usage of the tower is at least as important as its use as an observation tower. Such towers are usually called TV towers or telecommunication towers. Many towers are also equipped with a tower restaurant and allow visitors access via elevators. Also common is the usage of water towers as observation towers. As in the case of TV towers the visitor will usually reach the observation deck by elevator, which is usually at a lower height above ground The typical height of the observation deck of water towers is 20 metres up to 50 metres, while the typical height of the platform of TV towers is from 80 metres up to 200 metres. Finally, some church towers may have observation decks, albeit often without an elevator. Many other buildings may have towers which allow for observation. In particular prior to World War I rambler associations, and some municipalities, built observation towers on numerous summits. Usually these towers were built of stone, however sometimes wood or iron was also used. At nearly all these towers access to the observation deck, usually at a height of between 5 and 40 metres, is only possible by way of stairs. Most of these towers are used only for tourism, however some of these towers might also be used, at times of high forest fire risk, as fire observation posts or in times of war as military observation posts with anti-aircraft positions placed beside it. Further uses were not intended at most of these buildings, although some of these towers today now carry antennas for police/fire engine radios, portable radio or low power FM- and TV-transmitters. Older observation towers frequently have a flag pole at its top.
Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Little Tokyo (Japanese: リトル・トーキョー), also known as Little Tokyo Historic District, is an ethnically Japanese American district in downtown Los Angeles and the heart of the largest Japanese-American population in North America.[4] It is the largest and most populous of only three official Japantowns in the United States, all of which are in California (the other two are Japantown, San Francisco, and Japantown, San Jose).[citation needed] Founded around the beginning of the 20th century, the area, sometimes called Lil Tokyo, J-Town, Shō-Tōkyō (小東京), is the cultural center for Japanese Americans in Southern California. It was declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1995.[3] The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 played a pivotal role in the first large wave of Japanese Immigration to the United States as the Japanese were heavily recruited to serve as cheap labor in place of the now excluded Chinese laborers.[5] One of the people influenced by this first wave of Japanese Immigration was Hamanosuke Shigeta, a Japanese seaman who settled in southeast Los Angeles, an area which would eventually become Little Tokyo.[6] There Shigeta established the first Japanese-owned business in LA, Kame Restaurant, along First Street. Attracted by the restaurant and nearby demands for labor, other Japanese immigrant men followed suit as they settled along First Street in nearby boarding houses.[7] The first Japanese boarding house in Los Angeles was established by Sanjuro Mizuno, who opened the Santa Fe Boarding House in 1898 to cater to Japanese laborers.[8] To house the wave of new immigrants coming to Little Tokyo, early immigrants also opened more of them.
Tokyo Tower (disambiguation). Tokyo Tower is a communications and observation tower located in Shiba Park, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo Tower may also refer to:
Emperor of Russia. The emperor and autocrat of all Russia[1] (Russian: Император и Самодержец Всероссийский, romanized: Imperator i Samoderzhets Vserossiyskiy, IPA: [ɪm⁽ʲ⁾pʲɪˈratər ɪ səmɐˈdʲerʐɨt͡s fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskʲɪj]),[a] also translated as emperor and autocrat of all the Russias,[2] was the official title of the Russian monarch from 1721 to 1917. The title originated in connection with Russias victory in the Great Northern War (1700–1721) and appeared as an adaptation of the tsars title under the accepted system of titling in Europe. The title was transformed from the previous title of tsar and grand prince of all Russia. The old title tsar (or tsaritsa) continued to be popularly used to refer to the emperor (or empress) until the monarchy was abolished in 1917. Article 1 of the Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire stated that the Emperor of All Russia is an autocratic and unrestricted monarch. To obey his supreme authority, not only out of fear but out of conscience as well, God himself commands.[3] The full title of the emperor in the 20th century (Art. 37 of the Fundamental Laws) was: By the Grace of God, We, NN, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias, Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod; Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Chersonese Taurian, Tsar of Georgia; Lord of Pskov and Grand Prince of Smolensk, Lithuania, Volhynia, Podolia, Finland; Prince of Estland, Livland, Courland, Semigalia, Samogitia, Belostok, Karelia, Tver, Yugra, Perm, Vyatka, Bolgar and others; Lord and Grand Prince of Nizhny Novgorod, Chernigov, Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Beloozero, Udoria, Obdoria, Kondia, Vitebsk, Mstislav, and all of the northern countries Master; and Lord of Iberia, Kartli, and Kabardia lands and Armenian provinces; hereditary Sovereign and ruler of the Circassian and Mountainous Princes and of others; Lord of Turkestan; Heir of Norway; Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, and Oldenburg, and others, and others, and others.[4]
Radio masts and towers. Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made structures. Masts are often named after the broadcasting organizations that originally built them or currently use them. A mast radiator or radiating tower is one in which the metal mast or tower itself is energized and functions as the transmitting antenna. The terms mast and tower are often used interchangeably. However, in structural engineering terms, a tower is a self-supporting or cantilevered structure, while a mast is held up by stays or guy-wires.[1] There are a few borderline designs that are partly free-standing and partly guyed, called additionally guyed towers. Examples:
Japanese castle. Japanese castles (城, shiro or jō) are fortresses constructed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries and came into their best-known form in the 16th century. Castles in Japan were built to guard important or strategic sites, such as ports, river crossings, or crossroads, and almost always incorporated the landscape into their defenses. Though they were built to last and used more stone in their construction than most Japanese buildings, castles were still constructed primarily of wood, and many were destroyed over the years. This was especially true during the Sengoku period (1467–1603), when many of these castles were first built. However, many were rebuilt, either later in the Sengoku period, in the Edo period (1603–1867) that followed, or more recently, as national heritage sites or museums. Today there are more than one hundred castles extant, or partially extant, in Japan; it is estimated that once there were five thousand.[1] Some castles, such as the ones at Matsue and Kōchi, both built in 1611, have main keeps or other buildings that remain extant in their historical forms, not having suffered any damage from sieges or other threats. Hiroshima Castle, on the opposite end of the spectrum, was destroyed in the atomic bombing, and was rebuilt in 1958 as a museum, though it does retain many of its original stone walls.[2] The character for castle, 城, is pronounced shiro (its kunyomi) when used as a standalone word. However, when attached to another word (such as in the name of a particular castle), it is read as jō (its Chinese-derived onyomi). Thus, for example, Osaka Castle is called Ōsaka-jō (大阪城) in Japanese. Originally conceived as fortresses for military defense, Japanese castles were placed in strategic locations, typically along trade routes, roads, and rivers. Though castles continued to be built with these considerations, for centuries, fortresses were also built as centres of governance. By the Sengoku period, they had come to serve as the homes of daimyo (大名, feudal lords), to impress and to intimidate rivals not only with their defences but also with their sizes, architecture, and elegant interiors. In 1576, Oda Nobunaga was among the first to build one of these palace-like castles: Azuchi Castle was Japans first castle to have a tenshu (天守, main keep), and it inspired both Toyotomi Hideyoshis Osaka Castle and Tokugawa Ieyasus Edo Castle.[3] Azuchi served as the governing center of Odas territories, and as his lavish home, but it was also very keenly and strategically placed. A short distance away from the capital of Kyoto, which had long been a target of violence, Azuchis carefully chosen location allowed it a great degree of control over the transportation and communication routes of Odas enemies. The tenshu (main keep) was used as a storehouse in times of peace and as a fortified tower in times of war, and the daimyo (feudal lords)s government offices and residences were located in a group of single-story buildings near the tenshu and the surrounding yagura (櫓, turrets). The only exception was Oda Nobunagas Azuchi-Momoyama Castle, where he lived in the tenshu (main keep).[4]
Telephone numbering plan. A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints.[1] Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, reachable by a system of destination code routing. Telephone numbering plans are defined world-wide, as well as within each of the administrative regions of the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and in private telephone networks. In public numbering systems, geographic location typically plays a role in the sequence of numbers assigned to each telephone subscriber. Many numbering plan administrators subdivide their territory of service into geographic regions designated by a prefix, often called an area code or city code, which is a set of digits forming the most-significant part of the dialing sequence to reach a telephone subscriber. Within such regions designated by area codes, locally unique telephone numbers are assigned based on locally determined principles, but in agreement with the larger-network rules. Numbering plans may follow a variety of design strategies which have often arisen from the historical evolution of individual telephone networks and local requirements. A broad division is commonly recognized between closed and open numbering plans. A closed numbering plan, as found in North America, features fixed-length area codes and local numbers, while an open numbering plan has a variance in the length of the area code, local number, or both of a telephone number assigned to a subscriber line. The latter type developed predominantly in Europe. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has established a comprehensive numbering plan, designated E.164, for uniform interoperability of the networks of its member state or regional administrations. It is an open numbering plan but imposes a maximum length of 15 digits to telephone numbers. The standard defines a country code for each member region which is prefixed to each national telephone number for international destination routing. Private numbering plans exist in telephone networks that are privately operated in an enterprise or organizational campus. Such systems may be supported by a private branch exchange (PBX), which provides a central access point to the PSTN and also controls internal calls between telephone extensions.
Toei Company. Toei Company, Ltd. (東映株式会社, Tōei Kabushiki-gaisha; an acronym for Tōkyō Eiga Haikyū (東京映画配給) lit. Tokyo Film Distribution; /ˈtoʊ.eɪ/), simply known as Toei Company or Toei, is a Japanese entertainment company. Headquartered in Kyōbashi, Chūō, Tokyo, it is involved in film and television production, distribution, video game development, publishing, and ownership of 34 movie theaters. Toei also owns and operates studios in Tokyo and Kyoto and holds shares in several television companies. The company is renowned for its production of anime and live-action dramas known as tokusatsu, which incorporate special visual effects. It is also known for producing period dramas. Toei is the majority shareholder of Toei Animation and is recognized for its franchises such as Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. Toei is one of the four members of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ 日本映画製作者連盟), and is therefore one of Japans Big Four film studios, alongside Kadokawa, Shochiku and Toho. Toei is a pioneer in the use of Henshin/character transformation in Live Action Television (TV) Film Video Game and Others, Etc. Superhero martial-arts Mecha drama Franchises, a technique developed for the Kamen Rider, Metal Hero and Super Sentai series; the genre currently continues with Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.[3][4] Toeis predecessor, the Toyoko Eiga Company, Ltd. (東横映画, Tō-Yoko Eiga; Toyoko Films), was incorporated in 1938. It was founded by Keita Goto, CEO of Tokyo-Yokohama Electric Railway [ja], the direct predecessor to the Tokyu Corporation. It had erected its facilities immediately east of the Tōkyū Tōyoko Line; they managed the prewar Tōkyū Shibuya Yokohama studio system. From 1945 through the Toei merger, Tokyo-Yokohama Films leased from the Daiei Motion Picture Company a second studio in Kyoto.
Castle. A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars usually consider a castle to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a mansion, palace, and villa, whose main purpose was exclusively for pleasance and are not primarily fortresses but may be fortified.[a] Use of the term has varied over time and, sometimes, has also been applied to structures such as hill forts and 19th- and 20th-century homes built to resemble castles. Over the Middle Ages, when genuine castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls, arrowslits, and portcullises, were commonplace. European-style castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries after the fall of the Carolingian Empire, which resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. These nobles built castles to control the area immediately surrounding them and they were both offensive and defensive structures: they provided a base from which raids could be launched as well as offering protection from enemies. Although their military origins are often emphasised in castle studies, the structures also served as centres of administration and symbols of power. Urban castles were used to control the local populace and important travel routes, and rural castles were often situated near features that were integral to life in the community, such as mills, fertile land, or a water source. Many northern European castles were originally built from earth and timber but had their defences replaced later by stone. Early castles often exploited natural defences, lacking features such as towers and arrowslits and relying on a central keep. In the late 12th and early 13th centuries, a scientific approach to castle defence emerged. This led to the proliferation of towers, with an emphasis on flanking fire. Many new castles were polygonal or relied on concentric defence – several stages of defence within each other that could all function at the same time to maximise the castles firepower. These changes in defence have been attributed to a mixture of castle technology from the Crusades, such as concentric fortification, and inspiration from earlier defences, such as Roman forts. Not all the elements of castle architecture were military in nature, so that devices such as moats evolved from their original purpose of defence into symbols of power. Some grand castles had long winding approaches intended to impress and dominate their landscape. Although gunpowder was introduced to Europe in the 14th century, it did not significantly affect castle building until the 15th century, when artillery became powerful enough to break through stone walls. While castles continued to be built well into the 16th century, new techniques to deal with improved cannon fire made them uncomfortable and undesirable places to live. As a result, true castles went into a decline and were replaced by artillery star forts with no role in civil administration, and château or country houses that were indefensible. From the 18th century onwards, there was a renewed interest in castles with the construction of mock castles, part of a Romantic revival of Gothic architecture, but they had no military purpose.
Paris (disambiguation). Paris is the capital of France, which may consist of : Paris may also refer to:
ZIP Code. The ZIP Code system (an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan[1]) is the system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service (USPS). The term ZIP was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently and quickly[2] (zipping along) when senders include the code in the postal address. ZIP+4 is a registered trademark of the United States Postal Service, which also registered ZIP Code as a service mark until 1997,[3] and which claims ZIP Code as a trademark though it is not registered.[4] Introduced on July 1, 1963, the basic format was five digits, the first designating a region of the country and subsequent digits localizing the destination further.[5][6][7] In 1983, an extended code was introduced named ZIP+4; it included the five digits of the ZIP Code, followed by a hyphen and four digits that designated a location even more specific than the original five. Private carriers and the USPS use ZIP Codes to route deliveries. In addition, ZIP Codes have become a basis for breaking down demographic, marketing, and sales data for analytical purposes. The early history and context of postal codes began with postal district/zone numbers. The United States Post Office Department (USPOD) implemented postal zones for 124 large cities in May 1943.[8] Postmaster General Frank C. Walker explained that many experienced postal clerks were going into the army, and the zone system would enable inexperienced clerks to sort mail without having to learn the delivery area of each city carrier.[9]
Winter Palace. The Winter Palace[1] is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square metres (it has been calculated that the palace contains 1,886 doors, 1,945 windows, 1,500 rooms and 117 staircases).[2][3] The total area of the Winter Palace is 14.2 hectares. (aproximately 1.52 million square feet)[4] Situated between Palace Embankment and Palace Square, adjacent to the site of Peter the Greats original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and altered almost continuously between the late 1730s and 1837, when it was severely damaged by fire and immediately rebuilt.[5] The storming of the palace in 1917, as depicted in Soviet art and in Sergei Eisensteins 1928 film October, became a symbol of the October Revolution. The emperors constructed their palaces on a monumental scale that aimed to reflect the might and power of Imperial Russia. From the palace, the tsars[6] ruled over 22,800,000 square kilometers (8,800,000 sq mi)[7][8] (almost 1/6 of the Earths landmass) and 125 million subjects by the end of the 19th century. Several architects participated in designing the Winter Palace—most notably the Italian Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1700–1771)—in what became known as the Elizabethan Baroque style. The green-and-white palace has the overall shape of an elongated rectangle, and its principal façade is 215 metres (705 ft) long and 30 m (98 ft) high. Following a serious fire, the palaces rebuilding of 1837 left the exterior unchanged, but large parts of the interior were redesigned in a variety of tastes and styles, leading the palace to be described as a 19th-century palace inspired by a model in Rococo style.[9] In 1905, the Bloody Sunday events occurred when demonstrators marched toward the Winter Palace, but by this time the Imperial Family had chosen to live in the more secure and secluded Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo (lit. imperial village), and returned to the Winter Palace only for formal and state occasions. Following the February Revolution of 1917, the palace operated for a short time as the seat of the Russian Provisional Government, ultimately led by Alexander Kerensky. Later that same year a detachment of Red Guard soldiers and sailors stormed the palace—a defining moment in the birth of the Soviet state, overthrowing the Provisional Government. Upon returning from his Grand Embassy in 1698, Peter I of Russia embarked on a policy of Westernization and expansion that was to transform the Tsardom of Russia into the Russian Empire and a major European power.[10] This policy was manifested in bricks and mortar by the creation of a new city, Saint Petersburg, in 1703.[11] The culture and design of the new city was intended as a conscious rejection of traditional Byzantine-influenced Russian architecture, such as the then-fashionable Naryshkin Baroque, in favour of the classically inspired architecture prevailing in the great cities of Europe. The Tsar intended that his new city would be designed in a Flemish renaissance style, later known as Petrine Baroque, and this was the style he selected for his new palace in the city. The first Royal residence on the site had been a humble log cabin then known as the Domik Petra I, built in 1704, which faced the River Neva. In 1711, it was transported to the Petrovskaya Naberezhnaya,[12] where it still stands.[13] With the site cleared, the Tsar then embarked on the building of a larger house between 1711 and 1712. This house, today referred to as The First Winter Palace, was designed by Domenico Trezzini.[14]
Official residence. An official residence is a residence designated by an authority and assigned to an official (such as a head of state, head of government, governor, or other senior figures), and may be the same place where the office holder conducts their work functions or lives.[1][2][3][4] The provinces of Ontario and Quebec no longer have official residences for their lieutenant governors, but do provide them with accommodations; in the case of Ontario, only if necessary. There is a Government House in Regina, Saskatchewan, though it does not serve as a residence, containing only the lieutenant governors offices. Alberta also has a Government House, but it is used solely for official entertaining and meetings. French Polynesia The following are official residences maintained by private, nongovernmental institutions: Federal
Parisien (disambiguation). Parisien may refer to:
Communes of France. A commune (French pronunciation: [kɔmyn] ⓘ) is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in Canada and the United States; Gemeinden in Germany; comuni in Italy; municipios in Spain; or civil parishes in the United Kingdom. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage the populations and land of the geographic area covered. The communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. Communes vary widely in size and area, from large sprawling cities with millions of inhabitants like Paris, to small hamlets with only a handful of inhabitants. Communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes (lieu dit or bourg), the difference residing in the lack of administrative powers. Except for the municipal arrondissements of its largest cities, the communes are the lowest level of administrative division in France and are governed by elected officials including a mayor (maire) and a municipal council (conseil municipal). They have extensive autonomous powers to implement national policy. A commune is the smallest and oldest administrative division in France.[1] The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, for a large gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis, things held in common.
Dog (disambiguation). The dog is a domesticated canid species, Canis familiaris. Dog, dogs, DOG, or DOGS may also refer to:
Arrondissements of France. An arrondissement (English: /əˈrɒndɪsmənt/, French: [aʁɔ̃dismɑ̃] ⓘ)[1] is the third level of administrative division in France generally corresponding to the territory overseen by a subprefect. As of 2023, the 101 French departments are divided into 333 arrondissements (including 13 overseas).[2] The capital of an arrondissement is called a subprefecture. When an arrondissement contains the prefecture (capital) of the department, that prefecture is the capital of the arrondissement, acting both as a prefecture and as a subprefecture. Arrondissements are further divided into communes. The term arrondissement can be roughly translated into English as district.[3] Some municipalities in Quebec are divided into arrondissements, reflecting the province’s historical link to New France.
Skyscraper. Row 1: Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong; 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City; King Power MahaNakhon, Bangkok Row 2: Commercial Bank of Ethiopia Headquarters, Addis Ababa; Premier Tower, Melbourne; Torre Colpatria, Bogotá A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least 100 metres (330 ft)[1] or 150 metres (490 ft)[2] in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise buildings. Skyscrapers may host offices, hotels, residential spaces, and retail spaces. Skyscrapers are a common feature of large cities, often due to a high demand for space and limited availability of land. One common feature of skyscrapers is having a steel frame that supports curtain walls. These curtain walls either bear on the framework below or are suspended from the framework above, rather than resting on load-bearing walls of conventional construction. Some early skyscrapers have a steel frame that enables the construction of load-bearing walls taller than those made of reinforced concrete. Modern skyscraper walls are not load-bearing, and most skyscrapers are characterized by large surface areas of windows made possible by steel frames and curtain walls. However, skyscrapers can have curtain walls that mimic conventional walls with a small surface area of windows. Modern skyscrapers often have a tubular structure, and are designed to act like a hollow cylinder to resist wind, seismic, and other lateral loads. To appear more slender, allow less wind exposure and transmit more daylight to the ground, many skyscrapers have a design with setbacks, which in some cases is also structurally required.
Mind games. Mind games (also power games or head games) are behaviors intended to influence an individual into performing a certain action, therefore giving the perpetrator the upper hand in a situation.[1][2] The first known use of the term mind game dates from 1963,[3] and head game from 1977.[4] In intimate relationships, mind games can be used to undermine one partners belief in the validity of their own perceptions.[5] Personal experience may be denied and driven from memory,[6] and such abusive mind games may extend to the denial of the victims reality, social undermining, and downplaying the importance of the other partners concerns or perceptions.[7] Both sexes have equal opportunities for such verbal coercion[8] which may be carried out unconsciously as a result of the need to maintain ones own self-deception.[9] Office mind games are often hard to identify clearly, as strong management blurs with over-direction, and healthy rivalry with manipulative head games and sabotage.[10] The wary salesman will be consciously and unconsciously prepared to meet a variety of challenging mind games and put-downs in the course of their work.[11] The serious sportsman will also be prepared to meet a variety of gambits and head games from their rivals, attempting to tread the fine line between competitive psychology and paranoia.[12] Eric Berne described a psychological game as an organized series of ulterior transactions taking place on twin levels: social and psychological, and resulting in a dramatic outcome when the two levels finally came to coincide.[13] He described the opening of a typical game like flirtation as follows: Cowboy: Come and see the barn. Visitor: Ive loved barns ever since I was a little girl.[14] At the social level a conversation about barns, at the psychological level one about sex play, the outcome of the game – which may be comic or tragic, heavy or light – will become apparent when a switch takes place and the ulterior motives of each become clear. Between thirty and forty such games (as well as variations of each) were described and tabulated in Bernes best seller on the subject titled Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships.[15] According to one transactional analyst, Games are so predominant and deep-rooted in society that they tend to become institutionalized, that is, played according to rules that everybody knows about and more or less agrees to. The game of Alcoholic, a five-handed game, illustrates this...so popular that social institutions have developed to bring the various players together[16] such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-anon.
Pooch (disambiguation). Pooch is a colloquial term for a dog. Pooch also refers to:
Doggy (disambiguation). Doggy is a name for a dog in baby talk, but can also be related to a member of the canine family. Doggy, Doggie, or doggies may also refer to:
Mind Sports Olympiad. The Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) is an annual international multi-disciplined competition and festival for games of mental skill and mind sports by Mind Sports Organisation. The inaugural event was held in 1997 in London with £100,000 prize fund[1] and was described as possibly the biggest games festival ever held.[2] The MSO was the first event of its kind[3] celebrating mental skills and awarding gold, silver and bronze medals for each event[4] and was highly influential on the mind sports movement and competitions that have followed since. The main MSO tournament has been held every year in England.[5][6] In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time, the entire MSO tournament was held online.[7] The first Mind Sports Olympiad was held in Londons Royal Festival Hall in 1997. It brought together an unprecedented number of strategy games and events. William Hartston in The Independent said, The biggest gamesfest ever to hit these (or perhaps any other) shores.[2]
Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg,[c] formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad,[d] is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. With an area of 1,439 sq km (556 sq mi), Saint Petersburg is the smallest administrative division of Russia by area. The city had a population of 5,601,911 residents as of 2021,[4] with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area. Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the worlds northernmost city of more than 1 million residents. As the former capital of the Russian Empire, and a historically strategic port, it is governed as a federal city. The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress, and was named after the apostle Saint Peter.[8] In Russia, Saint Petersburg is historically and culturally associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and Russias entry into modern history as a European great power.[9] It served as a capital of the Tsardom of Russia, and the subsequent Russian Empire, from 1712 to 1918 (being replaced by Moscow for a short period between 1728 and 1730).[10] After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved their government to Moscow.[11] The city was renamed Leningrad after Lenins death in 1924. It was the site of the siege of Leningrad during World War II, the most lethal siege in history.[12] In June 1991, only a few months before the Belovezha Accords and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, voters in a city-wide referendum supported restoring the citys original name.[13] As Russias cultural centre,[14] Saint Petersburg received over 15 million tourists in 2018.[15][16] It is considered an important economic, scientific, and tourism centre of Russia and Europe. In modern times, the city has the nickname of being the Northern Capital of Russia and is home to notable federal government bodies such as the Constitutional Court of Russia and the Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation. It is also a seat for the National Library of Russia and a planned location for the Supreme Court of Russia, as well as the home to the headquarters of the Russian Navy, and the Leningrad Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage (one of the largest art museums in the world), the Lakhta Center (the tallest skyscraper in Europe), and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020. The name day of Peter I falls on 29 June, when the Russian Orthodox Church observes the memory of apostles Peter and Paul. The consecration of the small wooden church in their names (its construction began at the same time as the citadel) made them the heavenly patrons of the Peter and Paul Fortress, while Saint Peter at the same time became the eponym of the whole city. When in June 1703 Peter the Great renamed the site after Saint Peter, he did not issue a naming act that established an official spelling; even in his own letters he used diverse spellings, such as Санктьпетерсьбурк (Sanktpetersburk), emulating German Sankt Petersburg, and Сантпитербурх (Santpiterburkh), emulating Dutch Sint-Pietersburgh, as Peter was multilingual and a Hollandophile. The name was later normalized and russified to Санкт-Петербург (Sankt-Peterburg).[17][18][19]
Culture of Paris. The culture of Paris concerns the arts, music, museums, festivals and other entertainment in Paris, the capital city of France. The city is today one of the worlds leading business and cultural centers; entertainment, music, media, fashion, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the worlds major global cities. Paris is also home to notable cultural attractions such as the Louvre, Musée Picasso, Musée Rodin, Musée du Montparnasse, and Musée National dArt Moderne. The Musée dOrsay and Musée de lOrangerie are notable for housing Impressionist era masterpieces, while art and artifacts from the Middle Ages can be seen in Musée Cluny. A variety of landmarks and objects are cultural icons associated with Paris, such as Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame de Paris and Opéra Garnier. Many of Pariss once-popular local establishments have come to cater to the tastes and expectations of tourists, rather than local patrons. Le Lido, the cabaret-dance hall, for example, is a staged dinner theater spectacle, a dance display that was once but one aspect of the cabarets former atmosphere. All of the establishments former social or cultural elements, such as its ballrooms and gardens, are gone today. Much of Pariss hotel, restaurant, and night entertainment trades have become heavily dependent on tourism. Haussmanns renovation of Paris during the mid-19th century created many of its wide boulevards and characteristic multi-level housing, often with shops and cafes at the ground level. The purpose of the renovations was to replace crowded, dilapidated Medieval-era housing, but some areas, such as the Marais, were untouched by the renovation of Paris. Other notable landmarks erected during the 19th century feature elaborate Art Nouveau designs popular during the Belle Epoque, such as the Palais Garnier (Paris Opera) and the Galeries Lafayette shopping center.[citation needed] The citys cathedrals are another main attraction; its Notre Dame de Paris and the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur receive twelve million and eight million visitors, respectively.[citation needed]
Strategy game. A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players uncoerced, and often autonomous, decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decision tree-style thinking, and typically very high situational awareness. Strategy games are also seen as a descendant of war games, and define strategy in terms of the context of war, but this is more partial. A strategy game is a game that relies primarily on strategy, and when it comes to defining what strategy is, two factors need to be taken into account: its complexity and game-scale actions, such as each placement in the Total War video game series. The definition of a strategy game in its cultural context should be any game that belongs to a tradition that goes back to war games, contains more strategy than the average video game, contains certain gameplay conventions, and is represented by a particular community. Although war is dominant in strategy games, it is not the whole story.[1] The history of turn-based strategy games goes back to the times of ancient civilizations found in places such as Rome, Greece, Egypt, the Levant, and India. Many were played widely through their regions of origin, but only some are still played today.[2] According to Thierry Depaulis, oldest strategy games would be the Greek game of polis (πόλις), which appears in the literature around 450 BCE, and the more or less contemporary Chinese game of weiqi (‘go’), which, under the name of yi (弈), is mentioned in Confucius’s Analects (Lunyu) compiled between ca 470/50 and 280 BCE.[2] The Royal Game of Ur from c. 2500 BCE which often been called one of the oldest board games, likely had some strategy elements as well, although it is generally seen as a luck-based race game.[3][4]
Game of skill. A game of skill is a game where the outcome is determined mainly by mental or physical skill, rather than chance.[2] [3] Alternatively, a game of chance is one where its outcome is strongly influenced by some randomizing device, such as dice, spinning tops, playing cards, roulette wheels, or numbered balls drawn from a container. While a game of chance may have some skill element to it, chance generally plays a greater role in determining its outcome. A game of skill may also have elements of chance, but skill plays a greater role in determining its outcome. Some commonly played games of skill and chance include: poker, collectible card games, contract bridge, backgammon and mahjong.[4] Most games of skill also involve a degree of chance, due to natural aspects of the environment, a randomizing device (such as dice, playing cards or a coin flip), or guessing due to incomplete information. For many games where skill is a component alongside chance, such as card games like poker but also some physical games, the skills needed to play the game well include the calculation of mathematical probabilities and the application of game theory. Game theory often leads to tactics such as bluffing and other forms of deception.
Intellect. Intellect is a faculty of the human mind that enables reasoning, abstraction, conceptualization, and judgment.[1] It enables the discernment of truth and falsehood, as well as higher-order thinking beyond immediate perception.[2] Intellect is distinct from intelligence, which refers to the general ability to learn, adapt, and solve problems, whereas intellect concerns the application of reason to abstract or philosophical thought.[3] In philosophy, intellect (Ancient Greek: dianoia) has often been contrasted with nous, a term referring to the faculty of direct intuitive knowledge.[4] While intellect engages in discursive reasoning, breaking down concepts into logical sequences, nous is considered a higher cognitive faculty that allows for direct perception of truth,[4] especially in Platonism and Neoplatonism.[5] Aristotle[6] distinguished between the active intellect (intellectus agens), which abstracts universal concepts, and the passive intellect, which receives sensory input.[7] During late antiquity and the Middle Ages, the intellect was considered the bridge between the human soul and divine knowledge, particularly in religious and metaphysical contexts.[7] Thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas and Averroes explored intellect as the means by which humans engage in higher reasoning and theological contemplation. This intellectual tradition influenced both Christian Scholasticism and Islamic philosophy, where intellect was linked to the understanding of divine truth.[8] In modern psychology and neuroscience, the term intellect is sometimes used to describe higher cognitive functions related to abstract thought and logical reasoning. However, contemporary research primarily focuses on general intelligence (g-factor) and cognitive abilities rather than intellect as a separate faculty.[9] While theories such as Howard Gardners theory of multiple intelligences address diverse ways of processing information, they do not equate directly to historical or philosophical notions of intellect.[10] In Platonism, dianoia (Greek: διάνοια) is the human cognitive capacity for, process of, or result of discursive reasoning, specifically about mathematical and technical subjects. It stands in contrast to the immediate, cognitive process of intuitive apprehension or noesis (noesis).[4][a]
Theme (narrative). In contemporary literary studies, a theme is a main topic, subject, or message within a narrative.[1] Themes are ideas that are central to a story, which can often be summed in a single abstract noun (for example, love, death, betrayal, nostalgia, or parenthood) or noun phrase (for example, coming of age, humans in conflict with technology, seeking spirituality in the modern era, or the dangers of unchecked ambition).[2][3] A theme may be exemplified by the actions, utterances, or thoughts of characters, as in the theme of loneliness in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men, wherein many of the characters seem isolated and long for community with others. It may or may not differ from the thesis—the texts or authors implied worldview.[4][example needed] A story may have several themes and generally longer works, such as novels, plays, films, or television series, do. Themes often explore historically common or cross-culturally recognizable ideas, such as ethical questions, and are usually implied rather than stated explicitly.[5] An example of this would be whether one should live a seemingly better life, at the price of giving up parts of ones humanity, which is a theme in Aldous Huxleys Brave New World. Along with plot, character, setting, and style, theme is considered one of the components of fiction.[6] Themes can be divided into two categories: a works thematic concept is what readers think the work is about and its thematic statement being what the work says about the subject.[7] Some common themes in literature are love, war, revenge, betrayal,[8] grace, isolation, parenthood, forgiveness, loss,[9] treachery, rich versus poor, appearance versus reality, and help from otherworldly powers.[10] Various techniques may be used to express literary themes. Leitwortstil, which means leading word style in German,[11] is the repetition of a wording, often with a theme, in a narrative to make sure it catches the readers attention.[12] An example of a leitwortstil is the recurring phrase, So it goes, in Kurt Vonneguts novel Slaughterhouse-Five. Its seeming message is that the world is deterministic: that things only could have happened in one way, and that the future already is predetermined. But given the anti-war tone of the story, the message perhaps is on the contrary, that things could have been different. Its use in Scheherazades Arabian Nights demonstrates how the technique can result to the unification of the constituent members of story cycles.[11] In the Bible, various forms of the verb to see also recur and underscore the idea of Abraham as a seer.[13] There is also the repeated use of the root kbd in Samuel I, to indicate weightiness, honor, glory.[14]
Perfect information. Perfect information is a concept in game theory and economics that describes a situation where all players in a game or all participants in a market have knowledge of all relevant information in the system. This is different than complete information, which implies common knowledge of each agents utility functions, payoffs, strategies and types. A system with perfect information may or may not have complete information. In economics this is sometimes described as no hidden information and is a feature of perfect competition. In a market with perfect information all consumers and producers would have complete and instantaneous knowledge of all market prices, their own utility and cost functions. In game theory, a sequential game has perfect information if each player, when making any decision, is perfectly informed of all the events that have previously occurred, including the initialisation event of the game (e.g. the starting hands of each player in a card game).[1][2][3][4] Games where some aspect of play is hidden from opponents – such as the cards in poker and bridge – are examples of games with imperfect information.[5][6] Chess is an example of a game with perfect information, as each player can see all the pieces on the board at all times.[2] Other games with perfect information include tic-tac-toe, Reversi, checkers, and Go.[3]
Year. A year is a unit of time based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun.[1] In scientific use, the tropical year (approximately 365 solar days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds) and the sidereal year (about 20 minutes longer) are more exact. The modern calendar year, as reckoned according to the Gregorian calendar, approximates the tropical year by using a system of leap years. The term year is also used to indicate other periods of roughly similar duration, such as the lunar year (a roughly 354-day cycle of twelve of the Moons phases – see lunar calendar), as well as periods loosely associated with the calendar or astronomical year, such as the seasonal year, the fiscal year, the academic year, etc. Due to the Earths axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by changes in weather, the hours of daylight, and, consequently, vegetation and soil fertility. In temperate and subpolar regions around the planet, four seasons are generally recognized: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. In tropical and subtropical regions, several geographical sectors do not present defined seasons; but in the seasonal tropics, the annual wet and dry seasons are recognized and tracked.

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