Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

Hello,

Reading an article about the myths and facts of the ninja clans, I stumbled over this:

... The demise of the ninja came in 17th century. The japanese emperor named Tokugawa Ieyasu shogun in 1603; the daimyo had to bow to him and unite...

Is that correct? I was always under the impression that the shogun made himself. Also the date seems suspicious to me. If it was true, it must have happened during the time in which Usagi lives and looking at the time Stan spends on research, it would take me by surprise if it was correct since he never mentioned anything like this...

Puzzled,

digulla wrote:Hello,

Reading an article about the myths and facts of the ninja clans, I stumbled over this:

... The demise of the ninja came in 17th century. The japanese emperor named Tokugawa Ieyasu shogun in 1603; the daimyo had to bow to him and unite...

Is that correct? I was always under the impression that the shogun made himself. Also the date seems suspicious to me. If it was true, it must have happened during the time in which Usagi lives and looking at the time Stan spends on research, it would take me by surprise if it was correct since he never mentioned anything like this...

Puzzled,

The Shogun was the military power of the land but he still needed the support of the emperor because, descended from the Sun Goddess, he was the spirit of the land. It was a simple matter for Tokugawa to "bully" the emperor into proclaiming him Shogun after defeating all his rivals.

The date is correct. Ieyasu became Shogun in 1603 and stepped down in 1605 in favor of his son. The Tokugawa Shogunate lasted more than 260 years.

Stan Sakai wrote:The Shogun was the military power of the land but he still needed the support of the emperor because, descended from the Sun Goddess, he was the spirit of the land. It was a simple matter for Tokugawa to "bully" the emperor into proclaiming him Shogun after defeating all his rivals.

I see. From the comics, I got the impression that the last emperor was killed at Dan-No-Ura But I should have known better since the Japanese emperor declared the unconditional surrender of Japan in WW II which means that someone from the line must have survived.

Stan Sakai wrote:... Ieyasu became Shogun in 1603 and stepped down in 1605 in favor of his son. The Tokugawa Shogunate lasted more than 260 years.

So that means the ninja in Usagis world will also face hard times, soon? Or don't you plan to wipe them out?

Maybe Chizu will find that she comes out better than Kagemaru in the end Or worse when she'll eventually end up as the sole survivor of the Neko clan...

digulla wrote:I see. From the comics, I got the impression that the last emperor was killed at Dan-No-Ura
So that means the ninja in Usagis world will also face hard times, soon?

As I wrote in the Grasscutter story notes, the 8 year old emperor's younger brother stepped up to the throne.

The current emperor can trace his lineage directly to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, though Emperor Hirohito did renounce his divinity in the '40's.

I believe it was Nobunaga that tried to eradicate the Iga Ninja. The Tokugawa Shogunate actually, at one time, employed both Iga and Koga Ninja clans to guard the north and south gates of his castle.

ahh.. The battle at Sekigahara, was the most important battle in history of japan, isn`t that right Stan?

Sekigahara was the most important battle during the sengoku-jidai. Probably the most important battle of Japan could be vehemently argued by historians. Read anything by Stephen Turnbull. One of the most knowledgeable english-speaking historians. Although some would say that the battle of Nagashima was the most important of the Period of Warring States, I would agree that Sekigahara was the most important. at any rate, what period is Usagi living in? I know it was mentioned somewhere at sometime,but I'm too lazy to dig for it. Stan? At any rate, Jaa mata..... -Jason

Tokugawa against they toyotomis. Nabeshima Naoshige had orginally sided with the Tokugawas, but when the battle began suddenly switched to back the toyotomis.. Which would lead to a fatal mistake...

Noblesan wrote:... at any rate, what period is Usagi living in? I know it was mentioned somewhere at sometime,but I'm too lazy to dig for it.

UY Vol. 3 Nr. 60 takes place in October/November 1606: In 1605, the new shogun aducted his power for his son and these events are described in the Grasscutter story line (Page 75, if you own the book). The duel in #60 takes place exatly one year after the duel on the withered field (so it's late in the year; the comic would be UV Vol.3 #7) and that was before GC1. qed.

A lot has happened in this one year ... If Stan keeps his pace, we'll see 1610 in 2020