To study a history of our own country is that we know the reasons why we think and do in this way. There are both good things and bad things in the reasons. And there are ones that we can improve and the others that we cannot be changed by something ingrained in the Japanese spirit.
We must know the good and bad things in the reasons, and the good things keep continuing and the bad things have to be improved, in order to progress towards the future. I think that is a main purpose to study the history. The textbooks of history for school education written with a lot of beautiful words are useless to do so. It is important to read various books, and my own opinion must not be determined by feedback from one direction. Also it is necessary to face the history without closing our eyes even if it is a taboo. Please keep being patient with my poor English until the end of this book. Enjoy this book while checking a map of not only Japan but also East Asia. This book can give you the truth of Japanese people because the author is Japanese. I would just like people all over the world to know Japan.
Table of contents
Encounter with a person
From the Meiji period to the period of civil wars (From 1467 to 1912)
*About the Meiji period (From 1868 to 1912)
**The Seinan civil war (In 1877)
**The Akiyama brothers
*About the last days of the Tokugawa Shogunate (From 1853 to 1869)
**Shinsaku Takasugi
**Masujirou Ohmura
**Tsugunosuke Kawai
**Ryoujun Matsumoto
*About the period of civil wars, “Sengoku” (From 1467 to 1600)
**Sakon Shima
**Sekigahara
**Kanbei Kuroda
**Takakage Kobayakawa
About faith
*From history to morals
*Masako Shirasu and faith
*About a relationship between old town and Japanese spirit
*Saint Myoue
*About Saint Hounen
*About Saigyou
*Scenario of the birth of the God
*A history hided in a shrine
*An ancient faith
**The Kumano faith
**The Hakusan faith
**The Atago faith
Ancient historical areas except Yamato and Northern Kyushu
*What is Izumo?
*History of Hayato
*Relationship with the Korean Peninsula
About “Wa” tribe
Yamataikoku
*About Yamataikoku
*How come Himiko isn’t found?
About ancient powerful clans
*The Mononobe family
*The Fujiwara family
*The Soga family
*The Hata family
About the Record of Ancient Matters and Chronicles of Japan
*Chronicles of Japan
*About the Japanese ancient myths in the Record of Ancient Matters and Chronicles of Japan
About “Koshi-koden”, Japanese ancient biographies based on historical evidence
*“Hotsuma-tsutae”
*“Takeuchi-monjo”
*“Sendai-kuji-hongi”
*Teachings of “Hotsuma-tsutae”
Famous characters in the Japanese ancient history
*Who is “Okuninushi”?
*Who is “Yamatotakeru”?
*About a crow
The origin of thing under consideration of the ancient history
*The origin of toy
*The origin of Japanese public entertainments
How to investigate a history
*Don’t make little of comic books about ancient history
*History should be felt in the scene
*There are two types in books about history
*How to solve a mystery of history
*There is a history hidden in a place name
*Scientific investigation for history
The interim summary of the Japanese ancient history
Something studied recently
*A village surrounded by a fence in the Yayoi period found in Akita Prefecture
*A mold of copper sword of nomads was dug up
*A statue of the God in the ninth century A.D. was found in Kyushu
*Equality between a vengeful spirit and a friendly spirit
Something learned from history
*Understanding something old
*Recommendation on buying an used house
*The human race cannot conquer natural disasters and diseases also in the future like in the ancient times
*The origin of discrimination is trivial
*Harmony and Japan
The limits of studying a history
The closing remarks
Acknowledgement
We must know the good and bad things in the reasons, and the good things keep continuing and the bad things have to be improved, in order to progress towards the future. I think that is a main purpose to study the history. The textbooks of history for school education written with a lot of beautiful words are useless to do so. It is important to read various books, and my own opinion must not be determined by feedback from one direction. Also it is necessary to face the history without closing our eyes even if it is a taboo. Please keep being patient with my poor English until the end of this book. Enjoy this book while checking a map of not only Japan but also East Asia. This book can give you the truth of Japanese people because the author is Japanese. I would just like people all over the world to know Japan.
Table of contents
Encounter with a person
From the Meiji period to the period of civil wars (From 1467 to 1912)
*About the Meiji period (From 1868 to 1912)
**The Seinan civil war (In 1877)
**The Akiyama brothers
*About the last days of the Tokugawa Shogunate (From 1853 to 1869)
**Shinsaku Takasugi
**Masujirou Ohmura
**Tsugunosuke Kawai
**Ryoujun Matsumoto
*About the period of civil wars, “Sengoku” (From 1467 to 1600)
**Sakon Shima
**Sekigahara
**Kanbei Kuroda
**Takakage Kobayakawa
About faith
*From history to morals
*Masako Shirasu and faith
*About a relationship between old town and Japanese spirit
*Saint Myoue
*About Saint Hounen
*About Saigyou
*Scenario of the birth of the God
*A history hided in a shrine
*An ancient faith
**The Kumano faith
**The Hakusan faith
**The Atago faith
Ancient historical areas except Yamato and Northern Kyushu
*What is Izumo?
*History of Hayato
*Relationship with the Korean Peninsula
About “Wa” tribe
Yamataikoku
*About Yamataikoku
*How come Himiko isn’t found?
About ancient powerful clans
*The Mononobe family
*The Fujiwara family
*The Soga family
*The Hata family
About the Record of Ancient Matters and Chronicles of Japan
*Chronicles of Japan
*About the Japanese ancient myths in the Record of Ancient Matters and Chronicles of Japan
About “Koshi-koden”, Japanese ancient biographies based on historical evidence
*“Hotsuma-tsutae”
*“Takeuchi-monjo”
*“Sendai-kuji-hongi”
*Teachings of “Hotsuma-tsutae”
Famous characters in the Japanese ancient history
*Who is “Okuninushi”?
*Who is “Yamatotakeru”?
*About a crow
The origin of thing under consideration of the ancient history
*The origin of toy
*The origin of Japanese public entertainments
How to investigate a history
*Don’t make little of comic books about ancient history
*History should be felt in the scene
*There are two types in books about history
*How to solve a mystery of history
*There is a history hidden in a place name
*Scientific investigation for history
The interim summary of the Japanese ancient history
Something studied recently
*A village surrounded by a fence in the Yayoi period found in Akita Prefecture
*A mold of copper sword of nomads was dug up
*A statue of the God in the ninth century A.D. was found in Kyushu
*Equality between a vengeful spirit and a friendly spirit
Something learned from history
*Understanding something old
*Recommendation on buying an used house
*The human race cannot conquer natural disasters and diseases also in the future like in the ancient times
*The origin of discrimination is trivial
*Harmony and Japan
The limits of studying a history
The closing remarks
Acknowledgement
