Podcasts about Asuka

We continue to look at the life and times of Uno no Sarara, aka Jito Tenno, female sovereign ruling in her own right.  We look at some of the places she traveled to as sovereign and, ultimately, what she did to ensure that her grandson would succeed her. For more, check our podcast blog page:  https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-154 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua and this is episode 154: Queen Uno no Sarara, Part II   Light drifted in from outside the grand audience hall.  It filtered through barred windows and screens, and glinted off of bright gold and bronze accents, as well as the polished stone floor.  Upon a raised dais, surrounded by curtains, sat the tennou, arrayed in all of his youthful majesty.  Before him were princes and high ranking nobles, dressed in their finest court clothing.  Rich brocades of silk and black gauze hats only added to the pomp and circumstance of the moment. The nobles bowed and brought out a small tray.  Upon it were seventeen scrolls, freshly made, representing the latest updates to the laws and punishments of the land.  The nobles presented the work they had overseen, the culmination of a year's effort to further bring into line the organization of the state.  Off to the side, behind a screen of her own, Uno no Sarara watched the proceedings.  She thought back on all that had happened to bring them to this point.  This glittering hall was a far cry from the plain wooden structures of the old Kiyomihara palace.  And while she had never visited them, she could only imagine that this must rival the courts on the continent.  Everything that she and her husband had worked and fought for—all of the battles  they had fought, and all of the friends and children they had lost—she watched as it all came to fruition. The court was never going to be entirely peaceful—there would always be those striving for wealth and power, however they could attain it—but at this moment she no doubt felt as confident as she ever had that her efforts hadn't been for naught.  No matter what happened from here, the State, and her line, would continue.   So let's recap: We started with Part I of Uno no Sarara's reign back in episode 152, and then last episode we took a bit of a detour to go more in depth on the history of Ise and of the worship of Amaterasu more generally.  We talked about how there is good reason to believe that Ise shrine's prominence—and even many of the stories about Amaterasu and her importance in the story of the royal family—were either created or at least emphasized during the reigns of Ohoama and Uno no Sarara.  We ended with a discussion of the Jingikan, the newly created government organization developed to deal with so-called "Kami Matters", formally bringing the administration various shrines under the administration of the State.  Specifically it seems to have focused on State sponsored rituals.  I have no doubt that they took charge of the rituals at court itself, and they were likely involved in the worship at Ise Shrine, as well as the shrines of Tatsuta and Hirose.  On the other hand, as with the spread of Buddhist temples, direct State control was likely limited, at least at this stage, likely focused on the most influential institutions. This episode I want to continue with Uno no Sarara's reign.  She continued to make her mark on the court, tweaking how things worked, especially around the concept of rank.  And then there were her various travels.  These were mostly to her palace in Yoshino, but several other journeys, including a tour of the land of Kii—modern Wakayama prefecture—as well as a visit to her half-sister, Royal Princess Asuka. For all of that, however, the entry in the Nihon Shoki ends with what was perhaps one of the most direct and unique things she did:  Ensuring a smooth transition of power to her grandchild, Prince Karu. And while in this episode we'll (spoiler alert) cover both this power transition and Uno no Sarara's eventual death, we won't be done with her reign and its impact after this episode.  After all, there is still a lot going on around this time, and multiple different threads to pull on.  I expect several more episodes to cover things, such as the creation of hunting and fishing preserves, Buddhist merit-making, crime and punishment, and more.  There are also a few more people to talk about, such as Kakinomoto no Hitormaro, the court poet, and Fujiwara no Fubito and the establishment of the Fujiwara family as we know it.    So let's take a look at Uno no Sarara and what she was up to. She was still very much putting her stamp on things, tweaking the codes and making edicts.  One of the more impactful edicts would seem to be one where she had the government officials and people of the Home provinces all divided into nine classes.  This seems to be introducing yet another rank system, though this one is a bit more technical than the ones that came before. For one thing, it divided everyone up into nine ranks.  To do this, the court were going to take a look at a period of up to 6 years for those who already had rank and up to 7 years for those who did not.  The court—presumably court appointed judges—would use that period to evaluate individuals and slot them into a new system of nine classes.  Those in the first four classes would be given cap-rank based on their individual merits, the services that they had performed, and the importance of their house.  There isn't really a mention about the other five classes, but as they were theoretically the lower classes of society, it may not have been quite so pertinent.  BTW, of the three things that they were using to determine cap-rank, that last one, the importance of the individual's house, strikes me as the nod to the fact that the Japanese had not yet gotten away from the idea of "kabane" type hierarchy.  Granted, it isn't like family was unimportant in the Tang court, the Japanese were just being much more blatant and direct about it. Once everyone was properly sorted into the appropriate cap-rank, new edicts were issued on the official court clothing, which we discussed in Episode 150, and if you check out the blogpost you should be able to see what that looked like. I would note that the cap-rank system would eventually go away and be replaced by a rank system also based on 9 ranks, which then were broken up into upper and lower and junior and senior, so very similar to what we see with cap-rank, with some slight changes.  Uno no Sarara continued to make tweaks to the system, while working on the various large scale projects of the reign.  She wasn't exactly a homebody, however.  As she did all of this, she was regularly taking trips away from the capital. For example, between 689 and 697 she took at least 30 trips to visit Yoshino, sometimes taking as many as five trips in a year.  These were often short—a couple of days and then back to the grind of the court.  However, that's all that we get.  Based on the dates, we can at least make a few inferences.  For one, she was going down in all seasons, so she really must have enjoyed it, and it doesn't seem like it was attached to any particular official date or ritual.  Perhaps it just got her away from the pressure of official life. Some of her travel appear to have been work trips.  Her travel to Ise, which we talked about in the previous episodes, as well as things like traveling to visit the Castle of Takayasu and also to inspect horses at the embankment of Wani-no-kami.  Those appear to have been both trips where she was keeping an eye on things. Other trips, however, provide fewer details.  Mostly we know where she went.  This included trips to Hatsuse, Kii, Takamiya, and Yonabari, in Uda.  We are also told she ascended the Peak of Tou no Mine and later that she made another journey out to the Futatsuki Palace—presumably at the same place.  And we also have a trip out to the country-house of Royal Princess Asuka. Now Hatsuse, Kii, and Uda are all places we've previously talked about.  They are all on the Kii peninsula.  Hatsuse—or Hase—and Yonabari, in Uda, are both due east of modern Sakurai, following the Yamato upriver and then branching off to the aptly named Yonabari river.  These areas are well-referenced in the rest of the Nihon Shoki.  "Kii" is a bit more ambiguous.  Kii refers to the entire land of Kii, or Kii no Kuni—by the way, if you are familiar with the Japanese bookseller "Ki-no-kuni-ya", that name directly references the land of Kii as the family who started it were from Wakayama in Kii, where they served under the Kishu—or Kii—branch of the Tokugawa family during the Edo period.  That said, there were others who also used the name "Kinokuni" as a locative name as well, and you will occasionally see it here or there, even outside of the famous bookstore. The land of Kii is basically all of the southern Kii peninsula.  On the west side, it starts at roughly Wakayama, and includes the mountainous regions south of the Nara basin, wrapping around to the east side of the peninsula, to just south of Ise.  Today it is split between Wakayama prefecture and parts of Mie prefecture, including the towns of Kihoku—literally "Northern Kii"—and Taiki—"Big Kii".  Today, "Taiki" is part of the Watarai district, Watarai being the name of the location where Ise shrine was located.  So you can see that Kii basically included everything from one side of the peninsula to the other. Most of the time, though, I would generally assume that travel to Kii is a reference to the nearby area of Wakayama, especially as there are other references to that area in the form of hunting and fishing restrictions, which we'll discuss more fully in a later episode. This particular trip to Kii sounds like it was a bit of a longer trip, incorporating several locations.  We know that it took roughly eleven days—about a week and a half.  That's enough time to do quite a bit of sightseeing.  In fact, shortly before leaving, Uno no Sarara says that she is going on a "tour" of the land of Kii, and as such the land-tax and poll-tax for Kii would not be collected for a year, since, instead, they were expected to support her visit so that she could travel in appropriate style and so that temporary palaces could be made available for her use.  Kii is an interesting place for Uno no Sarara to visit.  It is mentioned occasionally throughout the chronicles, and its position puts it squarely in Yamato's sphere of influence.  At the same time, its mountainous nature means that it was never quite as populated as regions like the Nara basin or the Kawachi plains, where the large, flat areas were better suited to wet rice paddy agriculture.  In Kii, there are only a few areas really suitable for supporting large populations through agriculture alone, and even today the mountains make travel and construction in the area more difficult, so you don't have the highly concentrated population centers as in other regions.  The area around modern Wakayama city provides some of the best land for agriculture, with some other coastal regions as well. But it is mountains that Kii is known for, and the mountains often have spiritual significance.  Mt. Koya, or Koyasan, would be found in 805 as the center of Shingon Buddhism, but well before that you have the Kumano shrines, also known as the Kumano Sanzan—the three mountains of Kumano. There is a lot of evidence that worship at the three mountains of Kumano was heavily influenced by Buddhism and Buddhist traditions, but that this was a later influence on areas that were already important spiritual sites well before Buddhism arrived in the archipelago.  The exact nature of worship is debated, but the area was important, with "Kumano" once treated as its own land, overseen by the Kumano Kuni no Miyatsuko.  The deities of Kumano and the area more generally features in the Nihon Shoki in the legendary stories of Iware Biko, aka Jimmu Tenno. The Kumano shrines are, ultimately, a series of shrines in the Kumano region, roughly 20-40 kilometers from each other.  There are three main shrines—Kumano Hongu Taisha, Kumano Hayatama Taisha, and Kumano Nachi Taisha—known as the three mountains.  There are numerous other shrines as well.  There are three main deities worshipped, but then also another nine that are considered important as well, for at least twelve kami.  The three main kami – Kumano Musubi no Ohokami, Hayatama no Ohokami, and Ketsumi Mikoto Ohokami – are also considered to be manifestations of Izanami, Izanagi, and Susano'o.  Izanami and Izanagi are famously the progenitor kami of the archipelago, while Susano'o is the storm and ocean deity said to be the rambunctious and troublesome brother to Amaterasu Ohokami.   It is quite likely that the connection with these other kami—who feature prominently in the later stories, was actually a later addition.  Similarly, around the 9th century, the Kumano shrines were heavily influenced by Buddhism, which often co-opted indigenous kami worship by associating the native kami with incarnations of Buddhist figures.  In this case:  Thousand-armed Kannon, Yakushi—or the Medicine—Buddha, and Amithabha.  I must say that associating Amithaba—or Amida—with Susano'o seems like a bold move.  The deity who tossed a backwards flayed colt into Amaterasu's weaving hut is also the Buddha who made the promise that all who call on his name would find their way to the western pure land? I guess. Together, the kami of Kumano are known as the Kumano Gongen, and there is a pilgrimage trail, even today, that leads between the various shrines and peaks, as well as various temple complexes in the area. There is one other interesting connection with Kumano shrines, and that is the fact that there is a Kumano Taisha up in the Izumo region.  Today, they claim that despite the names being identical, there are no actual ties between Kumano Taisha and the Kumano Sanzan.  The Kumano Taisha of Izumo is actually considered the Ichinomiya, or most important shrine, of Izumo—even more important than the famous Izumo shrine, itself.  It lies 30 minutes south of modern Matsue, and enshrines a kami known as Kushi-mikenu-no-Mikoto, said to be another name for none other than the famous Susano'o. Kumano Taisha claims to have been first mentioned in the Nihon Shoki back in the time of Takara Hime, aka Saimei Tennou, in an entry from 659, though that entry simply states that the Izumo no Miyatsuko was to repair the shrine of the "Itsuki" kami, and doesn't specifically mention Kumano Taisha by name.  There is an entry attributed to the Izumo fudoki, which claims a shrine was located on Mt. Kumano, identified with modern day Tenguyama.  And then, Kumano Taisha appears in the Engi Shiki in the 10th century.  Suffice it to say, there are many different ways that this can be interpreted. Scholars have attempted to look into the potential connections between Kumano Taisha in Izumo and the Kumano Gongen of Wakayama, but it does not appear that there is a fully formed consensus.  I would note that we certainly see various important worship centers branching out throughout the archipelago, setting up branches elsewhere, and we also see the association of various local kami with other, more famous kami, making the claim that they are simply another name for the same entity.  This would appear to be one way to bring different groups into communion with each other, as it were, and helping to gloss over the potential difficulties found in diverse belief and worship practices. As a side note, there is at least one other Kumano Taisha of note, found up in the Tohoku region.  It claims to be the "Ise of Tohoku", with a focus on Izanami and Izanagi.  It seems to claim a founding around the early 9th century at the Tenno's request.  Given that, I think we can ignore it for our current discussion. To bring this all back around, it is unclear if Uno no Sarara's tour of Wakayama included the Kumano shrines at this time.  Certainly Kumano would play an important role in the legends and stories that the court was putting together, but what structures were in place at this point in the story are unclear.  Her tour may have focused much more on the area around modern Wakayama.  Her tour of the area took a total of eleven days, which is more than enough time to have seen a fair bit of the area, and certainly would have been enough time to get down to the Kumano region, but we don't have any clear details that I see to say exactly what happened. Still, I do find it interesting to look at the juxtaposition of the Kumano shrine story with that of Ise.  Both took on some aspects of the official stories of the founding of Japan and appear to have been important shrines for the court to some extent, and both the trip to Ise and the trip to Kumano were events such that local taxes were commuted for a time to help pay for the royal visit. But whereas Ise would go on to reject the merging of Buddhism with local kami worship, Kumano appears to have embraced it.  Kumano worship took on a highly syncretic character, with Buddhism and Kami worship becoming inextricably intertwined, maintaining that character even today, despite numerous historical attempts to extricate the two from each other. Ultimately, Ise shrine would take pride of place as the national shrine of the royal family, but I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Kumano had been more ascendant. Getting back to our discussion of Uno no Sarara's various peregrinations:  we also have what appear to be two trips up to Tou-no-mine—the modern pronunciation for the name which Aston transliterates as "Tamu no Mine".  This is the peak where, about forty years earlier, Takara Hime is said to have built a circular enclosure and called "Futa-tsuki" or two "Tsuki" trees palace.  It was also known as "Ama-tsu-miya", the Heavenly Palace.  The modern Tou-no-mine is a mountain to the southeast of Asuka, however, there is also a theory that the Tou-no-mine and Futa-tsuki palace were actually on a small hill just due east of the Kiyomihara palace site.  This is where we find walls, the Sakafune-ishi stone, and other examples of work from the time when the Futa-tsuki palace would have been built. That said, to get to Tou-no-mine, we are told it was a two day trip—one day out and one day back.  That said, it wouldn't have all been spent traveling.  In fact, Tou-no-mine, today, is under two hours walking distance.  The site by the palace is much closer, and the entry for going to the Futatsuski is only mentioned on a single day.  So none of that is particularly helpful, in my opinion.  Ultimately, we know that it was a location near Asuka and that it was associated with Takara Hime, the last female sovereign in her own right—even though her reign was arguably run largely by her son, Crown Prince Naka no Oe. Speaking of whom, Naka no Oe was not only the father of Uno no Sarara, but also of Royal Princess Asuka.  So when Uno no Sarara went to Asuka's country house, also known as the Denso or Tadokoro, she was actually going to pay a visit on her own half-sister.  By the way, "country-house" is the Aston translation.  A more direct translation might be something like "Field Place".  It was a private estate belonging to powerful families, such as the local elites—or in this case the royal family.  It is a rare glimpse into the living conditions of those royal princes and princesses who were not resident in the palace itself.  I do find it interesting that it specifically identifies the royal princess and not some male relative or husband—and Uno no Sarara isn't really noted as visiting a lot of family members all over the place.  I've seen a suggestion that Asuka may have been married to Prince Osakabe, one of Temmu's sons, but if so it is interesting that Uno no Sarara goes to visit *her* house and not *his* house. Princess Asuka is not mentioned much, but given this and a few other things—including being mentioned in the Man'yoshu in connection with a poem by the famous Kakinomoto no Hitomaro—she seemed to be someone important, even though we don't have a lot of information on what that looked like at the time. And with that, we've covered most of Uno no Sarara's travels.  We discussed her near-constant trips to Yoshino, then there were official visits to inspect the fortifications and horses.  Granted, that latter duty was also done just at the palace, in Asuka, so it wasn't necessarily terribly special.  There was her expedition to Ise, which we discussed in a previous episode, and then down to tour the land of Kii.  There were short jaunts out to Hatsuse and Yonabari.  And the largely unexplained visits to Tou-no-mine and the enigmatic Futa-tsuki palace.  Finally, there was a note about her calling on her half-sister, Princess Asuka. So that was what Uno no Sarara was doing when she wasn't at the court.  Otherwise, whether it was in the Asuka Kiyomihara palace or in the new Fujiwara Palace, she was dealing with the business of the state.  Much of what is recorded are fairly common things—banquets, archery competitions, and similar events that are interesting in aggregate, perhaps, but maybe not so helpful in figuring out the larger trends that were occurring at the time.  There were edicts and changes, but we can talk about those separately.  There were natural disasters, as well. Overall, she spent eleven years on the throne, from 686 to 697.  In that time, she finished much of the work started by her husband, put her own stamp on the new government, and, perhaps most importantly, she set up her grandson for success.  It is worth nothing that Uno no Sarara's posthumous regnal name is Jitou Tennou, and while that was probably not something she chose for herself, it may give us some insight into how the Chroniclers viewed her.  Remember that the brothers, Naka no Oe and Ohoama, were given the names "Tenji" and "Temmu", respectively.  Tenji is "Heavenly Wisdom", and he is counted as the brains behind the Great Change, the Taika reforms, and much of the shape that the state took from 645 onwards.  Temmu is something like "Heavenly Warrior".  The victor of the Jinshin no Ran was remembered for his military strategy, even though that was really only a small part of his overall reign.  The characters of Jitou's posthumous title are two characters.  The first, "Ji", means "to hold" or "to have".  The other character is "tou" and generally means "relationship" or "to control".  It can also refer to unification. This is often considered to mean that her role was seen as continuing to hold the throne and continue the work of her husband and his line, his progeny.  In this case, that means strengthening the state that Ohoama had built, following through on his national projects, and ultimately ensuring that the throne passed seamlessly to Ohoama's grandson, ensuring that his line would continue.  Of course, it probably should be noted that of course it was also her own bloodline that she was continuing as well, something that would become important in later years. And it is easy for us to look at this as simply editorializing by the Chroniclers, who were, after all, trying to craft a national narrative as well as record the history.  In many ways the use of these posthumous titles allowed them to do that—to summarize an entire reign into something that could be easily remembered.  And yet, based on the actions that she has taken, there certainly seems to be something to this description of Uno no Sarara and her motivations. We saw, early on, how she cleared the way for her own son, Crown Prince Kusakabe, getting rid of his potential rival for the throne, Prince Ohotsu, and thus potentially averting another conflict at the start of the reign.  But then Kusakabe died, leaving her with his young son, and while placing a young infant on the throne might have become a thing in later centuries, that precedent had not quite been set just yet.  Even as it was, Uno no Sarara likely had some concept that she could not know how many years she would get.  A decade on the throne was nothing to sneeze at, and many sovereigns had much less.  And so, beyond setting up the structure of government that her grandson would inherit, she also had a few more things to ensure.  She would want him to be old enough to be taken seriously, and she would need to make sure that there were no other claimants that could complicate matters.  There was only one other serious candidate that fit that description, and that was Prince Takechi. Remember, Prince Takechi was Ohoama's eldest son.  He was also a maternal descendant of the Munakata, meaning that he didn't have the double-royal imprimatur that was presumably required to take the throne as the sovereign.  And yet, Uno no Sarara was no doubt savvy enough to understand that those kinds of traditions changed quickly and easily in the past, as long as one had the right political backing. At the same time, Uno no Sarara appears to have leaned heavily on Prince Takechi's support.  It was a risk, but his support for her efforts would help her do what she needed to do.  Not only that, but if anything did happen to the young Prince Karu, Prince Takechi was the next in line.  He was also the Dajou Daijin—the most powerful court position short of Uno no Sarara herself.  For many reasons, it would have been difficult if the Queen felt she needed to take him out of the picture. Perhaps then it was fortuitous that in 696 the issue resolved itself, when Royal Prince Takechi passed away. This was no doubt a sad event, and yet it also may have set things in motion.  Prince Karu had been born in 683, so he was fourteen years old—still quite young, but old enough.  He was also surrounded by supporters, including his own mother, widow to the late Prince Kusakabe, Royal Princess Abe. While it isn't mentioned in the Nihon Shoki, we get a glimpse of how all this was planned in the Kaifuso, published in 751.  There, in an entry for Prince Kadono, a son of Prince Ohotomo, we are told that after Prince Takechi's death, Prince Kadono met with Uno no Sarara and others and suggested a course of action.  He encourage Uno no Sarara to pass on the kingdom to Prince Karu, despite his youth.  If true, this is quite the statement from someone whose own father was killed in the Jinshin no Ran, which brought Ohoama and Uno no Sarara to power in the first place.  It appears as though she heeded his advice, setting up what would come next over the following year. And so it is from the year after Prince Takechi's death that we start to really see entries focused on Prince Karu.  In the second month of 697, for instance, we see that Tahema no Mabito no Kunimi was appointed to be Prince Karu's tutor.  Likewise we see Michi no Mabito no Atomi and Kose no Ason no Ahamochi appointed as director and assistant director of the Spring Palace—the palace for the Crown Prince, the Heir Apparent.  Interestingly, Aston notes that the Nihon Shoki never actually gives an entry for when Prince Karu was named Heir Apparent—it just seems to be assumed. Ten days after the new directors were appointed, a public great-congregation was held at the Crown Prince's palace—here called the Eastern Palace, and I'll admit I'm not sure if "Eastern Palace" and "Spring Palace" were different names for the same place or what.  I assume these were all part of the newly built Fujiwara Palace, though the most important part is the implications for Prince Karu.  He was being introduced to the court, it seems, with a large congregation at his residence where the court would be expected to acknowledge his position as the crown prince and heir apparent. Three months later, we are told that Uno no Sarara grew ill.  The Ministers and various government officials made votive images of the Buddha in an attempt to make merit and help her to recover.  While she would recover from whatever illness she experienced, I suspect that this was something of a wake-up call.  Uno no Sarara was in her early 50s, and she wasn't getting any younger.  She also lived at a time where she had to realize that many others hadn't made it as far, and perhaps her illness made her realize that if she was going to do something, she had better do it sooner, rather than later.  And so, just a little more than a month later, on the first day of the 8th month, Uno no Sarara abdicated the throne in favor of her grandchild, Prince Karu, soon to become the next Tennou. This isn't the first time we've seen an abdication in the history of Yamato, but it is perhaps the first time we've seen it quite like this.  When Takara Hime abdicated, I think we can agree that it was largely under duress.  She had just seen her son lead a bloody coup against the most powerful court nobles, and that really does seem to have shaken her.  No such bloody struggle was happening here, however.  In fact, there is plenty to suggest that avoiding a bloody struggle was exactly Uno no Sarara's point.  By overseeing Prince Karu's ascension while she was still around, Queen Uno no Sarara maintained significant control over the process. Part of this rested on the fact that when she retired from the position of Tennou she didn't just become some commoner or retreat to the position of Queen Mother or Dowager Queen or something similar.  Instead, she took on a new titled:  Retired Sovereign, or Dajou-Tennou.  Technically this means that her own title was something like "Greater Sovereign", compared to Karu's "sovereign".  This position was new, and may not have even been fully formed at the time of the initial abdication.  Unlike when Takara Hime abdicated, effectively acknowledging that she wasn't actually in charge, Uno no Sarara was planning to remain an active force in government.  Her grandson would be set up as the formal sovereign, or Tennou.  He would be responsible for the rituals and ensuring everything was properly carried out, but his mother, the Dajou-Tennou, would have a tremendous amount of clout and control. By all accounts, this abdication and creation of the "Dajou-Tennou" position really does seem to have been specifically set up for this occasion, to ensure the smooth transition of power.  This way, when Uno no Sarara eventually did pass away, there would be no question about who was seated on the throne.  Given everything she had witnessed—from stories about her how her own father had come to power as well as the events of the Jinshin no Ran and then everything that happened in the aftermath of her own husband's death—I can understand why Uno no Sarara would have been pre-occupied with the idea of ensuring a smooth transition to the next sovereign.  She likely could not foresee how this new position would be used in the future, and yet it would become something of a staple in the politics of the Japanese court. Initially, retired sovereigns were typically doing so for reasons similar to Uno no Sarara—to ensure a smooth transition of power from one to the other and to ensure that the next tennou could be established to avoid instability.  However, it would become something even more.  After all, why wait until your heir is actually ready?  If you are going to be running things, anyway, why not remove yourself from the tedium of ritual while retaining your authority?  And in later centuries we see the tennou retiring younger, leaving younger and younger heirs to hold the actual throne.  There would also be a certain Buddhist aspect to it as well, allowing the retired tennou to be seen as a kind of Golden Wheel Turning Sovereign who was theoretically beyond the material cares of the day to day.  The retired sovereigns would be referred to as "In", which is likely a reference to the suffix given to their compounds, rather than the common "Miya" or "Gu".  And so the government under these retired sovereigns would become known as the Insei, or government by cloistered sovereigns, but that system was still in the future.  For now, we are just seeing the seeds of what was to come, eventually. To understand this later phase of Uno no Sarara's life, we need to take our first few steps into a new source:  The Shoku Nihongi.  The Nihon Shoki ceases to describe anything after Uno no Sarara's abdication, and the official history of Prince Karu's reign—known to us as Monmu Tennou—is taken up by the Shoku Nihongi.  This is literally the continued Japanese history, and we'll talk about it in depth at some point.  For now, I would note that it was compiled in 797 – so literally a century after the last entry in the Nihon Shoki.  That said, it likely had much better records to go off of compared to the Nihon Shoki, though it was still likely compiled with a view that was still quite friendly towards the royal family and the position of the Tennou. And so, when Uno no Sarara largely disappears from the narrative, I don't know that we should assume that she had truly gone completely hands off.  After all, with everything we've seen, do we think that this is a woman who would just hand the reins over to a fourteen or fifteen year old boy?  And yet the first time she appears is in 701, when she is making a trip to her favorite vacation spot:  the Palace at Yoshino.  That said, there were some pretty big events that happened during this period, after her abdication and assumption of the title of Dajou-Tennou.  The biggest was the creation of the Taihou Code.  Once again, this will need a fuller treatment, but the Taihou Code was an update to the Kiyomihara code.  The Asuka-Kiyomihara code was 22 volumes, and focused on  the laws, the "ryou", but not necessarily the punishments, or "ritsu".  In contrast the Taihou code was 6 volumes of "ritsu" and 11 volumes of "ryou", for 17 volumes in total.  Unfortunately, we mostly have scraps of indications here and there, and the codes that came afterwards, which were each based on what came before.  For instance, we do know that they completely overhauled the rank system yet again.  Unlike the Kiyomihara  code, which took years to develop, the compilation of the Taiho code is ordered in 700 and completed by 701—likely because it was really more of an update and a compilation of what was already on the books. This was perhaps the most significant thing that happened while Uno no Sarara was still available to exert her influence.  Karu was still only about 19 years old at this point.  He would turn 20 the following year, 702.  That same year, Uno no Sarara would travel all the way out to Mikawa no Kuni, which is the eastern half of the modern prefecture of Aichi.  The royal procession, which started in the 10th month of 702, then made its way back through Owari a month later, and from there up to Mino, and then down to Ise and back through Iga.  The royal procession is first recorded on the 10th day of the 10th month and returned on the 25th day of the 11th month—a round-trip time of roughly 45 days.  Throughout we are told that various ranks and awards were given out to important individuals at each stop. Unfortunately, that trip may have taken a toll.  A few weeks later, on the 13th day of the 12th month, Uno no Sarara grew ill.  There was a great amnesty pronounced throughout the realm, and one hundred men took Buddhist vows on her behalf.  They even read the Sutra of Golden Light in the Home Provinces.  Alas, it was all to no avail.  Uno no Sarara passed away on the 22nd day of the 12th month—or January 13th in 703.  It was roughly six years from her abdication.  She would have died with at least some knowledge that the realm was largely in order.  Her grandson was on the  throne and had been ruling for the past six years.  He had attained the age of majority, and things seemed relatively stable.  There was even a new, grand, permanent capital city, just like on the continent. But that closes out the life of Uno no Sarara.  She lived in interesting times, experienced tremendous fortune and misfortune, and she put her indelible stamp on the state of Yamato and thus the future of Japan.  There is still more to go over in this period—we have interactions with the Emishi, updates to society, and various impacts to Buddhism.  We'll also take a look at some more important people from this period, including Kakinomoto no Hitomaru, the famous poet, and the poems of the Man'yoshu, and Fujiwara no Fubito, the son of Nakatomi no Kamatari and the one largely responsible for making the Fujiwara house the most influential house in the entire court. Until then if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

Originally Aired June 2nd, 2020Lets go back 6 years to a Monday Night Raw that saw Charlotte Flair vs Asuka, Nia Jax vs Kairi Sane, R-Truth beat Rob Gronkowski for the 24/7 Title, Rey & Dom respond to Seth Rollins, and Kevin Owens team with Apollo Crews.Go AD-FREE at Patreon.com/WWEPodcastBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-wwe-podcast--2187791/support.

VOV1 - Sau một thời gian dài xem xét, nghiên cứu kỹ lưỡng, Tổ chức Giáo dục, Khoa học và Văn hóa của Liên Hợp Quốc (UNESCO) đã quyết định đưa thêm 1 di tích nữa của Nhật Bản danh sách di sản thế giớiDi tích của Nhật Bản được UNESCO thông qua tại kỳ họp lần thứ 48 Ủy ban di sản thế giới đang diễn ra tại Busan – Hàn Quốc là quần thể di tích Asuka-Fujiwara ở cố đô Nara thuộc vùng Kansai – Nhật Bản.Asuka-Fujiwara là tập hợp các di tích cung điện, đô thị, chùa chiền và lăng mộ cổ từ cuối thời kỳ Asuka đến đầu thời kỳ Nara, vào khoảng năm 592 đến năm 710 và cũng là nơi nhà nước phong kiến luật pháp đầu tiên của Nhật Bản hình thành, phát triển.Quần thể này có 2 hợp phần chính là vùng Asuka - nơi đặt các hành cung của vua chúa từ thời nhà vua Suiko đến nhà vua Temmu, nổi tiếng với cung điện Asuka-Itabukimiya, cung điện Asuka-Kiyomiharura…, và khu đô thị Fujiwara - kinh đô theo thế bàn cờ chính thức đầu tiên của Nhật Bản, được xây dựng từ năm 694 đến 710 trước khi dời đô sang Heijo.Việc UNESCO ghi danh Asuka-Fujiwara đã đưa số di sản thế giới của riêng Nara lên 4 di tích và đưa tổng số di sản của cả Nhật Bản lên con số 27. Đây được coi là niềm tự hào của người dân địa phương và là niềm vui chung của tất cả người dân Nhật Bản, lồng trong cam kết và quyết tâm bảo tồn, phát huy giá trị di sản cho các thế hệ sau./.Tuấn Nhật /VOV JapanQuần thể di tích Asuka-Fujiwara. Ảnh Jiji Press

Hidden among the hills of Asuka, Nara, Japan, lies the mysterious Masuda Iwafune 益 田 岩 船 - Rock Ship of Masuda — a massive ancient stone monument surrounded by unanswered questions. In this episode of Supernatural Japan, Kevin and his son visit the actual Rock Ship of Masuda with regular guest Phillip Jackson to investigate its strange origins, forgotten history, and the legends surrounding one of Japan's most fascinating archaeological mysteries. Website: supernaturaljapan.com Supernatural Japan locations map: Google Map Get lots of Premium and Exclusive Content and Ad-free Episodes! Premium membership: @patreon  Support on: @BuyMeACoffee Tales from Kevin (my expat diary podcast) Connect with Supernatural Japan: Instagram: @supernaturaljapan Facebook: @SupernaturalJapan BlueSky: @MadForMaple X: @MadForMaple YouTube: @BusanKevin Email: supernaturaljapan@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The latest 'main' episode of the podcast sees us travel less than a decade into the past for an NXT Takeover that featured Shinsuke Nakamura defending his Title against 'Glorious' Bobby Roode. Also on the show, Asuka had 4 opponents to fend off in order to retain her NXT Women's Title and the tag belts were also on the line as DIY faced the Authors of Pain. The Random Wrestling Review is brought to you this week by Old Man, Matt & Tinky.

NXT TakeOver London recap, Asuka is the GOAT of NXT, Samoa Joe had R&B swag, Nia Jax should have been NXT Champion, MJF to NXT, Enzo Amore as Evolve GM, best wrestling video games + more.Get 50% Your First Year At Sam's Club (Sponsored Link): ⁠⁠⁠https://tinyurl.com/ykwsamsclub⁠

Fluent Fiction - Japanese: The Secret Shrine: A Tale of Discovery and Friendship Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/ja/episode/2026-07-02-07-38-20-ja Story Transcript:Ja: 夏の日差しが眩しいある午後、明日香と弘司は知床半島をハイキングしていました。En: One afternoon, when the summer sun was dazzlingly bright, Asuka and Koji were hiking on the Shiretoko Peninsula.Ja: ふたりは静かな森の中を歩き続け、風の音や鳥のさえずりに耳をすませて自然を楽しんでいました。En: They continued walking through the quiet forest, tuned into the sounds of the wind and the chirping of birds, enjoying the beauty of nature.Ja: 突然、明日香が立ち止まりました。En: Suddenly, Asuka stopped.Ja: 「見て、弘司！」彼女は指を差し出し、苔むした古い石の祠を指し示しました。En: "Look, Koji!" She pointed towards a moss-covered old stone shrine.Ja: 倒木に隠されたその場所は、まるで時間に忘れられたかのように静かに佇んでいます。En: Hidden by a fallen tree, the shrine stood there quietly, as if forgotten by time.Ja: 「すごい、こんなところに祠があるなんて！」弘司は驚きと興奮に目を輝かせます。En: "Incredible! I can't believe there's a shrine here!" Koji's eyes sparkled with surprise and excitement.Ja: 明日香はその神聖な雰囲気を感じ取り、静かに祠に近づき、手を合わせました。En: Feeling the sacred atmosphere, Asuka approached the shrine quietly and put her hands together.Ja: 「ここは大切にしなきゃいけない場所かもしれない。」En: "This might be a place that needs to be preserved."Ja: 「でも、写真を撮った方がいいんじゃない？」弘司の手はカメラを取り出そうとします。En: "But shouldn't we take a picture?" Koji reached for his camera.Ja: 「記録して、もっと調べてみたい。」En: "I want to document it and learn more about it."Ja: 明日香は少し困った顔をしました。En: Asuka looked a bit troubled.Ja: 「弘司、この場所を写真で公開したら、たくさんの人が来て、荒らされちゃうかもしれない。」En: "If we share photos of this place, it might attract a lot of people, and it could get ruined."Ja: ふたりの間に静かな緊張が流れます。En: A quiet tension flowed between them.Ja: 弘司はカメラと明日香の真剣な表情を交互に見て、心の中で葛藤しました。En: Koji looked back and forth between his camera and Asuka's serious expression, conflicted inside.Ja: 「ここは特別な場所なんだね。」と弘司はようやく悟り、カメラをしまいました。En: "It's a special place, isn't it?" Koji finally realized, putting away his camera.Ja: 「それじゃ、地元の人たちに聞いてみよう。その方がいい。」En: "Let's ask the local people. That might be better."Ja: こうして、ふたりは同行者の知恵を仰ぎながら、祠を静かに後にしました。En: With this decision, they quietly left the shrine, seeking the wisdom of their companions.Ja: 弘司は自分の好奇心を後回しにし、明日香との友情を大切にすることを選びました。En: Koji chose to set aside his own curiosity and valued the friendship with Asuka.Ja: 帰り道、明日香は微笑んで言います。「ありがとう、弘司。あなたの理解に感謝するわ。」En: On the way back, Asuka smiled and said, "Thank you, Koji. I appreciate your understanding."Ja: 弘司も笑顔で答えます。「こちらこそ、ありがとう。大切なことを教えてくれたね。」En: Koji replied with a smile, "Thank you too. You taught me something important."Ja: 知床の森は何も変わらずに広がり、ふたりはさらに強い絆で結ばれました。En: The Shiretoko forest remained unchanged, and the two were bound by an even stronger bond.Ja: その友情は、彼らにとって何よりも貴重な宝物となりました。En: That friendship became a precious treasure for them above all else. Vocabulary Words:dazzlingly: 眩しいhiking: ハイキングchirping: さえずりmoss-covered: 苔むしたshrine: 祠sparkled: 輝かせますexcitement: 興奮sacred: 神聖なpreserved: 大切にしなきゃdocument: 記録ruined: 荒らされちゃうtension: 緊張conflicted: 葛藤companions: 同行者wisdom: 知恵curiosity: 好奇心forest: 森unchanged: 変わらずbound: 結ばれましたtreasure: 宝物afternoon: 午後forgotten: 忘れられたatmosphere: 雰囲気troubled: 困ったserious: 真剣なdecided: 選びましたappreciate: 感謝するunderstanding: 理解spread: 広がりbond: 絆

We've looked at several different members of the court during the reign of Uno no Sarara, aka Jitou Tennou.  Today we start to look at her life, who she was, and what she did.  In this first part we'll touch on some of her big accomplishments, including building the Fujiwara capital, patronage of Ise Shrine, and even the publication of the Kiyomihara law code.   For more, check out the podcast blogpost:  https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-152   Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is episode 152: Queen Uno no Sarara, Part 1 It was rare that something would pull people from the fields at the height of the season, but it wasn't every day that people of Iga had the opportunity to watch a true royal procession.  They gathered on either side of the street as the parade passed through town.  There were horses and carts, but also just numerous men carrying various bags and provisions.  There were also military guards, decked out in their finest—just in case anyone got any ideas.  There were also various nobles and government officials, riding with her.  The outfits and color would have been striking, particular to those who had little business with the court.  And at the height of it all was a covered palanquin.  Nobody could see the royal presence inside through the screens, though later they would talk about getting a peek of her hair or her robes.  It didn't matter, the procession itself was enough of a spectacle for all to see. Not everyone was pleased.  A few of the more dour elders complained about how much of a disruption and a distraction it was.  They would at least be somewhat mollified by the news that, for enduring the disruption, they would at least get a break on their taxes that year.  The procession was headed east, to the land of Ise.  Apparently they were going to pay their respects at the shrine there.  Did you know that it was dedicated to the ancestor of the royal family itself?  The actual sun goddess herself, Amaterasu.  Some of the elders shook their heads.  They remembered when everyone had been focused on Mt. Miwa, to the west.  And what about this Buddha that had shown up from overseas?  There were temples to him popping up all over the place.  They weren't so sure about all of this, but they knew their local kami and their local priests, who helped with the local harvests, and that was enough for them.  The court and their fancy learning could figure out what the country needed, but they were going to stay focused on the day to day, instead. Here we are, in the reign of Uno no Sarara, widow of Ohoama and mother to the late Prince Kusakabe, known to history as Jitou Tennou.  We've actually been in Uno's reign for several episodes now, but while we've talked about how that reign began and the roles a lot of other people played in that beginning, this episode I would finally like to start focusing on her—who she was, where she came from, and what she did.  Since that covers a lot of ground, we are going to cover some of her history up to this reign, and we'll be mostly focusing on two major updates—the creation of the new capital of Fujiwara, aka Fujiwara-kyou, and the increased royal patronage of Ise, which is thought to have been responsible for the ascendancy of Amaterasu as the paramount kami of the pantheon of Shinto kami. So let's start at the very beginning. It is traditionally held that Uno no Sarara was born around 645 to Naka no Oe and Soga no Ochi no Iratsume.  Ochi was the daughter of Soga no Kurayamada no Ishikawa no Maro, cousin to the powerful Soga no Iruka.  Naka no Oe's marriage to Ochi no Iratsume and her sister, Mehi no Iratsume, had been part of a strategic alliance with Ishikawa no Maro, who helped him overthrow his cousins and institute the Taika Reforms.  We talked about all of that back in Episode 106, as well as subsequent podcasts after that covering the next several reigns. So 645 is about the earliest Uno no Sarara may have been born, the very start of the Taika era, when her father began instituting a lot of changes based on continental practices. She would have grown up in the inner buildings of the Asuka court during this  time of immense change.  She was probably a bit young when the Toyosaki palace was first built, though she may have remembered when the court abandoned it and moved back to Asuka.  Unfortunately, when she was only five years old, tragedy struck.  Ishikawa no Maro, who had been made the Udaijin, or Minister of the Right, was slandered by his own brother, Soga no Himuka, and in return, Naka no Oe sent a force to have him punished.  When he saw he could not get away, Uno no Sarara's grandfather, Ishikawa no Maro, took his own life.  The Nihon Shoki—written, I should note, at least partly under the direction of Maro's granddaughter—claims that evidence came to light demonstrating his innocence, and he was posthumously exonerated.  Maro's daughter, Miyatsuko no Iratsume, was so saddened by all of this that we are told she died of a broken heart. Miyatsuko no Iratsume appears to be another name for Ochi no Iratsume, and if so, it would mean that Uno no Sarara lost both her mother and grandfather when she was only five years old due to the actions of her own father.  This sounds to me like it should be some kind of villain origin story. From there, she was likely taken care of by her aunts and other women in the palace, at least until 657.  It was about that time, at the age of 13, that she was married off to her uncle, Prince Ohoama. We don't have a precise age for Ohoama, but he was likely no more than 5 years younger than Uno's father, Naka no Oe, and some estimates suggest he was in his late 20s or early 30s, taking to wife his 13 year old niece. I can't help but think, here, of the Heian period novel, the Tale of Genji, where the titular character, Genji, finds Lady Murasaki and marries her at the age of 10.  Uno no Sarara would have grown up in her uncle-husband's home, and she was still young when the entire realm was placed on a war footing.When the court moved to Kyushu in 661 for the prosecution of the war on the continent, Uno no Sarara went with her husband, and a year later gave birth to their son, Prince Kusakabe.  She was probably about 18 years old at the time.   I suspect that means She  probably knew about her grandmother, Takara Hime, passing away, something that the inner circle of the royal family had attempted to keep relatively quiet for fear of disrupting the war effort.   Soon after her own son was born, news came back that the forces on the continent had lost.  Baekje had fallen, and Yamato could be next.  She would have traveled with her husband and the rest of the court back to Asuka and, eventually, up to Ohotsu, where her father now ruled with his brother as his right-hand man and heir to the throne. At this time, Uno no Sarara was no stranger to politics.  While her husband was in line for the throne, she knew that her brothers were also potential claimants, once they came of age. The Nihon Shoki disqualifies them through their parentage, but we see that didn't stop the Afumi court from rallying behind Prince Ohotomo.  There was also the royal princes Kawashima and Shiki.  Prince Takeru would have technically been a potential threat as well, had he not died, tragically, at only eight years of age. Now, technically, some may have been more in line than others, but Uno no Sarara knew how her own father had jumped the line, displacing her late uncle, Furubito no Oe, and it was clear something similar might happen this time around.  There were also likely a few indications that not everything was great between her father and her husband, although you would hardly know it from the number of her siblings that were also residing in the north chambers of his residence. Things came to a head in 671.  At this point, Uno no Sarara was in her late 20s with a 10 year old son, and it was looking, for a moment, like her father, despite his illness, might have Ohoama killed to pave the way for Naka no Oe's own son, Uno's brother, Ohotomo.  When Ohoama surprised everyone and stepped down, taking the tonsure, she was the only one to follow him.  We don't know if this is because she was that loyal to her husband, or because she had no other options.  If her mother had taken her own life after her grandfather's death, she may have had nobody but her father, Naka no Oe, to turn to, and he was clearly doing poorly.  If she stayed, then she would be relying on the goodwill of Prince Ohotomo and others while looking after the nine year old son and heir of Ohoama, who was clearly persona non grata at court. In contrast, one of Ohoama's other consorts, Munakata no Amago no Iratsume would have had the Munakata family to fall back on, should she need it, and her son, Prince Takechi, was a bit older.  In addition, Uno's  sister, Ohota no Himemiko had passed away earlier, in 667, and it is unclear who cared for her son, Prince Ohotsu, who was only a year younger than Uno's son, Kusakabe.  However, he, too, appears to have remained at the Afumi court with his caretakers. So Uno no Sarara went to Yoshino with her husband.  From this point on, Yoshino would become an important place for her, and during her own reign she would frequently make visits to the palace there, sometimes just for a couple of days at a time. After Naka no Oe's death, and the entire conflict of the Jinshin no Ran that kicked off in 672, Uno stayed by her husband's side.  She and Kusakabe made the incredible overnight journey from Yoshino to the other side of the Kii Peninsula, eventually setting up in Mie.  Ohoama would continue on towards Fuwa pass, where his son Takechi was already stationed with loyal soldiers.  Before that, however, he is mentioned as turning towards Ise—towards Amaterasu.  The implication seems to be that he was praying for victory.  It is also notable that a large part of his support was coming from the East and from areas around Ise. Little is mentioned of Uno's role in the record of the Jinshin no Ran, but in the opening to her reign there is a mention that she addressed the troops and mingled with the throng, until at last they formed a plan.  This seems to indicate that she was involved in the planning, at least, for the prosecution of the war.  On the one hand she was placed well behind the front lines.  On the other hand, she was well positioned to assist with logistics.  Troops and supplies from the north could come down and be redirected to the south depending on what was needed, and communications would likely be more secure through that area fully controlled by Ohoama's troops.  It is easy enough to imagine Uno no Sarara taking a role, even if it isn't explicitly mentioned.  The fact that she is mentioned as much as she is suggests to me that she had plenty to contribute to the war effort. As the war of 672 came to a close, Ohoama had to move from a war footing to one of peacetime governance.  As he ascended to the throne in 673, Uno no Sarara was made his queen.  And in light of the recent issues, Ohoama appears to have leaned heavily on her and other members of the royal family for support. And so Uno no Sarara was not just a delicate flower sitting in the hinter palace, waiting on her husband.  She was an active participant in the government.  When Ohoama called the various princes down to Yoshino and had them swear to uphold and support each other, she was included in their number.  And the Chronicles explicitly mention that when the princes swore to uphold each other, Ohoama swore he would also support them, and then Uno no Sarara made her oath like his.  That is interesting in that she isn't included in the five princes, but rather with the sovereign, her husband.  It appears she approached this from the point of view of a ruler already.  Or perhaps she was not considered to be in the line of succession, and the focus was on upholding the various princes.  Either way, we see how that eventually turned out. Later, when starting the project for what is believed to be the Kiyomihara codes, she was seated on the dais with her husband, indicating that she certainly was involved in various matters of state.  She also gave and received presents from the various nobles, including suits of clothing, gold, and more.  When Ohoama grew ill, and could not carry out the functions of the government alone, he deferred matters to her and to the Crown Prince, presumably meaning her son, Prince Kusakabe. Now Kusakabe is recorded as being made Crown Prince, and thus heir to the throne, however, it has also been suggested that this might not have been the case.  Some have suggested that Prince Ohotsu may have been the actual Crown Prince, and that he wasn't plotting against Kusakabe and his mother, but rather it was the other way around, with Uno no Sarara clearing him off the field to make room for her son. Ohotsu, remember, was the son of Ohoama by way of Ohota-hime, who was a full sister to Uno no Sarara.  That meant that, from a strict bloodline perspective, Ohotsu had just as much of a claim to the throne as did Kusakabe, but Kusakabe was a year older—or so the Nihon Shoki, compiled under the reign of Uno and her successors, would have us believe.  We are also told that Uno was formally designated as Ohoama's queen—but again we have that from the Nihon Shoki, which is more than a little bit biased.   Personally, I feel this theory that Uno no Sarara plotted to have Ohotsu removed without anything else stretches some of what we know, but it does illustrate that Uno no Sarara had a vested interest in ensuring that the crown went to her own progeny.  I'd be more inclined to believe that there was some movement a foot, even if it was perhaps not quite as treasonous as the response to it would warrant. And this catches us up with much of what we know.  Ohotsu was executed, but then Kusakabe passed away, and so Queen Uno no Sarara became Tennou in her own right.  Things hadn't gone exactly to plan, but she still had her grandson, Prince Karu, the late Kusakabe's son, whose mother, Princess Abe, was a younger-half sister to Uno no Sarara.  Abe was the daughter of Naka no Oe and Mehi no Iratsume, making Abe another grand-daughter of Soga no Kuramayada no Ishikawa no Maro.  She was also 17 years Sarara's junior and only a year older than the late Kusakabe.  By all accounts, it seems that Abe and Sarara got on well together, though she is not as prominent in the narrative that we have in the Nihon Shoki.  Still, she had an important role, not in terms of governance, but in terms of ensuring that the line continued.  She was in charge or protecting and raising young Prince Karu until he was ready to take the throne.  In so doing, she would no doubt have had a front row seat to Queen Uno's own efforts. Since Uno no Sarara had already been so involved with the government, it should come as no surprise that she continued many of the efforts attributed to her husband.  In fact, you'll often find references to Temmu and Jitou side-by-side to describe what happened because very few things can be attributed to just one of the two, especially given how long some of these projects seem to have taken.  That said, there were some differences.  While Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou, had relied primarily on members of the royal family following the Jinshin no Ran, Uno was much more likely to rely on trusted nobles, whose position at court was largely held thanks to the patronage of the royal family.  Having nobles running things again, rather than handing over power to those of the Princely class, may have provided opportunities for those noble houses to once again flex and grow their political muscle, but it was either that or hand that same power over to other princes with claims to royal descent—princes who might encourage the court that it would better if they, themselves, were to succeed the Queen, rather than the young prince, her own actual bloodline.  Even the loyal Prince Takechi, who seems to have supported her and Prince Karu as best he could, could easily have become a threat.  This could be one of the reasons she held on to power as long she did.  It was, after all, a deliberate choice on her part.  She could have had someone else step in as regent, but she chose not to. We've talked about Uno's dealings with Silla and the continent at this time. That was back in Episode 148, when we talked about how Ohoama was mourned and how Yamato dealt with the early missions.  We discussed, thenhow she berated the Silla envoys for not adhering to protocol and turning them away.  She also met with Emishi and Hayato embassies, which only helped to cement Yamato's place as the central hegemony over the archipelago and all those living on the islands.  At first, this was just an extension of what she and Kusakabe had been doing since Ohoama had first grown ill and handed over the reins of government.  But then Kusakabe died—and life went on.  Later, Kusakabe would be remembered as Okanomiya Tennou and the Nagaoka Tennou.  While not counted in the formal lineage, he was still granted the title "Tennou" posthumously, likely to help legitimize his son and that lineage.  And yet, despite this, there is no report of a eulogy or anything similar upon his death.  Even Royal Prince Ohotsu, when he was killed for threatening Kusakabe's own ascendance, is given a fairly wordy entry full of praise for his virtues and how he was remember.  For Kusakabe we get silence.  Things just move on. Indeed, just two weeks after the Crown Prince's death, we get orders talking about given people four holidays each month.  It seems a rather banal announcement coming the same week that the Crown Prince passed away. And banal it may be, but I do want to pick at it a bit.  I think it helps us understand even more the life at that time.  In most of the world, today, we have become accustomed to the western concept of a week with seven days, including two holidays every week—though we just refer to it as the weekend.  Saturday and Sunday began as holy days—the Sabbath in Jewish and then Christian tradition.  Even Judaism only had a single day of rest every seven days.  Many cultures did not have the concept of a weekend.  After all, there wasn't anything particularly special about one day or the other.  A lunar month is just under 30 days—alternating between 29 and 30 days depending on various factors.  Five would fit into that much better than four seven day weeks and two more days.  Or divide it into two 15 day periods, more or less.  Or three weeks of ten days each.  In fact, that is what was popular in the Tang dynasty at the time—though a seven day week had crept in through Buddhism, which had been picked up on the Indian subcontinent thanks to Hellenic influences.  This seven day week, which is now used in modern times, was originally used more by astronomers.  The days corresponded to the Sun, the Moon, and the visible planets. The point is, there's no such thing as a natural weekend.  At some point, the Tang court introduced a rest period every five days for court officials.  In Yamato, it seems that they introduced four holidays.  Specifically, the local governors were to give laborers—those conscripted as corvee labor—four days every month.  It doesn't mention if they are spaced out, or at what intervals, and it was specifically for laborers.  I should probably also mention that, at this time, there wasn't a concept of a "9-to-5" job.  Sure, the court operated on a schedule that may have fit fairly well in our modern life, other than its extremely early start due to the lack of cheap, safe artificial light sources.  Most people, however, especially in the agricultural sectors, were likely working from sunrise to sunset, when necessary.  There was no concept of overtime or a forty hour work week.  You worked when you needed to work, and that was it.  No time cards, just life, punctuated by holidays, festivals, market days, and whatever else needed to happen.  Oddly, in our modern, more regular work schedule we work both more and less, in some ways, than our ancestors did.   Our labor often goes into things beyond our job—everything from taking care of our home to various hobbies that we enjoy. Giving laborers time off from their endeavors was no doubt something they appreciated, but I don't know how much of an impact it had on things long term.  A more interesting endeavor comes a few months later.  That is when Uno had a royal commission come together as commissioners of "good words".  We mentioned this before, especially when talking about Kose no Tayasu, who had been part of this commission, though he was the lowest ranked of the bunch.  At the top it was headed by Prince Shiki, a half-brother to Uno, and one of those who had pledged his loyalty with other members of the royal family down in Yoshino, though at the time Shiki was only about 11 years old.  He was the son of Koshi no Michi no Kimi no Iratsume, and a brother to Prince Osakabe.  In 689, when he took charge of this commission from his half-sister, he would have been in his 22nd year, so this was probably one of his first major assignments. We don't have a finished product that we can point to from this project, so there isn't a clear idea of exactly what the commission did.  Aston believed that they were attempting to determine auspicious words to be used by the court.  By this one could infer that they were looking into the way to draw up formal language for edicts, or how to formally address the sovereign and members of the court.  However, others have suggested that this was more about finding stories and other such things and writing them down.  If that is the case, this may have been a continuation of—or perhaps an addendum to—the history project started during the reign of Ohoama.  The words, or stories, that the commission wrote down were likely used by later Chroniclers, though there is no specific work that is clearly attributed to their efforts.  So in the end we can't exactly know for sure.  What we can see is that Uno no Sarara was continuing to make tweaks and changes to things—and in particular in how things were stated, remembered, and passed down to posterity, one way or another.  This is also part of what we see later that same month, when the 22 books of what we now call the Kiyomihara Law Codes were also published.  Like the history project, this was also begun during the reign of Ohoama, and Uno had continued to see it through.  It appears to have been just the law itself, not necessarily the punishments which made up the other half of the Ritsuryou, but it is still significant.  Unfortunately, we don't know exactly what was in it—the earliest law code that we have good evidence for is the Taihou code, which would come over a decade later—but we have seen some of the edicts and orders and we can make some assumptions based on later law codes as well as the language used to even define the court and how things ran.  Much of what was written had likely been promulgated, previously, and a lot of this may have been more documenting the changes they had already put in place. There is also the Afumi law code, but there are even more questions about that one.  This is possibly the first one written down to this level of detail.  Though it would be superseded, later, it was still an impressive work. As in past reigns, we see things both monumental and mundane.  A month after the law codes were finished, we see about orders to the Mayors of the Left and Right to set up places for Archery—literally glossed as "Ikusa", or "war", but likely because the two had a common root and archery and war were closely intertwined.  As for the Mayors of the Left and Right, this is the first time we are seeing those terms, and I suspect they are also part of the reforms that Uno no Sarara and her late husband had been implementing. The Mayors of the Left and Right of the Capital are known as Kyoushiki or, alternatively, as Misato-zukasa.  They were like kokushi, or governors, except they oversaw the capital city.  Now remember, the quote-unquote "capital city" in use at this point is Asuka—it is the Kiyomihara palace and environs.  There were other streets, buildings, and such around, but nothing terribly organized.  Most family estates were off in their own lands or strongholds.  At the same time, the court was building out a new, permanent capital.  It was taking time—and likely had been put on hold during the three year mourning period for the late Ohoama Ohokimi.  It required that they survey and transform an immense and populated area into a new and impressive capital in the area known today as Kashihara.  This work took years—they likely had to divert labor to build the late sovereign's mausoleum, or misasagi, and there were droughts and other reasons why they may have had to pause work.  And yet, it continued, nonetheless. The main ideal for a capital city was based off of continental models.  While Luoyang may have been the more active capital, the western capital of the Tang dynasty, at Chang'an—modern Xi'an—appears to have been a more quintessential capital city layout, and may have been what the Yamato capital was attempting to mimic—though they may have also been relying on the theoretical Confucian model, as well.  In fact, I tend to think that the Confucian model was closer to this first attempt at a permanent capital.  Early on, excavations assumed that the palace structures were towards the northern end of the city, but further investigations have suggested that the scale of Fujiwara-kyo was much more ambitious, and some maps of the area place the palace towards the center of the city.  Either way, there were several key things about the capital and how it mimicked the continental models.  One of the primary things that Yamato had appropriated from across the strait was the north-south orientation of the palace, with the main audience hall facing south, so as to get the sun.  This meant that, from the point of view of the sovereign in that hall, the left side would be the east and the right side would be to the west.  And so the capital city was divided into a left and right, east and west, and each half had its own administrator responsible for taxation, public safety, and general law and order.  They were, as I said, similar to the governors of the various provinces in the scope of their powers, except that they oversaw the capital city. The building of the Fujiwara capital is perhaps one of the most obvious changes that Uno no Sarara was overseeing.  As I've mentioned before, it was a physical manifestation of court.  The three sacred mountains which were included within the boundaries of the capital were woven into the myths and legends that would find their way into the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki.  The size and scale of the earthworks and the stones laid as foundation demonstrate that this was clearly meant to be a permanent capital, overturning the idea that there would be a huge change every time a sovereign passed away.  Instead, there would be consistency.  The order of the state would go on. Later we'll talk about reasons why the Fujiwara capital was abandoned.  For now, though, let's look at what we see about its construction. In 690, the same year that Uno ascended to the throne, Royal Prince Takechi, Ohoama's oldest son, inspected the site where the new Fujiwara palace was to be placed.  Two months later, Uno no Sarara came out to see it for herself.  I imagine this as being the point where the land had been cleared, and they could see the mountains and the placement and get an idea of the overall size of what they were looking for.  With royal approval, the project continued. A year later, in 691, officials were sent to perform the Chin-sai, the pacification ceremony, for the new capital.  Today, this is a common ceremony, known as a Jichin-sai, or Earth Pacification Ceremony, done before undertaking a construction project.  Theoretically it is before breaking ground on the project, though there is often some amount of preparation that has to be done in preparation.  The idea for the Jichin-sai is to effectively negotiate with the spirits of the land before disturbing the area, a recognition that the process of construction is going to alter the natural landscape.  As such, one wants to propitiate the spirits and the kami that are on the land to ensure that the construction is successful.  This was likely a much older ritual, but this is the first mention we have of it in the record.  This ceremony was also apparently directed at the new capital as a whole, while a year later another ceremony was held specifically for the new palace complex.  In the intervening time we see the court laying out the roads and giving land for the various mansions of court nobles, like Tajihi no Shima's four chou of land—roughly ten acres.  Those of Jikikwoni rank and above were given two chou, and those from Jikidaisan down were given one chou.  Those of Gon rank on down would get land dependant on the number of inhabitants in their fiefs.  First class fiefs would get one chou, while second class would warrant a half chou and at the bottom they would get one quarter chou.  This was apparently the land that they were being given in the capital to build their personal residences.  Other land was given out for markets, temples, and other necessary facilities, but this whole city really was being built from scratch. Shortly after the pacification ceremony for the palace, officials were sent out to the major shrines of the time.  This included the great gods, the Ohokami, of Ise, Yamato, Sumiyoshi, and Kii.  So not just the local kami, but also the larger kami who were seen as the kami of the archipelago more generally. It would still take another year to build the palace.  Uno visited the site a few times during the construction, with her last visit just a quick outing on the 8th month of 693.  At that point it was likely ready, though she wouldn't formally move into the new palace until the first month of 694.  Before that, though, there was one other thing that had to happen.  In the 2nd month of 693 they had to rebury the bodies. That's right.  The Fujiwara capital occupied a huge swath of the plain of what is now known as Kashihara.  And that plain had been settled for centuries—all through the kofun period.  And those kofun, and possibly even older funkyubo, the older mixed-use burial mounds—would have been destroyed in the making of the new capital.  There also may have been plain pit burials that were dug up while laying out roads and foundations.  I don't know that there was anything approaching the size of the larger, keyhole shaped mounds, but we have no way to know for certain how many were there that had to be destroyed or moved.  I also have not seen any indications of any mass reburial site—whether they opened an existing tomb or simply dug a pit in the ground somewhere.  I imagine that such a find would be incredible, but unless archaeologists stumble upon it, I guess we'll never know.  Still, it is interesting, and almost poetic as we move further and further from the kofun period, this feels like the final nail in the proverbial coffin, if you'll forgive the pun.  Indeed, when Uno no Sarara finally passes away, she will become one of the first sovereigns to be cremated, with her ashes and burnt remains then deposited in the existing tomb with her husband, Ohoama, rather than having a new mounded tomb built.  Buddhist style cremation would eventually become commonplace throughout the archipelago, though sovereigns would still have special mausoleums built for their memory, it really was a change from the ancient practices. From 694 onward, the court would meet at the new Fujiwara Palace.  Compared to previous palaces, I can only imagine how impressive this one must have seemed.  Based on what we can tell, it was likely built much more in the continental style.  Previous palaces had largely been in the style of the archipelago, with what we believe was plain wood and a thatched roof.  The Fujiwara palace was likely a mix, but with more of the continental style than the previous Kiyomihara place.  It also dwarfed its predecessor, at over twice the size.  It was actually much closer in size and shape to the Toyosaki palace, in Naniwa.  At the southern end of the palace was the Suzaku mon, the Suzaku gate, followed by the choshu-den'in, a courtyard with two buildings, one in the east and one in the west, where officials could wait and prepare for the day.  From there they would be let into the Chodoin, a large court yard with four buildings on the east and west, and four more at the southernmost point.  These would be where the various departments, or bureaus, would operate.  There were also gates in the east and west of the Chodoin for easier access.  To the north was another gate, leading to the Daigokuden, the main audience hall.  This would have been quite the impressive and imposing structure—the main focus of the palace.  It was in its own walled enclosure, and would have been the seat of the sumera Mikoto, or Tennou.  It was both inside and apart from the Dairi, the inner palace.  This was the actual residence of the sovereign and the royal family.  The dairi itself occupied more land than the entire Kiyomihara palace.  None of the buildings exist, but we can see their footprint from the large foundation stones and there are numerous rooftiles and other architectural features that fell off or were removed and then buried, purposefully or not, allowing us to get some idea of the size and scale of the project. And yet, it appears that this palace may not have been completed when they moved in.  The entire city was likely still under construction, in fact.  The main pieces were in place, but to build an entire city from scratch took a lot of work.  Most of the buildings would have been built with more traditional—and less labor intensive—practices.  You didn't need a false second story gallery some thirty feet off the ground, even if you were the Minister of the Right.  It was enough to have a relatively simple mansion with gardens, servants quarters, and everything else needed to keep you comfortable.  That in and of itself was going to put a strain on labor and other resources. And so it looks like some parts of the galleries and other features may not have been finished even while Uno no Sarara was there.  In fact, it may not have been fully finished by the time they moved again.  The Fujiwara capital, the first permanent capital city, was only occupied from 694 until about 710—less than two decades.  This massive project, taking multiple years and how many people to create, would be abandoned several years later.  The buildings would be torn down and moved to the new site—Heijou-kyou, in modern Nara city.  And yet, the impact of Fujiwara kyou would remain. Besides making changes to the physical landscape, Uno no Sarara was also focused on the spiritual landscape as well.  Both Ohoama and Uno not only supported the Buddhist temples, building new temples and leveraging the ceremonies, but they also supported the traditional kami.  During the Jinshin no Ran, Ohoama turned and addressed the kami of Ise before heading to the Fuwa barrier.  Later we see a greater focus on Ise Shrine, with Saigu, the royal princesses sent to Ise Shrine as the Shrine priestess, being heavily reported.  In fact, the position seems to have not been commented on much until this reign, and there is some thought that Ohoama and Uno actually instituted the practice—or at least made it a formal part of the court and the royal household.  This is combined with their support of the Jingikan, the state governmental body responsible for dealing with kami matters.  At this time it appears to have been even more powerful, in many ways, than the other bureaus or departments of the Great Council of State, the Dajokan. There are plenty who argue that the preeminence of Ise was born in this period.  Early Yamato worship focused more on the deity of Mt. Miwa:  Ohomononushi.  Sun worship seems to have also been baked into the rituals of the ethnic Wa people, but that wasn't necessarily focused on Amaterasu—and Amaterasu was not necessarily seen as a feminine goddess.  Early worship appears to focus on the deities such as Takabi Musubi, and similarly named deities.  These are deities that show up in court ritual, and presumably date back to well before this period.  Thanks to the fact that we get alternate stories in the Nihon Shoki, we occasionally see them take a more central role in events, such as the descent of the Heavenly Grandson, but at the same time we also see that the main throughline of the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki has placed Amaterasu more front and center in the narrative.  Ama Terasu effectively translates to something like "The Shining of Heaven".  In neither the Japanese nor Sinitic language is she particularly gendered most of the time, and this may have been a more generic name for the concept of a sun deity.   I believe it is also somewhat telling that the Ichi-no-miya, the First Shrine, or primary shrine, of Ise is not Ise Shrine, but rather Tsubaki Grand Shrine, which is the home of Sarutahiko Ohokami.  Even in the Nihon Shoki, there is a narrative regarding the yata no kagami, the great mirror, that it was moved from its original location in the Nara Basin over to Ise and the shrine was then established there, marking the shrine as a relative late-comer to the region rather than marking a particularly ancient spot.  The Great Kami of Ise then appears to have taken on some of the shine, pun intended, of Sarutahiko, who is no longer seen as a sun-deity, and is even placed in the way of the Heavenly Grandchild's descent—perhaps a subtle nod to some of the tensions between the worship of one over the other. Besides sending the Shrine Princess, the Saigu, to Ise, the sovereigns themselves made plans to go, in person.  Ohoama made preparations, including purifying himself, but his trip was cancelled due to a sudden death in the palace.  He is never recorded as making the trip, after that.  Uno no Sarara, however, did make the trip, in 692. This was clearly quite the production, and requires several entries in the Nihon Shoki.  The first entry is in the 2nd month of the year, when she makes her intentions clear.  The Court officials were set to task to prepare all the necessary clothing for the trip, which was about 3 weeks out.  This likely also meant preparing the road, ensuring that there would be food, and a place for Uno no Sarara and her entourage to stay when they reached Ise.  The preparations clearly had an impact, as Miwa no Ason no Takechimaro, a Chunagon, or Middle Counselor, presented a memorial to remonstrate with her majesty on the trip.  He noted that they were in the middle of the agricultural season—roughly April or May by modern standards—and a royal trip would have an outsized impact on the areas where she would be traveling through.  His remonstration was heard, and overruled.  Uno no Sarara was determined to go.  As she delegated the Prince Hirose, Tahema no Mabito no Chitoko, and Ki no Ason no Yumibari to all look after the palace while she was away, Miwa no Takechimaro reiterated his remonstration and then took a drastic step:  He offered to her his cap—basically he offered to resign his rank.  This was quite the step, and not from nobody. Miwa no Takechimaro was from a prominent family.  As their name suggests, they were connected to Mt. Miwa, and the worship, there.  Based on what evidence we have, he was probably born around 657 CE, and when he was about 16 years old he was fighting on the side of Ohoama in the Jinshin no Ran.  In particular, he was involved in the fighting near Hashihaka kofun, and then moved over to attack the Afumi forces on the Middle Road.  There is evidence after that of him making his way up through the ranks, and was even one of those who offered a eulogy for Ohoama.  As Chunagon, he was in a fairly powerful position in court, and giving up his court rank would mean not just a loss in status, but also giving up the income associated with that rank. And this remonstration may be why we are told that the court commuted taxes, including forced labor, for the lands that she passed through, and she recognized the local Kuni no Miyatsuko with cap-rank.  She also remitted taxes for those who had been conscripted to help from elsewhere, such as her baggage handlers, the people who built the temporary palace for her to stay in, in Ise, etc.  So even if the procession to Ise had an impact, she seems to have done her best to lessen the blow. As for Takechimaro, we don't see him again in the Nihon Shoki, but he does show up later.  He would become the governor of Nagato, and then later he is given positions such as the Mayor of the Sakyou, or Left Capital.  So it would seem that either his resignation wasn't accepted, or that he was re-hired at some later point.  He would pass away in 706 CE. By the way, there is one other notable feature about him, and you may have caught it as I went over all of this.  That was the name of his uji, or clan:  Miwa, or Ohomiwa.    This means he had a connection to—and possibly a vested interest in—promoting the worship at Mt. Miwa, the traditional Yamato cultic center.  Nothing is outright stated, but it makes sense that someone from Miwa might be a little bit concerned with the extra attention being given to the shrine at Ise around this time—so there is that, as well. Regardless of his intentions, it certainly seems that from that point on Ise Shrine and the deity worshipped there, Amaterasu Ohokami, would be tied to the imperial line from the late 7th century onward.  Clearly the royal patronage of the shrine stepped up, and for the most part we do see a fairly regular stream of Saigu, with one slight exception:  There doesn't appear to have been one during Uno no Sarara's reign.  Ohoku no Himemiko had been sent down during the reign of Ohoama, but she was the sister to Prince Ohotsu, and appears to have returned after his death.  The position appears to have remained vacant until after Uno no Sarara's reign.  It makes me wonder if she wasn't "filling in" for the Saigu, in a way.  That could, in part, explain her travels there. There also may not have been a good candidate at the time, but I find that less believable—perhaps there was no candidate that Uno trusted given the precarious position her own bloodline was in at the moment.  Still, after her reign, the position of Saigu would be regularly filled by a member of the royal family through the end of the Heian period.  It was interrupted by the Genpei wars, and then the practice fell into decline during the period of the Kamakura bakufu.  Late Edo period pro-imperialists tried to restore the practice, but it didn't catch back on. Despite the apparent importance of the shrine to the royal family, it would also remain somewhat aloof.  The priests of the shrine would provide the sacred mirror for ascension ceremonies, but it would be very rare for any sitting sovereign to actually pay a visit to the shrine, and, as I mentioned before, Amaterasu was not one of the deities reflected in the inner court rituals.  Still, she would come to be seen as the dominant kami of the Shinto pantheon, and even today, many shrines will hold space for her as well as the primary deity; home shrines, or kamidana, will often include ofuda for Amaterasu as a central point of worship, with kami associated with one's local shrines as well. So there you have just a little taste of what Uno no Sarara was up to.  Whether she had intended to be in this position or had it thrust onto her, she was no shrinking violet.  She took control of the ship of state and set a course that would continue to influence the archipelago down to the modern day.  The reforms that started with her father and husband she continued and made manifest in the physical and spiritual world.  And this is only the beginning.  There is more to talk about regarding Uno no Sarara's reign, and her eventual abdication, but for that, we will have to wait until Part 2. Until then if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

Fluent Fiction - Japanese: Soulful Souvenirs: Unveiling Nara's Hidden Treasures Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/ja/episode/2026-06-22-07-38-19-ja Story Transcript:Ja: 奈良の東大寺の周りは夏の日差しに輝いていました。En: The surroundings of Nara's Todai-ji shone under the summer sun.Ja: 観光客や地元の人々が市場を歩き、にぎやかな声が響きます。En: Tourists and locals walked through the market, and lively voices echoed.Ja: 色とりどりの提灯、飴の甘い香り、そしてあちこちからにぎやかな話し声。活気に満ちた市場です。En: Colorful lanterns, the sweet scent of candy, and lively chatter from all around created a vibrant market atmosphere.Ja: 春樹は少し緊張していました。En: Haruki felt a bit nervous.Ja: 彼はお土産を探していましたが、どれを選べば良いのかわかりませんでした。En: He was searching for a souvenir, but he wasn't sure which one to choose.Ja: 弟のために何か特別な物を見つけたかったのです。En: He wanted to find something special for his younger brother.Ja: しかし、彼は日本の伝統的なクラフトについてあまり知識がありませんでした。En: However, he didn't have much knowledge about traditional Japanese crafts.Ja: あちこちに並ぶ商品に圧倒されてしまいました。En: The countless goods displayed everywhere overwhelmed him.Ja: 「はじめまして、困っているみたいですね」と明るい声が聞こえました。En: "Hello, you seem to be having some trouble," a cheerful voice said.Ja: 陽気な旅好きの明日香が微笑んで立っていました。En: The lively travel enthusiast Asuka was standing there with a smile.Ja: 「何かお手伝いしましょうか？」En: "Can I help you with something?"Ja: 春樹は少し驚きましたが、助けを求めてみることにしました。En: Haruki was a little surprised but decided to ask for help.Ja: 「はい、弟のために特別なお土産を探しているんです。En: "Yes, I'm looking for a special souvenir for my younger brother.Ja: でも、どれが良いのかわからなくて…」En: But I don't know which would be good..."Ja: 明日香はにっこり笑いました。En: Asuka smiled warmly.Ja: 「任せてください。En: "Leave it to me.Ja: ここには隠れた宝物がいっぱいです。」En: There are hidden treasures all around here."Ja: 二人は市場を歩き回り、いろんなお店を見ていきました。En: The two of them walked around the market and visited various shops.Ja: 明日香は、奈良の名物や面白い品物について話してくれました。En: Asuka talked about the specialties of Nara and interesting items.Ja: 春樹は彼女の話に聞き入り、だんだんとリラックスしてきました。En: Haruki, engrossed in her stories, gradually began to relax.Ja: やがて、明日香がある小さな店を指差しました。En: Eventually, Asuka pointed to a small shop.Ja: 「あそこを見てください。En: "Look over there.Ja: 手作りの陶器の鹿があります。En: There are handmade ceramic deer.Ja: 奈良のシンボルです。」En: They are a symbol of Nara."Ja: 春樹は店に入り、その鹿の置物をじっと見つめました。En: Haruki entered the shop and gazed intently at the deer ornaments.Ja: どれも美しい細工で、奈良の鹿公園を思い起こさせます。En: Each one was beautifully crafted, reminiscent of Nara's deer park.Ja: 春樹の心にぐっと響くものがありました。En: Something resonated deeply within Haruki's heart.Ja: 「これにします」と、春樹は満足そうに微笑みました。En: "I'll go with this one," Haruki said with a satisfied smile.Ja: 「弟にぴったりな気がします。」En: "I feel it's perfect for my brother."Ja: 明日香もうなずきました。En: Asuka nodded in agreement.Ja: 「良い選択ですね。En: "A good choice.Ja: 奈良の旅の思い出になりますよ。」En: It will be a memorable part of your trip to Nara."Ja: 春樹は陶器の鹿を大切に包んでもらい、明日香にお礼を言いました。En: Haruki had the ceramic deer carefully wrapped and thanked Asuka.Ja: 彼は自信を持ち始め、新しい文化と伝統にもっと繋がった気がしました。En: He began to feel more confident and felt a stronger connection to the new culture and traditions.Ja: 奈良の太陽の下、二人は市場を後にしました。En: Under the sun of Nara, the two left the market.Ja: 春樹は心地良い風を感じながら、素晴らしい旅を続ける準備ができていると感じました。En: Feeling a pleasant breeze, Haruki sensed he was ready to continue his wonderful journey.Ja: 市場の喧騒を背に、彼の心はすでに新しい冒険に向かっていました。En: With the bustling market at his back, his heart was already set on new adventures. Vocabulary Words:surroundings: 周りshone: 輝いていましたechoed: 響きますscent: 香りchatter: 話し声nervous: 緊張していましたsouvenir: お土産knowledge: 知識overwhelmed: 圧倒されてenthusiast: 旅好きsymbol: シンボルgazed: 見つめましたcrafted: 細工resonated: 響くmemorable: 思い出confident: 自信atmosphere: 活気vibrant: にぎやかhidden: 隠れたtreasures: 宝物ceramic: 陶器ornaments: 置物intently: じっとpleasant: 心地良いadventures: 冒険lively: 陽気なrelax: リラックスmarkets: 市場wrapped: 包んでもらいspecialties: 名物

The Dazai no Sochi--the head of the Yamato government in Kyushu--was a powerful position, with a lot of autonomy with lucrative opportunities.  The people in this position were often powerful members of the court capable of representing the sovereign.  They would often go on to become quite powerful in their own right.  So who were the movers and shakers that held this prestigious position during Uno no Sarara's reign?  This episode, we take a look at those who held the position and those who supported them. For more, check out our blogpost:  https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-151 PS:  Hang around to the end (or check the end of the transcript) for information on some possible updates coming to the show. Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua and this is Episode 151: The Dazai no Sochi of the late 7th century   Tsukushi no Masaru was busy.  A new boss was coming in, and he wanted to make sure everything was prepared.  The Dazai may have been about as far as one could get from the capital and still be in Yamato, but it was also the first—and sometimes only—encounter some would have with the archipelago, so there was no excuse to be slacking off.  Of course, this was hardly his first new boss, though for as long as he'd been on the job, each one could well be his last.  He was getting a bit long in the tooth, after all.  Twenty-nine years was a long time to be working in the same position.  As Masaru paused, he thought back on some of the people he'd served.  There was Soga no Akae—he was ambitious.  Apparently he'd been in some rather compromising positions before coming out, but he'd done well enough when he went back.  Shame that he backed the wrong horse. That did bring a chuckle to old Masaru's throat, though.  He remembered when Prince Kurikuma had come out there, to the the Dazai, , and there were still people around who told stories of him.  When those Afumi court stooges had showed up to try and conscript the barrier guards, Prince Kurikuma and his sons just stared them down.  Everyone had been afraid that it would end in bloodshed, or at least that there would be consequences for defying the court, but Kurikuma was adamant, and the messenger had left with his tail firmly between his legs. Then there was Shima. By the time he came, Masaru already knew how everything was supposed to work. He may not have been in charge, but that wasn't his ambition.  It was enough for him to be good at what he did.  He didn't need to go all the way to the Palace and deal with the politics there—there were enough politics out here already.  Shima, though, he was clearly suited for that Palace life.  He was a capable administrator, but Masaru could tell he was ambitious.  When he left, everyone knew that he would be going on to bigger and better things. And now there was another Prince coming out. So they would get the government offices prepared and greet him with proper fanfare.  They'd bring him in and hold the ceremonies, and then they would get down to work.  A stream of officers would present him with what they were working on and what had to happen.  Masaru would be there to help make sure that everything was running smoothly and nothing got too out of hand.  And that was the way things worked out on the edge of the realm.   Welcome back to Sengoku Daimyo.  We are still covering the reign of Uno no Sarara, and, similar to last episode, we are going to continue to talk about the people who made up Yamato at this time.  This episode, more specifically, we are going to be turning away from the capital, in Asuka, and looking all the way over to Tsukushi—modern Kyushu—and at the people who served as Dazai no Sochi, or head of the local government out there, as well as the bureaucrats and staff that worked for them—at least as far we know.  Many of them went on to have considerable careers that took them well beyond Kyushu.  At the same time, we'll take a look at some of the things that happened under their rule as what Aston translates as the "Viceroy of Tsukushi". After that, I have a special announcement about the podcast at the end of the episode, so if you are interested in learning more about what we plan on doing, please listen all the way to the end to hear about some plans for the future. And with that out of the way, let's begin. So we are talking about the position of Dazai no Sochi or the Viceroy of Tsukushi.  Often these people are referred to only as being of the "Tsukushi no Dazai" or the "Tsukushi no Ohomochi".  The term "Sochi" appears later, and we first see this term applied to Prince Kawachi, in 689.  It seems to show up with two different characters, which might be a term from the later Taihou code that was retroactively applied or may refer to an evolution of the position over time.  I'm honestly not sure.  There is still plenty of confusion over what was meant in some of the references. We've discussed this position before on the podcast: This was the sovereign's representative to the world outside of the archipelago.  Not only did the Dazai no Sochi  oversee all of Tsukushi—all of Kyushu— and extensive defensive forces stationed there and in the outlying islands, but they oversaw all diplomatic and trade missions to and from the archipelago.  Envoy missions would come to Tsushima, where they would get a local pilot and send word ahead.  They would then be received at the government center, the Dazai, near modern Fukuoka and Hakata bay.  For most envoys, this was as close as they would ever get to Yamato proper.  They would offload their goods there and be put up at the government supplied quarters in Wogohori.  They would be wined and dined there, entertained as appropriate to their status, while word was sent on to the capital.  In rare cases, envoys would be sent on another journey through the inland sea to Naniwa, and then on to Asuka, but otherwise their journey would end at the Dazaifu.  Any return gifts would come back with the correspondence from the capital, and thus be handed out to the envoys and their escorts before the mission was sent back home to Silla, Tamna, or wherever they had come from. Being the middle man in this operation offered a lot of power and authority, but it also would have been quite lucrative.  While diplomatic missions brought gifts for the court, they also brought  trade goods, of which the Dazai no Sochi could have first  pick.  This is on top of the fact that this position often came with a stipend equaling the labor of hundreds of individuals.  Many of the Dazai no Sochi would serve limited terms, eventually returning to Asuka, where we see them take on powerful positions. Take, for example, our first Dazai no Sochi, Tajihi no Mabito no Shima. Tajihi no Shima was born, we are told, in or around 624 to Tajihi no Maro and a daughter of Ohotomo no Hirafu.  Tajihi no Maro, Shima's father was a powerful noble in the court of Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou, and he had enough standing that he was one of the named individuals who provided eulogies for Ohoama on the occasion of his passing.   The Tajihi family were quite well placed: they were descendants of Hinokuma no Takata no Miko, aka Senka Tennou, Shima's great-grandfather.  This earned them the kabane of "Mabito", or "True Person" because of their royal lineage.   Tajihi no Shima was placed in charge of the Dazai from at least 682.  His predecessor that we know about is Prince Yagaki, who was dismissed around 676, and we don't know who filled the gap between him and Shima. Shima had quite the run.  We don't know exactly when he returned to the court in Asuka, but it cannot have been later than 689, when we see Awada no Mahito in the position.  A year later, in 690, Shima was made Udaijin, or minister of the right.  That's a huge deal and we will talk about that in a bit, but what did Shima actually oversee during his tenure as Dazai no Sochi? We have quite a few events attributed to him, this reign.  In 686, we see the Tsukushi no Dazai sending tribute in the form of human beings:  Common men and women of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, along with 62 priests and nuns.  We aren't told where these men and women came from, but I suspect that they were refugees or captives from all the fighting on the peninsula.  That they were given as tribute suggests to me that they were enslaved—or at the very least they were not free.  If they were uneducated, they were likely put to work as labor, perhaps building out the new capital or opening new farmlands.  Later we see the various missions from Silla around the death of Ohoama, and the back and forth that went on, there, and in 688 the Tsukushi no Dazai entertained Kara, a Minister of Tamna, aka modern Jeju island, who had been sent by the king of that small country.  You may recall that Tamna, while late to the game, may have been one of the last holdouts of an early Japonic speaking people outside of the archipelago. Being the Tsukushi no Dazai, Shima would not have only been concerned with foreign envoys, but also with two other groups of Hayato—specifically the Ohosumi no Hayato and the Ata no Hayato.  Little is known about them, other than that Yamato considered them to be distinct ethnic and cultural groups living in the far south of Kyushu.  We've talked before about how southern Kyushu maintained a significantly different material culture through Kofun period until more recent times.  We also have indication that they had a distinctive shield and even art style—the famous "Hayato shields" appear to have been appropriated by the court, along with a contingent of Hayato men that were expected to act as an exotic guard for the sovereign and the court.  The earliest reliable evidence we have for them is a record from 682.  There are some questions as to whether or not they were related to the groups previously called Kumaso or even the Tsuchigumo, but there is no clear historical or archaeological  evidence linking them other than the common cultural finds in Kyushu more generally. The Ata and Ohosumi Hayato may have been distinct clans or lineage groups living in Ohosumi and the area of modern Satsuma.  We have a record in 687 of the Ata no Hayato attending Ohoama's funeral and presenting a eulogy.  The chiefs who came brought 337 others—a sizeable contingent—and they were all given presents by the court.  Later, we would see presents given out to 174 Hayato by Shima's successor in the Dazai, Awada no Mahito, and then in 692 we know that the court sent priests to preach Buddhism to Ata and Ohosumi.    In 695, Hayato of Ohosumi were entertained in the capital, and they even held a wrestling match for the Queen and her attendants in the area west of Asukadera, by the site of the famous Tsuki tree. So the Hayato would have been another group that Shima no doubt dealt with on a somewhat regular basis in his capacity as Dazi no Sochi—and then later on when he returned to Asuka and took up his new role as Udaijin.   And as I mentioned, that appointment was a Big Deal.  The position of Udaijin had been vacant since Nakatomi no Kane, one of the infamous leaders of the Afumi court, was non-consensually removed from the position—and this plane of existence—when he was executed in 672, at the closure of the Jinshin no Ran.  After that, Ohoama appears to have been gun-shy about sharing power with anyone outside the royal family.  The position had been left vacant for about 18 years.  So what made Uno no Sarara take up Shima as Minister of the Right?  And what about the Minister of the Left, or the Sadaijin? Well, we don't have a Sadaijin, but we do have a Dajodaijin in the form of Prince Takechi, Ohoama's first-born son.  The Dajodaijin was the Prime Minister in charge of the entire Dajokan, the Council of State, made up of the ministers of the left and right and the 8 bureaus of the government.  The Sadaijin and Udaijin served under the Dajodaijin, in that hierarchical order, with the Sadaijin generally being considered higher in precedence.  So it looks like, in this case, they had the Dajodaijin, Prince Takechi to run the Council and Shima, as Udaijin would have been responsible for ensuring the administration of the eight bureaus was properly carried out. That Shima was appointed just under Prince Takechi again shows the power and influence he likely had and the trust he must have had from Uno no Sarara.  Remember, the Crown Prince, Kusakabe, had died before he could take the throne.  Uno was enthroned as Queen, while the Crown Prince, Karu, was still a minor.  Whereas Ohoama had his wife and many sons to help him run things, Uno no Sarara was running thin.  As had been seen with Prince Ohotsu, there was always the threat that one of Ohoama's other sons could be propped up on the throne.  Uno had to look after Karu's birthright, but there was no guarantee that he would make it to adulthood in times before modern medicine.  It appears that Prince Takechi was actually considered the next in line, just in case something happened to Karu before he could ascend the throne, which makes sense that Prince Takechi was also trusted as Dajo Daijin.  Shima's place as Udaijin must have been indicative of similar trust that he would look after the royal family's interests.  This was no doubt helped by the role he played as Dazai no Sochi. As Udajin, Tajihi no Shima went on to have a rather incredible career.  He was given 4 cho of land for his residence.  This appears to be around 10 acres or so—a not inconsiderable amount of land, and it probably refers to the amount of land he was granted in the new Fujiwara capital city.  Later, in the Nara capital of Heijo-kyo, Prince Nagaya's residence was about that size and Fujiwara no Nakamaro's residence is thought to have been about twice that.  This would have given Shima space for multiple buildings, sprawling gardens, servants quarters, quarters for his wives and children, and much more. Tajihi no Shima would continue in his role as Udaijin, and would eventually, be promoted to the position of Sadaijin, a post he held only briefly, as he passed away almost a year later. He was not forgotten, however.  It is thought that he was the model for one of the suitors of Kaguya Hime in the famous story of Taketori Monogatari—the tale of the Bamboo Cutter.  Taketori Monogatari, also known as Kaguya Hime Monogatari, is considered the oldest known story in the Monogatari form.  It was probably written in the late 9th or early 10th century, with references to it appearing in works as early as 909 CE.  This suggests that Tajihi no Shima and others were still remembered, at least in part, over a century later. Shima is also thought to have been the patron of the famous poet, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, one of the famous 36 immortal poets.  We'll have to include Hitomaro in a later episode, though we might come back to him after this reign, as he isn't mentioned in the Chronicles, but we do have some fragmentary biographical information thanks to his inclusion in the Man'yoshu.  In fact, he's probably one of the most famous poets in the Man'yoshu who is not otherwise mentioned.  We are told that he was the court poet during the reign of Uno no Sarara, so it makes sense that Shima may have very well been his patron and helped him get his start. Now while Shima was back in Asuka, making it big in the court, the position of Tsukushi no Dazai had to be filled, and we are told that the mantle was taken up by Awada no Mahito no Ason.  This name is a bit tricky, as it seems to have two kabane:  Mahito and Ason.  Since his father is said to have been Kasuga no Awada no Omi no Kudara, the assumption seems to be that "Mahito" was his name, rather than his kabane.  Although it was likely pronounced "Mabito" at the time, I'm going to go with the modern pronunciation of "Mahito" in part to distinguish it from the kabane.  A quick side note:  When reading names from this period, we usually see the kabane coming right after the family name, as the kabane is basically a rank for the family and not the individual.  But we do occasionally see the kabane tacked on at the end of a name, as in Awada no Mahito's case.  I would also like to quickly draw your attention to his father's name:  Kudara.  That can also be read as Baekje.  Was this an indication that his father or an ancestor came from the continent, perhaps from Baekje?  Or just that he had close ties to that kingdom?  I couldn't find anything specific, but it seems interesting that he was put in place at the Dazai, where dealing with the continent would have been an important part of his duties. Awada no Mahito was not just a noble of the court, and even if his father was of Baekje descent, that may not have been the main thing that gained him the position.  It may have also had to do with an earlier incident.  We are told that in 653 Mahito was one of those who traveled with the 2nd envoy to the Tang court as a scholar monk.  He would later return to secular life, but that experience must have been a big feather in his cap, helping him land a good position at court.  In fact, in 685, we are told that he was Jikikwoushi rank—a fairly respectable position for anyone at the time—and he apparently tried to get his father raised to the same rank as he was.  Aston translates the record as saying he was willing to give his rank to his father, but it is unclear to me if this means he was offering to give up his rank altogether.  At the very least it seems that he felt awkward outranking his father—a good, filial attitude, it would seem.  However, Ohoama didn't care.  In the past, rank may have been given to entire families, but now the court was giving rank to individuals, and the rank Mahito had earned was his, not his father's.  And so his request was denied. Four years later, Ohoama was gone and Awada no Mahito was sent to the Tsukushi no Dazai.  We are told that he was in that position as of 689.  If that was the position of Dazai no Sochi, however, he didn't hold it for long, as Prince Kawachi was raised up to that position that same year, and here we have a bit of a conundrum.  Mahito is only mentioned as "Tsukushi no Dazai" while Prince Kawachi is specifically mentioned, at least twice, as Tsukushi no Dazai no Sochi.  There are some who suggest that Mahito may have been the Dazai Daini, an assistant to the Dazai no Sochi—effectively the second-in-command it would appear.  This makes some sense, when you consider it, and he may even have been acting Dazai no Sochi until Prince Kawachi was appointed. Of course, because our records are quite lackluster, and we are never actually told when Tajihi no Shima left the position, it is possible that Awada no Mahito was actually the Dazai Sochi for many years leading up to 689, and that Shima had returned to Asuka some time ago.  This is the problem with the way things are written—sometimes they mention a name and sometimes just a position, and rarely do they mention when someone stepped down. Still, Mahito oversaw a few things that we can be somewhat sure about as they happened after he is first mentioned in the position, though it was all in the same year.  For one thing, he is the one who presented gifts to the 174 Hayato in the first month of 689.  This included cloth, ox hides, and deerskins.  He was also there when the Queen sent relief to the Barrier Wardens whose terms were up.  These were the Sakimori, a position set up to defend the archipelago and repel any potential invasions.  I would assume they were regularly rotated out, especially if they were expected to man the fortifications out on some of the islands.  It is interesting that we don't often see them referenced, so it isn't clear to me why the reference was made here—it may have just been a note in one of the sources the Chroniclers were using. Later that same year, we also see garments being given out—likely meaning official court clothing—to the Tsukushi Dazai and others.  This was probably to bring them all in line with the latest formal wear being used in the court in Asuka.  We also know that in the 6th month of that year they entertained the Silla envoys, who were given various presents. And then, two months later, Mahito is out and Prince Kawachi comes in.  At the same time that Prince Kawachi is being made the Dazai no Sochi, our previous Dazai no Sochi, Tajihi no Shima, had his rank and fief increased.   I doubt this was a coincidence, and it is one of the things that, for me, lends credence to the idea that Shima had just then returned to Asuka and Prince Kawachi was his replacement, suggesting that Mahito had really just been in an acting capacity while the change over was taking place. Unfortunately, if we were looking for more information about Prince Kawachi's background, we would be disappointed.  Although he is a prince, probably descended from Nunakura, aka Bidatsu Tennou, we don't have a lot about him.  He—or someone with the same name, since we do see these Princely titles get reused, it seems—is found in the reign of Ohoama traveling with Ohotomo no Yasumaro and Fujiwara no Ohoshima to go entertain Gim Jisyang of Silla.  Later we see a Prince Kawachi delivering eulogies during Ohoama's funeral.  That suggests he held an important position, and that he was somewhat familiar with the continent, but we don't get a whole lot more.  Our next evidence is when he was appointed to the post of Dazai no Sochi in 689, a position he would hold until his death in 694—which may also explain why we just don't see too much of him in the record.  A promising career may have been cut short, as happened all too often back in that day and age. Still, as Dazai no Sochi, he had plenty to keep him busy.  Not a month after he arrived, Isonokami no Maro and Ishikawa no Mishina arrived at the head of a delegation.  They were there to deliver patents of rank to members of the Tsukushi government and to inspect the fortifications at the edge of the archipelago.  These were the same fortifications being manned by the newly arrived Sakimori. Speaking of the members of the Tsukushi government, it took a lot of people to make the Dazaifu work, not just the Sochi giving people orders about what they should do.  There were numerous assistants helping to keep everything running.  Some of them would have just been dealing with the Sochi's own residence, while others were clerks, guards, and more.  It really was a miniature version of the court in Asuka, and would have required a lot of people to tend to it.  And we know of at least one of them:  Tsukushi no Fubito no Masaru, whose imagined thoughts we heard at the top of the episode.  In 691, Masaru was recognized for 29 years of service as a secretary to the Tsuksuhi no Dazai.  Twenty-nine years in place suggests to me that he would have likely been one of the longest serving members of the Tsukushi government center.  He would have known where all the bodies were buried—perhaps quite literally.  While the Dazai no Sochi was often a temporary appointment, sometimes just for a few years, they would have likely leaned on Masaru for his expertise.  This is just like how modern government appointees like ambassadors may come and go, including for political reasons, but they rely on permanent staff, including a lot of locals, to provide the institutional knowledge they need to do their jobs.  One can assume that if Masaru had been successful for 29 years he knew how things were supposed to work.  And so I hope that his superiors made sure to remember that when Secretary's day rolled around. Prince Kawachi didn't make it 29 years, but he made it five.  He might have gone even longer, but he died in office in 694 and was posthumously raised in rank for his service.  History is full of stories, but in real life, the stories don't always follow the expected narratives.  As much as we'd like to think otherwise, good, moral people do not always triumph and sometimes those who do awful things are never punished.  And some times stories come to abrupt ends.  Of course, looking back, it just is what it is.  Prince Kawachi's life becomes little more than a footnote.  And yet, what if he had gone on?  Would he have followed Tajihi no Shima to help become one of the grand ministers of the court?  Unfortunately, we will never know.  He could have been a rising star, but we just know about his passing. Five months after Prince Kawachi's untimely death, he was followed in the post by Prince Mino.  Prince Mino would continue in the position, it seems, through the end of the reign in 697—or at least nobody else was appointed until 700, when Isonokami no Maro—apparently the same one who had previously come out to inspect the fortifications during Prince Kawachi's tenure—was appointed.  Although he came into the position in the next reign, we'll still touch on him, as he was another notable figure at this time. Looking back at Prince Mino, however, we seem to run into a problem—there are too many Princes Mino in the record.  If you just use the English translations, you'll find several references to Prince Mino, but if you look at the original text, you'll see that there are at least three different spellings.  For one it means "Beautiful Field" and another is just "Three Fields".  A third "Mino" is spelled with characters that don't necessarily create obvious meaning, and may just be a phonetic spelling. It is possible that all of these Princes Mino are the same.  Spelling wasn't standard, and different characters could be used for the same name.  On the other hand, we have one set of characters being used to describe a Prince Mino who supported Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran, while another, the "Three Fields" Prince Mino, describes one of the sons of Prince Kurikuma, who was with his father in Tsukushi when the Afumi court came calling.  Since travel wasn't necessarily an overnight endeavor—unless you were Ohoama, rushing through the mountains to the east—it would seem that the Prince Mino in Tsukushi is unlikely to be the same one as the Prince Mino who joined Ohoama's forces back in the Home Provinces. So let's make the assumption that Prince Mino—Prince "Three Fields" Mino—is one person and the others are separate.  What do we know about him? Well, he appears to have had experience with Tsukushi and the government out  there, since he would be the son of Prince Kurikuma, a former Tsukushi Dazai no Sochi.  We talked about Prince Kurikuma before, back in numerous episodes, but particularly in episodes 128 and Episode 144, as well as references in betweend. Prince Kurikuma was not only a significant factor in the outcome of the Jinshin no Ran, denying the Afumi court the resources of all of the defenders at the Tsukushi fortifications, he shows up in local legends in Tsukushi still today.  So he definitely seems to have had an impact on the region.  It also suggests that Prince Mino had connections in the area through his father. After his father's posting as Dazai no Sochi ended, Prince Mino appears to have returned with him to Asuka.  He is described as a key member in Ohoama's court.  He was one of the Princes mentioned in the audience at the Daigokuden in 681, when Ohoama instituted the commission to bring together the various court sources that we presume would eventually lead to the creation of the Chronicles—the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki.  Later, he become a daibu, a high official, of the Household Bureau, responsible for the household of the sovereign, the sumera no mikoto.  This meant the upkeep of the palace, the kitchens, and the various servants waiting on the sovereign and his family.  This also means that he was likely close to the movers and shakers of the court. One of the projects under his purview appears to have been the laying out of a new palace and a new capital city.  In 682 he headed up the investigations at the place called Nihiki, determining that it would be a good location for what would eventually become Fujiwara-kyo—a project still underway in Queen Uno's reign.  He was also sent out to Shinano two years later to look for a site for a second capital.  It ended up not happening, but he spent a couple months and eventually came back with a map of the region.  It may be that the Fujiwara-kyo project took up a lot of Mino's time and effort, because we then don't hear from him for another decade, during which Ohama passed away and so much more happened.  Assuming he was still involved with the Fujiwara capital project, however, we see that in 691 there was a ceremony held for the tranquility of the new capital—a Chin-sai or, what we would today call a "Ji-chin-sai".  This is a "land pacification ceremony" done when breaking ground on a new building or other project.  So it looks like planning and land clearing had taken some 10 years, but it was finally ready to get started.  Later that same year we hear of them laying out the residences of high ranking nobles, like the Udaijin, Tajihi no Shima, and we also see the Queen inspecting the roads.  Then, a year later in 692, they were holding the land pacification ceremony for the new palace.  The queen would move into the new palace in the very last months of 694. But by that time, Prince Mino was on to his next assignment.  He had been appointed Tsukushi Dazai no Sochi earlier that year following the death of Prince Kawachi.  Not much more is said of Tsukushi for the next three years of the reign, but we do see the Hayato visiting Asuka, presumably with Prince Mino's assistance. We don't have a clear idea of when Prince Mino retired—it's certainly not in the Nihon Shoki—but we know that he did because he was succeeded in the role by none other than Isonokami no Maro, who would take up the position in 700.  Prince Mino, on the other hand, returned to the court, where he would eventually pass away in the year 708. And that was the last Dazai no Sochi who held the position during this reign, but I do want to talk about the one who came after Prince Mino just a bit—though more because this was an up-and-coming court noble whom we should be watching. Isonokami no Maro was born, by all accounts, in the year 640.  Despite his name he was actually born to a family that we know somewhat well from much earlier on: The Mononobe.  In fact, his father is apparently Mononobe no Muraji no Umaro, and he appears to be descended from the main line of the Mononobe family, which had declined ever since Mononobe no Moriya had been defeated and killed by Soga no Umako and others. And it seems that the Mononobe curse of being on the losing side in a contest for power hit Maro during the Jinshin no Ran, because we see him, at that time referenced as Mononobe no Muraji no Maro, along with two servants, or Toneri, serving Prince Ohotomo—aka Koubun Tennou—up to the very end.  In fact, when Ohotomo fled and the Afumi court deserted him, only Mononobe no Maro and the servants stayed with him when he eventually strangled himself. And one would think that would be it.   You were with the rival for the throne in the most contentious fight in recent memory.  You couldn't protect him and you were on the wrong side.  Sure, Ohoama was going to pardon you because he couldn't just rid himself of half of the court and hope things would still run smoothly—that would be a surefire recipe for disaster, and nobody wanted the government crippled like that.  However, you can't imagine that those on the losing side would be given any position of trust or authority. And yet, in 676, we see that Mononobe no Maro was sent to Silla.  And he wasn't just helping out: he was sent as the chief envoy of Ohoama's court.  That is quite the turnaround in four years, and we don't really know why, but it has been speculated that Ohoama was actually impressed.  While other members of the Afumi court fled and abandoned Ohotomo to his enemies, Maro and the two toneri with him did not, staying with Ohotomo until the bitter end, and likely conveying what had happened to the other side once it was all over.   That kind of loyalty was impressive, especially back then. It is also thought that Maro may have benefited from the fact that Enoi no Okimi, who was also descended from the Mononobe family, fought on the side of Ohoama.  This is a common scenario we see throughout Japanese history, where different members of the same family fight on different sides of a conflict, often meaning that no matter who wins the family can still claim to have been on the winning side.  When Okimi passed away in 676 he was posthumously recognized as the ujigami, or clan head, of the Mononobe, leading some to suspect that a bit of his shine may have rubbed off on Maro as well. In 684, when the various kabane were being rectified by Ohoama's court, the Mononobe no Muraji were included as Ason, or Asaomi.  There is some thought that around this time is when Maro changed his name to Isonokami, which is a name that was previously used by members of the Mononobe, including one of the brothers to Mononobe no Moriya.  We see him mentioned as Isonokami no Maro in 686, as one of those giving a eulogy for Ohoama: specifically he gives the eulogy on behalf of the Houkan, or Nori no Tsukasa, the Judicial officers.  He is mentioned right after Fuse no Miushi, whom we talked about last episode, who would go on to become a Dainagon and, later, Udaijin, or Minister of the Right. The first connection between Isonokami no Maro and Tsukushi was in 689, and we noted it earlier—he came out to inspect the fortifications as well as to hand out patents of rank to the court officials working out there on the edge of the realm.    He would return to Asuka in time to be a part of Uno no Sarara's official enthronement ceremonies.  There he is named Mononobe no Maro, and is in charge of the shields.  Given what we know of the role of the Mononobe as the early soldiers of the court, it makes sense that he would play this role, and that they would use the name Mononobe rather than Isonokami.  In the same way, the ritual was conducted by Fujiwara no Ohoshima, but he is recorded as Nakatomi no Ohoshima, probably because these were roles specifically for the Mononobe and Nakatomi, rather than for the Isonokami and the Fujiwara. This is another thing that can be quite frustrating when researching Japanese history—names can change at the drop of a hat, and people often had various ancestral names and titles that could be pulled out for various political or ceremonial reasons.  If you don't have the history or understand the nuance it can be easy to just think that it is a different person altogether.  And when you don't have much information, sometimes you have to ask yourself which is it? Maro would stay close to Queen Uno, even accompanying her to Ise shrine, and then, in the following reign, he would succeed Prince Mino as Dazai no Sochi in the year 700.  It isn't clear, however, if he left for the Dazaifu immediately, since in 701 he is noted as having been promoted from the office of Chunagon to Dainagon, and in that same year he went with Royal Prince Osakabe to pay respects at the house of the late Udaijin, Tajihi no Shima, who had just passed away.  He then left for Tsukushi in 702—or possibly headed back.  But in 703, he was once again back in Asuka, paying condolences on the death of the next Udaijin, Abe no Miushi—aka Fuse no Miushi, the same one whom Maro had pronounced a Eulogy with during the funeral ceremonies for Ohoama.  Isonokami no Maro would go on to take the mantle of Udaijin, and then eventually Sadaijin as well.  He would be raised up to the second rank, along with the famous Fujiwara no Fubito, who took the vacated position of Udaijin.  This meant that technically Maro was the senior of the two, though many people think that Fujiwara no Fubito held most of the actual power.  Regardless of that, Isonokami no Maro nonetheless would go on to become the highest ranking court noble before his eventual death in 717.  At that point he was 78 years old, by the reckoning of the day, and he had seen multiple sovereigns, several bloody conflicts, and the creation of two permanent capitals—Fujiwara kyo and Heijo kyo, in modern Nara.  He went from being a supporter in the Afumi court, on the wrong side of the Jinshin no Ran to become the highest ranking court noble in the land.  He would be granted the head of the Mononobe family and would continue to prosper as Isonokami.  It was truly a remarkable career over an incredible span of time. And there you have it.  A look at some of those that were sent out to the Dazaifu in Tsukushi.  In later years, the post of Dazai no Sochi would be seen more as a burden than a blessing, but at this point it was still a lucrative and powerful position.  Several of those involved in the Dazaifu or who held the position as Dazai no Sochi would go on to even more powerful positions back in Asuka.  Whilst this posting did move you further away from the politics—perhaps not always a bad thing—it also put you atop a structure where one had considerable power, authority, and autonomy, at least at this point. Next episode we'll get back to the court in Asuka and take a look at a little more of what is going on.  Before I end this, however, a quick administrative note about the podcast.  This creation is a labor of love.  It was started largely as a way to get myself to regularly dive into the Chronicles and really see what was going on.  In particular, I was excited about the Asuka period, because I don't think we really have enough of a sense of what life was like and what was going on back then.  It was clearly a very dynamic time, and yet we tend to see it through the lens of later Nara and Heian court culture, which was still very much evolving.  The stories that I *didn't* know about were what drew me to this project, and I hope that we've all learned a bit more as the project has continued. And we are reaching the end of the area that is covered by the main Chronicles, the Kojiki, the Nihon Shoki, and the Sendai Kuji Hongi, which have been our main guides through this period.  But that doesn't mean we are bringing things to a close. Next we have the Shoku Nihongi and many other grecords, and I am going to keep up with the project and the schedule as best I can.  In fact, it looks like I may be able to devote even more time to it in the near future as some drastic life changes are coming for me, such that I will no longer be working a 9-to-5 job while also trying to get this podcast out like clockwork twice a month—not to mention my other passion, teaching traditional Japanese martial arts here in the DC region at a local not-for-profit dojo.  This is happening as we are also in the process of building a house, traveling, and more.  But it does mean that we are going to be looking into alternative sources of funding beyond just donations.  We are eternally grateful to everyone who has donated, but I may end up doing something that I've been putting off for a while: allowing advertisements.  I want to do this so that we can continue to offer this for podcast for free, but hosting, staying up to date on sources, etc. does cost money.  I'm not looking to make a huge profit, but if we can at least get the podcast paying for itself, that would be a good start. Before I do that I'll look to find a way that we can get subscribers on Patreon and elsewhere ad-free copy.  I just need to figure that out, but once I do, I'll let you all know. So there you have it.  We aren't going to stop the podcast, but we may be adding a bit more to it in the future.  I hope, though, that we can do more beyond the historical chronicles.  For instance, did you know that we have an English translation of a 17th century cookbook up on our website, SengokuDaimyo.com?  I would love to redact those recipes and maybe provide some cooking videos for anyone who would want to try them.  A shoutout to Max Miller of Tasting History, who reached out to us about using a couple of our translations for his episodes on historical Japanese cooking – Max is a great guy and his series and cookbook are well worth following.  But there's a lot more to explore: one of my favorites so far that we've tried is "keiran", or "eggs": doughy balls filled with brown sugar and cooked in a miso based soup.  I don't know if there is anything like that still being served in Japan, but it's a strange and pleasant recipe and I would love to do that again and record it for everyone to try. All of this is in the works, and nothing will change immediately, but I wanted to keep you all in the loop.  Thank you so much for listening, I can't tell you how much it means. And of course, as always, if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

NXT TakeOver: The End is remembered as one of the key events of the Black & Gold era, but the real question is…Did it matter?This week on The It Doesn't Matter Podcast, Dom, Ringside, His Choice, BDC, Platano, and Strap Facts revisit NXT TakeOver: The End and debate the lasting impact of every match on the card.

Konnichiwa Minna-san! Welcome to Episode 230 of the podcast. This week is our mid-season finale, and I'll be talking about Asuka's future in WWE and going over the reactions to the Iyo Sky vs. Asuka match. Plus, Iyo Sky and Naraku just got married. I'll also share some of the best moments from this season so far. Stick around for a special announcement about the podcast. Enjoy the episode and have a great summer!For links to my podcast, social media, and merch, visit: https://linktr.ee/Smoothtokyothepodcast. Follow me on all the social media @SmoothTokyo!

Feels like so much happened since the last recording! Coop, Dennis (and you too, Jacks) discuss Clash In Italy, AAA's Mask vs Mask match, The New Day leaving WWE, Asuka's possibly final match in the WWE, and more!

A big part of the court are the actual court nobles, so this episode we are taking a look at some of the ones mentioned in the Chronicles for this reign. For more, check out https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-150 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua and this is episode 150: Nobles of Jitou Tennou's Court   Maro donned his light blue robes and made his way to the court.  As he arrived, the sun was just peaking over the horizon, and as it bathed the court in the golden morning light the dark shadows were dispelled, leaving in their wake a colorful scene, as various court officials headed this way and that, gathering in their offices to pick up on the work that they had left unfinished the day before. As an ohotoneri, Maro was often sent to and fro between the offices of the different departments. As such, he was able to see how they worked, and he wondered to himself which department would have the best opportunity for advancement.  His family had connections over at the Department of Prisons, and it was definitely a place he could make a name for himself, especially if he attached himself to one of the newly minted magistrates.  On the other hand, the Jingikan, the Ministry for Kami Matters, had some of the most important and sought after positions.  After all, no matter what the secular administration did, when there was no rain for the fields, it was the kami to whom the court turned.  And the members of the Jingikan who helped make those ceremonies happen were known to be well rewarded for their troubles. Perhaps he would be better off taking a more modest position, such as with the Jibu-sho, the Department of Civil Administration.  It was mostly focused on the maintenance and execution of the bureaucracy, and wasn't necessarily a place to seek the limelight, but perhaps that also offered some opportunity.  Do well in one position, and who knows what that could open up to you in the long run?  Maybe one day Maro could make it up to become a Nagon, a Counsellor, or even one of the Daijin, the great ministers at the very head of the council of state.Maro almost laughed at the thought, but he didn't put it aside entirely.  After all, as impossible as it might seem now, the world was still changing, and who knew what opportunities might be waiting just around the corner?   This episode continues our look at the reign of Uno no Sarara, aka Jitou Tennou.  I would note that we have now reached the last chapter of the Nihon Shoki, which ends with the end of Uno no Sarara's reign in 697.  In this chapter, we have not quite 11 years to cover, and we've already talked about the first three of those years, which featured succession issues and a long mourning time for Uno's husband Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou, culminating in the sudden death of her only son, the Crown Prince and heir apparent, Prince Kusakabe, in 689.  We also went over what was happening on the continent, with powerful women like Uno no Sarara either on or behind the throne in Silla and the Tang dynasty.  To quickly recap the succession issues: When Kusakabe died, tthat left the throne in a somewhat tenuous position.  There were two other male heirs that would seem to have a claim on the throne as well.  The first was Prince Takechi, who was technically Ohoama's eldest son, but the Chroniclers claim that his late mother was not sufficiently royal for him to have a serious claim.  Then there was Prince Karu, the only known son of the late Crown Prince Kusakabe, and had been born 6 years earlier, in 683, to the Crown Prince and his wife, Princess Abe.  Princess Abe was a daughter of Naka no Oe, and a half-sister to Uno no Sarara.  She was actually a year older than Kusakabe, and would continue to look after the young Prince Karu.  So, Prince Karu was only about 7 years old when his father passed away: much too young to be taking the throne, let alone a firm hand in the politics of the time.  And given the mortality statistics of the time, there is so much that could happen to him before he reached the age of majority.  And remember, there were already some questions about legitimacy, and we already discussed the fact that about 30 nobles had gathered in support of Prince Ohotsu right after Ohoama's death.  Uno no Sarara had that whole issue quashed and Prince Ohotsu had died, but it was nonetheless a stark reminder that things could change quickly. So at this point in Uno no Sarara's reign, there is a great deal of uncertainty afoot, and there are quite a few individuals named in the Chronicles who stand to benefit from sticking their fingers into politics in one way or another.  This episode, we're going to look at some of those individuals, their roles in the court, and the effect they had on Yamato.  Some of those people named are particularly interesting in that they were involved in the conspiracy with Prince Ohotsu, and would continue to be highly influential in the government.  For example, Iki no Hakatoko, Nakatomi no Omimaro, and Kose no Tayasu, and Yakuchi no Wotokashi are all name-dropped, which we'll get into more later.  It feels significant, however, that there were some 30 nobles all told, and beyond these four and the apparent ringleaders, we don't learn anyone else's names.   The importance of prominent individuals in the court has been a constant theme in the Chronicles and in this podcast, so getting to know the court is definitely important. Moreover, during this time period as we get more and more written sources from which to work from we will see more and more information on individuals.  Some of that will come from the Nihon Shoki and the records that come after—the Shoku Nihongi.  Others, however, are from sources like the Man'yoshu, where bits of biographical data are found about the authors that they mention.  There are also family diaries and later genealogies.  Some of these sources are a bit more trusted than others, especially when they were compiled centuries later and we don't exactly know what sources they, themselves, were working on.  Still, even if it isn't 100% accurate, it does give us a picture of what was going on beyond just the royal family. I think it is also helpful to understand some of the overall court dynamics.  If you are familiar with the Heian period, especially around the time of things like the Tale of Genji, you are probably well acquainted with the Fujiwara family—I'll probably need to do an entire episode just on them at some point.  Essentially, there would come a time where almost the entire court was made up either of royals or of members of the Fujiwara clan, or uji.  In fact, even that distinction wasn't really accurate as the Fujiwara family had so intermarried with the Royal family that every sovereign—every Tennou and even most of their consorts—were directly related to members of the Fujiwara.  Not only that, but members of the Fujiwara family held the position of regent—whether the sovereign was of age or not—and effectively ruled the country, with the Tennou being largely relegated to a mouthpiece with ceremonial duties.  It would get so bad that we would see the splitting of the Fujiwara uji into smaller households, and the political fights were often between members of the different households of the same family.  There is a reason that a good portion of the Heian period is sometimes called the Fujiwara period. However, now during the late Asuka period, we see something a little different.  The marriage politics of the Soga had been violently suppressed about a half century earlier, and a lot of different names flourished in the Yamato court, as youmay have noticed any time I've rattled off a bunch of names and your eyes started crossing because of it.  But that's the reality we see: there were a lot of different families, and individuals, all jockeying for influence.  And they were in a period of disruption, where lots of change was happening.  That change meant there was also a lot of potential. And I hope you don't mind if I take a quick time-out here, but so often we read history and we forget to learn lessons from it, and one overarching lesson is:  if you are a part of an organization—a company, a club, government, school, or anything like that—one thing you are going to have to deal with is change.  It comes in many forms and happens whether or not you personally agree with it. It can be destructive and it can be frightening, because we often don't know what is on the other side of it, but it also presents opportunities.  After all, if you don't know what comes next it probably means other people don't, either.  And if you can be the one to provide direction you can have a huge influence on what comes next.  And change has been a constant theme in this period of Yamato history, in so many ways.  Take the reorganization of the government as one example: they had introduced these 8 departments, which had names and were set up in various ways, but it wasn't like you had experienced people to run them as they had been on the continent.  So you had names and the forms of things, but there were a lot of people figuring out just how to actually put this new structure into practice, and leverage them to do what they were supposed to do.  In the process, there were a lot of opportunities to innovate and figure out how to do it within the cultural milieu of the archipelago.  So all of these individuals, from these various families, all had opportunities staring them in the face.  They just had to figure out how to make the best of it. Now, don't get me wrong:  Those with the money, the connections, and the influence still had a leg up, and this was still a hierarchical society, where your family dictated, to some extent, your position in society.  The introduction of individual court rank, as opposed to just the kabane that ranked uji, was pushing against that, and had already caused a reformation that flattened a lot of the previous kabane into just eight distinctions, but those distinctions still existed.  Even had they not, simple matters of inherited wealth and the value of goods produced in a family's home territory would still have provided tremendous advantages.  But there isn't an indication of the kind of large-scale consolidation of resources that we will see in later periods, such as the Fujiwara example that we were just discussing.  Oh, sure, we aren't going to see a farmer suddenly make it big at court in some kind of rags-to-riches story, but at the upper end of society we still have a lot of apparent diversity. And so, let's get to know some of these individuals that the Chronicles tell us about.  Before we do that, though, let's recap a little bit about how the court worked. Every member of the court was effectively employed by the State.  They had an official job with duties they were supposed to oversee.  In the case of lower level functionaries, they were likely expected to actually do most of the work, while at the top of the hierarchy you had nobles who were more likely decision-makers, who would approve or disapprove of the work and direct strategic resources. Those working in the court had official uniforms—the round-necked garments of the continent.  What would be called a "caftan" farther west.  These were based on the foreign garments popular in the Tang court and elsewhere. The color and pattern of official clothing appears to be something that goes back to early in this new continental style government, and we see suggestions of color schemes from a relatively early age.  However, in 690 we see the clearest such outline of just what everyone was wearing. As a reminder, the court rank system of the day was made up of a Princely and a Commoner system.  Princely ranks originally included two ranks of the Myo class, and four of the Jou class, each rank divided into either "Great" or "Broad", for twelve Princely ranks, though honestly we only ever really see the four Jou class of ranks in use. Below that were the ranks for the common nobles—those with family names who did not have any kind of royal claim.    For them there were six classes of rank—Shou, Jiki, Gon, Mu, Tsui, and Shin, in that order.  Each class was made up of four ranks, which were further divided into upper and broad categories, creating 48 total ranks. Your rank determined your precedence at court—where you were sat, what jobs you were allowed to take on and, most importantly, the amount of money that you could expect to receive as part of a stipend.  Naka no Oe had previously consolidated the land-holdings and asserted claim over all of it.  The taxes from the households on the land went to the government to pay the stipends of the nobles in the court, who were, ostensibly, employees of that same government.  Your rank determined what you were owed, though this could also be augmented by various edicts. So there you go: rank in the court was tied to many of the things that the elites wanted, from wealth to status and access to various opportunities. The color of official clothing followed the rank system.  So Princes of the first two ranks of the Jou class were given robes of dark purple, and the third and four ranks were given robes of bright purple, which they shared with highest class of rank of the common nobles, the Shou rank class. Below that, nobles of the Jiki class would wear robes of dark red, and those of Gon would wear dark green.  The Mu rank class, the next down, was Light Green, and then Tsui was Deep Blue and Shin was Light blue. So in order you would see robes of Dark Purple, Bright Purple, Dark Red, Dark Green, Light Green, Deep Blue, and Light Blue.  The color gave you a certain indication of where the person sat in the overall hierarchy of the court, and provided you clues as to how you should address them, who would give deference, etc.  In later centuries, we are even told that deference was given in meetings, which is to say that once a person of higher rank provided input on a topic, nobody of lower rank was able to contradict them for fear of the consequences.  So it also told you who got the last word. This then was the world that the nobles of the court inhabited.  As we've seen in previous episodes it wasn't just bureaucratic work, but also banquets, archery contests, and Buddhist congregations and sutra readings.  There were rituals, dances, and diplomatic embassies—not to mention all of the ceremonies around the death or ascension of the sovereign.  In this world, one's reputation was everything.  You wanted to be seen as good at your job, but also, just like today, people were more likely to promote and support those they knew, and so it helped to have friends.  However, there were also a limited number of top spots, and so every promotion would have likewise meant plenty of disappointed nobles who didn't get the job.  But that is enough background.  Let's take a look at some of the nobles themselves, starting with the four from the Prince Ohotsu conspiracy.   The first name in the list is perhaps the least interesting.  His name is Yakuchi no Wotokashi.  Although he was the highest ranking of the four, he is also the least mentioned in the Chronicles and elsewhere, and we know very little about him.  So we'll talk about him later on, for completeness, but for now it may be best to skip him until we have a better handle on others in the court. In contrast, we know a bit more about his co-conspirators.  In fact, we've already talked about one of them at length:  Iki no Hakatoko.  We first heard about Iki no Hakatoko when talking about the Tang dynasty, and discussed him at length in Episode 123.  He was one of the members of the embassy to the Tang dynasty back in the early 660s that got delayed on account of Tang Gaozong initiating the war against Yamato's ally Baekje.  The fact that the Nihon Shoki directly pulls from Hakatoko's work, known to us, today, as the Iki no Hakatoko Sho, makes it one of the few early named written works that we know about.  Unfortunately, it is no longer extant except for what is preserved in the Chronicles, but it is still incredible that we have essentially an eyewitness account of what happened.  He would later be one of the escort envoys for one of the Tang embassies during the reign of Naka no Oe.  That he was then embroiled in the conspiracy with Prince Ohotsu would seem to be at odds with his standing, and yet after his pardon he eventually got back into the court's good graces.  In 695, about 9 years after the incident, he was assigned as an assistant envoy to Silla.  By that point he was of Mudaini rank, which was only about 35th in the overall scheme of things.  Later on we know he would work on the famous Taiho code, which was published in 701, and enacted a couple of years later.  It was here that he worked with the famous Fujiwara no Fubito—about whom we will discuss more, later—and although he would pass away in 703, this may be how his own writings came to find their way into the Chronicles, since Fubito is said to have had a large influence on them—as he had on many of the court's projects. Overall, Iki no Hakatoko may not have been the one in charge, but we see in his life an incredible career, much of it spent on multiple voyages across the ocean, whether on an embassy or as an escort.  He likely was highly proficient in the language of the Tang court—what we typically refer to, broadly, as Middle Chinese.  He also had direct experience with the Tang court and system, and so it makes sense that he was one of those helping to build an administrative state based on that system. If we were to imagine Hakatoko in the court of the day, at least in 695, he would have likely had light green colored robes, indicating that he was of the "Mu" class of ranks.  He would have worn the black gauze cap of the court and worn white hakama, or trousers, underneath.  His long, continental style, round-necked robes—likely relatively slim, with overly long, but narrow, sleeves—would have been tied closed in the front with a braided silk cord.  He likely worn black leather boots, covered in a light lacquer to protect them from the elements, with cloth insoles and perhaps a hint of brocade along the top.  He likely kept with him a ruler, and perhaps a few slips of paper or even just wood on which to take occasional notes.  A mid-level functionary of the court. We can compare and contrast Hakatoko to two other co-conspirators:  Nakatomi no Omimaro and Kose no Tayasu. We are given neither Omimaro's rank nor Tayasu's at this time.  It is interesting that they listed after Hakatoko, who is actually listed as having "Lower Shousen" rank—an older rank that was no longer in use at this point in time.  Also, both Nakatomi and Kose were Ason level families while Iki no Hakatoko is listed as being merely "Muraji".  So it seems that the Chroniclers were probably pulling from what they could find elsewhere, although where they found that Wotokashi had Jikikwoshi rank I have no idea, as we don't have any other record for him.  And it is possible that deference to Wotokashi and Hakatoko are as much a nod to their age as anything else, though probably not by much. Of four co-conspirators mentioned here—and I'm leaving out the two who were exiled or banished, as they were clearly not hanging around the court later—Nakatomi no Omimaro and Kose no Tayasu were probably from the most established families.  Indeed, we see both of their names show up multiple times in the record, giving us a better idea of who they might have been. Of the two, the name Nakatomi probably is more likely to ring a bell, as that as the surname of the famous Nakatomi no Kamatari—as well as the later Nakatomi no Kane.   Nakatomi no Kamatari was the head of court ritual when he and Naka no Oe kicked things off with the Isshi Incident and the Taika reforms, at which point he became the "Inner Prime Minister", or Naidaijin. Much of what we know of Omimaro comes from outside of the Chronicles themselves.  For instance, we are told that he was the son of Nakatomi no Kunitari, a cousin to the famous Kamatari, at least according to the 10th century Engi Shiki.  However, we have no other records of Kunitari, and so there is more than a little doubt cast as to whether or not that was actually the case.  Similarly, we are told that Omimaro married one of Kamatari's daughters, and was eventually adopted by Kamatari. Once again, the evidence for this is pretty thin, and it is unclear to me just how adoption worked at this point.  Certainly in later periods, adoption was often a way to ensure that a family had a male heir to ensure the family's continuity, and marrying someone's daughter and being adopted into the family is an age old tradition in the archipelago and Japan more generally.  At the same time, give some thought to what we know about this period: male primogeniture was not exactly the norm, although Confucian values had definitely made inroads into court.   The family headship often went to the eldest—or most prominent—family member.  This wasn't necessarily a son and often was a brother, a nephew, or even a cousin.  We have a few famous Nakatomi at this point in time, and all I can say for certain is that they were part of the same family.  Later traditions would make things a bit more clear. Whatever his parentage, our first encounter with Omimaro appears to be in the Ohotsu conspiracy, when he was arrested and then pardoned.  He shows up again in the record just three years later, along with Kose no Tayasu, as both were made judges, along with Fujiwara no Fubito—Nakatomi no Kamatari's biological son and eventual heir. In fact, there were nine judges, or magistrates, made that year, and they are listed in rank order.  The first is Prince Takeda, said to be a great-grandson of Nunakura, aka Bidatsu Tennou.  He was Joukwoshi rank, meaning he wore bright purple court robes, sitting in the lower half of the princely ranks.  He had been quite prolific ever since 681, when he was one of the Princes called to help bring together the Chronicles.  After being made a judge, he would continue in that position, it seems, and by 708 he would become the head of the Ministry of Prisons. After him we have Haji no Nemaro, in the dark red robes of the Jiki rank class.  Though someone of rank, less is known about Nemaro.  His father is said to be Haji no Mi, who was part of the forces that set out to Yamada-dera to capture—and likely kill—Soga no Kurayamadera.  Haji no Nemaro's son is Haji no Oi, who was sent to the Tang court but returned in 684, along with several repatriated soldiers.  Oi would assist with the Taihou code, but little more is said about him or his father. Other judges were Ohoyake no Maro, Fujiwara no Fubito—also of the Jiki class rank. Maro would go on to take a job as a jusenshi, responsible for minting coins, and Fubito would go on to reach the highest levels of government. Then there was Tahema no Sakurawi, Hodzumi no Yamamori, Nakatomi no Omimaro, Kose no Tayasu, and Ohomiwa no Yasumaro.  They were all Mudaishi rank at this point, wearing dark green.  Sakurai would go on to become the governor of Ise in 705, and then the governor of Musashi in 708.  Hodzumi no Yamamori we don't have as much information on, other than that he kept climbing the ranks, by 704 he had made Junior 5th rank, lower grade in the system that replaced the cap-ranks, and by 712 he made it to the senior fifth rank, lower grade. Ohomiwa no Yasumaro, on the other hand, would make it to the Senior 5th rank, lower grade by 707, and the upper grade by 708, when he was made the Dayu—the high minister in charge—of Settsu.  He would eventually make it into the Junior Fourth rank, upper grade, as the Minister of the Military Department, or Hyobu-sho. So this gives you an idea of the people with whom Nakatomi no Omimaro and Kose no Tayasu were rubbing elbows.  That they were made judges, responsible for justice, seems to say something as that would seem to be a powerful position.  At the same time, they are both lower ranked than the much younger Fujiwara no Fubito—but once again, he was the direct son of Nakatomi no Kamatari.  He also seems to have avoided any unpleasantness from the Jinshin no Ran as he was only 14 at the time, and though it does seem that the Nakatomi were generally knocked down a peg or two in court—thanks in large part  to the fact that Nakatomi no Kane had been one of the leaders of the Afumi court.  That and the whole thing with Prince Ohotsu may be why Omimaro was not exactly in the top ranks, but his appointments weren't nothing, either.  By 693, Omimaro would be granted the rank of Jikikwoshi, the lower fourth rank of the Jiki class.  In that entry he is recorded as Fujiwara no Omimaro.  I believe we discussed this a few episodes back, but the Fujiwara name was still new.  It had been granted to Nakatomi no Kamatari on his deathbed—or possibly even posthumously—by Naka no Oe, and to his family.  So technically that would seem to extend to the entire Nakatomi family.  And with Nakatomi no Kane having been one of the main figures on the losing side of the Jinshin no Ran, it was no doubt a savvy political move for Nakatomi courtiers to lean into the Fujiwara name, and they seem to have done just that.  It wouldn't be until later, in the reign just following this, that a new decree would straighten everything out, such that only the actual descendants of Fujiwara no Kamatari, such as Fujiwara no Fubito, would be allowed to use the Fujiwara name. Throughout this, I have focused mostly on Omimaro, but Kose no Tayasu was in the mix as well.  He, too, was made a judge and in 693 he would also be awarded the same Jikikwoshi rank.  In addition, in 689, he was made a "commissioner of good words", along with the Royal Prince Shiki and others.  This seems to be a singular position, and Aston suggests that it was their job to figure out the kind of auspicious language that should be used in the court.  What kind of language should be used by the sovereign and the courtiers in drawing up official edicts.  I imagine that they were figuring out the form to give to formal court documents as well as the kinds of titles and honorifics to use for the sovereign and the state more generally.  Of course, that is just an assumption based on Aston's understanding of what is, ultimately, a single line.  Still, it is clear that Tayasu was helping to make things happen. Tayasu would eventually go on to become the Minister of the Department of Ceremonies, the Shikibu-sho, and would later serve as a secretary to the Viceroy in Tsukushi—the Dazai Daini.  He would pass away in 710, one year before Omimaro. Before leaving Tayasu behind completely, I would like to point out his family name:  Kose.  The Kose family were one of the families granted the kabane of Ason, or Asaomi.  They had previously been known as the Kose no Omi, and had a long history in the court, claiming descent from the famous Takeuchi no Sukune, legendarily known as the first Oho-omi of Yamato.  Kose no Tokuda had been a supporter of Soga no Iruka, but after the Isshi Incident he supported Naka no Oe and eventually replace Abe no Uchimaro as Sadaijin—Minister of the Left.  Another Kose, Kose no Hito, would also rise in the government, becoming one of two Goshi-daibu made when Prince Ohotomo was appointed Dajodaijin.  The other was Ki no Ushi.  They were both in attendance and counted among the six who swore to protect and support Ohotomo, along with Nakatomi no Kane and others.  So they, too, found themselves on the wrong side of the Jinshin no Ran. In this case, however, it is unclear how much Tayasu was impacted by that.  He may have been the son of Kose no Shitano, brother to Kose no Hito, but the Kose were prolific in the court, with many people of the name.  The family would continue going through the Heian period.  Their fortunes ebbed and flowed, as did so many families, but they would eventually find themselves as Hatamoto to the Tokugawa shogun, so they never actually disappeared. Finally, let's talk about Yakuchi no Wotokashi.  As I mentioned earlier, he is actually one of the first names mentioned in the list of co-conspirators with Prince Ohotsu, suggesting that he outranked others in the group.  Indeed, he is noted as being of Jikikwoshi rank—fourth lower Jiki rank.  The bottom of the Jiki class, but that was still the third class from the top.  However, despite this, very little is actually said about him.  In fact, this is the only instance I could find of the name Yakuchi in the Nihon Shoki, at least in that spelling—there is also a Yakuchi no Uneme, but it is spelled differently and is probably not related.  It is also the only evidence of the name Wotokashi.  That means we don't even see him in the list of names being granted Ason in the first place. It is quite possible that Yakuchi was a name he took later and that he was from another family.  Indeed, there are a couple of traditions around Wotokashi that suggest he was the founder of the Yakuchi family in Shinano.  Indeed, there is a Yakuchi family that comes out of Shinano, near Adzumino.  And Shinano was one of the places that Ohoama had sent people to examine as another site for an alternative capital, and Prince Mino and others had gone to check it out.  So maybe Wotokashi headed out there—or his descendants, anyway—and decided to try and make a go of it.  Proponents of this theory also connect Wotokashi to a line descended from the Soga family, which would certainly explain his prominence.  There are others, however, who claim that the Yakuchi family out of Shinano is actually descended from the Otomo, suggesting that the similarities in the name are just coincidental, which is also possible.  Ultimately, our sources fail us here, and so we just have speculation.  It is possible that even with the pardon, Wotokashi was just never able to regain the trust of the sovereign or his position in court, and so whether he took a hike for the hinterlands or just faded from the picture it is hard to say. With that, let's take a look at just two more courtiers, and what kinds of lives and careers they had at court, at least from what we can see.  These two we've also mentioned in passing:  Fuse no Miushi—whom Aston transliterates as Miaruji—and Ohotomo no Miyuki. Fuse no Miushi and Ohotomo no Miyuki were both mentioned as performing eulogies for Ohoama, though there is more to them than just that.  We'll start with Fuse no Miushi, who is said to have been the son of none other than the Taika era Sadaijin, or Minister of the Left, Abe no Uchimaro.  You may recall that Abe no Uchimaro was the Sadaijin under Karu no Ohokimi, aka Koutoku Tennou, along with the Udaijin, Soga no Kurayamadera.  They were both supporters of Naka no Oe, though much of the Chronicles focus appeared to be more on Kurayamadera than on Uchimaro. We don't know when Miushi was born, nor when he received the name "Fuse", the name by which he is known when we first meet him in the Chronicles.  That family name only shows up two other times in the Chronicles.  Based on other sources, it seems that the Abe family was divided at some point into the Fuse and the Hikida, likely because it became too large and they needed to distinguish the different parts of the family.  It is said that Fuse no Miushi served as a retainer to Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran.  That, along with his family connections, helped secure him a good place in the government.  By 686, we see him pronouncing the eulogy for Ohoama's funeral on behalf of the Dajokan, the Counil of State.  He was already Jikidaishi, one rank above the standard Jikikwoshi, but still clothed in the same dark red robes.  In 687, he is again pronouncing the eulogy, but this time we are told that his a Nagon, or councilor, a rather prestigious posting that would later get broken up into three different levels:  Dainagon, Chunagon, and Shonagon.  For my Heian fans out there, that last is the same Shonagon as in the name of the famous poet, author, diary-keeper, and all around queen of snark, Sei Shonagon.  By 688, pronouncing the Eulogy seems to have become an annual event for Miushi, only this time he teamed up with Ohotomo no Miyuki.  The two of them seem to have had similar careers, and would, for a time, come up together through the ranks. Ohotomo no Miyuki is said to have been born in 646, though that isn't recorded in the Nihon Shoki and comes from other sources.  The Ohotomo family goes back quite a ways, and we are told that his father was Ohotomo no Nagatoko, who served as Minister of the Right under Naka no Oe.  However, in 672, the Ohotomo, including Miyuki, sided with Ohoama in the Jinshin no ran.  In 675 he was made Tayu while Prince Kurikuma was made Director of Military Affairs.  He then drops out of the narrative until 688, when he is pronouncing the eulogy with Fuse no Miushi. Miushi would go on, two years later, to present the formal congratulations from the court to the Queen upon her ascencion to the throne, and then the following year, 691, both Miushi and Miyuki were granted the rank of Jikidaiichi, the highest rank in the Jiki class, along with 80 households to support them and their families.  This brought both of their stipends up to roughly 300 households each.  Then, in 694, they were both raised in rank again, this time to Shoukwoushi.  Only one rank up, yet they went from the top of the Jiki class to the bottom of the Shou class.  They would have gotten new robes of Bright Purple to indicate their new status, and they each had their stipends increased by the taxes of 200 households each.  At the same time, they were also acknowledged as senior members of their houses.  That means that Miushi was considered the head of the Fuse branch of the Abe family and Miyuki was now acknowledged as the head of the entire Ohotomo family. Two years after that, in 696, they were each given 80 retainers to support them.  Fuse no Miushi is actually mentioned at that time as Abe no Miushi.  That same year, we again see Fujiwara no Fubito show up, but with only 50 retainers.  Fubito would eventually rise to the top of the court food chain, but at this point, it was still in the hands of courtiers like Fuse no Abe no Miushi and Ohotomo no Miyuki. Fuse no Miushi would go on to have an incredible career.  He would become Dainagon and eventually he would become the Udaijin, the Minister of the Right, one of the highest positions anyone could hope to achieve at court. Ohotomo no Miyuki would not make it quite so far.  Like Miushi, he made it to Dainagon, but he died in the first month of 701, just 55 years old.  He had made it to the third rank, and he was posthumously granted the title of Udaijin—the position was vacant at the time—and granted second rank.  His colleague, Abe no Miushi, would go on to take the position only four months later and serve for a couple of years before passing away himself. These two would have worked closely together throughout their careers, and the fact that they were raised in rank and position on similar timelines suggests to me that they ran together in very close circles.  They would have been working in similar positions, at the same levels of the government.  They would have been going to the same parties and partaking in the same banquets and entertainments.   They were no doubt rivals, in a sense, but also equals.  Both families would go on, even as the Fujiwara clan came to dominate the politics of the era, the Ohotomo and Abe would continue to hold power in the court during the Nara period, though eventually it would decline.  The Ohotomo would eventually become just the Tomo, to avoid conflicting with the name of a slater sovereign, and the main house would eventually decline, though branch families would continue to claim descent from the Ohotomo into to the Edo period. The Abe would continue, similarly pushing against the Fujiwara.  The most famous Abe was probably Abe no Seimei, who became known for his skills as an Onmyouji, or master of Yin-yang divination and magic.  The Tsuchimikado branch of the Abe family would continue that tradition, and it would come to largely define the main branch of the family. I hope that gives a bit of an idea of what was going on in the court and the kinds of careers that people were looking at and what was happening.  We cannot get into every single person, but I'm going to try and note some of the more prominent courtiers and what they were doing.  It isn't always clear from the Chronicles what was going on between the various houses, but one can largely assume that the court was highly political.  Different factions were vying for power and position.  Sitting atop all of it, Uno no Sarara would have to perform her own kind of balancing act, doling out rewards and punishments as necessary, and ensuring to place the right people in positions of power and authority.  On the one hand, that ambition was a motivating factor, keeping the people of the court focused on the tasks at hand and ensuring that the court was running smoothly.  On the other hand, too much power in the hands of any one individual could cause them to get ideas that they should have even more.  The main bulwark against this was everyone else in the system—the checks and balances were literally the other court nobles, who weren't going to just let someone  take power unless there was something in it for them as well.  More on that as we watch this reign unfold. But for now, thank you so much for listening and downloading the podcast.  If you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

Join SP3, Tru Draw Josh, Miss Krssi Luv & Top Guy JJ for an all-new edition of our flagship podcast Tru Heel Heat 382 discussing the latest wrestling news including:TIME STAMPS:0:00 SP3 rundown of Baron Corbin, Enzo & Big Cass as well as AEW Double Or Nothing headline this week3:11 Intro6:40 SP3 & Tru Draw Josh welcome you to the show / Top Guy JJ joins the show as well11:22 NBA talk on OKC Thunder vs SA Spurs as well as Knicks vs Cavs / AEW PPV success / Roll Call / Drake's Iceman comments36:48 WWE SmackDown recap ft. Cody Rhodes vs Sami Zayn 51:32 WWE Raw on Netflix recap ft. Brock Lesnar's return 1:02:38 Why is Brock Lesnar back in WWE so soon after his "retirement" at WrestleMania 42? / HHH don't like 20 year olds 1:15:16 What headlines SummerSlam if not Roman Reigns vs Oba Femi? 1:18:18 WWE discussing the return of Baron Corbin / can Corbin work in WWE right now? 1:36:08 WWE want to rebuild their tag team division w/Enzo Amore & Big Cass? 1:41:05 Enzo & Big Cass could work in WWE right now / SP3 & JJ do the entire Enzo routine 1:45:05 Is Josh is a "Cuppa Haters" for Enzo & Cass? 1:54:05 Ludwig Kaiser aka El Grande Americano arrested for battery 2:12:43 More WWE news - Asuka update, IYO SKY & NARAKU get married & Danhausen curses the Cavs for the Knicks 2:23:24 WWE NXT, Evolve, AAA on FOX & TNA IMPACT recap / Hiromu Takahashi to NXT update 2:32:27 Miss Krssi Luv joins the show / Kriss hates on the Knicks 2:38:44 TIK TOK TIME - AEW Double Or Nothing matches King of the Hill 2:51:57 AEW Collision recap ft. Darby Allin vs Sammy Guevara banger 2:53:13 AEW Dynamite & Collision recap ft. Willow Nightingale relinquishes TBS Title & removed from Owen Hart Cup 3:08:11 AEW women's division issues / More Ludwig Kaiser doing Luchador business 3:10:22 With Willow out, who will be the Wild Card in The Owen? / Who wins the Women's Owen Hart Cup this year? 3:17:39 Mick Foley is #ALLELITE & debuts at Double Or Nothing 3:21:25 MJF BURIES Aleister Black & goes on successful media tour 3:29:16 Leon Slater has a choice between WWE & AEW now? 3:41:25 More AEW news - WWE rumors on AEW's TV future, AAW/AEW/Mance Warner situation, AEW teams up w/Twins, DoN success & more 3:52:14 NJPW Best of Super Juniors Days 3-6 recap ft. Kosei Fujita's crazy week of bangers / MLW & STARDOM collab 3:56:53 ROH TV, CMLL Martes Populares & Super Viernes recaps ft. Bandido vs Volador Jr. instant classic 3:59:11 Best, Worst, Moments & Matches of the Week 4:08:08 WWE Saturday Night's Main Event final predictions / what will main event SNME? 4:13:24 AEW Double Or Nothing final predictions / what will be the best match of the PPV? 4:24:19 Outro / Some The Boys Series Finale talk Leave your thoughts on this podcast in the live chat and comments section. Like, share, superchat and subscribe to support! #WWE #AEW #AEWDoN #NJPW #SNME #TNA #AAA #CMLL #BOSJ33 #BrockLesnar #BaronCorbin #EnzoAmore #BigCass #MJF #DarbyAllin Welcome to the Tru Heel Heat Wrestling YouTube channel where we cover  the sport of professional wrestling including all WWE TV shows (Raw,  Smackdown, & NXT), AEW Dynamite/Dark, IMPACT Wrestling, NJPW, ROH,  Dark Side of the Ring and more. Our weekly podcast hosted by SP3, Top  Guy JJ & Miss Krssi Luv breaking down the weekly wrestling news and  present unfiltered, honest thoughts and opinions for wrestling fans by  wrestling fans, drops every Saturday. We also include PPV reviews,  countdowns, and exclusive interviews with wrestlers from all promotions  hosted by a wide range of personalities such as Romeo, Chris G, Ness,  StatKing, Drunk Guy JJ, J-News and more. Subscribe and enable ALL  notifications to stay posted for the latest wrestling WWE news,  highlights, commentary, updates and more.Become a member of Tru Heels Facebook community: www.facebook.com/groups/1336177103130224/Subscribe to Tru Heel Heat on YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC0AmFQmsRyQYPKyRm5hDwNgFollow Tru Heels on Twitter: twitter.com/truheelheat

On today's wrestling news:0:00 Asuka Is Still With WWE2:53 Danhausen Expanding His IP4:30 Ludwig Kaiser Reaction After Arrest6:41 How Adam Copeland will retire Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's 5 Yrs Ago Flashback episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show (5-17-2021), PWTorch editor Wade Keller and was joined by PWTorch's Cameron Hawkins to review WWE Monday Night Raw with live callers and emails. They discussed Kofi Kingston scoring two big wins over Randy Orton and Bobby Lashley in one night, and what it is supposed to mean and whether it can work. They also discuss the latest with Riddle & Orton, Alexa Bliss, Charlotte vs. Asuka, Rhea Ripley, John Morrison commenting on zombies, Adnan Virk, and much more with live callers and emails including songs about U.S. States.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wade-keller-pro-wrestling-post-shows--3275545/support.

EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cultaholic Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guaranteeMaffew, Joel and Sam are here with this week's Cultaholic Wrestling Podcast including their reviews of WWE SmackDown, Backlash, Raw, NXT, and AEW Dynamite. They will also be answering the big question - What Was The Highlight Of Asuka's Run In WWE?JOIN US and hit SUBSCRIBE!PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/cultaholicWEB: https://cultaholic.com/MERCH: https://www.cultaholicshop.comTWITCH: https://twitch.tv/CultaholicTWITTER/X: https://www.twitter.com/CultaholicFACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/CultaholicINSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/cultaholicwrestlingWHATSAPP: https://www.cultaholic.com/whatsappDISCORD - https://www.cultaholic.com/discordCAMEO - https://www.cultaholic.com/cameoPODCASTS - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7yTfgtZJGF0J3ya3dETWfx - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/cultaholic-wrestling/id1344913966NEWS PODCASTS - Spotify: https://www.cultaholic.com/spotify - Apple Podcasts: https://www.cultaholic.com/apple➡️ Get 10% off EVERYTHING at GamerSupps or try a FREE trial pack with FREE delivery using code CULTAHOLIC at https://www.cultaholic.com/gamersupps!➡️ Sign up to Wrestle Crate UK using code CULTAHOLIC and receive DOUBLE the merch with your first month's crate: https://www.wrestlecrate.co.ukCultaholic provides video coverage of professional wrestling - including WWE (including WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown, and NXT), AEW, TNA Wrestling (formerly IMPACT), NJPW, ROH, and more with daily news updates, reviews, lists, highlights, predictions, reactions, podcasts and much, much more.Creative Commons Licensing Information: https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/cclicenses/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Turnbuckle Tavern is powered by G FUEL — the clean, zero-sugar, zero-crash energy formula that keeps you locked in for the main event. Whether it's a late-night pay-per-view, a marathon gaming session, or just getting through your day, G FUEL has you covered. Right now, you can save 20% instantly with code TAVERN at checkout at GFUEL.com. Fuel up, save big, and always… keep it Tavern. Turnbuckle Tavern is also proudly powered by the one-of-a-kind Official Dick Lazer — a wild, over-the-top gag gift that's guaranteed to get a reaction. With the flip of a switch, it projects five laser images, plus a red-dot laser, flashlight, and blacklight all packed into a sleek USB-C rechargeable pen weighing just 1.4 ounces. Head to DickLazers.com and use code TAVERN for 20% off your order today. Light up the room, get some laughs, and always… keep it Tavern. Episode 186 covers one of the busiest weeks wrestling has seen all year as the fallout from John Cena's major WWE announcement, growing TKO criticism, AEW's loaded Owen Hart Cup, and major roster uncertainty across multiple companies all collide at once. We break down the increasingly divided reaction to the John Cena Classic, including criticism from Jeff Jarrett and Lance Storm over WWE replacing wins and losses with fan voting. We also discuss WWE's growing ad issues under TKO after O'Shea Jackson Jr. called the current presentation "almost unwatchable," plus the return of WWE house shows and why the company is suddenly prioritizing more affordable live events again. We also cover Andrew Yang supporting Kevin Nash's push for WWE wrestlers to consider SAG-AFTRA representation, the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Asuka's WWE future, and the latest confusion regarding TKO's Arizona partnership after reports involving Survivor Series and Royal Rumble were corrected. Outside WWE, AEW officially revealed the 2026 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament brackets featuring Will Ospreay vs. Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland vs. Bandido, and a stacked women's field led by Athena, Mina Shirakawa, Sareee, and Willow Nightingale. We also discuss Tony Khan addressing AEW's relationship with Jazwares, confidence in Nielsen ratings, injury concerns surrounding Sareee and Persephone, and the growing speculation that Mick Foley could potentially appear at Double or Nothing in Queens. Plus, we preview ROH Supercard of Honor, Raw, NXT, Dynamite, Collision, SmackDown, TNA Impact, NWA Powerrr, and the full week ahead in wrestling. Be sure to support the show and join our Patreon for just $2.99 a month at Patreon.com/TheTurnbuckleTavern for exclusive content. Follow us on social media @TurnbuckleTavern for all the latest updates. Until the following week, when we wine and dine with you kings and queens, stay out of the alley and away from the pork and beans. Good luck and good speed.

Rob and Jeff discuss overloading of May, Beyond the Mat, and the goodbye for now of AsukaAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Dave LaGreca & Nattie Neidhart discuss Asuka's "farewell" on Raw, and whether or not we'll see her again. Plus, we talk Backlash, and Jacob Fatu's star-making performance against Roman Reigns.  To visit our partners at Chewy, click here. The Master's Class is now available on its own podcast feed! SUBSCRIBE NOW to hear over 50 episodes of Dave, Bully, Mark, and Tommy taking you behind the scenes like only they can, plus BRAND NEW episodes every week. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of Busted Open ad-free and get exclusive access to bonus episodes. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Wrestling Superfan and Comedian Brad Williams joined No-Contest this week! Brad shares his wrestling fandom origin story & the Superstars that made him a fan. He also reveals that he's always wanted to be shouted out in a rap song, has a message for Danhausen and as always shows no love for Carol! In addition, Brad gives O'Shea and T.J. 10 wrestlers that he's pick to start his own wrestling company, selects his "Bar Fight Crew" and more. O'Shea and T.J. also react to the fight between Jacob Fatu and Roman Reigns and they say... goodbye... for now to Asuka. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anthony and Joe kick off the show where they praise Iyo Sky's ring generalship and pacing, while tearing into Seth Rollins' exhausting television presence following his match with Bron Breakker. The guys vent about WWE's creative drought, noting Bill Apter's visible disappointment, the deeply confusing babyface booking of Roman Reigns, and the lack of a proper televised send-off for Asuka. The episode rounds out with a sharp critique of TKO's pricey ESPN streaming model, Backlash booking blunders involving Danhausen and Oba Femi, and a quick check-in on the cast of Jersey Shore.Timestamps:0:00 – Intro 11:15 – AEW's business woes and WWE's current creative slump18:40 – Iyo Sky's brilliant in-ring storytelling vs. Sol Ruca27:30 – The Seth Rollins problem & his match with Bron Breakker39:20 – Gunther missing from TV & Bill Apter's disappointment46:10 – The Backlash ESPN deal: TKO squeezing fans for money54:45 – Roman Reigns' "prima donna" booking & the confusing Bloodline dynamics1:03:20 – Asuka's indefinite leave and WWE failing to give her a proper send-off1:11:50 – Danhausen's Backlash mystery partner flop & Oba Femi's squash match1:16:15 – Wrap-up & Jersey Shore kayfabeBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wrestling-soup--1425249/support.

Sean Ross Sapp (@SeanRossSapp) and Kate (@MissKatefabe) take your superchats and humperchats on The Hump, May 12, 2026:   EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/fightful Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! A MUST HAVE for wrestling fans! Watch all WWE shows with one Netflix subscription, and save HUNDREDS on AEW PPV events with a MYAEW subscription!   If you want to bet on Wrestling, or any other sport, check out our new partner where we get ALL of our odds! https://mybookie.website/joinwithFIGHTFUL and use the promo code FIGHTFUL. Deposit $100, get $50. Go in with $200, and they'll make it $100! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode of Going In Raw is sponsored by Hims! Start your free online visit for personalized treatment options for hair loss, ED, weight loss and more today at http://www.hims.com/goinginraw Consider joining Friendo Club by clicking JOIN ($5/month) OR becoming a $5+ Patron at http://www.patreon.com/steveandlarson!

Tommy Dreamer reacts to the RAW after Backlash including Jacob Fatu unleashing HIS backlash on Roman Reigns and The Usos. Tommy also talks about his most shocking moment that he saw at Backlash. To visit our partners at Chewy, click here. The Master's Class is now available on its own podcast feed! SUBSCRIBE NOW to hear over 50 episodes of Dave, Bully, Mark, and Tommy taking you behind the scenes like only they can, plus BRAND NEW episodes every week. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of Busted Open ad-free and get exclusive access to bonus episodes. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Solomonster reviews WWE Raw from Knoxville with Jacob Fatu refusing to acknowledge Roman Reigns, Asuka's final appearance for now and Oba Femi's open challenge already running out of steam!Support my sponsors this week by using the links below!EXPRESSVPN ▶ Get an extra FOUR MONTHS FREE of the #1 trusted VPN at http://www.expressvpn.com/solomonsterZOCDOC ▶ Visit http://www.zocdoc.com/solomonster to find and INSTANTLY book a doctor you love today!WIX HARMONY ▶ The NEW WAY to create websites!  Try it FREE at http://www.wix.com/harmony***Follow Solomonster on X (formerly Twitter) for news and opinion:http://x.com/solomonsterSubscribe to the Solomonster Sounds Off on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSolomonster?sub_confirmation=1Become a Solomonster Sounds Off Channel Member:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9jcg7mk93fGNqWPMfl_Aig/join

John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Raw featuring an acknowledgment ceremony for Roman Reigns, Oba Femi's open challenge, and The Vision vs. Street Profits & Joe Hendry.XL: John & Wai discuss Asuka's role with WWE, Kevin Nash advocating for a union, Hiroyoshi Tenzan's retirement, AEW sues TrillerTV, UFC Hall of Fame additions, and the John Cena Classic. The XL Edition continues at POSTwrestlingCafe.com with News of the Day and Feedback, ad-free and timestamped.Latest on Asuka and WWEKevin Nash calls on wrestlers to unionize AEW sues TrillerTV for overdue payments John Cena: “The Cena Classic may not be perfect.”Hiroyoshi Tenzan to retire Chris Weidman & Tom Gerbasi in the UFC Hall of Fame NXT & AEW Dynamite lineups ------POST Wrestling Café Schedule:Monday: Rewind-A-Raw XLTuesday: Hulk Hogan - Real American Ep. 3Wednesday: Rewind-A-Dynamite XL Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDown XLFriday: ROH Supercard of Honor Saturday: Collision CourseSunday: Rousey vs. Carano Review FREE Shows:Monday: Rewind-A-RawTuesday: upNXTWednesday: Rewind-A-DynamiteThursday: Pollock & Thurston Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDownSunday: The N.W.A. PodcastOur thanks to Quince: quince.com/postwrestlingAd Inquiries: info@truenativemedia.comPhoto Courtesy: WWE Rewind-A-Raw Theme by Colby John: https://soundcloud.com/colbyjohnBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/postwrestling.comX: http://www.twitter.com/POSTwrestlingInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/POSTwrestlingFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/POSTwrestlingYouTube: http://www.youtube.com/POSTwrestlingSubscribe: https://postwrestling.com/subscribePatreon: http://postwrestlingcafe.comForum: https://forum.postwrestling.comDiscord: https://postwrestling.com/discordSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our WWE Raw review as Simon Miller recaps:0:00 Street Profits & Joe Hendry vs. The Vision4:55 Je'Von Evans vs. Rusev7:29 Asuka retires?8:42 Paige, Brie Bella and Judgment Day promo10:20 Roman Reigns backstage11:25 IYO SKY vs. Sol Ruca13:06 Backstage promos14:10 Oba Femi open challenge16:11 Dominik Mysterio vs. El Grande Americano18:17 Jacob Fatu attacks Roman Reigns Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

WWE is full steam ahead to two more premium events in May -- and Getting Over is here to break it all down! Host Adam Silverstein and co-host Chris Vannini dive into a 2026 WWE Backlash second look [4:50] before tackling The Main Event [36:55] focused on Jacob Fatu destroying Roman Reigns and The Bloodline, plus Cody Rhodes being prepared for GUNTHER's challenge with Paul Heyman's backing. "The Silver King" and "Vintage" then cover The Good, The Bad and The Ugly [1:00:25], including logic gaps in creative, IYO SKY saying goodbye to Asuka, Seth Rollins remaining at odds with the Street Profits, plans for Bron Breakker and Oba Femi, inconsistency with El Grande Americano, lack of opponents for Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan, plus much more. Follow Getting Over on Twitter, Bluesky & YouTube @GettingOverCast.

Sean Ross Sapp (@SeanRossSapp) reviews tonight's episode of WWE Raw, May 11, 2026 including:   - Jacob Fatu will take part in a Roman Reigns Acknowledgment Ceremony - Oba Femi Open Challenge continues - Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) & Joe Hendry vs. The Vision (Bron Breakker, Logan Paul, & Austin Theory) - Women's Tag Team Champions Brie Bella & Paige respond to The Judgment Day   EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/fightful Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! A MUST HAVE for wrestling fans! Watch all WWE shows with one Netflix subscription, and save HUNDREDS on AEW PPV events with a MYAEW subscription!   If you want to bet on Wrestling, or any other sport, check out our new partner where we get ALL of our odds! https://mybookie.website/joinwithFIGHTFUL and use the promo code FIGHTFUL. Deposit $100, get $50. Go in with $200, and they'll make it $100! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Highlights include: Jacob Fatu and Roman Reigns brawling after Jacob Fatu refuses to acknowledge Roman Reigns, plus we finally have answers to what is happening with Asuka, as she passes the torch to Iyo Sky and Oba Femi issues another open challenge. If you are a WWE fan who wants to stay up-to-date with WWE RAW highlight and WWE news this is the perfect podcast for you! #wwe #wweraw #wrestling #wwenews #wwehighlights   CONNECT WITH DENISE SALCEDO ON SOCIAL MEDIA! Tik Tok: https://www.youtube.com/denisesalcedo Twitter: https://twitter.com/_denisesalcedo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_denisesalcedo/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/denisesalcedovideos Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/denisesalcedo Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/hollywooddenisesalcedo Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

COLD OPEN QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What would Kaz's version of a "John Cena Classic" look like?David and Kaz kick off the show comparing Kaz's New York Knicks to Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns before recapping everything that happened at Backlash this past weekend. They get into: Whether Backlash was partly the WrestleMania show WWE's writing team actually wanted to put together Is the Seth Rollins-Bron Breakker feud over? Why this Trick Williams-Sami Zayn match was better than their WrestleMania match (and take a slight detour into Zayn and other WWE superstars' reported pay cuts) Asuka's potential retirement Danhausen's mainstream appeal How strong Jacob Fatu came out of the main event Whose stock rose most after the PLE? They close out the show talking Darby Allin's successful AEW World Championship defense over PAC at Fairway to Hell, as well as Jack Perry's pending free agency and if he could potentially be WWE-bound. Subscribe to the⁠⁠ Ringer Wrestling YouTube channel!⁠ Be sure to follow us on⁠ BlueSky⁠,⁠ TikTok⁠,⁠ Instagram, Threads⁠, and⁠ X⁠. Hosts: David Shoemaker and Kazeem Famuyide Producer: Ben Cruz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's wrestling news...The Asuka Situation Just Got VERY Interesting Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Hamflett and Michael Sidgwick review WWE Backlash and discuss... Roman Reigns Defeats Jacob Fatu!Danhausen's Mystery Partner Is AWESOME!What Next For Bron Breakker & Seth Rollins?John Cena's Big Announcement Is Weird!Goodbye Asuka?! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's hard to express how HUGE of a figure Ted Turner was to pro wrestling... but I'm sure gonna try.  Lots of to say about his death, his impact on WCW, Vince McMahon, the TV news industry, Atlanta sports and so much more.  Plus, justice is served (or is it?) in the case of Raja Jackson... Nick Khan sticking around WWE for many more years and more on why recent talent releases happened... WWE BACKLASH FALLOUT and what's being said about Asuka's status, as well as thoughts on John Cena's EPIC announcement that wasn't so epic after all... AEW hosts Collision on an INDOOR GOLF COURSE last night... Stephanie Vaquer's ex-boyfriend found guilty of domestic violence and a much more serious charge... and thoughts on topics for the new season of Dark Side of the Ring!Support my sponsors this week by using the links below!EXPRESSVPN ▶ Get an extra FOUR MONTHS FREE of the #1 trusted VPN at http://www.expressvpn.com/solomonsterZOCDOC ▶ Visit http://www.zocdoc.com/solomonster to find and INSTANTLY book a doctor you love today!WIX HARMONY ▶ The NEW WAY to create websites!  Try it FREE at http://www.wix.com/harmony***Follow Solomonster on X (formerly Twitter) for news and opinion:http://x.com/solomonsterSubscribe to the Solomonster Sounds Off on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSolomonster?sub_confirmation=1Become a Solomonster Sounds Off Channel Member:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9jcg7mk93fGNqWPMfl_Aig/join

Hulk Hogan: Real American Review

John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE Backlash Tampa featuring Roman Reigns vs. Jacob Fatu for the World Heavyweight Championship.They also discuss John Cena's “History-Making News”, the future of Asuka, and headlines from AEW Collision: Fairway to Hell.Ad-free & timestamped version available for patrons at POSTwrestlingCafe.comWWE Backlash TampaMay 9, 2026Benchmark International ArenaTampa, FLWorld Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns © vs. Jacob FatuUnited States Championship: Trick Williams vs. Sami ZaynDanhausen & TBA vs. The Miz and Kit WilsonIYO SKY vs. AsukaSeth Rollins vs. Bron BreakkerAd Inquiries: info@truenativemedia.comBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/postwrestling.comX: http://www.twitter.com/POSTwrestlingInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/POSTwrestlingFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/POSTwrestlingYouTube: http://www.youtube.com/POSTwrestlingSubscribe: https://postwrestling.com/subscribePatreon: http://postwrestlingcafe.comForum: https://forum.postwrestling.comDiscord: https://postwrestling.com/discordSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today's wrestling news, including...Asuka Is DONE With WWE!John Cena Classic Announcement!MINI DANAHAUSEN!Triple H/TKO Booed At Backlash 2026?!ENJOY!Follow us on Twitter:@AdamWilbourn@AndyHMurray@WhatCultureWWE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

WWE Backlash 2026 corrected many of WrestleMania 42's ills -- and Getting Over is here to break it down! Host Adam Silverstein and co-host Chris Vannini jump on the mic to tackle 2026 WWE Backlash results with grades in our signature instant analysis review. "The Silver King" and "Vintage" cover Jacob Fatu emerging against Roman Reigns, IYO SKY overcoming and potentially retiring Asuka, John Cena delivering on his surprise announcement, Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker living up to expectations, Trick Williams and Lil' Yachty fending off Sami Zayn and Danhausen's mystery partner against The Miz & Kit Wilson. Plus, the guys discuss the funeral of The Gingerbread Man, whether WWE has learned some lessons and what's ahead for WWE Clash in Italy. Follow Getting Over on Twitter, Bluesky & YouTube @GettingOverCast. EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/GETTINGOVER | Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!

Post WWE Backlash show. Lee Sanders from the RCWR Show hosts Anthony, to run down what the hell happened at WWE Backlash. The Asuka farewell match? Also, the insidious intentions of Club WWE and the John Cena un-retirement invitational for the new John Cena championship belt. Danhausen already jumping the shark, and validating the hater-hausen criticisms on why this guy in WWE is a bust. Jake looking weak and silly, as the entitled babyface in a storyline that no one should want, and the lack of any reaction from Breakker and Seth's Visionary storyline coming to a close with all the fanfare of a dirty diaper.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wrestling-soup--1425249/support.

Sean Ross Sapp (@SeanRossSapp) reviews tonight's WWE Backlash 2026 PLE, May 9, 2026:   -John Cena appearance -Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker -Iyo Sky vs. Asuka -Danhausen and mystery partner vs. The Miz and Kit Wilson -United States Championship match: Trick Williams (c) vs. Sami Zayn -World Heavyweight Championship match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jacob Fatu   EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/fightful Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! A MUST HAVE for wrestling fans! Watch all WWE shows with one Netflix subscription, and save HUNDREDS on AEW PPV events with a MYAEW subscription!   If you want to bet on Wrestling, or any other sport, check out our new partner where we get ALL of our odds! https://mybookie.website/joinwithFIGHTFUL and use the promo code FIGHTFUL. Deposit $100, get $50. Go in with $200, and they'll make it $100!   Buy two months of BlueChew Gold, and get the third for FREE with promo code FIGHTFUL! Visit BlueChew.com, code FIGHTFUL!   Get the best night's sleep of your life and 100 nights risk free on a great mattress with http://HelixSleep.com/Fightful! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Kelly Wells and Chris Lansdell discuss Jacob Fatu looking to remain in the main event scene, a post-match that looked a lot like an Asuka retirement, Bron Breakker's best match ever(?), and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/pwtorch-dailycast--3276210/support.

WWE Backlash saw an explosive match between Seth Rollins & Bron Breakker, Danhausen & Mini-Hausen vs Miz & Kit Wilson, Roman & Fatu clash for the World Title, Iyo & Asuka steal the show and John Cena makes his "foundation shaking" announcement.Go AD-FREE at Patreon.com/WWEPodcastBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-wwe-podcast--2187791/support.

Anthony and Joe are back to break down this weekend's WWE Backlash: Tampa premium live event! With the dust settling from WrestleMania 42, the guys give their official predictions for the entire five-match card.Can Jacob Fatu dethrone the "cry bully" Original Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns, for the World Heavyweight Championship? Anthony and Joe dive into the Shakespearean drama of the Asuka vs. Iyo Sky clash, predict the fallout of Seth Rollins finally getting his hands on Bron Breakker, and debate who will walk out with the United States Title in the Trick Williams vs. Sami Zayn rematch. Plus, the guys throw out their wild guesses for who will step up as Danhausen's mystery tag partner against The Miz and Kit Wilson.Tune in for the Backlash booking theories, match predictions, and the usual Wrestling Soup chaos!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wrestling-soup--1425249/support.

WWE Backlash 2026 serves as the first step forward after WrestleMania 42 -- and Getting Over is here to break it down! Host Adam Silverstein and co-host Chris Vannini dive into WWE news [8:55] involving Roman Reigns, John Cena and the the departure of New Day before our signature WWE Backlash ultimate preview [2:02:45] tackling the card with predictions: One-shot deal for Jacob Fatu? Will Bron Breakker immediately beat Seth Rollins? Is IYO SKY vs. Asuka positioned properly? "The Silver King" and "Vintage" also handle The Main Event [59:55] as Cody Rhodes vs. GUNTHER develops and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly [1:19:30] covering Trick Williams, Sami Zayn & the Gingerbread Man; Roxanne Perez and Liv Morgan; Becky Lynch confronting Sol Ruca; and Oba Femi's first open challenge. Follow Getting Over on Twitter, Bluesky & YouTube @GettingOverCast. EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/GETTINGOVER | Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!

Sean Ross Sapp (@SeanRossSapp) reviews tonight's episode of WWE Raw, May 4, 20206, including: -Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu sign the contract for their World Title Match at Backlash -GM Adam Pearce attempts to have Asuka and IYO SKY air out their grievances -Sol Ruca signs her WWE Raw contract -Oba Femi open challenge -Je'Von Evans & Penta vs. Rusev & Ethan Page -Finn Balor vs. JD McDonagh EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/fightful Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! A MUST HAVE for wrestling fans! Watch all WWE shows with one Netflix subscription, and save HUNDREDS on AEW PPV events with a MYAEW subscription! If you want to bet on Wrestling, or any other sport, check out our new partner where we get ALL of our odds! https://mybookie.website/joinwithFIGHTFUL and use the promo code FIGHTFUL. Deposit $100, get $50. Go in with $200, and they'll make it $100! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Anthony and Joe record from a temporary new space, discussing the transition to a home with an acre of land and the financial sanity of renting versus owning. They explore the "Dead Internet" theory and the prevalence of AI bots, while warning against the dangers of flaunting physical cash on social media. The conversation takes a culinary turn with a breakdown of Gordon Ramsay's scrambled egg technique and the "exceptional" addition of pesto to breakfast. Turning to wrestling, the guys analyze the latest wave of WWE roster cuts—or "bus flips"—noting reports that these releases are age-related as the company aims for a younger roster. They debate the botched handling of Kairi Sane's departure, the "slow death" of Santos Escobar on the main roster, and why the Wyatt Six gimmick is "deep for the sake of being deep". The episode wraps up with thoughts on Alexa Bliss retiring her spooky persona, a critique of the "tepid" Laredo crowd, and a satirical pitch for a "Himbo" title to solve the Roman Reigns problem.Timestamps:0:00 – Intro / New space and yard life 8:42 – The Renting vs. Buying debate 18:15 – Cash, cops, and the "Dead Internet" theory 27:30 – Gordon Ramsay's eggs and the Pesto Protocol 33:10 – WWE "Bus Flips" & age-related roster cuts 45:20 – Kairi Sane's exit and the Asuka storyline fail 1:02:15 – Tony D'Angelo vs. the "tepid" Laredo crowd 1:15:40 – Aleister Black and the Wyatt Six critique 1:32:00 – Danhausen's name and Santos Escobar's "slow death" 1:44:30 – Andre Chase, Zoey Stark, and redhead genetics 1:56:15 – Plastic surgery trends and Alexa Bliss retiring the goth look 2:08:45 – The "Himbo" title pitch & Wrap-up Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wrestling-soup--1425249/support.

The Dadley Boyz chat about what happened on this week's episode of Monday Night RAW, including...MAJOR Backlash developments!Asuka costs IYO SKY the IC Title!The Oba Femi Open Challenge!Rey Mysterio vs. El Grande Americano!The Vision RUIN Joe Hendry's concert?!ENJOY!Follow us on Twitter:@AdamWilbourn@MSidgwick@MichaelHamflett@WhatCultureWWEFor more awesome content, check out: whatculture.com/wwe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

WWE is full steam ahead to WWE Backlash 2026 -- and Getting Over is here to break it all down! Host Adam Silverstein and co-host Chris Vannini dive into The Main Event [33:55] covering whether Jacob Fatu's attack on Roman Reigns was a heel turn and the stellar debut of Fatal Influence to massive heat against Rhea Ripley. "The Silver King" and "Vintage" then tackle The Good, The Bad and The Ugly [1:29:15], including Cody Rhodes calling out TKO, Bron Breakker confronting Seth Rollins, IYO SKY staying hot with Becky Lynch and Asuka amid Kairi Sane's release, Tiffany Stratton defeating Giulia, Roxanne Perez helping Liv Morgan attack Stephanie Vaquer and the latest with Oba Femi, Trick Williams and Danhausen. Plus, WWE news [12:00] on Paul Levesque, ratings and NXT. Follow Getting Over on Twitter, Bluesky & YouTube @GettingOverCast. EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼https://nordvpn.com/GETTINGOVER| Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!