Podcasts about daibutsu

With the end of the Jinshin War, Oama, posthumously known as Temmu Tenno, came to the throne.  And though they would need a new Great Council of State, they continued to build up and bolster the Ritsuryo state.  They were imagining a new Yamato based on continental models of what a state should look like, but also influenced by tradition.  This episode we take a look at that reimagining in broad strokes, asking a few questions--what was Oama's relationship with his brother, and touching on the relationship of Nakatomi no Kamatari and his brother, Nakatomi no Kane.  We also take a look at some of the literary propaganda that also helped to codify this new imaginary--the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki.  We also touch on other sourcesof information, like the Fudoki and Man'yoshu. For more information, check out our blog:  https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-133   Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is episode 133: Reimagining Yamato As the bells of Houkouji tolled, Ohoama and his wife, Uno, surveyed the construction on going in the Asuka valley.  Hordes of workers had been called up, and now they were working furiously towards the deadline of the new year.  Where once stood the later Wokamoto palace of Takara Hime, aka Ohoama's mother, Saimei Tennou, now the land was being prepared for a palace on a much grander scale.  And just as the palace was being remade, Ohoama's thoughts went beyond the valley, to the entire archipelago.  His brother, Naka no Oe, had started something profound.  Now here he was, helming the Ship of State, and Ohoama had plans of his own, built upon his brother's ideas.  He would build a new state, ensuring that the reforms that started back in 645 would continue for generations. Greetings everyone and welcome back.  As we dive back in, let's recap where we are. The year is now 673, and the fighting from the previous year—the Jinshin war—is over.  Prince Ohoama and his Yoshino forces were victorious and he is now poised to ascend the throne in the recently built Palace of Kiyomihara, in Asuka.  He will be known to future generations by his posthumous name:  Temmu Tennou. Ohoama would go ahead and continue to centralize the government under the continental model.  That said, he also would pay a not insignificant amount of attention to local tradition as well.  His reign would lead to the establishment of the first permanent capital city: Fujiwara-kyo.  He is also credited with initiating the projects collecting various historical records, which culminated in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, the very chronicles on which this podcast is based – and both of which seem to have been designed specifically to promote the authority of the throne, specifically Ohoama and his descendants. Those descendants—the Temmu dynasty—would rule for almost a century, including four of the eight official female sovereigns (those eight become ten if you count the unofficial Himiko and Okinaga Tarashi-hime, aka Jingu Tennou).  This dynasty would reign from the end of the Asuka period up through to the Nara period, and it would see the evolution of the Yamato state into the kingdom of Nihon—which is to say the kingdom of Japan. The politics of this period were also quite something.  It is during this coming period that we see the rise of the famous Fujiwara family, who would come to dominate the political landscape.  We also see the continued contact with the mainland, with numerous trade goods coming over, many of which would be included in the famous Shousouin storehouse of Toudaiji temple, in Nara. Buddhism would also thrive, with Kokubunji, or provincial temples, being set up in a network around the archipelago.  There was also the building of the famous Daibutsu, or Giant Buddha statue, of Toudaiji. Art would also flourish.  The Man'yoshu would be published at this time—a collection of around 4,500 Japanese poems, or waka.  Meanwhile, the court would also focus on continental styles as well.  From this point on, not only do we have more evidence of what was happening through the written record, but the writing itself changed.  Different Sinitic characters were borrowed solely for their sound to help spell out Japanese words.  These would eventually be simplified, and known as “kana”.  The earliest use of these characters is known as “Man'yo-gana” because so many are traced back to the Man'yoshu itself.  They would eventually be standardized and simplified, becoming the hiragana and katakana we know and use today. But in 673, all of this is still on the horizon. So this is a great time to pause for a bit in our journey through the chronicles and set the stage for this next, incredibly transformative period in the archipelago by going over these larger patterns in some depth, so that, as we start to go through this period we get a better idea of just what was happening, and perhaps why.  That's what we'll do this episode. To start with, let's go back to the relationship between Naka no Oe and Ohoama.  As far as we can tell, these brothers were fairly close to one another.  Not only was Ohoama married to one of Naka no Oe's daughters, Princess Uno, he had actually taken as consort at least four of Naka no Oe's other daughters—all of which were Ohoama's nieces.  In turn, one of Ohoama's own daughters, Princess Touchi, had been married off to Ohotomo, aka the ill-fated Koubun Tennou.  On top of that, Naka no Oe and Ohoama both had taken as consorts daughters of Soga no Akaye, and both Ohotomo and Ohoama had consorts from Nakatomi—or Fujiwara—no Kamatari.  This demonstrates just how interrelated everyone was at court, presumably as a means of strengthening the ties between them.  Of course, as we've seen time and again, those ties were more symbolic than anything else, and certainly did not prevent the occasional use of violence, nor did it protect the fathers of those women from political repercussions when they found themselves on the wrong side. On the other hand, beyond the initial mention of their births, we don't see the two brothers together until Naka no Oe came to the throne.  Why?  Well, to be fair, we don't see much of anyone but the sovereign in the Chronicles unless there is a specific thing they are called out for—like an embassy, presenting something to the throne, etc.  Even Naka no Oe often isn't mentioned directly, even when he was the Crown Prince and supposedly helping run the government.  So that could be it. There are two apparent counter arguments to the idea that Naka no Oe and his brother, Ohoama, were tight.  First is a mention in the Toushi Kaden, the Family History of the Fujiwara Family, about Ohoama thrusting a spear into a board, which rattled Naka no Oe enough that he was apparently wondering if he needed to have his own brother taken out.  Then there is Ohoama's resignation at the time of Naka no Oe's death, presumably because he was warned that a plot was afoot, and that if he accepted Naka no Oe's offer to take the reins of the state in his own two hands then something—we aren't told what—would unfold. I can't rule out the idea that neither of those accounts is quite accurate either, however.  It is possible that the Toushi Kaden account is embellished to heighten Fujiwara no Kamatari's own role as peacemaker between the brothers.  I also have to wonder if the warning to Ohoama around Naka no Oe's death wasn't so much about Naka no Oe, but about his ministers.  After all, they seem to have had no problem supporting the much younger—and likely more malleable—Prince Ohotomo.  So it seems to me entirely possible that there were other threats that Ohoama was concerned with. That brings me to one of those ministers:  Nakatomi no Kane.  We talked about him before and during the war.  He first showed up participating in ritual and speaking on kami matters.  He would later rise to be one of the Great Ministers of State, and was one of the six ministers who had pledged themselves to Prince Ohotomo.  At the end of the Jinshin War, he was put to death and his family was banished.  That said, in period leading up to all of that,  we spent a good amount of time with another Nakatomi: Nakatomi no Kamatari. He was the head of the Nakatomi clan and the Naidaijin, the Interior Minister, a special position placing him on par, or even above, the Ministers of the Left and Right, but which did not have a well defined portfolio noted in the literature.  Interestingly, this position also doesn't seem to have survived Kamatari, at least in the short run.  From the time of Naka no Oe, aka Tenji Tennou, to the time of Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou, it seems that the office of Naidaijin fell out of favor, possibly due, in part, to Prince Ohotomo being raised to a different post, that of Dajou Daijin, placing him in charge of the Great Council of State. The Naidaijin role wouldn't be revived until 717 for Kamatari's grandson, Fujiwara no Fusasaki (interestingly,  only three years before the completion of the Nihon Shoki). Nakatomi no Kane was, as far as we can tell, the brother to Kamatari.  When Kamatari passed away, Kane seems to have taken on the role as head of the Nakatomi family and he was also made Minister of the Right.  This mirrors, in its way, the relationship between Naka no Oe and Ohoama, and the common system of inheritance that would often go brother to brother.  And yet, while Kamatari was a hero of the Taika era, Nakatomi no Kane was executed for his role in the Jinshin War.  So in the context of the rise of the Fujiwaras to greater prominence later on in Ohoama's reign, it is significant that Kamatari's line would be set apart from the rest of the Nakatomi to the extent of giving it the new Fujiwara name.  Although the Chronicles claim that the “Fujiwara” name was actually granted by Naka no Oe, there is a thought that this was granted posthumously, and may have even been retconned by later members of the family, possibly to distance themselves from Nakatomi no Kane and his role on the losing side of the Jinshin War, and tie themselves clearly to Kamatari and his founding role in Naka no Oe's and Ohoama's new vision, instead.  This all brings me to my next point: the creation of the national histories.  The projects that culminated in what we know today as the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki are said to have been started under Ohoama's reign, though they wouldn't be finished until much later, well into the 8th century.  A lot of what went into them was work under Ohoama's wife Uno, who succeeded him as Jitou Tennou, as well as her successors.  Prince Toneri, one of Ohoama's sons, is said to have overseen the Nihon Shoki's compilation. Prince Toneri was son of Ohoama and princess Niitabe, one of Naka no Oe's daughters, and while he never sat the throne, himself, one of his sons would eventually do so.  As such, we can see a strong royal hand on the project, even though the actual composition was probably by several teams of Chroniclers—we touched on this briefly back in Episode 131. The Kojiki, on the other hand, is said to have been written by Oho no Yasumaro based on the oral history that had been maintained by Hieda no Are.  We don't know much about Hieda no Are—there are some that believe they may have been a woman, since a passage in a later work, the Seikyuuki, suggests that they were a member of the Sarume no Kimi family, descended from Ame no Uzume no Mikoto, who is said to have danced and helped lure Amaterasu out of the rock cave.  And so they were particularly known for their role as shrine maidens—a particularly female role.  That said, Are received the title of “toneri”, which is often assumed to be male, and there is nothing else that explicitly says they were not. Either way, Hieda no Are is said to have been commanded by the sovereign, Ohoama, to memorize the history of the nation, presumably to then perform it as needed, for the court.  Only later was Oho no Yasumaro asked to write it down in what became known as the Kojiki. Both of these chronicles were attempts to organize the history of the nation and to put together all the stories in a way that would establish a foundation for the new state that was evolving out of ancient Yamato.  A large part of that effort was going to be to justify those who were in power at the time—including both the royal family and the various noble houses at the time, including the powerful Fujiwara. Now, when we talk about how these histories were created to bolster the state, I want to be careful.  It may not have necessarily been the case that the chroniclers were actively and consciously promoting a fictional account.  From what we can tell, the chroniclers drew from a collection of stories, some written down in diaries and court records, works like the Baekje annals and continental histories, and some that were likely just memorized tales that were part of the general culture.   There were a couple of existing histories—we are told, for example, that there was a Teiki and a Kyuji floating around, both attributed to the legendary Shotoku Taishi, and both supposedly including the royal lineage at least to Toyomike-kashikiya-hime, aka Suikou Tennou.  However, the copies that were being passed around were apparently suspect, and we are told that there were inconsistencies.  Which probably means that the way they told the story did not conform to the way that Ohoama and the royal family wanted it told, though it could also refer to the fact that different accounts had slight variations on the stories, many of which had probably started as oral traditions that were only later written down.  It is also likely that there was only so much detail in those ancient texts, but we can't know for sure.  The Sendai Kuji Hongi purports to be the text of the original Kyuuji, or Kyuujiki, but that claim is dubious, at best, though it may have used an older, no longer extant history to crib its own notes from. So there were probably some writings, already, but there was also so much more.  There were stories from various familial records, stories told by various shrines about their kami and their histories, and stories passed down as local history that had never been captured, previously.  All of this was good material for the project of creating an official national history that aimed to tell the whole story. To get an idea of what the Chroniclers of that time might have been going through, imagine that you have some 2,000 random facts about the United States, or any country of your choice, in no particular order—stories of heroes, presidents, wars, etc.  On top of that, only a few of them ever give you any kind reference dates, and when they do, those dates are only in relationship to the presidents in office – the third year of the presidency of Roosevelt, for example - or maybe they reference another event.  In addition, some of the facts have been lost, or they come from history books with a slightly different format.  Or they come from diaries with different perspectives and takes on the same event.  And then, without the aid of the Internet or any other reference material, you are asked to put all of that together into a coherent narrative. In all likelihood you would be able to generally construct many of the broad strokes.  You would leverage what you know to be true and do your best to put things in place, but there is no guarantee that everything would be in the right order.  And in places where there wasn't any clear through line, you may have needed to come up with your best, most plausible explanation and write that down. Also, imagine you had, in the interests of completeness, thrown in some of the more, shall we say, apocryphal stories.  George Washington cutting down a cherry tree, for instance, or the story of Johnny Appleseed, or even the more fantastical stories of Davy Crockett.  Without other reference points, would you know where they went, or how true they actually were? Add to all of that the lack of a referential calendar.  The sexagesimal system helps for units of 60 years, but there was nothing comparable to a western calendar in use at the time.  Instead, everything was based on the number of years in a given reign.  So instead of thinking about it as “did this happen in 584 or 524?” it was more like “Did this happen in the years of the sovereign reigning from X palace or Y palace?” Now that said, there do appear to have been individuals whose job was to memorize the stories and the histories and recite them.  We have, for example, the Kataribe, the guild of storytellers.  It may have been out of this tradition that we get the eventual commission of the previously mentioned Hieda no Are, who was to memorize all of the historical events and recite them back, which I can only imagine would have been a kind of performance for the court, helping to reinforce the narrative.  But still, as Are was putting everything together, what were the assumptions and guidelines they were working under? After all, there were no doubt certain truths, whether factual or not, that were pushed by the court.  Things like the idea of an unbroken line of sovereigns going all the way back to the mythical founding, just like in continental stories.  Or, the idea that worship centered from the beginning around the sun goddess, Amaterasu. There is plenty of evidence that while the early Wa people practiced various forms of sun worship, with traces found in their language as well as stories, cultural traditions, etc., it was not necessarily Amaterasu who was the primary deity of worship.  Back in the Age of the Gods we talked about the creator deities, Izanagi and Izanami, and about the High god of Heaven, Takami Musubi, who seems to at one point been the most prominent central deity, but who had since been eclipsed, if you will, by the likes of Amaterasu. We also see evidence that there were other sun deities.  The language around Sarutahiko no Ohokami suggests that he may have once been worshipped as a sun deity as well.  And there is the early primacy of Mt. Miwa as a place of worship, and the spirit of Ohomononushi.  This is to say nothing of Ohokuninushi, and all of his stories, up in Izumo. Furthermore, it seems telling that Amaterasu is not even central to the rituals conducted in the palace itself, which likely went back to an even earlier period.  If Amaterasu were central, and the ancestral kami of the royal family since its inception, one would expect that Amaterasu would also be central to the rites carried out by her descendants in the royal palace.  And yet most of her worship appears to have continued to be set apart from the palace ritual, and conducted out of Ise shrine (albeit after a certain point ceremonially led by a designated female member of the royal line). Even Ise shrine itself isn't the primary shrine in the Ise area—the Ichi-no-miya, or most important shrine, of Ise is actually said to be Tsubaki shrine, worshipping Saruta Hiko no Ohokami and Ame no Uzume. So how did Amaterasu come to be so central in Ohoama's vision? There are stories that say that worship at Ise Shrine—and worship of Amaterasu—was specifically conducted by Ohoama's wife during the Jinshin campaign.  This is to say Ohoama's wife, primary consort, eventual queen and then queen regnant, Uno, later known as Jitou Tennou.  Remember, Uno had fled with Ohoama and had been on the trail with him at first, but had stayed behind in Ise.  Worship towards Ise seems to have later been counted as foundational to Ohoama and Uno's victory, and many suspect that they themselves may subsequently have encouraged greater worship of Amaterasu and placed her in the central position of sacral authority amongst the various kami. If so, that could explain why their histories focus so much on Amaterasu and her Heavenly descendant, from which the royal line claimed direct lineage.  It might also be around this time that the story of Iwarebiko, aka Jimmu Tennou, and the conquest of Yamato from Himuka may have been introduced: telling how Iwarebiko justifiably took away the land from the descendants of Nigi Hayahi, and then connecting Iwarebiko, in an extremely loose fashion, to Mimaki Iiribiko no Mikoto, aka Sujin Tennou. Another influence on all of this was likely the continental concept that time is a circle, and history repeats itself.  Chroniclers seeking to place events in a narrative context would have likely seen reflections of more recent events and used that to help order their compilation.  And of course, if there were events that seemed to run counter to the truth as known by the court, well, those could be smoothed over.  In this way, co-rulers were probably serialized, inconvenient interim rulers may have been excised altogether, and different dynasties, which may have only had tenuous connections, at best, were written down as direct lineal descendants.  It also seems telling that the Chroniclers may have reduced the role of what appears to be matrilineal succession to a more patriarchal and patrilineal determination of legitimacy.  Similarly, connections could be made for families to ancient ancestors through whom they were able to claim a certain proximity to the royal family.  Likewise, rules for legitimacy could be imposed—or perhaps just assumed—for previous reigns, doing their best to bring them into harmony with the social norms and the cultural imaginaries of the late 7th and early 8th centuries. So that's the general context the Chroniclers were working under. But at this point it's illuminating to take a look at the two histories and how they differ, to see what we can understand about where those differences came from. The work of Hieda no Are, eventually recorded and written down as the Kojiki, seems to have dealt with history that was far enough back that it was likely hard to argue with—it isn't like there was anyone alive who could counter with their own facts.  And the Kojiki reads as a fairly straightforward narrative, relatively speaking. The Nihon Shoki, on the other hand, is a different beast.  While the Kojiki may have captured the official narrative, the Nihon Shoki seems to have been designed to include more—including some of the competing accounts.  Thus you'll get a lot of things like “another source says…” with a different take on the same event.  This is much more prevalent in the Age of the Gods, but still pops up occasionally throughout the rest of the text.  Nonetheless, it is still very much focused on the royal line from Amaterasu down to Naka no Oe and Ohoama.  Even their posthumous names, Tenji and Temmu, specifically reference Ten, also pronounced Ama, at the start of their names, in what appears to be a bid to further connect them to the sun goddess of Heavenly Brightness--Amaterasu. Both of these works have their own character, and while the dates they were presented to the throne—713 for the Kojiki and 720 for the Nihon Shoki—suggest that they were published in succession, there are those that argue that the Kojiki is largely a reaction against the Nihon Shoki. In all likelihood the contents of the Nihon Shoki were known to many people before it was presented.  There were groups of Chroniclers involved, after all -- which meant teams of scribes pouring through sources, seeking out myths and legends, and generally trying to bring everything they could to the table.  And there is no indication that this was done in secret.  So it is quite possible that the writers of the Kojiki had seen some of the early drafts and cribbed from those notes. Some of the ways that the the history differ are in their portrayal of certain accounts.  For example, the Kojiki presents Iwarebiko and the pacification of Yamato and archipelago more generally in terms of that mythical sovereign conversing with the spirits.  And so he converses with, for instance, Ohomononushi, the deity of Mt. Miwa, a spirit whose name might be translated as the Great Lord of the Spirits, or “Mono”.  This idea places the sovereign as an intercessor between the mortal and the spirit world.  It hearkens back to earlier systems of sacral kingship, where power and authority came, at least in part, from supposed power of one's sacred sites and protective spirits. The Kojiki is also written in a much more vernacular style, using kanji and what we know of as man'yogana, the kanji used for their sound, rather than meaning, to provide a syllabary with which to write out Japanese words.  This may have been done for similar reasons to why it was also used in the Man'yoshu itself—because the Kojiki was meant to be recited aloud, not just read for meaning. The Nihon Shoki, in contrast, is clearly attempting to emulate the continental style.  It relies much more heavily on not just the characters but the grammar of Chinese, though not without its own idiosyncrasies.  The Nihon Shoki incorporated classical references that mirrored the references found in the histories of the Tang and earlier dynasties.  I suspect, for instance, that this is one of the main reasons that Naka no Oe and Ohoama are given the posthumous names of “Tenji” and “Temmu”.  Tenji means something like the Wisdom of Heaven while Temmu is more like the Martial Virtue of Heaven.  This immediately brings to mind, for me, the continental concepts of Wen and Wu—Culture and Warefare, or Bunbu in Japanese.  This even mirrors the founding Zhou kings, King Wen and King Wu.  Later, in the Han dynasty, you have Emperor Wu of Han, the grandson of Emperor Wen of Han, and Wu was considered to be one of the greatest emperors of the Han dynasty.  And so I can't help but think that there was a similar attempt at mythmaking going on here, connecting these two reigns with the reigns of famous emperors of the continent.  Of course, “Wu” was a popular name amongst the imperial dynasties from that period onward, with emperors of Jin, Chen, Liang, and others all being given the same name. This all accords with the way that the sovereign in the Nihon Shoki is less of a sacral king, interceding and speaking with the kami, and more along the continental model of an absolute ruler who ruled by divine right and heavenly mandate.  The lands outside of Yamato are subdued and, except for the occasional uprising, stay subdued—or at least that is what the narrative would seemingly have us believe. Now, I would argue that these distinctions are not absolute.  The Kojiki contains plenty of concepts of imperial trappings, and the Nihon Shoki contains plenty of examples of the sovereign playing a more traditional role.  But it is something to consider in the broad strokes of what they are saying, and I would argue that it also speaks to the duality of what was going on in this period.  Clearly the Ritsuryo State was built on the continental model, with an absolute ruler who ruled through a Heavenly mandate.  And yet at the same time, we see Ohoama patronizing the traditional spiritual sites and kami worship, like the emphasis on Amaterasu and Ise shrine.  Besides the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, we have one more set of official records that were compiled just as the major histories were beginning to be finished.  These were the Fudoki.  Fudoki were texts about the various provinces, and they include information on the various places, population, soil quality, as well as various local myths and legends attached to such things.  Rather than supporting the royal lineage, the Fudoki were more geared towards supporting the process begun under Karu and Naka no Oe with the Ritsuryo system whereby knowledge of the archipelago was being centralized such that the State could know about its territories.  Still, there are many times that the various Fudoki refer to different sovereigns, often to help situate a given event roughly within the historical narrative. The Fudoki were commissioned in 713.  At least 48 chronicles were said to have been compiled, but only a handful of them remain extant today.  Most are only partial texts, though even those can still contain significant information.  We also have purported text from certain fudoki that were reprinted in later histories.  The Shaku Nihongi seems to have been one such work, expressly commissioned to try and compile various older records that were likely aging and in danger of being lost altogether.  However, there is a concern regarding just how faithful those later transcriptions might have been, meaning that we cannot rely on them, entirely.  Still, they are an invaluable addition to our study of the history of this period. I mention all of this because much of this period seems dedicated to remaking the nation of Yamato into what we know as Japan.  This evolution didn't happen overnight, and it seems clear that it started gradually, but had now come to a head.  There is some consideration, though, that many of the things attributed to earlier reigns—the work done by Shotoku Taishi, for example, or even that of Naka no Oe—may have been embellished in this period.  After all, consider the difference between Ohoama trying to institute something entirely new versus pointing back to a previous sovereign and claiming that he wasn't innovating, he was just following tradition. But there are still unmistakable signs of innovation in the following reigns.  The creation of the first permanent capital city, for one.  There was also the blending of Buddhist and local kami-based traditions.  While Buddhism had been ascendant for a while, now, we see Ohoama seemingly paying equal homage to Amaterasu and the local kami.  Even while instituting new fangled continental ideas, he is also hearkening back to traditions that I can only imagine helped assuage some of the fears of any traditionalists who saw the rapid speed at which the archipelago was adopting at least the trappings of continental imperial culture. Speaking of culture, there was one other work that we should probably mention, and that is the famous Man'yoshu—the collection of 10,000 Leaves.  I mentioned this briefly earlier in the episode, but I do want to discuss it a bit, because as much as we may glean from the official histories, as well as the various fudoki texts, the Man'yoshu provides an invaluable view into the minds of the people of the time, and contains some incredibly useful tidbits of information that, when put together, help give us a better idea of what was happening during this period. The Man'yoshu is a collection of more than 4500 poems attributed to various historical figures, from sovereigns, such as Ohoama and Naka no Oe, to common soldiers.  It is remarkable in that the poems are largely in native Japanese and are not using the Sinitic poetry styles that were popular with scholars of the time. These poems are waka, Japanese verse, which typically follows a pattern of repeating verses of 5-7-5 syllables or morae, ending with two lines of 7-7.  The most simple of these are tanka—one top verse of 5-7-5, and one bottom verse of 7-7.  However, the poems in the collection can vary quite a bit. They are also remarkable in that they are written in what we know as Man'yogana.  That is to say they use Sinitic characters—kanji—but for their sound rather than their meaning in many cases.  This practice allowed for much more nuanced writing, such that the author could be more certain that the correct meaning could be taken away, since Japanese grammar differs greatly from various Chinese languages, and leverages particles and suffixes that are non-existent in Sinitic script.  Often times, when reading something like the Nihon Shoki, one has to infer the Japanese word order, particles, and suffixes from the text as a whole.  This is common with any kanbun—a very Japanese style of Chinese writing that often requires its own study to fully understand. Meanwhile, the Man'yogana allowed someone to more easily sound out the letters in the Man'yoshu.  This must have been important when morae or syllable count was important to the art form.  Furthermore, it gives us tremendous insight into how spoken Japanese may have sounded  back in the 8th century. And of course it is great that we have all of these poems, but almost more important is the other information contained in the collection.  Most poems not only are attributed to a particular author, but they often give a brief introduction to lay out the circumstance in which the poem was composed.  These poems are, in many ways, more straightforward than many later poetic styles, which relied much more heavily on so-called “pillow words”, poetic allusions, or callbacks to previous poems—not that they were completely devoid of such references, especially to other, often continental, works. Some poems are actually paired—a type of call and response.  A man would often be expected to send a poem to a lady with whom he had recently had assignations, and she would often respond.  Through such correspondence, preserved in the poetic record, we can see connections that might not be as clear in the various historical texts. Now, 4500 is a lot of poems and I'll be honest, I'm probably not going to be researching all of them for historical tidbits, but it is nonetheless important to understand.  One should also be careful—while the poems are often attributed to various artists and famous persons, this may sometimes be misleading.  The attribution may have been garbled or forgotten, and recreated. Most of the poems in the Man'yoshu are presented with at least some amount of framing around them.  They are grouped loosely by various themes.  We are then told, for each poem, the composer and the occasion for which it was created.  Sometimes this may be as simple as “when they were out hunting”, but that still gives us some context on which to go by as for why the author was writing the poem in the first place. The poems themselves vary in size.  There are short poems, or tanka, but also longer form chōka poems, with multiple verses.  Some may allude to previous poems, but many of the poems are just about the author's feelings.  Unlike haiku, they were not quite so proscribed in terms of “pillow words” or requisite seasonal descriptions. And yet these poems, just as much as the histories, were important in capturing some part of the cultural zeitgeist from that time.  We can see what was considered popular or important, and it was there for future generations down until today. Ultimately the Kojiki would largely be overshadowed by the more comprehensive and prestigious seeming history in the Nihon Shoki.  The Nihon Shoki would become the official history, inspiring future historical records, such as the Shoku Nihongi, the continuation of the records.  The Man'yoshu, likewise, would be emulated, with future compilations like the Kokinshu. These, in turn, would impact the cultural imaginary of the time.  They would shape people's ideas about the past, about art, and even about the nature of the kami themselves.  During this period it is hard to understate just how much they were setting in place a new system.  It is even difficult to tell how much of that system had actually been instituted by previous sovereigns, even though it's hard to tell how much that actually happened as opposed to simple claims by Ohoama and, later, Uno, to justify what they were doing.  Up to this point, the Ritsuryou State and the various reforms had been an experiment, but under Ohoama we truly see that the new government upgrades would be fully installed.  At the same time, we also see a shake up in the court.  Those who had been loyal to Ohoama during the Jinshin conflict of 672 received various rewards—increased rank and stipend, for one thing.  As famous individuals passed away, they were also granted posthumous rank, which might not seem like much, but it increased the family's prestige and that of the individual's descendants without actually handing out a higher level stipend that would be a drain on the coffers.  All of this also continued to build up the elites' reliance on not just the court, but on the throne itself for their status, wealth, and position.  Thus they had a vested interest in seeing that the project succeeded. And that is the world that we are about to dive into.  Thank you, I know we didn't get into too much of the immediate history, and some of this is spoilers—after all, this took time and in the moment it could have turned out quite differently.  What if Ohoama had gotten sick and died?  What if there had been a rebellion?  What if Silla or Tang had attacked?  While we know what happened from the safety of our vantage point, far in the future, it is important to remember that at the time the people in the court didn't know what would happen next, so please keep that in mind. Next episode, we'll start to get into the actual events of the reign, starting with Ohoama's ascension to the throne at the newly built Kiyomihara palace in Asuka. 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.

Charging! Go! Charging forward with another episode! Join us this week as discuss some Chargeman Ken themed merchandise, the inconsistency of the Juralian's mission on Earth, and the death toll of the Chargeman himself. [Episode 11] Save the Earth! [Episode 12] We Can't Eat Vegetable Salad [Episode 13] Showdown! The Undersea City [Episode 14] The Daibutsu that Vanished Into the Night [Episode 15] The Art Gallery Mystery! If you'd like to get updates on the latest episodes and some occasional anime memes, why not give our Facebook page a follow? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Who's That Anime? FB Page⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you'd like to see the video of our podcast, check out our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Who's That Anime? YouTube Channel!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you want to join in on the conversation why to become a member of our Discord!? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Who's That Anime? Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you're interested in following some of our other endeavours, why not give these links a try? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Couch Fuel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - Colin's Twitch channel ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hail, Paimon!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - Steve's Twitch channel Theme Music by Taylor Gray

Episode 126Ah, Kamakura, my stomping ground, where ancient temples and train rides become the everyday spectacle! So, I'm schlepping my mate around, you know, the casual tour of awesomeness.We start with Engaku-ji, and my friend's gob is not just smacked; it's doing a full-on gymnastics routine. She's got this look like she just discovered sushi for the first time. Meanwhile, I'm over here like, "Yeah, just another day with the Buddha vibes."We stroll around the Daibutsu, and I'm narrating like an ancient history professor who moonlights as a stand-up comedian. "So, this colossal dude, big enough to make Goliath question his life choices, has been chilling here since way back when. No biggie.As we alight at Hase, she's still buzzing with excitement. "This place is incredible!" she says. I smirk, "Yeah, tell that to the Daibutsu. He's been standing there, unimpressed, for centuries."Then comes the Enoden line. I see her eyes light up as the train approaches. She's snapping pictures like it's a Hollywood red carpet event.And that, my friends, is how Kamakura, the living museum I call home, transforms a casual stroll into a gobsmacking, eye-popping, Enoden-riding adventure. Just another day in the historical wonderland – where every temple is a gem, and every train ride is a trip through time. Cheers to Kamakura, where even the everyday is extraordinary!Great day with a great mate,Keep uploading,folks.Darren.Noel Gallagher High Flying Birds - AKA What  A LifeOasis - The MasterplanSharon Latham https://www.instagram.com/selfieguideshaz?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==Bourdain on Lawson https://youtu.be/v1LOiRfMc08?si=a_baoUo6DTmcANmdSupport the showwww.justpassingthroughpodcast.comInsta:justpassingthroughpodcastContact:justpassingthroughpodcast@gmail.com

This episode we are looking at some of the earliest temples to be built in Japan.  Namely: Asukadera and Shitennoji.  These have pretty good claims to be some of the earliest temples, and they are mentioned in this reign, both in relation to the Soga-Mononobe War. For photos and more, check out https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-97  Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua and this is episode 97: Asukadera and Shitennouji. First off, quick shout out to Craig for supporting us on Ko-Fi.com.  We'll have more information on how you can help support the show at the end of the episode. To recap so far, we are still in the reign of Kashikiya Hime, aka Suiko Tennou, in the 6th and early 7th centuries—though for this episode we are going to step back a little bit as much of this has origins in the 6th century, looking at the early spread of Buddhism and the founding of some of the first permanent temple complexes—specifically Asukadera in, well, Asuka, and Shitennouji in the area of modern Ohosaka. As we've seen, Yamato was in the process of importing various things from the mainland—both material culture and immaterial things as well, including philosophy and religion.  By religion, of course, we are talking about Buddhism, which we've already covered to some extent in Episodes 85 and 88, but let's go over a little bit of the history, shall we, and catch up with what has been happening since. Buddhism had likely been coming over to the archipelago since the arrival of Buddhist immigrants from Baekje and elsewhere, though their religion is not much discussed.  After all, the Nihon Shoki is focused largely on the Yamato royal family and the court, and so other than groups of immigrants beings settled and possibly organized into family groups, there wasn't much call to look into their day to day practices. It is also difficult to know just how far Buddhism had penetrated into the lower ranks of society on the continent, as well.  Certainly the courts had adopted Buddhism, but to what extent it was part of the daily lives of the common person, I don't know that I could say with any certainty.  Still, we can imagine that there were likely those who came over to the archipelago with an extant belief in the Buddha and some inkling of the rites and other aspects of Buddhist worship.  Did they set up small temples in their villages?  Or convert a house into a shrine?  Or did they just keep private practice and worship?  We don't know, and as far as I've come across we don't seem to have any conclusive evidence via the archaeological record, either.  And so we are left with the written record and what it has to say on the subject. The Nihon Shoki notes the first official mention of Buddhism in the archipelago as the arrival of a Buddhist statue from Baekje.  The official record puts this in the year 552, in the reign of Amekunioshi, aka Kinmei Tennou, and credits Soga no Iname with taking and building the first temple and setting up the first temple by repurposing his own house—or at least some part of his property.  Other families, however, opposed the Soga's attempts at bringing in and establishing this new religion and ultimately ended up destroying that first temple, tossing the image into the river. This whole thing repeated itself in 584, about 32 years later—Silla had given Yamato a Buddhist image in 579, and then an image of Miroku, aka Maitreya, and an image of the Buddha, aka Shakyamuni, were both found.  Soga no Umako, Iname's son and successor to his role as Oho-omi, took the two images and had a temple once again built, importing specialists and setting up three nuns to attend to the appropriate rituals.  Once again, the Soga's opponents, led by the powerful Mononobe family, cried foul and had the temple destroyed and the nuns stripped of their robes. There are a few things about this account that are more than a bit sus, however.  First, there is mention of that first Buddha image in both the Joguki, the record of the life of Prince Shotoku Taishi, as well as a record from Gangoji Garan Engi, a record from Gangoji temple—which is to say Asukadera, one of the temples we'll be talking about, today.  In those records we find a different date for the first Buddha image, with its arrival coming in 538, not 552.  That would have put its arrival a year before Amekunioshi, aka Kinmei Tennou, took the throne.  It is also rather interesting at just how much the two stories parallel each other, and one has to wonder if they were really two separate stories or if they were one story that got attributed to different members of the Soga family, for some reason.  It is also possible that they are different stories, but with similar elements that got conflated across each other.  Or it really was a matter of déjà vu, with the experience of Soga no Umako paralleling that of his father, Iname.  We also cannot discount some massaging of the text.  For one thing, they put it in the reign of Amekunioshi, who had a different maternal line than his previous two successors and elder half-brothers.  There may have been political reasons to keep the stories as they were and, hopefully, keep the story relatively tidy. Regardless of why, the implication seems clear that by 585 there were people in Yamato with some knowledge of Buddhism, as well as the necessary artisans and craftspeople to create a continental style temple complex. In the following years, the fight between the Soga and the Mononobe escalated with the death of sovereign and the ensuing succession dispute.  The Mononobe and their candidate, Prince Anahobe, were destroyed by forces in league with the Soga family.  During that conflict, which we covered in Episodes 90 and 91, there was a point where both Soga no Umako and his nephew, the young Prince Umayado, each prayed to the Buddha for victory, promising to erect a temple if they succeeded.  Indeed, they did succeed, and based on their vows, two temples were eventually created. The first temple is known as Asukadera, or the Temple of Asuka, although it also is known by its official name of Hokoji, and later Gangoji.  Construction of Hokoji started in 588, and is attributed to Soga no Umako. The second temple is Shitennoji, or the Temple of the Four Heavenly Kings.  We'll talk about them a bit more, later, but the Four Heavenly Kings are four gods, who appear to pre-date Buddhism, who were co-opted into the Buddhist pantheon as protectors of Buddhism, each one representing a cardinal direction.  Shitennouji's traditional founding is given to us as 593. Both of these temples still exist, in one form or another.  If you go to Asuka, today, you can find a small Asukadera on the site of the previous temple, but it is much reduced from its original form.  When it was built, Asukadera would have been at the center of the political heartland of Yamato.  It was the land of the Soga, but also the location of the palace of Kashikiya Hime, and it likely rivaled her palace for pride of place in Asuka.  However, when the capital eventually moved away from Asuka—first to nearby Kashihara, but then across the Nara basin to Heijo-kyo, modern Nara city—the temple buildings were removed to Nara, to modern day Gankouji, though the site of Houkouji continued to be used as a small, local temple.  The modern temple in Asuka does have a Buddha statue, however, that they believe to have been the original Daibutsu, or Giant Buddha, known as the Asuka Daibutsu.  It changed hands many times over the centuries, but has since come back to Asuka, though a little worse for wear. Shitennouji, on the other hand, is in the heart of modern Ohosaka, in the Tennoji ward.  The buildings of Shitennouji have been rebuilt numerous times, although supposedly by the same construction company, one of the oldest businesses in the world, and they remain in their original configuration.  Since they've been rebuilt, however, this is why you will often hear of another temple, Horyuji, also associated with Prince Shotoku Taishi, as being the oldest temple in Japan, as it has the oldest extant buildings.  Make no mistake, however—Asukadera and Shitennouji were founded first, and both still survive in some manner. These two temples do a lot to help us better understand Buddhism and its influence, but also helps us understand more than that.  They help us look into the politics of the time, and even illuminate some of the apparent tensions between different immigrant groups from Baekje and Silla that were becoming more and more prominent in Yamato. Of the various early temples that were built, Asukadera is perhaps one of the most well-documented, both in the historic record as well as the archaeological evidence.  Donald McCallum, in his book, “The Four Great Temples”, notes that serious study of Asukadera began around the Meiji and into the Taisho era, in particular calling out the work of Fukuyama Toshio, published in 1934.  Up to that point, it was mostly looking at the histories—both the Nihon Shoki and also works like the Gangouji Engi, the record of Gangouji, the later name for Asukadera.  He determined that much of the record, though it claimed to have been written by Shotoku Taishi himself, was actually written later than the Nihon Shoki, based on linguistic analysis.  However, there were some sections that appear to be earlier or contemporaneous with the Nihon Shoki, likely pulled from other works, which the Nihon Shoki may have been pulling from as well, including inscriptions on the extant temple buildings at the time.  This was determined by things like the grammar and Sinitic characters used, as well as the lack of terms like “Tennou”, which still were not in use until later periods.  It is also interesting to note that Shotoku Taishi is referred to in the document by the name “Prince Umayado no Toyotomimi” Based on that analysis, it seems fairly certain that Soga no Umako was, indeed, largely responsible for donations to build Asukadera, although the Nihon Shoki gives credit to Kashikiya Hime as well.  That and certain other features of the Nihon Shoki account were probably added later, possibly at the urging of the Gangouji priests themselves, to stress a stronger connection with the Yamato royal family rather than just Soga no Umako. The text gives a brief history of Buddhism, which is where we see Buddhism being introduced as early as 538, though it seems to suggest this was still in the reign of Amekunioshi, aka Kinmei Tennou, rather than his predecessors.  Soga no Iname is still given much of the credit, though there is a note about Kashikiya Hime also installing a Buddhist icon in her own quarters at one point—something not mentioned in the Nihon Shoki.  It does mention the various pro- and anti-Buddhist arguments and steps that the various sides took, including Umako having three nuns ordained and them being eventually defrocked—though without mention of them being whipped, which may have been too much or could be sensationalist additions to the Nihon Shoki text. One thing that is notably missing in the Gangouji Engi, at least as McCallum summarizes it, is mention of the Mononobe and Soga conflict, and so there is no mention of any special vow that was made to build Asukadera if they were victorious—let alone anything about the vow to build Shitennouji.  Instead, it is instigated by the three nuns, who request both a nunnery and a monastery, each with at least 10 ordained nuns or priests, as that was the number required for many of the rites and to ensure proper ordination could take place in the future, thus allowing them to grow the religion.  These two temples would need to be close enough so that they could each hear the bells from the other. Although priests were requested from Baekje, too few came over in response, which is why the nuns themselves were sent over to get a proper ordination.  They return in 590 and urge the completion of the two temples—Asukadera and Toyouradera, the latter using the land that was previously Kashikiya Hime's palace prior to her moving to the Oharida palace site, nearby. All of that was based on the extant texts, but there were also archaeological excavations that took place in 1956 to 1957, as well as later investigations in and around Asuka Temple and the general area.  Even today, excavations in the regions are ongoing, and in a recent visit I saw them excavating nearby palace ruins.  Fortunately, the area has not seen the kind of heavy urban development, whether in the modern or pre-modern period, that many other areas have gone through, with much of the land having been returned to farmland, and the importance of the area, today, is well understood. The initial excavations were a bit surprising.  Based on extant temples such as Shitennoji, it was expected that Asukadera would have been planned out in such a way that there was a straight line from the central gate, to the pagoda and the kondou, or golden hall, sometimes called an image hall, with the koudou, or lecture hall, in back.  Often there is some separation of the lecture hall from the other two.  These buildings are both connected and separated by gates, walls, and pathways, including covered cloisters along the wall, which conforms to the pattern of temples on the Korean peninsula as well.  This is very reminiscent of the Baekje layout for temples, and may include other elements such as belfries or similar. The three main buildings each serve a purpose.  As we noted back in Episode 84, the Pagoda had replaced the Stupa, and was often a reliquary, holding relics of some kind.  Then there is the Kondou—literally golden halls, as many of the statues and other artwork would be gilded and designed to reflect light, often shining out from the darkness with the goal of leading more people to consider enlightenment.  These are the halls where images are placed—hence the other term, “image hall”—whether metal, wood, stone, et cetera. The pagoda and the kondou may be areas of personal worship, with believers coming to visit them, perhaps to venerate a particular aspect of the Buddha or contemplate something, and images or particular relics are often ascribed particular spiritual power.  Often these are included together or near one another. On the other hand the koudou, or Lecture Hall, also known as the Ordination Hall, would be the place for sermons and various ceremonies.  In many ways these are the “working” areas of a temple, and while they often have images and are ornately adorned, they have, in some ways, a more utilitarian function, and in many early temple layouts they are often held apart from the pagoda and kondou in some way. At Asukadera, the excavations revealed that it was not planned out in the standard three building model, all lined up, as had been expected.  Instead, there was a walled courtyard, with cloisters around the sides and a central gate that led to a pagoda in the middle of the area.  Then there were three buildings, identified as individual kondou, or image halls, spaced equally to the left, right, and behind the pagoda.  A larger building was then found behind the walled courtyard area, determined to be the temple's lecture hall.  All of this was enclosed in another wall, which seems to have defined the larger area of the temple. This layout is fairly unique.  It doesn't exactly fit anything we've seen in Baekje or Silla temples of the period, and most closely resembles something out of Goguryeo.  It may be worth noting that there are records that claim the King of Goguryeo provided funds to help build temples in Japan, and that some of the monks involved, including the monk Eben, or Hyephyeon, who helped initially ordain the Zenshin and her fellow nuns, was said to be a man from Goguryeo, and so may have had some influence on the design. On the other hand, the rooftiles found at the Asukadera site are very much in the Baekje tradition.  Up to this point, there is no indication that the Japanese were using rooftiles in their construction, and were likely using thatching, much as many Shinto shrines continue to use to this day.  The use of rooftiles is thought to have started with Buddhist temples, and occurred much earlier than their use in other buildings, including palace buildings.  Since rooftiles were ceramic, they required different construction techniques so that the roof could support the weight, which would further explain the need to import craftsmen from the continent to help build these structures. Rooftiles are not necessarily the most exciting thing for people wandering through a museum.  Often one is looking at weapons, jewelry, or haniwa statues, and suddenly you come across a plethora of tiles from different buildings, and it can be easy to just glance past.  Without understanding what you are looking at, the rooftiles often seem the same—or same-ish.  The majority of the tiles are plain, without much distinction.  End tiles—whether round or flat—often have similar decorations, such as lotus flowers, and they are often very similar to one another.  Furthermore, these are rarely refined works of art—tiles were meant to be mass produced and were often created quickly to meet the demands of construction. Despite all of this, I think it is worth recognizing that the rooftiles are often important to helping archaeologists, especially when the rest of the building is no longer extant.  Rooftiles often would fall off and get buried, or even be reused in some way to edge a gutter or something similar.  However, how they are made, the molds that were used, the composition of the clay, etc. can all be analyzed to provide information about the age and size of a structure, helping to know when different buildings may have been built or rebuilt, as well as providing some information on where the materials were coming from.  And for those who want to learn more, you can be sure that every part of a tile has its own specialized name and vocabulary—it is something that you can really delve deep into if that is your thing. The rooftiles at Asukadera are somewhat odd in that they are not as uniform as one might expect, and this may come from the fact that they had imported different tile makers from Baekje, and so each one set up their workshop with slightly different standards.  Later, as Yamato as more temples and other continental style buildings were built, these would become larger, more standardized industries.  Still, that they seem to conform to the general patterns found in Baekje speaks, again, to the location that the craftsmen were likely from, as well as the connections mentioned in the texts. And so we see at least Baekje and possibly Goguryeo influence on the design of this temple. One other thing that has been found is the stone pedestal for an image in the central image hall.  We know that at some point a large image was crafted, and the Asuka Daibutsu, or Giant Buddha Image of Asuka, is still extant, and the stone pedestal was likely where it or a similar image sat at some point.  However, just when this image was created and installed is still unknown—there are references to various images, but nothing that can be directly attributed to the current Asuka Daibutsu, though various scholars have identified it as being consistent with the Asuka style from at least the 7th century. The earliest information talks about the stone Miroku, or Maitreya, image that Kafuka no Omi brought back.  It was probably not that large, and it seems that it was eventually enshrined at Asukadera in some form.  There are mentions of various icons made in the early 7th century as well, which could refer to this.  It is said that it was made in 609 by Kuratsukuri no Tori, though that is not without controversy.  It was damaged in a fire in 1196, which was originally thought to have destroyed everything.  Indeed, an examination of the image has shown that it appears to have been reconstructed, though there is some evidence that the face and right hand are likely original, while the rest of the body was refashioned, probably from the burnt and melted pieces that were damaged in the fire.  It still sits in the Angoin at the modern site of Asukadera, for anyone who wants to come and see it. Taken together, this can give us some idea of what it took to build the temple.  Previous so-called temples appear to be conversions of local buildings, with perhaps some work on building a proper pagoda, but at Asukadera they went full-out to build according to the continental standards.  That said, there has been a significant amount of ink spilled over just how this process went. Based on the Nihon Shoki, it would almost appear that everything arrived, fully formed, at the end of 588.  As I've noted previously, the way that the Nihon Shoki records read it can sometimes be difficult to figure out exactly what happened when, as a single entry will often contain details that must have happened before or after the date of the entry itself, and it isn't entirely clear exactly what happened on the referenced date, in many cases.  Furthermore, since the Chroniclers were pulling from other sources, there is always the possibility that they, themselves, misinterpreted something.  Finally, I would note that their primary goal was to give readers and idea of what happened that conformed with what was known as true and what supported the state institutions.  Would it have mattered to them exactly when Asukadera was built, as long as it was generally right and in the regards to the appropriate sovereign and nobles?  Probably not. It likely would have taken some time to pull everything together.  There would have been planning sessions, and drawings.  They would have to harvest the right kind of wood and shape it based on the designs, and an entire industry of tile-making would have to be set up, likely with local hands learning the process.  Similarly, woodcarvers would have already existed, but they would likely need to learn new techniques to account for the continental design.  And then there were the various rituals that would need to be carried out.  This is all in addition to any stonework, special metalwork, or other such things that had not been previously done in the archipelago.  On top of that, there would have been issues of translation, with immigrant artisans directing their various groups of craftsmen. It is possible that work for planning the temple began as early as 588—which may have just been the request for more craftsmen—and then in 596, when we have textual evidence that some part of the temple was “finished”, that may have been nothing more than the pagoda by that time.   It is then unclear whether the other buildings were finished together or in separate phases—perhaps the central image hall was finished, and then the two on the sides of the pagoda were added at a later date.  Images may have also been shifted around as new images, like the Asuka Daibutsu, were completed.  Many scholars have argued for different interpretations based on their readings of the texts, but none of the evidence is so clear as to be incontrovertible. What is clear is that this was a grand temple, and that would have been equally clear to everyone who viewed it.  Furthermore, this temple was connected directly to Soga no Umako and the Soga family.  Something to consider:  Just as the giant tomb mounds helped demonstrate the power of various clans based on the work and resources that went into them, a temple like Asukadera would have provided similar cache for the Soga family.  This is more than just religious devotion, it was a political statement, made in the heart of the region that Kashikiya Hime was ruling from.  Visitors to her palace—not to mention later palaces in the area—would have hardly been able to miss the pagoda and the tiled rooves, and locals would have likely heard the toll of the bell, assuming that both they and Toyouradera had them as the sources mention. Speaking of Toyouradera, I have less information on that compound, but it seems to have been built sometime later.  Kashikiya Hime moved to the new Woharida palace around 603, which would have freed the Toyoura palace buildings to be used for the nunnery.  While there is evidence of a pagoda being built, I suspect that it originally reused the old palace buildings, repurposing them, and then would have been built out as time allowed.  There is still a temple in Toyoura, and some remains that have been examined, but I am not aware of anything as extensive as the work on Asukadera. In comparison—and perhaps contrast—to Asukadera is the other temple of this episode: Shitennouji, the temple of the Four Heavenly Kings.  Now while many later texts certainly involved both Kashikiya Hime and Prince Umayado in the building of Asukadera, it is clear that Soga no Umako played a leading role—and was probably the primary patron for that temple.  In contrast, Shitennouji is directly associated with none other than Prince Shotoku Taishi.  It claims to have been founded in 593, based on the account of the Nihon Shoki, and it is said to have been commissioned by Crown Prince Shotoku, aka Prince Umayado, in response to the Four Heavenly Kings' intervention in the Soga-Mononobe war. To put some of this in perspective:  Prince Umayado is said to have been born in 574, and he would have been a teenager during the Soga-Mononobe war, and would have been about 20 years old or so in 593.  Granted, this is Shotoku Taishi we are talking about, and all of the history about him claims that he was quite precocious.  It is said that when he was born, his hands were clasped together.  Two years later, he opened his hands and it was revealed that he had been born holding a relic of the Buddha, which was later enshrined at the temple of Houryuji. Speaking of Houryuuji, I'm sure we'll spend more time on it in a future episode, but here's what you probably should know for context.  Houryuuji was built on the site of Prince Umayado's Ikaruga palace, and is also said to have been directly patronized by Umayado, aka Shotoku Taishi.  Furthermore, it has the oldest extant wooden buildings in the world, let alone in Japan.  And yet, the Shitenouji temple appears to get more air time in the Chronicles, which may be a factor of several different things, but primarily indicating that Shitenouji and its patrons were ascendant at court at the time that everything was being written down, whereas it appears that Houryuuji may have been rebuilding after a fire, and therefore was not as prominent as it would later be.  Either way, I encourage people to visit both to get a better idea of this period. There is less textual evidence—or perhaps there has simply been less scrutiny—for the founding of Shitenouji, and its position is hardly central to the Yamato court.  Nonetheless, it is in a place of prominence, as it was near Naniwa, the port to the Seto Inland Sea and beyond.  This was also an area that had a high number of immigrants from the mainland, which I'll be returning to in a bit. As I mentioned earlier in this episode, Shitenouji follows what we might consider a more traditional design.  Entering through the central gate, one comes upon the five storied pagoda, behind which stands the kondou, or image hall.  All of this is surrounded by a cloistered wall, which encircles both until you get to the north end, where the wall terminates at the koudou, or lecture hall.  The buildings are brightly painted and decorated in red, green, and white—colors that would have likely adorned Asukadera's posts as well, and which we see in many later temples and images.  In fact, the image of a Buddhist temple as brown and plain comes later, likely originating with just the ravages of time and the lack of funding to keep up with the paint, which was originally said to help preserve the wood and prevent damage from insects.  Eventually, some sects would come to prefer the more subdued image brought about by natural wood, creating a new aesthetic that continues to be popular.  Today you can find a variety of different temple buildings from different eras, some of which maintain the bright colors that would have likely been part of any early temple. There have been some excavations around Shitenouji, which appear to confirm that the shape has remained roughly the same over the centuries, from what I can tell.  The buildings themselves have been rebuilt over the years, but maintain a certain characteristic that seems appropriate to the early temple period.  This may be due to the fact that the temple has retained the services of a family of temple builders that continue to operate as a business, even today.  Kongou Gumi claims that it was founded in 578, when craftsmen were brought from Baekje to help build temples in Japan, making it the oldest company in the world, though it is now a subsidiary company of the Takamatsu Construction Group.  They continue to specialize in traditional temple, shrine, and castle construction, preserving ancient techniques, but also employing modern materials, such as concrete and rebar, where appropriate. While they were specific to Shitennouji, they were not exclusive, and in the 16th century they helped rebuild Osaka castle.  They have repeatedly rebuilt Shitennouji and maintained it through the years, even after it has, at times, been completely destroyed by fire or even typhoon. The story of Shitennouji's founding we talked about in the episode on the Soga-Mononobe War, but to quickly recount:  The young Shotoku Taishi crafted figures of the four Heavenly kings and prayed for a Soga victory, promising to build a temple if they won.  The Soga did win, and so he followed through by building this temple, using land taken from the Mononobe during the war. So who were the Four Heavenly Kings?  Why didn't he just pray to the Buddha? The Four Heavenly Kings are gods from India that were transmitted along with Buddhism as Buddhist Deities.  They are: Vaisravana, aka Tamonten, in the north Virudhaka, aka Zouchouten, in the south Dhrtarastra, aka Jikokuten, in the east  And Virupaksa, aka Koumokuten, the west. In general, if you are at a Japanese temple, and you see the name end with “Ten” it may be referring to one of the various Heavenly Kings. The four heavenly kings are devas, and included as four of the 20 or 24 devas who manifest to protect the Dharma.  Given their role in protecting the various cardinal directions, they became popular in East Asian Buddhism, and show up in various Mahayana texts, but they also appear in Theravada traditions as well.  It is unclear exactly when and how they became associated with Buddhism, though it wasn't uncommon for Buddhism to co-opt various gods and deities and turn them into aspects of the Buddha, Boddhisatvas, or, as in this case, protectors of Buddhism.  We see similar things happen in the archipelago as various kami are, on occasion, given Buddhist aspects and accepted as defenders of Buddhism. It appears that they have a particular place in the Konkoumyou Sutra, or Sutra of Golden Light, which is where they appear to have entered East Asian Buddhism.  This sutra may have been translated as early as the 5th century, though the Nihon Shoki uses quotes that appear to come from a translation likely made around the 7th or 8th century, which was likely popular at the time that the Nihon Shoki was being compiled.  Not only that, but later in the 8th century, various Kokubunji, or provincial temples, would be set up under state sponsorship, in part to create spiritual protection for the realm, and these were specifically set up as temples of the Four Heavenly Kings.  So we can see that belief in the efficacy of the Four Heavenly Kings was important around the time that the Chronicles were being compiled. In addition, Shitennouji is heavily influenced by what some call the “Cult” of “Shotoku Taishi”.  Again, by the time that the Nihon Shoki was being compiled, Prince Umayado had already been lifted up on a pedestal and turned into something more than just a Prince—however influential he may have been.  He became known as the Father of Buddhism, and the Father of the Nation, having also played a part—we are told—in the creation of the first ever 17 article constitution.  He was a Soga relative but he was not, importantly, a member of the direct Soga line, which would land on hard times just a few generations later and be on the political outs. Michael Como, in his book on Shotoku Taishi, also points out that Shitennouji was associated with the Abe family and with various lineages with ties specifically to Silla, including groups like the Hata—although the layout of the temple still accords with Baekje temple design, as far as I can tell.  Still, by the 8th century in particular, Shitennouji and similar temples claiming sponsorship or connections to Shotoku Taishi appear to have had connections with lineages descending from or with connections to Silla.  Spoiler alert:  Silla would eventually take over the entire Korean Peninsula, and therefore, by the 8th century, there were no new “Baekje” or “Goguryeo” immigrants—anyone coming over was from Silla.  And Michael Como points out that there seems to have been a bit of a political rift and distinction between Silla descended lineage groups and Baekje descended lineage groups.  Asukadera and the Soga family—and even Shotoku Taishi's temple of Houryuuji—appear to have been firmly attached to the Baekje lineages, whom they had sponsored to come over to help them promote Buddhism, but by the 8th century, Silla-backed groups were more dominant.  He points to a “split” in the Shotoku Taishi worship, with the Silla-backed temples dominating the narrative in the 8th century and beyond. This may also play into the story of the founding of Shitennouji, as there is a similar story in the Samguk Yusa, as Como points out.  In it, the King prays to the Heavenly Kings for victory against the Tang, and that same King is said to have built the Sacheonwang Temple in the Silla capital of Gyeongju.  This temple would become a model for later temples in Silla, and introduced a layout with two pagodas, rather than one.  We see this pattern arrive in the archipelago, influencing temples like Yakushiji, in modern Nara. Unfortunately, this all seems to just muddy the waters.  I think we can probably say that the founding of Shitennouji by a young Shotoku Taishi, while possible, seems a bit sus.  Sure, I guess they could have built a temple on the land taken from the Mononobe—it would have been quite the statement given that the Mononobe had been so anti-Buddhism, at least according to the textual records.  But was it originally dedicated to the Four Heavenly Kings?  Or did that part come later, as the texts on the Four Heavenly Kings grew more popular? I suspect that the temple, which seems laid out in the standard Baekje style, was no doubt one of the early temples, and it may even have been built on Mononobe property.  But the association with Shitennouji—and the legend of Shotoku Taishi—probably came later.  It was in a great position, however, to gain patronage from newly arrived immigrants, as the port of Naniwa would have been one of the more cosmopolitan locations, and after the downfall of Baekje and Goguryeo, most of those people crossing the sea would have identified with Silla. Regardless of the legends behind it, Shitennouji does appear to have a claim to be one of the oldest temples in Japan, and shortly after it was built—or at least they started work on the temple—we are told that Kashikiya Hime told Shotoku Taishi to aggressively promote Buddhism, which seems to have kicked off a temple-building fad.  No doubt the prestige that came from being connected with a temple like Asukadera or Shitennouji had some small part to play in that. Temples would become another source of spiritual, and thus political, power, for various kinship groups, much as shrines and kofun were as well.  In fact, the temple building craze is often seen as the beginning of the end of the Kofun period.  All of the money and resources that were poured into temple building—whether as private projects or as state sponsored projects—would put a huge drain on the labor pool for things like monumental tombs.  In addition, as Buddhist theology took hold, a dedicatory temple was, in many ways, more useful, as it could be a way of building merit for the dead, as opposed to simply building giant tomb mounds.  That doesn't mean it ended immediately, but as I've mentioned before we start to see the tomb sizes shrink.  Nothing would rival the middle kofun era building projects, and there would be a greater focus on building things like temples. I also suspect that this new style of construction may have had other knock on effects as well.  Grand buildings such as those built for temples, and later palaces, were not quite so easy to dismantle and reassemble elsewhere.  These were major construction projects and the materials were now heavier, especially those tiled roofs.  Not that it was “easy” to just build a palace in the older style, but it was clearly something that could be done quickly if necessary, as shown with the construction of various temporary buildings for envoys and the like—or even the decision to move to a new palace part way through a reign.  These new buildings weren't the same, and we can see how, when Asukadera was moved up to Nara—where it is known as Gankouji—they clearly left many of the buildings and materials behind and likely built new buildings in the new capital.  Giant images would also have been difficult to transport, and probably easier to just commission a new one.  Had Asukadera, aka Houkouji, not burned down and been generally neglected by the court, which by then had moved on to Heian-kyo, then perhaps it would have retained some of the buildings, as Houryuuji, did.  Unfortunately, it did burn down, and so today is only a shadow of what it once was—though still worth a visit, in my opinion. And that's where we'll wrap things up for now.  Until next time, then, thank you for listening and for all of your support.  If you like what we are doing, 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 Tweet at us at @SengokuPodcast, or reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.   

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 696, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: The Assassination Of Abraham Lincoln 1: (Alex walks the stage of Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.) Illustrating the difference in memories, some people said that Booth shouted this Latin phrase right from here, center stage; others said, "No, it was from the box"; Booth himself wrote that he spoke the words before shooting Lincoln; perhaps he said these words more than once. Sic semper tyrannis. 2: (Alex walks the stage of Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.) President Lincoln arrived late at Ford's Theatre; the show was already under way, but when he was spotted walking down the stairs toward the presidential box, everything here stopped; then the orchestra struck up "Hail To The Chief", the audience gave him a thunderous round of applause, the president waved and bowed, and then the performance of this play continued. Our American Cousin. 3: (Alex stands on the stage of Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.) Police work in those days could be a little bit shoddy: hours after the murder, a man named William Kent came back to the presidential box looking for his keys; what he found was the murder weapon, the small .44-caliber single-shot pistol bearing the name of this Philadelphia gunsmith who invented it. Henry Deringer. 4: (Alex reports from the Petersen House in Washington, D.C.) While Mrs. Lincoln and her friends sat vigil here in the front parlor, in the back parlor, this energetic Secretary of War took charge of the investigation and worked tirelessly through the night, coordinating the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth and his accomplices. Edwin Stanton. 5: (Alex reports from the Petersen House in Washington, D.C.) At 7:22 on the morning of April 15, 1865, President Lincoln died in this small bedroom; a prayer was said, and then, according to tradition, Edwin Stanton uttered these six famous words. "Now he belongs to the ages". Round 2. Category: Science Timeline 1: Around 480 B.C.:Anaxagoras explains the cause of these events, one of which darkened Greece in 478 B.C.. eclipses. 2: 1600:William Gilbert concludes that the Earth is a huge lodestone that acts as a bar one of these. a magnet. 3: 1608:Hans Lippershey applies for a patent for this, which he calls a "looker"; Galileo is all eyes. a telescope. 4: Around 450 B.C.:Empedocles posits that all matter is made of these 4 classical elements. earth, fire, air and water. 5: 1842:This Austrian physicist relates the observed frequency of a wave to the motion of its source. Doppler. Round 3. Category: Metal 1: Psalm 135 describes the idols of the heathen as not of God and merely made from these 2 metals. silver and gold. 2: The so-called tinfoil you buy at the supermarket is probably made from this metal. aluminum. 3: Legend says that the metal used to make these highest British military awards came from cannons captured in the Crimean War. the Victoria Cross. 4: Noted for its natural magnetism, magnetite is an important ore of this metal. iron. 5: In 1252 in Kamakura, Japan, all 93 tons of the Daibutsu, or Great Buddha, was cast in this alloy. bronze. Round 4. Category: The Steaks 1: This steak sauce was created in the 1820s by the chef to England's King George IV. A.1.. 2: Sometimes wrapped in bacon, this choice cut of boneless steak with a French name is from the end of the loin. filet mignon. 3: Found in the bottom sirloin and on the Sizzler's menu is this cut whose name comes from its geometry. tri-tip.

No nos extraña que Kamakura sea una excursión de día tan popular desde Tokio. Entre su Gran Buda, el resto de templos y santuarios, las playas, su trenecito Enoden... ¡Te lo contamos todo! Kamakura es una popular excursión de día desde Tokio, aunque en realidad tiene suficientes cosas que ver como para pasar más de un día. Pero sí sólo tienes un día para dedicarle, en este episodio de Japón a fondo te contamos lo más importante: Orígenes históricos y periodo Kamakura, el origen de los shogun y samuráis El Gran Buda del templo Kotoku-in El templo Hasedera El santuario Tsurugaoka Hachimangu La calle comercial Komachi Los 5 grandes templos zen Más templos y caminos de senderismo Playas y surf El trenecito Enoden (aunque de este tren y de Enoshima prometemos hacer un episodio en el podcast) Y te contamos cómo llegar, claro. Luego, en Japonismo mini hablamos del tanabata, que este episodio se publica justo en este día (si quieres saber lo que es, el Japonesamente de la semana pasada hablaba de Tanabata). Además, ha comenzado la temporada de subida al monte Fuji. Pero con protocolos sanitarios del año pasado. Japón, como siempre, un año por detrás. Hablamos de comentarios de oyentes (apúntate al Discord, que es gratis, y así hablamos de Japón por allí) y la palabra japonesa, que en este caso es Daibutsu, muy apropiada para este episodio. Y te contamos cómo preguntar dónde está el Daibutsu.  ¡Mata ne! ¿Quieres colaborar con el programa? Colabora en Patreon Únete a la Comunidad Japonismo Reserva hoteles en Japón (y en todo el mundo) Consigue seguro de viajes (¡no sólo para Japón!) Busca los mejores vuelos Lleva Internet (pocket wifi o SIM) JR Pass para viajes ilimitados en tren ---- Continúa la conversación en: Web: https://japonismo.com Discord: https://discord.gg/hZrSa57 Facebook: https://facebook.com/japonismo Twitter: https://twitter.com/japonismo Instagram: https://instagram.com/japonismo Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/japonismo Newsletter semanal: http://eepurl.com/di60Xn

Nell'episodio di oggi vi porto alla scoperta della terra dell'antica capitale giapponese: il Kansai!In preparazione alla prossima puntata - che sarà dedicata interamente a Kyoto - iniziamo con l'esplorare altre 3 grandi città della zona: Osaka, Nara e Kobe.Partiamo con la capitale commerciale, celebre per il suo castello, la “pizza di Osaka” e il tempio di Shitennoji. Dopodiché visitiamo l'antica capitale, con i suoi templi, il giardino trazionale e lo splendido Daibutsu custodito nel cuore dei Todaiji. Infine, da Nara ci spostiamo a Kobe per assaggiare la famosa carne del luogo e ammirare la città dall'alto.

On this episode of Ichimon Japan we ask: Do you have any funny or embarrassing Japanese mistake stories? Topics Discussed How "sayonara" is not used in most situations when saying "goodbye" in Japanese A mix up at a convenience store Getting used to referring to people in the Japanese language What exactly a rōtari is Being asian Dealing with people that want to speak English even when they're English ability is poor Mixing up yasui (cheap) with yasai) The tricky situation that people with Asian features who are not fluent speakers of Japanese often find themselves in Japan A peculiar usage of the term shikkari and shikkari shiro And much more! Support on Patreon If you enjoy Ichimon Japan and want to ensure that we're able to produce more episodes, then please consider becoming a patron on Patreon.com. You can join for just $1 a month and that comes with perks like early access to episodes, a shout-out at the beginning of a future episode, bonus content, and discounts to Kimito Designs. For $3 a month you get all that plus access to Japanese Plus Alpha, a podcast produced by me (Tony Vega) that focuses on the Japanese language and its many quirks. Whether you are studying Japanese or just enjoy learning about language and linguistics, you'll enjoy Japanese Plus Alpha. And it goes without saying that if you sign up, you'll also get my undying gratitude. Thanks in advance! Support on Patreon Sources, Links, Videos, Etc. This episode features Kyle Broyles as a special guest. If you would like to follow him on Twitter, please use the link below. Kyle Broyles on Twitter Kyle is one of the hosts of the Tokyo Splosion podcast. If you would like to check his podcast out, you can look it up wherever you get your podcasts or use the links below. Tokyo Splosion on Apple Podcasts Tokyo Splosion on Google Podcasts Tokyo Splosion on Spotify Tokyo Splosion on Twitter To listen to the other Ichimon Japan episodes that Kyle Broyles was a guest on, use the links below. What’s life like in Japan during the coronavirus pandemic? (Uncovering the cute sneeze conspiracy) | Ichimon Japan 13 Why are vegetables so insulting in Japanese? | Ichimon Japan 14 To listen to the first "Japanese mistakes" episode of Ichimon Japan, use the link below. Do you have any funny or embarrassing Japanese language mistake stories? | Ichimon Japan 30 To listen to the latest episode of Japan Station, use the link below. Obscenity, Censorship & Erotic Comics in Japan (Patrick W. Galbraith) | Japan Station 59 To pick up a t-shirt and support the show, check out KimotoDesigns.com KimitoDesigns.com Japanese Vocabulary List Most episodes feature at least one or two interesting Japanese words or phrases. Here’s some of the ones that came up on this episode. All information is from Jim Breen's WWWJDIC. Onigiri おにぎり (n) (pol) onigiri; rice ball (often triangular, sometimes with a filling and wrapped in nori) Rootari ロータリ (n) traffic circle; circle; rotary; roundabout Yasai 野菜 【やさい】 (n,adj-no) vegetable Yasui 安い(P); 廉い 【やすい】 (adj-i) (1) cheap; inexpensive; (adj-i) (2) (安い only) calm; peaceful; quiet Tsumetai 冷たい 【つめたい(P); つべたい】 (adj-i) (1) (ant: 熱い・1) cold (to the touch); chilly; icy; freezing Doobutsuen 動物園 【どうぶつえん】 (n) zoo; zoological gardens Daibutsu 大仏 【だいぶつ】 (n) large statue of Buddha (trad. at least 4.8m high) Shikkari しっかり (adv,adv-to,vs) (1) (on-mim) tightly (holding on); firmly; securely; (adv,adv-to,vs) (2) (uk) (on-mim) strongly (built); solidly; sturdily; steadily; (adv,adv-to,vs) (3) (uk) (on-mim) properly; well; sufficiently; hard (working, etc.); fully; completely; (adv,adv-to,vs) (4) (uk) (on-mim) reliably; dependably; levelheadedly; shrewdly; wisely; cleverly Shikkari shiro しっかりしろ (exp) pull yourself together; get a grip; get a hold of yourself; come on Ou 負う 【おう】 (v5u,vt) (1) (See 背負う・1) to bear; to carry on one's back; (v5u,vt) (2) to take responsibility for; to accept a duty; (v5u,vt) (3) to receive (wound); to incur (damage); to be injured; (v5u,vt) (4) to owe We Want Your Questions Is there something about Japan that confuses you? Is there something about Japanese culture that you would like to learn more about? Is there something in Japanese history that you would like us to explain? We're always looking for new questions about Japan to answer, so if you have one, please send it to ichimon@japankyo.com. Special Thanks Opening/Closing Theme: Produced by Apol (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Fiverr) Ichimon Japan cover art: Produced by Erik R. Follow Japankyo on Social Media Facebook (@JapanKyoNews) Twitter (@JapanKyoNews) Full Show Notes https:///www.japankyo.com/ichimonjapan   What are you funniest Japanese mistakes? | Ichimon Japan 30

Desperate to find a solution to the many troubles which had plagued his realm since he took the throne, Emperor Shōmu commissioned new temples to be constructed across the Kansai region and attempted to move the capital several times. Meanwhile, Empres Kōmyō and Crown Princess Abe increasingly took up the burden of governance with the help of their trusted relative Fujiwara Nakamaro.For pictures of Todaiji, the Daibutsu statue, and other great projects of Emperor Shōmu, check out the supplemental post!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/AHistoryOfJapan)

Hello and welcome to Episode 57 of BUDDHA BEATS! I'm The Engineer, your DJ for the next hour. This month we have tracks from: Jens Lissat, Richie Santana, Jay Lumen, Underworld, and yours truly The Engineer! Time to head to The Temple folks, lets get those sneakers on and LET'S GO!!!!

Hello and welcome to Episode 52 of BUDDHA BEATS! I’m The Engineer, your DJ for the next hour! This month we have tracks from 
DJ Dextro, Green Velvet, 
The YellowHeads, 
Chicago Loop, And Pomella
! Also, this Saturday, September 28th, Fold Theory is having their last DAY JAM of the season, with Juheun from Octopus Records for the main event, and Desna for the afterparty! Lots of local support by The Dance Project, Teakez, Kalin, Deana Sophia, Fellzie, Mayank and more! The event is listed on ResidentAdvisor, Facebook, and Instagram. See you there!! TRACKLIST: Oliver Koletzki - Iyewaye (Hatzler Remix) Mario Ochoa - Rising Sun Goncalo M - G-Force (Dub Mix) Toni Alvarez - Interference DJ Dextro - T Minus Zero (Hell Driver Remix) Dolby D, Shadym, Tximeleta - Attention (N.O.B.A. Remix) Green Velvet - Answering Machine (Coyu Remix) The YellowHeads - Cirrus Shadym, Txmeleta - Get Up! Mittens - Hontou Da? Ben Dust - Endo Niereich - Extraterrestrial Bass Optimuss - Reesco The Engineer - Node Walker (unreleased) Chicago Loop - Memories Made RanchaTek, Dino Maggiorana - Toxic Pomella - Pleasure

Episode 51: As we close out July, I thought it'd be best to revisit some of the tracks from the past year that have really held up well on the dance floor! Be sure to sign up for the Daibutsu Newsletter on our website: www.daibutsumusic.com, click on "Join Us in The Temple" to make sure you don't miss any news!

Welcome to our 50th Episode of BUDDHA BEATS! Wow... 50 Episodes! This month we have tracks from D-Deck, Egbert, Sama, Lerio Corrado, Boris, Alberto Ruiz, Volte-Face, and others! Enjoy the mix!

Recently, I have had the pleasure of seeing Michelle Sparks, and Made In Paris spin live, and if you were there, you witnessed the same thing I did: techno heaven! These two ladies smashed their sets, and showed Philadelphia some love, all thanks to Ashley & Carlos, the dynamic duo that is Fold Theory. A party throwing crew in Philly that I am happy to say that I am apart of! This set is an all techno set, inspired by these two incredible DJs! This mix includes tracks from Pleasurekraft, Ramon Tapia, Rokazer, Dok & Martin, and myself. I would love to hear what you thought of this mix, so don't be shy! Contact me and let me know!

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Hello and Welcome to Episode 46 of BUDDHA BEATS! I’m The Engineer, your DJ for the next hour. This mix was recorded in February, on the Underground Expressions Show with Khaleel The Funkboy Mason. February slid right past me before I had a chance to post it, so here it is. It’s time to head to The Temple folks lets get those sneakers on and LET’S GO!

Hello and Welcome to Episode 45 of BUDDHA BEATS! I’m The Engineer, your DJ for the next hour. This month, we have tracks from: Monki, Mark Knight, Robert Feelgood, Basement Jaxx, and The Engineer and more! It’s time to head to The Temple folks, lets get those sneakers on and LET’S GO!!!

Episode 44 is our last episode of 2018. Wow, it feels so “final” to say it that way, but it’s true. 2019 is almost here, and with it will come a lot of new and improved things. I have been at this for four years, and I am forever thankful for all the love and support that all of you have show me, Khaleel (whom I do the Underground Expressions show on Facebook on Thursdays with) Ashley, and everyone who has helped spread the sound of the BUDDHA BEATS podcast, and the Daibutsu Music brand. There are big things to come in 2019, so make sure you're on the mailing list at: daibutsumusic.com/contact.php You won't want to miss it!

Welcome to Episode 43 of BUDDHA BEATS! November's episode had tracks from DJ Boris, Pleasurekraft, Mars Bill, John Selway and Kölsch. This mix was recorded on the Underground Expressions show with Khaleel “The Funkboy” Mason that I’m apart of. The show goes live on Thursdays from 4-6pm on the House Junkies page on Facebook.

Episode 41 is a cross-genre mix from depths of Deep House, flipped classics, mashups, all the way into the dark corners of Techno! Featuring tracks by Idris Elba, Hatiras, Styline, Block & Crown, and Ramon Tapia! This mix was recorded on Underground Expressions with Khaleel "The Funkboy" Mason on September 20th.

Hello and welcome to Episode 40 of BUDDHA BEATS! I'm The Engineer, your DJ for this 1 hour trip through some classic Electro House. We have tracks from Nick Thayer, Wolfgang Gartner, Udachi, Skrillex, and Le Duke. I figured I'd switch it up a bit, and give you something fun to listen to. If you like this mix, please get let us know via Instagram (@daibutsumusic), or directly on our website at: www.daibutsumusic.com. We'd love to hear from you! Enjoy the mix!

This month's episode of BUDDHA BEATS was SO fun to play. Paying my respects to Philly with Boogie Vice's "Bel-Air", throwing down some flipped 80's and re-worked hip-house and disco classics as the mix moves towards the techno house and finally into techno. The track listing is up on the website for those who want get these gems for yourself! This month's mix was recorded on the UNDERGROUND EXPRESSIONS show with Khaleel "The Funkboy" Mason. You'll hear Khaleel welcoming people into the Facebook chat room while we're live. If you want to get a shout out on the show, make sure you tune in on Thursdays at 5:30PM on House Junkies TV on Facebook! July 2018 / Recorded on Underground Expressions

Hello and welcome to Episode 38 of BUDDHA BEATS! I’m The Engineer, your DJ for the next hour. This month we have tracks from Tiga, D-Unity, UMEK, Viktor Gerk, and myself. Time to head to The Temple folks, let’s get those sneakers on and LET’S GO!!

Hello and welcome to Episode 37 of BUDDHA BEATS! I’m The Engineer, your DJ for the next hour. This month we have tracks from Blavus, Yotto, John Selway, Luzon, and Monika Kruse. I also have a special announcement for everyone at the end of the show, so make sure you stay locked in until the end. In the meantime, it’s time to head to The Temple folks! Let’s get those sneakers on and LET’S GO!!!

Hello and welcome to Episode 36 of BUDDHA BEATS!   I’m The Engineer, your DJ for the next hour. This month’s episode marks the end of my third year bringing you music from all over the world, as well as from friends and myself.   This set was broadcast live on the Underground Expressions show that I help produce with Khaleel FUNKBOY Mason and streamed live to the House Junkies TV page on Facebook. The show airs every Thursday, at 11am. I wanted to stay true to his fans, so I spun a house set, chocked full of classics and some amazing oddities that I think you’ll really like. The track list is on the website.   If you’ve been listening to the show for a few episodes, I’d like to say thank you for your continued support, it’s greatly appreciated. If this is your first episode, then I’ll say welcome, and… it’s time to head for The Temple, folks! Let’s get those sneakers on and LET’S GO!!!

Hello all! The Engineer here. While this is our 35th episode, it's the first one of 2018! This month we have tracks from Shelley Johannson, Cozmic Cat, Umek, and Angy Kore! I also have a remix in this mix, lets see if you can locate it before the end! Please share this mix with everyone you know who likes dance music. This scene only gets better when we all participate! Enough of me talking, let's get into this mix! TRACKLISTING: 01. 00:00 Ouchh / Original Mix / Daniele Di Martino 02. 07:20 Broken City / Original Mix / Shelley Johannson 03. 14:00 Butterfly / Original Mix / Dino Maggiorana 04. 20:49 Nevermind / Oliver H. Rmx / Victor Ruiz 05. 26:00 Gimme The Bass / ENG Rmx / Cozmic Cat 06. 32:16 Driving Bassline / Original Mix / Several Definitions 07. 37:43 Penatrator / Original Mix / Pleasurekraft, Rob Capuano 08. 44:45 Existance / Original / Sama 09. 49:51 Dark Contact / Saimon Rmx / Carara 10. 58:15 Work It Out / Original / Umek 11. 64:24 You’re Mine / Viper XXL Rmx / Angy Kore

In Episode 33, I return to one of my favorite genres: Techno. This blistering mix features some of the amazing tracks I've gathered, from Kolsch's  "Gra" and it's Blade-Runner-like tendencies through Samuel L. Session's dance floor monster "Can You Relate" and Marco Piangiamore's "System V" on his own SKYNET imprint laying waste to anything in its path, down to the close of the set with Faberlique's hauntingly exquisite "Sleep Blind" deftly remixed by Makarti. I feel the extra time I spent searching for these tracks was well worth being a week late in getting this episode out, and I hope you agree. I put everything I had into this mix. Yet, no matter how many times I listened back on this mix, I still feel that I surpassed my own expectations and because of that, I'll say "Mission Accomplished."  Enjoy! TRACKLISTING: 00:00   Kolsch—Gra (Orig) 06:16   Fer BR —Acidized (Orig) 12:35   Konstantinus—Aticifobia (Orig) 18:46   Helen Brown—Absolute Power (Orig) 23:33   Enrico Sangiuliano—Alone With The Bitch (Orig) 29:34   Boris—Be (Orig) 35:12   Samuel L. Session—Can You Relate (Orig) 40:01   Project AKC—Daybreak (Orig) 45:30   Pascal Nuzzo—Infinite (Orig) 50:07   Plastikman—EXposed (Dubfire Remix) 58:57   Andy Roll—Laager (Orig) 64:00   Marco PiangiamoreSystem V (Orig) 67:37   Maelstrom—Adversarial Design (Orig) 73:39   SHDW & Obscure Shape—Wenn die Masken fallen (Rodhad remix) 77:28   Faberlique—Sleep Blind (Makarti Remix)

Hello all! The Engineer here! This month's episode of BUDDHA BEATS is a very special one, as this entire episode was recorded at Bar Amsterdam in Ibiza, Spain! This was my first time there, and I can easily see what all the fuss is about. If you are someone who enjoys going out to see DJs and/or electronic dance music performed live, then Ibiza is one of a few places I would call "Mecca". This was recorded at the party I was on the flyer for, called "I Amsterdam IBIZA", which was made possible by Donnerstag Musik, and Playhouse. Big thanks to Carrie Anne, Hesh, Khaleel, Maggie, Andreas, Ollie, and MaryEllen, and the Bar Amsterdam staff, especially the two girls who dance on the bar, and everyone who was dancing themselves sill during this set! This is definitely one of those sets where I grew as a DJ, as the decks were ones the crew and I had never played on before — the (now discontinued) CDJ 350s. Once Ollie showed me where everything was (and warned us of the possible short in the mixer), I did my best to get the mix as tight as I possibly could. I listened to it once I got back home, and was very pleased with the results, so I'm posting the mix for you all to hear, enjoy, and get your groove on to! If you like this mix, please share it everywhere you can on your social feeds, it'll be greatly appreciated, and we'd all love to play Bar Amsterdam again next year! I'm sure they are looking at the response of this episode especially! Enough from me, ENJOY!! Sincerely, Brian K. James  //  The Engineer  

Episode 30 is finally online! This is the last mix before my big trip to Ibiza to play with Donnerstag and Funkboy in September. Here's the tracklist (as requested by many)! NO. TRACK/ARTIST STARTS:   01. I Want To Listen To You/Angelo Ferreri 00:00 02. Soul Motion/Antonio Garcia 06:22 03. Believe (Extended Mix)/Jaques Raupe, Jenny Casparius 10:26 04. Stockholm Tears/Nora En Pure 15:35 05. Thru The City (Main Mix)/Lex Luca 20:25 06. Funkosphere/Peter Brown 25:01 07. Corrida/Charles J 29:22 08. Yeah Yeah Yeah/Alex Kenji 33:24 09. Nonstop! (Jay Robinson Remix)/Kolombo, Sharam Jey, J. Robinson 37:28 10. What's That Sound/Young Nutz, Matt B 43:03 11. Memory Cell (Fresco Records)/Arno, Navas, D-Nox & Beckers 46:36 12. Spaceman (Robert Babicz Remix)/Way Out West 53:35 13. Unbelievable/The Engineer 61:35 14. Abyss/Marc Modena 69:42 15. Sect/The Engineer 74:35

Welcome to Episode 28 of BUDDHA BEATS with The Engineer! In this month's episode, we hear tracks from Woo York, Will Clarke & Bot, Pleasurekraft, Peter Fern, and a rave-days classic that anyone who was partying during this golden age will recognize immediately as a seminal, timeless classic! TRACK LISTING: 01. 00:00 Supermoon — James Gill 02. 06:16 Uranium Echoes — Woo York 03. 10:35 Born (Extended Mix) — Miki Stentella, Benny Camaro 04. 15:09 Call You Back — Josh Butler, Bontan 05. 18:46 Rave 92 — Raito 06. 22:23 Techno (not techno) (Solardo Remix) Bot, Will Clarke 07. 26:57 Carambola — De La Swing 08. 30:57 Traffic — Julian Jeweil 09. 36:41 Rigel — Pleasurekraft 10. 42:12 Zeus — Cosmic Boys 11. 46:55 Feel My Music — Nacim Ladj 12. 51:31 Oscil — Kloves 13. 55:09 Fault Lines — Darmec 14. 61:39 The Underground Resistance — Peter Fern 15. 66:12 Meng's Theme ('94 Original Re-Mastered) Point Blank

Episode 27 is an episode where we recorded the entire creation of this mix on video as well as the audio mix. Make sure to check our YouTube channel, or even better, sign up for our newsletter. Below is the track listing. ENJOY!!   DMBB—Episode 2 — TRACK LISTING:   01. 00:00:00 Arkadia — Raffaele Rizzi 02. 00:06:18 Bohemian Lovers (2014 Rwrk) — Miquel 03. 00:09:22 Chica Sexy — Acid Junkies 04. 00:14:00 Cubes (Spektre Rmx) — Pig & Dan 05. 00:18:12 Deep In Love — Raffaele Rizzi 06. 00:21:30 Dios — Oliver Huntemann & Dubfire 07. 00:26:19 From The Speaker — Phunk Investigation 08. 00:30:39 Enjoy This Trip — Soulik 09. 00:35:59 Giv Me Luv (Nicole Moudaber Rmx) — Alcatraz 10. 00:42:12 House Of God (20yrs DHS Rmx) — DHS 11. 00:46:16 Ill-Feted — Volte-Face 12. 00:51:13 Obsessive Sound — Alex Dolby 13. 00:53:30 Resist-Apella (Acid Version) — Josh Wink

Hello and welcome to Episode 26 of BUDDHA BEATS! I recently ran into people from the scene that I hadn't seen in quite some time: Lorne, Wally, and many others. It was awesome and got me thinking about all the music we heard in the clubs back then, and I thought it'd be fun to revisit some of those classics, plus a remix of a track written by Hall & Oates that is off the chain, to show my eternal love for Philadelphia, my home. I also mixed in one of my own releases, "Stardusted" which is available everywhere online (Beatport, Traxsource, Juno Download, iTunes, Google Play, Pandora, Sirius XM, etc.)as well as www.daibutsumusic.com/store.php BIG BIG BIG shout out to Natalie and everyone over at The DJ Hookup.com in Chicago, for getting my new Pioneer to me as quickly as they could so I could get this podcast done on time! I'll be sending business your way for sure, and I'll be visiting sometime in the near future! I'm going to see the birthplace of House Music before I leave this planet, that's for damn sure! Geno's here I come, get that Meaty Legend ready! BUDDHA BEATS: YEAR TWO is going to happen, so stay tuned to all the social feeds, as it WILL be happening soon. It's been a lot of work, but I'm only one man. I've got help this time, and believe me, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO WANT TO MISS THIS ONE. Love from Philly to everyone, Please let us know what you think of the mix, sign up for the mailing list, so you don't miss a thing! See you at BUDDHA BEATS: YEAR TWO! PEACE!! Brian K. James THE ENGINEER Daibutsu Music

Episode 25 begins our THIRD year, with listeners from all over the globe downloading or streaming our mixes! To all of you who check out the show, thank you for your continued support! This month, we have tracks from Sebastian Leger, Shan, Charles J, Wildchild, and The Jungle Brothers! 

Episode 24 completes our second year of the BUDDHA BEATS podcast, and I owe the longevity to all of you, the fans who write in and tell me that you love the show, and how it helps you get through the day. This month's episode is a revisit to my house music roots, with some tech house and techno dashed in to spike the stew a bit. I have also included the the track list below for everyone's trainspotting needs. For our new visitors to The Temple, this podcast is done out of love of the music, the scene, and to showcase new music from artists I come across as well as my own pieces. I continue to grow with my mixes and my tracks with the hopes of spreading the show to more and more people. Sign up for our monthly newsletter, so you don't miss an episode, or new track release. I am currently working on getting the BUDDHA BEATS: YEAR TWO party sorted out, and I'm aiming to have it towards the end of March 2017. So, if you join the mailing list, you'll find out exactly when this is going to go off. I have included the link to the mailing list below, so please use it to add yourself to the list. I don't want anyone to miss anything I'm working on! If you are in Philadelphia, or can get to Philly, I want you to come out, enjoy and introduce yourself, this party will be recorded as an episode of the podcast. Video will be shot for promotional purposes. 2017 is going to be a BIG year for Daibutsu Music, and I want all of my fans to be in the know! So, here's to two amazing years, and lets get the Year 3 journey started!! Sincerely, The Engineer   Mailing List Link: http://www.daibutsumusic.com/contact.php   DMBB24 — TRACK LISTING   NO. TIME TRACK NAME / MIX / ARTISTS   01. 00:00 The Loft (Emanual Satie Remix) Dajae, Riva Star   02. 07:20 Thru The City (Main Mix) Lex Luca   03. 12:36 Yeah Yeah Yeah (Original Mix) Alex Kenji   04. 17:28 Night Over Havana (Original Mix) Absolut Groovers   05. 22:10 I Show You Love (Luca Debonaire Remix) Kiki Doll   06. 27:54 House Music (Main Extended Mix) Roland Clark, J. Julius Knight   07. 33:15 Want You (Original Mix) Armiento   08. 39:54 Sky High (Original Mix) Drunken Kong   09. 44:40 Utopia (Original Mix) Dino Maggiorana   10. 52:17 Long Legs Running (Club Mix) Matt Caseli   11. 56:09 Ain't A Game (Original Mix) Serial Thrilla   12. 61:20 Tonga Peak Times (Original Rub) Doorly, Mike Skinner, Tan Dem   13. 65:31 Myli (Original Mix) Julian Jeweil

Episode 23 marks our second to last episode of our second year, and this month we've got tracks from: Nasser Baker, Deniro, Drunken Kong, Adrian Hour and Cassegrain. To make sure you don't miss an episode, head over to our website and sign up for our monthly newsletter.  The website is: www.daibutsumusic.com  Click on the "Join us in The Temple" link on the front page to sign up!

Happy Halloween everyone, BUDDHA BEATS Episode 20 is here to help you dance your way to your various Trick Or Treat endeavors! Weather your heading to a costume party or a spooky location to meet with beings from other worlds or other realms, take us with you! We're here to make sure you're not alone in the dark (besides the strobes in a club, or that weird beam of light emanating from the bottom of your "friend's" gravity-defying "ride")!  RAVE ON!

This is it! Episode 12 - the last episode of our first year. This month's mix features tracks from Serial Thrilla, Skrillex, Damon Rush, Plump DJs, and the legend himself Carl Cox! If you happen to be in the Philadelphia, PA area on March 12th, come join us LIVE for BUDDHA BEATS: YEAR ONE! Tickets are at: daibutsumusic.ticketleap.com/buddha-beats-year-one orwww.daibutsumusic.com - click on the BUDDHA BEATS: YEAR ONE banner to go to the tickets page. The event is from 10pm until 2am, with a $10 cover. We have the whole second floor for the event, and there's an LED ceiling too! You REALLY don't want to miss this one! Rave on!!!

Episode 11 is here, and on the last day of January too!  This mix comes with 14 tracks of dance floor madness.  This month, we have music from Slicerboys, Squirt D, COMBO!, Ron Reeser, and Sleeperhold.  We are also ONE month away from the BUDDHA BEATS: YEAR ONE party in Philadelphia, PA! Tickets are available online, and are going fast! You won't be able to get in without a ticket!  Get tickets here:  daibutsumusic.ticketleap.com/buddha-beats-year-one  See you there!  Get those sneakers on and lets go!!   #bbyearone

Episode 10 is finally here, and with a great announcement:  BUDDHA BEATS: YEAR ONE party has a venue!  Please check the website (even better, subscribe to the mailing list) for all the details of the event.  You don't want to miss this party, as it's going to be what you hear here and even some you don't! More announcements to follow, so STAY TUNED!!!

Episode 08 is finally here! After six 1-hour attempts to create a really sweet mix for the show, it just didn't happen. It wasn't flowing like it usually does, and I was probably burnt up by attempt #4. But, taking an extra week to really get soaked into the music was worth the effort, and I hope you all really like this month's mix.

Welcome to Episode 06 of BUDDHA BEATS!  We have a nice track listing this month that includes Whyt Noyz, Danny Daze, Chris Liebing, Andy Roll, and yours truly, The Engineer. Make sure you get on our mailing list over at our website: http://www.daibutsumusic.com Scroll down and click the "Join Us In The Temple!" link. There is also a very special message in this episode.... make sure you listen to the whole show to find out what it is!  See you all next month for Episode 07!

It's that time again!  Time to head to The Temple. Episode 05 of BUDDHA BEATS is here! There are tracks from Claude Von Stroke, Quivver, Dubfire, and yours truly The Engineer!  The listeners are coming from all corners of the globe from places like Japan, Berlin, Paris, London, Hungary, South Africa, Australia, as well as the United States!  If you listen to this monthly podcast, please make sure you share it with whomever you come across that likes dance music!  As always, it's available for free download on our BUDDHA BEATS page on Soundcloud.com!

In Episode 4 of Buddha Beats, we explore the darker areas of The Temple. The thickness, the tracks you'd love to hear when it's dark enough to not see damn near anything in front of you. Strobes flashing to an almost seisure-inducing level. When your environment is flashing before your eyes in what seems to be a furiously paced series of still photos, that you're calling "a killer night out". It's hot, heavy, and causes the primal to take over.  A word of advice?  Let it. Time to stomp the floor into oblivion.

Welcome to Episode 03 of BUDDHA BEATS!  For this episode we have tracks from Guau, Stanton Warriors, The Bomb Squad, Gary Caos, and DJ Dan. House heads will notice some "flipped classics" this month, as well as a remix of a timeless classic! There is house, tech-house, and breaks abound in the mix this month, and as usual, The Temple awaits, so get on the floor and IKIMASHO!! That's Japanese for "LET'S GO!"

The Nishijima Cross translation goes as follows: Daibutsu would like to tell Shakkyō the fol- lowing: “Before, when you grabbed Seidō’s nostrils, if you wanted to grasp space, you should have grabbed the nostrils of yourself, Shakkyō, and you should have understood how to grasp the fingertips with the fingertips.” Even so, Shakkyō does know a bit about the dignified behavior of grasping space. Even a good player at grasping space needs to research the interior and exte- rior of space, needs to research the deadening and vitalization of space, and needs to know the lightness and weight of space. We should maintain and rely upon [the teaching] that the effort in pursuit of the truth, the establish- ment of the mind, the practice and experience, and the assertions and ques- tions of buddhas and of patriarchs are just the grasping of space. My late master, Tendō Nyojō, the eternal buddha, says: “The whole body like a mouth, hanging in space.” Clearly, the whole body of space is suspended in space. Grasping space is extra. This reality in this reality, this space in this space practice, teach and preach the Dharma. Like the empty mouth of a bell, space moves in space. Visit this topic on the forum!

Gregory Levine, UC Berkeley

Gregory Levine, UC Berkeley