Podcasts about Kimi

The top AI news from the past week, every ThursdAI

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 9, 2025 91:58

An exciting weekend in Brazil as Bortoleto takes off, Hamilton loses his nose, Verstappen starts from the pit lane and Ringo Star should be working for Ferrari. We hope you enjoy. Warning: this podcast occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humour (which may be unsuitable for adults), and the ramblings of...

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月之暗面开源Kimi K2 Thinking模型

网事头条｜听见新鲜事

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 7, 2025 0:22

thinking kimi

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 7, 2025 92:45

Hey, Alex here! Quick note, while preparing for this week, I posted on X that I don't remember such a quiet week in AI since I started doing ThursdAI regularly, but then 45 min before the show started, Kimi dropped a SOTA oss reasoning model, turning a quiet week into an absolute banger. Besides Kimi, we covered the updated MCP thinking from Anthropic, and had Kenton Varda from cloudflare as a guest to talk about Code Mode, chatted about Windsurf and Cursor latest updates and covered OpenAI's insane deals. Also, because it was a quiet week, I figured I'd use the opportunity to create an AI powered automation, and used N8N for that, and shared it on the stream, so if you're interested in automating with AI with relatively low code, this episode is for you. Let's dive inThursdAI - Recaps of the most high signal AI weekly spaces is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Kimi K2 Thinking is Here and It's a 1 Trillion Parameter Beast! (X, HF, Tech Blog)Let's start with the news that got everyone's energy levels skyrocketing right as we went live. Moonshot AI dropped Kimi K2 Thinking, an open-source, 1 trillion-parameter Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) model, and it's an absolute monster.This isn't just a numbers game; Kimi K2 Thinking is designed from the ground up to be a powerful agent. With just around 32 billion active parameters during inference, a massive 256,000 token context window, and an insane tool-calling capacity. They're claiming it can handle 200-300 sequential tool calls without any human intervention. The benchmarks are just as wild. On the Humanities Last Exam (HLE), they're reporting a score of 44.9%, beating out both GPT-5 and Claude 4.5 Thinking. While it doesn't quite top the charts on SWE-bench verified, it's holding its own against the biggest closed-source models out there. Seeing an open-source model compete at this level is incredibly exciting.During the show, we saw some truly mind-blowing demos, from a beautiful interactive visualization of gradient descent to a simulation of a virus attacking cells, all generated by the model. The model's reasoning traces, which are exposed through the API, also seem qualitatively different from other models, showing a deep and thoughtful process. My co-hosts and I were blown away. The weights and a very detailed technical report are available on Hugging Face, so you can dive in and see for yourself. Shout out to the entire Moonshot AI team for this incredible release!Other open source updates from this week* HuggingFace released an open source “Smol Training Playbook” on training LLMs, it's a 200+ interactive beast with visualizations, deep dives into pretraining, dataset, postraining and more! (HF)* Ai2 launches OlmoEarth — foundation models + open, end-to-end platform for fast, high-resolution Earth intelligence (X, Blog)* LongCat-Flash-Omni — open-source omni-modal system with millisecond E2E spoken interaction, 128K context and a 560B ScMoE backbone (X, HF, Announcement)Big Tech's Big Moves: Apple, Amazon, and OpenAIThe big companies were making waves this week, starting with a blockbuster deal that might finally make Siri smart. Apple is reportedly will be paying Google around $1 billion per year to license a custom 1.2 trillion-parameter version of Gemini to power a revamped Siri.This is a massive move. The Gemini model will run on Apple's Private Cloud Compute, keeping user data walled off from Google, and will handle Siri's complex summarizer and planner functions. After years of waiting for Apple to make a significant move in GenAI, it seems they're outsourcing the heavy lifting for now while they work to catch up with their own in-house models. As a user, I don't really care who builds the model, as long as Siri stops being dumb!In more dramatic news, Perplexity revealed that Amazon sent them a legal threat to block their Comet AI assistant from shopping on Amazon.com. This infuriated me. My browser is my browser, and I should be able to use whatever tools I want to interact with the web. Perplexity took a strong stand with their blog post, “Bullying is Not Innovation,” arguing that user agents are distinct from scrapers and act on behalf of the user with their own credentials. An AI assistant is just that—an assistant. It shouldn't matter if I ask my wife or my AI to buy something for me on Amazon. This feels like a move by Amazon to protect its ad revenue at the expense of user choice and innovation, and I have to give major props to Perplexity for being so transparent and fighting back.Finally, OpenAI continues its quest for infinite compute, announcing a multi-year strategic partnership with AWS. This comes on top of massive deals with NVIDIA, Microsoft, Oracle, and others, bringing their total commitment to compute into the trillions of dollars. It's getting to a point where OpenAI seems “too big to fail,” as any hiccup could have serious repercussions for the entire tech economy, which is now heavily propped up by AI investment. Sam has clarified that they don't think OpenAI wants to be too big to fail in a recent post on X, and that the recent miscommunications around the US government backstopping OpenAI's infrastructure bailouts were taken out of context.

Bilir misin Bu Âlemde Neler Var?

Mehmet Baba'nın Gül Bahçesi 2

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2025 4:21

***Bu Âlemde Bilir misin Neler Var?***Bilir misin bu âlemde, neler var?Nice renkte her kokuda, güller var Her bir gonca zikrederken “Hu” der yâr,Kokusuyla âlemleri sarar yâr.Bilir misin bu âlemde, neler var?Binbir dilden, binbir lehçe diller var.Her bir bülbül, lehcesinde öter yâr Her zerreden Hakk'ın sesi gelir yâr,Bilir misin bu âlemde, neler var?Kimi güler, vuslatına erer yâr;Kimi ağlar, ayrılıkla yanar yâr,Her nefeste Rabb'ini hep görür yâr.Bilir misin bu âlemde, neler var?Ah bu gönül her varlığı sever yâr,(Kul Ahmed'in her varlığı sever yâr)Herdem sever, Hakk'ı için sever yâr,Ta gönülden, hem aşk ile sever yâr.Sevmez misin Yüce Hakk'ın kulunu,(S.A.V.)İnsanlığa ışık tutan yolunu,Ol Muhammed yârânını, gülünü (S.A.V.)Herkes sever, hem aşk ile sever yâr.

bu hu kimi hakk neler herkes rabb misin

Mexico City Formula 1 GP 2025

Microsoft Business Applications Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2025 85:43

A fun Mexico GP? No, surely not…. well it’s true. The Mexico’s came good and gave us great content involving drivers cutting corners, more drivers cutting corners and VSC being thrown so we don’t get too excited. We hope you enjoy. Warning: this podcast occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humour...

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Anxhelo Koçi rrëfen si lindi bashkëpunimi me Egli Takon: Kemi kimi të paparë…/ Wake Up

Top Albania Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2025 17:30

Çdo mëngjes zgjohuni me “Wake Up”, programi i njëkohshëm radio-televiziv i “Top Channel” e “Top Albania Radio”, në thelb ka përcjelljen e informacionit më të nevojshëm për mëngjesin. Në “Wake Up” gjeni leximin e gazetave, analiza të ndryshme, informacione utilitare, këmbimin valuator, parashikimin e motit, biseda me të ftuarit në studio për tema të aktualitetit, nga jeta e përditshme urbane e deri tek arti dhe spektakli si dhe personazhe interesantë. Zgjimi në “Wake Up” është ritmik dhe me buzëqeshje. Gjatë tri orëve të transmetimit, na shoqëron edhe muzika më e mirë, e huaj dhe shqiptare.

wake kimi kemi egli top albania radio

Personal Automation with AI

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2025 28:31 Transcription Available

tiktok ai personal real drop practical whatsapp auto automation scheduling copilot kimi rpa ics mark smith aggregate showif microsoft press

2025 USGP Recap

Fan Behavior

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2025 65:24

In this week's episode, Zoe and Hannah recap the 2025 USGP GP. They discuss Max's picture-perfect weekend, the crazy sprint, Charles' podium, and McLaren's championship chances. They also chat about George and Kimi's Mercedes contracts, COTA's extension, Papaya “repercussions,” and — of course — Hannah's experience meeting the one and only Daniel Ricciardo.

mclaren kimi cota papaya daniel ricciardo usgp

F1Weekly Podcast # 1117

Podcast – F1Weekly.com – Home of The Premiere Motorsport Podcast (Formula One, GP2, GP3, Motorsport Mondial)

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2025 62:20

Max Verstappen dominates the United States Grand Prix closing in on the drivers championship. Has Piastri lost his machismo? Norris looking more like a number one... This week's Nasir Hameed corner we celebrate successful women in Motorsports with Lynn Saint James and Tatiana Calderon! AUSTIN, TEXAS - OCTOBER 19: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing and Chris Gent, Chief Mechanic at Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrate on the podium with Champagne during the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 19, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) Max: “It was a perfect weekend and I think the start was key today. The pace wasn't magic but we got a good start on the first stint and Charles got in the middle of myself and Lando which helped a lot and as soon as Lando was in clean air he was very fast. We just did the best we could and tried to manage our tyres in the best way possible even though they were overheating a bit. This performance was exactly what we need until the end of the season to fight for the title. The Team has done a great job, I'm having fun and it's exciting for everyone. The performance of the car has been better and we need to keep the momentum going. We really maximised everything with the points and we need to continue having these perfect weekends until the end of the season. I am very happy to win again.” Laurent: “This has definitely been our strongest weekend in a long while. On a burning hot track, where we have found it tricky here in the past, Max kept extending the gap to his opponents in every session. If you see how tight it was on Friday, even though he was on pole for the Sprint, and then today, it was a substantial improvement. Once again, I want to thank everyone at the track and those back at base, who have been taking risks in terms of pushing everything to the limit, it's uncomfortable, but the work they are doing is unbelievable and it's paying off. They have unlocked so much from the car. AUSTIN, TEXAS - OCTOBER 18: Pole position qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing Second placed qualifier Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren and Third placed qualifier Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Scuderia Ferrari look on during Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 18, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images) We never took anything for granted, ultimately finding more and more performance as the weekend progressed. Max is driving at an incredible level and keeps raising the bar. We are going to continue with our approach for the upcoming races, starting by seeing how we can put the best possible car on track in Mexico. Yuki also enjoyed a strong weekend, especially today when he made up six places in the race, bringing home some useful points to add to those he scored in the Sprint yesterday. Finally, thank you and congratulations to our partners Mobil and Mobil 1 as we celebrate our 75th win together. It's been a strong and successful partnership and we look forward to celebrating many more together.” Fernando: "We started tenth and finished there, so we come away with one point in the end. We didn't really have the pace to fight for anything more than P10 and it seems we had a bit more performance in Qualifying than in the race. It wasn't the most exciting day for me, and we were open to various strategies, but it was a standard one-stop race. We'll go again in Mexico and see if we can fight for points there." Carlos: It's a shame to end the race that way as the car had great pace today. I had done a similar move on Bearman some laps before, so I tried that inside line with Antonelli into turn 15. He opened the line and then closed the door more abruptly than what I was expecting, I tried to react by slamming on the brakes to avoid contact but it was too late and we touched. I was behind so I accept my part of fault and ultimately it's a shame as it cost the race for both of us. We were quick, so it hurts not to convert it into more points today but we'll bounce back for Mexico next week. James Vowles, Team Principal: Part of the reason why I'm in motorsport is you can have some fantastic days with the highest highs, and then just 24 hours later, you can walk away with nothing, as we are today. And that's the reflection of Austin. What's positive to me is we have really strong car pace, and that's one item that we'll carry through for the remainder of the season. But it just highlights that we have to qualify both cars in position towards the point-scoring end of the grid, and we need to ensure we're fighting through the field without contact or incident. I'm sorry for both Carlos and Kimi, both had good race pace today and I'm confident would have scored points, but it is just a part of racing that, as you're trying to overtake through different sections, contact may happen. The stewards have decided to hand Carlos a 5 place grid penalty, there was a sensible conversation however the guidelines are fairly clear on fault allocation. We will come back fighting in Mexico.

United States Formula 1 GP 2025

Scuderia F1: Formula 1 podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2025 67:29

Another Fun Size weekend and another weekend where the McLarens come into contact, Stroll crashes and Verstappen wins. Some things never change. We hope you enjoy. Warning: this podcast occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humour (which may be unsuitable for adults), and the ramblings of 2 uninformed blokes who don't...

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Mas del REMAKE de LAS GUERRERAS MAGICAS

Gokuraku Anime Show

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2025 149:52

Que vimos?? -Irene: My Heroe Academia T Final, Ranma Remake T2, SPYxFAMILY T3, Kimi to Koete Koi ni Naru -Core: Wandance Noticias: - K-pop Demon Hunter En CINES! - Frankelda En Cines! - Chainsaw Man Película: Vasos y palomera - Oshi No Ko en crunchy roll - Polémica creador de BLEACH - Remake de LAS GUERRERAS MAGICAS Migajas Otakus - Pelicula JUJUTSU KAISEN: Incidente de Shibuya - Por que se Cancelo YURI ON ICE

remake pol kimi vasos guerreras oshi no ko

Z otroškimi teki se je začel Ljubljanski maraton

Dogodki in odmevi

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2025 24:44

Na ljubljanskih ulicah ta konec tedna kraljujejo tekači; 29. Ljubljanski maraton so odprli najmlajši tekači, osnovnošolci in srednješolci. Jutri bodo na vrsti še tekači na 42, 21 in 10 kilometrov. Udeležba je letos rekordna, na teke v obeh dneh je prijavljenih skoraj 30 tisoč tekačev. Drugi poudarki oddaje: - Avtoprevozniki bijejo plat zvona. Če vlada ne bo ukrepala, pripravljajo protest in zaprtje cest. - Obetajo se zaostritve na področju bolniške odsotnosti. - Zelenski iz Bele hiše odšel brez raket dolgega dosega in novih varnostnih zagotovil.

otro kimi drugi maraton zelenski bele teki ljubljanski jutri udele

Ep. 641 - The Not-So-Shocking Return: Mercedes' Dynamic Duo Confirmed

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2025 60:05

What's up, F1 fam! This week we preview the upcoming US Grand Prix at COTA and go over the latest F1 news, including double new contracts at Mercedes for George and Kimi. Hit that subscribe button and tune in for the full, unfiltered breakdown! You don't wanna miss this!

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Kabane and Court Rank

ceo ai coaching co founders beauty platform salon sole ai powered kimi business solutions tech talks

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2025 34:33

This episode looks at the Kabane and Court Rank systems in light of the changes made during this reign, in 684 and 685. We go a bit more in depth on the kabane, what they were, and how they were organized, prior to the reorganization that took place at the end of the 8th century into just 8 kabane, total. For more, check out our blogpost: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-136 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 136: Kabane and Court Rank Mononobe no Muraji no Ujimaro was in a foul mood. Once more he had been passed over for promotion, and so he continued to toil away, tallying reports as they came in from the various provinces across the kingdom. Meanwhile, Hasama no Atahe no Woshibi was now his superior, with an exalted rank and the generous stipend that came with it. Ujimaro fumed—he was Mononobe, and his family had once all but ruled Yamato. Though they had been perhaps reduced in circumstances since then, they still proudly held to their place as a Muraji family—a distinction that demonstrated their superior pedigree. Meanwhile, Woshibi was from the Hasama family. Sure, his relative, Nemaro, had been one of those on the front lines in the recent conflict, but still, his family was only atahe. Honestly, a Mononobe was supposed to take orders from someone of an Atahe family? But this was the new way of things. The ancient traditions were no longer enough—you had to work hard and make sure way up through this new court rank system if you wanted to succeed. Ujimaro grumbled, but there was little he could do in the moment. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but think about how the natural order of the world was somehow turned upside down… Greetings and welcome back, everyone. We are working our way through the reign of Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou. This reign spanned fourteen years, if you include the Jinshin year of 672, though it is broken into two narratives in the Nihon Shoki. The first chapter covers the year of the disturbance, the Jinshin no Ran, when Ohoama fought with the Afumi court, who supported his nephew, Ohotomo, on the throne. We've covered that turbulent period previously. The second chapter covers the other 13 years of Ohoama's reign. Last episode we covered the first year of Ohoama sitting properly on the throne. The year 673 included Ohoama's ascension; the confirmation, continuation, and evolution of the Ritsuryou system instituted during Naka no Oe's time; as well as various ceremonies around Ohoama's ascension to the throne, including the first verifiable “Daijosai”, the specialized harvest ceremony for the first harvest season of the reign. This episode we are going to try and tackle something that people have sent in questions about. We've touched on it here and there, but I really want to get into the Kabane system—that ancient practice of family titles that were like a collective rank system. It was during Ohoama's reign that the court made major reforms to the kabane system and restructured it pretty extensively. At the same time, the kabane system was gradually being replaced by other systems of displaying one's status in society—such as the court rank system, which was also revised this reign. Eventually, without the same purpose as before, kabane would fade away, with a few remaining as honorifics and titles, but at this point they were still important. So we'll get into both of these status systems and discuss a little bit about what that meant for the people of the late 7th century court. From the beginning of Ohoama's reign, the court had continued to implement the cap-rank system, most recently amended in 664, by Ohoama's brother, Naka no Ohoye. With the new rank system of 685, the format changed considerably. To better understand this, let's talk about the rank systems in Yamato and how we have gotten to this point. We'll want to start with the kabane, and to do that, I want to take us back to a much earlier time. As you may recall, in the oldest stories in the Nihon Shoki, the Kojiki, and the Sendai Kuji Hongi, most individuals only have a single name, or they are known by the name of a location and a title. Iware Hiko, for example, with Hiko and Hime being general masculine and feminine terms for elites from a given area. From this, it would appear as though there was no such thing as a “family” name in early Wa societies. As I've pointed out before, that does not mean that there were not families, of course, or that lineage and family relationships were not important; we do see familial relationships, and we see concepts of lateral inheritance—from brother to brother rather than necessarily from father to son. The rules behind such inheritance seem to have been rather malleable, however. And that all makes some sense in a society where most people are dealing with the people of their village and surrounding communities—there is no need for anything more than a given name. Otherwise one's place of origin or their profession could easily be used to identify any given individual. Even the elites would be known by the territory they control. I mention all of this because some of the earliest terms we see as “kabane” appear to be titular in nature—that is to say they are derived from ancient titles. Hiko, Hime, Wake, Mimi, and Ushi are all terms we see from the ancient past, commonly found in the names of sovereigns, among other things. It isn't until some time in about the 5th century that we start to see the family units arise. These started as something like a corporate group or guild: Those who looked after horses were all labelled as Umakai, while those who worked jade and made magatama jewels were labelled as Tamatsukuribe. These groups or “be” were familial in that they were structured much as a family, with a single family head. That gave the ruler a single point of contact to presumably administer all of the work that particular corporate group was expected to perform. Furthermore, the name passed to their children, who would presumably have been brought up in the family business. For some of these families, rather than overseeing a business, craft, or similar thing, they were, instead, administrators of a given region or locality. We might think of these as chiefly families, overseeing domains of varying sizes. These families were known as “uji”. This is often translated in English as “clan”, which is an overloaded term used to describe a group that all claim familial descent from a single putative ancestor—whether real or fictional. Many of the earliest uji were created as “-be” groups: Abe, Mononobe, Imbe, Kataribe, etc., but they eventually started dropping “-be” altogether: Inukahi, Umakahi, Soga, Nakatomi, Wani, and the like. For these Uji, many were connected to various deities, or kami, from which they claimed descent. These kami are thought to be some of the original ujigami, though that term later came to be applied to various kami that were seen as guardians of a particular locale, and later uji need not claim direct descent from a kami for it to be special. For example, the main deity of Kasuga Taisha, the shrine built in Nara in the 8th century, said to house the ujigami of the Nakatomi and Fujiwara, primarily pays worship to Takemikazuchi no Mikoto and Futsunushi no Mikoto, deities brought from the east. Takemikazuchi is considered an ujigami of the two uji, but the oyagami, the actual parent or ancestral kami from which they claim direct lineage, would be Ame no Koyane no Mikoto, who is also worshipped as the third deity at the shrine. The fact that these uji operate more like clans means that they were made up of numerous family units, who might be scattered across the archipelago. At the head of each uji would have been a central family to provide the uji leadership and interface with the court. Nonetheless, they were all considered the same uji, and a rise in the fortunes of the uji applied to all of its disparate members. To be clear, there were titles attached to individual names, Sukune, for example, which is one we've encountered several times in the narrative. Professor Kan'ichi Asakawa, in his work “The Early Institutional Life of Japan”, provides an overview of some of these corporate titles, that came to be known as “kabane”. In all likelihood, they all had a straightforward meaning at some point. “Omi” means minister, for example, and continues to be used in that sense—as well as as a title—up through at least the 7th century. Another common kabane that we see is “Muraji”, which appears to originally reference someone in charge of a village or similar polity. Asakawa suggests that it comes from Mura no Ushi, with “Ushi” meaning something like “lord” and showing up elsewhere as well. “Kimi” also appears to be demonstrating some kind of hegemony over a land. Beyond that, here are a few others that we have seen: Atahe—or Atai—as well as Suguri, which appears to truly be a lower level village headmaster. Then there is Agata-nushi, aka Agata No Ushi, the Lord of an Agata, or district. Asakawa also notes Wake, Inaki, Sukune, Kishi, and Tamitsukasaas other kabane. The kabane are interesting in that they do appear to be precedental—that is to say that there does appear to be some kind of hierarchy in terms of the social position of each uji. The kabane did not, however, confer any particular resources. There was no stipend attached to a given kabane, though certain court positions were only open to members of uji with the appropriate kabane. Perhaps most notable in this are the Omi and the Muraji, which were the only two family types that held the supreme court positions—what we would likely refer to as “Prime Minister”. These included families such as the Ohotomo no Muraji, the Mononobe no Muraji, the Kose no Omi, and the Soga no Omi. The heads of these families had a special title—the Ohomuraji or the Oho-omi, the Great Muraji and the Great Omi. These positions were placed at the top of the court system, allowing them unrivaled access to the levers of power. Typically there were two to three of these individuals at any given time, down to as few as one during the height of the Soga no Omi's power and influence. It is unclear if all uji at the Omi and Muraji level had a designated Oho-Omi or Oho-Muraji at their head, or if that was only for those who were in actual positions at the top of the court structure. It is also unclear if the precedence between the Omi and Muraji was always fixed. Early on, we see Muraji houses that appear to be holding the majority of the powerful positions, and later we see the ascendancy of the Omi households. By the 7th century, however, it appears that Omi came first, followed by Muraji, based on the order that individuals are frequently named in the Chronicles, among other things. As for the other titles, some of them we believe we know, and others are more of a mystery. The origin of “wake” and “kimi” are rather obscure, though they both appear to have something to do with territorial rule and belong to uji that lay some kind of claim to a blood relationship with the royal house. Some of them may have been rulers in their own lands, prior to Yamato hegemony. “Inaki” may be related to rice castle, or storehouse, and seems to have referred to one of the smallest local units. That also means we rarely see it in the narrative, which tended to focus on those more closely tied to the court and the royal house. Asakawa notes that the Atahe, or Atai, seems to be for uji who possessed some amount of private land and private soldiery, but we don't know much more. Asakawa also points out that the Suguri, Tamitsukasa, and the Kishi kabane all seem to be related to groups with ties to the continent—perhaps descended from immigrant groups. The Kuni no Miyatsuko and the Agata-nushi are the titles with the clearest seeming ties to territorial hegemony. “Kuni” is the term for the ancient lands, such as Yamato, Kibi, Kenu, Koshi, etc. There seem to be around 140 such “kuni” described in the archipelago. Agata, on the other hand, were much smaller districts. While some of these district names have survived, it is hard, if not impossible, to know exactly how many of them there were. Then you have this term: “Miyatsuko”. Breaking that apart, he translates it as child or servant—ko—of the exalted house—miya. Taken together, these appear to reference the elite families in charge of overseeing territorial lands.We also see another term that uses “Miyatsuko”: Tomo no Miyatsuko. Unlike Kuni no Miyatsuko, Tomo no Miyatsuko is a term representing a group, rather than a kabane attached to an individual family. When the sovereign addresses the court, for example, he typically addresses the Omi, the Muraji, the Tomo no Miyatsuko and the Kuni no Miyatsuko. Asakawa proposed that, technically, all of these could fall under the term “Miyatsuko” as servants of the sovereign's house. Rather than focusing on specifics of all the myriad kabane, however, Asakawa treats them broadly as the Omi, Muraji, Tomo no Miyatsuko, and Kuni no Miyatsuko. The Omi and the Muraji we already touched on. They were the houses that could, among other things, supply the court with their Ohoomi and Ohomuraji—their prime ministers. So it makes some sense. The Tomo no Miyatsuko and the Kuni no Miyatsuko are a little more tricky to pin down, but Asakawa suggests that, ased on what we can tell, the heads of the Omi, Muraji, and Tomo no Miyatsuko likely attended court on a regular basis and lived nearby, whereas the Kuni no Miyatsuko were those whose heads dwelt elsewhere, likely because they were the local elites in various other areas of the archipelago. This is in the name—the term “tomo” might be thought of as being “with” someone, and at one point it is suggested that the Tomo no Miyatsuko are related to those who traced kinship back to the kami who originally descended from the Plain of Heaven. However, among the myriad kabane, not all of them were strictly local, and we find some kabane doing double duty for both local and geographically dispersed uji. Thus he also suggested that Kuni no Miyatsuko, though it was a kabane in its own right, also represented the other forms of territorial elite titles—all those who did not regularly attend the court, but instead administered their own lands. Richard Miller, in his work, “Ancient Japanese Nobility”, does provide a suggested hierarchy of the kabane. I don't know if I completely agree, as I think that it was a lot more complicated across the entire archipelago, but nonetheless I'll add the information to the blogpost page if you want to see at least one suggestion of relative precedence between uji of different kabane. Now let's not forget that not everyone was a member of an uji. For one thing, the royal family—both the sovereign's immediate family and Princes who claimed a more distant relationship—were exempt from the Uji-Kabane system. Also, the commoners, those who actually toiled and worked the land, likewise would not have been included in a given Uji. The Uji may have directed production, and even included certain artisans, but it still only included those who were tied, in some way, to the government. Now while the Uji-Kabane system may have started as titles with actual meanings—that is to say that the names and titles were essentially indicative of a group's role in society—it didn't take too long for it to become a little more abstract. After all, generation after generation, people change. Individuals vied for power and position in the court and elsewhere, and one's uji may rise, and even fall, depending on how they were able to succeed in the political climate of the day. This was augmented with the marriage politics which no doubt was conducted as much between the elite families as well as with the royal family. And then there were the branch or cadet families. For example, let's say that the head of a family has four children. Each one of those children could theoretically succeed their father—if his own siblings don't do so. With each generation, the familial ties get weaker, and smaller, sub-houses could form. If the uji was geographically dispersed, then local branches could become more or less independent. All of this seems to have caused not a small bit of confusion, and thus we get an edict in the last months of 682: it instructed all of the uji to ensure that they had a senior member—an uji-no-kami or ko-no-kami, with “kami”, in this instance, meaning top or head, rather than deity. This family head was to be reported to the government, presumably so that the government knew exactly who was in charge of each family. If there were too many people in a given uji, then they were encouraged to split themselves up and submit their own heads, with government officials adjudicating the decision. Finally, they are exhorted not to include any people that do not belong. A few things this seems to indicate. First is that the government did not have a handle on all of the different families out there, which makes some sense. It had been many generations since the uji had been initially set up, and the State had gone through a lot in that period. It may also indicate that there were those making a false claim to a family name specifically for the added prestige. How difficult would it be to claim to be a member of a prominent family that just happened to have been from a far-flung, out of the way branch? We see this in the 10th century with the Oushu Fujiwara—a family in Tohoku, around the region of Hiraizumi, who claimed descent from the famous Fujiwara family. Of course, the Fujiwara family by that point had grown so large, that it was next to impossible to check any such claim. How much moreso in the age before written records were common? We've seen examples where different parts of a given Uji were recorded separately. For example, the Aya were split early on into different groups, with the Yamato no Aya being perhaps the most often referenced, but we also have the Kawachi no Aya—the Aya from Kawachi. And then we have the Inukahi, where we see the Ama no Inukahi and the Agata no Inukahi, referring to the Inukahi of the Sea and the Inukahi of the District, though sometimes just a reference to “Inukahi”. Of course, it also seems that these branch families maintained the kabane of the original. Over time, uji were promoted, but rarely were they demoted. And so, over time, more and more uji are counted among the ranks of the Omi and the Muraji. At the same time, the court was changing. With the Taika reforms and the development of the ritsuryo codes, the Uji-kabane system was no longer required for managing the realm. Furthermore, the government was centralizing land and the produce thereof. And so they instituted the cap-rank system, a more explicit system of rank within the court that was held by the individual, not by the entire uji. In addition, cap-rank could be tied directly to a stipend, making the court officers more dependent on the central government, rather than on their own uji's resources. Early on, it is likely that higher cap rank was given to members of the more highly exalted uji, as those were the uji that also filled the upper echelons of government and therefore would have been best prepared to succeed in those roles. However, as things continued, it was likely that it was going to get even more confused. Or they would need to raise up all of the families to Omi and Muraji status, but as that happened, the meaning of the kabane themselves became less and less clear. After all, if everyone is an “Omi” and “Muraji” than, really, nobody is. In 681, we are told that they began to put together a law code, and later a law code of 92 articles is said to have been established. However, it seems it was still being updated, and wasn't until 689, after Ohoama's death, that all 22 volumes would be distributed to the various governors. It became known as the Kiyomihara Codes. In 684, Ohoama's reforms attacked the problem of the Kabane. The record complains that the various titles had become confused. That there were people out there taking kabane they were not entitled to, and just a general confusion because it no longer aligned quite so well with the evolving cultural norms of the new Yamato state. Early attempts to deal with this appear to have been, in the years since they began codifying it all in 681, to raise up families and individuals to the rank of “Muraji”. There are several records where lists of families are all given “Muraji”. In the case of individuals being granted Muraji, it is unclear if that was going just to them or to their entire family, though there are some examples where it seems an individual was granted the title and then their uji was separately awarded the same. This seems like an initial attempt to straighten things out. With the new bureaucratic system and the court ranks, no doubt there were people of worth from uji with less prestigious kabane who now outranked individuals from uji that were, at least on paper, more prestigious. This can't really have solved the problem. If anything, it just watered down the meaning of “muraji” even further, since now everyone and their brother seemed to have been granted that title. Ohoama's solution was to pare down the system to only eight kabane, total. Some of these were existing kabane, and others were entirely new. At the bottom of this new system was the title of Inaki, which had been about the lowest territorial kabane of the existing system. I suspect that this included all of those families that were still below the rank of Muraji, who had not been raised up in the preceding years. However, from there it immediately jumped up to the Muraji and Omi, in that order. And so the kabane that were previously at the top of the system were now towards the bottom. That way, they could “promote” families into greater kabane, without needing to “demote” a bunch of existing families at the same time. Above the Omi were mostly new kabane, except for one. The first was “Michinoshi”, a Master of the Way. It is unclear what this was intended for, as we aren't told who was promoted to this kabane. Based on the name, it is thought that this may have been for uji that had demonstrated a mastery of learning or perhaps some other pursuit, such as medicine, science, crafts, etc. Above the Michinoshi title was the kabane of Imiki, the fourth of eight. This may mean something like “One who arrived”. Some suggest that it may have originally been “imaki”. Richard Miller, in his work “Ancient Japanese Nobility” suggests that this was effectively the equivalent of the old title of “Atahe”. That said, most of those who received this kabane had previously been promoted to the old title of “Muraji”, though before that they were mostly Atahe, or else Obito, Kishi, or Miyatsuko. There is a thought that Imiki had something to do with “coming” and was meant for uji descended from immigrant families. Miller notes that this is not immediately born out in the data from the Nihon Shoki, where we see about a 50:50 split between immigrant and native uji. However, in the following chronicle, the Shoku Nihongi, we see about 100 of 150 of uji with the Imiki kabane that were of immigrant origins, so 2/3rds. That still isn't entirely conclusive, but does add some weight to the idea. Continuing to the 3rd kabane from the top we are at “Sukune”. This was previously used as a kabane, but from what I can tell it was given to an individual and was not passed down to the entire uji. Now it was something different. Miller suggests that this kabane was for those uji who claimed descent from one of the kami, but not necessarily from the royal lineage. In contrast, Asomi, later read as “Ason”, the 2nd of the 8 kabane, literally reads as “court minister”. It appears to be for those who claimed some connection to the royal family. It is notable that Ohoama awarded this to some 52 families during his reign. Compare that with making 11 Imiki and 13 Mabito, the next and highest ranking kabane. Asomi would be the most common kabane among those at the top of the court bureaucracy. Of all of them, this one seems to linger, perhaps because it is the kabane that was given to the Fujiwara family, who then carried that with them into later centuries. Finally, there is Mabito. Mabito means something like “True Person” or perhaps “Upright Person”, and it seems to have gone exclusively to families with the old kabane of “kimi”. An examination of the thirteen uji in this group indicates that they were those with close royal ties, who claimed a descent closely related to that of the royal family. So those were the new kabane. Although they were declared in 684 and handed out through the following year, we do see some individuals referenced with these kabane earlier in the narrative. This is likely just due to the fact that it is how they were eventually known, and so they are given an anachronistic kabane, which was probably much easier for the compilers than trying to make sure that all of the names were exactly correct for each record. With the kabane thus dealt with, Ohoama then went on to make some major changes to the court rank system as well. In many ways I would say that his ranks were quite novel—previous changes to the cap-rank system had largely been additions or slight modifications but had left many of the names intact with each change. As such, the rank system decreed in 664 was really just an update to the previous cap-rank system of 649 and earlier. And so even through 664 you still had things like “Greater brocade” as someone's rank. Towards the end of his reign, though, along with other reforms to the government, Determining what exactly the rank system was at any given point can be a little confusing. Depending on the record being used, names are sometimes referenced anachronistically: That is they are given with the ultimate title, kabane, or rank by which they were known. This could sometimes be after multiple phases of reform, and so the honors mentioned may not necessarily reflect that individual's ranks and position at the date of the entry. Also the various rank systems are close enough, sharing many of the various rank names, such that it isn't immediately obvious if something different is being used. This is true of both kabane and court ranks. Furthermore, as many individuals may only be mentioned once or twice, we may not always have a lot of data on how things may have changed. The new system enacted in 685 was different in several ways that make it quite distinct. In fact, we see in the record of this reign earlier mentions of individuals where their rank is given in terms of the new system even in records predating 685. So what did that look like? The rank system of 685 still used various signifiers, which broke things up into categories, but these were broken up into 2-4 numerical grades: Ichi-I, Ni-I, San-I, Shi-I, or first rank, second rank, third rank, and fourth rank. This gets us closer to what was eventually an almost purely numerical system. Each grade was then divided further into “Larger”: “Dai”; or “Broader”: “Kou” This is also where we see Princely ranks enumerated for the first time. As we noted, previously, princely rank was something that we started to see at the beginning of this reign in the Nihon Shoki, with Prince of the third rank, etc. In 685, however, we get an actual proclamation. The Princely ranks are broken into two large categories—the bright, or Myou, ranks and the Pure, or Jou ranks. There were two grades of Myou—Ichi-I and Ni-I, and four grades of Jou—Ichi-I, Ni-I, San-I, and Shi-I. Each grade was further divided twice into large, dai, or broad, kou. So you had Myou-dai-ichi-I, Myou-kou-ichi-I, Myou-dai-ni-I, Myou-kou, ni-i… et cetera. That translates to something like Large First Bright rank, Broad First Bright rank, Large Second Bright rank, and Broad Second Bright rank. This would continue with “Jou” replacing “Myou”, and provided a total of 12 princely ranks. As for how they were divvied out, we only see the granting of “Jou” ranks. In fact, Kusakabe, the Crown Prince himself is given Broader Pure First Rank (Jou-kou-ichi-i). His brother, Prince Ohotsu, was given Larger Pure Second Rank, their brother Takechi, who had helped lead the forces in the Jinshin war, was given Broader Pure Second Rank, one lower than his younger brother. Both Kawashima and Osakabe were given Larger Pure Third Rank. So if the highest “Pure” rank was going to the Crown Prince, then who were the Myou ranks going to? Unfortunately, thou the system would last until the development of the Taihou code, in 703, we don't have any clear examples of the Myou ranks being handed out, so that may be a puzzle we don't unravel. Beyond the ranks for the various princes, there was another, similar set of ranks for the common court nobles. This system had 6 categories, broken up, like the Princely ranks, into four grades, each further divided into Larger and Broader, as before. In this case the categories were: Shou – Upright Jiki – Straight Gon – Diligent Mu – Earnest Tsui – Pursue Shin – Advancement This created 48 total rank divisions, which gave an unprecedented granularity for the court. As for granting rank, we have a couple of examples of that, beyond just the posthumous grants. In 686, Ohoama conferred Gon-I, the Dilligent rank, on six ministers who attended to him, personally. There was also a request that provincial governors should select nine people of achievement who could likely be given the same. There is one strange account: in 685, Awata no Asomi no Mabito—Mabito, in this case, being his given name—requested permission to transfer his rank to his father, but this was refused. And I think this gets to the heart of the cultural change that was underway, and which Ohoama and the court was actively encouraging. Although the kabane titles were a collective rank, court rank, and the accompanying stipend, was for the individual. This wasn't something that could accrue to the head of a family. That would have been an important point at a time when the traditions of the uji system were still quite strong. So there we have it. Hopefully there was something new for you to take away as we come to better understand Ohoama and his court. We still have plenty more to discuss—probably enough for a few more episodes as we cover some of the natural events and disasters, the ties between the court and religion, as well as what was going on with peninsular affairs, not to mention the myriad other little random tidbits. We'll get to all of that as we can. Next episode we'll take a look at the material culture of the court. Specifically we'll take a look at what we know about their dress and clothing, much of which was influenced by that sumptuary laws that were, themselves, tied in closely with this new rank system. 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.

#S5E04 - Arkadaş Ayrılığı: Sessiz Bir Yas

1 Kitap 1 Film Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 9, 2025 24:22

Yeni bölümde adı bile tam konmamış bir "şey"i, "arkadaş ayrılığı"nı konuşuyoruz. Kimi zaman bir büyük patlamayla, kimi zaman sessizce biten, yasını bile tam tutamadığımız arkadaşlıklar var hepimizin hayatında. Biraz bunu konuşalım, yerli yerine yerleştirmeye çalışalım istiyoruz. Tabii ki sinemaya ve edebiyata da başvurarak. Bölümde adı geçen tüm kitap ve filmlerin listesini ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@1kitap1film.us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ instagram hesabımızda bulabileceğinizi hatırlatalım.Bu bölüme sponsor olarak bizi destekleyen ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vitruta⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠'ya katkılarından ötürü çok teşekkür ederiz. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vitruta.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠'da ve vitruta mağazalarında yapacağınız alışverişlerde, 1kitap1film kodu ile indirimsiz ürünlerde %15 indirim avantajından faydalanabilirsiniz. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vitruta.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠'dan yapacağınız alışverişlerde 1kitap1film özel avantaj kodunu, ürünü sepete ekledikten sonra çıkan sayfadaki “hediye kartı veya indirim kodu” alanına ödeme işlemi öncesinde tanımlayabilirsiniz.Kapak görseli: Igor Shulman, Old Friends (2016)

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129. Salon Tech Talks, Pt 10: Kimi Bennett, co-founder, Sole Business Solutions, Pro Beauty's 1st 24/7 AI Powered Coaching platform

Social Beauty Makers

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2025 49:48

Kimi Bennett, co-founder and CEO of Sole Business Solutions, the pro beauty industry's first 24/7 AI-powered coaching platform, is a longtime working professional and suite owner turned tech entrepreneur. Kimi joins Gordon to share the inspiration behind her groundbreaking work with co-founder and COO Michael Sandoval, a long-time salon coach, in launching the platform. Long a champion for educating and coaching professionals towards their dreams of success, Kimi and Michael have both embraced Generative AI (and the power of voice as a modality) as a way to take the power of coaching to new levels.

McLaren Win Back-to-Back Constructors' Championship + Russell Wins Singapore GP | October 5, 2025

Nailing The Apex with Tim Hauraney

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2025 66:43

On this episode of Nailing the Apex 00:00 McLaren wins the constructors and the Piastri vs Norris battle 27:15 George wins the Singapore GP 37:50 The heat hazard in Singapore 41:30 Fernando Alonso is driver of the day 49:15 Ferrari's mediocre day 51:50 Kimi's great drive 54:50 Your questions! Follow Tim Hauraney on Twitter / X: @TimHauraney Follow Adam Wylde on Twitter / X: @AdamWylde Visit https://sdpn.ca for merch and more. Follow us on Twitter (X): @sdpnsports Follow us on Instagram: @sdpnsports For general inquiries email: info@sdpn.ca Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Singapore Formula 1 GP 2025

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2025 67:37

We’re back with the Singapore GP where Alonso is gold on the radio, Hamilton has no brakes and Piastri has stiff knobs. We hope you enjoy. Warning: this podcast occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humour (which may be unsuitable for adults), and the ramblings of 2 uninformed blokes who don't...

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ROAD14 | Road to Nowhere | The Electric State

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Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2025 170:57

RPG System: Electric State by Free League (freeleaguepublishing.com)A group of uneasy acquaintances embark on a road trip north from the Los Angeles Metroplex to escape the corporate overlords that are after them. Will they survive the perils of a society in decline? Will they survive countless hours trapped in a van together? ◇ Visit happyjacks.org/roadtonowhere for a full list of this campaign's videos and podcasts. CAST: GM: CADave (he/him) https://cadave.carrd.co/ Kimi (she/her) https://kimihughes.carrd.co/ Cassandra Nyx (she/her), The Devotee Cai (he/they/she) https://estelofimladris.carrd.co Kilo (he/they/it), The Drone Pilot Kodi (they/them) https://www.kodigonzaga.com Ronnie Rhodes (they/them), The Doctor Yuri (she/they) https://yuriandthebeast.carrd.co/ Emily Vega (she/her), The Artist Visit https://happyjacks.org//roadtonowhere for a full list of this campaign's videos and podcasts. Consider supporting the show on PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/happyjacksrpg ◇ Subscribe to our other podcast feeds! We have a weekly tabletop RPG talk show based on topics sent in from fans around the world, and a great collection of One-Shots if you prefer bite sized adventures. ◇ You can watch us on Youtube or Twitch! Hang out with other tabletop roleplaying fans in our Discord community! Tags: happyjacksrpg, tabletop, gaming, rpg, advice, dnd, d&d, podcast, roleplaying, happy jacks, stream, streaming, twitch, youtube, dm, gm, dming, gming, game master, dungeon master, campaign, dungeons and dragons, hjrpg, ttrpg, freeleague, electricstate

ROAD15 | Road to Nowhere | The Electric State

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Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2025 166:10

Why Startups in China Are Going Global with Jing Yang

Analyse Asia with Bernard Leong

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2025 57:25

“I think this is a sort of coming-of-age moment. When I say coming of age, I mean collectively for Chinese entrepreneurs. Many of these founders are my age, or even younger, and I've spoken with some of them. I can really relate to why they want to build businesses that target the global market instead of just China. In the past, you could build a company in China first and then think about expanding outward. That's no longer possible. For any consumer-facing software company today, from day one you must decide: Do I build for China, or do I build for Global minus China? The examples of TikTok, Shein, and many others show that you cannot do both. It's not possible to serve both markets at once.” - Jing Yang Fresh out of the studio, Jing Yang, the Asia Bureau Chief from The Information, shares her insights on ByteDance's pivotal moment, China's venture capital challenges, and the emerging U.S.-China competition in AI and robotics. Starting with ByteDance's latest financials, she revealed how the company now exceeds Meta in revenue but still lags significantly in profit margins, with its domestic business—Douyin and Toutiao—continuing to drive the lion's share of profits while TikTok remains unprofitable. Jing Yang explains how founder Zhang Yiming has entered "founder mode," dramatically increasing CapEx spending on AI development while ByteDance mysteriously went quiet on the AI leaderboard despite earlier dominance. Moving to venture capital, she unpacks why HongShan Capital has only deployed a quarter of its $9 billion fund raised in 2022, citing the collapse of exit opportunities, new overseas listing regulations from Chinese regulators, and the disappearance of big-ticket growth deals. She then explores the new wave of Chinese AI startups targeting global markets from day one, explaining how censorship and geopolitics force founders to choose between building for China or building for the world—they cannot do both. Finally, Jing Yang breaks down China's non-obvious advantage in humanoid robotics: not manufacturing prowess, but access to advanced manufacturing test beds where robots can be deployed, iterated, and refined at scale—an advantage The U.S. simply cannot match beyond Tesla. Episode Highlights: [00:00] Quote of the Day by Jing Yang from The Information [02:14] ByteDance revenue exceeds Meta, profit lags [05:01] Zhang Yiming goes founder mode with AI [08:24] TikTok's significance to ByteDance's future [10:18] China signals willingness on TikTok deal [13:02] Chinese tech giants pivots to semiconductors, hard tech [14:27] ByteDance's quiet AI strategy and leadership [19:11] Why HongShan, formerly Sequoia China deploys only quarter of $9B fund [21:00] China VC market lacks big growth deals [24:20] New overseas listing regulations hinder exits [26:15] Chinese VCs struggle with US investments [29:53] Chinese founders target global markets from day one [32:20] What forces global versus China product split [38:28] Chinese apps feel holistic but culturally distinct [43:00] ChatGPT arrival sparked physical AI revolution [47:23] Chinese AI companies prioritize commercial use cases over AGI [50:13] China's manufacturing provides crucial test beds advantage [53:42] Redefining what constitutes a Chinese startup [54:55] AI race between Chinese in China vs US [58:00] Closing Profile: Jing Yang, Asia Bureau Chief from The Information LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jing-yang-33548123/ Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. The proper credits for the intro and end music are "Energetic Sports Drive." G. Thomas Craig mixed and edited the episode in both video and audio format. Here are the links to watch or listen to our podcast: Analyse Asia Main Site: https://analyse.asia Analyse Asia Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1kkRwzRZa4JCICr2vm0vGl Analyse Asia Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/analyse-asia-with-bernard-leong/id914868245 Analyse Asia LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/analyse-asia/ Analyse Asia X (formerly known as Twitter): https://twitter.com/analyseasia Sign Up for Our This Week in Asia Newsletter: https://www.analyse.asia/#/portal/signup Subscribe Newsletter on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7149559878934540288

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Year One

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2025 36:32

It is the first year of a new reign, so come and let's take a look at how it all begins. For more, check out our blog page at: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-135 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua and this is episode 135: Year One The officials of the Ministry of Kami Affairs bustled to and fro as they prepared the ritual grounds and the temporary buildings. They were carefully erecting the structures, which would only be used for a single festival, and then torn down, but this would be an important festival. It was the harvest festival, the Niiname-sai, the festival of the first-fruits. Rice, from the regions of Tamba and Harima, specifically chosen through divination, would be offered to his majesty along with the kami who had blessed the land. But this time, there was more. After all, this was the first harvest festival of a new reign, and they had orders to make it special. The ascension ceremony had been held earlier in the year, but in some ways that was just a prelude. There had been various rituals and ceremonies throughout the year emphasizing that this year was special—even foreign lands were sending envoys to congratulate him on the event. But this wasn't for them. This was the sovereign taking part, for the first time, in one of the most important ceremonies of the year. After all, the feast of first-fruits was the culmination of all that the kami had done, and it emphasized the sovereign's role as both a descendant of heaven and as the preeminent intercessor with the divine spirits of the land. And so they knew, that everything had to be bigger, with even more pomp and circumstance than normal. This wouldn't just be about the new rice. This would be a grand ceremony, one that only happened once in a generation, and yet which would echo through the centuries. As the annual harvest festival, it was an ancient tradition. But as something new—as the Daijosai—it was something else all together. And it would have to be perfect! Last episode we talked about the Kiyomihara palace and a little bit about what it was like in the court of Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou. After defeating the Afumi court supporting his nephew, Ohotomo, in 672, Ohoama had taken control of the government. He moved back to Asuka, and into the refurbished Okamoto palace, building a southern exclave known to us today as the Ebinoko enclosure, which held one large building, which may have been a residence or a ceremonial structure—possibly the first “Daigokuden” or ceremonial hall. Ohoama's court built on the ideas that his brother, Naka no Oe, aka Tenji Tennou, had put forth since the Taika era. This was a continuation of the form of government known as the Ritsuryo system, or Ritsuryo-sei, literally a government of laws and punishments, and Ohoama had taken the reins. He seems to have taken a much more direct approach to governance compared to some of his predecessors. For instance, the role of the ministerial families was reduced, with Ohoama or various princes—actual or invented relatives of the throne—taking a much more prominent role. He also expanded access to the central government to those outside of the the Home Provinces. After all, it was the traditional ministerial families—the Soga, the Nakatomi, and even the Kose—who had been part of the Afumi government that he had just defeated. Meanwhile, much of his military support had come from the Eastern provinces, though with prominent indications of support from Kibi and Tsukushi as well. This episode we are going to get back to the events documented in the Chronicles, looking just at the first year of Ohoama's reign. Well, technically it was the second year, with 672 being the first, but this is the first year in which he formally sat on the throne. There's plenty going on in this year to fill a whole episode: it was the year of Ohoama's formal ascension, and there were numerous festivals, ceremonies, and other activities that seem to be directly related to a fresh, new start. We will also look at the custom of handing out posthumous ranks, particularly to those who supported Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran, and how that relates to the various ranks and titles used in Ohoama's court. We have envoys from three different countries—Tamna, Silla, and Goguryeo—and their interactions with the Dazaifu in Tsukushi. Finally, we have the first Daijosai, one of the most important ceremonies in any reign. And so, let's get into it. The year 673 started with a banquet for various princes and ministers, and on the 27th day of the 2nd month, Ohoama formally assumed the throne at what would come to be known as Kiyomihara Palace. Uno, his consort, who had traveled with him through the mountains from Yoshino to Ise, was made his queen, and their son, Royal Prince Kusakabe, was named Crown Prince. Two days later they held a ceremony to convey cap-ranks on those deemed worthy. We are then told that on the 17th day of the following month, word came from the governor of Bingo, the far western side of ancient Kibi, today the eastern part of modern Hiroshima. They had caught a white pheasant in Kameshi and sent it as tribute. White or albino animals were seen as particularly auspicious signs, and no doubt it was taken as an omen of good fortune for the reign. In response, the forced labor from Bingo, which households were required to supply to the State, was remitted. There was also a general amnesty granted throughout the land. That same month we are also told that scribes were brought in to Kawaradera to copy the Issaiko—aka the Tripitaka, or the entirety of the Buddhist canon. That would include hundreds of scrolls. This clearly seems to be an act of Buddhist merit-making: by copying out the scrolls you make merit, which translates to good karma. That would be another auspicious start to the reign, and we see frequently that rulers would fund sutra copying—or sutra recitations—as well as temples, statues, bells and all other such things to earn Buddhist merit. As the ruler, this merit didn't just accrue to you, but to the entire state, presumably bringing good fortune and helping to avert disaster. However, it wasn't just the Law of the Buddha that Ohoama was appealing to. In the following entry, on the14th day of the 4th month, we are told that Princess Ohoki was preparing herself at the saigu, or abstinence palace, in Hatsuse—known as Hase, today, east of modern Sakurai, along the Yonabari river, on the road to Uda. Ohoki was the sister of Prince Ohotsu. Her mother was Ohota, the Queen's elder sister, making her a grandchild of Naka no Ohoye as well as the daughter of Ohoama. Princess Ohoki's time at the abstinence palace was so that she could purify herself. This was all to get her ready to head to Ise, to approach none other than the sun goddess, Amaterasu Ohokami. With all of these events, we see the full panoply of ritual and ceremony on display. The formal, legal ceremonies of ascension and granting of rank. The declaration of auspicious omens for the reign. There is the making of Buddhist merit, but also the worship of the kami of the archipelago. This is not an either-or situation. We are seeing in the first half of this first year the fusion of all of these different elements into something that may not even be all that sensational to those of us, today. After all, anyone who goes to Japan is likely well-accustomed to the way that both Buddhist and Shinto institutions can both play a large part in people's lives. While some people may be more drawn to one than the other, for most they are complimentary. That isn't how it had to be. For a time, it was possible that Buddhism would displace local kami worship altogether. This was the core of the backlash that we saw from groups like the Nakatomi, whose role in kami-focused ceremonies was threatened by the new religion. Indeed, for a while now it seems like mention of the kami has taken a backseat to Buddhist temples and ceremonies in the Chronicles. Likewise, as a foreign religion, Buddhism could have also fallen out of favor. It was not fore-ordained that it would come to have a permanent place on the archipelago. This tension between local kami worship—later called Shinto, the Way of the Kami—and Buddhist teachings would vary throughout Japanese history, with one sometimes seen as more prestigious or more natural than the other, but neither one would fully eclipse the other. One could say that was in part due to the role that Amaterasu and kami worship played in the court ceremonies. However, even there indigenous practices were not necessarily safe. The court could have just as easily imported Confucian rituals, and replaced the spiritual connection between the sovereign and the kami with the continental style Mandate of Heaven. And thus, the choices that were being made at this time would have huge implications for the Japanese state for centuries to come. I should note that it is unlikely that this spontaneously arose amongst the upper class and the leadership. I doubt this was just Ohoama's strategy to give himself multiple levers of power—though I'm not saying he wasn't thinking about that either. But the only way that these levers existed was through their continued life in the culture and the people of the time. If the people didn't believe in Buddhist merit, or that the kami influenced their lives, then neither would have given them much sway. It was the fact that these were a part of the cultural imaginary of the state, and how people imagined themselves and their surroundings, that they were effective tools for Ohoama and his government. And so it seems that Ohoama's first year is off to a smashing success. By the fifth month he is already issuing edicts—specifically on the structure of the state, which we discussed some last episode. But the high could not be maintained indefinitely. And on the 29th day of the 5th month we have what we might consider our first negative entry, when Sakamoto no Takara no Omi passed away. You may remember Sakamoto, but I wouldn't blame you if you didn't. He was the commander in the Nara Basin, under general Wofukei, who took 300 troops to Tatsuta. From there he advanced to the Hiraishi plain and up to the top of Mt. Takayasu, to confront the Afumi forces that had taken the castle. They fled, and Takara and his men overnighted at the castle. The next day they tried to intercept Afumi troops advancing from the Kawachi plain, but they were forced to fall back to a defensive position. We covered that in Episode 131 with the rest of the campaign in the Nara Basin. Takara's death is the first of many entries—I count roughly 21 through this and the following reign—which, for the most part, are all similarly worded. Sakamoto no Takara no Omi, of Upper Daikin rank, died. He was posthumously granted the rank of Shoushi for service in the Year of Mizu-no-e Saru, aka Jinshin. We are told the individual, their rank at the time of their death, and then a note about a posthumous grant of rank. Upper Daikin was already about the 7th rank from the top in the system of 664, and Shoushi would be the 6th rank, and one of the “ministerial” ranks. This is out of 26, total. “Kin” itself was the fourth of about 7 categories, and the last category that was split into six sub-ranks, with greater and lesser (Daikin and Shokin), each of which was further divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower ranks. There's a lot to go into, in fact a little too much for this episode, so for more on the ranks in use at the start of the reign, check out our blogpost for this episode. The giving of posthumous rank is mostly just an honorific. After all, the individual is now deceased, so it isn't as if they would be drawing more of a stipend, though their new ranks may have influenced their funerary rites and similar things. As I said, on a quick scan of the text, I counted 21 of these entries, though there may be a few more with slightly different phrasing or circumstances. Some of them were quite notable in the record, while others may have only had a mention here or there. That they are mentioned, though, likely speaks to the importance of that connection to such a momentous year. The Nihon Shoki is thought to have been started around the time of Ohoama or his successor, along with the Kojiki, and so it would have been important to people of the time to remind everyone that their ancestors had been the ones who helped with that momentous event. It really isn't that much different from those who proudly trace their lineage back to heroes of, say, the American Revolution, though it likely held even more sway being closer to the actual events. After the death of Sakamoto no Takara, we get another death announcement. This is of someone that Aston translates as “Satek Syomyeong” of Baekje, of Lower Daikin rank. We aren't given much else about him, but we are told that Ohoama was shocked. He granted Syomyeong the posthumous rank of “Outer Shoushi”, per Aston's translation. He also posthumously named him as Prime Minister, or Desapyong, of Baekje. There are a few clues about who this might be, but very little to go on. He is mentioned in 671, during the reign of Naka no Oe, when he received the rank of Upper Daikin along with Minister—or Sapyong—Yo Jasin. It is also said in the interlinear text that he was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Judgment—the Houkan no Taifu. The Ministry of Judgment—the Houkan or perhaps the Nori no Tsukasa—is thought to have been the progenitor of the later Shikibu, the Ministry of Ceremony. One of the major roles it played was in the selection of candidates for rank, position, and promotion. We are also told that in the year 660, in the reign of Takara Hime, one of the nobles captured in the Tang invasion of Baekje was “Desapyong Satek”, so perhaps this Syomyeong was a descendant or relative of the previous prime minister, who fled to Yamato with other refugees. We also have another record from 671 of a Satek Sondeung and his companions accompanying the Tang envoy Guo Yacun. So it would seem that the Sathek family was certainly notable The name “Satek” shows up once more, though Aston then translates it as “Sataku”, like a monk or scholar's name. “Sataku” would be the Japanese on'yomi pronunciation of the same characters, so perhaps another relative. What we can take away from all of this is that the Baekje refugee community is still a thing in Yamato. This Satek Seomyeong has court rank—Upper Daikin rank, just like Sakamoto, in the previous entry. And we know that he had an official position at court—not just in the Baekje court in exile. We'll see more on this as the community is further integrated into the rest of Society, such that there would no longer be a Baekje community, but families would continue to trace their lineages back to Baekje families, often with pride. The other odd thing here is the character “outer” or “outside” before “Shoushi”. Aston translates it as part of the rank, and we see it show up a total of four times in some variation of “Outer Lesser X rank”. Mostly it is as here, Outer Lesser Purple. Later we would see a distinction of “outer” and “inner” ranks, which this may be a version of. Depending on one's family lineage would denote whether one received an “outer” or “inner” rank, and so it may be that since Satek Syomyeong was from the Baekje community, it was more appropriate for him to have an “outside” rank. “Outer” rank would also be given to Murakuni no Muraji no Woyori, the general who had led the campaign to Afumi, taking the Seta bridge. He was also posthumously given the rank of “Outer Shoushi” upon his death in 676. Murakuni no Woyori is the only person of that surname mentioned around this time, so perhaps he wasn't from one of the “core” families of the Yamato court, despite the service he had rendered. We also have at least one other noble of Baekje who is likewise granted an ”outer” rank. On the other side there are those like Ohomiwa no Makamuta no Kobito no Kimi, who was posthumously granted the rank of “Inner” Shoushi. Here I would note that Ohomiwa certainly seems to suggest an origin in the Nara Basin, in the heartland of Yamato. The terms “Inner” and “Outer” are only used on occasion, however, and not consistently in all cases. This could just be because of the records that the scribes were working off of at the time. It is hard to say, exactly. All of these entries about posthumous ranks being granted tend to refer to cap ranks, those applying to members of various Uji, the clans that had been created to help organize the pre-Ritsuryo state. The Uji and their members played important roles in the court and the nation, both as ministers and lower functionaries. But I also want to mention another important component of Ohoama's court, the members of the princely class, many of whom also actively contributed to the functioning of the state. Among this class are those that Aston refers to as “Princes of the Blood”, or “Shinnou”. These include the royal princes, sons of Ohoama who were in line for the throne, but also any of his brothers and sisters. Then there were the “miko”, like Prince Kurikuma, who had been the Viceroy in Tsukushi, denying troops to the Afumi court. Those princes claimed some lineal descent from a sovereign, but they were not directly related to the reigning sovereign. In fact, it isn't clear, today, if they were even indirectly related to the reigning sovereign, other than through the fact that the elites of the archipelago had likely been forming marriage alliances with one another for centuries, so who knows. And maybe they made their claims back to a heavenly descendant, like Nigi Hayahi. Either way, they were the ones with claims—legitimate or otherwise—to royal blood. Notably, the Princes did not belong to any of the Uji, , and they didn't have kabane, either—no “Omi”, “Muraji”, “Atahe”, et cetera. They did, at least from this reign forward, have rank. But it was separate and different from the rank of the Uji members. Members of the various Uji were referred to with cap rank, but the Princely ranks were just numbered—in the Nihon Shoki we see mention of princes of the 2nd through 5th ranks—though presumably there was also a “first” rank. It is not entirely clear when this princely rank system was put into place, but it was probably as they were moving all of the land, and thus the taxes, to the state. Therefore the court would have needed to know what kind of stipend each prince was to receive—a stipend based on their rank. These ranks, as with later numbered ranks, appear to have been given in ascending order, like medals in a tournament: first rank, second rank, third rank, etc. with fifth rank being the lowest of the Princely ranks. Many of these Princes also held formal positions in the government. We saw this in Naka no Oe's reign with Prince Kurikuma taking the Viceroy-ship of Tsukushi, but during Ohoama's reign we see it even more. Beneath the Princes were the various Ministers and Public Functionaries—the Officers of the court, from the lowest page to the highest minister. They were members of the elite noble families, for the most part, or else they claimed descent from the elite families of the continent. Either way they were part of what we would no doubt call the Nobility. Their cap-rank system, mentioned earlier, was separate from that used by the Princes. And, then at the bottom, supporting this structure, were the common people. Like the princes, they did not necessarily have a surname, and they didn't really figure into the formal rank system. They certainly weren't considered members of the titled class, and often don't even show up in the record. And yet we should not forget that they were no doubt the most numerous and diverse group for the majority of Japanese history. Our sources, however, have a much more narrow focus. There is one more class of people to mention here, and that is the evolving priestly class. Those who took Buddhist orders and became Buddhist monks were technically placed outside of the social system, though that did not entirely negate their connections to the outside world. We see, for example, how Ohoama, even in taking orders, still had servants and others to wait on him. However, they were at least theoretically outside of the social hierarchy, and could achieve standing within the Buddhist community through their studies of Buddhist scripture. They had their own hierarchy, which was tied in to the State through particular Buddhist officers appointed by the government, but otherwise the various temples seem to have been largely in charge of their own affairs. But anyway, let's get back to the Chronicles. Following closely on the heels of Satek Syomyeong's passing, two days later, we have another entry, this one much more neutral. We are told that Tamna, aka the kingdom on Jeju island off the southern tip of the Korean peninsula, sent Princes Kumaye, Tora, Uma, and others with tribute. So now we are getting back into the diplomatic swing of things. There had been one previous embassy—that of Gim Apsil of Silla, who had arrived just towards the end of the Jinshin War, but they were merely entertained in Tsukushi and sent back, probably because Ohoama's court were still cleaning house. Tamna, Silla, and Goguryeo—usually accompanied by Silla escorts—would be the main visitors to Yamato for a time. At this point, Silla was busy trying to get the Tang forces to leave the peninsula. This was partly assisted by the various uprisings in the captured territories of Goguryeo and Baekje—primarily up in Goguryeo. There were various attempts to restore the kingdom. It isn't clear, but I suspect that the Goguryeo envoys we do eventually see were operating largely as a vassal state under Silla. Tamna, on the other hand, seems to have been outside of the conflict, from what we see in the records, and it likely was out of the way of the majority of any fighting. They also seem to have had a different relationship with Yamato, based on some of the interactions. It is very curious to me that the names of the people from Tamna seem like they could come from Yamato. Perhaps that is related in some way to theories that Tamna was one of the last hold-outs of continental proto-Japonic language prior to the ancestor of modern Korean gaining ascendancy. Or it could just be an accident of how things got copied down in Sinitic characters and then translated back out. The Tamna mission arrived on the 8th day of the 6th intercalary month of 673. A Silla embassy arrived 7 days later, but rather than tribute, their mission was twofold—two ambassadors to offer congratulations to Ohoama and two to offer condolences on the late sovereign—though whether that means Naka no Oe or Ohotomo is not exactly clear. All of these arrived and would have been hosted, initially, in Tsukushi, probably at modern Fukuoka. The Silla envoys were accompanied by Escorts, who were briefly entertained and offered presents by the Dazaifu, the Yamato government extension on Kyushu, and then sent home. From then on, the envoys would be at the mercy of Yamato and their ships. About a month and a half later, on the 20th day of the 8th month, Goguryeo envoys also showed up with tribute, accompanied by Silla escorts. Five days later, word arrived back from the court in Asuka. The Silla envoys who had come to offer congratulations to the sovereign on his ascension were to be sent onwards. Those who had just come with tribute, however, could leave it with the viceroy in Tsukushi. They specifically made this point to the Tamna envoys, whom they then suggested should head back soon, as the weather was about to turn, and they wouldn't want to be stuck there when the monsoon season came. The Tamna cohort weren't just kicked out, however. The court did grant them and their king cap-rank. The envoys were given Upper Dai-otsu, which Yamato equated to the rank of a minister in Tamna. The Silla envoys—about 27 in total—made their way to Naniwa. It took them a month, and they arrived in Naniwa on the 28th day of the 9th month. Their arrival was met with entertainments—musical performances and presents that were given to the envoys. This was all part of the standard diplomatic song and dance—quite literally, in this case. We aren't given details on everything. Presumably the envoys offered their congratulations, which likely included some presents from Silla, as well as a congratulatory message. We aren't given exact details, but a little more than a month later, on the first day of the 11th month, envoy Gim Seungwon took his leave. Meanwhile, the Goguryeo envoys, who, like Tamna, had arrived merely with tribute, were still in Tsukushi. On the 21st day of the 11th month, just over two months after they arrived, we are told that they were entertained at the Ohogohori in Tsukushi and were given presents based on their rank. The Ohogohori, or “Big District”, appears to mirror a similar area in Naniwa that was likewise known for hosting diplomatic envoys. With the diplomatic niceties over, there was one more thing to do in this first year of the new reign: the thanksgiving ritual always held at the beginning of a new reign, the Daijosai, or oho-namematsuri. This is a harvest ritual where the newly enthroned sovereign offers new rice to the kami and then eats some himself. At least in the modern version, he gives thanks and prays to Amaterasu Ohomikami, as well as to the amatsu-kami and kunitsu-kami, the kami of heaven and earth. The Daijosai shares a lot in common with another important annual festival, the Niinamesai, or the Feast of First Fruits. This is the traditional harvest festival, usually held in November. The Daijosai follows much the same form as the Niinamesai, and as such, in years where there is a new sovereign, and thus the Daijosai is held, the Niinamesai is not, since it would be duplicative. Many of the rituals of the Daijosai are private affairs and not open to the public. There are various theories about what happens, but only those who are part of the ritual know for sure, and they are sworn to secrecy. The first instance of the Daijosai in the Chronicles is during the reign of Shiraga Takehiko Kunioshi Waka Yamato Neko, aka Seinei Tennou, in the 5th century, but we should take that with a huge grain of salt. Remember, one of the purposes behind the chronicles was to explain how everything came to be, and saying “we just made it up” wasn't really going to fly. I've seen some sources suggest that the Daijosai can be attributed to the first reign of Ohoama's mother, Takara Hime, aka Kougyoku Tennou. The term used in her reign, though is Niiname, which seems to refer to the annual Niinamesai, though she is the first in the Chronicles that seems to celebrate it in the first year of her reign, sharing with the Crown Prince and Ministers. It is likely that the ritual is much older in origin. After all, giving the first fruits of the harvest to the kami to thank them for their assistance seems like the core of harvest festivals around the world. We see it mentioned as the Niinamesai in much of the rest of the Nihon Shoki, even back to the Age of the Gods, when it played an important part in the stories of Amaterasu and Susanowo. It is in Ohoama's reign, though, that it seems to first take on its character as a true ritual of the state. We see that the Nakatomi and the Imbe were involved. Together these two families oversaw much of the court ritual having to do with kami worship. We also know that the officials of the Jingikan, the Ministry of Kami Affairs, were also present, as they were all given presents for attending on the sovereign during the festival. We also see that the district governors of Harima and Tamba, which were both in the area of modern Hyougo Prefecture, as well as various laborers under them, were all recognized with presents as well. We can assume that this was because they provided the rice and other offerings used in the festival. In addition to the presents they received, the two governors were each given an extra grade of cap-rank. Another Daijosai would be carried out in the first year of Ohoama's successor, and from there on it seems to have become one of if not *the* major festival of a reign. It marks, in many ways, the end of the first year of ceremonies for the first year of a reign. And even in other years, the Niinamesai is often one of the pre-eminent festivals. The Daijosai may have been the climax of the year in many ways, but the year was not quite done yet. We have two more entries, and both are related to Buddhism. First, on the 17th day of the 12th month, just twelve days after the Daijosai, Prince Mino and Ki no Omi no Katamaro were appointed Commissioners for the erection of the Great Temple of Takechi—aka the Ohomiya no Ohodera, also known as the Daikandaiji. The Daikandaiji was a massive temple complex. It is thought that it was originally a relocation of Kudara Ohodera, and we have remains at the foot of Kaguyama—Mt. Kagu, in the Asuka region of modern Kashihara city. Many of the ruins, however, seem to date to a slightly later period, suggesting that the main temple buildings were rebuilt after Ohoama's reign. Still, it is quite likely that he had people start the initial work. In setting up the temple, of course it needed a head priest. And so Ohoama called upon a priest named Fukurin and made him an offer he couldn't refuse… literally. Fukurin tried to object to being posted as the head priest. He said that he was too old to be in charge of the temple. Ohoama wasn't having any of it. He had made up his mind, and Fukurin was in no position to refuse him. A quick note on the two commissioners here. First off, I would note that Prince Mino here isn't mentioned as having Princely rank. Instead, he is mentioned with the ministerial rank of Shoushi. Ki no Katamaro, on the other hand, is Lower Shoukin, several grades below. Once again, a bit of confusion in the ranks, as it were. The final entry for the year 673 occurred 10 days after the erection of the great temple, and it was a fairly straightforward entry: The Buddhist Priest, Gijou, was made Shou-soudzu, or Junior Soudzu. Junior Soudzu was one of the government appointed positions of priests charged with overseeing the activities of the priests and temples and holding them to account as necessary. Originally there was the Soujou and the Soudzu, but they were later broken up into several different positions, likely due to the proliferation of Buddhism throughout the archipelago. There doesn't seem to be much on Gijou before this point, but we know that he would go on to live a pretty full life, passing away over thirty years later, in 706 CE. He would outlive Ohoama and his successor. And with that, we come to the end of the first year. I am not planning to go year by year through this entire reign—in fact, we have already touched on a lot of the various recurring entries. But I do think that it is worth it to see how the Chronicles treat this first year for a reign that would have been considered pretty momentous to the people of the time. Next episode we'll continue going through the reign of Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou. There is a lot going on, which, as I've said, will influence the nation for centuries—even up until the modern day. 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.

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A remarkable dominant win from Max underlying hsi raw talent that allowed not to make any mistakes from Quali to the race, even when the best of drivers crashed out or made sever mistakes hitting the infamous Baku walls. He has now closed the gap to Oscar to just 69 pts in 2 race weekends, which is remarkable. A nightmare weekend for Mclaren, but specifically from Oscar Piastri netted him zero point leaving Baku after a crash while Norris only fared on 7th place! An excelled performance from Merc as they came in 2nd with a fantastic drive from Rusell, and an fantastic drive from Kimi who came in 4th. A brilliant day for Sainz who came in 3rd for Williams, and also Liam Lawson who came in 5th and qualified in a top 3 position the day before!

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Ortamlarda Satılacak Bilgi

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 89:03

A very entertaining and interesting weekend in Baku for the Azerbaijan GP where we have six red flags in qualifying, Sainz on top form, McLaren not so much and Max Verstappen is unstoppable. We hope you enjoy. Warning: this podcast occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humour (which may be unsuitable...

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‘Gloves off' in McLaren title fight? Ferrari at the front? Kimi's point to prove – 2025 Azerbaijan GP Preview

F1 Nation

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2025 53:07

Former Renault driver and F1TV commentator Jolyon Palmer joins Tom Clarkson to preview this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix. After their awkward team orders in Monza, how do Jolyon and Tom think McLaren are managing the title fight between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris? What impact will that incident have on the rest of this championship battle? Max Verstappen was back to winning ways in Italy, so will he be fighting for victory again in Baku? Or will Charles Leclerc, who has taken pole four years in a row at this track, lead Ferrari to their first Grand Prix win of the season? Plus, the guys discuss a ‘change in tone' from Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff on Kimi Antonelli, why Carlos Sainz is struggling at Williams and how crucial the upcoming races are for Alpine's Franco Colapinto, while Jolyon remembers his nightmarish race at Baku in 2017. Listen to more official F1 podcasts In-depth interviews with F1's biggest stars on F1 Beyond The Grid Your F1 questions answered by the experts on F1 Explains It's All To Drive For in 2025. Be there! Book your seat for a Grand Prix this season at tickets.formula1.com THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY... Square: F1 Nation listeners can get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/f1nation

Conscious Kink 101: Kimi Inch on Awakening Erotic Energy & Leading with Heart

Sex, Drugs, & Soul

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2025 50:15

“Your reality is a result of your nervous system and how you see life. Let's shift that and be the doms of our lives.” - KimiThis conversation with Kimi Inch, The Creatrix of Erotic Leadership™, is one I've been dreaming about for over a year. Kimi is a renowned expert with 20+ years of experience in the realm of intimacy, conscious kink, and unlocking your body's untapped erotic energy. Featured on prestigious platforms such as The Oprah Winfrey Network, SXSW, Princeton University, and Nightline, Kimi's goal as a pro-Domme, Somatic Therapist, and Sex-Positive Edu-tainer is to provide a safe and pleasure-filled space for exploring parts of ourselves that we rarely dare to look at.It's been a heavy week, both individually and collectively, and after we wrapped, she thanked me for my vulnerability and said, “The world doesn't need more smart… the world needs more heart.” I invite you to explore, be open to what is possible, and press play to discover how conscious kink might weave more heart into your life, and thus, consequently, ripple into the lives of others.Click here to watch the full episode on YouTube. We Explore...▶Being turned on by the taboo▶Kink as a pathway to altered states of consciousness▶Why pain can be of service (and how to alchemize it)▶Ego death, surrender, & liberation in play▶Archetypes, Eros vs. ego, and erotic leadership▶Spanking, chakras, and awakening life force energy▶Dirty talk, erotic language & using your voice▶Aftercare & integration▶How to get your man into his heart during sex

Sorunlu İlişkimi Nasıl Kurtarabilirim?

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2025 44:54

İlişkiler bazen tıkanır, üstü tozlanır… Onarmak ise sabır ve özen ister. Bu bölümde sorunlu bir ilişkiyi nasıl toparlayabileceğimizi konuşuyoruz. Hayatın diğer alanlarında da olduğu gibi biriken yükleri temizlemek için yanımızda güçlü bir destek olduğunda her şey kolaylaşıyor. İşte Kärcher de tam bu yüzden var. 90 yıldır hayatı bizim kolaylaştıran Kärcher, güçlü çözümleriyle hem evinizi hem de zihninizi ferahlatmaya yardımcı oluyor. Detayları incelemek için tıklayın.İndirim kodu: SPKARCHER15 *Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@ortamlardasatilacakbilgi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@OrtamlardaB⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ * Reklam ve İş birlikleri için: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ortamlardasatilacakbilgi@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠*Yeni çıkan kitabım “Kendimi Nasıl İyileştiririm?”i almak için: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.eu/d/0wFlqHl⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠*Bu bölüm "⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Karcher" hakkında reklam içerir

bu kimi yeni hayat detaylar

Welcome back to Unlapped! Nate Saunders and Laurence Edmondson discuss the latest around the grid following Monza. Are McLaren prioritizing one of their two drivers? Has Antonelli's recent struggles taken a toll on Mercedes? Could Ollie Bearman suffer a race ban? Plus, Nate & Laz hit the driver market in "stock watch". All this and more on Unlapped! Support Roald Dahl's Marvelous Children and Nate Saunders! (Charity Link): https://www.justgiving.com/page/bennatevis?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL Time Codes: 0:00 Welcome to Unlapped! 1:37 Is McLaren playing favorites? 8:19 How should McLaren manage their drivers? 17:46 Did Lando change the view of the title race? 21:10 Should Mercedes be concerned about Kimi? 30:32 Would an Ollie one race ban hurt Haas? 38:10 Oracle stat of the week 38:29 Is Max back to being a victory contender? 44:23 Driver stock watch 57:04 Nate Hikes Ben Nevis + Thanks for watching!!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Camchat 0908 feat. Cameron with Peter Windsor

Short Corners

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2025 68:00

Settle back for this non-stop (and often irreverent) post-Monza chat with Cameron. All the big topics are here, including THAT first corner; Max (momentarily) ceding the lead; the happy-clappy McLaren team; and...Ferrari...and Carlos Sainz...and Kimi...and Red Bull's often-brilliant Monza car set-ups. It's double-espresso time.With thanks to Jetcraft, the world's largest buyer and seller of executive jets:https://jetcraft.comTo OEM Exclusive, the passionate suppliers of OEM upgrades for exotic and high-performance vehiclesTo TrackNinja, a lap-timer and data app designed to help users improve their on-track car and driver performance through analysis and an innovative Data Garage. A lite version is free; the loaded edition is US$9.99 pcm or $99.99 yearlyhttps://trackninja.appTo REC Watches, whose timepieces are infused with DNA and actual material from famous racing cars. Pre-order the REC Lotus 98T Ayrton Senna watch and claim your additional 10 per cent discount by adding the code PETER:https://recwatches.com/next-projectAnd to Cameron, who can be followed on: @CameronCcTV https://alpinestars.comOscar Razor: Australia's highly-rated, 5-blade razors for men and women https://oscarrazor.com.au. Follow Peter @peterdwindsorWe support the Race Against Dementia:https://raceagainstdementia.comAnd the Alora dog rescue shelter in Malaga, Spainhttps://aloradogrescue.com#standwithukraine - now, more than everAnd #Canada!Nick: you're with us alwaysSupport the show (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2301250/support)Support the showVisit: https://youtube.com/peterwindsor for F1 videos past, present and future

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Italian Formula 1 GP 2025

relationships power safety revelations classes sxsw bdsm princeton university tantra eros power plays kimi nightline altered states oprah winfrey network kimi inch

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2025 52:13

Much like the race itself, this episode will be over before you know it with little drama. We hope you enjoy. Warning: this podcast occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humour (which may be unsuitable for adults), and the ramblings of 2 uninformed blokes who don't really have a clue what...

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177: Altered States through BDSM + Power Play Revelations in Relationships with Kimi Inch

Eat. Play. Sex.

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 4, 2025 58:01

In this episode, I sit down with erotic leadership expert Kimi Inch to explore how conscious kink mirrors psychedelic journeys through ego death, altered states, and deep surrender. We dive into power dynamics, archetypes, and how resistance, shame, and desire can all be transformed into intimacy and healing. A playful, provocative conversation that redefines kink as a path to liberation and embodiment.In this episode, you'll hear:00:28 Intro02:44 Enter the Kink Queen07:37 First Lingerie, First Dungeon19:20 Safety in Surrender31:15 Eros vs. Ego40:11 Feeling More Than Touch52:23 The Power of Not SurrenderingTHE SKINNY ON OUR SEXY GUESTKimi Inch is an intimacy coach and conscious kink guide who helps people unlock their erotic energy and step into their most powerful selves. With over 20 years of experience in Tantra, sacred sexuality, and somatic therapy, she has worked with thousands of clients worldwide. Her work has been featured on platforms like The Oprah Winfrey Network, SXSW, Princeton University, and Nightline. As a sensual alchemist and sex-positive educator, Kimi creates safe, playful spaces for people to explore hidden parts of themselves and discover new pathways to healing and pleasure.LINKS FROM THE SHOWKimi's Instagram @kimiinch10% off Kimi's upcoming workshop in October: https://andmorepresents.com/ref/Drcat/WANT MORE?Join me for my monthly Un.done Classes:learn.sexloveyoga.com/come-undoneSensual Sundays Guide: https://learn.sexloveyoga.com/sensual-sundays

The Hills of Zandvoort are Alive (with Emotion)

Mode Push: The F1 Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 4, 2025 20:26

Oscar Piastri looked unstoppable at Zandvoort, giving off some low key WDC energy. Meanwhile, Hadjar locks in Rookie of the Year with a heartwarming podium, and Antonelli and Lawson are racking up penalties (and travel bans?) like it's a new F1 tradition. Italy won't let Kimi in for punting Leclerc? Spain / Sainz shuts the door on Lawson? The drama is continental. Also: insane returns on the business side as Middle Eastern stakes in Aston and McLaren grow — and the sport's financial engine starts to look just as turbocharged as the grid.Plus: Cadillac's lineup is giving Bridesmaids (and we love it).Next up, Monza! Predictions included for a more Ferrari friendly weekend. Aside from Charles' moody hill stint in the Netherlands, which looked like the makings of a piano sequel album. For more high-octane content, send us your race reactions or dish out some F1 tea:twitter: @modepushf1instagram: @modepushf1web: www.mode-push-f1.come-mail: modepushf1@gmail.com

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Reimagining Yamato

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 1, 2025 39:10

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.

Dutch Formula 1 GP 2025

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2025 66:40

Back from holiday and raring to go, the Formula 1 circus heads to the Dutch GP where Stroll promptly destroys his car, twice. Hadjar makes it to the podium and Lando breaks down. We hope you enjoy. Warning: this podcast occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humour (which may be unsuitable...

british race team hamilton dutch formula racing driver ferrari bull f1 prix mclaren formula1 lando kimi stroll verstappen vettel ricciardo dutch gp rosberg raikkonen

Remain in Me | Pastor Kimi Davis

King's Alaska Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2025

Our Sunday Night Worship Experience streamed live on August 31th, 2025. Experience life with people, power, and purpose. Connect with us! https://www.kcalaska.com/ https://www.facebook.com/kingschapel.alaska/ https://www.instagram.com/kingschapelalaska/ Give: https://www.kcalaska.com/give/

remain kimi

ROAD08 | Road to Nowhere | The Electric State

twitch discord hang dungeons and dragons rpg kilo kimi electric state road to nowhere one shots free league

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2025 178:01

RPG System: Electric State by Free League (freeleaguepublishing.com)A group of uneasy acquaintances embark on a road trip north from the Los Angeles Metroplex to escape the corporate overlords that are after them. Will they survive the perils of a society in decline? Will they survive countless hours trapped in a van together? ◇ Visit happyjacks.org/roadtonowhere for a full list of this campaign's videos and podcasts. CAST: GM: CADave (he/him) https://cadave.carrd.co/ Kimi (she/her) https://kimihughes.carrd.co/ Cassandra Nyx (she/her), The Devotee Cai (he/they/she) https://estelofimladris.carrd.co Kilo (he/they/it), The Drone Pilot Kodi (they/them) https://www.kodigonzaga.com Ronnie Rhodes (they/them), The Doctor Visit https://happyjacks.org//roadtonowhere for a full list of this campaign's videos and podcasts. Consider supporting the show on PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/happyjacksrpg ◇ Subscribe to our other podcast feeds! We have a weekly tabletop RPG talk show based on topics sent in from fans around the world, and a great collection of One-Shots if you prefer bite sized adventures. ◇ You can watch us on Youtube or Twitch! Hang out with other tabletop roleplaying fans in our Discord community! Tags: happyjacksrpg, tabletop, gaming, rpg, advice, dnd, d&d, podcast, roleplaying, happy jacks, stream, streaming, twitch, youtube, dm, gm, dming, gming, game master, dungeon master, campaign, dungeons and dragons, hjrpg, ttrpg, freeleague, electricstate

ROAD09 | Road to Nowhere | The Electric State

twitch discord hang dungeons and dragons rpg kilo kimi electric state road to nowhere one shots free league

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2025 161:33

RPG System: Electric State by Free League (freeleaguepublishing.com)A group of uneasy acquaintances embark on a road trip north from the Los Angeles Metroplex to escape the corporate overlords that are after them. Will they survive the perils of a society in decline? Will they survive countless hours trapped in a van together? ◇ Visit happyjacks.org/roadtonowhere for a full list of this campaign's videos and podcasts. CAST: GM: CADave (he/him) https://cadave.carrd.co/ Kimi (she/her) https://kimihughes.carrd.co/ Cassandra Nyx (she/her), The Devotee Cai (he/they/she) https://estelofimladris.carrd.co Kilo (he/they/it), The Drone Pilot Kodi (they/them) https://www.kodigonzaga.com Ronnie Rhodes (they/them), The Doctor Visit https://happyjacks.org//roadtonowhere for a full list of this campaign's videos and podcasts. Consider supporting the show on PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/happyjacksrpg ◇ Subscribe to our other podcast feeds! We have a weekly tabletop RPG talk show based on topics sent in from fans around the world, and a great collection of One-Shots if you prefer bite sized adventures. ◇ You can watch us on Youtube or Twitch! Hang out with other tabletop roleplaying fans in our Discord community! Tags: happyjacksrpg, tabletop, gaming, rpg, advice, dnd, d&d, podcast, roleplaying, happy jacks, stream, streaming, twitch, youtube, dm, gm, dming, gming, game master, dungeon master, campaign, dungeons and dragons, hjrpg, ttrpg, freeleague, electricstate

The Race to AI Dominance: US and Chinese Approaches Differ

China Global

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2025 28:25

The United States and China are locked in a race for dominance in artificial intelligence, including its applications and diffusion. American and Chinese AI firms like OpenAI and DeepSeek respectively have captured global attention and major companies like Google and Microsoft have been actively investing in AI development. While the US currently boasts world-leading AI models, China is ahead in some areas of AI research and application. With the release of US and Chinese AI action plans in July, we may be on the cusp of a new phase in US-China AI competition.Why is AI so important for a country's global influence? What are the strengths of China's AI strategy? And what does China's new AI action plan tell us about its AI ambitions? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Owen Daniels. Owen is the Associate Director of Analysis at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Atlantic Council. His recently published article in Foreign Affairs co-authored with Hanna Dohmen -- titled China's Overlooked AI Strategy -- provides insights into how Beijing is utilizing AI to gain global dominance and what the US can and should do to sustain and bolster its lead.Timestamps[00:00] Start [02:05] US Policy Risks to Chinese AI Leadership [05:28] Deepseek and Kimi's Newest Models [07:54] US vs. China's Approach to AI [10:42] Limitations to China's AI Strategy [13:08] Using AI as a Soft Power Tool [16:10] AI Action Plans [19:34] Trump's Approach to AI Competition [22:30] Can China Lead Global AI Governance? [25:10] Evolving US Policy for Open Models

The Jinshin no Ran Part IV: The Afumi Campaign

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2025 47:16

The fourth and final episode in our series on the Jinshin no Ran: we cover the campaign in Afumi (aka Ōmi - 近江). Prince Ōama and Prince Ōtomo (aka Kōbun Tennō), have drawn up their forces. Last episode we covered the fighting in the Nara Basin, around the ancient Yamato capital: Asuka. This episode focuses on the defense of the Karafu and Fuwa passes and the eventual march to the bridge at Setagawa. This is a name heavy episode, and we'll be noting some of it here: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-132 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua and this is episode 132: The Jinshin no Ran, Part 4: The Afumi Campaign The Afumi soldiers on the western side of the bridge looked across the open expanse of water towards their Yoshino rivals on the eastern side. If it weren't for the banners and the red tags barely visible on the sleeves of the opposing forces, it would be hard to know which side was which. Both were equipped in similar ways, and a few of the soldiers could even make out familiar faces on the other side. That is the nature of civil wars—especially in a conscript society, where the soldiers often had little choice which side they were fighting for. Not that it necessarily mattered much to them which side came out on top, whatever their commanders might have told them. The bridge across the Seta river was large and wide, and normally quite well traveled. Now, however, the central boards had been pulled up for a span of about 30 feet or so, leaving a gap spanned by only a single, narrow plank. That plank was, itself, tied to a rope, which was being held by the Afumi troops. The soldiers knew that should any of the enemy try to cross, they could pull the plank out from under them and they would fall into the river, their metal armor dragging them down into the dark depths of swirling water below. Even should they somehow make it across without being peppered by arrows, there would be no reinforcements coming: they would be slaughtered, and the trap would be reset. It seemed like the Afumi forces held all the cards in this battle, and yet they were still tense. Archers could still shoot across the distance. The front rank of troops held wooden shields as a defense, but there were still openings in the formation and the armor, and in the chaos of battle, nobody was truly safe. And so the Afumi forces waited. Confident, but wary. A commotion on the eastern side of the bridge grabbed the spotlight. The Yoshino forces had approached, and they were clearly preparing for something. The Afumi soldiers strained to see what was going on. Suddenly, the front line of the Yoshino forces parted, and a strange sight confronted the Afumi soldiers. It took them a moment to fully comprehend what was barreling towards them at full tilt: a soldier that looked almost like two soldiers put together, wearing armor placed over armor, in an attempt to protect from harm. It must have been heavy, and as he stepped on the beam, it visibly buckled under the weight. The Afumi archers let loose with their arrows and crossbow bolts, but to no avail. They simply stuck in the armor, adding to the bizarre and otherworldly appearance of their opponent. The spell was broken on the Afumi side as arrows came cascading in. The Yoshino forces weren't just sitting idly back, they were making sure they were doing everything they could to keep the Afumi forces distracted. And for a split second it worked—and a split second was all they needed. Before the soldiers could gather up their wits about them enough to pull the rope there was a terrifying sound of metal on wood. The Afumi soldiers pulled the rope, but it came all too easy—the Yoshino soldier had dashed across and cut the rope tied to the plank. Behind him, the Yoshino forces were now pouring across the bridge. Soon they would establish a foothold, and behind the front line they would be able to have other soldiers place more planks so that the number of Yoshino soldiers on the Western side of the bridge only continued to increase. Realizing that their trap had been circumvented, the Afumi forces fell back, but their strategic withdrawal soon turned into a full on retreat. While pockets of soldiers resisted, many were suddenly all too aware that perhaps it was better to live and fight another day, instead. Despite threats and even attacks from their own commanders, the Afumi forces fled the battlefield, leaving the Yoshino army victorious. With the Seta bridge now secured, there were no more major obstacles in their way: They would march to the capital at Ohotsu and finish this war. Welcome back! This is Part 4, and so if you haven't already done so, I recommend going back and starting with Part 1. That said, we'll briefly recap here. Over the past three episodes, we've talked about the causes of the war between Prince Ohotomo and Prince Ohoama as they vied for the throne. Prince Ohotomo seemingly had the stronger position, as he was actually running the Yamato state from the Afumi capital in Ohotsu. He had the various ministers and all the official organs of the state on his side. He was also 23 years old. Ohoama, on the other side, was Ohotomo's paternal uncle. His own son, Prince Takechi, was 19 years old and helping to lead the army. Upon learning that the State was gathering forces against him, Ohoama had quickly moved east, gathering forces as he went, and now he stood near Fuwa, modern day Sekigahara, prepared to begin his march on the capital. This episode we are going to cover the conclusion of the war. Warning, though, this is going to be a *lot*. A lot of place names and people names. Apologies if it is hard to follow. I'll have a rough map and info on the various players on the podcast blog, so you may want to bring that up if you are having problems following. In Part I of this series we covered the causes leading up to the conflict. In Part II we covered Ohoama's mad dash to Fuwa, at modern Sekigahara. Last episode, Part III we covered the fighting in the Nara Basin. This episode we are going to talk about the last two fronts of the war: the defense of the Iga area and Kurafu Pass, and the march from Fuwa to the Afumi capital of Ohotsu. Before we go into the details of the next battles, let's look at what each side of the conflict was doing, what they are concerned about, and where they are on the board. We'll then go into how the rest of the war played out, and its conclusion and aftermath. Ohoama's Yoshino forces had largely been drawn from the countries in the east—the very same countries that Ohoama was denying to the Afumi court. In response, the Afumi court had drawn their forces from where they could. There were those that they had already called up under the pretense of building Naka no Oe's burial mound, but they had sent others out to raise troops in Yamato and out the western side of Honshu, all the way to Tsukushi—modern Kyushu. However, not everyone in the Western region of the archipelago was friendly to the Afumi court—especially the regions of Kibi and Tsukushi. This was significant. Kibi was an ancient rival of Yamato, and likely could contribute a sizeable force. Tsukushi, on the other hand, was quite large, and besides the conscripts from among the regular inhabitants, Tsukushi also was in charge of defending the archipelago from invasion—they were the first line of defense. They had constructed numerous castles and fortifications to defend against a possible invasion, and those castles and fortifications were no doubt manned by troops that had been raised for that purpose. If they could now be turned inwards, that could be enough to really turn the tide against Ohoama and his Yoshino army. The only problem was that neither Kibi nor Tsukushi were exactly sympathetic to the Afumi court. The governor of Kibi and Prince Kurikuma, the viceroy of Tsukushi, both had ties to Ohoama, and the ministers suspected them of sympathizing with their Yoshino rivals. As such the envoys that were sent out were authorized to take whatever drastic steps they felt necessary to secure the troops. So how did that all go down? Well, last episode we talked about how Hodzumi no Momotari and his crew had been stopped from raising troops in Asuka by Ohotomo no Fukei, whose bluff of pretending to be Prince Takechi and a host of cavalry soldiers caused the conscripted troops to flee, and ended up in the death of Momotari and the capture of his compatriots. In Kibi, things took a turn in Afumi's favor. When the Afumi government's envoy arrived at the government center in Kibi, he tricked the governor into taking off his sword. Once he had done so, the envoy drew his own sword and killed the governor. Without the governor to get in his way, the envoy then went about securing the land and troops for the Afumi court. Prince Kurikuma, the viceroy in Tsukushi, at the Dazaifu, was not quite so easily fooled, however. Kurikuma knew how the court operated, and was apparently well informed of what was going on. When the Afumi court's envoy met with Kurikuma, the Prince was flanked by two of his sons, Prince Mino and Prince Takebe, each one armed. When Prince Kurikuma heard what the Afumi court wanted—for him to send the troops from Tsukushi to help quell Ohoama's rebellion—Kurikuma responded that he needed those troops to hold the border. After all, the Tang dynasty was still a potential threat, and what good would it do to send the troops from the border regions to fight an internal war, only to then have an invader come in and destroy the state entirely? No, he reasoned, he would not be sending the troops as the Afumi court requested. We are told that for a moment, the Afumi envoy thought about grabbing his sword and killing Prince Kurikuma, as the Afumi court had suggested, but with both of Kurikuma's sons armed on either side of him, he realized that he didn't have great odds, and so he eventually left, empty handed, but alive. This is significant. While we don't know exact numbers, it is likely that there were quite a few troops stationed in Kyushu and the islands, all in case of foreign invasion. By not supplying them to the Afumi court, Prince Kurikuma dealt a huge blow to the Afumi's ability to make war. Add to that the fact that Ohoama had likewise blocked the court's access to the eastern countries, and that further narrowed the troops that Afumi had access to. Nonetheless, they still had enough to be dangerous, and it is impossible to say exactly what might happen in a war. So we know where the Afumi and Yoshino forces ostensibly came from, but let's talk about the battlefield. All of the fighting that we talk about was happening in an area between Naniwa—modern Ohosaka—and Fuwa, modern Sekigahara, northwest from the modern city of Nagoya. There are three main theaters we are talking about. The first is in the Nara basin, which we talked about extensively in the last episode. The Nara basin itself was not necessarily of the most strategic importance, militarily, but it was of huge symbolic importance. After all, that was still the ancient capital, even though the governmental functions had been moved north, to Ohotsu, on the shores of Lake Biwa. The second is in the Suzuka mountains. This includes the areas of Iga and Kouka, and it is bordered by the Nara basin on the west, the Mie coastline on the east, and Afumi, the area around lake Biwa, to the north. This is the same region that Ohoama had to naviagate through on his way from Yoshino to the east, and the mountains and valleys make it so that there are only so many traversable routes through. For our narrative we are going to be primarily talking about the Kurafu Pass, between Kouka and Iga, at modern Tsuge city. This pass was an important route between Kouka, Iga, and Mie. The road followed the Soma River which eventually flowed into Lake Biwa. This made it a route out of Afumi, and if the Afumi forces could secure the Kurafu pass and the fields of Tara, just on the other side, they could split Ohoama's forces and cut off any help that he could possibly send to the Nara basin, and possibly even take Ohoama from behind. Finally, let's talk about our third theater: Afumi itself. Specifically, we are looking at the southern and eastern sides around Lake Biwa. Biwa is the largest lake in Japan, and it is almost entirely surrounded by mountains except for where the Seta river flows south, eventually winding its way to Naniwa. Today, the area of Afumi is largely co-located with modern Shiga Prefecture. Back in 668, after finding themselves on the losing side of the Baekje-Tang war, Naka no Oe, aka Tenji Tennou, had moved the capital to Ohotsu, or Big Port, in Afumi, on the shores of Lake Biwa, likely for the protection it gave. From Afumi, there were three major routes out of the basin, and a few minor ones. All of them were through defensible mountain passes, like Karafu Pass, Fuwa Pass, and Suzuka Pass. Three such passes: Fuwa, Suzuka, and Arachi would become prominent barriers, or seki, along the ancient roads, and were known as the Sangen, or Three Barriers, protecting the capital region. Suzuka no seki, at the pass of the same name, was in the south. To reach it from Afumi, one crossed the Karafu pass, and then turned east through a pass near Mt. Miyama. At the northern tip of the Suzuka mountains was Fuwa pass, future home of the Fuwa barrier. The Barrier, or “Seki” would give its name to the area in another form: Sekigahara. This was along the Tousandou, the Eastern Mountain road, and even today it is the path through which roads and even the Shinkansen traverse between eastern and western Honshu. Finally, though less important to our story, was the Arachi pass. Arachi no seki was part of the Hokurikudo, the Northern Land Route, and led to the ancient country of Kochi and the port of Tsuruga, which had a long history as an alternate port, especially for ships sailing from Goguryeo. Later, Arachi no seki would be replaced in the Sangen ranking by another pass between Afumi and modern Kyoto, which would be known as the Afusaka, or Ohosaka, Pass. This was the pass that would have been used to get to Yamashiro and, from there, to Naniwa and the Nara Basin. These three passes would come to define the island of Honshu, and became the dividing line between the Kanto region, in the east, and the Kansai region, in the west. By holding the Suzuka and Fuwa passes, Ohoama effectively denied any travel to the eastern regions. Sure, Afumi could have tried going through the Arachi pass and into Kochi, but then they would have had to traverse the Japan alps—no small feat, especially without modern conveniences like the trains and busses used today. From Fuwa Pass, where Ohoama and Prince Takechi had set up their headquarters, it was largely a straight shot to the Afumi capital of Ohotsu. Between Lake Biwa and the Suzuka mountains is a wide, flat plain, divided primarily by the rivers and streams running out from the mountains into the lake. Immediately west of Fuwa is the area of Maibara. Following the shore of the lake one traverses through modern Hikone, to Yasu. Yasu would also have been the location where the road to the Karafu pass broke off into the Suzuka mountains. Beyond that was the bridge across the Seta River. The Seta river was one of the largest obstacles that would have to be negotiated, and the Afumi forces knew this. Just as Ohoama would set up at Fuwa pass, a large number of the Afumi forces were set up on the western bank of the Seta river. If the Yoshino forces could get across, however, it would mean that they had a more or less unimpeded route to the capital at Ohotsu. So now let's talk about what was happening in each of these places. Ohoama had set up at Fuwa—Sekigahara—and had begun to call soldiers to him. Not only did did this allow him to block the rival Afumi troops from accessing the Eastern countries and possibly raising troops to use against him, but he was also able to maintain a line of communication with ancient Yamato, in the Nara Basin. In order to keep his communication lines open, and to ensure that the Afumi forces couldn't sneak up behind him, Ohoama split his forces in two. He knew that Afumi forces were trying to take his stronghold in Yamato, and if successful, from there they could move in to Uda and on to Iga. thereafter that, they could march up behind him through the Suzuka pass. Alternatively, the forces in Afumi could come up through Kouka and the Karafu pass, and then try to divide and conquer So the first group of Ohoama's army were to go south, through the Suzuka pass into their mountain namesake. Once there, Oho no Omi no Honji was to hold Tarano, the Plain of Tara, where the routes to Suzuka, Kafuka, and Iga met. Tanaka no Omi no Tarumaro went with him, with orders to guard the Kurafu pass, which is to say the road to Kouka. This first group was headed by Ki no Omi no Abemaro, and also included Miwa no Kimi no Kobito, and Okizome no Muraji no Usagi. Along with what we are told were tens of thousands of men, this first made their way south from Fuwa through Mie and Ise and over the Suzuka pass. Once there, they took up their positions at Karafu and Tarano. It was a good thing, too, because only a couple of days after they arrived, the enemy struck. Now as soon as he got there, Oho no Honji had fortified Tarano with some three thousand men, and Tanaka no Tarumaro was sent to guard the Kurafu pass. Prior to this, Tarumaro had been the official in charge of the Hot Springs in Ise, but he had joined Ohoama and the Yoshino forces when they first arrived over the Suzuka Pass. Now he was in charge of a military force, encamped along the road through the Kurafu pass, waiting for the enemy. Unbeknownst to him, a deputy commander of the Afumi forces, Tanabe no Wosumi, was approaching from Mt. Kafuka. Presumably he'd been sent out from Ohotsu and had followed the road along the Yasu and Soma rivers towards the pass. Wosumi had sizeable force with him, but he was not looking for a direct assault. Even if he would win, he would suffer casualties, especially trying to attack an entrenched enemy in a fortified position. He needed to be sneaky. He had no way of knowing that, centuries later, the lands of Iga and Kouka would be known for their sneaky warriors—their legendary ninja—but I digressed. What Wosumi did was this. First, he rolled up his banners and muffled the drums. He even had his men gag themselves—a continental custom where soldiers were given a stick to hold in their mouth, like a horse's bit, to discourage any talking amongst the ranks as they approached. Presumably, they kept them in until just before attacking, because they also devised a watchword “kane”—transcribed as metal or gold. Wosumi knew that it would be hard enough to tell who was who in the daytime—after all, it wasn't like these were regimented forces with uniforms. The soldiers were likely all wearing whatever they had available, and clothing and armor would have been similar across the two armies. At night, even some kind of mark or flag would hardly be enough to tell who was who in the dark. As lines broke and melee ensued, it would be easy to get turned around, and find yourself facing a friend. By saying the watchword you could distinguish friend from foe. Sure enough, this tactic worked. The Afumi forces broke through the Yoshino fortifications in the middle of the night and swarmed into the encampment. Men who had been asleep were waking up to chaos. Tarumaro's Yoshino soldiers were thrown into confusion. Tarumaro himself, escaped, but just barely. we are told that he noticed that the enemy kept shouting the word “kane”, and so he started doing it as well. The Afumi forces, assuming he was one of their own, left him alone. Still, he only escaped with difficulty. His escape was no doubt critical, however. He presumably would have headed to Tarano to try and warn Oho no Honji, but this may not have been possible, as we are told that on the following day, after the attack at Karafu pass, the Afumi commander Wosumi continued his advance, and came upon the Yoshino encampment at Tarano unexpectedly. Still, General Honji did not back down. With a force of hand-picked soldiers, Honji counterattacked against Wosumi and struck him. We are told that Wosumi made it out—the only one who did—but that he did not try and make another attack. The Yoshino forces would ultimately hold the pass and the critical juncture of Tarano. The Afumi forces would not get a second chance. By the way, a quick note here: I can't help but notice a bit of a trope showing up in these stories: At Narayama, General Fukei is defeated, and is the only person who makes his escape. Then Tarumaro is the only person to escape his defeat. Finally, Wosumi is the only one of his forces to leave the plain of Tara. I am more than a little incredulous that these generals are the only ones who actually survived, and that the rest of the army was slaughtered. In fact, you may recall that at the battle at Taima, General Fukei told his men not to pursue the fleeing common soldiers. As I've tried to point out, the common soldiers were not likely as invested in the cause. In fact, it is just as possible that the common soldiers may have changed sides and joined the other army if they thought it would serve them well. Or maybe they were escaping and just blending into the countryside. After all, the elites weren't really spending the time to get to know them, let along record any details about them. So I suspect that it was more about the fact that the various armies would be broken, and the soldiers flung to the four corners, rather than that they were necessarily slaughtered. After all, if you had the choice, would you have stayed there? A few days after Wosumi was defeated, the Yoshino general that Ohoama had sent to Iga along with Honji and Tarumaro, Ki no Omi no Abemaro, heard that their ally, Ohotomo no Fukei was in trouble in the Nara Basin. He'd been defeated by the Afumi general Ohono no Hatayasu at Narayama, and without reinforcements, the entire Nara Basin could fall, along with the ancient Yamato capital at Asuka. So Abemaro sent Okizome no Muraji no Usagi with more than a thousand cavalry to go assist. They met Fukei at Sumizaka, and suddenly, things were looking up in the Nara Basin. For more on how that turned out, check out last episode, where we covered the events in the Nara Basin. Once the events in the Nara Basin settled out, then both the Nara Basin and the Karafu pass would be well and truly in the hands of the Yoshino forces. But there was no way for those guarding those locations to know that the fighting was over, and they would have to hold their positions until the fighting had definitively stopped. Which brings us back to Ohoama and the Yoshino troops gathered at Fuwa, where things were about to kick off as well. The troops at Fuwa, while being led by Ohoama and his 19 year old son, Takechi, were placed under the command of Murakuni no Muraji no Woyori—who, , as things progressed, would be noted as the primary general for the campaign that would lead Yoshino troops from Fuwa, on the offensive towards Ohotsu. The only reason that they seem to have waited before going on the offensive was that every day, more troops were coming in. So even as the fighting was going on in Nara and at the Karafu pass, the Yoshino army at Fuwa gathered men and made their preparations. As they did so, the Afumi court Was going to do whatever they could to try and break them, hoping that they could stop the threat posed by Ohoama and his men before they began their march. For the Afumi forces first attempt to break the Yoshino defenses at Fuwa pass, they picked troops to try and make an incursion into the village of Tamakurabe, which appears to have been in the pass itself; it was probably modern Tama district of Sekigahara. They were repelled, however, by Izumo no Omi no Koma, who drove them off. Later, the Afumi court ordered another force of several tens of thousands of men to attack under the command of Prince Yamabe no Ou, Soga no Omi no Hatayasu, and Kose no Omi no Hito. Soga no Hatayasu and Kose no Hito were both part of the inner circle of the Afumi court, or so it would seem. When Prince Ohotomo had taken the reins of the government in a ceremony in the Western Hall of the Palace, he was attended by the ministers of the right and left, as well as Soga no Hatayasu, Kose no Hito, and Ki no Ushi. They were at the very heart of this whole matter. Prince Yamabe is a little bit more of a mystery. We know he was someone of note, and when Prince Ohotsu was brought to his parents, they were apparently traveling under the guise of Prince Yamabe and another prince, Prince Ishikawa. But we know little else. The three men and their Afumi troops headed out and camped on the bank of the Inukami river, near modern Hikone. There, however, trouble broke out. The Nihon Shoki does not record exactly what it was, but there must have been some kind of falling out. Prince Yamabe no Ou was killed by Soga no Hatayasu and Kose no Hito. We don't know if this was due to some quarrel or what, but either way, it threw the army into a state of disarray and there was no way for them to move forward. Soga no Hatayasu appears to have taken responsibility for whatever happened, as he headed back from Inukami, presumably back to Ohotsu, where he took his own life by stabbing himself in the throat. There would be no attack on Fuwa Pass, however. Finally, the Nihon Shoki also recounts the story of another Afumi general, named Hata no Kimi no Yakuni, and his son, Ushi. Together with others, who remain unnamed, they surrendered themselves to Ohoama and the Yoshino forces, rather than fighting. It isn't clear if they were deserters, if they had been part of one of the other two attempts to take Fuwa Pass, or if there was something else going on. Either way, Ohoama was so pleased that he welcomed them in and we are told that Hata no Yakuni was “granted a battle axe and halberd” and appointed a general. This is probably stock phrasing, but it does seem he was given some measure of trust. Yakuni's men were then sent north, to Koshi. We aren't quite sure what those forces' ultimate objective was. It may have been that he was to take the northern pass and make sure that none of the Afumi troops tried to escape and head to the East along that road. Many of the accounts of this war seem to suggest that he, or at least some part of the forces, were to head north and then come around Lake Biwa the long way. This would mean that if Ohoama attacked, there would be no easy way to flee. From Ohotsu they couldn't turn north without running into more troops, and their only escape would seem to be through the Afusaka pass towards the area of modern Kyoto. And of course, whoever was victorious in the Nara Basin would then be able to control the route to the coast. It is unclear how much Ohoama could have actually known, though, about what was happening across the various distances. Messages would have meant riders on swift horses carrying them; they couldn't just text each other what was going on. And so, with one attack repelled, another aborted, and a turncoat now on their side, Ohoama's Yoshino forces were finally ready to head out on the offensive themselves. According to the Nihon Shoki this was on the 7th day of the 7th month—Tanabata, today, but I doubt people were paying much mind to the Weaver and the Cowherd. Murakuni no Woyori, with the group advancing from Fuwa to Afumi, set out, and met with their first resistance at the Yokugawa river in Okinaga. As far as I can tell, this is likely the Amano River in modern Maibara, which anyone who takes the Shinkansen between Kanto and Kansai probably recognizes as one of the usual stops. Once again, we have a situation where, while they would have had banners flying, in the crush of battle it could be quite easy to mistake friend for foe, especially with large numbers of troops who were pulled from vastly different regions. You had to have some way of knowing quickly who was on your side – that's why the Afumi commander Wosumi had his troops use the password “kane”, for example. Ohoama's approach was to have his men place a red mark—possibly a ribbon or similar—on their clothing so that one could tell who, at a glance, was on their side. As a note, later samurai would sometimes attach flags to their shoulder armor, or sode, and these “sode-jirushi” would help identify you even if people didn't recognize your armor. Ohoama's troops may have used something similar. And so Woyori's Yoshino forces attacked the Afumi defenders, and the Afumi troops were clearly outmatched. Woyori's men killed the Afumi commander and defeated the opposing forces. But that was just the beginning. Afumi forces had been stationed all along the route from Fuwa to Ohotsu. Thus it was that only two days later Woyori and his men made it to Mt. Tokoyama, probably in Hikone, by the Seri river. There they met more Afumi soldiers, but once again they were triumphant and slew the opposing commander. Woyori and his men were on a roll. I would point out that these battles aren't given much detail, but we do see how it progressed. There are names of various individuals and commanders—certainly not much on the common people. From what we can tell, this was not a rush to Ohotsu, but rather a slow march, probably doing their best to fortify their positions and make sure that nobody was sneaking up on them. After each battle, it is some days before the next, probably spent spying out ahead and formulating plans. Woyori and his men next fought a battle on the banks of the Yasukawa River, presumably near modern Yasu city. Here, Aston's translation claims that he suffered a great defeat, but more likely I suspect it means to say that he inflicted a great defeat on the Afumi forces, because if he had been defeated, how would he have pressed on only a few days later. We are told that two men, presumably the Afumi commanders, were both taken prisoner. Since we don't have anything more about them in the narrative all we can really do is assume that they must have therefore been on the side of the Afumi forces. By taking Yasu, that would have likely cut off the Afumi forces from any future considerations about using the Kurafu Pass. The noose around Ohotsu was slowly tightening. Four days after that, on the 17th day of the 7th month, Woyori attacked and repulsed the Kurimoto army—presumably a force loyal to the Afumi court under a general named Kurimoto, or possibly raised from a place called Kurimoto, perhaps over on Awaji. Either way, it was another victory on Woyori's belt. From there, Woyori and his men arrived at Seta, where they would have to cross the Setagawa—the Seta River. The Seta River is a wide river, and the only one flowing out of Lake Biwa. It winds its way south and west, eventually becoming the Uji and then the Yodo rivers, which flow all the way to Naniwa—modern Ohosaka. At the Seta river, there was a major bridge, the only way across, other than to swim. Prince Ohotomo and his ministers, along with their entire army, were encamped on the west side of the bridge. Their forces were so numerous that it was said you could not see all the way to the back of them. Their banners covered the plain, and the dust of their movement caused a cloud to rise into the sky. Their drums and songs could be heard for miles around. We are told they even had crossbows, and when they were discharged the arrows fell like rain. Of course, some of this may have just been more poetic license by the authors of the Nihon Shoki, but you get the picture: There were a lot of troops on the western side of the river. The bridge itself was defended by General Chison. We know very little of this general, as he only appears in this one part of the record, but his name implies that he may have been from the continent. We aren't given a surname, and it is possible he was one of the Baekje refugees, now fighting for the Afumi court. He led an advance body of specially selected troops, and in the middle of the bridge they had removed planks for about three rods or thirty feet. Across that span was a single plank, daring anyone to try and cross it. Of course, if they did, they would be a sitting duck in front of the enemy archers, and the plank was attached by a rope so that it could always be pulled out from under them. It seemed as if it were impossible to advance. Finally, one of Woyori's soldiers, Ohokida no Kimi no Wakaomi, got up the courage to cross. We are told that he put on double armor, put down his long spear, and drew his sword. He then charged suddenly across the plank and cut the rope on the other side before the Afumi troops could pull it back. In spite of the arrows that were raining down on him, he entered the ranks of the Afumi troops, slashing with his sword as he went. The Afumi forces were thrown into confusion and some of them tried to leave, but General Chison drew his own sword and began to cut down anyone who tried to flee. Still, he was unable to check the rout. Woyori's troops secured the bridge and soon were pouring across it. They cut down General Chison and advanced into the Afumi army, who broke and ran. The Afumi sovereign, Ohotomo, aka Koubun Tennou, along with the Ministers of the Left and Right, narrowly escaped with their lives. Woyori and his troops marched to the foot of Awazu hill, and we are told that Hata no Yakuni, the Afumi commander who had earlier defected, and whose men were sent north to Koshi, set a siege to Miwo castle along with Izumo no Koma, who had defended against the attempted seizure of Tamakurabe. Presumably this is Mio, south of Ohotsu, and it was likely guarding the southern approach to the Afumi capital. The only thing here that gives me pause is that we were earlier told that Yakuni's men, after he defected, were sent to Koshi. So was Yakuni not with them? Had he returned? Or had the troops made it all the way around Lake Biwa already, taking the longer route up and around the lake? Regardless of how it happened, Yakuni and Koma were able to take Miwo castle. As a reminder, a “castle” at this time would have likely been defined more by its walls, which were probably rammed earth and wood—not the elegantly sloping stone walls and donjon base that would come to typify castles of the Warring States period. The following day, Woyori and his men continued their pursuit. At the Awazu marketplace, Woyori ran into the Afumi generals Inukahi no Muraji no Isokimi and Hasama no Atahe no Shihote. We mentioned Isokimi last episode—he was the Afumi commander attacking the Middle Road in the Nara Basin. His deputy, Kujira, had been defeated, and it seems Isokimi had retreated back to Afumi and rejoined the main force. He would not be quite so fortunate this time. Isokimi and Shihote were both slain, and Ohotomo fled once again. He didn't get very far, hiding at Yamazaki, thought to be near the site of the modern city hall, in Ohotsu. Despite his best efforts, he knew he would be discovered, and he eventually strangled himself, rather than facing the humiliation and punishment that would come with capture. With Ohotomo dead, the other ministers of the Afumi court dispersed and fled. Woyori and his men, meeting up at Sasanami, hunted down the Ministers of the Left and Right—Soga no Akaye and Nakatomi no Kane—as well as others who had fought with Ohotomo and who were considered criminals. They were all marched back to Fuwa, where, on the 25th day of the 7th month, Ohotomo's head was presented to Ohoama. The war, it seems, was over. Or at least, the fighting was over. There was still a lot to be settled. First off, it would hardly have been practical to wipe out every single person on the losing side. For one thing, that would have devastated the Court even further, likely creating a huge power vacuum. In addition, many of the supporters on both sides were not necessarily there out of purely partisan reasons. I would point out that many of the family names that we see in the record are found on both sides of the conflict. Inukahi no Isokimi may have fought for Ohotomo, but we also see an Inukahi no Ohotomo fighting on the behalf of Ohoama. Fumi no Nemaro was a major commander in Ohoama's army, while Fumi no Kusuri had been sent by the Afumi court to raise troops in the East Country. And Hasama no Shihote was killed with Isokimi at Awazu, while a Hasama no Nemaro was working under the command of General Fukei, in Nara, to guard Tatsuta. There wasn't necessarily a simple divide along family lines. It is possible that these individuals were all fairly well removed from each other, and from different parts of their respective families, or clans. They are often given different kabane, the family rank system used at this time, though I suspect that may have more to do with later changes, with those on the winning side being promoted over those who supported the Afumi court. However, it is also the case that Japan has a long history of family members supporting both sides in any major conflict. That way, no matter who wins, the family itself finds itself on the winning side. But there did have to be some accountability. This is something that one can point to time and again—if the losing side is not held accountable for their actions, then what is to prevent them from just regrouping and trying again? And yet that need for justice and punishment must be tempered with some amount of humanity. Ultimately, about one month after the end of the war, eight of the Afumi ministers were found guilty of truly heinous offences and they were condemned to suffer what the Nihon Shoki says was the “Extreme Penalty”. The Minister of the Right, Nakatomi no Kane, was executed at Tane, in Asai. Meanwhile the Minister of the Left, Soga no Akaye; along with the Dainagon, or Grand Councillor, Kose no Hito, as well as their children and grandchildren, along with the children of the late Nakatomi no Kane and Soga no Hatayasu, were all sent into banishment. All others were pardoned. And of course those who had supported Ohoama, and who had come to his aid, were given public favour and reward. In many cases this likely meant receiving high office and corresponding rank, along with increased stipend payments. There is a notable shift in the makeup of the court, going forward, and it seems clear that families would want to associate themselves with those who fought on Ohoama's side, rather than Ohotomo's, if they could help it. That was no doubt a part of works like the various diaries and house records that would have been used to compile the Nihon Shoki, recording the deeds that any house did for the throne. Along with all of the punishments and plaudits that were meted out in the 8th month of 672, there was one more event—something of an outlier. We are told that Chihisakobe no Muraji no Sabichi, the governor of the province of Wohari, went off into the mountains and committed suicide. Sabichi had originally met Ohoama at the Kuwana district house—the local government office—when he had first arrived from Yoshino. He had a large number of troops—20,000 by the Nihon Shoki's count—which helped Ohoama to ultimately defeat the Afumi court. So why he would go off into the mountains and commit suicide was anyone's guess. The Nihon Shoki suggests that it was possible that his allegiance had changed, and he may have been trying to plot against Ohoama. Perhaps he had been convinced that Afumi court was going to come out on top, and so had begun some plot. Or he just had a falling out or became disillusioned for some reason. Whatever it was, it remains a mystery, even today. With the war concluded, it was time for Ohoama to make his way from the field to the Capital so that he could transition to ruling the State properly. But Ohoama was not interested, it would seem, in setting himself up in his brother's capital. Setting up in the Ohotsu capital may have raised a few eyebrows. It had not been a completely popular move to begin with, and it was also the home of the Afumi court's legitimacy. To take up the throne there, I can only imagine that it would have further reinforced the idea that Ohoama was the usurper, taking the throne that was meant for his nephew. Instead, he made the decision to travel to the ancient capital, in Asuka, but he was not in a hurry. They headed out on the 8th day of the 9th month of 672, making it from Fuwa to Kuwana. Here he likely met up with his wife, Princess Uno, and his ten year old son, Prince Ohotsu. The following day they headed out, traveling back along the route that they had taken from Yoshino, but at a much more leisurely route. The royal carriage stayed the night in Suzuka. From there, it was another day to Abe, likely referring to modern Ahai county, in Iga, near Ueno city. They then continued on to Nabari. Finally, on the 12th day,they arrived at the Yamato capital—that is to say Asuka—and Ohoama took up residence for a time at the Shima Palace. This was only, it seems, to give people time to get the actual palace ready, because three days later, Ohoama moved into the Wokamoto Palace. And with that, Ohoama began the work of running the state—but there was still plenty to prepare. For one thing, there were foreign embassies—Kim Ap-sil and others arrived. It was still going to take a while to get the capital ready for guests, though. From what we can tell, they were probably building a grand new palace, and it would take some time for it to be prepared. So the Silla embassy was entertained in Tsukushi, where Prince Kurikuma would have been in charge of hosting them. They were likely filled on the new developments and provided a ship. Meanwhile, Ohoama made sure that all of the appropriate rewards were given out. On the 4th day of the 12th month, we are told that all those who had rendered services were given higher cap-ranks, based on what they had done. And as the year 672 closes out—and with it, the first of the two Chronicles for Ohoama, the soon-to-be elevated Temmu Tennou. But there is one final entry, marking the death of Wina no Kimi no Takami in the 12th month of the year. We know that Wina no Kimi no *Iwasuki* was working for the Afumi court, sent to rally troops in the East, but he fled when they encountered Ohoama's troops at Fuwa Pass. Takami, on the other hand, we know little about, but I suspect may have been on the side of Ohoama. It is an odd entry, and, like so many, unexplained. Perhaps it meant something to the people of the early 8th century, but if so, that meaning is likely lost to us. And so we close the book on the Jinshin no Ran—the Jinshin War, or possibly the Disturbance or even Rebellion, depending on how you feel about it. This account is one of the most detailed we have of this kind of event, and yet it does not seem that it was entirely unique. There are plenty of indications that previous sovereigns had to fight their way to the throne, or else had to repel others who would try to take it by force. This was almost a tradition among the royal house of Yamato. But now that the matter of succession was well and truly settled, it was time to get on with other things. Who knows what an Afumi court may have done and how they could have changed things. What we do know is what Ohoama—and his queen, Uno no Himemiko—did. They built upon, or in some cases possibly even fabricated, the legacy of Naka no Oe. They would set in stone many of the things that had been put in place, and at the same time make certain changes, as well. The Yamato state was getting started. And we'll start to dive into that next episode. Until then, thank you once again for listening and for all of your support. 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.

Wed. 07/28 – Don't Sleep On That SharePoint Exploit

Techmeme Ride Home

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2025 17:15

Don't sleep on that SharePoint exploit from earlier this week as it seems to have led to a ton of still active breaches. Apple has a new insurance plan for you. Elon wants even more money for xAI. The Chinese are still churning ahead with their AI models. And three different stories about AI and privacy.Links:Microsoft links Sharepoint ToolShell attacks to Chinese hackers (BleepingComputer)Apple Launches $20-a-Month AppleCare One Plan Covering Up to Three Devices (Bloomberg)Musk Allies to Raise Up to $12 Billion for xAI Chips as Startup Burns Through Cash (WSJ)Qwen3-Coder: Agentic Coding in the World (Simon Willison)Alibaba's new open source Qwen3-235B-A22B-2507 beats Kimi-2 and offers low compute version (VentureBeat)Amazon buys Bee AI wearable that listens to everything you say (The Verge)Proton is launching a privacy-focused AI chatbot (The Verge)OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warns of an AI ‘fraud crisis' (CNN)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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