Encyclopedia of Japanese History

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List of Tables

Table 1Cabinet Positions Held by Abe Nobuyuki 12

Table 2Abe Nobuyuki's Cabinet 13

Table 3Cabinet Positions Held by Adachi Kenzō 15

Table 4Data on Akita Prefecture 19

Table 5Cabinet Positions Held by Araki Sadao 28

Table 6Cabinet Positions Held by Ashida Hitoshi 31

Table 7Ashida Hitoshi's Cabinet 32

Table 8 i-ro-ha Alphabet, 1-7 Checkerboard Cipher 81

Table 9 Checkerboard Cipher Using Waka Poem 82

Table 10Creating a Pseudo-Random Number from Two Other Numbers 92

Table 11 Portraits on Japanese Bills 94

Table 12 Dates of Use for Japanese Bills 95

Table 13 Cabinet Positions Held by Gotō Shinpei 114

Table 14 Cabinet Positions Held by Gotō Shōjirō 115

Table 15 Cabinet Positions Held by Hamaguchi Osachi 117

Table 16 Hamaguchi Osachi's Cabinet 118

Table 17 Cabinet Positions Held by Hara Kei 119

Table 18 Hara Kei's Cabinet 120

Table 19 Cabinet Positions Held by Hatoyama Ichirō 121

Table 20 Cabinet Positions Held by Hayashi Senjūrō 122

Table 21 Hayashi Senjūrō's Cabinet 122

Table 22 Cabinet Positions Held by Hayashi Tadasu 123

Table 23 Cabinet Positions Held by Hiranuma Kiichirō 127

Table 24Hiranuma Kiichirō's Cabinet 128

Table 25 Cabinet Positions Held by Hirota Kōki 129

Table 26 Hirota Kōki's Cabinet 130

Table 27 Cabinet Positions Held by Inoue Junnosuke 142

Table 28 Cabinet Positions Held by Inoue Kaoru 143

Table 29 Cabinet Positions Held by Inoue Kowashi 143

Table 30 Cabinet Positions Held by Inukai Tsuyoshi 144

Table 31 Inukai Tsuyoshi's Cabinet 144

Table 32Domains in Ise Province 145

Table 33 Cabinet Positions Held by Itagaki Taisuke 147

Table 34 Cabinet Positions Held by Itō Hirobumi 148

Table 35 Itō Hirobumi's First Cabinet 148

Table 36 Itō Hirobumi's Second Cabinet 151

Table 37 Itō Hirobumi's Third Cabinet 151

Table 38Itō Hirobumi's Fourth Cabinet 152

Table 39Cabinet Positions Held by Katō Takaaki 169

Table 40 Katō Takaaki's First Cabinet 169

Table 41Katō Takaaki's Second Cabinet 170

Table 42 Cabinet Positions Held by Katō Tomosaburō 170

Table 43 Katō Tomosaburō's Cabinet 171

Table 44Cabinet Positions Held by Katsura Tarō 172

Table 45 Katsura Tarō's First Cabinet 173

Table 46Katsura Tarō's Second Cabinet 173

Table 47Katsura Tarō's Third Cabinet 174

Table 48 Cabinet Positions Held by Kido Kōichi 177

Table 49Cabinet Positions Held by Kobiyama Naoto 181

Table 50Cabinet Positions Held by Kodama Gentarō 181

Table 51Cabinet Positions Held by Kodama Hideo 182

Table 52Cabinet Positions Held by Koiso Kuniaki 184

Table 53Koiso Kuniaki's Cabinet 185

Table 54Kōke Families 186

Table 55Cabinet Positions Held by Kōno Togama 188

Table 56Cabinet Positions Held by Komura Jūtarō 188

Table 57Cabinet Positions Held by Konoe Fumimaro 189

Table 58Konoe Fumimaro's First Cabinet 190

Table 59Konoe Fumimaro's Second Cabinet 191

Table 60Konoe Fumimaro's Third Cabinet 192

Table 61Cabinet Positions Held by Kuroda Kiyotaka 198

Table 62Kuroda Kiyotaka's Cabinet 198

Table 63Filmography of Kurosawa Akira 201

Table 64Cabinet Positions Held by Kurusu Takeo 201

Table 65Cabinet Positions Held by Machida Chūji 203

Table 66Cabinet Positions Held by Maeda Yonezō 205

Table 67Cabinet Positions Held by Makino Nobuaki 205

Table 68Cabinet Positions Held by Matsuda Masahisa 206

Table 69Cabinet Positions Held by Matsukata Masayoshi 207

Table 70Matsukata Masayoshi's First Cabinet 208

Table 71Matsukata Masayoshi's Second Cabinet 209

Table 72Cabinet Positions Held by Matsumoto Jōji 210

Table 73Cabinet Positions Held by Matsumura Kenzō 210

Table 74 Leaders of the Meiji Restoration 213

Table 75Filmography of Mifune Toshirō 215

Table 76Cabinet Positions Held by Minami Hiroshi 217

Table 77Cabinet Positions Held by Mitsuchi Chūzō 225

Table 78Cabinet Positions Held by Mizuno Rentarō 229

Table 79Cabinet Positions Held by Mochizuke Keisuke 229

Table 80Cabinet Positions Held by Motoda Hajime 232

Table 81Cabinet Positions Held by Murase Naokai 233

Table 82Cabinet Positions Held by Murata Shōzō 233

Table 83Cabinet Positions Held by Mutsu Munemitsu 237

Table 84Cabinet Positions Held by Nagai Ryūtarō 238

Table 85Cabinet Positions Held by Nakahashi Tokugorō 247

Table 86Cabinet Positions Held by Nakajima Chikuhei 247

Table 87Cabinet Positions Held by Narahashi Wataru 248

Table 88Cabinet Positions Held by Nishio Suehiro 252

Table 89Cabinet Positions Held by Noda Uichi 253

Table 90Cabinet Positions Held by Noda Utarō 253

Table 91Cabinet Positions Held by Ogata Taketora 260

Table 92Cabinet Positions Held by Ohara Naoshi 260

Table 93Cabinet Positions Held by Okada Keisuke 262

Table 94Okada Keisuke's Cabinet 262

Table 95Cabinet Positions Held by Okada Ryōhei 263

Table 96Cabinet Positions Held by Okano Keijirō 263

Table 97Cabinet Positions Held by Ōki Enkichi 264

Table 98Cabinet Positions Held by Ōki Takatō 265

Table 99Cabinet Positions Held by Okuda Yoshindo 266

Table 100Cabinet Positions Held by Ōkuma Shigenobu 266

Table 101Ōkuma Shigenobu's First Cabinet 267

Table 102Ōkuma Shigenobu's Second Cabinet 267

Table 103Cabinet Positions Held by Ōura Kanetake 272

Table 104Cabinet Positions Held by Ōyama Iwao 272

Table 105 Notable Hired Foreigners 274

Table 106Cabinet Positions Held by Saigō Tsugumichi 296

Table 107Cabinet Positions Held by Saionji Kinmochi 297

Table 108Saionji Kinmochi's First Cabinet 298

Table 109Saionji Kinmochi's Second Cabinet 299

Table 110Cabinet Positions Held by Saitō Makoto 299

Table 111Saitō Makoto's Cabinet 300

Table 112Cabinet Positions Held by Saitō Takao 301

Table 113Cabinet Positions Held by Sakurauchi Yukio 302

Table 114Cabinet Positions Held by Sasamori Junzō 305

Table 115Cabinet Positions Held by Satō Eisaku 305

Table 116Satō Eisaku's First Cabinet 305

Table 117Satō Eisaku's Second Cabinet 305

Table 118East and West Armies at Sekigahara 308

Table 119Cabinet Positions Held by Sengoku Mitsugu 309

Table 120Cabinet Positions Held by Shibata Kamon 310

Table 121Cabinet Positions Held by Shidehara Kijūrō 311

Table 122Shidehara Kijūrō's Cabinet 312

Table 123Cabinet Positions Held by Shigemitsu Mamoru 313

Table 124Cabinet Positions Held by Shimada Toshio 315

Table 125Cabinet Positions Held by Shiono Suehiko 317

Table 126Shōgunates 319

Table 127Cabinet Positions Held by Sone Arasuke 340

Table 128Cabinet Positions Held by Suematsu Kenchō 341

Table 129Cabinet Positions Held by Sugiyama Gen 342

Table 130Cabinet Positions Held by Suzuki Kantarō 343

Table 131Suzuki Kantarō's Cabinet 344

Table 132Cabinet Positions Held by Suzuki Kisaburō 344

Table 133Cabinet Positions Held by Suzuki Teiichi 345

Table 134Cabinet Positions Held by Suzuki Yoshio 345

Table 135Cabinet Positions Held by Takahashi Korekiyo 347

Table 136Takahashi Korekiyo's Cabinet 347

Table 137Cabinet Positions Held by Takarabe Takeshi 349

Table 138Cabinet Positions Held by Takashima Tomonosuke 349

Table 139Cabinet Positions Held by Takeda Giichi 350

Table 140Cabinet Positions Held by Taketomi Tokitoshi 352

Table 141Cabinet Positions Held by Tanabe Harumichi 353

Table 142Cabinet Positions Held by Tanaka Giichi 353

Table 143Tanaka Giichi's Cabinet 354

Table 144Cabinet Positions Held by Terauchi Masatake 359

Table 145Terauchi Masatake's Cabinet 359

Table 146Yonai Mitsumasa's Cabinet 385

Table 147Cabinet Positions Held by Yoshida Zengo 386

Table 148Chronological List of Emperors 393

Table 149Emperors of the Northern Court 393

Table 150Prime Ministers, 1885 to Present 398

Table 151Alphabetical List of the Prefectures 401

Table 152Provinces and Corresponding Prefectures 405

Table 153Chronological List of Nengō 413

Table 154 List of Nengō of the Northern Court 414

Table 155List of the Kamakura Shōgun 415

Table 156List of the Ashikaga Shōgun 415

Table 157List of the Tokugawa Shōgun 416

Frontmatter

Credits

Several pages are included (and possibly modified) from the content available at www.wikipedia.org. These include but are not limited to:

History

This encyclopedia started as a web site back in 1998. As I added more and more pages, the limitations of html for a large project began to show, so in late 2000 I switched everything over to LaTeX. With the 0.3.3 release, the format has again changed – this time to the OpenOffice.org XML-based format.

This work was originally published under the Open Content License but I republished it under the GNU Free Documentation License in March 2001. Please see the copyright section and the GNU License at the back of the book for more details.

About

Please direct questions, bug reports (factual mistakes in the text, for example), or suggestions concerning this work to Chris Spackman (spackman@openhistory.org). The newest version will always be available at www.openhistory.org.

This encyclopedia is continually under development and anyone is welcome to contribute.

Note on Dates (Important! Please READ THIS!!)

Some of the sources from which this encyclopedia is compiled are Japanese and use Japanese dates for events. Unfortunately, the Japanese used a less-than-perfect lunar calendar until the 1870s. As a result, the dates listed for events from more than about 130 years ago can seem misleading when compared with dates for the same event from an American or other `Western' source. So, for example, Bryant (and probably everyone else in America) lists the Battle of Sekigahara as taking place in October while Japanese sources say that it took place in September. In time I hope to have both dates listed, but that is not going to happen soon.

As a convenience, I have converted phrases like “fifth day of the second month” to “5 February''.

Sources

Janet Hunter's Encyclopedia of Modern History [hunter_1984] for people and events from modern history.

Stephen Turnbull's Samurai Sourcebook [turnbull_1998] for the Sengoku Period and samurai in general.

E. Papinot's Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan [papinot_1972] is a bit dated but has wonderfully detailed information on topics that tend to get ignored these days.

Most if not all of the data for prefecture entries is from Noritaka Yagasaki's Japan: Geographical Perspectives on an Island Nation [yagasaki_1997].

There are several very helpful tables at the back of New Nelson's Kanji Encyclopedia, which I have used to double and triple check a lot of the data about nengo and emperors.

Changes

0.3.3 to 0.3.4

Changed:

New:

Abe Family (Mikawa) – Azukizaka, Battle of (1564)

Abe Family (Mikawa)

Abe Family (Mutsu)

Abe Family (Suruga)

Abe Hirafu

Abe Hirafu was a governor of Koshi. He fought against the aboriginal inhabitants of Japan (called, at that time, ebisu, which basically just means 'barbarian'). This was in 658. Three years later, in 661, he led an expedition into Korea to help Kudara, a Japanese colony / protectorate / ally on the Korean peninsula.

Note that the early dates on this info means that everything is suspect (more than usual) and should be double and triple checked.

Abe Hirafu might be the anscestor of one or more of the Abe clans, as well as the Ando and Akita clans.

Abe Iso

Christian Socialist from Fukuoka Prefecture. Studied at Doshisha University and abroad. Became a Unitarian preacher. Taught at Tokyo College from 1899.

Abekawa River

Abe Masakatsu

Masakatsu was an important member of the Abe clan of Mikawa. He served Tokugawa Ieyasu until his (Masakatsu's) death in 1600 (just coincidence, or did he die at Sekigahara?). In 1590, Ieyasu gave him Ichihara (in Izu), worth 5,000 koku.

Abe Masatsugu

Abe Masatsugu was the eldest son of Masakatsu. After Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu promoted him to daimyō status.

Abe Muneto

Abe Nakamaro

Abe Nobuyuki

Soldier and Politician from Ishikawa Prefecture. Put on reserve list with rank of general in 1936.

Prime Minister from 30 Aug. 1939. Took over from Hiranuma Kiichirō (pg. 127) and was replaced by Yonai Mitsumasa (pg. 384) in January of 1940.

Cabinet Positions

Cabinet

Abeno Plain

A plain in Settsu. Abeno was the scene of several battles during the Warring States period.

Abe Sadato

Abe Seimei

Abe Yoritoki

Abolition of the Domain

Cabinet	Position	From	To
Hamaguchi	Hanretsu	Jun 16, 1930	Dec 10, 1930
Hamaguchi	War	Jun 16, 1930	Dec 10, 1930
Abe	Foreign Affairs	Aug 30, 1939	??
Abe	Prime Minister	Aug 30, 1939	Jan 16, 1940

Name	Position	From	To
Godō Takuo	Agriculture & Forestry	Aug 30, 1939	Oct 16, 1939
Sakai Tadamasa	Agriculture & Forestry	Oct 16, 1939	Jan 16, 1940
Endō Ryūsaku	Chief of Cabinet Secretariat	Aug 30, 1939	Jan 16, 1940
Karasawa Toshiki	Chief of Legislative Bureau	Aug 30, 1939	Jan 16, 1940
Kanemitsu Tsuneo	Colonization	Aug 30, 1939	Jan 16, 1940
Godō Takuo	Commerce & Industry	Aug 30, 1939	Jan 16, 1940
Nagai Ryūtarō	Communications	Aug 30, 1939	Jan 16, 1940
Kawarada Kakichi	Education	Aug 30, 1939	Jan 16, 1940
Aoki Kazuo	Finance	Aug 30, 1939	Jan 16, 1940
Abe Nobuyuki	Foreign Affairs	Aug 30, 1939	XXX
Nomura Kichisaburō	Foreign Affairs	XXX	Jan 16, 1940
Ohara Naoshi	Home Affairs	Aug 30, 1939	Jan 16, 1940
Miyagi Chōgorō	Justice	Aug 30, 1939	Jan 16, 1940
Yoshida Zengo	Navy	Aug 30, 1939	Jan 16, 1940
Abe Nobuyuki	Prime Minister	Aug 30, 1939	Jan 16, 1940
Nagai Ryūtarō	Railways	Aug 30, 1939	Nov 29, 1939
Nagata Hidejirō	Railways	Nov 29, 1939	Jan 16, 1940
Hata Shunroku	War	Aug 30, 1939	Jan 16, 1940
Ohara Naoshi	Welfare	Aug 30, 1939	Nov 29, 1939
Akita Kiyoshi	Welfare	Nov 29, 1939	Jan 16, 1940

Starting in July of 1871, the system of independent han (feudal domains) was abolished and a new system of semi-independent regional governments was introduced.

In an attempt to wipe out feudalism in Japan, the new Meiji government abolished hundreds of feudal domains or han. In their place it established a new local government scheme based on geographically defined prefectures. This system is still in effect today, although the number and boundaries of the prefectures has changed over time.

The han were ruled by the daimyō. While theoretically owing allegiance to both the Shōgun and the Emperor, the daimyō were for the most part independent in their han. However, over the years of since the establishment of the Tokugawa Shōgunate, most domain had run up serious debts (due in part to the construction and sankin kotai demands of the Tokugawa rulers) and this one carrot the new Meiji leaders used to entice the daimyō to willing “return” their domains to the Emperor. In exchange for recognising the Emperor's legal control of their land, the central government would take on the domain's debt and would often appoint the ex-daimyō governor of the province (ken). It wasn't a bad deal but after the daimyō of Satsuma and Chōshū proved their loyalty to the Emperor by returning their domains, the smaller daimyō didn't really have much choice.

See Also

Abukumagawa River

Abutsu

Achi no Omi

Adachi Family

A family of samurai who were descended from Fujiwara Yamakage (pg XXX). They are presented here because of their successes during the Minamoto---Taira wars and their subsequent affiliation with the Hōjō Family (pg XXX).

Adachi Kagemori

A warrior of the Adachi family, Kagemori was the son of Morinaga. He served with Minamoto Yoriie but became a monk when Minamoto Sanetomo died. This did not stop him from joining the Hōjō Family for the Shōkyū War, however.

See Also

Minamoto Sanetomo (pg XXX), Minamoto Yoriie (pg XXX), Hōjō Family (pg XXX), Shōkyū War (pg XXX), Hōjō Tsunetoki (pg XXX), Hōjō Tokiyori (pg XXX)

Adachi Kenzō

Cabinet Posts

See Also

Kumamoto National Party (pg XXX), Rikken Doshikai (pg XXX), Kenseikai (pg XXX), Minseito (pg XXX), Kokumin Domei (pg XXX).

Adachi Morinaga

Adachi Morinaga was a warrior who fought for Minamoto Yoritomo (pg XXX) against the Taira (pg XXX).

Adachi Yasumori

Adachi Yoshikage

Aichi Prefecture

Aikoku Kōtō

Aizawa Seishi

Aizu-han

Ajiki

Akabashi Moritoki

Akagawa Fusanobu

Akagawa Motoyasu

Akai Naomasa

Akamatsu Family

Akamatsu Mitsusuke

Akamatsu Norifusa

Akamatsu Norimura

Akamatsu Norisuke

Akamatsu Soshu

Akamatsu Suefusa

Akamatsu Yoshinori

Akamatsu Yoshisuke

Akashi Morishige

Morishige fought against Tokugawa Ieyasu at Sekigahara. He surrendered to Kuroda Nagamasa.

Later, he fought for the Toyotomi at Ōsaka Castle. Somehow managed to escape the fall of the castle.

See Also

Ukita Hideie (pg XX), Sekigahara, Battle of (pg XX), Kuroda Nagamasa (pg XX), Toyotomi Family (pg XX), Ōsaka, Siege of (pg XX)

Akaza Naoyasu

Akaza Naoyasu fought at Sekigahara under Ōtani Yoshitsugu, but switched to the Eastern side during the battle.

Akazome Emon

Akechi Castle

Akechi Family

Akechi Mitsuharu

Akechi Mitsuhide's cousin. Mitsuharu was present for his cousin's coup, but missed the Battle of Yamazaki.

He battled Hori Hidemasa at Uchidehama, lost and fled. He committed hari-kiri and supposedly wrote a poem with his own blood before dieing.

See Also

Akechi Mitsuhide (pg XX), Yamazaki, Battle of (pg XX), Hori Hidemasa (pg XX), Uchidehama, Battle of (pg XX)

Akechi Mitsuhide

When they found out about the assassination, both Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu rushed to be the first to avenge Nobunaga and take his place. Hideyoshi got to Mitsuhide first.

Mitsuhide began serving Oda Nobunaga in 1566 and recieved Sakamoto (in Ōmi, 100,000 koku) in 1571.

In 1579, he captured Yakami Castle from Hatano Hideharu by taking Hideharu's mother hostage. This accomplished Mitsuhide's goal but unfortunately, Nobunaga had the woman executed (crucified?). Naturally this did not make the Hatano family happy and a short while later several of Hideharu's (ex-?) retainers murdered Akechi Mitsuhide's mother!

Mitsuhide blamed Nobunaga for his mother's death and the attack at Honnōji in 1582 was his revenge.

Mitsuhide survived for 13 days, until he was defeated by Hideyoshi at the Battle of Yamazaki.

See Also

Oda Nobunaga (pg XX), Honnōji, Seige of (pg XX), Toyotomi Hideyoshi (pg XX), Tokugawa Ieyasu (pg XX), Hatano Hideharu (pg XX), Akechi Mitsuharu (pg XX), Yamazaki, Battle of (pg XX), Uchidehama, Battle of (pg XX)

Akechi Mitsukuni

Akimoto Family

Akimoto Nagatomo

Akimoto Takatomo

Akimoto Yasutomo

Aki Province

Akita Castle

Akita City

Akita Family

Akita Kiyoshi

Cabinet	Position	From	To
1st Katō	Communications	May 31, 1925	Aug 2, 1925
2^nd Katō	Communications	Aug 2, 1925	Jan 30, 1926
1st Wakatsuki	Communications	Jan 30, 1926	Apr 20, 1927
1st Wakatsuki	Home Affairs	Dec 16, 1926	Mar 15, 1927
Hamaguchi	Home Affairs	Jul 2, 1929	Apr 14, 1931
2^nd Wakatsuki	Home Affairs	Apr 14, 1931	Dec 13, 1931

Welfare Minister in Abe Nobuyuki's cabinet, from 29 November 1939 to 16 January 1940

Akita Prefecture

Akita Sanesue

Sanesue served Tokugawa Ieyasu and received Shishido (in Hitachi, 50,000 koku) in 1602.

Akita Toshisue

Toshisue was the son of Sanesue. He also served the Tokugawa and received Miharu (in Mitsu, 50,000 koku) in 1645.

Akiyama Nobutomo

Akizuki Castle

Tanenaga served under Kuroda Nagamasa during the Korean campaign. He sided with Ishida Mitsunari at the battle of Sekigahara but managed to keep his fief (which was?) after the battle.

See Also

Akizuki Tanezane

Tanezane lost to the Ōtomo (the who, what, when, where, and why is still to be researched). Sometime after that he joined the Shimazu (as an ally or a vassal?) and fought with them against Hideyoshi in Kyūshū.

Amakazu Kagemochi

Kagemochi was a famous general for the Uesugi family. Among other things, he fought at the Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima (1561).

Amako Family

A samurai family that fought the Mōri family. They mostly lost. The Mōri had been one of their vassals.

See Also

Amako Haruhisa

Mostly a failure (he lost a lot of battles and a lot of territory) but regained some ground after Sue Harukata killed Ōuchi Yoshitaka.

See Also

Amako Katsuhisa

Lost to Mōri Terumoto in 1571 (where? what battle?) and fled to the island of Oki.

Later returned from Oki and captured Tajima and Inaba provinces. Defended Kozuki castle for Hideyoshi against the Mōri.

Katsuhisa was attacked by Kobayakawa Takakage and Kikkawa Motoharu (at Kozuki castle?), was defeated and committed suicide.

See Also

Nunobeyama, Battle of, Mōri Terumoto, Tajima Province, Inaba Province, Kōzuki, Seige of, Kobayakawa Takakage, Kikkawa Motoharu

Amako Kunihisa

Amako Okihisa

Amako Tsunehisa

Amako Yoshihisa

Yoshihisa was the son of Amako Katsuhisa (pg XXX). He continued the family fight against the Mōri.

While besieged in Toda Castle, Yoshihisa had a retainer, Moriyama Hisakane executed. This caused most of his remaining men to desert. With no hope of holding the castle, Yoshihisa fled and became a monk.

Amakusa Shirō

A leader of the Shimabara Rebellion, Shirō led the defence of Hara Castle and died when it fell.

See Also

Amano Takashige

Amano Yasukage

Amari Nobuyasu

Amari Toriyasu

Ama shōgun

Area:	11,612 km² (1995)
Capital:	Akita City (pg. 19)
Population:	1,220,000 (1996)

“Ama shōgun” refers to Hōjō Masako, who was the wife of Minamoto Yoritomo, and the power behind the Kamakura shōgunate after his death. She became a nun in 1199. Ama shōgun roughly means the “Nun shōgun.”

See Also

Ama

Ama is a term used to refer to nuns. In English it would be something like “nun” or “sister.”

American Black Chamber

“Black Chamber” was the name used in Europe for the government section involved in codebreaking and illicit reading of private (especially diplomatic) communications. The American govenment did not set up it's own black chamber until after World War I.

The American Black Chamber (actually the Cipher Bureau) was a group of codebreakers working for the United States government (with funding from the Army and the State Department) between July 1917 and October 1929, headed by Herbert O. Yardley (pg 379). Cracking Japanese codes was a priority. Kahn ([kahn_2004], pg 62) states:

The most important target was Japan. Its belligerence toward China jeopardized America's Open Door policy. Its emigrants exacerbated American racism. Its naval growth menaced American power in the western Pacific. Its commercial expansion threatened American dominance of Far Eastern markets.

After close to a year, Yardley and his staff finally managed to break the Japanese codes and were still reading Japanese diplomatic traffic when Washington hosted the Washington Naval Conference in 1921. The information the the Cipher Bureau provided the American delegation was instrumental in getting the Japanese side to agree to a 10:6 ratio instead of the 10:7 ratio the Japanese wanted. This was the hight of Yardley's cryptanalytic career.

The Japanese Navy was not happy with the treaty and when several years later Yardley described the whole incident in his book The American Black Chamber (pg. 23), the Japanese were not amused.

Despite their success at the Washington Conference, the truth of the matter is that Yardley and his codebreakers were not as good as Yardley believed them to be. Japanese government codes were rediculously weak in the early 1920s. The real difficulty probably lay in the Japanese language, not the Japanese codes – for several months after its founding, the American Black Chamber had no one with a good command of Japanese. British codebreakers at the time considered Japanese codes hardly worth the name.

Unfortunately, for the men and women of the Cipher Bureau the flow of diplomatic telegrams dried up as companies became less willing to break the law to help the government. In Washington, William Friedman was actively exploring cryptographic frontiers for the Army – the Cipher Bureau was becoming irrelevant. However, it was moral indignation that finally doomed the bureau. Henry L. Stimpson was Secretary of State under President Hoover. When he found out about the Cipher Bureau, he was furious and withdrew funding, summing up his argument with “Gentlemen do not read each other's mail.”

The Cipher Bureau closed its doors for good on 31 October 1929 – just two days after the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began.

Sources and Suggested Reading

See Also

American Black Chamber, The

A book by Herbert O. Yardley (pg 379), published in 1931, dealing with American efforts to read the communications of other countries. A large part of it is devoted to describing how Yardley and his codebreakers managed to read Japanese government codes and the advantage this gave to the American side at the Washington Naval Conference.

Sources and Suggested Reading

See Also

Anarchism

Kōtoku Shūsui led the anarchist movement until his death in 1911. It continued under Ōsugi Sakae until his murder in 1923. Both men were anarcho-syndicalists and advocated direct action by workers.

Anarchists were at odds with other socialist groups. With the success of the Russian Revolution and the death of Ōsugi, communist groups took control of the labor unions away from the anarcho-syndicalists.

See Also

Anayama Nobukimi

Ando Chikasue

Ando Morinari

Ando Shigenaga

Ando Shigenobu

Anegakoji Family

Anegakoji Koretsuna

Anegakoji Yoshiyori

Anegawa, Battle of

Oda Nobunaga, with Tokugawa Ieyasu and Inaba Ittetsu, fought the combined forces of Asai Nagamasa and Asakura Yoshikage. Tokugawa forces engaged the Asakura while Oda forces dealt with the Asai.

The Tokugawa forces finished off the Asakura and then turned and hit the Asai's right flank. Inaba had been held in reserve, came forward and hit the Asai left flank.

See Also

Oda Nobunaga (pg. X), Tokugawa Ieyasu (pg. X), Inaba Ittetsu (pg. X), Asai Nagamasa (pg. X), Asakura Yoshikage (pg. X)

An'ei

Angen

Ankan-tennō

The Emperor Ankan was the 27th imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor or to his reign, but he is believed to have ruled the country during the early 6th century CE.

According to the Kojiki, Ankan was the elder son of the Emperor Keitai. Ankan became emperor at age 66 and died four years later. No significant events were recorded during his reign.

Ankokuji Ekei

Ankō-tennō

Anna

Annei-tennō

Ansei Purge

A purge, in 1858--1859, of over 100 people from the bakufu, various han, and the Imperial court. Eight of those `purged' were also executed. It was carried out by Ii Naosuke in an effort to quiet opposition to his handling of the question of shōgunal succession and the signing of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce.

(Todo: Add more details on the succession dispute and the people who were purged.)

See Also

Ansei

Ansei Treaties

Antei

Antoku-tennō

There were two nengō during his reign, Yōwa (pg XREF) which lasted from 1181 to 1182 and Juei (pg XREF), from 1182 to 1183.

Anwa

Aoki Kazuo

Finance Minister in Abe Nobuyuki's cabinet, from 30 August 1939 to 16January 1940.

Aoki Shigekane

Aomori City

Aomori Prefecture

Aoyama Tadanari

Aoyama Yukinari

Arahata Kanson

Mr. Arahata participated in many of the socialist movements in his career. He started as a socialist, became an syndico-anarchist and eventually a communist and ended up serving in the Diet as a representative of the postwar Japan Socialist Party.

He joined the Heiminsha in 1904 and was among those arrested for the Red Flag Incident of 1908.

He was on the Central Executive Committee of the Japan Socialist Party from 1946 to 1948.

See Also

Heiminsha (pg. X), Red Flag Incident (pg. X), Kindai Shiso (pg. X), Ōsugi Sakae (pg. X), Japan Communist Party (pg. X), Rono Faction (pg. X), Japan Socialist Party (pg. X), Socialism (pg. X), Anarchism (pg. X),

Araki Murashige

Araki Sadao

Sadao was a leading member of the “Imperial Way Faction” (Kodoha). He was put on the reserve list as a result of the February 26 Uprising.

Cabinet Positions

See Also

February 26 Revolt (pg. X), Imperial Way Faction (pg. X), War Crimes, Class A (pg. X),

Arima Harunobu

Arima Naozumi

Arima Tadayori

Arima Toyouji

Arima Yoshisada

Arquebus

Asahina Yasutomo

Asai Family

Asai Hisamasa

The son of Asai Sukemasa. Lost to the Sasaki and retired in favor of his son Nagamasa.

Asai Nagamasa

Son of Asai Hisamasa, from whom he took over in (year??). Nagamasa successfully battled both Rokkaku Yoshitaka and Saitō Tatsuoki.

Married Oda Nobunaga's sister but later joined the Asakura family and the monks of Mt. Hiei against Nobunaga. Nagamasa was defeated by Oda and Tokugawa Ieyasu at the battle of Anegawa in 1570.

In 1573, Oda laid siege to Nagamasa's castle at Odani. Unfortunately for Nagamasa, he was there at the time. He committed suicide and in exchange, Oda spared Nagamasa's family (which of course included his---Nobunaga's---own sister).

See Also

Asai Hisamasa (pg. X), Rokkaku Yoshitaka (pg. X), Saitō Tatsuoki (pg. X), Oda Nobunaga (pg. X), Tokugawa Ieyasu (pg. X), Odani, Seige of (pg. X), Asakura Family (pg. X), Anegawa, Battle of (pg. X),

Asai Sukemasa

Asakura Family

Asakura Hirokage

Asakura Kageakira

Asakura Kagetake

Asakura Nobumasa

Asakura Norikage

Asakura Sadakage

Asakura Takakage

Asakura Toshikage

Asakura Yoshikage

Asano Family

Asano Nagaakira

Asano Nagamasa

Asano Naganori

Asano Nagatsune

Asano Shoichirō

Businessman. From a samurai family in the Toyama region. Purchased Fukagawa Cement Works from the government in 1884, with help from Shibusawa Eiichi. Diversified his business interests, which eventually became a minor zaibatsu. Without a bank, it remained minor.

See Also

Asano Yukinaga

Asari Umanosuke

Ashida Hitoshi

Was Prime Minister from 10 March 1948 to 15 October 1948. He replaced Katayama Tetsu and was replaced by Yoshida Shigeru.

Cabinet Positions

Cabinet

See Also

Ashigaru

Cabinet	Position	From	To
Inukai	War	Dec 13, 1931	May 26, 1932
Saitō	War	May 26, 1932	Jan 23, 1934
1^st Konoe	Education	May 26, 1938	Jan 5, 1939
Hiranuma	Education	Jan 5, 1939	Aug 30, 1939

Cabinet	Position	From	To
Shidehara	Welfare	Oct 9, 1945	May 22, 1946
Katayama	Foreign Affairs	Jun 1, 1947	Mar 10, 1948
Ashida	Foreign Affairs	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Ashida Hitoshi	Prime Minister	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948

Name	Position	From	To
Ashida Hitoshi	Prime Minister	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Nagae Kazuo	Agriculture & Forestry	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Suzuki Yoshio	Attorney General	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Tomabechi Gizō	Chief of Cabinet Secretariat	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Mizutani Chōzaburō	Commerce & Industry	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Tomoyoshi Eiji	Communications	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Hitotsumatsu Sadayoshi	Construction	Jul 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Morito Tatsuo (sp?)	Education	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Kitamura Tokutarō	Finance	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Ashida Hitoshi	Foreign Affairs	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Katō Kanjū	Labor	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Nomizo Masaru	State: Chairman of the Local Finance Committee	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Funada Kyōji	State: Director of Administrative Management Agency	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Kurusu Takeo	State: Director of Central Economic Investigation Agency	Aug 1, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Kurusu Takeo	State: Director of Economic Stabilization Board & Director of Price Board	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Funada Kyōji	State: Director of Reparations Agency	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Hitotsumatsu Sadayoshi	State: President of Construction Board	Mar 10, 1948	Jul 9, 1948
Nishio Suehiro	State: Without Portfolio	Mar 10, 1948	Jul 6, 1948
Tomabechi Gizō	State: Without Portfolio	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Okada Seiichi	Transport	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948
Takeda Giichi	Welfare	Mar 10, 1948	Oct 15, 1948

Their root is believed to be that of shimobe (下部), who served by the side of government officials during Heian period. Ashigaru (literally “light-foot”, but the word most likely stems from “light armored”) were the lowest-class warriors, either the low-class buke (noble) or commoners who had joined or been impressed to the daimyo's army.

The ashigaru were foot soldiers—the cavalry was the territory of the samurai. They might have been armed with katana or just with spears