Matsudaira Tadakata 松平 忠固was a Fudai daimyō (譜代大名) at the end of the Edo Period (1603~1869 CE) in a short era known as the Bakumatsu, a time that refers to the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. A Fudai daimyō was a class of daimyō lords that were hereditary vassals […]

Hachiya Ya no Saburo, 鉢屋 弥之三郎 (year of birth unknown) was a ninja during the Sengoku period. One of the leading members of the “Hachiya-Shu” (鉢屋衆) and a vassal to the Amago clan (尼子氏). (1A) The Hachiya were an entertainment group in Izumo no Kuni that performed during festivals and at New Years’ time. They also served as

The legends of the opening of Togakushi Mountain in Shinshu (Nagano) originate with the myths of “Amano-Iwato”, translated as “The cave of the sun goddess” or “heavenly rock cave”. According to the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), the devious actions of Susano’o, the Japanese god of storms, drove his sister Amaterasu, the sun goddess, into