What is your favourite period in Japanese history ?

[Hiroshi66]

Yes, indeed.

Have you noticed there are more college classes on Heian literature than on Heian history?>

[Martialartsnovice]

I personally like the eras preceeding the WW era, especially preceeding the Genro, and their military agendas. The days of the Bakufu and their reign during the shogunate of the Tokugawa clan, I think were some of Japans greatest years. The Bakufu refined all of the Martial Arts of Japan, especially regarding the daimyo and their use of the samurai as a means of acquiring more land holdings. THe shogun was wise in consolidating the ninjas under his authority and placing them under his command.

[Hiroshi66]

Guys is it true that some peopel regard the capital of Japan to still be at Kyotou? I heard that somewhere.

[Apollo]

Guys is it true that some peopel regard the capital of Japan to still be at Kyotou? I heard that somewhere.

No, this I never heard.....maybe ages ago it was still considered the capital in the years 794-1869, when it was the capital and the city where the Emperor resided.

However, one could say that Kyoto is still the capital of Japanese culture...(with its university, porcelain manufactory etc..)

[Hiroshi66]

Thanks for your help.

That's true - but it hasn't been the political capital since 1869 right?

[Hiroshi66]

Hello lexico, I would love to help...but could you please tell me what the Riaka is? I know what a rickshaw is of course - but I am not familiar with a Riaka..

[lexico]

Hello lexico, I would love to help...but could you please tell me what the Riaka is? I know what a rickshaw is of course - but I am not familiar with a Riaka..

(Somehow my post to yours disappeared, so I hope it works this time!)

I feel relieved already!

You can think of a RIAKA as a huge hand cart normally pulled or pushed by one person. It has a metal frame, two rubber tubed wheels, and a sturdy U shaped handle for easy maneuver. No springs, but tires and ball bearings ensure smooth driving.

The primary use of the RIAKA in Korea is moving all kinds of stuff: households, agricultural goods, gardening materials, construction materials, fire wood (in the olden times), recyclables, and anything you can imagine.

The second use would be commercial vending stalls; food stalls with cooking facility installed such as stove, casserol, grill, and hot plate; music stalls with tape or CD racks; clothing; candy; toys; fruit; caked coal; seafood; household goods; sundry; etc.

One interesting commercial use would be the "Band-Wagon Bar" where you can get a quicky; a shot, or a bottle of distilled alcohol with a variety of chasers; very popular and very cheap! I hear Japan has these commercial varieties also.

Another interesting application would be its emergency use as an ambulance; for example in the 1961 April 19 Students Uprising in Korea, initial casualties were hand carted to the hospitals and morgues using the RIAKA. I've heard of a similar use during the 1989 Beijing Incident, but this could be the bicycle trailer, not sure. In Khazakhstan, the poor who cannot afford a funeral car use the RIAKA instead.

To see a picture of this very handy RIA-KA, please go to the thread here http://www.wa-pedia.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13742

A quick description of the three photos:

photo 1. this old fashioned, mostly wooden cart should be called KURUMA, I think. I'm glad it's still around.

photo 2. this is RIAKA proper, metal and rubber, modern and slick.

photo 3. this is a photo from 1935, of a certain YAMADA RIA-KA; you'll notice how the ROMAJI is stylzed with the abberant spelling YAMARTA REAR-CAR. I think this is a legacy of the European/American/Australian dabblings into the BICYCLE TRAILERS, FORE-CARS, REAR-CARS, & SIDECARS of 1895-1903. I do not believe this form of tricylce engine RIAKA falls into the category of RIAKA proper. But its was around back then. I do not know if such tricycles are still around, or whether they are still called REAR-CARS or RIAKA now.

I hope this helps, so you can help me. But any questions you have, I'm more than ready to post more texts and pics.

In the mean time, I wish you Merry Christmas, a white one if you're in the Northern Hemisphere!

[Kamisama]

The part of history where ninjas and samurai were out in the open fighting each other in front of people. Yeah that part of history. Where stuff was intense and ninjas could jump buildings.

[Hiroshi66]

Well - it seems that the Rickshaw is used to carry people while the Riaka is used in more rural societies to carry things.

[lexico]

Well - it seems that the Rickshaw is used to carry people while the Riaka is used in more rural societies to carry things.

I believe that would be a correct distinction between the two. And as you may have noticed, they share basically the same mechanical structure and principle. Which is why I suspect the old-fashioned, wooden KURUMA became redisgned with Western materials and was restyled RIAKA.

Or reversely, maybe the two-wheeled Western trailer became adapted to Japan competing with the KURUMA, and won out over the KURUMA, or absorbed it.

The RIKISHA may have been a hybrid of the Western horse carriage and the Japanese KURUMA.

The isolated facts are there, but I still need concrete evidence to support any kind of thesis regarding the actual evolutionary stages. There should be someone in Japan who did a study on it. I might have to use translators and dig some more. I'll post new findings in the original thread.

Thanks, Hiroshi66 san, for keeping the discussion going.

[Hiroshi66]

No problem!! I think that the Riaka may have come from Northern China through the Manchu invaders - and the Rickshaw was in the cities well before. ^^

[Hiroshi66]

Hey ~ yeah, I am. ^^ I get that a lot.. I just spend my time on history rather than on video games and girls.. I suppose ^^

Anyways ~ I don't think that we can say the Riaka had an "inventor" like a car. Think of the horse and buggy - can we say that a certaiin person invented it? Both the Rickshaw and Riaka, were, based on their uses, probably created from the peasant in China.. or maybe Korea/Japan.. they might have been urbanized by a certain preson.. but I doubt that that person invented it.

[lexico]

Hey ~ yeah, I am. ^^ I get that a lot.. I just spend my time on history rather than on video games and girls.. I suppose ^^.

Sorry, didn't want to embarrass you. ^^ I'm surprised too, because I figured from you signature that you were some middle-aged college professor with a white moustach who loves to teach what he loves to study. But anyway, I think you should go out more and enjoy the outdoors, get some fresh air, meet some real people, not just on-line? Virtual friends can't help you out in real situations; the relationship is real, and even sincere, but isn't there something missing? I mean academics isn't everything in life? You've got to practice emotions with your peers, too. They need you, too. Just because they seem ignorant, and uninterested in reading, doesn't mean they're unworthy of your friendship? Don't you think?

Anyways ~ I don't think that we can say the Riaka had an "inventor" like a car. Think of the horse and buggy - can we say that a certaiin person invented it? Both the Rickshaw and Riaka, were, based on their uses, probably created from the peasant in China.. or maybe Korea/Japan.. they might have been urbanized by a certain preson.. but I doubt that that person invented it.

Here I see some real insight into the true nature of invention; two gems of an historian's mind...
1. some inventions are based on evolutionary use; that is numerous people improving on a primitive idea in succession.
2. a local artifact can change its definition by moving its place such as into the city.

I appreciate your contribution to my historical reasoning. I might want to investigate the two historical processes that you just mentioned. In the meantime, I decided to go ahead with the RICKSHAW POLL. Please drop by if you're interested, and leave three ticks, or your thoughts!

[Hiroshi66]

Lexico-san ~ Ah! I didn't want to give anyone the impression that I thought I was superior to them.. not at all.. its just that when I am with them.. they get a little bit.. well, not only rude.. but also.. a bit.. perverted.. (?) It makes me feel uncomfortable. And no, I'm not only online. I love to read, go outside and walk in my yard, go to the bookstore, and hang out iwth a few of my true friends.

I shall go to your topic.

[Apollo]

(...)
I know that the medical experts from 731 were re-empolyed by the US occupation forces to convey their research results from human experiments to the US, and were given amnesty for their services. I learned in a college course that such information not only contributed to the advancement of US medicine but was also the source of the Hanta virus, supposedly dropped over lower Manchuria by the US just before/after(?) the Chinese invasion of Korea in 1953. I feel betrayed by the historical process that uses Chinese, Korean, and dissident Japanese civilians as guinea pigs to develop a biological weapon that ends up on their very heads in less than 10 years. The dead to not speak of course, but quite a few S.Koreans have suffered and died of this deadly virus; I do not know how many N.Koreans or Chinese died of it.

If what I've read is true, then the US, with its active interest in the NW Pacific costal Asia, had its fair share of responsibility by playing God, condemning (fat-man & little boy) or forgiving (doling out amnesty for Mr. Hirohito, medical experts, etc.) at whim. So I could say that the Japanese during the US occupation were reluctant to record the details of its recent past, and that this trend was reinforced by the US occupation sending a subtle message that "as long as you cooperate with us, we'll let you forget everything. We gave you the A-bombs, and we're not sorry about it. So why should you be sorry about what you did?" I don't know if this makes a lot of sense, but that's what I think. I do not think that consciencious individuals are nonexistent in Japan, however, it will take a quantum leap for their voices to become mainstream. Yes, I believe the Japanese did suffer tremendously, and they were the first to get hit with Einstein's monster. There was no precedent. It is difficult to judge them when I think about that.

The topic about Unit 731 is a very interesting topic lexico! I agree with you that most Japanese students are "ignorant" of some basic facts during WW2 compared to what German students know about their own past during the same period.

I myself have taught history to Japanese students where I took up this topic of Unit 731. -Yes, I am brave!
You are right that people behind Unit 731 were headhunted to the U.S. and they were never prosecuted in the Tokyo trials (although the Soviet Union and China did try to bring them to the same trial as Tojo and the lot). However, recently some of them (remainders) were brought to trial by the Tokyo district Court four years ago - many years after the terrible killings. (I will scan some notes/pictures and display them if I can find them).

[Hiroshi66]

While we're talking about the subject - I read that the Unit 731 headquarters were near Harbin. What was the capital of Manchukuo? Harbin? Mukden?

[Apollo]

While we're talking about the subject - I read that the Unit 731 headquarters were near Harbin. What was the capital of Manchukuo? Harbin? Mukden?

The capital of Manchukuo 1932-45 was Changchun, near Harbin.

[lexico]

While we're talking about the subject - I read that the Unit 731 headquarters were near Harbin. What was the capital of Manchukuo? Harbin? Mukden?

The place names in Manchuria can be quite confusing because many nationalities and political bodies have interacted actively in the past. In additon to the Chinese, the Molgols, the Manchus, the Russians, and the Japanese have struggled for dominance over this region. Knowing the kanji and non-Chinese etymology may help you memorize the place names. Let me give a quick summary of the place names roughly along the Manchurian Railway starting from Port Arthur and ending at Qiqiha'er.

current place names
Chinese--------Russian---Japanese--Manchu
旅順 Lushun -----Port Arthur-Ryojun ----- ?
大蓮 Dalian ------Dalnyi ?----Dairen ------ ?
瀋陽 Shenyang --Mukden ------?--------Mukden n./adj. "rising"
長春 Changchun ---?--------Shinkyo------ ?
吉林 Jilin ----------?-----------?--------Kirin Ula "riverside city"
哈爾濱 Ha'erbin---Kharbin-------?--------Alejin (Jurchen) "honor, fame"
---------------------------------------Harbin (Ma.) "drying fish nets"
齊齊合爾 Qiqiha'er--?-----------?--------Qiqihar (Dagur) "border"

alternate names
盛京~奉天 Chengjing~Fengtian=瀋陽 in Qing dynasty
新京 Xinjing, Hsinking= Manchukuo's Capital, 長春 Changchun

note: Jurchen: Language ancestral to Manchu-Tungusic
Dagur: An isolated language within the Mongol language family
Qiqiha'er in fact lies about 50km from the Sino-Mongol border.
Harbin would lie roughly halfway between Jinlin & Qiqihar.
The blanks only mean that I do not know the forms in those particular languages, not that they do not exist.

The topic about Unit 731 is a very interesting topic lexico! I agree with you that most Japanese students are "ignorant" of some basic facts during WW2 compared to what German students know about their own past during the same period.

I myself have taught history to Japanese students where I took up this topic of Unit 731. -Yes, I am brave!
You are right that people behind Unit 731 were headhunted to the U.S. and they were never prosecuted in the Tokyo trials (although the Soviet Union and China did try to bring them to the same trial as Tojo and the lot). However, recently some of them (remainders) were brought to trial by the Tokyo district Court four years ago - many years after the terrible killings. (I will scan some notes/pictures and display them if I can find them).

I have to admit, after posting that, I read other posts saying that people above their 30's are quite knowledgeable in modern Asian history. In addition one post said that history classes in highschools DO deal with Japan's recent history; quite a different description from what many people outside Japan tend to believe. I can only imagine that much would depend on the individual school and instructor. (You were one of those brave instructors? Quite a heavy subject for high school students; I wonder how they responded. I wonder if you didn't get negative feedback from the community, such as from students' parents, for being an "unloyal" Japanese? You don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable. ) And if that is true, I too made the error of hasty generalization. I think I have to apologize for that. I am very sorry.
Unit 731 is a scary subject that not too many people are thrilled to talk about; it's only natural, I think. But as much as the Holocaust is important to Europe, I believe that the human experiments at Unit 731 must be studied so that we learn from our past mistakes; we as in the sense of humanity. I appreciate your not taking the subject as a Japan bashing thing. It's actually something that is beyond me, to tell the truth. But I am not sure how other members who see the material will respond. Although I talked about it, I am a little concerned.
I read somewhere that there were not only Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese civilian dissidents, but also Russian and British POWs and unlucky civilians who became test subjects at 731. I wonder how historians in the UK and the (former) USSR describe the incident. And since there were German captives held in Japan, could there have been any German victims?

[miles7tp]

I like Ukiyoe more than 731.
So my favourite period in Japanese history is Edo era.

[lexico]

I like Ukiyoe more than 731.
So my favourite period in Japanese history is Edo era.

That's a very nice painting! Might you know what year or historical period it belongs to? May I have the reference if you have it?

[Apollo]

I have to admit, after posting that, I read other posts saying that people above their 30's are quite knowledgeable in modern Asian history. In addition one post said that history classes in highschools DO deal with Japan's recent history; quite a different description from what many people outside Japan tend to believe. I can only imagine that much would depend on the individual school and instructor. (You were one of those brave instructors? Quite a heavy subject for high school students; I wonder how they responded. I wonder if you didn't get negative feedback from the community, such as from students' parents, for being an "unloyal" Japanese? You don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable. ) And if that is true, I too made the error of hasty generalization. I think I have to apologize for that. I am very sorry.

Sorry, I should have been more clear...I have never taught Japanese high school students. What I have been teaching were JAPANESE undergraduates in university (mainly first-and second-year students) during my work with my thesis. Hence, I have never met negative response, as the students were only open to "new" schools of thought, however, they are always some few who like to challenge instructors by being negative....

[Apollo]

The reason why Unit 731 is chosen as a part of the module because it lays the groundwork for a better understanding of e.g. the Cold War when looking solely on the guaranteeing of immunity to the people behind Unit 731, among them Dr. Shiro Ishii.
Again, good discussions arise when it is claimed that "justice" was, publicly, seen to be done at the Tokyo Trial....

[lexico]

The reason why Unit 731 is chosen as a part of the module because it lays the groundwork for a better understanding of e.g. the Cold War when looking solely on the guaranteeing of immunity to the people behind Unit 731, among them Dr. Shiro Ishii.
Again, good discussions arise when it is claimed that "justice" was, publicly, seen to be done at the Tokyo Trial....

Sorry about the misunderstanding. I was a little worried this might happen, but brevity pushed me I guess. I'm getting sloppy these days.

And thanks for telling the reason for chosing the subject. Now it makes very good sense to me; preparing for the Cold War and pedagogic expediency! History is great!

[Hiroshi66]

Thanks for the info!

I wonder why the Japanese didn't set up the capital at another major city like Mukden or Harbin?

[lexico]

I wonder why the Japanese didn't set up the capital at another major city like Mukden or Harbin?

about the "reason of Japan's chosing Changchun/Hsinking/Shinkyo as Manchukuo's capital."

It's just that I don't have an answer right now. I am trying to find some link on Google; but I'll have to dig more.

I think that's a very interesting and valid historical question; but it is no light subject.

I am not a historian, but a lot of times, knowing the "why's" can be the most important and interesting part of historical study.
At the same time, it seems to be THEE most difficult thing to figure out, unless there is a document explicitly saying so!

So, please be patient & hang in there, Dr. Hiroshi, it's coming, sooner or later, hopefully sooner!