Japan
True Pure Land
The Battle of Azukizaka was the climatic clash between Ieyasu and the Ikki ‘‘Ikkō-ikki’’ or ‘‘single-minded bands.’’ Adherents of Jodo Shinshu, or the True Pure Land sect of Buddhism. Most were warrior monks or peasant farmers. The Ikkō-ikki bands of the 16th century, due largely to their origins as countryside mobs, used quite varied armor and armament. Many wore the…
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Civil War and the New Imperial Army I
The Toba-Fushimi fighting marked the opening battle of the Boshin (dragon) Civil War, named after the Chinese zodiacal cyclic character that designated the year 1868. The new army fought under makeshift arrangements with unclear channels of command and control and no reliable recruiting base. Samurai and kiheitai units paradoxically were…
Civil War and the New Imperial Army II
After the fall of the fortress, one company of government troops remained in Hokkaidō, but it did little more than police Hakodate city. In 1870 the colonization office responded to increasing friction with Russia over Sakhalin Island by relocating samurai families from Tokyo to Hokkaidō to create self-sufficient military communities…
Civil War and the New Imperial Army III
The military academy aimed to educate officers in western military science and tactics, but Japan lacked schools that taught foreign languages, western pedagogy, or natural sciences. Educational reforms of 1872 established four years of primary schooling and three of middle school, but attendance was not compulsory and most students did…
What If: Halsey and Kurita at Leyte Gulf? I
By the autumn of 1944 even the most dedicated Japanese naval officer could recognize that things were not going well in his country’s war with the United States and its allies. Beginning with their seizure of the Marshall Islands in February, the third year of the war had been marked…
What If: Halsey and Kurita at Leyte Gulf? II
Sailing towards Leyte Gulf from left to right CA Chikuma, BB Nagato, BC Haruna, BC Kongo and CA Tone. Remember Pearl Harbor But Nishimura had been spotted, and although no further attacks were launched against him for the remainder of the day, the Americans were not idle. Given ample warning…
Manchurian WWII Air Force I
Until just five years ago, Manchurians were little more than backward bandits squabbling over pieces of torn fiefdoms. Today, we operate our own air force against all the enemies of a modernized Manchukuo. -Nobuhiro Uta, 1st Lieutenant, Doi ManshuTeikoku Kugun’ In 1640, Ming Dynasty control over China was falling apart.…