October 02, 2014

Poseidon of the East (39)

The classic depiction of the destruction of a clan, immortalized in history, fiction, and folklore, comes at the end of the Genpei War (1180-1185).  In a naval battle at the Straits of Shimonoseki, the Minamoto clan wiped out the Imperial Taira, ushering in the supremacy of the samurai.

For the next 650 years (aside from the brief resurgence of the Southern Imperial Court), emperors reigned but did not rule (they really didn't rule after 1868 either). The head of state was the shogun ("generalissimo"), though he was more the hereditary prime minister in a one-party state.

With the Osaka Campaigns (which destroyed the Toyotomi clan, the one remaining threat to Tokugawa rule) and the Shimabara Rebellion over by 1638, there wasn't any generalling left to do, which left the shogunate woefully unprepared when Admiral Perry showed up in 1853.

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Comments
# posted by Anonymous Lims
10/02/2014 2:42 PM   
Such a touching chapter! Thank you for the work done!

Just one note:

"Shouryuu promised Kouya peaceful days ahead, but when they would truly arrive was anybody guess."

"Anybody's guess," maybe?
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
10/04/2014 12:04 PM   
Thank you so much for this beautiful chapter!
And a strange question, but if Rokuta "took a step forward and turned to face Shouryuu", does that mean that when Shouryuu rested his hand on his head, he stood next to him?
# posted by Blogger Eugene
10/04/2014 12:28 PM   
Yes, but it'd be more accurate to say that Rokuta "took a step away from Shouryuu and turned to face him." I've updated the text.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
10/04/2014 12:46 PM   
Thanks!