title: Hikaru Shida

text: In February 2017, Shida ended her freelancing days by signing with the Makai company, which presents shows combining music, theater and wrestling. She had worked for the company since October 2014, performing under the name Tsuruhime. Shida and Syuri lost the Oz Academy Tag Team Championship to Akino and Kaho Kobayashi in their fourth defense on June 25, 2017. On July 15, Shida and Syuri lost the Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship to Cassandra Miyagi and Dash Chisako also in their fourth defense. In November, Shida returned to Shimmer Women Athletes, unsuccessfully challenging Mercedes Martinez for the Shimmer Championship on "Volume 97".


title: Hikaru Shida

text: On April 9, 2019, it was announced that Shida signed a contract with All Elite Wrestling (AEW). On May 25, Shida made her AEW debut at Double or Nothing, competing in a six-women tag-team match. On August 31 at All Out, Riho defeated Shida where the winner competed for the inaugural AEW Women's World Championship on October 2, the debut episode of "Dynamite".


title: Hikaru Shida

text: On the January 1, 2020, episode of "Dynamite", Shida lost in an AEW Women's World Championship match involving the champion Riho, Britt Baker, and Nyla Rose, with Riho retaining. At Bash at the Beach, Shida teamed with Kris Statlander, defeating Brandi Rhodes and Melanie Cruise. On May 23 at Double or Nothing, Shida defeated Nyla Rose in a no disqualification and no countout match to win her first AEW Women's World Championship after 12 weeks being the number one contender. Shida had her first title defense in AEW at Fyter Fest against Penelope Ford, before the match started Kip Sabian was being physically aggressive to Shida so as a result he was banned from ringside leaving Ford's corner empty, and Shida retained the title clean. On the August 22 episode of "Dynamite", Shida was challenged for her title by the NWA World Women's Champion Thunder Rosa. Their match was scheduled on All Out. On September 5, at All Out, Shida successfully defended her title against Rosa.


title: Hikaru Shida

text: On January 6, 2021, edition of "Dynamite", Shida retained her title against Abadon. At the end of January, Shida returned to Japan to help produce the Japanese bracket in the Women's World Championship Eliminator Tournament, where the winner will face Shida for her title at Revolution. During her stay in Japan, Shida had her first match over a month, where she alongside Mei Suruga and Rin Kadokura defeated Maki Itoh, Veny and Shida's trainer Emi Sakura. Ryo Mizunami ended up being the tournament winner, and the two had a match for the title at Revolution, which Shida won. Shida defeated Tay Conti in a title match on the April 21 episode of "Dynamite". On May 30 at Double or Nothing, Britt Baker defeated Shida for the AEW Women's World Championship. Shida held the title for 372 days making her the longest reigning overall champion in AEW history. On October 27 episode of "Dynamite" Shida faced Serena Deeb in the first round of AEW TBS women's championship tournament which Shida won and this also concluded her 50th AEW win. Shida was eliminated by Nyla Rose in the quarterfinals.


title: Hikaru Shida

text: On April 6, 2022, episode of "Dynamite", Shida participated in the Owen Hart Cup and defeated Julia Hart in the qualifier match. On May 13 episode of "Rampage", Tony Schiavone announced that Shida was injured, she was out of the tournament and was replaced by Kris Statlander. Then it was revealed that Shida was working in Japan during the tournament and she couldn't re-enter the country in time. On September 4 at All Out, Shida faced Baker, Jamie Hayter and Toni Storm for the interim AEW Women's World Championship which Shida lost.


title: Hikaru Shida

text: Shida is an avid cosplayer and has attended multiple cosplay conventions in Japan. She incorporates aspects of her cosplay attire as her wrestling gear.


title: Hikaru Shida

text: In 2008, the cast of "Muscle Venus" recorded a song titled , which was released as a single on November 5, 2008, and later used as the theme song for the "Three Count" film. Shida, along with Miyako Matsumoto and Tsukasa Fujimoto, was featured in Japanese pop group angela's 2012 music video for their song "The Lights of Heroes". From June 20 to 22, 2014, Shida will be a part of stage acting group Mizuiro Kakumei, working three performances in Tokyo. On August 29, 2014, Shida released her first gravure DVD, titled . Her second DVD, titled , was released on October 30, 2015.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Heian women were traditionally excluded from learning Chinese, the written language of government, but Murasaki, raised in her erudite father's household, showed a precocious aptitude for the Chinese classics and managed to acquire fluency. She married in her mid-to late twenties and gave birth to a daughter before her husband died, two years after they were married. It is uncertain when she began to write "The Tale of Genji", but it was probably while she was married or shortly after she was widowed. In about 1005, she was invited to serve as a lady-in-waiting to Empress Shōshi at the Imperial court by Fujiwara no Michinaga, probably because of her reputation as a writer. She continued to write during her service, adding scenes from court life to her work. After five or six years, she left court and retired with Shōshi to the Lake Biwa region. Scholars differ on the year of her death; although most agree on 1014, others have suggested she was alive in 1025.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Murasaki wrote "The Diary of Lady Murasaki", a volume of poetry, and "The Tale of Genji". Within a decade of its completion, "Genji" was distributed throughout the provinces; within a century it was recognized as a classic of Japanese literature and had become a subject of scholarly criticism. Early in the 20th century her work was translated; a six-volume English translation was completed in 1933. Scholars continue to recognize the importance of her work, which reflects Heian court society at its peak. Since the 13th century her works have been illustrated by Japanese artists and well-known ukiyo-e woodblock masters.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Murasaki Shikibu was born in Heian-kyō, Japan, into the northern Fujiwara clan descending from Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, the first 9th century Fujiwara regent. The Fujiwara clan dominated court politics until the end of the 11th century through strategic marriages of their daughters into the imperial family and the use of regencies. In the late 10th century and early 11th century, Michinaga, the so-called Mido Kampaku, arranged his four daughters into marriages with emperors, giving him unprecedented power. Murasaki's great-grandfather, Fujiwara no Kanesuke, had been in the top tier of the aristocracy, but her branch of the family gradually lost power and by the time of Murasaki's birth was at the middle to lower ranks of the Heian aristocracy—the level of provincial governors. The lower ranks of the nobility were typically posted away from court to undesirable positions in the provinces, exiled from the centralized power and court in Kyoto.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Despite the loss of status, the family had a reputation among the literati through Murasaki's paternal great-grandfather and grandfather, both of whom were well-known poets. Her great-grandfather, Fujiwara no Kanesuke, had 56 poems included in 13 of the Twenty-one Imperial Anthologies, the "Collections of Thirty-six Poets" and the ("Tales of Yamato"). Her great-grandfather and grandfather both had been friendly with Ki no Tsurayuki, who became notable for popularizing verse written in Japanese. Her father, Fujiwara no Tametoki, attended the State Academy (Daigaku-ryō) and became a well-respected scholar of Chinese classics and poetry; his own verse was anthologized. He entered public service around 968 as a minor official and was given a governorship in 996, staying in service until about 1018. Murasaki's mother was descended from the same branch of northern Fujiwara as Tametoki. The couple had three children, a son and two daughters.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: In the Heian era the use of names, insofar as they were recorded, did not follow a modern pattern. A court lady, as well as being known by the title of her own position, if any, took a name referring to the rank or title of a male relative. Thus "Shikibu" is not a modern surname, but refers to , the Ministry of Ceremonials where Murasaki's father was a functionary. "Murasaki", an additional name possibly derived from the color violet associated with wisteria, the meaning of the word (an element of her clan name), may have been bestowed on her at court in reference to the name she herself had given to the main female character in "Genji". Michinaga mentions the names of several ladies-in-waiting in a 1007 diary entry; one, Fujiwara no Takako (Kyōshi), may be Murasaki's personal name.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: In Heian-era Japan, husbands and wives kept separate households; children were raised with their mothers, although the patrilineal system was still followed. Murasaki was unconventional because she lived in her father's household, most likely on Teramachi Street in Kyoto, with her younger brother Nobunori. Their mother died, perhaps in childbirth, when they were quite young. Murasaki had at least three half-siblings raised with their mothers; she was very close to one sister who died in her twenties.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Murasaki was born at a period when Japan was becoming more isolated, after missions to China had ended and a stronger national culture was emerging. In the 9th and 10th centuries, Japanese gradually became a written language through the development of , a syllabary based on abbreviations of Chinese characters. In Murasaki's lifetime, men continued to write formally in Chinese, but became the written language of intimacy and of noblewomen, setting the foundation for unique forms of Japanese literature.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Chinese was taught to Murasaki's brother as preparation for a career in government, and during her childhood, living in her father's household, she learned and became proficient in classical Chinese. In her diary she wrote, "When my brother ... was a young boy learning the Chinese classics, I was in the habit of listening to him and I became unusually proficient at understanding those passages that he found too difficult to understand and memorize. Father, a most learned man, was always regretting the fact: 'Just my luck,' he would say, 'What a pity she was not born a man! With her brother she studied Chinese literature, and she probably also received instruction in more traditional subjects such as music, calligraphy and Japanese poetry. Murasaki's education was unorthodox. Louis Perez explains in "The History of Japan" that "Women ... were thought to be incapable of real intelligence and therefore were not educated in Chinese." Murasaki was aware that others saw her as "pretentious, awkward, difficult to approach, prickly, too fond of her tales, haughty, prone to versifying, disdainful, cantankerous and scornful". Asian literature scholar Thomas Inge believes she had "a forceful personality that seldom won her friends."


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Aristocratic Heian women lived restricted and secluded lives, allowed to speak to men only when they were close relatives or household members. Murasaki's autobiographical poetry shows that she socialized with women but had limited contact with men other than her father and brother; she often exchanged poetry with women but never with men. Unlike most noblewomen of her status, however, she did not marry on reaching puberty; instead she stayed in her father's household until her mid-twenties or perhaps even to her early thirties.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: In 996 when her father was posted to a four-year governorship in Echizen Province, Murasaki went with him, although it was uncommon for a noblewoman of the period to travel such a distance that could take as long as five days. She returned to Kyoto, probably in 998, to marry her father's friend , a much older second cousin. Descended from the same branch of the Fujiwara clan, he was a court functionary and bureaucrat at the Ministry of Ceremonials, with a reputation for dressing extravagantly and as a talented dancer. In his late forties at the time of their marriage, he had multiple households with an unknown number of wives and offspring. Gregarious and well-known at court, he was involved in numerous romantic relationships that may have continued after his marriage to Murasaki. As was customary, she would have remained in her father's household where her husband would have visited her. Nobutaka had been granted more than one governorship, and by the time of his marriage to Murasaki he was probably quite wealthy. Accounts of their marriage vary: Richard Bowring writes that the marriage was happy, but Japanese literature scholar Haruo Shirane sees indications in Murasaki's poems that she resented her husband.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: The couple's daughter, Kenshi (Kataiko), was born in 999. Two years later Nobutaka died during a cholera epidemic. As a married woman Murasaki would have had servants to run the household and care for her daughter, giving her ample leisure time. She enjoyed reading and had access to romances () such as "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" and "The Tales of Ise." Scholars believe she may have started writing "The Tale of Genji" before her husband's death; it is known she was writing after she was widowed, perhaps in a state of grief. In her diary she describes her feelings after her husband's death: "I felt depressed and confused. For some years I had existed from day to day in listless fashion ... doing little more than registering the passage of time ... The thought of my continuing loneliness was quite unbearable".


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: According to legend, Murasaki retreated to Ishiyama-dera at Lake Biwa, where she was inspired to write "The Tale of Genji" on an August night while looking at the moon. Although scholars dismiss the factual basis of the story of her retreat, Japanese artists often depicted her at Ishiyama Temple staring at the moon for inspiration. She may have been commissioned to write the story and may have known an exiled courtier in a similar position to her hero Prince Genji. Murasaki would have distributed newly written chapters of "Genji" to friends who in turn would have re-copied them and passed them on. By this practice the story became known and she gained a reputation as an author.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: In her early to mid-thirties, she became a lady-in-waiting () at court, most likely because of her reputation as an author. Chieko Mulhern writes in "Japanese Women Writers, a Biocritical Sourcebook" that scholars have wondered why Murasaki made such a move at a comparatively late period in her life. Her diary evidences that she exchanged poetry with Michinaga after her husband's death, leading to speculation that the two may have been lovers. Bowring sees no evidence that she was brought to court as Michinaga's concubine, although he did bring her to court without following official channels. Mulhern thinks Michinaga wanted to have Murasaki at court to educate his daughter Shōshi.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Heian culture and court life reached a peak early in the 11th century. The population of Kyoto grew to around 100,000 as the nobility became increasingly isolated at the Heian Palace in government posts and court service. Courtiers became overly refined with little to do, insulated from reality, preoccupied with the minutiae of court life, turning to artistic endeavors. Emotions were commonly expressed through the artistic use of textiles, fragrances, calligraphy, colored paper, poetry, and layering of clothing in pleasing color combinations—according to mood and season. Those who showed an inability to follow conventional aesthetics quickly lost popularity, particularly at court. Popular pastimes for Heian noblewomen—who adhered to rigid fashions of floor-length hair, whitened skin and blackened teeth—included having love affairs, writing poetry and keeping diaries. The literature that Heian court women wrote is recognized as some of the earliest and among the best literature written in Japanese canon.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: When in 995 Michinaga's two brothers Fujiwara no Michitaka and Fujiwara no Michikane died, leaving the regency vacant, Michinaga quickly won a power struggle against his nephew Fujiwara no Korechika (brother to Teishi, Emperor Ichijō's wife), and, aided by his sister Senshi, he assumed power. Teishi had supported her brother Korechika, who was discredited and banished from court in 996 following a scandal involving his shooting at the retired Emperor Kazan, causing her to lose power. Four years later Michinaga sent Shōshi, his eldest daughter, to Emperor Ichijō's harem when she was about 12. A year after placing Shōshi in the imperial harem, in an effort to undermine Teishi's influence and increase Shōshi's standing, Michinaga had her named Empress although Teishi already held the title. As historian Donald Shively explains, "Michinaga shocked even his admirers by arranging for the unprecedented appointment of Teishi (or Sadako) and Shōshi as concurrent empresses of the same emperor, Teishi holding the usual title of "Lustrous Heir-bearer" and Shōshi that of "Inner Palatine" (), a toponymically derived equivalent coined for the occasion". About five years later, Michinaga brought Murasaki to Shōshi's court, in a position that Bowring describes as a companion-tutor.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Women of high status lived in seclusion at court and, through strategic marriages, were used to gain political power for their families. In the case of Shōshi and other such marriages to members of the imperial clan, it enabled the woman's clan to exercise influence over the emperor—this was how Michinaga, and other Fujiwara Regents, achieved their power. Despite their seclusion, some women wielded considerable influence, often achieved through competitive salons, dependent on the quality of those attending. Ichijō's mother and Michinaga's sister, Senshi, had an influential salon, and Michinaga probably wanted Shōshi to surround herself with skilled women such as Murasaki to build a rival salon.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Shōshi was 16 to 19 when Murasaki joined her court. According to Arthur Waley, Shōshi was a serious-minded young lady, whose living arrangements were divided between her father's household and her court at the Imperial Palace. She gathered around her talented women writers such as Izumi Shikibu and Akazome Emon—the author of an early vernacular history, "The Tale of Flowering Fortunes". The rivalry that existed among the women is evident in Murasaki's diary, where she wrote disparagingly of Izumi: "Izumi Shikibu is an amusing letter-writer; but there is something not very satisfactory about her. She has a gift for dashing off informal compositions in a careless running-hand; but in poetry she needs either an interesting subject or some classic model to imitate. Indeed it does not seem to me that in herself she is really a poet at all."


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Sei Shōnagon, author of "The Pillow Book", had been in service as lady-in-waiting to Teishi when Shōshi came to court; it is possible that Murasaki was invited to Shōshi's court as a rival to Shōnagon. Teishi died in 1001, before Murasaki entered service with Shōshi, so the two writers were not there concurrently, but Murasaki, who wrote about Shōnagon in her diary, certainly knew of her, and to an extent was influenced by her. Shōnagon's "The Pillow Book" may have been commissioned as a type of propaganda to highlight Teishi's court, known for its educated ladies-in-waiting. Japanese literature scholar Joshua Mostow believes Michinaga provided Murasaki to Shōshi as an equally or better educated woman, so as to showcase Shōshi's court in a similar manner.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: The two writers had different temperaments: Shōnagon was witty, clever, and outspoken; Murasaki was withdrawn and sensitive. Entries in Murasaki's diary show that the two may not have been on good terms. Murasaki wrote, "Sei Shōnagon ... was dreadfully conceited. She thought herself so clever, littered her writing with Chinese characters, [which] left a great deal to be desired." Keene thinks that Murasaki's impression of Shōnagon could have been influenced by Shōshi and the women at her court, as Shōnagon served Shōshi's rival empress. Furthermore, he believes Murasaki was brought to court to write "Genji" in response to Shōnagon's popular "Pillow Book". Murasaki contrasted herself to Shōnagon in a variety of ways. She denigrated the pillow book genre and, unlike Shōnagon, who flaunted her knowledge of Chinese, Murasaki pretended to not know the language, regarding it as pretentious and affected.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Although the popularity of the Chinese language diminished in the late Heian era, Chinese ballads continued to be popular, including those written by Bai Juyi. Murasaki taught Chinese to Shōshi who was interested in Chinese art and Juyi's ballads. Upon becoming Empress, Shōshi installed screens decorated with Chinese script, causing outrage because written Chinese was considered the language of men, far removed from the women's quarters. The study of Chinese was thought to be unladylike and went against the notion that only men should have access to the literature. Women were supposed to read and write only in Japanese, which separated them through language from government and the power structure. Murasaki, with her unconventional classical Chinese education, was one of the few women available to teach Shōshi classical Chinese. Bowring writes it was "almost subversive" that Murasaki knew Chinese and taught the language to Shōshi. Murasaki, who was reticent about her Chinese education, held the lessons between the two women in secret, writing in her diary, "Since last summer ... very secretly, in odd moments when there happened to be no one about, I have been reading with Her Majesty ... There has of course been no question of formal lessons ... I have thought it best to say nothing about the matter to anybody."


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Murasaki probably earned an ambiguous nickname, "The Lady of the Chronicles" (), for teaching Shōshi Chinese literature. A lady-in-waiting who disliked Murasaki accused her of flaunting her knowledge of Chinese and began calling her "The Lady of the Chronicles"—an allusion to the classic "Chronicles of Japan"—after an incident in which chapters from "Genji" were read aloud to the Emperor and his courtiers, one of whom remarked that the author showed a high level of education. Murasaki wrote in her diary, "How utterly ridiculous! Would I, who hesitate to reveal my learning to my women at home, ever think of doing so at court?" Although the nickname was apparently meant to be disparaging, Mulhern believes Murasaki was flattered by it.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: The attitude toward the Chinese language was contradictory. In Teishi's court, the Chinese language had been flaunted and considered a symbol of imperial rule and superiority. Yet, in Shōshi's salon there was a great deal of hostility towards the language—perhaps owing to political expedience during a period when Chinese began to be rejected in favor of Japanese—even though Shōshi herself was a student of the language. The hostility may have affected Murasaki and her opinion of the court, and forced her to hide her knowledge of Chinese. Unlike Shōnagon, who was both ostentatious and flirtatious, as well as outspoken about her knowledge of Chinese, Murasaki seems to have been humble, an attitude which possibly impressed Michinaga. Although Murasaki used Chinese and incorporated it in her writing, she publicly rejected the language, a commendable attitude during a period of burgeoning Japanese culture.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Murasaki seems to have been unhappy with court life and was withdrawn and somber. No surviving records show that she entered poetry competitions; she appears to have exchanged few poems or letters with other women during her service. In general, unlike Shōnagon, Murasaki gives the impression in her diary that she disliked court life, the other ladies-in-waiting, and the drunken revelry. She did, however, become close friends with a lady-in-waiting named Lady Saishō, and she wrote of the winters that she enjoyed, "I love to see the snow here".


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: According to Waley, Murasaki may not have been unhappy with court life in general but bored in Shōshi's court. He speculates she would have preferred to serve with the Lady Senshi, whose household seems to have been less strict and more light-hearted. In her diary, Murasaki wrote about Shōshi's court, "[she] has gathered round her a number of very worthy young ladies ... Her Majesty is beginning to acquire more experience of life, and no longer judges others by the same rigid standards as before; but meanwhile her Court has gained a reputation for extreme dullness".


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Murasaki disliked the men at court, whom she thought were drunken and stupid. However, some scholars, such as Waley, are certain she was involved romantically with Michinaga. At the least, Michinaga pursued her and pressured her strongly, and her flirtation with him is recorded in her diary as late as 1010. Yet, she wrote to him in a poem, "You have neither read my book, nor won my love." In her diary she records having to avoid advances from Michinaga—one night he sneaked into her room, stealing a newly written chapter of "Genji." However, Michinaga's patronage was essential if she was to continue writing. Murasaki described her daughter's court activities: the lavish ceremonies, the complicated courtships, the "complexities of the marriage system", and in elaborate detail, the birth of Shōshi's two sons.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: It is likely that Murasaki enjoyed writing in solitude. She believed she did not fit well with the general atmosphere of the court, writing of herself: "I am wrapped up in the study of ancient stories ... living all the time in a poetical world of my own scarcely realizing the existence of other people ... But when they get to know me, they find to their extreme surprise that I am kind and gentle". Inge says that she was too outspoken to make friends at court, and Mulhern thinks Murasaki's court life was comparatively quiet compared to other court poets. Mulhern speculates that her remarks about Izumi were not so much directed at Izumi's poetry but at her behavior, lack of morality and her court liaisons, of which Murasaki disapproved.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Rank was important in Heian court society and Murasaki would not have felt herself to have much, if anything, in common with the higher ranked and more powerful Fujiwaras. In her diary, she wrote of her life at court: "I realized that my branch of the family was a very humble one; but the thought seldom troubled me, and I was in those days far indeed from the painful consciousness of inferiority which makes life at Court a continual torment to me." A court position would have increased her social standing, but more importantly she gained a greater experience to write about. Court life, as she experienced it, is well reflected in the chapters of "Genji" written after she joined Shōshi. The name Murasaki was most probably given to her at a court dinner in an incident she recorded in her diary: in 1008 the well-known court poet Fujiwara no Kintō inquired after the "Young Murasaki"—an allusion to the character named Murasaki in "Genji"—which would have been considered a compliment from a male court poet to a female author.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: When Emperor Ichijō died in 1011, Shōshi retired from the Imperial Palace to live in a Fujiwara mansion in Biwa, most likely accompanied by Murasaki, who is recorded as being there with Shōshi in 1013. George Aston explains that when Murasaki retired from court she was again associated with Ishiyama-dera: "To this beautiful spot, it is said, Murasaki no Shikibu "[sic]" retired from court life to devote the remainder of her days to literature and religion. There are sceptics, however, Motoori being one, who refuse to believe this story, pointing out ... that it is irreconcilable with known facts. On the other hand, the very chamber in the temple where the "Genji" was written is shown—with the ink-slab which the author used, and a Buddhist Sutra in her handwriting, which, if they do not satisfy the critic, still are sufficient to carry conviction to the minds of ordinary visitors to the temple."


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Murasaki may have died in 1014. Her father made a hasty return to Kyoto from his post at Echigo Province that year, possibly because of her death. Writing in "A Bridge of Dreams: A Poetics of "The Tale of Genji"", Shirane mentions that 1014 is generally accepted as the date of Murasaki Shikibu's death and 973 as the date of her birth, making her 41 when she died. Bowring considers 1014 to be speculative, and believes she may have lived with Shōshi until as late as 1025. Waley agrees given that Murasaki may have attended ceremonies with Shōshi held for Shōshi's son, Emperor Go-Ichijō around 1025.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Murasaki's brother Nobunori died in around 1011, which, combined with the death of his daughter, may have prompted her father to resign his post and take vows at Miidera temple where he died in 1029. Murasaki's daughter entered court service in 1025 as a wet nurse to the future Emperor Go-Reizei (1025–1068). She went on to become a well-known poet as Daini no Sanmi.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Three works are attributed to Murasaki: "The Tale of Genji", "The Diary of Lady Murasaki" and "Poetic Memoirs", a collection of 128 poems. Her work is considered important for its reflection of the creation and development of Japanese writing, during a period when Japanese shifted from an unwritten vernacular to a written language. Until the 9th century, Japanese language texts were written in Chinese characters using the writing system. A revolutionary achievement was the development of , a true Japanese script, in the mid-to late 9th century. Japanese authors began to write prose in their own language, which led to genres such as tales () and poetic journals (). Historian Edwin Reischauer writes that genres such as the monogatari were distinctly Japanese and that "Genji", written in , "was the outstanding work of the period".


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Murasaki began her diary after she entered service at Shōshi's court. Much of what is known about her and her experiences at court comes from the diary, which covers the period from about 1008 to 1010. The long descriptive passages, some of which may have originated as letters, cover her relationships with the other ladies-in-waiting, Michinaga's temperament, the birth of Shōshi's sons—at Michinaga's mansion rather than at the Imperial Palace—and the process of writing "Genji", including descriptions of passing newly written chapters to calligraphers for transcriptions. Typical of contemporary court diaries written to honor patrons, Murasaki devotes half to the birth of Shōshi's son Emperor Go-Ichijō, an event of enormous importance to Michinaga: he had planned for it with his daughter's marriage which made him grandfather and "de facto" regent to an emperor.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: "Poetic Memoirs" is a collection of 128 poems Mulhern describes as "arranged in a biographical sequence". The original set has been lost. According to custom, the verses would have been passed from person to person and often copied. Some appear written for a lover—possibly her husband before he died—but she may have merely followed tradition and written simple love poems. They contain biographical details: she mentions a sister who died, the visit to Echizen province with her father and that she wrote poetry for Shōshi. Murasaki's poems were published in 1206 by Fujiwara no Teika, in what Mulhern believes to be the collection that is closest to the original form; at around the same time Teika included a selection of Murasaki's works in an imperial anthology, "New Collections of Ancient and Modern Times".


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Murasaki is best known for her "The Tale of Genji", a three-part novel spanning 1100 pages and 54 chapters, which is thought to have taken a decade to complete. The earliest chapters were possibly written for a private patron either during her marriage or shortly after her husband's death. She continued writing while at court and probably finished while still in service to Shōshi. She would have needed patronage to produce a work of such length. Michinaga provided her with costly paper and ink, and with calligraphers. The first handwritten volumes were probably assembled and bound by ladies-in-waiting.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: In his "The Pleasures of Japanese Literature", Keene claims Murasaki wrote the "supreme work of Japanese fiction" by drawing on traditions of court diaries, and earlier —written in a mixture of Chinese script and Japanese script—such as "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" or "The Tales of Ise". She drew on and blended styles from Chinese histories, narrative poetry and contemporary Japanese prose. Adolphson writes that the juxtaposition of formal Chinese style with mundane subjects resulted in a sense of parody or satire, giving her a distinctive voice. "Genji" follows the traditional format of —telling a tale—particularly evident in its use of a narrator, but Keene claims Murasaki developed the genre far beyond its bounds, and by doing so created a form that is utterly modern. The story of the "shining prince" Genji is set in the late 9th to early 10th centuries, and Murasaki eliminated from it the elements of fairy tales and fantasy frequently found in earlier .


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: The themes in "Genji" are common to the period, and are defined by Shively as encapsulating "the tyranny of time and the inescapable sorrow of romantic love". The main theme is that of the fragility of life, "the sorrow of human existence" (), a term used over a thousand times in "Genji". Keene speculates that in her tale of the "shining prince", Murasaki may have created for herself an idealistic escape from court life, which she found less than savory. In Prince Genji she formed a gifted, comely, refined, yet human and sympathetic protagonist. Keene writes that "Genji" gives a view into the Heian period; for example love affairs flourished, although women typically remained unseen behind screens, curtains or .


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Helen McCullough describes Murasaki's writing as of universal appeal and believes "The Tale of Genji" "transcends both its genre and age. Its basic subject matter and setting—love at the Heian court—are those of the romance, and its cultural assumptions are those of the mid-Heian period, but Murasaki Shikibu's unique genius has made the work for many a powerful statement of human relationships, the impossibility of permanent happiness in love ... and the vital importance, in a world of sorrows, of sensitivity to the feelings of others." Prince Genji recognizes in each of his lovers the inner beauty of the woman and the fragility of life, which according to Keene, makes him heroic. The story was popular: Emperor Ichijō had it read to him, even though it was written in Japanese. By 1021 all the chapters were known to be complete and the work was sought after in the provinces where it was scarce.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Murasaki's reputation and influence have not diminished since her lifetime when she, with other Heian women writers, was instrumental in developing Japanese into a written language. Her writing was required reading for court poets as early as the 12th century as her work began to be studied by scholars who generated authoritative versions and criticism. Within a century of her death she was highly regarded as a classical writer. In the 17th century, Murasaki's work became emblematic of Confucian philosophy and women were encouraged to read her books. In 1673, Kumazawa Banzan argued that her writing was valuable for its sensitivity and depiction of emotions. He wrote in his "Discursive Commentary on Genji" that when "human feelings are not understood the harmony of the Five Human Relationships is lost."


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: "The Tale of Genji" was copied and illustrated in various forms as early as a century after Murasaki's death. "The Genji Monogatari Emaki", is a late Heian era 12th century handscroll, consisting of four scrolls, 19 paintings, and 20 sheets of calligraphy. The illustrations, definitively dated to between 1110 and 1120, have been tentatively attributed to Fujiwara no Takachika and the calligraphy to various well-known contemporary calligraphers. The scroll is housed at the Gotoh Museum and the Tokugawa Art Museum.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Female virtue was tied to literary knowledge in the 17th century, leading to a demand for Murasaki or "Genji" inspired artifacts, known as .Dowry sets decorated with scenes from "Genji" or illustrations of Murasaki became particularly popular for noblewomen: in the 17th century symbolically imbued a bride with an increased level of cultural status; by the 18th century they had come to symbolize marital success. In 1628, Tokugawa Iemitsu's daughter had a set of lacquer boxes made for her wedding; Prince Toshitada received a pair of silk screens, painted by Kanō Tan'yū as a wedding gift in 1649.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Murasaki became a popular subject of paintings and illustrations highlighting her as a virtuous woman and poet. She is often shown at her desk in Ishimyama Temple, staring at the moon for inspiration. Tosa Mitsuoki made her the subject of hanging scrolls in the 17th century. "The Tale of Genji" became a favorite subject of Japanese artists for centuries with artists such as Hiroshige, Kiyonaga, and Utamaro illustrating various editions of the novel. While early Genji art was considered symbolic of court culture, by the middle of the Edo period the mass-produced prints made the illustrations accessible for the samurai classes and commoners.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: In "Envisioning the "Tale of Genji"" Shirane observes that ""The Tale of Genji" has become many things to many different audiences through many different media over a thousand years ... unmatched by any other Japanese text or artifact." The work and its author were popularized through its illustrations in various media: (illustrated handscrolls); (screen paintings), (woodblock prints); films, comics, and in the modern period, manga. In her fictionalized account of Murasaki's life, "The Tale of Murasaki: A Novel", Liza Dalby has Murasaki involved in a romance during her travels with her father to Echizen Province.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: "The Tale of the Genji" is recognized as an enduring classic. McCullough writes that Murasaki "is both the quintessential representative of a unique society and a writer who speaks to universal human concerns with a timeless voice. Japan has not seen another such genius." Keene writes that "The Tale of Genji" continues to captivate, because, in the story, her characters and their concerns are universal. In the 1920s, when Waley's translation was published, reviewers compared "Genji" to Austen, Proust, and Shakespeare. Mulhern says of Murasaki that she is similar to Shakespeare, who represented his Elizabethan England, in that she captured the essence of the Heian court and as a novelist "succeeded perhaps even beyond her own expectations." Like Shakespeare, her work has been the subject of reams of criticism and many books.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: Kyoto held a year-long celebration commemorating the 1000th anniversary of "Genji" in 2008, with poetry competitions, visits to the Tale of Genji Museum in Uji and Ishiyama-dera (where a life size rendition of Murasaki at her desk was displayed), and women dressing in traditional 12-layer Heian court and ankle-length wigs. The author and her work inspired museum exhibits and Genji manga spin-offs. The design on the reverse of the first 2000 yen note commemorated her and "The Tale of Genji". A plant bearing purple berries has been named after her.


title: Murasaki Shikibu

text: A "Genji Album", only in the 1970s dated to 1510, is housed at Harvard University. The album is considered the earliest of its kind and consists of 54 paintings by Tosa Mitsunobu and 54 sheets of calligraphy on paper in five colors, written by master calligraphers. The leaves are housed in a case dated to the Edo period, with a silk frontispiece painted by Tosa Mitsuoki, dated to around 1690. The album contains Mitsuoki's authentication slips for his ancestor's 16th century paintings.


title: Agribusiness

text: Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy,


title: Agribusiness

text: The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit while sustainably satisfying the needs of consumers for products related to natural resources such as biotechnology, farms, food, forestry, fisheries, fuel, and fiber — usually with the exclusion of non-renewable resources such as mining.


title: Agribusiness

text: Studies of business growth and performance in farming have found successful agricultural businesses are cost-efficient internally and operate in favorable economic, political, and physical-organic environments. They are able to expand and make profits, improve the productivity of land, labor, and capital, and keep their costs down to ensure market price competitiveness.


title: Agribusiness

text: Agribusiness is not limited to farming. It encompasses a broader spectrum through the agribusiness system which includes input supplies, value-addition, marketing, entrepreneurship, microfinancing, and agricultural extension.


title: Agribusiness

text: In some countries like the Philippines, creation and management of agribusiness enterprises require consultation with registered agriculturists above a certain level of operations, capitalization, land area, or number of animals in the farm.


title: Agribusiness

text: The word "agribusiness" is a portmanteau of the words "agriculture" and "business." The earliest known use of the word was in the Volume 155 of the Canadian Almanac & Directory published in 1847. Although most practitioners recognize that it was coined in 1957 by two Harvard Business School professors, John Davis and Ray Goldberg after they published the book ""A Concept of Agribusiness"."


title: Agribusiness

text: "Agribusiness is the sum total of all operations involved in the manufacture and distribution of farm supplies; production operations on the farm; and the storage, processing, and distribution of farm commodities and items made from them." (Davis and Goldberg, 1956)


title: Agribusiness

text: Their book argued against the New Deal programs of then U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt as it led to the increase in agricultural prices. Davis and Goldberg favored corporate-driven agriculture or large-scale farming to revolutionize the agriculture sector, lessening the dependency on state power and politics. They explained in the book that vertically integrated firms within the agricultural value chains have the ability to control prices and where they are distributed. Goldberg then assisted in the establishment of the first undergraduate program in agribusiness in 1966 at the UP College of Agriculture in Los Baños, Philippines as Bachelor of Science in Agriculture major in Agribusiness. The program was initially a joint undertaking with the UP College of Business Administration in Diliman, Quezon City until 1975. Dr. Jose D. Drilon of the University of the Philippines then published the book ""Agribusiness Management Resource Materials"" (1971) which would be the foundation of current agribusiness programs around the world. In 1973, Drilon and Goldberg further expanded the concept of agribusiness to include support organizations such as governments, research institutions, schools, financial institutions, and cooperatives within the integrated Agribusiness System.


title: Agribusiness

text: Mark R. Edwards and Clifford J. Shultz II (2005) of Loyola University Chicago reframed the definition of agribusiness to emphasize its lack of focus on farm production but towards market centricity and innovative approach to serve consumers worldwide."Agribusiness is a dynamic and systemic endeavor that serves consumers globally and locally through innovation and management of multiple value chains that deliver valued goods and services derived from sustainable orchestration of food, fiber and natural resources." (Edwards and Shultz, 2005)In 2012, Thomas L. Sporleder and Michael A. Boland defined the unique economic characteristics of agribusiness supply chains from industrial manufacturing and service supply chains. They have identified seven main characteristics:


title: Agribusiness

text: In 2017, noting the rise of genetic engineering and biotechnology in agriculture, Goldberg further expanded the definition of agribusiness which covers all the interdependent aspects of the food system including medicine, nutrition, and health. He also emphasized the responsibility of agribusiness to be environmentally and socially conscious towards sustainability.


title: Agribusiness

text: "Agribusiness is the interrelated and interdependent industries in agriculture that supply, process, distribute, and support the products of agriculture." (Goldberg, 2017)


title: Agribusiness

text: Some agribusinesses have adopted the triple bottom line framework such as aligning for fair trade, organic, good agricultural practices, and B-corporation certifications towards the concept of social entrepreneurship.


title: Agribusiness

text: An agricultural supply store or agrocenter is an agriculturally-oriented shop where one sells agricultural supplies—inputs required for agricultural production such as pesticides, feed and fertilizers . Sometimes these stores are organized as cooperatives, where store customers aggregate their resources to purchase agricultural inputs. Agricultural supply and the stores that provide it are part of the larger Agribusiness industry.


title: Agribusiness

text: Studies of agribusiness often come from the academic fields of agricultural economics and management studies, sometimes called agribusiness management. To promote more development of food economies, many government agencies support the research and publication of economic studies and reports exploring agribusiness and agribusiness practices. Some of these studies are on foods produced for export and are derived from agencies focused on food exports. These agencies include the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Austrade, and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE).


title: Agribusiness

text: The Federation of International Trade Associations publishes studies and reports by FAS and AAFC, as well as other non-governmental organizations on its website.


title: Agribusiness

text: In their book "A Concept of Agribusiness", Ray Goldberg and John Davis provided a rigorous economic framework for the field. They traced a complex value-added chain that begins with the farmer's purchase of seed and livestock and ends with a product fit for the consumer's table. Agribusiness boundary expansion is driven by a variety of transaction costs.


title: Agribusiness

text: As concern over global warming intensifies, biofuels derived from crops are gaining increased public and scientific attention. This is driven by factors such as oil price spikes, the need for increased energy security, concern over greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, and support from government subsidies. In Europe and in the US, increased research and production of biofuels have been mandated by law.


title: Cochlea

text: The cochlea is the part of the inner ear involved in hearing. It is a spiral-shaped cavity in the bony labyrinth, in humans making 2.75 turns around its axis, the modiolus. A core component of the cochlea is the Organ of Corti, the sensory organ of hearing, which is distributed along the partition separating the fluid chambers in the coiled tapered tube of the cochlea.


title: Cochlea

text: The cochlea (plural is cochleae) is a spiraled, hollow, conical chamber of bone, in which waves propagate from the base (near the middle ear and the oval window) to the apex (the top or center of the spiral). The spiral canal of the cochlea is a section of the bony labyrinth of the inner ear that is approximately 30 mm long and makes 2 turns about the modiolus. The cochlear structures include:


title: Cochlea

text: The cochlea is a portion of the inner ear that looks like a snail shell ("cochlea" is Greek for snail). The cochlea receives sound in the form of vibrations, which cause the stereocilia to move. The stereocilia then convert these vibrations into nerve impulses which are taken up to the brain to be interpreted. Two of the three fluid sections are canals and the third is the 'Organ of Corti' which detects pressure impulses that travel along the auditory nerve to the brain. The two canals are called the vestibular canal and the tympanic canal.


title: Cochlea

text: The walls of the hollow cochlea are made of bone, with a thin, delicate lining of epithelial tissue. This coiled tube is divided through most of its length by an inner membranous partition. Two fluid-filled outer spaces (ducts or "scalae") are formed by this dividing membrane. At the top of the snailshell-like coiling tubes, there is a reversal of the direction of the fluid, thus changing the vestibular duct to the tympanic duct. This area is called the helicotrema. This continuation at the helicotrema allows fluid being pushed into the vestibular duct by the oval window to move back out via movement in the tympanic duct and deflection of the round window; since the fluid is nearly incompressible and the bony walls are rigid, it is essential for the conserved fluid volume to exit somewhere.


title: Cochlea

text: The lengthwise partition that divides most of the cochlea is itself a fluid-filled tube, the third 'duct'. This central column is called the cochlear duct. Its fluid, endolymph, also contains electrolytes and proteins, but is chemically quite different from perilymph. Whereas the perilymph is rich in sodium ions, the endolymph is rich in potassium ions, which produces an ionic, electrical potential.


title: Cochlea

text: The hair cells are arranged in four rows in the Organ of Corti along the entire length of the cochlear coil. Three rows consist of outer hair cells (OHCs) and one row consists of inner hair cells (IHCs). The inner hair cells provide the main neural output of the cochlea. The outer hair cells, instead, mainly 'receive' neural input from the brain, which influences their motility as part of the cochlea's mechanical "pre-amplifier". The input to the OHC is from the olivary body via the medial olivocochlear bundle.


title: Cochlea

text: The cochlear duct is almost as complex on its own as the ear itself. The cochlear duct is bounded on three sides by the basilar membrane, the "stria vascularis", and Reissner's membrane. The "stria vascularis" is a rich bed of capillaries and secretory cells; Reissner's membrane is a thin membrane that separates endolymph from perilymph; and the basilar membrane is a mechanically somewhat stiff membrane, supporting the receptor organ for hearing, the Organ of Corti, and determines the mechanical wave propagation properties of the cochlear system.


title: Cochlea

text: The cochlea is filled with a watery liquid, the endolymph, which moves in response to the vibrations coming from the middle ear via the oval window. As the fluid moves, the cochlear partition (basilar membrane and organ of Corti) moves; thousands of hair cells sense the motion via their stereocilia, and convert that motion to electrical signals that are communicated via neurotransmitters to many thousands of nerve cells. These primary auditory neurons transform the signals into electrochemical impulses known as action potentials, which travel along the auditory nerve to structures in the brainstem for further processing.


title: Cochlea

text: The "stapes" (stirrup) ossicle bone of the middle ear transmits vibrations to the "fenestra ovalis" (oval window) on the outside of the cochlea, which vibrates the perilymph in the "vestibular duct" (upper chamber of the cochlea). The ossicles are essential for efficient coupling of sound waves into the cochlea, since the cochlea environment is a fluid–membrane system, and it takes more pressure to move sound through fluid–membrane waves than it does through air. A pressure increase is achieved by reducing the area ratio from the tympanic membrane (drum) to the oval window ("stapes" bone) by 20. As pressure = force/area, results in a pressure gain of about 20 times from the original sound wave pressure in air. This gain is a form of impedance matching – to match the soundwave travelling through air to that travelling in the fluid–membrane system.


title: Cochlea

text: At the base of the cochlea, each 'duct' ends in a membranous portal that faces the middle ear cavity: The vestibular duct ends at the oval window, where the footplate of the "stapes" sits. The footplate vibrates when the pressure is transmitted via the ossicular chain. The wave in the perilymph moves away from the footplate and towards the helicotrema. Since those fluid waves move the cochlear partition that separates the ducts up and down, the waves have a corresponding symmetric part in perilymph of the tympanic duct, which ends at the round window, bulging out when the oval window bulges in.


title: Cochlea

text: The perilymph in the vestibular duct and the endolymph in the cochlear duct act mechanically as a single duct, being kept apart only by the very thin Reissner's membrane.


title: Cochlea

text: The vibrations of the endolymph in the cochlear duct displace the basilar membrane in a pattern that peaks a distance from the oval window depending upon the soundwave frequency. The Organ of Corti vibrates due to outer hair cells further amplifying these vibrations. Inner hair cells are then displaced by the vibrations in the fluid, and depolarise by an influx of K+ via their tip-link-connected channels, and send their signals via neurotransmitter to the primary auditory neurons of the spiral ganglion.


title: Cochlea

text: The hair cells in the Organ of Corti are tuned to certain sound frequencies by way of their location in the cochlea, due to the degree of stiffness in the basilar membrane. This stiffness is due to, among other things, the thickness and width of the basilar membrane, which along the length of the cochlea is stiffest nearest its beginning at the oval window, where the stapes introduces the vibrations coming from the eardrum. Since its stiffness is high there, it allows only high-frequency vibrations to move the basilar membrane, and thus the hair cells. The farther a wave travels towards the cochlea's apex (the "helicotrema"), the less stiff the basilar membrane is; thus lower frequencies travel down the tube, and the less-stiff membrane is moved most easily by them where the reduced stiffness allows: that is, as the basilar membrane gets less and less stiff, waves slow down and it responds better to lower frequencies. In addition, in mammals, the cochlea is coiled, which has been shown to enhance low-frequency vibrations as they travel through the fluid-filled coil. This spatial arrangement of sound reception is referred to as tonotopy.


title: Cochlea

text: For very low frequencies (below 20 Hz), the waves propagate along the complete route of the cochlea – differentially up vestibular duct and tympanic duct all the way to the "helicotrema". Frequencies this low still activate the Organ of Corti to some extent but are too low to elicit the perception of a pitch. Higher frequencies do not propagate to the "helicotrema", due to the stiffness-mediated tonotopy.


title: Cochlea

text: A very strong movement of the basilar membrane due to very loud noise may cause hair cells to die. This is a common cause of partial hearing loss and is the reason why users of firearms or heavy machinery often wear earmuffs or earplugs.


title: Cochlea

text: Not only does the cochlea "receive" sound, a healthy cochlea "generates" and amplifies sound when necessary. Where the organism needs a mechanism to hear very faint sounds, the cochlea amplifies by the reverse transduction of the OHCs, converting electrical signals back to mechanical in a positive-feedback configuration. The OHCs have a protein motor called prestin on their outer membranes; it generates additional movement that couples back to the fluid–membrane wave. This "active amplifier" is essential in the ear's ability to amplify weak sounds.


title: Cochlea

text: The active amplifier also leads to the phenomenon of soundwave vibrations being emitted from the cochlea back into the ear canal through the middle ear (otoacoustic emissions).


title: Cochlea

text: Otoacoustic emissions are due to a wave exiting the cochlea via the oval window, and propagating back through the middle ear to the eardrum, and out the ear canal, where it can be picked up by a microphone. Otoacoustic emissions are important in some types of tests for hearing impairment, since they are present when the cochlea is working well, and less so when it is suffering from loss of OHC activity.


title: Cochlea

text: Gap-junction proteins, called connexins, expressed in the cochlea play an important role in auditory functioning. Mutations in gap-junction genes have been found to cause syndromic and nonsyndromic deafness. Certain connexins, including connexin 30 and connexin 26, are prevalent in the two distinct gap-junction systems found in the cochlea. The epithelial-cell gap-junction network couples non-sensory epithelial cells, while the connective-tissue gap-junction network couples connective-tissue cells. Gap-junction channels recycle potassium ions back to the endolymph after mechanotransduction in hair cells. Importantly, gap junction channels are found between cochlear supporting cells, but not auditory hair cells.


title: Cochlea

text: In 2009, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created an electronic chip that can quickly analyze a very large range of radio frequencies while using only a fraction of the power needed for existing technologies; its design specifically mimics a cochlea.


title: Cochlea

text: The coiled form of cochlea is unique to mammals. In birds and in other non-mammalian vertebrates, the compartment containing the sensory cells for hearing is occasionally also called "cochlea," despite not being coiled up. Instead, it forms a blind-ended tube, also called the cochlear duct. This difference apparently evolved in parallel with the differences in frequency range of hearing between mammals and non-mammalian vertebrates. The superior frequency range in mammals is partly due to their unique mechanism of pre-amplification of sound by active cell-body vibrations of outer hair cells. Frequency resolution is, however, not better in mammals than in most lizards and birds, but the upper frequency limit is – sometimes much – higher. Most bird species do not hear above 4–5 kHz, the currently known maximum being ~ 11 kHz in the barn owl. Some marine mammals hear up to 200 kHz. A long coiled compartment, rather than a short and straight one, provides more space for additional octaves of hearing range, and has made possible some of the highly derived behaviors involving mammalian hearing.


title: Cochlea

text: As the study of the cochlea should fundamentally be focused at the level of hair cells, it is important to note the anatomical and physiological differences between the hair cells of various species. In birds, for instance, instead of outer and inner hair cells, there are tall and short hair cells. There are several similarities of note in regard to this comparative data. For one, the tall hair cell is very similar in function to that of the inner hair cell, and the short hair cell, lacking afferent auditory-nerve fiber innervation, resembles the outer hair cell. One unavoidable difference, however, is that while all hair cells are attached to a tectorial membrane in birds, only the outer hair cells are attached to the tectorial membrane in mammals.


title: Cochlea

text: The name cochlea is derived from the Latin word for "snail shell", which in turn is from the Greek κοχλίας "kokhlias" ("snail, screw"), from κόχλος "kokhlos" ("spiral shell") in reference to its coiled shape; the cochlea is coiled in mammals with the exception of monotremes.


title: ABCD: Any Body Can Dance

text: ABCD: Anybody Can Dance is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language dance drama film directed and choreographed by choreographer Remo D'Souza and produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur under UTV Spotboy Motion Pictures. The film stars Prabhu Deva in lead role along with Ganesh Acharya and Kay Kay Menon. The participants of "Dance India Dance" appear in supporting roles. Along with the Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions titled "Aadalam Boys Chinnatha Dance" and "ABCD" respectively, the film, made at a budget of between Rs 120 million and 420  million, was released worldwide in 3D on 8 February 2013 to mostly positive reviews from critics.


title: ABCD: Any Body Can Dance

text: After having a bitter disagreement with his friend and manager Jehangir Khan about the latter's blatant abuse of power and influence to win a dance competition called "Dance Dil Se" for his team JDC (Jehangir Dance Company), the choreographer of the dance company, Vishnu, quits his job. At first he wants to return home to Chennai, but his friend Gopi asks him to stay in Mumbai with him. Vishnu observes several young men using parkour to evade the police. They turn out to be proteges of Gopi, but despite their obvious raw talent, they lack the discipline required to become serious artists; they demonstrate this disastrously at a local event for a politician, wherein they set the stage on fire. After witnessing the youngsters showing their dancing abilities at Ganpati Chaturthi against their equally talented rival neighborhood, Vishnu decides to start his own dance group with them ultimately preparing them to compete in "Dance Dil Se". However, the lack of discipline among the dancers and rivalry between the two factions in the group led by D (Dharmesh Yelande) and Rocky (Salman Yusuff Khan) leads to multiple creative and emotional blocks. Initially, only Rocky and his gang are willing to attend the free classes, but soon D and his friends gravitate towards the studio.


title: ABCD: Any Body Can Dance

text: They are soon joined by Chandu, a troubled but extraordinarily talented man suffering from a drug addiction, Shaina, a "bar dancer", and Rhea, a Westerner who was JDC's star dancer until Jehangir tried to sexually assault her during a "private instruction". Rhea immediately becomes the new star of the group. Though the students are initially skeptical of Shaina because of her profession, Chandu demonstrates a great deal of respect for Shaina and defends her in front of the class despite teasing from his peers. The pair quickly fall for one another, leaving quite a few of the boys heartbroken.


title: ABCD: Any Body Can Dance

text: Despite repeated pleas for peace in the studio, the two main gangs continue to clash, driving Vishnu to his wit's end. However, the students seem to improve and as a reward, he gives them money to buy new speakers, but they nearly lose it all when Rhea takes them to an elite dance club where they challenge the resident champions, a professional dance crew called "Fictitious Crew". Vishnu arrives at the last minute and wins back the money, but while his students gain new respect for him he is furious with them. After some hard apologizing, he forgives them and they return to class with greater discipline and drive, only to suddenly be thrown out on the street after D's father calls the cops. During all of this Rocky and Rhea start to fall for each other whilst D burns with jealousy.


title: ABCD: Any Body Can Dance

text: The crew head to Dance Dil Se and audition, but when Rocky and D fight onstage for Rhea, their chances of appearing on the show in the first place seems bleak. Jehangir, in a bid to humiliate Vishnu publicly, persuades the judges to take the "Dhongri Dance Revolution" crew on as the shows "jokers". Faced with ridicule and the idea that they are a joke and not true dancers, Vishnu asks Rocky and D to do a step that requires a great deal of trust from both, but they cannot muster the trust to manage it. Vishnu has them choose the people they would trust to perform the step with, but then tricks both dancers by blindfolding them and having them attempt it again; this time, they are successful. Vishnu then states that unless the two manage to do the step without blindfolds none of the dancers would be allowed to go home for the night. Several abortive and unsuccessful attempts later D and Rocky take a break and Chandu talks to D and tells him about Bhavana's secret love for D. Bhavana and D get together, D completes the move successfully with Rocky, and the two factions begin to trust each other and work together. They even perform a dance act full of comedy dressed as jokers to answer back Jehangir's comment. The community complains that their children should not be mixing in such a way and through an impromptu dance performance are the youth able to convince their families about the importance of their talent. However, D's conservative and orthodox father refused to accept that his son desires to be a dancer.


title: ABCD: Any Body Can Dance

text: Before the semi-finals, Chandu prepares to propose to Shaina, but he meets his old drug dealer on the street. Now completely free from the hold of drugs he refuses to fall back into that world, but the dealer, irritated, tosses the ring intended for Shaina at him and it falls into the street. As he retrieves it, Chandu is hit by a truck and killed, leaving the team devastated. Shaina, though barely able to stand from grief, becomes the centrepiece of the team's semi-final routine, in which they express the loss of their friend, bringing audience members to tears. The team and the community come together to cremate Chandu, and DDR resolves to continue in the competition in Chandu's memory. At the finals, Jehangir pulls a dirty trick: his informant Mayur (a performer in DDR but, tempted by Jehangir's offer of a main lead role in JDC began to feed information to the opposition) leads JDC's dancers to copy DDR's choreography and performance concept. Faced with losing, DDR crafts a new routine on the spot, based around Lord Ganesha. Their heartfelt and spontaneous performance reminds the cold-hearted Jehangir of his old friendship with Vishnu and why they started JDC in the first place and he is humbled. The DDR crew are rewarded with thunderous applause and victory in the competition.


title: ABCD: Any Body Can Dance

text: The film was released on total of 750 screens which included 400 3D screens and 350 2D screens in India. The film's budget (cost of production) is estimated to be between Rs 120–420 million.


title: ABCD: Any Body Can Dance

text: Lisa Tsering praised the film on The Hollywood Reporter as "exuberant, upbeat and overflowing with music". Prasanna D Zore for Rediff.com has given 4/5 stars and says "ABCD Any Body Can Dance" is a must watch not only for dance lovers but also for those who like good cinema. Taran Adarsh from bollywoodhungama rated the film ABCD 3/5 stars saying, "ABCD's biggest strength lies in the variety of dances that Remo presents to the spectators. On the whole, ABCD has some incredible, eye-popping dances as its soul. While the template may be conventional – the triumph of the underdog – the film has its share of moments that stay with you, especially the concluding portions of the film. Decent watch!" Shivesh Kumar of "IndiaWeekly" awarded the movie 3 out of 5 stars.


title: ABCD: Any Body Can Dance

text: The soundtrack received highly positive reviews from critics. Shresht Poddar of "Score Magazine" gave the album 4 out of 5 stars saying, "Sachin-Jigar have delivered a multi-genre winning album. They have wonderfully demonstrated their versatility and deserve to be heard more. Despite having a couple of situational tracks, the album gets a thumbs up because of its uniqueness.". Giving the album 4 out of 5 stars, Rumnique Nannar of "Bollyspice" wrote, ""ABCD" is one of the best albums of 2013, simply because you can feel Sachin and Jigar in their element and creating lasting songs that complement the film’s core theme." "Indibeats" also gave it 4 out of 5 stars and commented, ""ABCD" is definitely out-of-the-box, crossing all expectations still delivering a package so brilliantly done. In a situation where we expected some hard hitting techno-rock tracks, Sachin-Jigar amazes us by the sheer choice of unconventional arrangements which mesmerizes in a great deal!" "Bollywoodlife" critic Suparna Thombare said, "With nine powerful tracks, "ABCD" is definitely Sachin-Jigar’s best work till date as their experiments have created some fresh new age sounds. But their success really lies in being able to balance western and Indian influences to create something that’s young, fresh and urban, yet Indian at its core. It would not be wrong to say that "ABCD" is India’s first step into the urban dance genre. Sachin-Jigar have arrived!". She also gave it 4 out of 5 stars. "IBNLive" gave it 3 out of 5 stars and noted, "The duo of Sachin-Jigar has delivered an album that has its moments. 'ABCD' is a versatile album though it falls short of creating an album with viral tracks."


title: ABCD: Any Body Can Dance

text: "ABCD" had opening in India of Rs 45 million nett on the first day. It collected approximately Rs 195 million nett at the domestic box office in the first weekend. By the end of its first week, the film has grossed over 312 million nett. The film grossed $425,000 overseas in opening weekend.


title: ABCD: Any Body Can Dance

text: The film's music was done by the composer-duo Sachin–Jigar. All songs were written by Mayur Puri apart from "Man Basiyo Saanwariyo" which had lyrics by Priya Panchal.


title: ABCD: Any Body Can Dance

text: Although the song "Sun Saathiya" was played as a scratch version in the film, it was reused in the sequel on popular demand and officially became part of its musical-themed soundtrack.


title: Rediff.com

text: Rediff.com (stylized as "rediff.com") is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City.


title: Rediff.com

text: , it had more than 300 employees. It is one of the earliest web portals and email providers in India. When its founder Ajit Balakrishnan launched Rediff on the NeT, the internet was barely five months old in the country, and had a total of about 18,000 users.


title: Rediff.com

text: The Rediff.com domain was registered in India in 1996. Early products included the email service Rediffmail and Rediff Shopping, an online marketplace selling electronics and peripherals.


title: Rediff.com

text: In 2001, Rediff.com was alleged to be in violation of the Securities Act of 1933 for filing a materially false prospectus in relation to an IPO of its American depositary shares. The case was resolved by settlement in 2009.


title: Rediff.com

text: In 2007, Rediff iShare, a multimedia platform, was released. In 2010, Rediffmail NG was launched, an email service for mobile platforms. In 2012, Rediff launched its Android App for Rediff News.


title: Rediff.com

text: In April 2016, the company decided to delist from NASDAQ, citing the high cost of reporting requirements, given its financial condition.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: The story focuses around characters playing a card game called Duel Monsters. This series introduces Synchro Monsters to the "Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game". A new method of dueling exists where motorcycle-like vehicles called D-Wheels (Duel Runners in the English version) are used, and the duelists engage in games called Riding Duels (Turbo Duels in the English version). The show is set in the distant future, where the upper class population live in Neo Domino City (New Domino City in the English version) and the lower class in a remote island where Domino's sewage is transported, Satellite. Yusei Fudo, the 18-year-old protagonist, lives in Satellite and makes it his objective to reach his rival Jack Atlas, who lives in Neo Domino. The series focuses on the five Signers, people embodied with a mark of one of the legendary Five Dragons who serve an ancient deity called the Crimson Dragon, their conflict with the Dark Signers, and the Three Emperors of Iliaster.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: As with the previous two anime series ("Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters" and "Yu-Gi-Oh! GX"), "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's" was acquired by 4Kids Entertainment for broadcasting in the United States in September 2008. The series aired on The CW4Kids, from September 13, 2008 to September 10, 2011, though 31 episodes were left unaired as well as unsubbed. The English-language version premiered on July 24 at San Diego Comic-Con 2008, where the first English-dubbed episode was previewed. Like the previous two English dubs, changes have been made to the plot, cards, and character names. On June 1, 2009, the series began airing 5 days a week on Cartoon Network. A manga based on the show began serialization in "V Jump" monthly Magazine from August 2009 to January 2015.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: Seventeen years prior, a reactor called Moment within the city malfunctioned and caused a great earthquake that split the city in two parts: Satellite, the rundown and poverty-stricken part (also the former Domino City), and Neo Domino City, the wealthier and urban part. In order to keep the two areas separate, access to the city from the Satellite is strictly prohibited and can result in imprisonment. Yusei Fudo, an aspiring duelist from Satellite, builds his own Duel Runner (D-Wheel in the Japanese version), but his best friend Jack Atlas betrays him and steals his vehicle along with his most precious monster, Stardust Dragon, escaping to Neo Domino.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: Two years later, Yusei builds another one and secretly travels to the city to win back his Dragon. Jack has made a name for himself and his monster, Red Archfiend Dragon, as the current Turbo Duel King in Neo Domino City. Yusei and Jack face each other in a turbo duel, Yusei and Jack's arms glow red, a third red dragon appears, and brings an abrupt end to the fight. This attracts the attention of Rex Goodwin, the head of the Public Security Maintenance Bureau, who reveals to Jack a five thousand year old secret, involving the , a pre-Incan civilization, the , and , identified by a red birthmark on their arm that represents a part of the dragon. Goodwin also reveals that Jack and Yusei are both Signers and holds a tournament to find the other three. Two of the other signers turn out to be child duelist Luna and psychic duelist Akiza. In the final battle, all four Signers see a vision of the future with the Satellite in ruins.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: Goodwin reveals that the Signers are destined to face the Dark Signers, duelists resurrected from the dead to serve the evil Earthbound Gods. The Signers head to Satellite to face the Dark Signers which consist of: Roman Goodwin (Rex's brother, a former Signer with the dragon's Head mark and leader of the Dark Signers), Kalin Kessler (a former friend of Yusei, Jack and Crow Hogan), Devack (the one who stole the Ancient Fairy Dragon card, Luna's Signer Dragon), Misty Tredwell (a model who blames Akiza for the death of her brother Toby), Greiger (who blamed Rex Goodwin for his village's disappearance), and briefly Carly (a blogger with feelings for Jack). With the help of Leo, Luna's twin brother, and Crow Hogan, Yusei and Jack's best friend, they are able to defeat all the Dark Signers. However, Rex Goodwin reveals that he has become a Dark Signer and uses his brother's severed arm to become a Signer as well. With the power of both the light and the shadows, he wishes to rebuild the world in his image. Yusei, Jack and Crow then face him in a turbo duel in order to stop him and King of the Netherworld from finishing off the Signers and destroying the world. Before the final attack, Yusei gains the Head mark, making him the new leader, while Crow gains his former Tail mark, making him the fifth Signer. With the power of the Crimson Dragon and Yusei's Majestic Star Dragon, he defeats Goodwin who, along with Roman, sacrifice themselves to destroy the King of the Netherworld and revive the Dark Signers as normal people again.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: After the Dark Signers' defeat, Neo Domino City and Satellite are finally reunited into one prosperous city with the building of the "Daedalus Bridge", an intricate net of roads linking both Satellite and Neo Domino City with some sections also used for turbo duels. Yusei and his friends, now calling themselves "Team 5D's", prepare for the upcoming World Riding Duel Grand Prix (WRGP) tournament. A new threat appears, the Three Emperors of Iliaster, whose main monsters, the "Machine Emperors", can absorb Synchro Monsters from their opponents to empower themselves. Yusei encounters a fellow competitor, Sherry LeBlanc, who is investigating the Iliaster organization, that is reportedly responsible for her parents' deaths. Team 5D's is also joined by a mysterious amnesiac mechanic named Bruno, who quickly befriends the team and helps them prepare for the WRGP. The WRGP soon begins, with Team 5D's facing tough opponents such as Team Unicorn, a world-ranked dueling team, Team Taiyo, a new dueling team who started with nothing, and Team Ragnarok, who possess special abilities like the Signers. Team 5Ds eventually confront the Emperors themselves, who are revealed to be three different incarnations of Aporia, a cyborg sent from the future to destroy Neo Domino City to prevent a great calamity from befalling mankind in the future.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: Although Team 5D's defeats Aporia and wins the WRGP, a massive citadel known as the Ark Cradle appears and threatens to crash into Neo Domino City and destroy it. Team 5D's climbs aboard it to stop it. Before reaching the core of the fortress, they confront three individuals guarding its access: Akiza and Crow face Sherry, who was promised to have her parents returned to her; Yusei faces Bruno, who recovered his memories of being Antinomy, another member of Iliaster; and Jack, Leo and Luna face Aporia. Leo dies during the duel and is revived by the Crimson Dragon, becoming the sixth Signer bearing the mark of the dragon's Heart. When the Signers finally reach Z-one, Iliaster's leader, Yusei borrows his friends' dragons to add them to his deck, and challenges Z-one to a final turbo duel to decide Neo Domino City's future. Z-one is revealed to be a scientist from the future who assumed Yusei's identity and traveled back in time to prevent the destruction of humanity. Yusei manages to use his friends' cards to perform a "Limit Over Accel Synchro" and summon his strongest monster, "Shooting Quasar Dragon". After Z-one is defeated by Yusei, he decides to entrust the future of mankind to Yusei, and sacrifices himself to destroy the Ark Cradle and save Neo Domino City from destruction.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: A few months pass after the Signers' victory over Iliaster, and the former members of Team 5D's move on with their lives following separate paths. With one final duel between Jack and Yusei, they all part ways, except for Yusei, who decides to stay in Neo Domino City and research for a way to stop the destruction of humanity in the future. The other Signers leave the city knowing they will be connected with each other and will return after fulfilling their dreams.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: The first story arc addresses themes such as social class division, segregation, and discrimination, depicted through the interactions between residents of Neo Domino City, and Satellite. The Dark Signer arc deals with the relationship between past and present, as the heroes (especially Yusei, Aki, and Jack) must come to terms with the questionable actions they, or their family members, have made. The final two arcs, the World Grand Prix and Ark Cradle, build on the previous arc by exploring the connection between present and future, as Time Travel plays a major role in how the story unfolds. Synchro Monsters also play a major role in the final two arcs, as their subsequent overuse in the future prompts the final antagonists to seek the destruction of Neo Domino City. Lastly, just like all Yu-Gi-Oh! series, 5D's places a huge emphasis on bonds and friendships.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: Similar to how the original series utilized elements of Egyptian mythology to drive the plot, 5D's loosely used bits of Incan Mythology (such as the Nazca Lines) early on to set the groundwork for its supernatural phenomena and lore. It was planned that the rest of the series would follow this thematic plot, until a real-life incident involving a cult member in the staff caused this original plotline to be dropped in favor of a dystopian future story in later seasons. To push this motif even further, the manga (which featured an entirely different plot from the anime) depicted the origin of Riding Duels being played on horseback, in coliseums, by Ancient Incan civilizations.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's" was produced by Nihon Ad Systems and TV Tokyo, and the show's animation was handled by Studio Gallop. It aired on TV Tokyo between April 2, 2008 and March 30, 2011, following the end of the previous series, "Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX". As with the previous two series ("Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters" and "Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX"), this series was acquired by 4Kids Entertainment for broadcasting and began airing in the United States in September 2008. The English adaptation of "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s" is also distributed by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television Animation. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's began airing on The CW4Kids, starting on September 13, 2008, and later aired on Cartoon Network. On May 29, 2010, the series once again began airing in 1-hour episode blocks on the CW4Kids. The series moved over to the Toonzai block on September 18, 2010. The last episode of the dubbed series aired on September 10, 2011, leaving out several episodes from the Japanese broadcast. As a result, "5D's" became the second series to not have a complete English dub. Changes have been made to the plot and cards, character names have been localized, and violent scenes have been edited.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: In Germany, however, the dub stopped using the 4Kids version and began adapting the show directly from Japan from episode 65 onward for unknown reasons. While the original voice cast from the first 64 episodes was still used, the show no longer edited quite as much, used the original music (including the original Japanese opening and ending themes), and adapted their scripts directly from the original Japanese scripts rather than from the revised English scripts.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: On September 22, 2010, Toonzaki and Hulu uploaded unedited, subtitled and edited, dubbed episodes of "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's". These episodes use the English names for the cards instead of the Japanese names. In an Anime News Network interview with Mark Kirk, Senior Vice President of Digital Media for 4Kids Entertainment, Kirk claimed this was due to legal reasons.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: On April 2, 2018, the series was released with Latin American Spanish dubbing in the United States (for US Hispanic audiences) on ¡Sorpresa!. Subsequently, the series was uploaded on the streaming service VEMOX, also in Spanish.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: A manga series based on the show written by Sato Masashi began serialization in "V Jump" from August 21, 2009 to January 21, 2015. Like the manga adaptation of "Yu-Gi-Oh! GX", the adaptation features an original storyline, different monsters, and various differences from the anime version. The series has been licensed by Viz Media for North America.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's" added a new gameplay element to the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" Trading Card Game, in which Master Rules came into effect by introducing Synchro Summoning to the game. To Synchro Summon the new white-colored Synchro Monsters, a Tuner Monster and a non-Tuner monster is required to be on the field, and their added levels must equal to the desired Synchro Monster to be summoned. A new monster type known as Psychic was also added to the game.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: Another type of gameplay mechanic unique to the anime version was also introduced, called "Dark Synchro Summon", which is the thematic opposite of the normal Synchro Summon. In the normal Synchro Summon, the levels of the Tuner monster(s) and non-Tuner monster(s) are added up to be equal to the level of the summoned monster, whereas Dark Synchro Summon subtracts the level of the non-Tuner monster from the anime-exclusive Dark Tuner monster monster's, instead. The card game has released these "Dark Synchro Monsters" as regular Synchro Monsters, though they require a DARK-attribute Tuner monster instead as opposed to Konami releasing Dark Tuners.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Wheelie Breakers" was released on March 26, 2009 and is a racing game for the Wii console in which players can use cards to lower other people's life points and defeat them. Unlike the card game, monsters use Speed Counters to attack their opponents, and players do not lose if their life points hit zero, rather they are unable to continue racing. The Promotional cards are Skull Flame, Burning Skull Head, and Supersonic Skull Flame.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator" was released on March 26, 2009 and is a game for the Nintendo DS that continues the World Championship series of games. The game uses the World Championship 2009 software, and also features a story mode, in which a duelist tries to get his memory back. In the video game Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2009: Stardust Accelerator, winning all single tournaments appears as an unlockable opponent: Endymion, the Master Magician, known as Divine Magician Deity Endymion in the Japanese version, is a character version of the card, "Endymion, the Master Magician". The Promotional Cards are Infernity Archfiend, Infernity Dwarf, and Infernity Guardian.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Reverse of Arcadia", also for the Nintendo DS, is also part of the World Championship series. Set during the Dark Signers arc, the player controls a former member of the Enforcers who has been brainwashed by the Arcadia movement.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: The promotional cards are Stygian Security, Samurai Sword Baron and Stygian Sergeants. "", was released on February 24, 2011. The game features over 4,200 cards, and a Puzzle Editor. This game was released in Japan on February 18, 2010, North America on February 23, 2010 and Europe on March 26, 2010. Its promotional cards are Sorciere de Fleur, Z-ONE and Necro Fleur.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 4" was released on September 17, 2009 and is a game for the PSP system, the fourth game in the Tag Force series. The game features the Dark Synchro and Dark Tuner monsters from the 2nd season of the anime. The Promotional Cards are Warm Worm, Worm Bait, and Regret Reborn. This was followed by "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 5", which was released on September 16, 2010 and set during the third season of the anime. A last game, "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 6" was later released that covered up until the end of the series.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Decade Duels" for the Xbox Live Arcade was released on November 3, 2010. and is a game that features online leader boards and voice chat functionality, as well as the ability to buy extra cards via Xbox Live Marketplace. The game was removed from the service in June 2012. It returned as "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Decade Duels Plus" on November 21, 2012 but it was removed on the same day for unknown reasons. It reappeared again on February 13, 2013.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Duel Transer" (known as "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Master of the Cards" in Europe) was released on April 21, 2011 and is a game for the Wii system features over 4,500 cards and Wi-Fi multiplayer. This game came with promotional cards Fighter Ape, Closed Forest, and Roaring Earth and a Duel Scanner accessory which allows players to scan their real world cards into the game.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: Yu-Gi-Oh Online 3: Duel Accelerator was the 3rd installment of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Online series. It was based around Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. It was released on December 18, 2009 and was shut down on September 30, 2012 due to an internal decision by Konami.


title: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

text: On September 25, 2018 a 5D's World, alongside Synchro Summoning, was added to the mobile game Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links.


title: War flag

text: A war flag, also known as a military flag, battle flag, or standard, is a variant of a national flag for use by a country's military forces when on land. The nautical equivalent is a naval ensign. Under the strictest sense of the term, few countries today currently have proper war flags, most preferring to use instead their state flag or standard national flag for this purpose.


title: War flag

text: The use of flags as field signs apparently emerges in Asia, during the Iron Age, possibly in either China or India. in Achaemenid Persia, each army division had its own standard, and "all officers had banners over their tents". Early field signs that include, but are not limited to a flag, are also called vexilloid or "flag-like", for example the Roman Eagle standard or the dragon standard of the Sarmatians. The Roman Vexillum itself is also "flag-like" in the sense that it was suspended from a horizontal crossbar as opposed to a simple flagpole.


title: War flag

text: Use of simple flags as military ensigns becomes common during the medieval period, developing in parallel with heraldry as a complement to the heraldic device shown on shields. The maritime flag also develops in the medieval period. The medieval Japanese Sashimono carried by foot-soldiers are a parallel development.


title: War flag

text: Some medieval free cities or communes did not have coats of arms, and used war flags that were not derived from a coat of arms. Thus, the city of Lucerne used a blue-white flag as a field sign from the mid 13th century, without deriving it from a heraldic shield design.


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: Thou shalt not kill (LXX; ), You shall not murder (Hebrew: ; ') or You shall not kill"' (KJV), is a moral imperative included as one of the Ten Commandments in the Torah.


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: The Hebrew verb ("r-ṣ-ḥ", also transliterated "retzach, ratzákh, ratsakh" etc.) is the word in the original text that is translated as "murder", but it has a wider range of meanings, generally describing destructive activity, including meanings "to break, to dash to pieces" as well as "to slay, kill, murder".


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: According to the Book of Numbers, killing anyone outside the context of war with a weapon, or in unarmed combat, is considered "retzach". Even accidental killing, or "thou shalt not kill," is expressly prohibited in . If the killing is accidental, the accused must flee to one of the cities of refuge—and remain in that city until the high priest dies, or the "revenger of blood" can kill the accused with no legal repercussions. The Bible never uses the word "retzach" in conjunction with war.


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: The act of slaying itself, regardless of questions of blood guilt, is expressed with the verb "n-k-h" "to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill". This verb is used of both an Egyptian slaying an Israelite slave and of Moses slaying the Egyptian in retaliation in . The Covenant Code and Holiness Code both prescribe the death penalty for people that commit "n-k-h".


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: The commandment against murder can be viewed as a legal issue governing human relationships, noting that the first four commandments relate strongly to man's duty to God and that the latter six commandments describe duties toward humans. The commandment against murder can also be viewed as based in respect for God himself. "The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand." (ESV)


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: The Genesis narrative also portrays the prohibition of shedding innocent blood as an important aspect of God's covenant with Noah.


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: The Torah portrays murder as a capital crime and describes a number of details in the moral understanding and legal implementation of consequences. The Priestly Code allowed the victim's next of kin ("avenger of blood") to exact retribution on the suspect; but the accused could seek sanctuary in a "city of refuge". The right of the "avenger of blood" to such revenge ceased, upon the death of the person who was the Jewish High Priest at the time of the crime.


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: Another verb meaning "to kill, slay, murder, destroy, ruin" is "h-r-g", used of Cain slaying Abel in Genesis 4:8. When Cain is driven into exile, complaining that "every one that findeth me shall slay me" in , he again uses this verb ("h-r-g"). Eliezer Segal observes that the Septuagint uses the term "harag", and that Augustine of Hippo recognized that this did not extend to wars or capital punishment. Most subsequent translations follow Jerome's Vulgate. While Jerome had access to Jewish scholars, "even the Jewish translators were not unanimous in maintaining a consistent distinctions between the various Hebrew roots." Jerome's choice of the word "occidere" (to kill) reflects the broader range of meanings.


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: The Torah and Hebrew Bible made clear distinctions between the shedding of innocent blood versus killing as the due consequence of a crime. A number of sins were considered to be worthy of the death penalty including murder, incest, bearing false witness on a capital charge, adultery, idolatry, bestiality, child sacrifice to pagan gods, cursing a parent, fortune-telling, homosexuality, and other sins.


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: For example, the Exodus narrative describes the people as having turned to idolatry with the golden calf while Moses was on the mountain receiving the law from God. When Moses came down, he commanded the Levites to take up the sword against their brothers and companions and neighbors. The Levites obeyed and killed about three thousand men who had sinned in worship of the golden calf. As a result, Moses said that the Levites had received a blessing that day at the cost of son and brother. On a separate occasion, a blasphemer was stoned to death because he blasphemed the name of the Lord (Yahweh) with a curse.


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: The Hebrew Bible has many other examples of sinners being put to death as due consequence for crimes. Achan is put to death by Joshua because he caused defeat of Israel's army by taking some of the plunder and hiding it in his tent. David ordered that an Amalekite be put to death because he claimed to have killed King Saul. Following the advice of his father, Solomon ordered that Joab be killed:


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: The biblical refrain for those justly executed as due punishment for crimes is that "their blood will be on their own heads." This expresses the idea that those guilty of certain actions have brought the shedding of blood upon themselves, and those carrying out due punishment do not bear bloodguilt.


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: The ancient Hebrew texts make a distinction between the moral and legal prohibition of shedding of innocent blood and killing in battle. Rabbi Marc Gellman explains the distinction between "harag" (killing) and "ratzah" (murder) and notes the different moral connotations. "...there is wide moral agreement (not complete agreement) that some forms of killing are morally just, and killing an enemy combatant during wartime is one of them." For example, the Torah prohibits murder, but sanctions killing in legitimate battle. The Bible often praises the exploits of soldiers against enemies in legitimate battle. One of David's mighty men is credited with killing eight hundred men with the spear, and Abishai is credited with killing three hundred men.


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: The 613 Mitzvot extend the notion of lawful killing to the nations that inhabited the Promised Land, commanding to exterminate them completely.


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: As described in the Torah, the ancient understanding of the prohibition of murder made an exception for legitimate self-defense. A home defender who struck and killed a thief caught in the act of breaking in at night was not guilty of bloodshed. "If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed; but if it happens after sunrise, he is guilty of bloodshed."


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: Jewish law views the shedding of innocent blood very seriously, and lists murder as one of three sins (along with idolatry and sexual immorality) that fall under the category of yehareg ve'al ya'avor, meaning "One should let himself be killed rather than violate it." Jewish law enumerates 613 Mitzvot, or commandments, including prohibition of murder and a number of other commandments related to the preserving of human life and administration of justice in cases of shedding of innocent blood.


title: Thou shalt not kill

text: On the subject of manslaughter ("thou shalt not kill"), the rabbinic authority Nachmanides was one of the few who enumerated a negative commandment prohibiting this lesser offense.