Kou Historical Figure

*Kou no Kuni* (江の国), the Country of the Bay is where historical figures of the **Edo Period** (also known as the Tokugawa Period) live.

## **Tokugawa Tsunayoshi**

In our world Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was the fifth shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Especially known for his animal protection laws and his fondness for dogs, Tsunayoshi was often called the Dog Shogun.

Tokugawa Tsunayoshi is the son of Tokugawa Iemitsu. During his shogunate he set about trying to improve the living standards not only of animals but also of his people, setting many laws such as a ban on prostitution. His animal protection laws went into the extreme however as Edo filled with stray dogs (which it was now illegal to kill), spreading disease and filth. To fix this Tsunayoshi had over 50,000 stray dogs moved to kennels at the edge of the city and fed with taxpayer money.

A well known event in Japanese history, the Ako Incident concerning the 47 Ronin, also occurred during Tsunayoshi's reign.

Other places you can see Tokugawa Tsunayoshi used as a character:

* *Muramasa: The Demon Blade* (main antagonist in the game)
* *Ooku: hana no ran* (drama)
* *Ooku - Eien / The Castle of Crossed Destinies* (female version, film)
* *Monster Strike* (game)

## **Tokugawa Iemitsu**

In our world Tokugawa Iemitsu was the third shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the grandson of Tokigawa Ieyasu, one of the three unifiers of Japan.

Iemitsu strengthened the shogunate during his time, making him unpopular with the feudal lords. He also prosecuted Christians in Japan and was the one who expelled all westerners and closed Japan's boarders to everyone except the Dutch (who had never been Christian missionaries like most other foreigners at the time), who were allowed to continue trade in one seaport. Even Japanese people were not allowed to leave Japan and return. This would last for over 200 years.

Iemitsu was kown to have homosexual lovers from a young age. One of them, a childhood friend, he had an argument with and so killed him while they were taking a bath together.

Other places you can see Tokugawa Iemitsu used as a character:

* *The Shogun's Samurai* (film)
* *Shôgun Iemitsu no ranshin - Gekitotsu* (film)
* *Gate 7* (manga)
* *Ken ga Kimi* (game)
* *Ooku - The Inner Chamber* (female version, drama)

## **Tokugawa Yoshimune**

In our world Tokugawa Yoshimune was the 8th shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate. He is by many considered one of the best Tokugawa shoguns.

Yoshimune accomplished a lot as shogun, some of the main things being a financial reform known as the Kyoho Reform, allowing foreign books and their translations as well as western studies and an attempt at resurrecting Japanese swordsmanship. He held a blacksmithing competition and ordered a book compilation made listing the most famous swords from all over Japan.

Other places you can see Tokugawa Yoshimune used as a character:

* *Abaraenbo Shogun* (drama)
* *Hachidai Shogun Yoshimune* (drama)
* *Kamen Rider OOO Wonderful the Movie: The Shogun and the 21 Core Medals* (film)
* *Red Hot Chili Samurai* (manga)
* *Yoshimune to Ten'ichi-bō* (novel)
* *Tokugawa Fūunroku Hachidai Shōgun Yoshimune* (drama)
* *The Lady Shogun and Her Men* (female version, film)
* *Ooku* (manga)
* *Mushibugyo* (side, anime)

## **Hiraga Gennai**

In our world Hiraga Gennai was an inventor, physician, author and rangaku (western studies) scholar.

Gennai's real name was Kunitomo but he had several pen names and Gennai is his best known one. He wrote both scientific and satirical works, one of the satirical one being 'On Farting'. He is also known for inventing several things, such as a thermometer and electrostatic generator.

Gennai had a particular interest in ores and studied them extensively. He tried on several occasions to get new mines opened but was unsuccessful. Angered by his repeated failures in this area he killed one of his assistants and died in prison for this crime.

Other places you can see Hiraga Gennai used as a character:

* *Ooku* (female version, manga)
* *Gintama* (manga, anime)
* *Read or Die* (anime)
* *Flint the Time Detective* (ep20, anime)
* *Hidan no Aria* (light novel)
* *Tenkagomen* (drama)
* *Sengoku Collection* (female version, ep6, anime)
* and many more

## **Sugita Genpaku**

In our world Sugita Genpaku was a rangaku (western studies) scholar and physician best known for translating The New Book of Anatomy.

Genpaku is said to have noticed after seeing an autopsy performed on a corpse that the western drawings of human organs were much more accurate than the Chinese ones Japanese scholars used. He therefore gathered a team of scholars to translate a Dutch book on the subject. The process was extremely slow and difficult, translating one page took them anywhere between a week and a month.

Besides the anatomy book Gennai also wrote a book himself on rangaku. His translations were so important and revolutionary at the time that today there is a project called Project Sugita Genpaku which aims to translate open source texts to Japanese, similar to Project Gutenberg which aims to digitalize such works in English.

Other places you can see Sugita Genpaku used as a character:

* *X-Tai shinsho* (manga)
* *Sengoku Hime ~Senran no Yo ni Honoo Tatsu~* (female version, game)

## **Inou Tadataka**

In our world Inou Tadataka was a cartographer and surveyor who completed the first map of Japan using modern techniques.

Inou studied western astronomy, geography and math and after 5 years of studying he set off on the mission of surveying Japan. His mission took 17 years, and probably would have taken longer had he lived longer. His greatest work was a complete map of the entire coastline of Japan, which his assistants finished 3 years after his death. His maps were so accurate they were used up until 1924, more than a hundred years after his death.

Other places you can see Inou Tadataka used as a character:

* *Meow Meow Japanese History* (ep23, anime)

## **Kobayashi Issa**

In our world Kobayashi Issa was a buddhist monk and poet, one of the four masters of haiku.

Issa's life was riddled with sorrows. His mother died when he was young and he was mostly raised by his grandmother. His grandmother died he was 14 and by then his father had remarried and had another child so he felt like a stranger in his own house. Issa was sent to Edo to study and later, after his father died, had a long legal battle with his stepmother to receive any inheritance. His firstborn child died as an infant and he also lost his third child and then his wife. Finally his house burned down and had to live in a storage shed in Edo.

Throughout all of his difficulties Issa kept writing and by the time he died he had written over 20.000 haiku. His style is known to be simple and he uses a lot of colloquialism, unlike other famous haiku poets such as Basho who tend to use 'higher' language. This did not at all diminish his popularity and he also frequently made drawings to go with his poetry.

Other places you can see Kobayashi Issa used as a character:

* *Issa* (film)

## **Yui Shousetsu**

In our world Yui Shousetsu was a famous ronin and military strategist who led the Keian uprising. He was known as one of the three great ronin.

Yui was born a commoner and so not of the samurai class, however he was taken in by a group of ronin who taught him swordsmanship, military tactics and history. He went on to become a teacher at a samurai academy and later opened his own school. These schools, which were all across the country, were more than just places of learning but also places for social discussions.

Many people were unhappy with the Tokugawa shogunate and here Yui met Marubashi Chuya, another unhappy samurai, and together they planned a coup. They planned to strike shortly after Tokugawa Iemitsu's death, however their uprising did not even manage to take off properly as Marubashi was arrested in Edo while Yui was away making preparations.

## **Tokugawa Mitsukuni**

In our world Tokugawa Mitsukuni was a prominent feudal lord, the grandson of Tokugawa Iemitsu.

During his lifetime he assembled scholars to compile a history of Japan as well as had the first guide to Kamakura city made. He was also in charge when Buddhism and Shinto was separated and so had many Buddhist temples destroyed and many Shinto shrines built instead. After he died he was raised to the rank of a minor deity.

Mitsukuni is said to have been one of the first to eat ramen and enjoyed exotic food imported from other countries, such as wine and yogurt. A tradition arose early to fictionalize his life as a wanderer and there are many old and new stories which portray him as such.

*Other places you can see Tokugawa Mitsukuni used as a character:*

* Mito Komon (a drama with over 1000 episodes!)
* Manga Mito Komon (anime based on the drama)