Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 164 i All About History

A common question we face when exploring cultures of the past is whether or not we should judge them by modern standards. It brings us into the realms of morality and philosophy that, as historians, are not necessarily areas where we are at our most comfortable. From racial prejudice to religious panics, the past can seem very far from our modern sensibilities. In no place is this more stark than in how human life is valued (or not, as the case may be). From the gladiatorial arenas of Rome to the sacrificial altars of Central America, life was thought of very differently around the world and in various eras. My instinct is to try to more fully understand the context of something that seems so foreign to our sensibilities. In…

During the Edo period, residences were built to house the lower strata of Japanese society. These homes tended to be constructed in areas surrounding castles and mansions belonging to prominent warriors, and initially served as housing for lower-class samurai. Known as nagaya, these houses were long dwellings, also known as rowhouses, which were split into several smaller apartments. Each of these apartments consisted of a single room with a compact kitchen towards the back. The nagaya units were typically rented and, while originally intended for samurai, were later also occupied by artisans, craftsmen and other lower ranking citizens. Wealthier tenants could rent the more expensive and desirable units that faced the street. Nagaya apartments offered affordable and sustainable living to people in big cities, similar to tenement or terraced housing…

Christine Guth is an expert on the history of Japanese art and has taught at Princeton, Pennsylvania, Harvard, Stanford and Berkley universities. Among her many publications is Craft Culture in Early Modern Japan. What differentiates Edo art from that of previous periods? The art of the Edo period is distinct from that of earlier periods in three significant ways, first and foremost because of the country’s rapid urbanisation. This period saw the growth of three influential urban centres: Edo, where the shogun resided; Kyoto, where the emperor and court resided; and Osaka, the country’s mercantile centre. Each had its own distinctive character. To this influential triad one could arguably add Nagasaki, the port on the southern island of Kyushu where trade with China and Holland was conducted. It was the…

“FLEMING DECLARED THAT HE WOULD WRITE THE ‘SPY STORY TO END ALL SPY STORIES’” At the end of the Second World War a new conflict emerged – the Cold War, a struggle between communist East and capitalist West. The spectre of nuclear armageddon ensured this was not a battle that would be fought with armies out in the open, but in the shadows with secret agents as its soldiers. As tales of espionage dominated the headlines, so too did they come to dominate bookshelves, cinema screens and the airwaves, beginning with a certain martini-drinking super-spy… BOND, JAMES BOND In 1952 Ian Fleming, 45, was on the verge of getting married and, in his own words, sought something to “take my mind off the agony.” The successful journalist declared he would…

As the New Year approaches, many of us will be looking to undo the damage of the holidays, boost our health and nutrition and lose the couple of extra kilos we’ve inevitably put on. But how do we do that? In our modern times, we have become used to being bombarded with the latest and most innovative weight-loss solutions, from specific diets and restrictive eating to specialist pills and medications. Every year, new diets emerge and the advice on how to live a healthy life and eat a nutritious diet changes… but this is nothing new. For centuries, fads and trends have dictated how people have approached their wellbeing and have convinced people to do some horrendous things to themselves in the name of health and weight loss. Here are…

As soon as Ernest Rutherford created an artificial nuclear reaction in the lab in 1917, it was only a matter of time before the process would develop into nuclear fission and become a possible weapon of war. From their intelligence sources the Allies were aware that if the Nazis were to align their science and their resources correctly, then production of a Nazi atomic weapon was very real. With the Allies fighting on two fronts – a team of scientists in the lab developing the bomb for the West, and the military whose job it was to make sure the Nazis could never succeed – the race was on. But if the Allies had lost that race, how might things have taken a different turn? Why were scientists on the…

Japan, 18th century A tsuba is a hand guard that’s placed between the blade and hilt of a sword. It’s designed to protect the hands of a sword wielder from an opponent’s blade sliding down their own and cutting them, or from their own hand slipping up onto the blade. The tsuba was also important for balancing the weight of the weapon. There are examples of tsuba in Japan dating back to the 5th century. Given a sword’s obviously violent purpose, a tsuba was a very practical and functional element, but this developed significantly in the Edo period as the samurai class, typically the only people permitted to carry swords, transitioned from being active warriors to being social elites. Swords were no longer simply practical weapons but were expensive status symbols…

1 OSAKA CASTLE OSAKA Predating the Edo period, Osaka Castle as it originally appeared was first constructed by the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1583 and completed in 1598. In 1614 it became the site of the Siege of Osaka as the Toyotomi clan secreted themselves inside and attempted to hold off the attacking forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu. But the summer offensive of 1615 saw Ieyasu victorious and the castle was destroyed. Following the eradication of his enemies, Ieyasu commissioned a new fortress to be built on the site. In 1665 disaster struck when the tenshu (main tower) was hit by lightning and burnt down. During the Boshin War, Imperialist troops used the site as a garrison and it received further damage. Beginning in the 1930s the castle began to be…

“The voyage would not have been undertaken, and assuredly it would never have been completed, without the impulse derived from her perseverance and determination”– Thomas Brassey Anna Brassey’s idea, in 1876, was that she and her husband, along with their children, household staff, professional yacht crew and three or four friends, should sail around the world for pleasure. Many men had previously circumnavigated in pursuit of knowledge, conquest or financial gain, but not for the sheer enjoyment of it. Anna’s husband Tom had inherited a fortune from his father, a farmer’s son who’d become a civil engineer. Brassey senior had met George Stephenson and Thomas Telford and profited from their advice to make his career in railways. He’d worked with engineers like Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and by…

On May 1824, Hawaiian King Liholiho and Queen Kamāmalu journeyed to London to meet with King George IV to strengthen ties between Hawaii and Britain and to seek an alliance. Throughout their stay the Hawaiian delegation visited many sites of historic and cultural significance, including the British Museum in London. Unfortunately, the journey ended in catastrophe when both Hawaiian royals contracted measles and died within days of each other. However, despite its tragic end, the trip was an important historic moment. Two hundred years later, the British Museum is commemorating the visit with a new exhibition. Hawaii: A Kingdom Crossing Oceans celebrates the history, culture and art of the seafaring state while exploring the global journeys and voyages of Hawaiian leaders. Featuring many objects never before displayed in the UK,…

1615 SIEGE OF OSAKA One of the most famous battles in Japanese history occurs as Tokugawa Ieyasu seeks to eliminate the Toyotomi clan. He lays siege to Osaka Castle across two years with a winter and summer campaign, eventually defeating the Toyotomi. 1853 PERRY EXPEDITION Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States Navy sails four ships to Japan as part of a diplomatic mission seeking to reestablish trade and relations with the country. Perry arrives in warships and uses ‘gunboat diplomacy’ to ensure his demands are met. 1603 TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE ESTABLISHED Following the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu establishes the Tokugawa Shogunate. A strict societal class system is created and all foreigners are banned, leading to centuries of isolationism. The shogunate establishes itself in Edo, modern-day Tokyo. 1637 SHIMABARA REBELLION…

Matsuo Bashō1644-94 One of Japan’s most celebrated and beloved poets, Bashō was a pioneer of the format of writing within 17 syllables, known as haiku, elevating the style. Before becoming a writer he worked in the service of a feudal lord in Ueno, befitting his samurai upbringing, but after his master’s death in 1666 he moved to the imperial capital to pursue writing. He published his first verse in 1679, previewing his haiku form that spoke to Zen ideals and deeper artistic expression. He began travelling around Japan from 1684, composing as he went, writing some of his best-known poems about what he observed and felt. UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE 1797 – 1858 A renowned wood-block artist, Hiroshige was one of the Japanese printers whose work was exported to the West in…