I'd better read(translate) to the last minute at first.

Saturday, 22 September 2012

rounin

To put it very simply、Kyoto was the capital of Japan because the emperor was there.

However、throughout the Edo period、the real capital of Japan was Edo (now Tokyo)、home to the Tokugawa clan.

Ｗell、in the process of abandoning this policy of national isolation、the Tokugawa government could not ignore the strong opposition within public opinion.

Therefore、although it was a very unusual thing、they consulted the emperor in Kyoto about it.

Maybe they just wanted to formalize an important policy change in the country by using the emperor's authority (by obtaining the emperor's "pro forma" approval).

Unexpectedly for them、however、it brought about a major change in the political situation in Japan.

This precedent gave real power to "the emperor"、who had only existed as a mere authority.

After this、Kyoto became the center of politics.

By the way、the general Japanese perception of Western countries at that time (in particular、the samurai and the intellectual class of the common people in western Japan).

It was "they are the invaders".

"That perception is wrong."

Of course、there were those who claimed so、but they were immediately killed as 'national bandits'.

Yes、"rōnin" appeared on the stage of Japanese history.

※Simply put、a ronin was originally a samurai who had lost a usable lord.

浪(rō)人(nin)。

浪(moving ridge・wave)人(Homo sapiens・Homo・man・human)。

- I am using weblio dictionary.

And in this case、quite simply、"ronin" is the extremists (they are not limited from the samurai class).

Ah！"Kin'nō (Loyalism).”

The period and region may be more limited、but this word seems to have been one of the words to express it.

勤(Kin')王('nō)。

勤(task・work・duty)王(king)。

"Kin'nō、at that time、in my hometown of Tosa (at Shikoku Island)、this word had the same meaning as arsonists and robbers."

Tanaka Mitsuaki、who participated in this revolutionary movement as a ronin、recalled that after the Meiji Restoration.

By the way、currently、for example、people who have not passed university exams are also called ronin.※

・・・・・・・・・

I think I mentioned it before、Satsuma clan and Choshu clan were originally considered potential enemies for Tokugawa.

In the future、they will become the two giants who will overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate、but basically、all members of the clan worked as members of state organization and in line with national policy.

Of course、it was not a Japanese state organization.

For example、it was the Satsuma organization.

Ronin was different from them.

Ronin was a samurai who served no one for various reasons.

Its basic reason was the fall of the clan they belonged to.

Therefore、it seems that most ronin occurred immediately after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.

Therefore、they have existed naturally for hundreds of years.

But in this case、the ronin were、so to speak, revolutionaries.

In fact、many domains followed the policy of the Tokugawa shogunate as their own policy.

Many samurai from those domains became ronin because they opposed it.

※Circumstances differ greatly depending on the clan (they were basically self-governing countries)、so I can't generalize、many of them were low class samurai.

Although I can't separate them clearly.

Or the intellectual class among the common people、

Merchants and farmers who yearn to samurai.

Of course、also arsonists and robbers.※

They aimed for Kyoto.