Also known as: Sagami Gulf, Sagami Bay

A bay with a temperate climate located south of Kanagawa Prefecture, around 25 southwest of Tokyo.

A castle once located in Myoukou City, Niigata Prefecture belonging to vassals of the Uesugi Clan.

The date of its construction is undetermined, but during the 1500s the Uesugi (Nagao) Clan used it as a defensive fortress to protect and service the highway through the northern provinces.

During the Otate no Ran, Horie Munechika welcomed Uesugi Kagetora into the castle, seated on the only viable escape route into the Kantou, after the surrender of Kasugayama Castle to Uesugi Kagekatsu. However, Munechika had already been persuaded to betray Kagetora, and he set fire to the outer citadel before evacuating. Samegao fell to Kagekatsu's general offensive two days later.

Satomi Yoshitaka was the son of Satomi Sanetaka and became head of the Satomi Clan by killing the then-head, his cousin Satomi Yoshitoyo (son of his father's older brother Satomi Yoshimichi) in 1534. The traditional version of the story goes that Yoshitoyo killed Yoshitaka's father, who was in communication with the Houjou, and Yoshitaka killed him in revenge. In recent years, however, historians have theorized that Yoshitaka and Sanetaka, father and son, allied themselves with the Satomi Clan's bitter enemy, the Houjou Clan, in order to take over the clan. They then changed the records to hide the fact that they betrayed the Houjou Clan after their plan succeeded.

As clan head, Yoshitaka fought numerous battles with Houjou Ujitsuna and Houjou Ujiyasu. He pushed into Shimousa and Kazusa, making his stronghold Kuruji Castle in Kazusa, and brought about the golden age of the clan. He battled the Houjou to the last and died at Kuruji Castle at the age of 68.

The "warring states" period, lasting from 1467 to 1615, in which the warlords of Japan battled each other for the rule of the country.

Emperor Showa was the 124 Emperor of Japan and reigned from 1926 until 1989, the longest of any Japanese Emperor. His reign saw the transformation of Japan from a largely rural country to an industrial and technological world power. It also encompassed two World Wars and the creation of a democratic government in Japan.

Also known as: Ken'ou Expressway (Ken'ou-dou/圏央道)

The Metropolitan Inter-City Expressway is a tolled expressway built in an arc around the Tokyo metropolitan area, passing through the prefectures of Kanagawa, Tokyo, Saitama, Ibaraki, and Chiba. Construction started on its first bypass on March 30, 1988, and the expressway was given the designation National Highway Route 468 on April 1, 1993. Construction is expected to continue at least until 2015.

Lit.: "All village"

Souson were autonomous, self-governing village-collectives formed during Japan's Middle Ages. Their golden age was in the mid-Muromachi Period. During this time, Souson formed relationships with territory kami in order to protect their autonomy, with some of the more influential people of the village becoming samurai to various lords—the jizamurai, or "land samurai".

During the Sengoku Period, Souson fell rapidly to the various area daimyo's drive for territory, and were eliminated altogether under Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Souun Temple is a Buddhist temple of the Rinzai School located in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture. Its principle buddha is Sakyamuni. Within the temple are the tombs of five generations of the Houjou Clan as well as a monument to the renga poet Sougi and portraits of Houjou Souun, Houjou Ujitsuna, and Houjou Ujiyasu.

The temple was built by Ujitsuna in 1521 by the last request of Houjou Souun. The army of Toyotomi Hideyoshi used it as its headquarters during the Siege of Odawara in 1590 and later burned it to the ground. It was later restored by the monk Kikukei in 1627 and given official temple status in 1648.

Takao Station is an above-ground JR East/Keiou railway station located in Hachiouji City, Tokyo. It serves around 58,700 people per day for the two companies.

Also called: Takeda Katsuchiyo, Takeda Harunobu
Title: Shinano no Kami

Historically: Daimyo of Kai who became the head of the Takeda clan by rebelling against his father. Conquered Shinano and fought against Uesugi Kenshin. The two clans clashed five times on the plains of Kawanakajima, where neither gained complete victory until Shingen died of illness in his campaign against Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Tamanawa was a mountain castle built by Houjou Souun in 1513 as a strategic point guarding over the Miura Peninsula and Musashi Province. Its moat ran directly into Kashio River and from there into Sagami Bay, providing a launching point for sea battles.

The castle was reputed to be impregnable; it turned aside a combined force led by Satomi Yoshitoyo and Ashikaga Yoshiaki in 1526 as well as further attacks by the Satomi Clan. Both Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen gave up on its capture in their forays into Sagami. The last Houjou master of the castle, Houjou Ujikatsu, surrendered to Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the Siege of Odawara.

During the Edo Period, the castle was the stronghold of several trusted retainers of the Tokugawa before finally being abandoned in 1703. A girls' school (<a href="http://izumi.seisen-h.ed.jp/">Seisen Junior and Senior High School</a>) is now located at the castle's former site. Only the earthworks of its highest point remain, though even those are difficult to discern through the thick trees and shrubs that cover the area.

Also called: Suwafuji (i.e. the Fuji of Suwa)

A mountain located in Nagano Prefecture and among the 100 famous mountains of Japan.

The Tokaido Main Line is the part of the Japan Railway connecting Tokyo Station and Kobe Station (Kobe Prefecture). It is operated by three JR companies and is the busiest JR line.

Tokyo Zokei University is a private art college located in Hachiouji City, Tokyo. It was established in 1966 by Kuwasawa Youko of the Kuwasawa Design Institute. The university was originally built in Moto-Hachiouji-machi. The entire campus was moved to Utsunuki-machi in 1993, apparently because of a large-scale modification of the campus building contract and design.

Lit. "Great Eastern Temple". A famous Buddhist temple complex first established by Emperor Shoumu in 743, located in Nara City. It is a World Heritage site, part of the seven "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara", and many of its temples and other structures are listed as National Treasures of Japan. Its Daibutsuden (大仏殿), or Great Buddha Hall, houses a sixteen-meter-high (52-foot) bronze statue of Dainichi Nyorai (also known as Daibutsu) and is reportedly the largest wooden building in the world. Deer roam the grounds freely.

The statue of Dainichi Nyorai, which is the largest in Japan, has been recast several times, and the Daibutsuden has been rebuilt twice after fire, with the current building finished in 1709 after it was burned down during the Matsunaga Hisahide-Miyoshi conflict in 1567. The two 28-foot guardian Niou at the Great Southern Gate temple entrance were dismantled and repaired by two teams of 13 and 12 art experts from 1988 to 1991? 1993?.

The surrounding gardens and temples are today considered part of the Toudai templex complex.

Other structures of the temple complex listed as National Treasures of Japan are:

- Nandai-mon (南大門)—Great Southern Gate: destroyed by a hurricane in 962, rebuilt in 1199 according to an architectural style used in the Chinese Song dynasty.
- Kaizan-dou (開山堂)—Hall of the Founder: a temple built to house the wooden image of the first chief abbot, created in the 9th century. Its inner sanctuary was built in 1200, its nave built in 1250.
- Shourou (鐘楼)—Bell Tower: built in the beginning of the 13th century, the Bell Tower houses a temple bell cast in 752 and was the largest of its kind until the Middle Ages.
- Hokke-dou/Sangatsu-dou (法華堂/三月堂)—Hall of the Flowering Dharma/Hall of the Third Month: this temple stands on the eastern side of the compound at the base of the Wakakusa Mountain Range. It is one of the few structures remaining from the Nara Period and is thought to have been completed in 743. A dozen or so statues of buddhas are enshrined in this temple. Its principle buddha is Fukuukenjaku Kannon.
- Nigatsu-dou (二月堂)—Hall of the Second Month: a temple named after the sacred water-drawing ceremony, a type of Buddhist mass, held in the second month of the lunar calendar. The temple was burned down from a fire set accidentally during one of these rites in 1667 and was rebuilt 2 years later. The temple houses two eleven-faced Goddesses of Mercy called the Large Goddess of Mercy (Oogannon—大観音) and the Small Goddess of Mercy (Kogannon—小観音). No one is allowed to look upon these mysterious goddesses. The temple itself was named a National Treasure in December, 2005.
- Tegai-mon (転害門)—Revolving Evil Gate: an eight-foot gate which stands in the north-west of the compound, one of the few structures that escaped both the battle-fire of Taira no Shigehira in 1180 and the Miyoshi-Matsunaga conflict in 1567. It was repaired in the Kamakura Period, but is still fundamentally the structure as it was built in the Nara Period.

Also called: Hiyoshimaru (日吉丸), Kinoshita Tokichiro (木下藤吉郎), Hashiba Hideyoshi (羽柴秀吉)
Titles: Kanpaku, Taikou, Chikuzen no Kami

Historically: The second of the "Three Unifiers"; he was born a peasant but rose quickly through the ranks of Oda Nobunaga's vassals to the position of one of Nobunaga's most distinguished generals. After Nobunaga's death, he took over the work of unifying the nation through military strength and brought an end to the Sengoku period.

Also called: Nagao Kiheiji (長尾喜平次), Nagao Akikage (長尾顕景), Nagao Kagekatsu (長尾景勝)

Historically: One of Uesugi Kenshin's nephews, he was adopted by Kenshin and named Kenshin's heir along with Uesugi Kagetora. Following Kenshin's death in 1578, he provoked the feud against Kagetora in the Otate no ran for succession. His forces won over those of Kagetora in 1579, and he forced Kagetora to commit suicide. He lost the Uesugi's western holdings to Oda Nobunaga, and later submitted to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, under whom he rose to prominence to become a member of the council of five regents appointed by Hideyoshi to protect the Toyotomi rule.

As a general under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Kagekatsu received the 1.2 million-koku fief of Aizu in addition to his 550,000-koku fief of Echigo. After Toyotmi's death, Kagekatsu was one of the first daimyo to plan revolt against Tokugawa Ieyasu with the building of a new castle in Aizu and the accumulation of troops, and could be said to have least partly begun the Battle of Sekigahara. He refused a summons from Tokugawa to go to the capital to explain himself, and attacked with a 50,000 army, which were held back by Mogami Yoshiaki and Date Masamune. Kagekatsu was defeated early at the siege of his castle at Shiroishi and declared his allegiance to Tokugawa.

Afterwards, Kagekatsu was given the 300,000-koku Yonezawa-han in the Northeast.

Title: Kantou Kanrei
Also known as: Fujiwara-no-Norimasa (藤原憲政)

Son of Uesugi Norifusa, he was only three when his father died. His adopted brother, Uesugi Norihiro, succeeded his father as head of the clan. When his brother was banished in 1531, Norimasa inherited the title of Kantou Kanrei.

From 1541 to 1552, he battled both the Houjou and Takeda Clans. He suffered several defeats, and fled to Nagao Kagetora (Uesugi Kenshin) in 1552, leaving his son and heir behind (who was later captured and executed.)

In 1557, he adopted Nagao Kagetora and in 1561 passed the title of Kantou Kanrei to him as well as the Uesugi family name and inheritance.

He later supported Uesugi Kagetora in the Otate no Ran. But as the Kagetora faction was hard-pressed due to Takeda Katsuyori's defection, he took Kagetora's son and heir with him to negotiate with the Kagekatsu faction. However, both were killed by an assassin at Kagekatsu's camp.

His sons were killed as well in the Otate no Ran, so ironically, it would be Uesugi Kenshin's son, Uesugi Kagekatsu, who would sever the bloodline of the Uesugi house.

The capital of Tochigi Prefecture.

The five kanshousha at the head of the Meikai Uesugi Army ordered by Uesugi Kenshin to hunt for the onshou who are disrupting the peace of modern-era Japan in a battle which has lasted four hundred years. Led by Uesugi Kagetora, with Naoe Nobutsuna, Kakizaki Haruie, Yasuda Nagahide, and Irobe Katsunaga. The name "Yasha" refers to soldiers in the army of Bishamonten, called "Yaksha".

The period of Japanese history from 400 B.C. to 250 A.D. which followed the Jomon Period, characterized by new styles of pottery and the extensive cultivation of rice paddy fields.