Japan in the Early 1900's
Long ago, there was an Emperor [1]. His name, Mutsuhito. Along side him was one of his advisers named Saigo Takam.
The Emperor was a bright young man for he was only 15 when he ascended the throne. During his rein, he helped Japan greatly in becoming modernized [2]. He set down over 7,000 miles of rail road, that lead to the growth of coal productions. He developed an excellent navy that had dozens of ships and an army with more then 500,000 troops. He now had an army so samurais [3] were outdated and not needed. Also in order to modernize Japan, Mutsuhito had to eliminate older traditions the outside world frowned upon. One of those traditions included to ancient suicide custom call Seppuku [4]. Saigo Takam committed this tradition to honor the old. Below features a video from the movie entitled The Last Samurai displaying this groomsman custom.
- The male sovereign or supreme ruler of an empire
- To become modern; adopt modern ways, views, etc.
- A member of the hereditary warrior class in feudal Japan
- Ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen with a dagger or knife: formerly practiced in Japan by members of the warrior class when disgraced or sentenced to death.
Citations:
"Emperor Meiji." Wikipedia. September 10, 2014. Accessed October 10, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Meiji.
"Japan Flag." , Japanese Flag. Accessed October 10, 2014. http://www.mapsofworld.com/flags/japan-flag.html.
Mrs. Buehner, class notes on imperialism, 2014.
"Saigo Takamori." Wikipedia. Accessed October 10, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigō_Takamori.
"The Last Samurai: Seppuku." YouTube. Accessed October 10, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5xKq2vPUew.
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