#kato kiyomasa

[annicaax]

more snippets from kiyomasa event. he's not my type of guy but I really love how is so gentle with the mc and how he thinks so high of her, it's so sweet

[thecrimeofmans-laughter]

nothing brings me more happiness than seeing child mitsunari, masanori, and kiyomasa in hideyoshi's sw5 official art

so small,,, peace and love on planet earth

[hopelessenthusiast1729]

Sir you do NOT just go around saying stuff like this out of the blue, my heart is too soft for this

[ironhatesyou]

Tenkaichi fan fights! Ii Naomasa “The Red Devil” vs Ishida Mitsunari “The Sword Hunter” and Kato Kiyomasa “The Tiger Slayer” vs Sakai Tadatsugu “The Inokiri”

[soul-of-the-sanada]

[ariparri]

2022 Art Summary!

I am very happy with the variety in fandom content I made 😆

Links to original posts

January | February | March

April | May | June

July | August | September

October | November | December

[thunderboltage]

Well look here, it seems we have 

  a fool,

     a bigger fool,

        and a fool beyond all help

masanori: hey!! ୧( ಠ Д ಠ )

[sheltiechicago]

Above: Samurai Kato Kiyomasa’s history of sixteenth-century Japan is brilliantly depicted here.

Taki: One of America’s Finest Japanese Tattoo Artists

Tomoe Gozen, a renowned onna-musha from the late Heian era of Japanese history, is shown in this artwork.

Another art piece by Takahiro Kitamura, this time representing warrior Konjin Chogoro.

Kitamura used a bright purple pigment for this tattoo of Suikoden hero Ichijosei Kosanjo.

[japaneseaesthetics]

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi: Kato Kiyomasa hunting tigers in Korea during the Imjim war

[annicaax]

Oh damn that's a pretty expression

[itsmarjudgelove]

Kato Kiyomasa. Vertical Dyptich by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka. Published by Maruya Jimpachi, 1867 A vertical diptych of Kato Kiyomasa ( 1562-1611 ). A famous general best known for his participation in the invasion of Korea. Shows him seated before his personal banner inscribed Nan myo no rengekyo, “Hail Lotus Sutra.” On his breast is his mon, a large ring.

[romance-of-three-memes]

I got Samurai Warriors Chronicles 1 and 3 (for free no less, since Nintendo clearly doesn't want to make money off of them because they took the 3ds eshop offline, btw it's SO easy to pirate those games now, just in case anyone was curious) and they coordinate to Samurai Warriors 3 and 4 respectively, so I'm going to curse you all with my observations about the characters that have been added since Samurai Warriors 2 since that was the last game I played in the series before now many a year ago, and I didn't have this blog until like a year and a half after I was getting back into Dynasty Warriors, so I'm filling that void. You're welcome.

For starters, I'm going by the surname-personal name convention. Not because I think you should never reverse that order, but for the sake of consistency. It bothers me how they did that with the characters in Dynasty Warriors but reversed their names in Samurai Warriors. It's a very weird choice.

Anyway for starters, in Samurai Warriors 3 Kato Kiyomasa looks like a butch lesbian who cuts her own hair and no one's never had the heart to tell her she's really bad at it. I mean,

Look at him. I'm right. You know in your heart of hearts that I'm right. God, his sw4 design is such a nerf in that regard. Also whenever I say something is gay or something like that I always mean it as a neutral or positive statement, I always feel like I have to make that disclaimer on this blog but oh well.

[crystal-in-nagasaki]

the great kyushu road trip of 2023, part 1: kumamoto

During summer break of 2023, I had some time to kill and was itching to visit a new place, so I decided to take a road trip with my friends to the remaining Kyushu prefectures that I had yet to visit, which were Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures (and Kumamoto, which I had been to before.) Since these places are known for their natural beauty and are relatively close to each other, we decided to drive between each location in a big loop over about 5 days. Here's a map of Kyushu for reference:

On the first day, we drove down through the Shimabara peninsula and took my car over on the ferry to Kumamoto city, where we planned to stay for just one night.

After arriving, we first drove a bit north of the city to visit Unganzenji Temple.

At the top of the hill by the parking lot of Unganzenji was a statue of Miyamoto Musashi, a legendary Japanese swordsman, alive in the 1600s who was born and lived in Kumamoto prefecture. He created the technique of using two swords and the swordsmanship philoshophy of Niten Ichiryu, and is said to have never lost a duel. He wrote the famous book, Gorin no Sho, the Book of Five Rings, which contains his philosophy behind both swordsmanship and the art of war. (source)

Next we visited the temple itself. We walked along a scenic path lined with hundreds of stone monk statues. It was very peaceful and beautiful.

At the end of the path was a small cave, where the goddess Iwato Kanon is enshrined. It is said that Miyamoto Musashi used to meditate in this cave while writing the Book of Five Rings.

As we were heading out, we saw this cat drinking out of a shrine offering cup. Of course cats are not informed of the sanctity of certain religious customs and will do as they please.

Before leaving the temple grounds, we went down one last path which took us to an overlook of the valley. Since it was in the middle of summer, the greenery and sky were a brilliant color and it was very beautiful.

We were sweating a ton in the August heat, so we stopped next at a roadside shop called Fruits Marche UFO for some rest in the air conditioning. The shop was on a fruit farm where you could also enjoy fruit picking throughout the year for a fee. I got some ice cream made from the fresh fruits of the farm.

After our rest, we headed back into Kumamoto city to Kumamoto castle. Outside the castle grounds was a statue of Kato Kiyomasa, a distant cousin of the Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Kato Kiyomasa first ordered the contruction of Kumamoto castle and was its first lord. He developed the area's agriculture and economy and is still well-loved in Kumamoto today. (source)

Below the castle area, we explored a small shopping quarter called Sakura no Baba Josaien. It's meant to create a small taste of an old-fashioned bustling shopping street below the castle. We stopped here for lunch and shopping, and I snapped a photo with Kumamoto's famous bear mascot, Kumamon. Kumamon is one of the most popular and well-known characters in Japan. The design of Kumamon is not restricted, so companies can use him as they like in their products and advertising. The total sales of Kumamon merchandise reaches almost $1.5 billion (USD) each year.

We stopped for lunch at a ramen shop in Sakura no Baba Josaien and I ordered "Kumamoto ramen," which from what I understand is almost the same as tonkotsu ramen, but a bit milder and with charred garlic on top. I love tonkotsu ramen, so it was really tasty.

After enjoying our food and contributing to the Kumamon Souvenir Industrial Complex, we finally headed up to Kumamoto castle.

In 2016, a large earthquake hit Kumamoto and caused a lot of damage to the castle. It has mostly finished reconstruction, but they are putting a lot of time and care into the job, so there are still some parts of the castle that are being fixed. But the main castle building is good as new, and features six floors filled with exhibits and information about the castle. There were also some interactive screens where you could take a quiz about the castle and play a simulation in which you are a ninja trying to infiltrate the castle. No matter which route you take, you will always lose, because Kumamoto castle is known to be virtually impenetrable.

On the upper floors, you can enjoy a view of the city, framed by the Aso mountain range in the back.

Kato Kiyomasa had a very distinct set of samurai armor with a tall and imposing helmet, which you could see earlier in his statue. Therefore outside of the castle, they had a recreation of his armor so you could pose with the castle for a fun souvenir photo. Here's me making my best scary samurai face:

As the day wound down, my friends and I went to a mall for dinner and shopping. We also saw the Barbie movie since it just came out that day in Japan (which is why I was wearing a hot pink shirt all day.) On the terrace of the mall was a large Kumamon statue, lit up in the dark looking like lord of the underworld, which we naturally took pictures of. Then we stopped at Starbucks to get the newest seasonal drink, which was a watermelon frappuccino. It was super refreshing and perfect for summertime.

After this, we headed to our hotel for the night. The next morning we packed up the car again and headed out to another shrine, called Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu shrine. You can reach this shrine by following a long stairway through the forest, lined on both sides by almost one hundred lanterns. After visiting the shrine building itself, you can continue farther up to a large rock with a cave underneath.

According to Wikipedia, the history of this shrine is largely unknown, but it's said to be a shrine to the creation gods Izanami and Izanagi. According to Japanese mythology, the huge opening beneath the rock was created when it was kicked by a follower of the god Takeiwatsu called Kihatsu. Many people come to pray at the cave because it's said to bring victory and success in study. The shrine was also the setting for a popular anime film called Hotarubi no Mori e, Into the Forest of Fireflies Light.

The shrine was very beautiful and deep in nature, which is my favorite kind of shrine to visit.

After this, we got back in my car and headed into Miyazaki prefecture for more adventures, which I'll cover next post in part two! Thanks for reading, and stay tuned :)

[trivia-jp]

蝶々夫人 熊本の伝承

蝶々夫人（ちょうちょうぶじん）は、熊本城主であった加藤清正の妻であり、彼女の名前は「紫の局（むらさきのつぼね）」といいます。彼女の伝説は熊本城や熊本の歴史に深く根付いています。 紫の局は、戦国時代に生きた加藤清正の妻であり、彼女の美しさや知恵、そして熊本城の発展に対する貢献が伝説として語り継がれています。彼女は非常に賢明で、城や領地の統治において夫である清正を補佐し、多くの困難を乗り越えました。 伝説によれば、熊本城が完成する前、城の建設に携わっていた加藤清正は困難な状況に直面しました。その際、紫の局は石垣の積み方を変えることを提案し、その結果、城の堅牢な構造が完成したとされています。また、彼女は城下町の整備や人々の生活向上にも尽力しました。 その後も紫の局は、城や領地の治安維持や町の発展に尽力し、熊本城の輝かしい歴史の中で名を残しました。彼女の人間性や賢さ、そして熊本城の発展に対する貢献が、熊本の伝説や歴史の一部として称えられています。 蝶々夫人の伝説は、熊本城の歴史や熊本の文化において非常に重要な存在であり、彼女の偉業は多くの人々に敬愛され、語り継がれています。

♪♫♬🎤🎹🎶♪♫♬🎤🎹🎶♪♫♬🎤🎹🎶♪♫♬🎤🎹🎶

Madame Butterfly Kumamoto folklore

Madame Butterfly was the wife of Kiyomasa Kato, the lord of Kumamoto Castle, and her name was Murasaki no Tsubone. Her legend is deeply rooted in Kumamoto Castle and Kumamoto's history. Murasaki no Tsune was the wife of Kiyomasa Kato, who lived during the Sengoku period, and her beauty, wisdom, and contribution to the development of Kumamoto Castle are passed down as legends. She was very wise and assisted her husband Kiyomasa in governing the castle and territory, overcoming many difficulties. According to legend, before Kumamoto Castle was completed, Kiyomasa Kato, who was involved in its construction, faced a difficult situation. At that time, the Murasaki Bureau proposed changing the way the stone walls were laid, and as a result, it is said that the castle's robust structure was completed. She also worked hard to improve the castle town and improve the lives of the people. After that, the Murasaki Bureau continued to work hard to maintain public order in the castle and territory and develop the town, leaving its name in the glorious history of Kumamoto Castle. Her humanity, wisdom, and contribution to the development of Kumamoto Castle are celebrated as part of Kumamoto's legends and history. The legend of Madame Butterfly has a very important role in the history of Kumamoto Castle and Kumamoto culture, and her accomplishments are respected and passed down from generation to generation.

[teamiyake]

Daitokuji-Oubai-in

Overview Daitokuji is a temple, which is associated with feudal lords, such as Nobunaga Oda and Hideyoshi Toyotomi. The temple is also home to the oldest existing Zen temple in Japan. the temple bell which Kiyomasa Kato is said to have brought back with him when he marched to Korea.

[gingerontheside]

I’ve been in Japan for just over 2 weeks, and adjusting has been interesting to say the least.

I think it was obvious after a few days that my body was quite stressed out at the adjustment, so Ash (my roommate) and I, along with a few others, decided to trek into Harajuku to go to the Meiji Jingu shrine, a HUGE park area right outside of the train station with both the Shrine, as well as a beautiful garden you could pay an extra ¥500 to enter.

Immediately , the atmosphere of the shrine completely contrasted that of the busy train station and city laying just beyond it. You enter through a large Torii, which symbolized your transition from the ‘ordinary’ to sacred. It is customary to bow upon crossing through these gateways, to respect the spirits and gods you are visiting. Furthermore, you would not walk down the center of the pathway ahead, as that is saved for the gods. All the people walking in or out remained on the far sides of the path.

There were a couple of special set ups, such as Ice Sculptures, but unfortunately most of them had entirely melted in the surprising warmth for January. There was also a large wall of wrapped Sake barrels, with complex and beautiful calligraphy painted on each.

We then entered the Meji Jingu Inner Garden, which has existed much longer than the actual shrine itself. It was a gorgeous garden expansion built in the early Edo period by Lord Kato of Kumamoto. This garden consisted of 5 areas; the Kakuun-tei (a quaint little tea house), the Iris Garden, Kiyomasa no Ido (Kiyomasa’s Well), Tsutsuji-yama (Azalea Garden), and the Nan-chi Pond. Unfortunately most of the garden was dead, as it was the middle of winter, but we did get to view how spectacular the garden will be, and will be returning in the spring to view it in all its glory. (Hey, we still saw some massive koi, which was awesome!)

Finally we reached the actual Shrine itself, where you quickly cleansed your hands in the pure water flowing from a bamboo shoot. Once inside, we noticed that several wedding celebrations were occurring, which was amazing to witness! (The video below is of the end of a wedding ceremony.)

We tossed a few coins into the shrine, prayed for a good semester of classes, then quickly were whisked away as the shrine itself was very crowded. Once outside, we were able to pay ¥100 to get a mystery fortune! Lucky, none of us got any bad fortunes, which was a relief.

Overall the Meji Jingu shrine provided me with a much needed respite after a week of insanity settling into a completely foreign country across the world. If you have the chance, I highly recommend visiting!