Images of the last Samurai

[Aymeric Antien]

Henry it's very easy as an argument to hold me accountable for your onset of dementia ... yet you are still young .. normally it comes a little later.
we have some sources in common .. you too you are drinking with my old Sogdian friend .. Luc is really struggling to get back on track. So avoid getting too close to the Tigglit shaman and "Two whistles 1856 - Indian Apsaroke, falcon head" I have trouble understanding his real intentions
Henry do not be sorry, I take responsibility for these stupidities .. even if the DNA does not have to lie a lot. You will do a little thing for me if a band of really wild and bad-tempered Indians are looking for a big tuft of hair to scalp.The Siberian armor (very close to a Tibetan model) was posted on the post "Chosun kabuto" during my search in Siberia .. and if you return to Russia .. think to bring me a bottle of vodka .. that makes talk my central Asian informants and Indians trackers and we will wisely return to our last true Samurai .. in Japan.
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[Aymeric Antien]

The last shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu (from wikipedia )

Tokugawa Yoshinobu 28 octobre 1837 - 22 novembre 1913) was the fifteenth and last shogun of Japan's Tokugawa shogunate. He was part of a movement to reform the aging shogunate, but to no avail. After having abdicated his powers to the Emperor in October 1867
When Tokugawa Iemochi died in 1866, Yoshinobu was chosen to succeed him, making him the fifteenth shogun14. He is the only Tokugawa shogun to have spent his entire reign outside of Edo: he will never set foot in Edo Castle as shogun15.

As soon as he became shogun, Yoshinobu made big changes. A massive government restructuring plan was launched to propose reforms that would strengthen the Tokugawa government. In particular, the help of the Second Empire of Napoleon III allowed the construction of the arsenal of Yokosuka led by the engineer Leonce Verny while the French military mission in Japan modernized the armies of the shogunate16.

The national land and sea armies, already formed under Tokugawa command, were reinforced with the help of the French while military equipment was purchased in the United States. Observers at the time believed that the Tokugawa shogunate was gaining military and political power with these new bases. However, the shogunate will fall less than a year later.
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[Aymeric Antien]

we must seriously protect the "invaders" with an "explosive "atmosphere "

Excerpt from a "Text Dictated to Make My Opinion Again and Again About the Arrival of Foreign Vessels" by Ohashi Totsuan in March 1854

"Even if, adopting a policy that goes as far as to be conciliatory, the bakufu thinks that it is the best and that, by a friendly attitude towards the barbarians, who do not know the rites and the laws, he acts according to the benevolent government rules and does not declare war on the field, in truth, it will be responsible for the loss of national identity. When it seems that its terrors may arise something, it is obvious that foreign barbarians entering our country, presenting successively requests that will be difficult to answer, it will eventually create an intolerable situation. In the interior of the country, quite naturally, the chiefs of the fiefs will come to despise the authority of the bakufu and raise doubts about the validity of its decisions, disputes will appear; then, if he makes a policy too conciliatory and shows his remoteness for the war against the foreigner, he will have more troubles inside and can not escape the worst catastrophes, so he does not can not maintain his benevolent government. If, from now on, he makes the firm decision to wage a war at any cost and commits the fight against the foreigners, the chiefs of the fiefs will have nothing to say: his resolution will strike up to the foreigners so that, even if the weapons come into action, his reign will be all the stronger. "
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[Luc Taelman]

This were the days of Lord Abe Masahiro who did al the negociations with commodore Matthew Perry.

[Aymeric Antien]

Extract from a memoir presented by Sakuma Shôzan (1811-1864) in February 1863 to the chief of the Matsùshiro stronghold
(Important text with hindsight that we have today ... on the history .. and the terrible consequences for Japan that it will have)

"We have never had any policy in our country on artillery and navy ... As I keep saying, the system of fortifications of the empire does not meet the standards of modern military art, the defense against foreigners lacks quite cohesion - starting with the three capitals, none is surrounded by an enclosure; if we compare the country to a man, he is in the situation of a naked and unarmed individual ... In the five continents, the sciences and the arts develop gradually and this entails the reinforcement of the military power of each country; in truth, they enjoy favorable conditions, but will our country alone be deprived of it? Moreover, the means to maintain the closed country can not succeed if lack sufficient strength and skill. In addition, science and technology have developed through mutual exchange; the power and the capacity of our country in these areas will ultimately be lower than those of other countries, if we maintain the closure, and we will even be unable to do so ... That from now on, we will ensure that the country enters into relations official with foreigners; that the union of the court and the warriors having been meanwhile carried out, all compete with diligence; that the remarkable virtue, that of the holy kingdoms of former days, which rejects selfishness, be moved according to the needs of men and do them good; that the processes developed by the other countries are brought together; that Japanese colonies are gradually being created in foreign countries; that the power of our country surpasses that of other countries; that our artillery, our ammunition manufactures are superior to those of other countries; that the number of our warships is greater than that of other countries; that we have more capable warlords than other countries; that our soldiers are better trained than those of other countries; that our fortifications are more resistant than those of other countries; (If all this is done), then the countries that feed against us treacherous intentions will naturally be afraid of us and, without waiting for our country to resist, they will withdraw. Moreover, attracted by the virtue of our government, they will pay tribute to our country and submit to it. "
but .. at this moment .. we are not there yet:
From Francine Hérail, History of Japan of origins at the end of Meiji, Publications orientalistes de France, Paris, pp. 380."
From Francine Hérail, History of Japan of origins at the end of Meiji, Publications orientalistes de France, Paris, pp. 382.download/file.php?mode=view&id=2544

[Aymeric Antien]

Shima Kakoku (島 霞 谷?, 1827-1870) is a Japanese engineer and photographer. Painter of formation frequenting a circle of painters, thus owns numerous photographs which he sticks in notebooks without apparent order: feminine nudes, portraits of Napoleon I and Napoleon III, copies of works by Raphael and even Japanese paintings31. The Japanese thus discover many European paintings by their reproductions. Shima, in addition to his research on photography, also realizes some oil paintings in the 1860s.
Shima photograph Kaiseijo important personalities Bakufu including Kawazu Izu no kami, armed with a rifle (Figure 7). He had been vice-ambassador during the mission to Europe in 1864. Photographed by Nadar, he poses relaxed in samurai armor. He had made a sensation in Paris by going to the court of Napoleon III on horseback with this armor. From the diplomatic mission of 1860 in the United States, the Japanese envoys note that the armor is very appreciated and therefore they are systematically part of the diplomatic gifts. Kawazu has a great command of his image: he adapts his representation to the expectations of the public. Progressive Samurai armed with a rifle model last home, he shows himself in Paris feudal lord, heir to his ancestral culture.
from : The first Japanese photography workshops 1859-1872
Claude Estèbe

[Aymeric Antien]

November 9, 1867 Japan enters the "Age of Enlightenment"
Born November 3, 1852, the 122nd Emperor of Japan is barely 15 years old. It takes the name of Meiji Tenno's reign and officially gives itself all the powers. In its shadow govern the reformist daimyos.
In 1871, the emperor officially abolished the hierarchy established by the shoguns. The samurai, who were required to obey from father to son to their lord, the daimyo, in accordance with the code of honor, the bushido, put themselves at the service of the emperor or reconvert themselves in business.

The same year, the Emperor sent to the West a mission of study, the Iwakura mission, in order to collect all the ideas of good quality. His mission will last from December 1871 to September 1873! (from Joseph Savès script)

In order to understand the accession to the throne of Mutsuhito, it is necessary to return a few years back. In July 1853, Admiral Perry's American "black ships" invaded Edo Bay and in 1858 the United States forced Japan to sign a commercial treaty, opening up Japanese ports hitherto closed to Western ships. Such trade agreements will follow with Great Britain, Russia, Holland and France. These upheavals are disrupting Japan's economy, social unrest is slowly spreading, and violent conflicts between two conservative and reformist currents are breaking out. The unrest is such that the Shogun Yoshinobu, still in power, must give it up and hand over his powers to the young 15-year-old Emperor Mutsuhito. Thus, on November 19, 1867, the new Emperor Mutsuhito acceded to the throne and ended seven centuries of feudal rule, two and a half centuries of which were led by the Tokugawa family. Then begins the Meiji era also called Meiji Restoration.(Isabelle Padovani)
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