Definitions by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫

Shimabara Rebellion 

The Shimabara Rebellion was a peasant revolt (consisting of mostly Japanese Catholics) against Matsukura Katsuie of the Shimabara Domain and Terasawa Katataka of the Karatsu Domain.

Fought between December 17, 1637 and April 15, 1638, the Shimabara Rebellion lasted four months. It lead to a Tokugawa victory and Christianity in Japan was driven underground.

Shimabara Rebellion by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 23, 2011

Hatamoto 

A feudatory vassal of the Tokugawa shoguns of Japan.

Enomoto Takeaki was a famous hatamoto during the late Edo period.

Hatamoto by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 22, 2011

Bushido 

The code of honor among the samurai.

Bushido was the "way of the warrior," a code of ethics for samurai, a blend of Shinto national pride, Buddhist ideas on self-control, and Confucian moral teaching.

Bushido by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 22, 2011

Jigai 

Suicide by cutting your own throat. Often done by disgraced women.

Jigai was a traditional method of ritual suicide for women in Japan.

Jigai by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 20, 2011

Junshi

The act of following one's Lord into death.

Junshi refers to the medieval Japanese act of vassals committing seppuku (ritual suicide) upon the death of their lord. Originally it was only performed when the lord was slain in battle or murdered.

Junshi by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 20, 2011

Jinbei 

A kind of traditional Japanese sleeping material.

Most jinbei sets consist of a shirt top of various designs including matching shorts.

Jinbei by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 20, 2011

Kodachi 

A kodachi is a sword that is longer than a dagger, but shorter than a long sword.

A kodachi is somewhat similar to the wakizashi.

Kodachi by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 19, 2011