| CORKSCREW Diaries(米国編） |
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二日連続で徹夜しかけて作ったプレゼン。 Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for giving me a chance to make this presentation. Today, I would like to speak about Japanese History. Japanese History can be divided roughly into 4 parts; the ancient times, the middle ages, the modern age, and the present age. This presentation is based on my opinion. I tried to generalize, however, the historical understanding of Asia and Japan is quite sensitive. When Julius Caesar founded the Roman Empire in the 1st century, Japan was less civilized compared to the rest of the world. People lived in Japan by hunting and gathering. Agricultural life was introduced only in the 2nd century, and then “small nations” were founded. Japan was forming the foundation of the nation. Therefore, Japan had imported advanced political systems and technology from China and Korea. Moreover, Japan adopted the religion of Buddhism, and Chinese characters. At that time these countries were much more civilized. Japan developed through being influenced by other cultures. Japan began using writing characters from China and developed their own character system. During the ancient times, emperors and nobles ruled the country. They sent many students to China to study. Japan gradually civilized and dominated their culture. Finally, Japan stopped dispatching Japanese envoys to China in 894 because of political instability. At that time, Japanese society had clearly become more civilized, and Japan developed their culture once again through the influence of other countries. Japanese is good at imitating other cultures and traditions. Japan has absorbed many outer influences and has further developed. This attribute has succeeded in presenting Japanese culture. The spirit behind our acceptance of outer influences has made us generous and has aided our development. From the middle age to the modern age, Japanese warriors we call “samurai” ruled the country. They deprived political power from the nobles by force of arms. The feudal system was founded. At times it was peaceful, but there was also catastrophic wars. The 15th and 16th centuries are called, “the age of provincial wars”. Warring lords battled each other. In this era, Christianity and guns were brought into Japan. Guns were brought in 1543, and Christianity was brought in 1549. This introduction occupies an important place in Japanese history. War tactics were completely innovated by guns. Before the arrival of guns, bows and arrows were used in the war. Guns made it possible to shoot long at the enemy. Making full use of guns, the reunification of Japan was finally of achieved in 1590. At first the Christian religion was accepted by the Japanese. Missionary priests brought foreign articles and Lords permitted the importation of guns and foreign articles. Christianity was forbidden in the first part of the 17th century. Christianity preached that all men were equal. This thought was injurious to the Japanese feudal system. The status distinctions were very important for ruling classes. Christian thoughts were directly opposite of Japanese beliefs. In 1637, Christians revolted against the Japanese law, but the revolt was soon stifled. From then on, Christianity was strictly suppressed. There remained a few hidden Christians. They had to practice their religion secretly until the new government ensured their freedom of belief in the 19th century. After the revolution, the Japanese government was afraid of the Christian influence, so it decided to close itself off from the outside world and break off relations with other countries. In addition, the temporal ruler of Japan put the government on a firm foundation. As a result, from 17th century till mid 19th century, Japanese basically enjoyed the peace for about 250 years with a few exceptions. This is worthy of special mention in the because it is quite hard to keep peace for such a long time. In 1853, the peace was finally broken by the arrival of the black ships of Commodore Perry. He belonged to the U.S. Navy and requested that the Japanese government open the port and provide them with fuel, water, and food. He threatened them with modern weaponry. Japan had to be compliant. In addition, a short while later, the United States pressed Japan to sign a treaty of commerce to develop a new market. The United States pointed out the possibility that other western countries such as the United Kingdom or France may invade Japan. The U.S. convinced Japan that it would be better to cooperate with the United States. Japan finally decided to sign a treaty. However, this treaty was unequal. Japan was not able to control custom taxes, and Japan could not judge foreign criminals in their country. In 1868, the new government was founded. The present Japanese government is based on this government. During this period of modernization Japan rapidly adopted Western politics, laws, education, army system, technology, and culture. We call it the “Meiji Restoration”. Japan has succeeded in Industrialization prior to other Asian countries. The victory against China in 1895, and Russia in 1905, made Japan a world power. However, Japan moved towards militarism in the 1930s. Finally, Japan invaded neighboring countries with much bloodshed in World War II. Japan was sorely defeated. The Japanese have not forgotten the atrocities they committed during the war. Neighboring countries have also not forgotten their past acts of aggression and colonialism. Now the present generation has to achieve a new relationship with neighboring countries. Japan and other Asian countries common need to cooperate with neighboring countries economically and culturally. This will bring prosperity to Asia as a whole. Thank you for listening |
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