Emperor Shijō – Japanese History’s Darwin Award

Emperor Shijō – Japanese History’s Darwin Award

History is full of people who died in ridiculous manners. The Greek playwright Aeschylus, for example, was supposedly killed by a falling tortoise. Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, ingested mercury pills in the belief that they would grant him immortality. Ironically(but not surprisingly) they led to his death. More than likely, every country has its own tale of untimely, but humorous, demise….

Japanese history overview Pt. 3: The Kamakura era

Japanese history overview Pt. 3: The Kamakura era

Welcome to part three of this overview of Japanese history. As always, if you haven’t read the previous parts, I suggest you do, as they’ll give you a background into the samurai culture we’re bout to explore. This part covers the Kamakura era, where the samurai came into their own, usurping power from the court and beginning what would turn out to be a 600-plus…