Fushimi-Momoyama Castle (伏見桃山城) is on a hilltop in southeastern Kyōto, and not easily accessed, so very few Japanese or inbound tourists go there. It makes a good hike for the same reason. The #castle is a reproduction of the intended retirement residence of the national unifier Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but it was near the end of the turbulent Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600), to which the castle contributed the Momoyama part of its name. Although I am mostly interested in the relatively peaceful palaeolithic to Heian periods, this castle is nevertheless elegant, as befits a predecessor of the Shōguns.
Q: Someone asked if I saw a reproduction of Hideyoshi’s gold-leafed tearoom.
A: Visitors aren't allowed in. There never seem to be staff there. The place has an unfortunate history!
Q: The Meiji Emperor's mausoleum is very close by. Why was this location chosen?
The original site was taken for the tomb of Emperor Meiji! The castle is now nearby.
Loved #Shogun. Highly recommend. Brilliantly crafted series. Anna Sawai (Mariko), Tadanobu Asano (Yabushige) and Hiroyuki Sanada (Toranaga) in particular were oh wow outstanding. 9/10
First #XMen97. Now #Shogun. I don't think I can handle anymore of these tragic TV shows goddammit. At my age, I just can't. Why can't we have a normal happy wedding you may kiss the bride ending anymore??
"The bottom line is that protagonist John Blackthorne could have arrived in Japan aboard the Millennium Falcon, and I wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow. Because we’re no longer talking about the English sailor William Adams. We’re talking about a made-up character."
The 2024 Shogun TV series stacks up pretty well to history, says a Japanese historian - but the surrounding conversation around "colonialism" is ridiculous.
Fumi Nikaido has done an excellent job playing Ochiba in #Shogun so far. I'm reminded of Mieko Harada's Kaede from Kurosawa's film Ran, which makes a fair bit of sense as they're both directly based on the historical Chacha/Yodo.
And in the latest episode we watched (episode 8) I swear there's a point when you can see her actively dissociating and it is extremely creepy.
I admit I'm also biased because the historical woman is one of my favorite figures from that era.
Skończyłem... przerwałem... oglądać nowego Shoguna. W pewnym momencie (dość nagle) dobry serial zrobił obrót o 180 stopni i nie ma za wiele wspólnego z książką. Główny bohater zachowuje się, jak idota (i zrobił rzeczy nie do pomyślenia w książce), pan Toranaga też zachowuje się, jak idiota... dzieją się losowe rzeczy... nie mogę dalej tego oglądać. Czy każdy serial w XXI wieku musi obrzydzać wszystkie postacie i udowadniać, że potrafi lepiej od oryginału? To dla mnie zaskakujące, bo na początku było naprawdę dobrze.