Shigeki English
Hojo Takatoki: The Last Tokuso and the Fall of Kamakura
Why leaving office did not mean leaving power
- When 1311–1333, late Kamakura period
- Where Kamakura, Kyoto and the political connections between them
English Story Catalogue — 92 Works
Stories from Japanese history
Enter the turning points of Japan’s past through the people who faced them, then follow every interpretation back to its evidence.
Published English stories
Shigeki English
The Great Kanto Earthquake: Fire, Rumor, Violence, and Recovery
Reading the earthquake, urban damage, information, relief, and reconstruction as distinct processes
- When September 1, 1923, at 11:58 a.m.; relief and reconstruction continued afterward
- Where Tokyo, Yokohama, and the wider Kanto region of Japan
Shigeki English
Sakamoto Ryoma: What Did the Man Who Left Tosa Try to Connect?
Travel, shipping, correspondence, and proposals for a new political order
- When 1835–1867, with a focus on activity after leaving Tosa in 1862
- Where Tosa, Nagasaki, Kyoto, and the networks connecting them
Shigeki English
The Battles of Ueda: How the Sanada Faced Tokugawa Armies
Two wars, in 1585 and 1600, understood through terrain, town, and political alliances
- When 1585 and 1600, with later destruction and rebuilding
- Where Ueda in Shinano Province, now eastern Nagano Prefecture
Shigeki English
The February 26 Incident: Why the Occupation of Central Tokyo Failed
Four days in 1936, read through reports, orders, and the politics that followed
- When February 26–29, 1936; political consequences continued afterward
- Where Central Tokyo, Japan
Shigeki English
Minamoto no Yoshitsune: How a Victorious Commander Became a Fugitive
From Ichi-no-Tani and Dannoura to Koshigoe, the failed western escape, and death at Koromogawa
- When From Yoshitsune's meeting with Yoritomo in 1180 through the Taira campaigns of 1184 to 1185 and his death at Koromogawa in 1189
- Where Eastern and western Honshu, Shikoku, the Shimonoseki Strait, Kyoto and Kamakura, and finally Hiraizumi in northern Japan
Shigeki English
Hino Tomiko Beyond the Villainess Legend
Reconsidering a political actor through shogunal succession, government, credit, contemporary criticism, and current scholarship
- When From Hino Tomiko's birth in 1440 to her death in 1496, with attention to the Onin-Bunmei War of 1467–1477 and the Meio Coup of 1493
- Where Primarily Kyoto and the Kinai region during the later Muromachi shogunate
Shigeki English
Why Was Tsurugajo Castle Besieged? The Aizu War Across the Northeastern Front
How the Kyoto Shugoshoku, petitions by northeastern domains, the breakthrough at Bonari Pass, and a month-long siege became one connected war
- When From Matsudaira Katamori's appointment as Kyoto Shugoshoku in 1862 through the Aizu War of 1868 and its postwar consequences
- Where Kyoto, the northeastern domains of Honshu, and the Aizu Basin in present-day Fukushima Prefecture
Shigeki English
Emperor Go-Toba in Oki: Nineteen Calendar Years Without a Return to Kyoto
After defeat in the Jokyu War, political exile and the continuing work of poetry unfolded on the same distant islands
- When From the Jokyu War in 1221 to Go-Toba's death in 1239, with later memorials extending into the modern period
- Where Kyoto and Ama on Nakanoshima in the Oki Islands, now part of Shimane Prefecture
Shigeki English
The Chugoku Great Return: How Hideyoshi Reached Yamazaki in 1582
Before the celebrated march came a negotiated peace, a relay at Himeji, and letters sent ahead of the army
- When June 1582, immediately after the Honnoji Incident and before the Battle of Yamazaki
- Where From Bitchu Takamatsu in present-day Okayama Prefecture through Himeji and Settsu toward Yamazaki near Kyoto
Shigeki English
How Was a Devastated Hiroshima Rebuilt?
From survival and emergency repairs after the atomic bombing to urban reconstruction, the 1949 special law, and Peace Memorial Park
- When From the atomic bombing on August 6, 1945 through emergency recovery, the 1949 special law, the main Peace Memorial Park facilities completed in 1955, and later survivor and preservation measures
- Where Hiroshima, a river-delta city in western Honshu, especially the city centre, Nakajima, Motomachi, riverbanks, and the route later known as Peace Boulevard
Shigeki English
What Did Japan's Commoner Prime Minister Change?
Rereading Hara Takashi's links between bureaucracy, party, and provinces, the limits of suffrage reform, and his assassination at Tokyo Station
- When From Hara Takashi's birth in 1856 through his premiership from 1918 to 1921 and assassination on November 4, 1921
- Where Morioka in northeastern Japan, the national political institutions in Tokyo, and local constituencies connected through the Seiyukai party