Japan Center For Research into Castles and Fortifications

The Spiš castle 2013 /HD/

Spiš Castle was built in the 12th century on the site of an earlier castle. It was the political, administrative, economic and cultural centre of Szepes County[1] of the Kingdom of Hungary. Before 1464, it was owned by the kings of Hungary, afterwards (until 1528) by the Zápolya family, the Thurzó family (1531--1635), the Csáky family (1638--1945), аnd (since 1945) by the state of Czechoslovakia then Slovakia.

Originally a Romanesque stone castle with fortifications, a two-story Romanesque palace and a three-nave Romanesque-Gothic basilica were constructed by the second half of the 13th century. A second extramural settlement was built in the 14th century, by which the castle area was doubled. The castle was completely rebuilt in the 15th century; the castle walls were heightened and a third extramural settlement was constructed. A late Gothic chapel was added around 1470. The Zápolya clan performed late Gothic transformations, which made the upper castle into a comfortable family residence, typical of late Renaissance residences of the 16th and 17th centuries. The last owners of the Spiš Castle, the Csáky family, abandoned the castle in the early 18th century because they considered it too uncomfortable to live in. They moved to the newly built nearby village castles/palaces in Hodkovce near Žehra and Spišský Hrhov. In 1780, the castle burned down, and has been in ruins ever since. The castle was partly reconstructed in the second half of the 20th century, and extensive archaeological research was carried out on the site. The reconstructed sections house displays of the Spiš Museum.

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List of Japanese government and military commanders of World War II | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:



00:00:01 1 Central government
00:00:10 1.1 Supreme head of state
00:00:35 1.2 President of the Imperial Council
00:00:54 1.3 Chairman of the Imperial Advisory Council
00:01:10 1.4 Imperial family members
00:02:14 1.5 Vice Chairman of the Councilors of Court
00:02:29 1.6 Prime Ministers
00:04:45 1.7 Chief Cabinet Secretary
00:05:00 1.8 Military Secretary to Prime Minister
00:05:14 1.9 Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
00:05:59 1.10 Imperial Privy Council
00:06:43 1.11 Imperial State Council
00:06:55 1.12 Imperial Aide to the Crown Prince
00:07:10 1.13 Military Aide-de-Camp
00:08:12 1.14 Grand Chamberlain
00:08:36 1.15 House of Representatives
00:08:58 1.16 House of Peers
00:09:37 2 Imperial Supreme War Command (1937-1945)
00:10:17 2.1 Imperial General Headquarters (Dai Honei)
00:17:26 2.2 Imperial Supreme War Council (Senso-shi-do)
00:20:55 3 Home Defence
00:21:05 3.1 Home Defense Headquarters
00:22:10 3.2 Tokyo metropolitan area
00:22:40 3.3 Tokyo Divisional District
00:22:57 3.4 Tokyo Defense Command
00:23:11 3.5 Tokyo Garrison Headquarters
00:23:30 3.6 Tokyo Bay Fortress Detachment Officers
00:23:54 3.7 Maizuru Fortified Zone
00:24:08 3.8 Tsushima Fortress Detachment
00:24:27 3.9 Officer assigned to General Defense Command
00:24:42 3.10 Shinbu Group (Fourteenth Area Army command)
00:24:59 3.11 Northeastern Army District Headquarters (Japan Proper)
00:25:16 3.12 Northern District Army Command
00:25:31 3.13 Western Army District HQ
00:25:46 3.14 Western District Army Command
00:26:00 3.15 Central District Army Headquarters
00:26:14 3.16 Central District Army Command
00:26:30 3.17 Chosen Army District
00:26:45 4 War Ministries
00:26:54 4.1 Munitions Minister
00:27:45 4.2 Material Section, War Ministry
00:27:59 4.3 Sagami Army Arsenal
00:28:13 4.4 Tokyo Army Arsenal
00:28:30 4.5 Army Remount Department
00:28:44 4.6 Inspector General of Chemical Warfare
00:29:03 4.7 Officer in Inspectorate General
00:29:17 4.8 Army Section, Imperial General Headquarters
00:29:33 4.9 Ōita PW Internment Camp Staff
00:29:49 4.10 Army Allied Prisoner of War Information Bureau
00:30:25 4.11 War Minister
00:31:21 4.12 Deputy Minister of War
00:31:33 4.13 Vice-Minister of War
00:32:26 4.14 Secretary to the War Minister
00:33:22 4.15 Military Affairs Bureau, War Ministry
00:36:11 4.16 Economic Mobilization Bureau in War Ministry and related sections
00:37:44 4.17 Personal Bureau of War Ministry
00:38:21 4.18 Press Relations Branch, Ministry of War
00:38:37 4.19 Army Field Marshal
00:39:09 4.20 Provost Marshal General
00:39:46 4.21 General Affairs Bureau, Provost Marshal Headquarters
00:40:03 4.22 Inspectorate General of Military Training
00:41:56 4.23 Imperial Army-Navy military teaching and training services units
00:42:12 4.24 Army Officers in Reserve list
00:44:12 5 Army
00:44:21 5.1 Deputy Chief of Army General Staff
00:44:50 5.2 Chief of Army General Staff
00:45:17 5.3 Bureau Chief of Army General Staff
00:45:32 5.4 1st Bureau Chief of Army General Staff
00:45:51 5.5 2nd Bureau Chief of Army General Staff
00:46:10 5.6 Vice Chief of Army General Staff
00:46:29 5.7 Army General Staff
00:48:54 5.8 20th Group - War Coordination, Army General Staff
00:49:12 5.9 Operations Section, Army General Staff
00:49:27 5.10 Third Section-Organization and Mobilization, Army General Staff
00:49:53 5.11 Chief of General Intelligence Bureau in Army General Staff
00:50:11 5.12 Second Bureau (Intelligence Division), Army General Staff
00:50:53 5.13 Russian unit of Second Bureau (Intelligence Division) Army General Staff
00:52:44 5.14 Army Technical Research Institute
00:53:05 5.15 Third Bureau (Logistics), Army General Staff
00:53:27 5.16 Railways and Shipping section, Army General Staff
00:53:44 5.17 Army Ordnance and Army Shipping Department
00:54:18 5.18 Chairman of the Military Affairs Bureau
00:55:34 5.19 Commanders Officer Army Home Stations
00:56:34 5.20 Army Aeronautical Department
01:04:16 5.21 Kwantung Army Commanders (until 1945)
01:05:28 5.22 Kwantung Government-General Administration
01:06:08 5.23 Structures in other Japanese armies
01:07:01 6 Police
01:07:10 6.1 Commander in Chief of Kempeitai units
01:08:27 6.2 Tokeitai police service units
01:08:46 6.3 Imperial Guards unit
01:11:35 6.4 Commander of Keishicho Civil Police forces
01:12:19 6.5 Operative Chief of Keishicho Civil Police units
01:12:40 6.6 Tokko police service unit
01:13:07 7 Marine Ministries
01:13:16 7.1 War Relief Association
01:13:30 7.2 Marine Ministers
01:14:23 7.3 Vice-Marine Ministers
01:14:40 7.4 Private Secretary to the Minister of the Navy
01:14:55 7.5 Navy Admirals of the Fleet
01:15:14 7.6 Navy Admirals
01:15:47 7.7 Navy Staff College's Research Department
01:16:02 7.8 Third Department in Marine Ministry
01:16:17 7.9 Bureau of Naval Affairs
01:16:31 7.10 Bureau of Naval Supply
01:16:45 7.11 Bureau of Naval Ac ...

Edinburgh Castle

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From Wikipedia: Edinburgh Castle is a historic fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland from its position on the Castle Rock. Archaeologists have established human occupation of the rock since at least the Iron Age (2nd century AD), although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until the Union of the Crowns in 1603. From the 15th century the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as military barracks with a large garrison. Its importance as a part of Scotland's national heritage was recognised increasingly from the early 19th century onwards, and various restoration programmes have been carried out over the past century and a half. As one of the most important strongholds in the Kingdom of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was involved in many historical conflicts from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century to the Jacobite Rising of 1745. Research undertaken in 2014 identified 26 sieges in its 1100 year-old history, giving it a claim to having been the most besieged place in Great Britain and one of the most attacked in the world.

Okunoshima Rabbit Island

Ōkunoshima (大久野島) is a small island located in the Inland Sea of Japan in the city of Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture. It is accessible by ferry from Tadanoumi and Ōmishima. There are campsites, walking trails and places of historical interest on the island. It is often called Usagi Shima (うさぎ島, Rabbit Island) because of the numerous feral rabbits that roam the island; they are rather tame and will approach humans.

Ōkunoshima played a key role during World War II as a poison gas factory for much of the chemical warfare that was carried out in China.[1]

The ruins of the gas manufacturing plant (and the power station pictured here that supplied it), are still standing today.
The island was a cultivated area until the Russo-Japanese War when ten forts were built to protect it. Three fishing families lived on the island.[2]

In 1925, the Imperial Japanese Army Institute of Science and Technology initiated a secret program to develop chemical weapons, based on extensive research that showed that chemical weapons were being produced throughout the United States and Europe.[2] Japan was a signatory on the 1925 Geneva Protocol which banned the use of chemical warfare. Although the development and storage of chemical weapons were not banned, Japan went to great lengths to ensure the secrecy of construction of the chemical munitions plant begun in 1929, even going so far as to remove records of the island from some maps.[3] The plant was built over the period of 1927 to 1929, and was home to a chemical weapon facility that produced over six kilotons of mustard gas and tear gas.[2]

The island was chosen for its isolation, conducive to security, and because it was far enough from Tokyo and other areas in case of disaster. Under the jurisdiction of the Japanese military, the local fish preservation processor was converted into a toxic gas reactor. Residents and potential employees were not told what the plant was manufacturing and everything was kept secret; working conditions were harsh and many suffered from toxic-exposure related illnesses.

With the end of the war, documents concerning the plant were burned and Allied Occupation Forces disposed of the gas either by dumping, burning, or burying it, and people were told to be silent about the project. Several decades later, victims from the plant were given government aid for treatment. In 1988 the Ōkunoshima Poison Gas Museum was opened.

National Treasures of Japan | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:



00:02:33 1 History
00:02:41 1.1 Background and early protection efforts
00:05:21 1.2 Ancient Temples and Shrines Preservation Law
00:08:16 1.3 Extension of the protection
00:12:29 1.4 Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties
00:15:22 1.5 Recent developments in cultural properties protection
00:18:33 2 Designation procedure
00:20:16 3 Categories
00:21:01 3.1 Castles
00:22:11 3.2 Modern and historical residences
00:22:59 3.3 Structures related to industry, transportation and public works
00:23:46 3.4 Shrines
00:24:55 3.5 Temples
00:25:59 3.6 Miscellaneous structures
00:27:50 3.7 Ancient documents
00:28:39 3.8 Archaeological materials
00:29:43 3.9 Crafts
00:31:19 3.10 Historical materials
00:33:26 3.11 Paintings
00:34:31 3.12 Sculptures
00:36:02 3.13 Writings
00:36:40 4 Preservation and utilization measures
00:40:37 5 Statistics
00:41:52 5.1 Geographical distribution
00:43:27 5.2 Age
00:45:56 6 See also



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There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.
- Socrates



SUMMARY
=======
A National Treasure (国宝, kokuhō) is the most precious of Japan's Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (a special body of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology). A Tangible Cultural Property is considered to be of historic or artistic value, classified either as buildings and structures or as fine arts and crafts. Each National Treasure must show outstanding workmanship, a high value for world cultural history, or exceptional value for scholarship.
Approximately 20% of the National Treasures are structures such as castles, Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, or residences. The other 80% are paintings; scrolls; sutras; works of calligraphy; sculptures of wood, bronze, lacquer or stone; crafts such as pottery and lacquerware carvings; metalworks; swords and textiles; and archaeological and historical artifacts. The items span the period of ancient to early modern Japan before the Meiji period, including pieces of the world's oldest pottery from the Jōmon period and 19th-century documents and writings. The designation of the Akasaka Palace in 2009 and of the Tomioka Silk Mill in 2014 added two modern, post-Meiji Restoration, National Treasures.
Japan has a comprehensive network of legislation for protecting, preserving, and classifying its cultural patrimony. The regard for physical and intangible properties and their protection is typical of Japanese preservation and restoration practices. Methods of protecting designated National Treasures include restrictions on alterations, transfer, and export, as well as financial support in the form of grants and tax reduction. The Agency for Cultural Affairs provides owners with advice on restoration, administration, and public display of the properties. These efforts are supplemented by laws that protect the built environment of designated structures and the necessary techniques for restoration of works.
Kansai, the region of Japan's capitals from ancient times to the 19th century, has the most National Treasures; Kyoto alone has about one in five National Treasures. Fine arts and crafts properties are generally owned privately or are in museums, including national museums such as Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nara, public prefectural and city museums, and private museums. Religious items are often housed in temples and Shinto shrines or in an adjacent museum or treasure house.