The Fall of Daigo Timeline

The Fall of Daigo

Book 3 of the Dororo Novel Series

Toriumi Jinzō

Timeline

4000 BCE - 600s CE: Brief History of Feng Shui practice

•  400BCE: First signs of feng shui practice appear in China. Master practitioners of feng shui could apparently determine the auspiciousness of a site by referencing local features such as bodies of water, stars, or the compass. It was often used to select good places for burial mounds and graves, though it could be used to select lucky or sacred places for almost anything. 
•  300-600 CE: Feng shui started being practiced in Korea during its Three Kingdoms Period. When a terrible flood was about to wash away a village, a child sensed the dangerous energy in the air and managed to warn the villagers to get to safety.

 

~1100-1040s BCE History of Kishi

•  According to legends, Kishi was a Chinese sage that ruled Korea in the 11^th century BCE. Early Chinese records described him as a virtuous relative of the last Emperor of the Shang Dynasty who was punished for protesting against the government.  
•  1040s BCE: After the Shang Dynasty was overthrown by the Zhou Dynasty, Kishi gave political advice to Emperor Wu, the first Emperor of the Zhou Dynasty. Chinese texts from the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) onwards claimed that Emperor Wu made Kishi the ruler of Korea.

 

600s: Interlinked torches that can be lit via a common fuse are invented in China (purportedly; the torches might in fact be much older than this). In the 900s, these torches started to be used more widely.

 

718-800s Brief History of Mountain Worship in Japan

•  718: The monk Taichō was recorded as the first person to reach the top of Mount Haku and various other peaks in the surrounding mountains. He was a practitioner of shūgendo, a form of worship that required climbing mountains, which were holy places. Mount Haku was said to be home to Kukurihime, a manifestation of Kannon, the goddess of mercy.
•  800s: The monk Shūhei had a wide horse road made between Kaga and Ezichen Provinces for the purpose of spreading mountain worship further. His efforts were successful. Over the centuries, shūgendo became popular in Japan, though it had fallen out of favor by the time of the novel (the 1460s).

 

1096: Horseback Archery in Japan

• Records of horseback archery in Japan were scarce until around 1096. The Shiba Clan in Ezichen was responsible for popularizing and spreading it. Horseback archery was invented in a time of peace and was used for religious and ceremonial festivals as entertainment long before it was used in warfare.

 

1100s:  The famed military commander of the 1110s, Hasebe Nobutsura, injured his horse while hunting. He came to the hot springs near Iō Temple and bathed his horse's wounds. After that, the horse was completely well again. The temple gained a reputation for helping to heal the sick.

 

1181-5: Genpei War

•  1181: The provinces of Kaga, Noto, and Ezichen opposed the Taira Clan, which was attempting to dominate the provinces by use of force. The Taira Clan opposed the local authorities and plunged Kaga Province into civil war. The clans left standing at the end of it were the Taira, Togashi, Hayashi, Tsubata, and several others.
•  1183: The Battle of Shinohara occurred in Kaga Province. It was a conflict between the Taira and Minamoto Clans.  Minamoto no Yoshinaka caught up with the retreating Taira Clan army and engaged the enemy. Victory went to the Minamoto Clan, though they suffered heavy losses.  Feeling ashamed at the number of casualties, Yoshinaka decided to beat his cousin Yoritomo to Kyōto, defeat the Taira Clan on his own, and take control of the Minamoto Clan. Yoshinaka defeated the Taira Clan army at the Battle of Kurikara and marched to Kyōto. The Taira Clan retreated out of the capital, and the Emperor gave Yoshinaka the title of shōgun. Yoshinaka became power-hungry and attempted to set up an independent government in the northern provinces, including Kaga. He was killed by his cousins before he could seize control of the provinces, and Minamoto no Yoritomo was made shōgun afterwards. 

 

1187: Ataka Shrine

•  Moritomo no Yoshitsune, the warrior monk Benkei, and the warlord Togashi Saemonnojō set aside their differences and joined forces (after the Genpei War) in 1187 at a shrine in Ataka.

 

1200s-1460s A Brief History of the True Pure Land Sect

• 1200s: The True Pure Land Sect of Buddhism was founded by the monk Shinran in the 1200s. It proved popular in the northern provinces near the Sea of Japan and spread quickly.

• 1400s: Support for the True Pure Land Sect grew in the provinces of Ōmi, Yamato and Kaga. As it spread, it drew notice—and not always friendly notice. The sect was persecuted by other Buddhist sects and by the authorities, so many believers had to keep their worship practices secret.

• 1457: Following his installation as eighth head priest at Hongan Temple in 1457, Rennyo focused his efforts on proselytizing in Ōmi Province, an area dominated by other branches of Buddhism. The monks of the Enryaku Temple, the head temple of the Tendai Sect, noticed Rennyo's successes in the provinces around Kyōto.

• 1465: The Enryaku Temple (Tendai Sect) sent a band of warrior monks to Rennyo’s main temple, Hongan, and destroyed it. The Hongan Temple was almost entirely destroyed before armed men from the Takada congregation chased away the attackers. Rennyo was able to flee at the last minute thanks to the assistance of a cooper who saw the attackers coming and led Rennyo out through the back doors of the temple.

• 1468: Many True Pure Land Sect disciples had been violently repelled from Kaga Province and were now scattered all over. However, as Rennyo drew more followers, including lower-ranking samurai, he became embroiled in the power-struggle between Togashi Masachika and his younger brother, Kochiyo. Rennyo would eventually choose to rebuild his base of power in Ezichen Province, but that was some years in the future (1471).

 

1231: Legends state that an invading Mongol army had been chased away from Korea in 1231 by a small army that set off fireworks. (The kind of bomb that Dororo had made and used to set fire to the bandit Korikuma's hut was a modified firework.)

 

1330s-1469 A Brief History of the Togashi Clan

• 1330s: Togashi Takaie served under Ashikaga Takauji to pacify Kaga Province in the 1330s. He was permitted to govern it as a reward. Togashi Chakuryū lost his family's previous standing, but Togashi Mitsuharu was able to gain the favor of the shōgun, Ashikaga Yoshimochi. He regained the right to govern Kaga Province. After his death, his younger brother Togashi Norie inherited his position. 

• 1458: A chunk of northern Kaga Province was removed from Togashi Clan control and granted to Akamatsu Masanori. The northern part had been governed by Togashi Shigeharu until that time. The southern part of the province was no longer governed by Norie, but by his younger brother Yasutaka. Togashi Yasutaka and Akamatsu Masanori ruled the province jointly after that for a long while, under the direction of Lord Hosokawa Katsumoto, who worked directly for the shōgun.

• 1460: Itagaki Shūsuke opposed Akamatsu Masanori and lost his leg in battle.

• 1462: Togashi Shigeharu died. Yasutaka retired, granting his position to Togashi Masachika, who became the head of the Togashi Clan. Masachika was just twelve years old at the time. He governed southern Kaga Province peacefully for a few years before the start of the Ōnin War, when he put his support behind Hosokawa Katsumoto and the Eastern Army. The northern part of the province governed by Akamatsu Masanori supported the Eastern Army as well, but Masanori left his position as governor of Kaga to become governor of Harima Province, leaving Togashi Masachika to rule Kaga Province alone. 

• 1469: Itagaki Shūsuke, former Togashi Clan retainer, settled near Iō Temple as a lordless samurai.

 

1377: Hand cannons (forerunner of handguns) were invented in China.

 

1409: Tanbano Hisamaro (Jukai’s Father) 

• Genkai Nadaemon becomes a merchant trader and pirate, moving smuggled goods (and occasionally refugees) between Korea, Japan, and China.
• Tanbano Hisamaro is summoned by the Imperial Court, where he defies all court convention. He is placed under house arrest and forced to flee Kyōto with his son.
• Tanbano Hisamaro is killed by unidentified assassins. Tanbano Tajumaru (Jukai) begins his apprenticeship under the doctor Gōshō.

 

1450s-153os: General’s Cannons start being mass-produced

• A General's Cannon is a large artillery weapon that is. It weighs 2,000 pounds and has a range of one to two miles. The General's Cannon can shoot hundreds of small projectiles or 50 larger projectiles at once. Manufacturing of these weapons in mass amounts began in October 1530. At first, it was believed that the General's Cannon was too heavy to be maneuverable. Later, it was attached to various vehicles (including ships and carts) and became a weapon with more flexible uses. More than three hundred cannons of this kind had been manufactured in the year 1465 alone.

 

April 1468: Kagemitsu’s Battle 

• The Western Army led by Hatakeyama Yoshinari engaged the Eastern Army's forced led by Togashi Masachika at the border between Ezichen and Kaga Province. Kagemitsu's army also participated in the battle. The Togashi Clan won the encounter, but Kagemitsu's forces suffered heavy losses. Resting on the knife edge between victory and defeat, Kagemitsu decided that he would have to defect to the stronger side in this war if he was going to survive. And he probably shouldn't have survived. When he was surrounded during the battle with no chance of escape, lightning suddenly struck down his enemies. The sudden storm was bizarre and unexpected. The lightning strikes took out many of his own men as well—only Kagemitsu was miraculously saved.

 

Autumn 1468

• Hyakkimaru, Dororo and Jukai set out to Kaga Province to find Daigo Kagemitsu. They get separated at the province’s Judicial Office and plan to reunite at Nomitadani Fortress. There is a fierce battle at the fortress, and while Hyakkimaru does get to meet his birth family, Daigo Kagemitsu is spirited away from the Hall of Hell demons before he gets any answers.

• Some time later, Hyakkimaru, Jukai, Dororo, Hōichi, Ochika, Namitarō and a small army of bandits and pirates go north to Daima Fortress, where the Hall of Hell demons have holed up. Hyakkimaru defeats the demon protecting the fortress and is finally confronted by the Hall of Hell demons, whom he defeats with help from Jukai, Hōichi, and of course Dororo.

 

1964: Toriumi Jinzō first met Tezuka Osamu in 1964, four years before Tezuka Productions was its own full-fledged studio. At the time, Mr. Tezuka was hard at work creating and producing Astro Boy.  Jinzō  was working on a stage play. Because of how busy things were, production of the play had to be put on hold.

 

1967: The Dororo manga, written by Tezuka Osamu, was first published in 1967 in a children's magazine for boys, Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday.

 

1969: Dororo was adapted into an anime by Tezuka Osamu and a very talented team, but sadly, the budget ran out before Hyakkimaru could eliminate all of the Hall of Hell demons.

 

 July 20, 1988: Tezuka Production Studio teamed up with a Japanese-Italian Production Studio to create the anime Stories from the Bible. Toriumi Jinzō  and Tezuka Osamu ate lunch together. It was the last time Toriumi saw Tezuka alive. Toriumi spent more than a decade researching and writing the Dororo novels after the death of Tezuka, his friend, in February 1989.

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