u/Scented_Iron

Hi all, I'm new to this subreddit.

I'm writing a historical fiction novel that concerns some plausible intersections between early Edo period Japan and the east-expanding Russian empire, and I wanted to include some elements of the history of the Yagyu clan in it.

The Yagyu are most famous for Yagyu Shinkage Ryu, one of the two martial arts patronized by the Tokugawa shogunate (the other being Itto-ryu). Legend has it in 1594 Ieyasu was impressed by the Yagyu and took them in as his personal instructors after the Toyotomi confiscated Yagyu lands that same year.

But what I was wondering about was how the Yagyu and Toyotomi got along before the Yagyu had their lands confiscated by the Toyotomi, and how possible it is for someone to have trained in Yagyu Shinkage Ryu stay loyal to the Toyotomi instead.

Thanks everyone!

Hi everyone,

I don't know if a question like this has popped up on here before, but I hope it is relevant.

Two years ago my 5 year old was diagnosed with brain cancer and we were told he only had 9 months left to live. I'm happy to say that we went with a second opinion and he's still doing great 2 years later, but obviously this kind of thing got me doubting myself a lot since there was a lot of hesitation and second-guessing in the decision process for my kid's treatment.

But martial arts have been a lifelong hobby of mine, so I couldn't help but approach this situation with martial philosophy as my framework. It was kind of weird -- when my kid got out of his first surgery he had a seizure and had to be re-intubated on the spot, and I remember I was sitting next to the social worker, my left hand squeezing my left hip like a saya while my right hand just instinctively stayed loose as if ready for an iai. Kind of silly I know, but that's what I mean: it was just kind of part of me.

But processing all this, I was wondering what you all think about Munenori's (or any koryu) philosophy and how it could be applied to a situation like mine.

Obviously I'm still processing all of it (I'm even writing a historical fiction novel to help me with it), but I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks all. And feel free to ask me anything about it -- I won't get upset talking about it.

Hi everyone, I'm new to this subreddit.

I am writing a historical fiction novel that involves a Jesuit expelled from Japan in the 1600s who ends up traveling north to Siberia and then westward towards the Ottoman empire.

I was wondering when and how the Russian empire first learned about Japan, and when they actually made first contact? My preliminary search suggested that Russian elite knew of Japan through European maps circulating, but didn't really come into contact until the second half of the 1600s.

Thanks everyone!