Message from ablackwelder

[Anonymous]

Notehelfer-sensei left me speechless. His lecturing style was described by one participant as "the wind-up and go!" method. But it was more than than- here was a man sharing with us what was clearly one of the most amazing economic feats in world history, and his own awe at the story he weaved was infectious. What was the most interesting century in Japan? The 16th century! (Not the later Tokugawa period? Wha..?) From there he had me in his narrative grip. Farmboys becoming military leaders! Nobunaga and the genius of tiered firing of guns! Ming Dynasty gets out of town (50 miles from the coastline) as the wako bands prowl the Chinese coast! Free cities like Osaka are rising up and finally Ieyasu institutes the system of alternative residency where the regional lords are controlled by the stipulation that wives and heirs must live in Edo (and then they don't want to come home!). All the foreigners were expelled in 1630, the economy was transformed... and this was the beginning of the lecture.
Greatest Regret: No powerpoint for this lecture. A little devastating.
And face it Wyss: you were grinning like a schoolboy the entire three hours.[Edit by="ablackwelder on Aug 27, 5:40:05 PM"][/Edit]