title: American Idol (season 6)

text: Many of the people who auditioned had trouble with the double doors, with many often going towards the wrong door on their way out; this was spoofed by "Idol" later in the season with "audition footage" featuring Tony Bennett. This did not seem to be a problem for the seventh season as both doors were accessible.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: An elderly man named Sherman Pore auditioned in Los Angeles this year after a successful petition drive to convince the producers to waive the age-limit rule so he can audition. He explained that he did it to ease the pain and suffering of his female companion who was dying of cancer, but had died shortly before he can audition before the judges. He later released an album for the benefit of cancer research. Another contestant that year was Melissa Sgambelluri, also known as "Fountain girl" for her appearance in the promo and opening sequence celebrating in a fountain after winning her golden ticket.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: Jordin Sparks, the eventual winner this season, failed to pass through her audition in Los Angeles, but later won an audition in Seattle as a reward for winning a local Fox-affiliate-sponsored contest called Arizona Idol.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: The Hollywood rounds of the audition process were held over four days in November 2006 at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: The first round consisted of each contestant singing one song a capella of their own choosing in front of the judges and all the other contestants of the same gender. Contestants were then told whether they were moving on or going home, in groups of six. This extended over the first two days, first females, then males.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: The second round took place on the second and third day, and consisted of groups of three or four contestants choosing, rehearsing, and then performing one of nine pre-selected songs. Groups were reviewed and contestants were then judged individually as to whether they were moving on or going home.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: The third round took place on the fourth day, and consisted of individual contestants performing a song from a pre-selected list, accompanied by a piano and backup singers. Contestants were again informed of whether they had made the cut or not.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: The final pre-audience voting cut down took place at the Pasadena Civic Center on January 14 or 15, 2007, just before the regional audition shows began airing. Without any further auditioning, but possibly with some audience research having taken place, the 40 remaining contestants were reduced to 24. In a process taking a whole day, contestants waited in a sitting room until one by one, they went up an elevator and took a long walk to the other end of the Center's Gold Room. Then the three judges told them whether they have made it onto the stage show or are cut. Those cut at this phase included the "fountain girl" in the opening credits, Melissa Sgambelluri.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: The semifinals began on February 20. There were three shows each week for the three weeks of the semifinals. The February 20 through May 16 shows originated from CBS Television City in Hollywood.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: The live show portion of the semifinals began on February 20, 2007, with the names announced on February 14, 2007. Starting with 12 women and 12 men, the women and men perform on weekly separate shows and on the result shows, and the bottom two contestants each night are eliminated from the competition. The semifinals took place over three weeks, meaning that six from each gender will be eliminated over the course of the competition, leaving the other six to form the top 12. The females performed on the first night, followed by the males thereafter.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: The 12 finalists were announced on March 8, 2007. As in past years, the top 12 will appear on the annual compilation album while the top 10 will be the participants in the "American Idol" summer concert tour. Also as in past years, one finalist was eliminated every week, with the exception of the April 25 show, when all contestants were declared safe. As a result, two of the participants were eliminated on the May 2, 2007 results program.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: The following is first in reverse chronological order by elimination date, then in alphabetical order by family name, where applicable.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: There are 11 weeks of finals and 12 contestants compete and one finalist eliminated per week based on the American public's votes. The exception was on the Top 6 week, where the first week being non-elimination and the following week was a double-elimination.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: Jennifer Lopez, who would go on to become a future judge of the show, served as the guest mentor this week.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: Owning to a special theme week, "Idol" Gives Back, Seacrest announced that the week was a non-elimination, and that the votes cast for this week will be rolled over to the following week's performances.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: With the previous week's being non-elimination, votes were accumulative on both last week and this week shows and the two contestants receiving the two fewest count of votes at the end of this round were eliminated. Bon Jovi and David Bryan served as guest mentors this week.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: For the first time this season, contestants performed two songs. Barry Gibb served as the guest mentor this week.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: The Grand Finale of season 6 aired on May 23, 2007, live from the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Jordin Sparks was announced as the winner at 10:05pm EDT (the show ran over its allotted time), with Blake Lewis as the runner-up.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: Guest performers included Smokey Robinson, BeBe & CeCe Winans, Gladys Knight and Tony Bennett. Every past winner of "Idol" also performed, except for Fantasia Barrino who was appearing in "The Color Purple" in New York City.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: After Carrie Underwood performed "I'll Stand by You", Clive Davis gave a speech extolling the state of "the "American Idol" album franchise", then presented Underwood with a special award for achieving 6 million U.S. album sales for her album "Some Hearts".


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: On the April 3, 2007 show, Ryan Seacrest announced the first American Idol Songwriter: a songwriting contest. Following an open online submission process where over 25,000 submissions were received, twenty songs were selected for competition by Simon Fuller and A&R representatives of his 19 Entertainment. Beginning May 2, 2007 and ending May 8, 2007, with "one online vote per fan", the American public were able to listen to snippets from each song and rated them on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) on the American Idol Songwriter website. On the May 22, 2007 show, the two finalists performed the winning song, "This Is My Now". The song was released as a single by Jordin Sparks, the winner of American Idol Season 6.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: "American Idol" ended the season as the top show of the 2006–2007 TV season. Its Wednesday episodes ranked first with an average of 30.02 million viewers, followed by the Tuesday episodes which averaged 29.54 million. The premiere episode became the series' highest rated debut episode, viewed by 37.44 million viewers and receiving a 15.8/36 Nielsen rating in the Adult 18-49 demographic.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: "American Idol Extra", a behind-the-scenes show, also returned for a second season, corresponding with the start of the finals in March. It aired Thursdays on Fox Reality.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: On the March 8, 2007 results show, Ryan Seacrest announced an initiative to give back to people in poverty in both Africa and the United States (including those affected by Hurricane Katrina). The event took place over two episodes of the series. For every vote cast immediately following the April 24, 2007 broadcast, many sponsors donated funds to the Charity Projects Entertainment Fund. The fund will distribute the money raised to many charities in the US as well as in Africa. News Corporation pledged to donate 10 cents for every vote made to the show for the first 50 million calls, that is, up to $5 million. MySpace created a special profile page for the event in order to spread the word. Donations from viewers were accepted by phone and website during the April 25, 2007 results show, in a manner similar to a telethon. Near the end of the broadcast, Seacrest announced the show raised 30 million US dollars, with the final tally coming on May 1, 2007. As of May 1, 2007, over $70 million has been raised as a result of Idol Gives Back.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: Between contestant performances, video vignettes showing the judges and Seacrest visiting and observing squalid conditions in Africa and the United States were aired. Similar vignettes were aired during the results show. For this special, the voting period was doubled to four hours following the show, rather than the usual two. In response to the anticipated call volume, each contestant was assigned two toll free numbers. Over 70 million votes were cast.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: The results show was broadcast from two locations—the regular American Idol stage and Walt Disney Concert Hall—and included many celebrity actors and personalities. The show also included numerous performers; for a full list of performances, see the main article. Ellen DeGeneres co-hosted the event from the Disney Hall stage. Proceeds from ticket sales benefited the fund. Videos of the results show's performances are available for purchase on iTunes, with proceeds going to charity.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: Due to the "charity" theme of the show, no contestant was eliminated on the April 25 results show. This was a surprise both to viewers, to whom Seacrest promised the "most shocking elimination ever", and to the contestants. When Ryan Seacrest was about to eliminate Jordin Sparks he said since it was a charity night none of the contestants were voted off, and the votes from that week were added to the votes from the following week to eliminate two singers. Both weeks saw a two-hour extension of the regular two-hour voting window, and in the end, the two-week combined voting totaled 135 million votes.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: TV Guide Channel brought back a second season of "Idol Tonight", the live pre-show to "American Idol", which aired on Wednesdays starting in March. The show features former Idol runner-up Justin Guarini as a correspondent along with Kimberly Caldwell and Rosanna Tavarez.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: For the UK back-to-back repeat of the performance and results shows on the following Friday night on ITV2, Cat Deeley presents additional sections preceding and following each commercial break, and follows the end of the show with a short interview with that week's eliminated contestant.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: Unlike previous seasons the top 12 compilation album did not come out while the show was airing. The top 12 recorded studio versions of each of the songs they sang on the show. The songs were available for purchase on AmericanIdol.com as digital downloads through the night of the finale. Sparks' and Lewis' songs (except Sparks' "Livin' on a Prayer") remained available on the Idol website and iTunes Store through June 20, 2007.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: Originally, a collage of the finalists' head shots from the top 24 photo shoot was used as album art on AmericanIdol.com, with the title "American Idol 6: Greatest Moments"; at present, the covers of Sparks' and Lewis' EPs are used instead. The "" were eventually released on June 12, 2007 on iTunes/Americanidol.com. This is the only season that the season's collection is "not" distributed by Sony BMG/RCA Records.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: Sparks' first non-"American Idol" single was the top hit (peaking at number eight) "Tattoo", which received platinum certification. Her second single was the Billboard Hot 100 number three hit "No Air" with Chris Brown. The song went to number one in several countries, and also topped Billboard's Pop Airplay chart. "No Air" had been certified platinum in April but recently passed the 3 million copies mark. It stands as the best-selling single by any Idol contestant. Sparks released a third single off her album, "One Step at a Time", which peaked at number 17. "One Step at a Time" has so far sold over a million copies and is certified platinum. Sparks released her second album Battlefield in July 2009. The album's title track became Jordin's fifth top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 10. This makes Jordin Sparks the only "American Idol" contestant to have their first five singles become Top 20 Hits.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: Blake Lewis's first single was "Break Anotha!", which failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. His second single, "How Many Words", also failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 25 in the Bubbling Under chart (Hot 100 equivalent = 125). Shortly afterward, Lewis confirmed that he had been dropped by Arista records. His album sales are just over 300,000. The drop also canceled his apparent plans for a third single release.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: "This Is My Now" as performed by Jordin Sparks was released as a radio single. It debuted on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart at number 15.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: On May 24, 2007, the winner Jordin Sparks and runner-up Blake Lewis released five-song EPs on iTunes Store; though only iTunes calls them "EPs", they are also available as "bundles" for the same price on AmericanIdol.com through June 20, 2007.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: Sparks' EP contained the winner's single, "This Is My Now", as well as four songs she performed on "Idol": "I (Who Have Nothing)", "A Broken Wing", "To Love Somebody", and "Wishing on a Star".


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: Lewis' EP did not contain "This Is My Now"; all of the tracks were songs he performed on the show: "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Time of the Season", "I Need to Know", "Love Song", and "When the Stars Go Blue".


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: On June 12, 2007, Apple released five song EPs for the rest of the top 12 finalists (Melinda Doolittle, LaKisha Jones, Chris Richardson, Phil Stacey, Sanjaya Malakar, Haley Scarnato, Gina Glocksen, Chris Sligh, Stephanie Edwards and Brandon Rogers) along with the compilation album as a collector's edition of the season's songs. Each of the songs are also available for individual purchase.


title: American Idol (season 6)

text: Phil Stacey, tied for fifth place with Chris Richardson, is now signed to Lyric Street and has released his first single "If You Didn't Love Me". Richardson recently produced his first single, "All Alone". Tenth place finalist Chris Sligh recently released a Christian album after signing with Brash Music.


title: Nonagon

text: The name "nonagon" is a prefix hybrid formation, from Latin ("nonus", "ninth" + "gonon"), used equivalently, attested already in the 16th century in French "nonogone" and in English from the 17th century. The name "enneagon" comes from Greek "enneagonon" (εννεα, "nine" + γωνον (from γωνία = "corner")), and is arguably more correct, though less common than "nonagon".


title: Nonagon

text: A "regular nonagon" is represented by Schläfli symbol {9} and has internal angles of 140°. The area of a regular nonagon of side length "a" is given by


title: Nonagon

text: Although a regular nonagon is not constructible with compass and straightedge (as 9 = 3, which is not a product of distinct Fermat primes), there are very old methods of construction that produce very close approximations.


title: Nonagon

text: The "regular enneagon" has Dih symmetry, order 18. There are 2 subgroup dihedral symmetries: Dih and Dih, and 3 cyclic group symmetries: Z, Z, and Z.


title: Nonagon

text: These 6 symmetries can be seen in 6 distinct symmetries on the enneagon. John Conway labels these by a letter and group order. Full symmetry of the regular form is r18 and no symmetry is labeled a1. The dihedral symmetries are divided depending on whether they pass through vertices (d for diagonal) or edges (p for perpendiculars), and i when reflection lines path through both edges and vertices. Cyclic symmetries in the middle column are labeled as g for their central gyration orders.


title: Nonagon

text: Each subgroup symmetry allows one or more degrees of freedom for irregular forms. Only the g9 subgroup has no degrees of freedom but can seen as directed edges.


title: Nonagon

text: The regular enneagon can tessellate the euclidean tiling with gaps. These gaps can be filled with regular hexagons and isosceles triangles. In the notation of symmetrohedron this tiling is called H(*;3;*;[2]) with H representing *632 hexagonal symmetry in the plane.


title: Nonagon

text: The K complete graph is often drawn as a "regular enneagon" with all 36 edges connected. This graph also represents an orthographic projection of the 9 vertices and 36 edges of the 8-simplex.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: The Bugatti Type 41, better known as the Royale, is a large luxury car built from 1927 to 1933 with a 4.3 m (169.3 in) wheelbase and 6.4 m (21 ft) overall length. It weighs approximately 3,175 kg (7,000 lb) and uses a 12.763 litre (778 cu in) straight-eight engine. For comparison, against the Rolls-Royce Phantom VII (produced from 2003 to 2017), the Royale is about 20% longer, and more than 25% heavier. This makes the Royale one of the largest cars in the world.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: Ettore Bugatti planned to build twenty-five of these cars and sell them to royalty as the most luxurious car ever, but even European royalty were not buying such things during the Great Depression, and Bugatti was able to sell only three of the seven made (six still exist, one destroyed in wreck). Still, the engines were re-used successfully in newly constructed high-speed railcars for the French National Railway (SNCF).


title: Bugatti Royale

text: Crafted by Ettore Bugatti, the Type 41 is said to have come about because he took exception to the comments of an English lady who compared his cars unfavourably with those of Rolls-Royce.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: The engine build for the Royale had a displacement of 12.7 litres. The engine was built around a single huge block, and at approx. long x high, is one of the largest engines ever made for passenger automobiles, producing @ 1800 rpm, and of torque. Its eight cylinders, bored to and with a stroke length of , each displaced more than the entire engine of the contemporary Type 40 touring car. It had 3 valves per cylinder (two inlet:one exhaust) driven by a centrally positioned single overhead camshaft. Three bearings and only a single custom carburettor was needed. The engine was based on an aero-engine design that had been designed for the French Air Ministry, but never produced in that configuration.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: The engine block and cylinder head were cast in one unit. Grinding of the engine valves was a regular maintenance requirement, and removing the engine valves for grinding required removing and disassembling the large cast iron engine.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: The chassis was understandably substantial, with a conventional semi-elliptic leaf spring suspension arrangement at the front. At the rear the forward-facing Bugatti quarter-elliptics were supplemented by a second set facing to the rear.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: Strangely for the modern day observer, the aluminium clutch box was attached to the chassis - not to the engine - and the gearbox (also aluminium) was attached to the rear axle which meant it was part of the unsprung mass of the suspension. The clutch and gearbox were placed at odd locations to reduce noise and increase comfort, a difficult problem in those days. The transmission was mounted at the rear to offset the weight of the engine.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: Massive brake shoes were mechanically operated via cable controls: the brakes were effective but without servo-assistance required significant muscle power from the driver. The car's light alloy "Roue Royale" wheels measured in diameter and were cast in one piece with the brake drums.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: Reflecting some tradition-based fashions of the time, the driver was confronted by a series of knobs of whalebone, while the steering wheel was covered with walnut.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: A road test performed in 1926 by W. F. Bradley at the request of Ettore Bugatti for the "Autocar" magazine proved how exquisite chassis construction allowed very good and balanced handling at speed, similar to smaller Bugatti sports cars, despite the car's weight and size.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: All Royales were individually bodied. The radiator cap was a posed elephant, a sculpture by Ettore's brother Rembrandt Bugatti.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: In 1928, Ettore Bugatti asserted that "this year King Alfonso of Spain will receive his Royale", but the Spanish king was deposed without taking delivery of a Royale, and the first of the cars to find a customer was not delivered until 1932. The Royale with a basic chassis price of $30,000, was launched just as the world economy began to deteriorate into the 1930s Great Depression. Six Royales were built between 1929 and 1933, with just three sold to external customers. Intended for royalty, none was eventually sold to any royals, and Bugatti even refused to sell one to King Zog of Albania, claiming that ""the man's table manners are beyond belief!""


title: Bugatti Royale

text: Six of seven production Royales still exist, as the prototype was destroyed in an accident in 1931, and each has a different body, some having been rebodied several times.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: To utilize the remaining 23 engines after the final Royale was built, Bugatti built a powered by either two or four of the eight-cylinder units. Seventy-nine were built for the French National Railway SNCF, using a further 186 engines, the last of them remaining in regular use until 1956 or 1958 (sources differ). The railcar turned the Royale project from an economic failure into a commercial success for Bugatti. The engines were derated to produce only about 200 hp, but even in this form they provided excellent performance. One of the railcars took a world average speed record of for .


title: Bugatti Royale

text: In light of the rarity of the Type 41 and its associated price, it is unsurprising that some replicas have been made.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: The Schlumpf brothers so liked the original Dr Armand Esders coupe body on chassis 41111, using original Bugatti parts they had a replica made of the car. It now resides with the two originals they purchased at the Musée National de l'Automobile de Mulhouse.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: The late Tom Wheatcroft commissioned Ashton Keynes Vintage Restorations (AKVR) to build an exact replica of Bugatti's personal car, the "Coupe Napoleon" (chassis number 41100), for his Donington Grand Prix Collection in England. It has since been sold and left the collection. So good was the replica, that when the "Kellner" car needed a replacement piston, its then Japanese owners commissioned South Cerney Engineering, part of AKVR, to provide a replacement.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: On May 24, 2008, Prince Joachim of Denmark on the day of his wedding to Princess Marie (formerly Marie Cavallier) had Wheatcroft's replica waiting outside Møgeltønder Church to drive the newly married couple to Schackenborg Castle.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: In 2011 a reconstruction of the 41100 Packard prototype by Dutch company Hevec Classics was presented at the Molsheim festival. It claims to use the original prototype chassis frame and other parts and was initially fitted with a replica engine (built by Tom Wheatcroft).


title: Bugatti Royale

text: In 2016, the same team that reconstructed the Packard prototype, led by Frank Slopsma, unveiled a new replica of the Royale Esders Roadster at the RETRO CLASSICS show in Stuttgart, Germany.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: A year later this same team showed a part-finished replica of the Weymann coach version of the 41100 Royale prototype at the Mondorf Classic Days & Concours d'Elegance. All three replicas built by the team were shown at the show, they were built for an undisclosed Dutch owner.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: The Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum has a replica of the 41100 Coupe Napoleon that was built for the 1968 film "Rebus."


title: Bugatti Royale

text: The much smaller Panther De Ville (produced between 1974 and 1985) consciously resembled the Type 41.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: In 2007, five of the six cars were on display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed to celebrate the Royale's eightieth anniversary.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: A Bugatti Royale features in the 2012 book "Lucia on Holiday" by Guy Fraser-Sampson, an addition to the Mapp and Lucia series of novels by E.F.Benson. In the story Major Mapp-Flint is asked by a maharajah to drive the car from Paris to Bellagio, but he drives so badly and inflicts so much damage that the maharajah has the car driven into Lake Como.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: The Bugatti Royale 41150 Berline de Voyage 1931 also features throughout the 2014 book "The Eye of Zoltar", book 3 of The Last Dragonslayer series by Jasper Fforde. The car is referenced ten times within the book. The protagonist Jennifer Strange describes her choice of car "After looking at several I'd chosen a massive vintage car called a Bugatti Royale. Inside it was sumptuously comfortable, and outside, the bonnet was so long that in misty weather it was hard to make out the hood ornament."


title: Bugatti Royale

text: A blood-red Bugatti type 41 Royale Coupe de Ville appears in Leslie Charteris' "Vendetta For the Saint" (Doubleday 1964, ghostwritten by Harry Harrison) as a rental car for Simon Templar.


title: Bugatti Royale

text: "The Seventh Royale" by Donald Stanwood is about Hitler's attempt to get a Royale and efforts to keep away from him.London auto dealer spent $9.8 million for a 1931’s bugatti royale car on Thursday, breaking records for the most expensive cost ever in the history of a car auctioneer stated. It was a Type 41 Bugatti. Christie’s auction house sold a type 41 Bugatti to a dealer Nicholas Harley.


title: Potion

text: A potion () is a liquid "that contains medicine, poison, or something that is supposed to have magic powers.” It derives from the Latin word "potus" which referred to a drink or drinking. The term philtre is also used, often specifically for a love potion, a potion that is supposed to create feelings of love or attraction in the one who drinks it.


title: Potion

text: Throughout history there have been several types of potions for a range of purposes. Reasons for taking potions ranged from curing an illness, to securing immortality to trying to induce love. These potions, while often ineffective or poisonous, occasionally had some degree of medicinal success depending on what they sought to fix and the type and amount of ingredients used. Some popular ingredients used in potions across history include Spanish fly, nightshade plants, cannabis and opium.


title: Potion

text: During the 17th to 19th century, it was common in Europe to see peddlers offering potions for ailments ranging from heartbreak to the plague. These were eventually dismissed as quackery. Prostitutes, courtesans, enchanters and midwives were also known to distribute potions.


title: Potion

text: The word potion has its origins in the Latin word "potus" an irregular past participle of potare which meant "to drink.” This evolved to the word "potionem" (nominative "potio") meaning either "a potion, a drinking” or a "poisonous draught, magic potion." In Ancient Greek, the word for both drugs and potions was “pharmaka” or “pharmakon.” In the 12th century, the French had the word "pocion" meaning "potion, draught, medicine." By the 13th century, this word became "pocioun" meaning "medicinal drink, dose of liquid medicine or poison".


title: Potion

text: The word potion can also be sourced from the Spanish words "pocion" meaning "potion," and "ponzoña" meaning "poison." The Italian's also had a word "pozione" meaning "potion". The word "pozione" is the same word for poison in Italian. By the early 15th century in Italy potion began to be known specifically as a magical or enchanted drink.


title: Potion

text: The practice of administering potions has had a long history of being illegalised. Despite these laws, there have been several different administrators of potions across history.


title: Potion

text: Quacks or charlatans refer to people who sell “medical methods that do not work and are only intended to make money”. In Europe in the 15th century it was also common to see long-distance peddlers, who sold supposedly magical healing potions and elixirs. During the Great Plague of London in the 17th century, quacks sold many fake potions promising either cures or immunity. Because pills looked less trustworthy to the public, potions were often the top sellers of quacks. These potions often included bizarre ingredients such as floral pomanders and the smoke of fragrant woods. The well known Wessex quack Vilbert was known to sell love potions made of pigeon hearts.  By the 18th century in England, it was common for middle class households to stock potions that claimed to solve a variety of ailments. Quackery grew to its height in the 19th century.


title: Potion

text: In 18th and 19th century Britain, pharmacies or apothecaries were often a cheaper, more accessible option for medical treatment than doctors. Potions distributed by chemists for illnesses were often derived from herbs and plants, and based on old beliefs and remedies.


title: Potion

text: Prior to The Pharmacy Act 1868 anybody could become a pharmacist or chemist. Since the practice was unregulated, potions were often made from scratch.


title: Potion

text: Potions were additionally used to cure illness in livestock. One potion found in a 19th-century pharmacist's recipe book was to be used for “lambs of about 7 years old” and contains chalk, pomegranate and opium.


title: Potion

text: There was a strict hierarchy in the medical community of Europe during the 12th to 15th centuries. Male doctors were the most respected and paid followed by female apothecaries, barber-surgeons and surgeons. Women were often the main way that individuals who could not afford doctors or apothecaries could gain medical treatment Potions, in addition to calming teas or soup, were a common homemade treatment made by women. When unable to go to a female house member, early modern people would often go to the wise women of their village. Wise women (who were often supposed witches) were knowledgeable in health care and could administer potions, lotions or salves in addition to performing prayers or chants. This was often free of charge or significantly less expensive than the potions of apothecaries.


title: Potion

text: The limited jobs available to women during the 17th to 18th century in Europe often involved a knowledge of potions as an additional way to gain a financial income. Jobs that often involved the selling of love potions included prostitutes, courtesans, enchanters and midwives. These practices varied by region. In Rome, up until the period of the civil wars, the only physicians were drug-sellers, enchanters and midwives. In Greece, retired courtesans often both created potions and worked as midwives. Prostitutes in Europe were often expected to be an expert in magic and administer love potions.


title: Potion

text: In the Middle Ages and the early modern period using potions to induce sterility and abortion was widely practiced in Europe. The majority of abortive potions were made using emmenagogue herbs (herbs used to stimulate menstruation) which were intended to cause a period and end a pregnancy. Additionally abortive potions could also be prepared by infusion of a herb or tree. The willow tree was a common ingredient in these potions, as it was fabled to cause sterility. Several key theological and legal literature of the time condemned this practice, including Visigothic law and the Church.


title: Potion

text: Many herbal potions containing emmenagogues did not contain abortifacients (substances that induce abortion) and were instead used to cure amenorrhoea (a lack of period). There are several different types of literature in the humoral tradition that propose the use of herbal potions or suppositories to provoke menstruation.


title: Potion

text: Giulia Tofana (1581-1651) was an Italian poisoner, known as the inventor of the famous poison Aqua Tofana. Born in Sicily, she invented and started to sell the poison in Palermo in Sicily. She later established herself in Rome, where she continued the business, specialising in selling to women in abusive marriages who wanted to become widows. She died peacefully in 1651 and left the business to her stepdaughter Gironima Spana, who expanded it to a substantial business in the 1650s. The organization was exposed in 1659 and resulted in the famous Spana Prosecution, which became a subject of sensationalistic mythologization for centuries.


title: Potion

text: Paula de Eguiluz was born into slavery in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in the 17th Century. Within the area in which she lived, sickness and disease ravaged the towns and major cities. Paula de Eguiluz decided to research and find her own cures to these maladies. Because of this, she is widely known for being involved in health care and healing.


title: Potion

text: Once her healing and health care practice took off, she started to sell potions and serums to clients. de Eguiluz's business attracted a following and slowly got her into a bit of trouble.


title: Potion

text: Due to Paula's healing accomplishments, she was arrested approximately 3 times. During these inquisitions, she was forced to tell the jury that she performed witchcraft. In response to these false confessions, she was imprisoned and whipped several times.


title: Potion

text: Catherine Monvoisin married Antoine Monvoisin who was a jeweler in Paris. His business plummeted and Catherine had to find work in order for her and her family to survive. She had a knack for reading people very accurately coupled with chiromancy and utilized her skills in order to make money.


title: Potion

text: La Voisin would read people's horoscopes and perform abortions, but she also sold potions and poisons to her clients. Her work quickly became well known throughout France and people would quickly become her clients. Around the year 1665, her fortune telling was questioned by Saint Vincent de Paul's Order, but she was quick to dismiss the allegations of witchcraft.


title: Potion

text: Catherine would then begin making potions whether it be for love, murder, or everyday life. Her love potion consisted of bones, the teeth of moles, human blood, Spanish fly beetles, and even small amounts of human remains. Her predecessor and major influence was Giulia Tofana.


title: Potion

text: On March 12, 1679, Catherine was arrested Notre- Dame Bonne- Nouvelle due to a string of incidents involving her and her potions. She confessed her crimes of murder and told authorities a majority of everything they needed to know about the people she knowingly murdered.


title: Potion

text: On February 22, 1680, La Voisin was sentenced to a public death wherein she was to be burned as the stake for witchcraft.


title: Potion

text: Jacqueline Felice de Almania was tried in Italy in 1322 for the unlicensed practice of medicine. She was mainly accused of doing a learned male physicians job and accepting a fee. This job involved “examining urine by its physical appearance; touching the body; and prescribing potions, digestives, and laxatives.” Eight witnesses testified to her medical experience and wisdom. However, as she had not attended university, her knowledge was dismissed. Jacqueline Felice was then found guilty and fined and excommunicated from the church.


title: Potion

text: Emotions such as anger, fear and sadness are universal and as such potions have been created across history and cultures in response to these human emotions.


title: Potion

text: Love Potions have been used throughout history and cultures. Scandinavians often used love-philtres, which is documented in the Norse poem The Lay of Gudrun.


title: Potion

text: In 17th century Cartagena, Afro-Mexican curer (curanderos/as) and other Indigenous healers could gain an income and status from selling spells and love potions to women trying to secure men and financial stability. These love potions were sold to women of all social classes, who often wished to gain sexual agency.


title: Potion

text: In the early ninth century, Arab physician Yuhanna ̄ Ibn Masawaih used the dye kermes to create a potion called "Confectio Alchermes". The potion was “intended for the caliph and his court and not for commoners.” The potion was intended to cure heart palpitations, restore strength and cure madness and depression.


title: Potion

text: During the Renaissance in Europe, "Confectio Alchermes" was used widely. Recipes for the potion appeared in the work of the popular English apothecary Nicholas Culpeper and the official pharmacopoeia handbooks of London and Amsterdam. Queen Elizabeth’s French ambassador was even treated with the remedy; however, the recipe was altered to include a “unicorn’s horn” (possibly a ground-up narwhal tusk) in addition to the traditional ingredients. The ingredients for the potion mainly included ambergris, cinnamon, aloes, gold leaf, musk, pulverized lapis lazuli and white pearls.


title: Potion

text: St Paul's Potion was intended to cure epilepsy, catalepsy and stomach problems. Many ingredients used in the potion had medicinal value. According to Toni Mount the list of ingredients included “liquorice, sage, willow, roses, fennel, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cormorant blood, mandrake, dragon’s blood and three kinds of pepper”.


title: Potion

text: Many of these ingredients still have medicinal value in the 21st century. Liquorice can be used to treat coughs and bronchitis. Sage can help memory and improve blood flow to the brain. Willow contains salicylic acid, which is a component of aspirin. Fennel, cinnamon and ginger are all carminatives, which help relieve gas in the intestines. The cormorant blood adds iron to treat anemia. If used in small doses, Mandrake is a good sleeping draught (though in large doses Mandrake can be poisonous.) Dragon's blood refers to the bright red resin of the tree Dracaena draco. According to Toni Mount “it has antiseptic, antibiotic, anti-viral and wound-healing properties, and it is still used in some parts of the world to treat dysentery.”


title: Potion

text: Creating a potion for immortality, was a common pursuit of alchemists throughout history. The Elixir of Life is a famous potion that aimed to create eternal youth. During the Chinese dynasties, this elixir of life was often recreated and drunk by emperors, nobles and officials. In India, there is a myth of the potion amrita, a drink of immortality made out of nectar.


title: Potion

text: Ayahuasca, is a hallucinogenic plant-based potion used in many parts of the world. It was first created by indigenous South Americans from the Amazon basin as a spiritual medicine. The potion was often administered by a shaman during a ceremony. The potion contains the boiled stems of the ayahuasca vine and leaves from the chacruna plant. Chacruna contains dimethyltryptamine (also known as DMT), a psychedelic drug. The potion caused users to vomit or 'purge' and induced hallucinations.


title: Potion

text: Potions or mixtures are common within many of local mythologies. In particular, references to love potions are common in many cultures. Yusufzai witches, for example, would bathe a recently deceased leatherworker and sell the water to those seeking a male partner; this practice is said to exist in a modified form in modern times.


title: Potion

text: Potions have played a critical role in many pieces of literature.  Shakespeare wrote potions into many of his plays including a love potion in "A Midsummer Night’s Dream", poison in "Hamlet", and Juliet takes a potion to fake her death in "Romeo and Juliet".


title: Potion

text: In the "Harry Potter" series, potions also play a main role.  The students are required to attend potion classes and knowledge of potions often becomes a factor for many of the characters.


title: Potion

text: In the fairytale "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen, the Little Mermaid wishes to become human and have an immortal soul.  She visits the Sea Witch who sells her a potion, in exchange for which she cuts out the Little Mermaid's tongue.  The Sea Witch makes the potion using her own blood that she cuts from her breast.  She warns the Little Mermaid that it will feel as if she had been cut with a sword when her fin becomes legs, that she will never be able to become a mermaid again, and risks turning into seafoam and not having an immortal soul if she fails to win the Prince's love.  The Little Mermaid decides to take the potion which successfully turns her into a human so that she can try to win the love of the Prince and an immortal soul.


title: Potion

text: In the novella "The" "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Henry Jekyll creates a potion that transforms him into an evil version of himself called Edward Hyde.  Dr. Jekyll does not explain how he created this potion because he felt his “discoveries were incomplete,” he only indicates that it requires a “particular salt.”  He uses the potion successfully to go back and forth between his normal self, Dr. Jekyll, and his evil self, Mr. Hyde.


title: Potion

text: In the 11th century, plants belonging to the nightshade family Solanaceae were often used as an ingredients in the potions - aphrodisiac or otherwise - and flying ointments of witches. The specific nightshades used in such concoctions were usually tropane alkaloid-containing species belonging to the Old World tribes Hyoscyameae and Mandragoreae. These potions were known as "pharmaka diabolika" ("devilish drugs").


title: Potion

text: The root of "Mandragora officinarum", the celebrated mandrake, fabled in legend to shriek when uprooted, was often used to prepare sleeping potions, although it could prove poisonous in excess, due to its tropane alkaloid content.


title: Potion

text: "M. officinarum" is native to the Mediterranean region. Administered in small doses mandrake root has been used in folk medicine as an analgesic, an aphrodisiac and a remedy for infertility. Larger doses act as an entheogen of the deliriant class, having the potential to cause profound confusion and dysphoria characterised by realistic hallucinations of an unpleasant character.


title: Potion

text: Classical and Renaissance authors have left certain accounts of the use of the plant by witches in the preparation of potions intended variously to excite love, cause insanity or even kill. Scopolamine, a toxic, delirient alkaloid present in (and named for) "Scopolia carniolica" and also present in Mandragora, Hyoscyamus and other Solanaceae, was used by the infamous Dr. Crippen to kill his wife.


title: Potion

text: In Ancient Greece, the spanish fly (also known as "cantharides)" was crushed with herbs and used in love potions.  It was believed to be effective due to the bodily warmth that resulted from ingesting it. However, this was actually a result of inflammation from toxins in the tissues of the beetle. Ferdinand II of Aragon drank many potions and elixir contains the Spanish Fly.


title: Potion

text: Cochineal, another type of dye, replaced kermes as an ingredient in Confectio Alchermes in the 17th and 18th century. Cochineal was also heavily used as an ingredient in potions for jaundice. Jaundice potions were a mix of Cochineal, cream of tartar and Venetian soap and patients were directed to take it three times a day.


title: Potion

text: Opium and cannabis has been used in potions throughout human history. Potions containing cannabis and/or opium were particularly popular in Arabia, Persia and Muslim India after the arrival of the drugs around the ninth century. Cannabis and opium were a common ingredient used in potions and tinctures sold by apothecaries in 19th century Europe, as the ingredients made patients feel better, and the addictive nature of the drug meant it sold well. Nepenthes pharmakon is a famous type of magical potion recorded in Homer's Odyssey, intended to cure sorrow. "Pharmakon" was the word for medicine in Ancient Greek. The potion was recreated in the 18th century, and contains both the plant nepenthe and opium.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: A prepaid mobile device, also known as a, pay-as-you-go (PAYG), pay-as-you-talk, pay and go, go-phone, prepay or burner phone, is a mobile device such as a phone for which credit is purchased in advance of service use. The purchased credit is used to pay for telecommunications services at the point the service is accessed or consumed. If there is no credit, then access is denied by the cellular network or Intelligent Network. Users can top up their credit at any time using a variety of payment mechanisms. ("Pay-as-you-go", "PAYG", and similar terms are also used for other non-telecommunications services paid for by advance deposit.)


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: The alternative billing method (and what is commonly referred to as a mobile contract) is the postpaid mobile phone, where a user enters into a long-term contract (lasting 12, 18, or 24 months) or short-term contract (also commonly referred to as a rolling contract or a 30-day contract) and billing arrangement with a mobile phone operator (mobile virtual network operator or mobile network operator).


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: A prepaid mobile phone provides most of the services offered by a mobile phone operator. The main difference is that with prepaid phones, payment for service is made before use. As calls and texts are made, and as data is used, deductions are made against the prepaid balance amount until no funds remain (at which time services stop functioning). A user may avoid interruptions in service by making payments to increase the remaining balance.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: Credit purchased for a prepaid mobile phone may have a time limit – for example, 120 days from the date the last credit was added. In these cases, customers who do not add more credit before expiration will have their remaining balance depleted through expiration of the credits.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: There is no compulsion on a prepaid mobile phone user to top up their balance. To maintain revenues, some operators have devised reward schemes designed to encourage frequent top-ups. For example, an operator may offer some free SMS to use next month if a user tops up by a certain amount this month.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: Unlike postpaid phones, where subscribers have to terminate their contracts, it is not easy for an operator to know when a prepaid subscriber has left the network. To free up resources on the network for new customers, an operator will periodically delete prepaid SIM cards which have not been used for some time, at which point, their service (and its associated phone number) is discontinued. The rules for when this deletion happens vary from operator to operator, but may typically occur after six months to a year of non-use.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: By 2003, the number of prepaid accounts grew past contract accounts, and by 2007, two-thirds of all mobile phone accounts worldwide were prepaid accounts.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: The history of prepaid mobile phones begins in the 1990s, when larger markets were being sought after by the mobile phone operators. Before this date, all mobile phone services were offered on a post-paid basis, which excluded people with poor credit.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: Prepaid mobile service was invented by Subscriber Computing, Inc., an Orange County company, (1986-1998), founded and directed by Arlene Harris. The patents covering this invention are:


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: These patents describe the ability to access the cost of a call and deduct the cost of the call from the user's account balance in near real time. If the user's balance is below the carrier-defined threshold, the next call that the user makes is routed to an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) device that announces to the user that the account balance is low and suggests they add funds to the account so their service is not interrupted. When the user's account balance is depleted, the service is suspended until they added funds to their account. If the user's account balance is depleted, all call attempts are routed to the IVR. These patents expired in 2010 and 2012 respectively.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: The prepaid service was also sold to carriers in Mexico; Celcom in 1994, and implementation took place in Monterrey, and to Telcel, where implementation began in November 1997 and production took place beginning in April 1998.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: Ericsson also became a partner in the prepaid service; a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in June 1997 and the final agreement was signed in late 1997. The announcement was made on January 26, 1998 (or listen to it).


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: Prepaid service enabled carriers in third world countries to add subscribers without having to print monthly statements or having an accounts receivable department, and gave them the ability to add subscribers without concern for their ability to pay their bills.patent holder).


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: In 1996 MTN became the first mobile operator to introduce a prepaid cellular service in Africa, popularizing "pay as you go" in emerging markets.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: The first Prepaid card was called "Mimo" and was launched by TMN, the mobile phone operator of Portugal Telecom, in September 1995. In 2006 Swisscom celebrated ten years with its product and service "NATEL® easy" which also holds a patent on "Prepaid mobile subscriber identification card and method implemented thereby".


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: A prepaid plan may have a lower cost (often for low usage patterns e.g. a telephone for emergency use) and make it easier to control spending by limiting debt and controlling usage. They often have fewer contractual obligations – no early termination fee, freedom to change providers, plans, able to be used by those unable to take out a contract (i.e. under age of majority). Depending on local laws, they may be available to those who do not have a permanent address, phone number, or credit card. This makes them popular among travelers and students away from their hometowns. Additionally, they are popular with parents who wish to have a way to stay connected with their college age students and have some control over the costs.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: Sometimes, pay-as-you-go customers pay more for their calls, SMS and data than contract customers. In some cases they are limited in what they can do with their phone – calls to international or premium-rate telephone numbers may be blocked, and they may not be able to roam. These limitations are usually the results of deficiencies in the prepaid systems used by the wireless carriers, as technology has evolved to the point where these are easily managed by triggers or APIs to third-party solution providers. Current models being deployed by wireless carriers are capable of setting the price points for all services on an individual basis (via packages), such that higher pricing is a marketing decision.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: As described above, prepaid accounts require a subscriber to have a credit balance in the account to make outgoing calls (except emergency calls, which are always allowed). In the US, incoming calls are also barred, while in some other countries, a prepaid mobile with zero balance may still receive calls and texts.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: This results in an "on/off" or "all or nothing" proposition for the prepaid service providers and their clients (i.e. the account either has enough credit to use the phone, or it does not). Some operators (e.g., Orange) allow their pre-paid customers to have a small negative balance to allow short calls or texts when the customer's credit has been completely used. This is then deducted when the customer next adds more credit.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: The time most likely for a prepaid customer to switch to a different service provider is when the prepaid account reaches a "zero credit balance". Like other service providers, mobile service providers losing a mobile account call it "churn".


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: In the early years, a prepaid mobile phone could only be used within the network of the operator from which the customer purchased the phone. It was not possible to roam onto other GSM networks when using the phone abroad. This was because the operator had no way to bill calls in real time from another network.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: Since July 2013, at least 80 countries globally (including 37 on the African continent) have mandated, or are actively considering mandating, the registration of prepaid SIM users. As of January 2020, researches found that governments of 155 countries have been mandating SIM registration laws; in some countries, prepaid users must submit biometrics like photos and fingerprints.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: The reason is a concern by police and security agencies that anonymous use of prepaid mobile services facilitates criminal or terrorist activities.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: While there is no doubt that criminals and terrorists use prepaid SIM cards to help stay anonymous and avoid easy detection, to date there has been no empirical evidence to indicate that:


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: In fact, a publicly available policy assessment report from Mexico showed that mandatory SIM registration introduced there in 2009 had failed to help the prevention, investigation and/or prosecution of associated crimes. As a result, policymakers decided to repeal the regulation three years later.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: A prepaid phone number specifically purchased to be used briefly and then replaced is known colloquially as a burner phone or burner. A Los Angeles technology company developed a mobile application of the same name that replicates this functionality for a smartphone.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: United States Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced legislation requiring consumers to produce identification before buying pre-paid phones in 2010, which was not passed.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: In an effort to differentiate the prepaid from post-paid service for their customers, CSPs have branded prepaid services differently from the post-paid services. A variant of post-paid service has emerged in recent years that comes closer to the prepaid service, by offering a "pay monthly" contract.


title: Prepaid mobile phone

text: Usage of prepaid cellphone service is common in most parts of the world. Around 70% of customers in Western Europe and China use prepaid phones with the figure rising to over 90% for customers in India and Africa. 23% of cellphone users in the United States of America were using prepaid service as of 2011, a share that was expected to rise to 29% by 2016. Prepaid SIM cards are also becoming a variation of the traditional prepaid cellphone plans. Rather than needing to purchase an entirely new phone, existing phones can be used by simply replacing the SIM card within the device. Prepaid service has also evolved to include rate plans and buckets traditionally seen in postpaid plans but with a lower cost of ownership for the network operator. Such Advance Pay plans are often monthly plans with either Unlimited Voice/SMS/MMS (or monthly buckets for some of these) and Prepaid Data Volume Add-ons and throttling mechanisms.


title: Meiji era

text: The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization by Western powers to the new paradigm of a modern, industrialized nation state and emergent great power, influenced by Western scientific, technological, philosophical, political, legal, and aesthetic ideas. As a result of such wholesale adoption of radically different ideas, the changes to Japan were profound, and affected its social structure, internal politics, economy, military, and foreign relations. The period corresponded to the reign of Emperor Meiji. It was preceded by the Keiō era and was succeeded by the Taishō era, upon the accession of Emperor Taishō.


title: Meiji era

text: The rapid modernization during the Meiji era was not without its opponents, as the rapid changes to society caused many disaffected traditionalists from the former samurai class to rebel against the Meiji government during the 1870s, most famously Saigō Takamori who led the Satsuma Rebellion. However, there were also former samurai who remained loyal while serving in the Meiji government, such as Itō Hirobumi and Itagaki Taisuke.


title: Meiji era

text: On February 3, 1867, the 14-year-old Prince Mutsuhito succeeded his father, Emperor Kōmei, to the Chrysanthemum Throne as the 122nd emperor.


title: Meiji era

text: This co-incided with pressure on the ruling shogunate to modernize Japan, combining modern advances with traditional values. Mutsuhito was sympathetic to these ideas, leading to a call for the restoration of the governing power to the emperor.


title: Meiji era

text: On November 9, 1867, then-"shōgun" Tokugawa Yoshinobu tendered his resignation to the Emperor, and "put his prerogatives at the Emperor’s disposal", formally stepping down ten days later. Imperial restoration occurred the next year on January 3, 1868, with the formation of the new government. The fall of Edo in the summer of 1868 marked the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, and a new era, "Meiji", was proclaimed.


title: Meiji era

text: The first reform was the promulgation of the Five Charter Oath in 1868, a general statement of the aims of the Meiji leaders to boost morale and win financial support for the new government. Its five provisions consisted of:


title: Meiji era

text: Implicit in the Charter Oath was an end to exclusive political rule by the bakufu (a "shōgun"s direct administration including officers), and a move toward more democratic participation in government. To implement the Charter Oath, a rather short-lived constitution with eleven articles was drawn up in June 1868. Besides providing for a new Council of State, legislative bodies, and systems of ranks for nobles and officials, it limited office tenure to four years, allowed public balloting, provided for a new taxation system, and ordered new local administrative rules.


title: Meiji era

text: The Meiji government assured the foreign powers that it would follow the old treaties negotiated by the bakufu and announced that it would act in accordance with international law. Mutsuhito, who was to reign until 1912, selected a new reign title—"Meiji", or Enlightened Rule—to mark the beginning of a new era in Japanese history. To further dramatize the new order, the capital was relocated from Kyoto, where it had been situated since 794, to Tokyo (Eastern Capital), the new name for Edo. In a move critical for the consolidation of the new regime, most "daimyōs" voluntarily surrendered their land and census records to the Emperor in the abolition of the Han system, symbolizing that the land and people were under the Emperor's jurisdiction.


title: Meiji era

text: Confirmed in their hereditary positions, the daimyo became governors, and the central government assumed their administrative expenses and paid samurai stipends. The han were replaced with prefectures in 1871, and authority continued to flow to the national government. Officials from the favored former han, such as Satsuma, Chōshū, Tosa, and Hizen staffed the new ministries. Formerly old court nobles, and lower-ranking samurai, replaced bakufu appointees and daimyo as a new ruling class appeared.


title: Meiji era

text: In as much as the Meiji Restoration had sought to return the Emperor to a preeminent position, efforts were made to establish a Shinto-oriented state much like it was 1,000 years earlier. Since Shinto and Buddhism had molded into a syncretic belief in the prior one-thousand years and Buddhism had been closely connected with the shogunate, this involved the separation of Shinto and Buddhism (shinbutsu bunri) and the associated destruction of various Buddhist temples and related violence (haibutsu kishaku). Furthermore, a new State Shinto had to be constructed for the purpose. In 1871, the Office of Shinto Worship () was established, ranking even above the Council of State in importance. The "kokutai" ideas of the Mito school were embraced, and the divine ancestry of the Imperial House was emphasized. The government supported Shinto teachers, a small but important move. Although the Office of Shinto Worship was demoted in 1872, by 1877 the Home Ministry controlled all Shinto shrines and certain Shinto sects were given state recognition. Shinto was released from Buddhist administration and its properties restored. Although Buddhism suffered from state sponsorship of Shinto, it had its own resurgence. Christianity also was legalized, and Confucianism remained an important ethical doctrine. Increasingly, however, Japanese thinkers identified with Western ideology and methods.


title: Meiji era

text: A major proponent of representative government was Itagaki Taisuke (1837–1919), a powerful Tosa leader who had resigned from the Council of State over the Korean affair in 1873. Itagaki sought peaceful, rather than rebellious, means to gain a voice in government. He started a school and a movement aimed at establishing a constitutional monarchy and a legislative assembly. Such movements were called The Freedom and People's Rights Movement. Itagaki and others wrote the in 1874, criticizing the unbridled power of the oligarchy and calling for the immediate establishment of representative government.


title: Meiji era

text: Between 1871 and 1873, a series of land and tax laws were enacted as the basis for modern fiscal policy. Private ownership was legalized, deeds were issued, and lands were assessed at fair market value with taxes paid in cash rather than in kind as in pre-Meiji days and at slightly lower rates.


title: Meiji era

text: Dissatisfied with the pace of reform after having rejoined the Council of State in 1875, Itagaki organized his followers and other democratic proponents into the nationwide Aikokusha (Society of Patriots) to push for representative government in 1878. In 1881, in an action for which he is best known, Itagaki helped found the Jiyūtō (Liberal Party), which favored French political doctrines.


title: Meiji era

text: In 1882, Ōkuma Shigenobu established the Rikken Kaishintō (Constitutional Progressive Party), which called for a British-style constitutional democracy. In response, government bureaucrats, local government officials, and other conservatives established the Rikken Teiseitō (Imperial Rule Party), a pro-government party, in 1882. Numerous political demonstrations followed, some of them violent, resulting in further government restrictions. The restrictions hindered the political parties and led to divisions within and among them. The Jiyūtō, which had opposed the Kaishinto, was disbanded in 1884 and Ōkuma resigned as Kaishintō president.


title: Meiji era

text: Government leaders, long preoccupied with violent threats to stability and the serious leadership split over the Korean affair, generally agreed that constitutional government should someday be established. The Chōshū leader Kido Takayoshi had favored a constitutional form of government since before 1874, and several proposals for constitutional guarantees had been drafted. While acknowledging the realities of political pressure, however, the oligarchy was determined to keep control. Thus, modest steps were taken.


title: Meiji era

text: The Osaka Conference in 1875 resulted in the reorganization of government with an independent judiciary and an appointed Chamber of Elders (Genrōin) tasked with reviewing proposals for a legislature. The Emperor declared that "constitutional government shall be established in gradual stages" as he ordered the Council of Elders to draft a constitution.


title: Meiji era

text: Three years later, the Conference of Prefectural Governors established elected prefectural assemblies. Although limited in their authority, these assemblies represented a move in the direction of representative government at the national level, and by 1880 assemblies also had been formed in villages and towns. In 1880 delegates from twenty-four prefectures held a national convention to establish the Kokkai Kisei Dōmei.


title: Meiji era

text: Although the government was not opposed to parliamentary rule, confronted with the drive for "people's rights", it continued to try to control the political situation. New laws in 1875 prohibited press criticism of the government or discussion of national laws. The Public Assembly Law (1880) severely limited public gatherings by disallowing attendance by civil servants and requiring police permission for all meetings.


title: Meiji era

text: Within the ruling circle, however, and despite the conservative approach of the leadership, Okuma continued as a lone advocate of British-style government, a government with political parties and a cabinet organized by the majority party, answerable to the national assembly. He called for elections to be held by 1882 and for a national assembly to be convened by 1883; in doing so, he precipitated a political crisis that ended with an 1881 imperial rescript declaring the establishment of a national assembly in 1890 and dismissing Okuma.


title: Meiji era

text: Rejecting the British model, Iwakura and other conservatives borrowed heavily from the Prussian constitutional system. One of the Meiji oligarchy, Itō Hirobumi (1841–1909), a Chōshū native long involved in government affairs, was charged with drafting Japan's constitution. He led a constitutional study mission abroad in 1882, spending most of his time in Germany. He rejected the United States Constitution as "too liberal", and the British system as too unwieldy, and having a parliament with too much control over the monarchy; the French and Spanish models were rejected as tending toward despotism.


title: Meiji era

text: Ito was put in charge of the new Bureau for Investigation of Constitutional Systems in 1884, and the Council of State was replaced in 1885 with a cabinet headed by Ito as prime minister. The positions of chancellor (or chief-minister), minister of the left, and minister of the right, which had existed since the seventh century as advisory positions to the Emperor, were all abolished. In their place, the Privy Council was established in 1888 to evaluate the forthcoming constitution and to advise the Emperor.


title: Meiji era

text: To further strengthen the authority of the State, the Supreme War Council was established under the leadership of Yamagata Aritomo (1838–1922), a Chōshū native who has been credited with the founding of the modern Japanese army and was to become the first constitutional Prime Minister. The Supreme War Council developed a German-style general staff system with a chief of staff who had direct access to the Emperor and who could operate independently of the army minister and civilian officials.


title: Meiji era

text: The Constitution of the Empire of Japan was enacted on November 29, 1890. It was a form of mixed constitutional and absolute monarchy. The Emperor of Japan was legally the supreme leader, and the Cabinet were his followers. The Prime Minister would be elected by a Privy Council. In reality, the Emperor was head of state but the Prime Minister was the actual head of government.


title: Meiji era

text: Class distinctions were mostly eliminated during modernization to create a representative democracy. The samurai lost their status as the only class with military privileges. However, during the Meiji period, most leaders in Japanese society (politics, business and military) were ex-samurai or descendants of samurai.


title: Meiji era

text: The 1889 Meiji Constitution made relatively small concessions to civil rights and parliamentary mechanisms. Party participation was recognized as part of the political process. The Emperor shared his authority and give rights and liberties to his subjects. It provided for the Imperial Diet (Teikoku Gikai), composed of a popularly elected House of Representatives with a very limited franchise of male citizens who were over twenty-five years of age and paid fifteen yen in national taxes (approximately 1% of the population). The House of Peers was composed of nobility and imperial appointees. A cabinet was responsible to the Emperor and independent of the legislature. The Diet could approve government legislation and initiate laws, make representations to the government, and submit petitions to the Emperor. The Meiji Constitution lasted as the fundamental law until 1947.


title: Meiji era

text: In the early years of constitutional government, the strengths and weaknesses of the Meiji Constitution were revealed. A small clique of Satsuma and Chōshū elite continued to rule Japan, becoming institutionalized as an extra-constitutional body of genrō (elder statesmen). Collectively, the genro made decisions reserved for the Emperor, and the genro, not the Emperor, controlled the government politically.


title: Meiji era

text: Throughout the period, however, political problems usually were solved through compromise, and political parties gradually increased their power over the government and held an ever-larger role in the political process as a result. Between 1891 and 1895, Ito served as Prime Minister with a cabinet composed mostly of genro who wanted to establish a government party to control the House of Representatives. Although not fully realized, the trend toward party politics was well established.


title: Meiji era

text: On its return, one of the first acts of the government was to establish new ranks for the nobility. Five hundred people from the old court nobility, former daimyo, and samurai who had provided valuable service to the Emperor were organized into a new peerage, the Kazoku, consisting of five ranks: prince, marquis, count, viscount, and baron.


title: Meiji era

text: In the transition between the Edo period and the Meiji era, the Ee ja nai ka movement, a spontaneous outbreak of ecstatic behavior, took place.


title: Meiji era

text: In 1885, noted public intellectual Yukichi Fukuzawa wrote the influential essay "Leaving Asia", arguing that Japan should orient itself at the "civilized countries of the West", leaving behind the "hopelessly backward" Asian neighbors, namely Korea and China. This essay certainly encouraged the economic and technological rise of Japan in the Meiji era, but it also may have laid the intellectual foundations for later Japanese colonialism in the region.


title: Meiji era

text: The Meiji era saw a flowering of public discourse on the direction of Japan. Works like Nakae Chōmin's A Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government debated how best to blend the new influences coming from the West with local Japanese culture. Grassroots movements like the Freedom and People's Rights Movement called for the establishment of a formal legislature, civil rights, and greater pluralism in the Japanese political system. Journalists, politicians, and writers actively participated in the movement, which attracted an array of interest groups, including women's rights activists.


title: Meiji era

text: The elite class of the Meiji era adapted many aspects of Victorian taste, as seen in the construction of Western-style pavilions and reception rooms called "yōkan or yōma" in their homes. These parts of Meiji homes were displayed in popular magazines of the time, such as "Ladies' Graphic," which portrayed the often empty rooms of the homes of the aristocracy of all levels, including the imperial palaces. Integrating Western cultural forms with an assumed, untouched native Japanese spirit was characteristic of Meiji society, especially at the top levels, and represented Japan's search for a place within a new world power system in which European colonial empires dominated.


title: Meiji era

text: The production of kimono started to use Western technologies such as synthetic dye, and decoration was sometimes influenced by Western motifs. The textile industry modernized rapidly and silk from Tokyo's factories became Japan's principal export. Cheap synthetic dyes meant that bold purples and reds, previously restricted to the wealthy elite, could be owned by anyone. Faster and cheaper manufacture allowed more people to afford silk kimono, and enabled designers to create new patterns. The Emperor issued a proclamation promoting Western dress over the allegedly effeminate Japanese dress. Fukuzawa Yukichi's descriptions of Western clothing and customs were influential. So Western dress became popular in the public sphere: many men adopted Western dress in the workplace, although kimono were still the norm for men at home and for women. In the 1890s the kimono reasserted itself, with people wearing bolder and brighter styles. A new type called the bridged the gap between formal dress and everyday dress.


title: Meiji era

text: The technology of the time allowed for subtle color gradients rather than abrupt changes of color. Another trend was for outer and inner garments of the same design. Another trend in the Meiji era was for women's under-kimono made by combining pieces of different fabric, sometimes of radically different colors and designs. For men, the trend was for highly decorative under-kimono that would be covered by outer kimono that were plain or very simply designed. Even the clothing of infants and young children used bold colors, intricate designs, and materials common to adult fashions. Japanese exports led to kimono becoming an object of fascination in the West.


title: Meiji era

text: The Industrial Revolution in Japan occurred during the Meiji era. The industrial revolution began about 1870 as Meiji era leaders decided to catch up with the West. The government built railroads, improved roads, and inaugurated a land reform program to prepare the country for further development. It inaugurated a new Western-based education system for all young people, sent thousands of students to the United States and Europe, and hired more than 3,000 Westerners to teach modern science, mathematics, technology, and foreign languages in Japan (O-yatoi gaikokujin).


title: Meiji era

text: In 1871, a group of Japanese politicians known as the Iwakura Mission toured Europe and the US to learn western ways. The result was a deliberate state led industrialization policy to enable Japan to quickly catch up. The Bank of Japan, founded in 1877, used taxes to fund model steel and textile factories.


title: Meiji era

text: Modern industry first appeared in textiles, including cotton and especially silk, which was based in home workshops in rural areas. Due to the importing of new textile manufacturing technology from Europe, between 1886 and 1897, Japan's total value of yarn output rose from 12 million to 176 million yen. In 1886, 62% of yarn in Japan was imported; by 1902, most yarn was produced locally. By 1913, Japan was producing 672 million pounds of yarn per year, becoming the fourth largest exporter of cotton yarn.


title: Meiji era

text: The first railway was opened between Tokyo and Yokohama in 1872; and railway was rapidly developed throughout Japan well into the twentieth century. The introduction of railway transportation led to more efficient production due to the decline in transport costs, allowing manufacturing firms to move into more populated interior regions of Japan in search for labor input. The railway also enabled a new-found access to raw materials that had previously been too difficult or costly to transport.


title: Meiji era

text: There were at least two reasons for the speed of Japan's modernization: the employment of more than 3,000 foreign experts (called "o-yatoi gaikokujin" or 'hired foreigners') in a variety of specialist fields such as teaching English, science, engineering, the army and navy, among others; and the dispatch of many Japanese students overseas to Europe and America, based on the fifth and last article of the Charter Oath of 1868: 'Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundations of Imperial rule.' This process of modernization was closely monitored and heavily subsidized by the Meiji government, enhancing the power of the great zaibatsu firms such as Mitsui and Mitsubishi.


title: Meiji era

text: Hand in hand, the zaibatsu and government guided the nation, borrowing technology from the West. Japan gradually took control of much of Asia's market for manufactured goods, beginning with textiles. The economic structure became very mercantilistic, importing raw materials and exporting finished products—a reflection of Japan's relative poverty in raw materials.


title: Meiji era

text: Japan emerged from the Tokugawa–Tennō (Keiō–Meiji) transition in 1868 as the first Asian industrialized nation. Domestic commercial activities and limited foreign trade had met the demands for material culture until the Keiō era, but the modernized Meiji era had radically different requirements. From the onset, the Meiji rulers embraced the concept of a market economy and adopted British and North American forms of free enterprise capitalism. The private sector—in a nation with an abundance of aggressive entrepreneurs—welcomed such change.


title: Meiji era

text: Economic reforms included a unified modern currency based on the yen, banking, commercial and tax laws, stock exchanges, and a communications network. Establishment of a modern institutional framework conducive to an advanced capitalist economy took time, but was completed by the 1890s. By this time, the government had largely relinquished direct control of the modernization process, primarily for budgetary reasons.


title: Meiji era

text: Many of the former daimyo, whose pensions had been paid in a lump sum, benefited greatly through investments they made in emerging industries. Those who had been informally involved in foreign trade before the Meiji Restoration also flourished. Old bakufu-serving firms that clung to their traditional ways failed in the new business environment.


title: Meiji era

text: The government initially was involved in economic modernization, providing a number of "model factories" to facilitate the transition to the modern era. After the first twenty years of the Meiji era, the industrial economy expanded rapidly until about 1920 with inputs of advanced Western technology and large private investments. Stimulated by wars and through cautious economic planning, Japan emerged from World War I as a major industrial nation.


title: Meiji era

text: In 1885, the Meiji government sponsored a telegraph system, throughout Japan, situating the telegraphs in all major Japanese cities at the time.


title: Meiji era

text: Undeterred by opposition, the Meiji leaders continued to modernize the nation through government-sponsored telegraph cable links to all major Japanese cities and the Asian mainland and construction of railroads, shipyards, munitions factories, mines, textile manufacturing facilities, factories, and experimental agriculture stations. Greatly concerned about national security, the leaders made significant efforts at military modernization, which included establishing a small standing army, a large reserve system, and compulsory militia service for all men. Foreign military systems were studied, foreign advisers, especially French ones, were brought in, and Japanese cadets sent abroad to Europe and the United States to attend military and naval schools.


title: Meiji era

text: In 1854, after US Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry forced the signing of the Treaty of Kanagawa, Japanese elites took the position that they needed to modernize the state's military capacities, or risk further coercion from Western powers. The Tokugawa shogunate did not officially share this point of view, however, as evidenced by the imprisonment of the Governor of Nagasaki, Shanan Takushima for voicing his views of military reform and weapons modernization.


title: Meiji era

text: In 1868, the Japanese government established the Tokyo Arsenal. This arsenal was responsible for the development and manufacture of small arms and associated ammunition. The same year, Ōmura Masujirō established Japan's first military academy in Kyoto. Ōmura further proposed military billets be filled by all classes of people including farmers and merchants. The "shōgun" class, not happy with Ōmura's views on conscription, assassinated him the following year.


title: Meiji era

text: In 1870, Japan expanded its military production base by opening another arsenal in Osaka. The Osaka Arsenal was responsible for the production of machine guns and ammunition. Also, four gunpowder facilities also were opened at this site. Japan's production capacity gradually expanded.


title: Meiji era

text: In 1872, Yamagata Aritomo and Saigō Jūdō, both new field marshals, founded the Corps of the Imperial Guards. This corps was composed of the warrior classes from the Tosa, Satsuma, and Chōshū clans. Also, in the same year, the hyobusho (war office) was replaced with a War Department and a Naval Department. The samurai class suffered great disappointment the following years, when in January the Conscription Law of 1873 was passed. This law required every able-bodied male Japanese citizen, regardless of class, to serve a mandatory term of three years with the first reserves and two additional years with the second reserves. This monumental law, signifying the beginning of the end for the samurai class, initially met resistance from both the peasant and warrior alike. The peasant class interpreted the term for military service, ketsu-eki (blood tax) literally, and attempted to avoid service by any means necessary. Avoidance methods included maiming, self-mutilation, and local uprisings. The samurai were generally resentful of the new, western-style military and at first, refused to stand in formation with the peasant class.


title: Meiji era

text: In conjunction with the new conscription law, the Japanese government began modeling their ground forces after the French military. Indeed, the new Japanese army used the same rank structure as the French. The enlisted corps ranks were: private, noncommissioned officers, and officers. The private classes were: jōtō-hei or upper soldier, ittō-sotsu or first-class soldier, and nitō-sotsu or second-class soldier. The noncommissioned officer class ranks were: gochō or corporal, gunsō or sergeant, sōchō or sergeant major, and tokumu-sōchō or special sergeant major. Finally, the officer class is made up of: shōi or second lieutenant, chūi or first lieutenant, tai or captain, shōsa or major, chūsa or lieutenant colonel, taisa or colonel, shōshō or major general, chūjō or lieutenant general, taishō or general, and gensui or field marshal. The French government also contributed greatly to the training of Japanese officers. Many were employed at the military academy in Kyoto, and many more still were feverishly translating French field manuals for use in the Japanese ranks.


title: Meiji era

text: Despite the Conscription Law of 1873, and all the reforms and progress, the new Japanese army was still untested. That all changed in 1877, when Saigō Takamori led the last rebellion of the samurai in Kyūshū. In February 1877, Saigō left Kagoshima with a small contingent of soldiers on a journey to Tokyo. Kumamoto castle was the site of the first major engagement when garrisoned forces fired on Saigō's army as they attempted to force their way into the castle. Rather than leave an enemy behind him, Saigō laid siege to the castle. Two days later, Saigō's rebels, while attempting to block a mountain pass, encountered advanced elements of the national army en route to reinforce Kumamoto castle. After a short battle, both sides withdrew to reconstitute their forces. A few weeks later the national army engaged Saigō's rebels in a frontal assault at what now is called the Battle of Tabaruzuka. During this eight-day-battle, Saigō's nearly ten thousand strong army battled hand-to-hand the equally matched national army. Both sides suffered nearly four thousand casualties during this engagement. Due to conscription, however, the Japanese army was able to reconstitute its forces, while Saigō's was not. Later, forces loyal to the emperor broke through rebel lines and managed to end the siege on Kumamoto Castle after fifty-four days. Saigō's troops fled north and were pursued by the national army. The national army caught up with Saigō at Mt. Enodake. Saigō's army was outnumbered seven-to-one, prompting a mass surrender of many samurai. The remaining five hundred samurai loyal to Saigō escaped, travelling south to Kagoshima. The rebellion ended on September 24, 1877, following the final engagement with Imperial forces which resulted in the deaths of the remaining forty samurai including Saigō, who, having suffered a fatal bullet wound in the abdomen, was honorably beheaded by his retainer. The national army's victory validated the current course of the modernization of the Japanese army as well as ended the era of the samurai.


title: Meiji era

text: When the United States Navy ended Japan's sakoku policy, and thus its isolation, the latter found itself defenseless against military pressures and economic exploitation by the Western powers. For Japan to emerge from the feudal period, it had to avoid the colonial fate of other Asian countries by establishing genuine national independence and equality. Following the María Luz Incident, Japan released the Chinese coolies from a western ship in 1872, after which the Qing imperial government of China gave thanks to Japan.


title: Meiji era

text: Following Japan's victory over China in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), Japan broke through as an international power with a victory against Russia in Manchuria (north-eastern China) in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Allied with Britain since the Anglo-Japanese Alliance signed in London on January 30, 1902, Japan joined the Allies in World War I, seizing German-held territory in China and the Pacific in the process, but otherwise remained largely out of the conflict.


title: Meiji era

text: Following World War I, a weakened Europe left a greater share in international markets to the United States and Japan, which emerged greatly strengthened. Japanese competition made great inroads into hitherto-European-dominated markets in Asia, not only in China, but even in European colonies such as India and Indonesia, reflecting the development of the Meiji era.


title: Meiji era

text: The final years of the Meiji era were also marked by the annexation of Korea in 1910 its colonial rule would persist until Japan's defeat and surrender in World War II in 1945 during the middle of the Shōwa period and would have lasting negative repercussions on foreign relations between Japan and both North and South Korea.


title: Meiji era

text: The government took an active interest in the art export market, promoting Japanese arts at a succession of world's fairs, beginning with the 1873 Vienna World's Fair.


title: Meiji era

text: As well as heavily funding the fairs, the government took an active role organizing how Japan's culture was presented to the world. It created a semi-public company — the (First Industrial Manufacturing Company) — to promote and commercialize exports of art and established the (Exhibition Bureau) to maintain quality standards. For the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia, the Japanese government created a Centennial Office and sent a special envoy to secure space for the 30,000 items that would be displayed. The Imperial Household also took an active interest in arts and crafts, commissioning works ("presentation wares") as gifts for foreign dignitaries. In 1890, the (Artist to the Imperial Household) system was created to recognize distinguished artists; seventy were appointed from 1890 to 1944. Among these were the painter and lacquer artist Shibata Zeshin, ceramicist Makuzu Kōzan, painter Hashimoto Gahō, and cloisonné enamel artist Namikawa Yasuyuki.


title: Meiji era

text: As Western imports became popular, demand for Japanese art declined within Japan itself. In Europe and America, the new availability of Japanese art led to a fascination for Japanese culture; a craze known in Europe as Japonisme. Imperial patronage, government sponsorship, promotion to new audiences, and Western technology combined to foster an era of Japanese artistic innovation. In the decorative arts, Japanese artists reached new levels of technical sophistication.


title: Meiji era

text: Today, Masayuki Murata owns more than 10,000 Meiji art works and is one of the most enthusiastic collectors. From that time, most of the excellent works of Meiji Art were bought by foreign collectors and only a few of them remained in Japan, but because he bought back many works from foreign countries and opened the , the study and reevaluation of Meiji Art rapidly advanced in Japan after the 21st century. Nasser Khalili is also one of the world's most dedicated collectors of Meiji art, and his collection encompasses many categories of Meiji art. The Japanese Imperial Family also owns excellent works of Meiji Art, some of which were donated to the state and are now stored in the Museum of the Imperial Collections.


title: Meiji era

text: During the Meiji era, Japanese cloisonné enamel reached a technical peak, producing items more advanced than any that had existed before. The period from 1890 to 1910 was known as the "Golden age" of Japanese enamels. Artists experimented with pastes and with the firing process to produce ever larger blocks of enamel, with less need for "cloisons" (enclosing metal strips). During this period, enamels with a design unique to Japan, in which flowers, birds and insects were used as themes, became popular. Designs also increasingly used areas of blank space. The two most famous enamelers of this era were Namikawa Yasuyuki and Namikawa Sōsuke, whose family names sound the same but who were not related. Namikawa Sōsuke promoted his work as technically innovative, and adopted a style resembling fine paintings. Namikawa Yasuyuki was more conservative, opting for geometrical patterns but gradually becoming more pictorial during his career. Along with the two Namikawa, the Ando Cloisonné Company has produced many high-quality cloisonné works.


title: Meiji era

text: Gold- or silver-decorated lacquerwares had been popular in the Edo period, but fell out of favor in the early nineteenth-century due to economic hardship. The Meiji era saw a renewed interest in lacquer as artists developed new designs and experimented with new textures and finishes. Foremost among these was Shibata Zeshin, who has been called "Japan's greatest lacquerer". The appeal of his highly original style was in the choice of motifs and subject matter rather than embedded gold and silver. He placed lacquer panels in frames, imitating Western oil paintings. Other notable lacquer artists of the 19th century include Nakayama Komin and Shirayama Shosai, both of whom, in contrast with Zeshin, maintained a classical style that owed a lot to Japanese and Chinese landscape art. "Maki-e", decorating the lacquer in gold or silver dust, was the most common technique for quality lacquerware in this period. Lacquer from Japanese workshops was recognized as technically superior to what could be produced anywhere else in the world.


title: Meiji era

text: At the start of the Meiji era, Japanese metalwork was almost totally unknown outside the country, unlike lacquer and porcelain which had previously been exported. Metalwork was connected to Buddhist practice, for example in the use of bronze for temple bells and incense cauldrons, so there were fewer opportunities for metalworkers once Buddhism was displaced as the state religion. International exhibitions brought Japanese cast bronze to a new foreign audience, attracting strong praise. Suzuki Chokichi, a leading producer of cast bronze for international exhibition, became director of the Kiritsu Kosho Kaisha from 1874 to the company's dissolution in 1891. In 1896 he was appointed Artist to the Imperial Household. The works of Chokichi and his contemporaries took inspiration from late Edo period carvings and prints, combining and sometimes exaggerating traditional design elements in new ways to appeal to the export market. The past history of samurai weaponry equipped Japanese metalworkers to create metallic finishes in a wide range of colors. By combining and finishing copper, silver and gold in different proportions, they created specialized alloys including shakudō and shibuichi. With this variety of alloys and finishes, an artist could give the impression of full-color decoration. Some of these metalworkers were appointed Artists to the Imperial Household, including Kano Natsuo, Unno Shomin, Namekawa Sadakatsu, and Jomi Eisuke II.


title: Meiji era

text: Japan's porcelain industry was well-established at the start of the Meiji era, but the mass-produced wares were not known for their elegance. During this era, technical and artistic innovations turned porcelain into one of the most internationally successful Japanese decorative art forms. The career of porcelain artist Makuzu Kōzan is an archetype for the trajectory of Meiji art. He was passionate about preserving traditional influences, but adopted new technologies from the West. He was an entrepreneur as well as an artist, organizing a workshop with many artisans and actively promoting his work at international exhibitions, travelling extensively in Europe. As his career went on, he adopted more Western influences on his decoration, while his works shaped Western perceptions of Japanese design. Underglaze blue painting on porcelain was well-established in Japan, and the Kozan workshop transformed this practice, combining multiple underglaze colors on a single item and introducing more subtle graduations of color.


title: Meiji era

text: Satsuma ware was a name originally given to pottery from Satsuma province, elaborately decorated with gilt and enamel. These wares were highly praised in the West. Seen in the West as distinctively Japanese, this style actually owed a lot to imported pigments and Western influences, and had been created with export in mind. Workshops in many cities raced to produce this style to satisfy demand from Europe and America, often producing quickly and cheaply. So the term "Satsuma ware" came to be associated not with a place of origin but with lower-quality ware created purely for export. Despite this, artists such as Yabu Meizan and Makuzu Kōzan maintained the highest artistic standards while also successfully exporting. From 1876 to 1913, Kōzan won prizes at 51 exhibitions, including the World's fair and the National Industrial Exhibition.


title: Meiji era

text: In the Meiji period, Japanese clothes began to be westernized and the number of people who wore kimono decreased, so the craftsmen who made "netsuke" and "kiseru" with ivory and wood lost their demand. Therefore, they tried to create a new field, ivory sculptures for interior decoration, and many elaborate works were exported to foreign countries or purchased by the Imperial Family. In particular, the works of and won praise in Japan.


title: Meiji era

text: The 1902 edition of "Encyclopædia Britannica" wrote, "In no branch of applied art does the decorative genius of Japan show more attractive results than that of textile fabrics, and in none has there been more conspicuous progress during recent years. [...] Kawashima of Kyoto [...] inaugurated the departure a few years ago by copying a Gobelin, but it may safely be asserted that no Gobelin will bear comparison with the pieces now produced in Japan". Very large, colorful pictorial works were being produced in Kyoto. Embroidery had become an art form in its own right, adopting a range of pictorial techniques such as chiaroscuro and aerial perspective.


title: Meiji era

text: The interaction of Western and Japanese music in Meiji era is foremost linked to the military, religious and educational fields. The Japanese have assimilated Western culture and its music with the same surprising speed. Music panorama in Japan gradually became lively and prolific where the Western-inspired style music was flourishing.


title: Meiji era

text: The very first stage of Western adaptation in the Meiji period is associated with the military field. A little before the reopening Japan the first military academy based on Dutch model was founded in Nagasaki where, alongside the military training, military music was taught, since it was acknowledged to be an important component of the martial arts. The first military band called kotekitai, consisted of woodwind instruments and drums, was organized there.


title: Meiji era

text: Gradually, Western music became an integral part of the Japanese culture where the importance of Western music was undertaken as a part of a social project. The military bands played prominent role in the society. That included public concerts of Western music, which were held in a famous Rokumeikan Hall and Hibiya Open-Air stage in Tokyo, performing marches, patriotic music and European composers’ works (Richard Wagner, Charles Gounod, Peter Tchaikovsky).