Imperial City of Shimagawa

Homeland history:

Shimagawa was founded 1000 years ago when the first emperor of Shimagawa drove out the barbarians of the northern unknown regions back to whence they came. The imperial court was created in which the noble families held the power with the emperor. Succession is not decided by bloodline but by the vote of the imperial court.
The Shimagawan empire stretches from the river in the east to the unknown regions in the north to the ocean in the west and south. With the capital Funakawa on the south-western coast.
550 years ago, the noble families of Shimagawa started to train their sons as elite warriors known as samurai to secure their power in the empire. The Emperor would allow these families to have these warriors as long as they would fight in wars of the empire and help to keep the empire united.
Samurais are known to follow the way of the warrior.
After 150 years samurais had gained a lot of power in society due to their ties to the noble families and the imperial court. They were recognized as a class of their own in society and bended together when 2 families went to war to decide the succession of the emperor on the imperial court.
The samurais became an imperial army known as the shogunate. The leader of the army has the title of shogun and sits on the imperial court. They swiftly dealt with the war mongering families and restored peace and honor to the country.
To this day the Shogunate defends the empire against attacks from the barbarians from the north.

Shimagawa Society:

The shimagawa society is a class-based society. It varies from peasants all the way up to noble families. The samurais are well respected warrior class who are respected in the same manner as nobility. Most samurais come from noble families.
Shimagawa is ruled by an emperor who has an imperial court consisting of ministers who are members of the most powerful families in the empire. Succession of the emperor is not decided by blood, but by power of a family. The court votes for a successor after the emperor dies.
One seat on the imperial court is reserved for the shogun of the shogunate.
The current emperor is Yumoto Shuji.
As a member of the Shimagawa society you are considered to live with honor. If you are dishonored it reflects on your whole family. To prevent the loss of honor, you are expected to commit the ritual of seppuku in which you have to stab yourself in the stomach with a sharp knife and cut open your hearth. If you show any form of emotion you will still be dishonored.
To make the death swift, a Kaishakunin would stand behind the person performing this ritual with a katana. The Kaishakunin will cut of the head of the person to prevent death of bleeding out which will leave you in agonizing pain for minutes. Seppuku is a way to die with honor and will sometimes be ordered to criminals by a judge as a way of the death penalty. The judge will only grant this way of death penalty to nobility. Criminal peasants are not allowed to die in such a way and will be dishonored.

The Shogunate:

The shogunate is the imperial army which consists of elite warriors known as the samurai.
The samurai warriors follow the path of the warrior and honor is even more important within their ranks.
To become a samurai, you need to be trained by a master. There is a rule of two, the master can only train 1 apprentice at a time. When the apprentice successfully completes the samurai trials, he will be taken into the ranks of the shogunate.
The ranks are as followed from lowest to highest:
Samurai; Elite Samurai; Master Samurai; Officer; Commander; General; Great general; Shogun.
The Shogun is advised by his great generals in making decisions. At this moment the Shogun is Takei Yamato.
The path of the warrior. The path of the warrior is also known as bushido. Bushido is a code of honor in which loyalty, faith and honor are expected to be held up high until you die.
Self-sacrifice is considered the ultimate act a warrior can do. If a warrior is about to lose in battle, he is expected to sacrifice himself by going out in a blaze.
If a samurai fights another warrior, he will not use foul tactics to get the upper hand. He allows the other warrior to go out with honor. If the samurai loses, he will do so with honor. When Samurai’s fight each other in battle they will grant the ritual of seppuku to the losing side of the fight.

Government

Shogunate, military advisors govern along side the Shogun.

Founding Date

500 BD

Type

Capital

Owner/Ruler

Takei Yamato

Ruling/Owning Rank

Shogun

Characters in Location

• Kagami Akimori
• Yamada Akimori