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Tanaka, Kakuei

(Encyclopedia)Tanaka, Kakuei käko͞oˈā tänäˈkä [key], 1918–93, Japanese political leader and prime minister (1972–74). Born to a poor rural family, he moved to Tokyo at the age of 15 and by 1937 had esta...

shogun

(Encyclopedia)shogun shōˈgŭnˌ [key], title of the feudal military administrator who from the 12th cent. to the 19th cent. was, as the emperor's military deputy, the actual ruler of Japan. The title itself, Sei-...

Welles, Sumner

(Encyclopedia)Welles, Sumner, 1892–1961, American diplomat, b. New York City. Welles began his diplomatic career as secretary of the U.S. embassy at Tokyo (1915–17). Attached to the embassy at Buenos Aires (191...

Tokugawa

(Encyclopedia)Tokugawa tōˌko͞ogäˈwä [key], family that held the shogunate (see shogun) and controlled Japan from 1603 to 1867. Founded by Ieyasu, the Tokugawa regime was a centralized feudalism. The Tokugawa ...

rapid transit

(Encyclopedia)rapid transit, transportation system designed to allow passenger travel within or throughout an urban area, usually employing surface, elevated, or underground railway systems or some combination of t...

Oe, Kenzaburo

(Encyclopedia)Oe, Kenzaburo kĕnˌzäbo͝orˈō ōˈā [key], 1935–2023, Japanese writer, b. Ose,...

Kyoto

(Encyclopedia)Kyoto kyōˈtō [key], city (1990 pop. 1,461,140), capital of Kyoto prefecture, S Honshu, Japan, on the Kamo River. Yodo is its port. Kyoto is one of Japan's largest cities and an important cultural a...

Christo

(Encyclopedia)Christo krĭsˈtō [key], 1935–2020, Bulgarian-American artist, b. Gabrovo as Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, studied Sofia, Vienna, and Paris. His early experiments in assemblage led to his trademark...

Honshu

(Encyclopedia)Honshu hōnˈsho͞o [key], island , c.89,000 sq mi (230,510 sq km), central Japan. It is c.800 ...

Pelli, César

(Encyclopedia)Pelli, César, 1926–2019, American architect, b. Tucumán, Argentina. Pelli graduated (1949) from the Univ. of Tucumán, immigrated (1952) to the United States, and subsequently attended (1952–54)...