The History of Japanese Ninjas

The ninja of movies and comic books—a stealthy assassin in black robes with magical abilities in the arts of concealment and murder—is very compelling, to be sure. But the historical reality of the ninja is somewhat different. In feudal Japan, ninjas were a lower class of warriors often recruited by samurai and governments to act as spies. Origins of the Ninja It is difficult to pin down the emergence of the first ninja, more properly called shinobi—after all, people around the world have always used spies and assassins. Japanese folklore states that the ninja descended from a demon that was half man and half crow. However, it seems more likely that the ninja slowly evolved as an opposing force to their upper-class contemporaries, the samurai, in early feudal Japan. Most sources indicate that the skills that became ninjutsu, the ninjas art of stealth, began to develop between 600 to 900. Prince Shotoku, who lived from 574 to 622, is said to have employed Otomono Sahito as a shinobi spy. By the year 907, the Tang Dynasty in China had fallen, plunging the country into 50 years of chaos and forcing Tang generals to escape over the sea to Japan where they brought new battle tactics and philosophies of war. Chinese monks also began to arrive in Japan in the 1020s, bringing new medicines and fighting philosophies of their own, with many of the ideas originating in India  and making their way across Tibet and China before turning up in Japan. The monks taught their methods to Japans warrior-monks, or yamabushi, as well as to members of the first ninja clans. The First Known Ninja School For a century or more, the blend of Chinese and native tactics that would become ninjutsu developed as a counter-culture, without rules. It was first formalized by Daisuke Togakure and Kain Doshi around the 12th century. Daisuke had been a samurai, but he was on the losing side in a regional battle and forced to forfeit his lands and his samurai title. Ordinarily, a samurai might commit seppuku under these circumstances, but Daisuke did not. Instead, in 1162, Daisuke wandered the mountains of southwest Honshu where he met Kain Doshi, a Chinese warrior-monk. Daisuke renounced his bushido code, and together the two developed a new theory of guerrilla warfare called ninjutsu. Daisukes descendants created the first ninja ryu, or school, the Togakureryu. Who Were the Ninja? Some of the ninja leaders, or jonin, were disgraced samurai like Daisuke Togakure that had lost in battle or had been renounced by their daimyo but fled rather than committing ritual suicide. However, most ordinary ninjas were not from the nobility. Instead, low-ranking ninjas were villagers and farmers who learned to fight by any means necessary for their own self-preservation, including the use of stealth and poison to carry out assassinations. As a result, the most famous ninja strongholds were the Iga and Koga Provinces, mostly known for their rural farmlands and quiet villages. Women also served in ninja combat. Female ninja, or kunoichi, infiltrated enemy castles in the guise of dancers, concubines, or servants who were highly successful spies and sometimes even acted as assassins as well. Samurai Use of the Ninja The samurai lords could not always prevail in open warfare, but they were constrained by bushido, so they often hired ninjas to do their dirty work. Secrets could be spied out, opponents assassinated, or misinformation planted, all without sullying a samurais honor. This system also transferred wealth to the lower classes, as the ninja were paid handsomely for their work. Of course, a samurais enemies could also hire ninja, and as a result, the samurai needed, despised, and feared the ninja—in equal measure. The ninja high man, or jonin, gave orders to the chunin  (middle man), who passed them on to the genin, or the ordinary ninja. This hierarchy was also, unfortunately, based on the class the ninja had come from before training, but it wasnt uncommon for a skilled ninja to ascend the ranks well beyond his or her social class. The Rise and Fall of the Ninja The ninja came into their own during the tumultuous era between 1336 and 1600. In an atmosphere of constant war, ninja skills were essential for all sides, and they played a key role in the Nanbukucho Wars (1336–1392), the Onin War (1460s), and the  Sengoku Jidai, or Warring States Period—where they aided samurai in their internal power struggles. The ninja were an important tool during the Sengoku Period (1467-1568), but also a destabilizing influence. When warlord Oda Nobunaga emerged as the strongest daimyo and began to reunite Japan in 1551–1582, he saw the ninja strongholds at Iga and Koga as a threat, but despite quickly defeating and co-opting the Koga ninja forces, Nobunaga had more trouble with Iga.​ In what would later be called the Iga Revolt or Iga No Run, Nobunaga attacked the ninja of Iga with an overwhelming force of more than 40,000 men. Nobunagas lightning-quick attack on Iga forced the ninja to fight open battles, and as a result, they were defeated and scattered to nearby provinces and the mountains of Kii. While their base was destroyed, the ninja did not vanish entirely. Some went into the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who became shogun in 1603, but the much-reduced ninja continued to serve on both sides in various struggles. In one famous incident from 1600, a ninja snuck through a group of Tokugawas defenders at Hataya castle and planted the flag of the besieging army high on the front gate. The Edo Period under the Tokugawa Shogunate  from 1603–1868 brought stability and peace to Japan, bringing the ninja story to a close. Ninja skills and legends survived, though, and were embellished to enliven the movies, games, and comic books of today.

Public Health Issue Smoking - 2002 Words

Public Health Issue: Smoking This essay is aimed to explore, analyse and discuss smoking in adults. Smoking is a public health issue as such is one of the major contributors to high mortality and ill-health in the adults which is preventable (Health and Excellence Care (NICE) (2012). The United Kingdom (UK) is known to have the highest number of people with a history of smoking among people with low socio-economic status (Scriven and Garman, 2006; Goddard and Green, 2005). Smoking is considered a serious epidemic in the UK and the National institute for Health and Excellence Care (NICE, 2012) stated that 28% of adults with low economic status are tobacco smokers compared with 13% of those with economic status or having professional†¦show more content†¦Action on Smoking and Health (ASH, 2007; Richardson (2001) argued that manual groups are likely to smoke heavier than the managerial groups and stated likely reason for this such as food insecurity, substitute for food, social environment, segregation a nd pressure, lack of good health and lack of confidence. In addition to this, epidemiology statistics reported by Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC, 2013 and Wanless, 2004) stated that smoking is more prevalent among the lower socio-economic groups and known to be key part of the disparities in life expectation between manual and non-manual groups. Therefore it is important something is done to eradicate inequality in the health of the general population. Smoking was highly prevalent among the men and women in the manual group in Britain in 1946 with 82% which dropped to 55% in the 1970’s and has continued to fall rapidly in the middle 1990’s (ASH, 2007). Furthermore Health and Social Care Information Centre (2013) reported that there has been a drop in the manual groups from 33% in 1998 to 26% in 2010 but this group still smoke more than the social class, in 1998 for instance, non manual group smoked 22% compared to only 15% in 2010 which demonstrates a fall in the non-manual groups and shows there is a fall in their smoking but there is an urgent need to help, promote and support theShow MoreRelatedShould Tobacco Smoking Be A Public Health Issue?2572 Words   |  11 Pagesdiscuss about one public health issue that has reached the Australian government policy agenda, I would also be talking about the policy reactions to this issue by the federal government. Here I am going to write about tobacco smoking as a public hea lth issue that has caused the federal government to get involved on the issue of smoking and policies that has put into place to minimize/curb its hazards. 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Information About Videocon Co. Free Essays

The Videocon group has an annual turnover of 4 billion USD, making it the largest consumer electronic and home appliance companies in India. Since 1998, it has expanded its operations globally, especially in the Middle East. [1] Today the group operates through six key sectors: The Brand Trust Report, 2011 has ranked Videcon as the 42nd most trusted brand in India among the top 300 brands. We will write a custom essay sample on Information About Videocon Co. or any similar topic only for you Order Now [edit]Consumer electronics In India the group sells consumer products like Colour Televisions, Washing Machines, Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Microwave ovens and many other home appliances, selling them through a Multi-Brand strategy with the largest sales and service network in India. [3] In India after LG entering into market Videocon was not able to stand in market with such a tough Competitor and it has seen a down fall in profits and faced a huge loss. [edit]Mobile Phones In November 2009 Videocon launched its new line of Mobile Phones[4]. Videocon has ever since launched a no. f Innovative handsets ranging from Basic Colour FM phones to High End Android Devices. And in February 2011, Videocon Mobile Phones launched the revolutionary concept of ZERO paise per second with pre-bundled simcards of Videocon mobile services along with 7 of its Handset Models. [edit]Colour picture tube glass Videocon is one of the largest CPT Glass manufacturers in the world, operating in Mexico, Italy, Poland and China.. [ edit]Oil and Gas An important asset for the group is its Ravva oil field with one of the lowest operating costs in the world producing 50,000 barrels of oil per day. 5] [edit]DTH Main article: Videocon d2h In 2009, Videocon launched its DTH product, called ‘d2h’. As a pioneering offer in the Indian DTH market, Videocon offered LCD TVs with built-in DTH satellite receiver with sizes 19†³ to 42†³. This concept in the DTH service is relatively new in the presence of other players like ZEE tv’s Dishtv, Tata Sky, Air tel Digital Tv and Reliance’s BIG TV providing only the set top box. [edit]Telecommunication Videocon Telecommunications Limited has license for mobile service operations across India. It launched its services on 7 April 2010 in Mumbai. How to cite Information About Videocon Co., Papers

Capable of Reducing Average Costs †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Capable of Reducing Average Costs. Answer: Introduction: CSR and Boral were able to operate as distinct companies before the fall in demand because there was a high demand hence each was able to make sales before the diseconomies of scale set in due to the falling productivity. Economies of scale (EoS) describes cost-advantages which emerges following the enlarged product output. The EoS emerges since the reciprocal association between produced output and the per unit fixed cost (FC); i.e. the greater the product quantity produced, the lower per unit FC since such a cost remain spread out across the bigger product numbers. The EoS could further reduce variables costs a unit because of synergies and efficiencies of operations. The economies of scale is categorized in to two main types, internal as well as external. Internal EoS emerges from within the firm whereas the external EoS arise from extraneous variables like size of the industry. A merger is feasible in this case between CSR and Boral joining together to establish an oligopoly. The novel oligopoly organization shall have a bigger share of market that assist them gain economies of scale and hence become more profitable even in the face of the declining demand. The merger shall further decrease competition and might culminate in higher prices for the consumers of brick products because they are the only firms in the market. The merger has the benefit of the EoS. This occurs where a bigger company with larger output is capable of reducing average-costs (AC). The lower AC can reduce the consumers price. The EoS will be technical, bulky buying, financial and organizational. Technical economies is achieved when the entity has substantial FC hence novel superior organization would have reduced AC (David Myers CEcD 2015). Bulk buying will result where the huger firm will receive discount when it buys bulky quantities of the raw-materials. Financial EoS will result where better rate of interest will be available for the large company. Organizational economies of scale will arise the merger will have one efficient head office rather than two offices. The firm will increase in size due to the merger and hence gain from the many of such factors. The merger will be more efficient, realize profit which enable more RD and struggling firm will benefit from the new management (Polkinghorn 2016). In case the new joint proceeds, the new market will turn into monopoly. This will lead to a rise in price with a reduction in quantity and a subsequent increase in profitability. Since these are only two markets, when they merger they will be similar to monopoly because the only distinguishing feature shall have vanished. The merged firm shall be seeking the maximization of profit by having its output set at a point at which MR equals MC at output QM; price Pm. Price will be increased while the output reduced. The red region denotes supernormal profit (AR-AC)*Q. Cost played a major role in explaining the huge decline in independent booksellers. This is because there was high cost in marketing the products of independent booksellers than the online booksellers. The independent bookstores are inefficient economically because utilities, rent, and a brigade if workers who read books are never affordable hence the solely means for bookstores to remain inundated is selling products at an enormous markup. The cyclone would increase the price and reduce the quantity of bananas in near short run as the price highly elastic. The supply of banana will fall but the demand will be unchanged thereby shifting the supply curve leftwards leading to a rise in the equilibrium price. The demand will remain unchanged but there could be a slight decline in demand in the long run due to rise in prices but in short run, demand will be unchanged. A sharp fall in supply implies less quantity supplied than quantity demanded hence an increase in price as shown: The supply curve shifts from S1 to S2 leftwards leading to a reduction of quantity suppled from Q1 to Q2 and the price increases from P1 to P2 as shown above. It is not strictly true in economic terms that bananas were called luxuries since both demand and supply curve would shift in opposite direction when the quantity decrease which was not the cases here in the short run as the demand remained unchained. No large increase in price would be realized in this case as people could have easily chose to avoid banana. References David Myers CEcD, M.A., 2015. economies of scale. Economic Development Journal, 14(3), p.11. Polkinghorn, A., 2016. Economies of scale. Br J Gen Pract, 66(648), pp.351-351.