Niigata Clan
From TCWiki
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| Niigata Clan images predominatly feature Dragons | |
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| Owner: | Niigata Hikaru |
| Affiliation: | Japan |
| Nicknames: | n/a |
| Introduced: | n/a |
Although the Niigata clan has existed throughout Japan's known history, is has surprisingly never sought to guide events or the direction of the country's development. Instead they have been content to let the country develop on its own, doing only what was needed to achieve the best possible outcome of the current trends.
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Origin
The Niigata Clan can trace it's lineage as far back as earliest known form of government in Japan. That is, although it was not then known as a clan or even the family name of 'Niigata', the head of the family, who was the queen's own brother, served directly beneath the legendary Queen Himiko. Additionally, since the queen was served by a force of one thousand maidens, the daughters and related daughters of the family served both as servants and warrior guards. This is the earliest recorded origin of the clan, since its existence is recorded in ancient Chinese historical records. According to an ancient Korean history book, Samguk Sagi, Himiko, as queen of Japan, sent an emissary to King MetAdalla of Silla in May 172.
Excerpt from Waijinden, a Chinese historical account of circa 280�297-
�the people agreed upon a woman for their ruler. Her name was Pimiko. She occupied herself with magic and sorcery, bewitching the people. Though mature in age, she remained unmarried. She had a younger brother who assisted her in ruling the country. After she became ruler, there were few who saw her. She had one thousand women as attendants, but only one man. He served her food and drink and acted as a medium of communication. She resided in a palace surrounded by towers and stockades, with armed guards in a state of constant vigilance.
Also from the Waijinden account (Response to gift of tribute by Himiko to the Emperor of China)-
Herein we address Pimiko, Queen of Wa, whom we now officially call a friend of Wei...[Your ambassadors] have arrived here with your tribute, consisting of four male slaves and six female slaves, together with two pieces of cloth with designs, each twenty feet in length. You live very far away across the sea; yet you have sent an embassy with tribute. Your loyalty and filial piety we appreciate exceedingly. We confer upon you, therefore, the title "Queen of Wa Friendly to Wei,"...we expect you, O Queen, to rule your people in peace and to endeavor to be devoted and obedient.
Both Himiko and her brother realized the importance of friendship with greater powers. However, they were naive in the belief that such political friendships would protect them. The Chinese empire had no reason to protect a backwater kingdom, across a dangerous sea, for a relatively minor tribute. Thus they were on their own when, not long after the Queen Himiko had died and been replaced by her niece, the self styled Emporer Shujin assembled an army and marched against them in the year 283, just three years after Himiko's death.
The Following Centuries
Over the next three centuries, the tribe and later clan that would become the Niigata Clan was little more than that, a tribe. Their only note was a tendency to produce extraordinary mystics. During the Kofun period, the loosely affiliated familial clan began to change into what would eventually be recognized as the Niigata clan. It was during the first century of that period that the first true head of the clan emerged. Though his name goes unrecorded in history books, the man who would make a pact with a powerful dragon during a ten year trip to China, was indeed named Niigata. He returned to Nihon, established himself as head of the clan and fathered one son. Over the next two centuries, the first patterns of the Niigata clan emerged. Especially the establishment of the combined Patriarchal and Matriarchal traditions. This period marked the establishment of Niigata as a solid clan, more than a tribe, though without a kingdom and relegated to the service of their regional lord. The Clan was devious in it's survival, since it tended to produce mystics and warriors, though not enough in number to be militarily powerful. Instead the clan served the imperial families, as advisors, mystics and personal guards. However the Clan did not gain its true direction until the first years of the Nara period.
Betrayal and Reform
The reasons behind the betrayal that almost lead to the erasure of the Niigata Clan are not clear. Scholars of the clan argue over perceived insults between feudal lords, or simply a minor functionary jealous of the clan's standing with the Imperial family. What is know for certain is that during the battle at the family ancestral home, the head of the clan completely unleashed the power forced on him the the 'dragon egg' sealed within him. The act destroyed the rogue unit of the imperial army, his own army, and several family members. However, his son survived. The boy's name is known, Niigata Taro. Taro determined that the betrayal, the battle, and his fathers destructive death were the result of a lack of understanding. First they lacked understanding of the power he had just inherited. Second they lacked understanding of military power. Third they lacked understanding of political power. Finally they lacked an understanding of power over specific people. Young Taro determined that his clan, in order to survive, needed a full understanding of these forms of power. And in a remarkable stroke of insight, Taro realized that in order for his people and country to survive, these powers needed to be understood in order to prevent their misuse both within and against the Japanese people.
The Rise of the Niigata Clan
The next fifty years, the first years of the Heian period saw an aggressive campaign by Taro, and after his death Niigata Yoromichi, to establish the clan's security and power within Japan. From the beginning Taro realized that the clans power must stem from the shadows. Toro employed common killers, trained his own assassins, used ruthless financial tactics and hidden gold mines. He used the marriages of his daughters and nieces to bring smaller clans under his covert and overt control. Yoromichi was just a ruthless, if not more so. Not even the murder of his wife and her handmaiden not long after the birth of his first son slowed his advances into the shadowy world behind the scenes of power. The combined determination of Taro and then Yoromichi started the Niigata clan on it's path.
The Feudal Era
The rise of the samurai class and especially the Wikipedia:Sengoku period (Warring States period), became a heyday for the Niigata Clan and every other organization that existed in the shadow world. Until the rise of the Tokugawa as a real candidate to finally unite Japan, the Niigata clan shifted its alliance from contender to contender, surviving and experimenting in tactics, arcana, politics, and so on. Alliance with the Tokugawa, and the resulting Edo period, allowed the Niigata clan to secretly travel to other countries through the Dutch, establishing early worldwide contacts and even loyalties. The Niigata clan secretly controlled all of the ninja clans officially used by the Tokugawa government. Continuous conflicts and political intrigue from the Sengoku period, and the constant need to keep rival ninja clans and unhappy daimyo in line kept the skill sof the Niigata clan sharp even as events built inexorably towards the Meiji Restoration.
The Niigata Clan during the Boshin War and the Meiji Resoration
The Boshin War (????, Boshin Sens?, "War of the Year of the Dragon") was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those favorable to the restoration of the Emperor Meiji. The war finds its origin in the emperor's declared abolition of the two-hundred-year-old Shogunate and the imposition of direct rule by the imperial court. Military movements by imperial forces and partisan violence in Edo, led Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the sitting shogun, to launch a military campaign to seize the emperor's court at Kyoto. The military tide rapidly turned in favor of the smaller but relatively modernized imperial faction, and after a series of battles culminating in the surrender of Edo, Yoshinobu personally surrendered. The Tokugawa remnant retreated to northern Honsh? and later Hokkaid?, where they declared a republic. Defeat at the Battle of Hakodate broke this last holdout and left the imperial rule supreme throughout the whole of Japan, completing the military phase of the Meiji Restoration.
Around 120,000 men were mobilized during the conflict, and of these about 3,500 were killed. In the end, the victorious imperial faction abandoned its objective to expel foreigners from Japan and instead adopted a policy of continued modernization with an eye to eventual renegotiation of the Unequal Treaties with the Western powers. Due to the persistence of Saig? Takamori, a prominent leader of the imperial faction, the Tokugawa loyalists were shown clemency, and many former shogunal leaders were later given positions of responsibility under the new government.
Although the Niigata clan had supported the Shogunate the young head of the clan at the time, Niigata K?mei, realized the importance of modernization and contact with the West. Using Niigata contacts established through the Dutch during the Tokugawa rule, K?mei helped to bring in arms, advisers and technology from the West. Niigata agents reported on rebel movements, brought in money, even prodded the further aid of foreign powers and key alliances. While the Niigata clan did not initiate the Restoration, it certainly was a factor in the small number of casualties and high level of modernization within the Meiji factions. The Niigata clan also used the clemency of former Tokugawa leaders to its advantage, collecting martial arts masters, gaining influential subordinates within the government. The Meiji Restoration marks the final emergence of the modern state of the Niigata Clan, with worldwide contacts and subordinates, access to unimaginable forms or arcana, and it's quiet position as an inexolorable power within the covert world.
The Modern Niigata Clan in the 20th and 21st Centuries
Throughout the Twentieth Century, the Niigata Clan worked to minimize the effects of Japan's less wise decisions, without actually guiding the country. The events of World War II did lead the Niigata clan to prod leaders in the direction of the pacifist constitution. The clan now has powerful holdings in the Japanese economy, military and government, though this power is almost never exercised. When the clan does exercise power it does so minimally, with barely perceptible nudges in certain directions. However, the clan's greatest power remains where it has always been, in the individual ability or arcane power of specific individuals. Study in arcane power remains a high priority for the clan.
