For foreigners who like Japan, " What is good about Japan?" When asked, the most common answer was [ security . ] Will be given.
As we live, this is a matter of course, so I don't really feel it, but is Japan such a safe country in the first place?
Gun control in Japan and the United States
In fact, the security of Japan today is Toyotomi Hideyoshi , who is also one of the three Sengoku eras. Sword hunt It is said that it was thanks.
In the Warring States period, it became a sword, and if it was replaced with a modern one, it became a gun, but in Japan, only a certain number of people can use or have a gun, and it is strictly regulated.
Meanwhile, in the United States, at Combine High School in Colorado, two students shot guns and 13 people were killed, raising calls for gun control, but it was still divided into pros and cons. I'm following parallel lines as it is.
Japan with the strictest gun control in the world And America with the loosest gun control in the world .. It seems that each historical background is related to these extreme backgrounds.
In the pioneering era in the United States, the land was so vast that sheriffs couldn't count on it, and they had to protect their families and property themselves. He also says that everyone was armed with guns in preparation for the Indian raid.
Sword hunting by Toyotomi Hideyoshi
On the other hand, Japan is 1588 . Toyotomi Hideyoshi Collected weapons to prevent the farmers' rebellion. Sword hunt Has a very strong image of Hideyoshi, but 1228 in the Kamakura period At that time, Hojo Yasutoki's sword hunting for the monks of Mt. Koya was the first in Japan . That's right.
Japan's weapons regulations, which began in earnest with Hideyoshi's sword hunting, will be inherited by the Edo Shogunate. 1876 after the Meiji Restoration Haitō Edict prohibits military and police officers from wearing swords other than wearing uniforms. Was promulgated.
This Haitō Edict Is a band sword (wear a sword on your waist) There was no provision for possession or possession. However, for the samurai, the sword was not a practical equipment, and the meaning of proof of identity was greater, so the ban on swords was denied the privilege of the samurai . It will be that.
Sword hunting with GHQ! ??
1945 GHQ after the end of World War II [ Ban on possession of guns, etc. ] Has banned the possession of firearms for hunting and competition and swords other than for art, and 3 million guns and swords have been confiscated all over Japan.
At this time, the power of the sword that cuts the iron gun made the American soldiers say, "Japanese sword, yabaiwa ~ * I heard that he said to himself. Due to the confiscation of this sword, many famous swords flowed to foreign countries.
* I don't know if I actually said it, but it seems that he was praising it anyway.
After this GHQ sword hunt, the current firearm and sword law will be put in place, and it is unprecedented in the world, " A country far from firearms . ] Was formed, and today's security was born.
Today's Japan has been passed down peacefully and safely, starting with Hideyoshi's sword hunting, and in modern times, I think it's the Nobel Peace Prize.
Finally
In the history class, [ Hideyoshi hunted swords to prevent the peasant rebellion. ], I feel that I learned without much emphasis, just by touching it easily. Considering the present state of the United States, which is a gun society, it is an important thing that has influenced the present age, for better or for worse, so I would like you to tell me this area as well.
Japan did not become a gun society because the people have no chance to have weapons since Hideyoshi's sword hunt. Some people think that.
I think Hideyoshi, who was originally a farmer, understood the fear of farmers the most.
Sengoku daimyo at that time often struggled in the battle with Ikki, and Hideyoshi himself was forced to struggle in Ise Nagashima and Hokuriku as a vassal of Nobunaga Oda.
After the change of Honnoji, Battle of Yamazaki Akechi Mitsuhide after losing to Hideyoshi at Is said to have been killed by armed farmers, not by Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi thinks that he hunted swords because he knew these fears of the united farmers.
The current security is not directly Hideyoshi's sword hunting, but the postwar GHQ's [ sword hunting =ban on possession of guns, etc. ] Will be a big factor. However, in the sense that Hideyoshi's sword hunting also made it commonplace for the people not to have weapons, isn't it playing a role?