6. Tokugawa Shogunate
The Tokugawa Shogunate was a shogunate led by the Tokugawa clan from 1603 to 1868, reigning for exactly 265 years. In this case, being the Tokugawa Shogunate similar to the Kurozumi Shogunate in portrayal, some of the elements have been kept, mixed and then used for the story.
- Sakoku policy (“Closed Country”)
Sakoku was the isolationist foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, for a period of over 220 years, relations and trade between Japan and other countries were severely limited, nearly all foreign nationals were barred from entering Japan and common Japanese people were kept from leaving the country.
Japan was not completely isolated under the sakoku policy. It was a system in which strict regulations were applied to commerce and foreign relations by the shogunate and by certain feudal domains. There was extensive trade with China through the port of Nagasaki, in the far west of Japan, with a residential area for the Chinese.
- Mimawarigumi (“Special Force Police”)
Sakoku was the isolationist foreign policy of the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate under which, for a period of over 220 years, relations and trade between Japan and other countries were severely limited, nearly all foreign nationals were barred from entering Japan and common Japanese people were kept from leaving the country.
- Katanagari (“Sword Hunt”)
Several times in Japanese history, the new ruler sought to ensure his position by calling a sword hunt (刀狩, katanagari). Armies would scour the entire country, confiscating the weapons of the enemies of the new regime. In this manner, the new ruler sought to ensure that no one could take the country by force as he had just done.
| Historic Element | One Piece Element | Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Sakoku Policy | Isolationism | chapter 919 |
| Kyoto Mimawarigumi | Mimawarigumi | chapter 951 |
| Sword Hunt | chapter 926 |
One of the most important historical element that’s still missing is the event of the Kurofune or “Black Ships”, that coincided with the arrival of Westerner vessels entering the Edo Bay and that was the whole reason for Japan opening their borders (in real history). I personally take this historic event as a possible hint of the arrival of Blackbeard right at the end of Wano for him to force the island to open their borders by gunboat diplomacy (and take a new fruit or a road poneglyph? Who knows, really).
7. Akō incident or Forty-seven Ronin
The revenge of the forty-seven rōnin, also known as the Akō incident is an 18th-century historical event in Japan in which a band of rōnin (leaderless samurai) avenged the death of their master. It could be pointed at being one of the sources of inspiration for the Nine Red Scabbards.
The story is a detailed revenge mission that was taken after years and years of the death of their lord, so it’s very simple to make some connections here. I still think there is a little bit more behind some of the Scabbards, at least for their names, roles and/or other details.
1.Oden – Oden seems to be partially inspired by Oda Nobunaga, whose name is very similar, (being the very last noble before the Tokugawa shogunate, having a bad attitude/fame and having his castle burned down to ash) and Goemon Ishikawa.
2.Kinemon – A different rebellion against the Tokugawa Shogunate was the Kinmon Incident;
3.Kanjuro – Emosaku Yamada.
4.Raizo? – Possibly a reference to Hanzo, a famous Ninja of the Iga clan (not from Koga)?
5.Ashura Doji/Shutenmaru – Named after the eponymous creature Shuten-Doji.
6.Kawamatsu – Inspired from the myth of Urashima Taro, which was a fisherman who saved a small turtle on the beach which was tortured by a lot of evil people… and Kawamatsu was exactly that tortle. It’s relevant to notice that the rest of the whole plot for that myth has become already Fishman Island.
7.Denjiro – Nurarihyon.
I don’t have any clues about O-Kiku/Shinobu/Izo, but I guess that only time will tell.
*Theory by Scicageki
