![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Asian steampunk has been something that fascinates me for a while. Like, what would steampunk look like if it ISN'T predominantly Victorian? What if countries like China and Japan and Korea developed THEIR own style of steampunk that still preserves traditional elements? I see a lot of Chinese and Japanese-flavoured steampunk that is just adding top hats and gears and corsets to qipao and kimono. That's just imposing the Victorian style on the local culture. Which is, you know, not really cool.
It isn't as though China and Japan cannot develop steampunk without those European influence. The karakuri is a clockwork mechanism brought to Japan from China. It supposedly has been around since around 2000 BC. China invented the gunpowder and reportedly had weapons with capabilities that amazed even the Europeans (although the Europeans later surpassed them in that area). The Chinese invented the printing press. So it is entirely possible to make a steampunk universe based on China or Japan that doesn't involve TOO MUCH Western influence (because the influence has to be still there due to the trade and whatnot).
That aside, let me talk about the Siege of Osaka. I wanted to explore that epic battle because it's practically The Final Battle of the Sengoku Era. Tokugawa vanquished the Toyotomi and there wasn't any more big battles after that for a good long while. I hear that "officially" it's the Sekigahara that ended the Sengoku era because the power belongs to the Tokugawa after that, but the Siege of Osaka is a majorly epic battle. It's the final showdown between Toyotomi and Tokugawa and the Toyotomi clan pretty much vanished after that, so that is something to talk about.
( Cut for rant )
It isn't as though China and Japan cannot develop steampunk without those European influence. The karakuri is a clockwork mechanism brought to Japan from China. It supposedly has been around since around 2000 BC. China invented the gunpowder and reportedly had weapons with capabilities that amazed even the Europeans (although the Europeans later surpassed them in that area). The Chinese invented the printing press. So it is entirely possible to make a steampunk universe based on China or Japan that doesn't involve TOO MUCH Western influence (because the influence has to be still there due to the trade and whatnot).
That aside, let me talk about the Siege of Osaka. I wanted to explore that epic battle because it's practically The Final Battle of the Sengoku Era. Tokugawa vanquished the Toyotomi and there wasn't any more big battles after that for a good long while. I hear that "officially" it's the Sekigahara that ended the Sengoku era because the power belongs to the Tokugawa after that, but the Siege of Osaka is a majorly epic battle. It's the final showdown between Toyotomi and Tokugawa and the Toyotomi clan pretty much vanished after that, so that is something to talk about.
( Cut for rant )
(official portrait)
KOEI's illustration for the game Nobunaga's Ambition