Posted by Dan (24.58.6.220) on September 20, 2004 at 18:47:02:
In Reply to: Re: Unknown Yoshitoshi series title posted by Hans Olof Johansson on September 20, 2004 at 16:10:06:
Hi Hans Olof,
That's good information. I think it's interesting who qualifies as a "nobleman" at any given period of Japanese history though. At the height of the imperial court, it was of course only high ranking courtiers with some direct blood link to the imperial line. After the rise of the warriors and on into the Tokugawa Period, any of the myriad daimyo qualified as well. So "hime" are rife in kabuki period pieces, hardly as rare as princesses as we might think of them. These days the word has reverted back and is mostly used only for foreign royalty, as an equivalent of the English word "princess".