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> Definitive proof that the Japanese had little knowledge of gunpowder. The artists obviously had seen a cannon, more likely a picture of one, but had absolutel
by resoluteteeth 8y ago
> Definitive proof that the Japanese had little knowledge of gunpowder. The artists obviously had seen a cannon, more likely a picture of one, but had absolutely no idea how it was actually fired.
This is a very incorrect conclusion.
By 1861 when this book was published, Japan had known about and seen cannons for hundreds of years, and since the 1850s the shogunate had been manufacturing cannons because of the threat from foreign ships.
Judging whether "the Japanese had little knowledge of gunpowder" at this time based on a random low-brow book aimed at a popular audience is like concluding that humans didn't know how electricity worked in the 1990s because you found a technical mistake in Jurassic Park.
- JoeDaDude 8y agoWe know humans knew Unix because of Jurassic Park :)
- sandworm101 8y agoJapan had the knowledge, not the japanese. The people involved with this print thought a large cannon, one on wheels, was a hand weapon. Nobody involved had any real knowledge of gunpowder beyond stories.
- dragontamer 8y agoJohn Adams is fighting a giant snake. http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/bunko11/bunko11_a0380/bunko11_a0380_0002/bunko11_a0380_0002_p0003.jpg http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/bunko11/bunko11_a0380/... --------------- I guess you can say that the typical American doesn't know about computers in the `00s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8qgehH3kEQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8qgehH3kEQ But no one watches NCIS to get accurate depictions of hackers. People watch NCIS to get entertained. Pop-culture in general doesn't actually CARE how things work, its entertainment value, NOT accuracy.