One must admit that, until quite late in the modern Era that the Japan was utterly unapproachable. The Vormaini are taking this to the logical extreme, and setting up an area about the islands where none shall come.
And, one has to admit, that until the Tokugawa period, the most visible contact the rest of the world (specifically China and Korea and the islands southwards) had with Japan was with wako. Indeed, the antics of folks like Yojiro (sp!)and his fleets of pirates are the stuff of legend. Speaking as a descendant of the norse, I am quite impressed with his record and skills.
What one thinks of oneself and what others see of you are often two entirely different things. And this seems to apply to nations and cultures as well. Vormain is probably a well orgainzed, orderly, peaceful place. But we don't get to see that -- YET. (it is a yet, isn't it? please say it is!)
And abmbiguity is the name of the game in Glorantha, it seems. There are no 'bad guys' Everyone is a hero -- at least to themselves. Sort of like life that way.
> >3:please don't hate us: blood-thirsty samurai and ninja succumbs whole land
>
> I'm sure that isn't the intention either. Its important to remember
> that Vormain isn't Japan. It does not have buddhists (though the mystic
> inhabitants might wear similar hats), or a shogun, or other things taken
> directly and unchanged from Japan. It is a different place - and while it
> looks to be only based on Japan currently, thats just because not enough
> work has been done to discover what a fascinating, uniquely Gloranthan,
> place it surely is. One of the ways in which it is different to Japan is
> that it is currently far more isolationist than Japan ever was. As a
> result, the only members known to the rest of Glorantha are the occasional
> member involved in its internecine warfare who is exiled - they are by no
> means typical inhabitants either.
Interstingly enough, Shinto fits in nicely with Glorantha. And, until we see under the isolation, the ontly thing we see is the external face - -- piratical exiles, powerful warriors Who Keep People Out and Islands absorbed as a buffer about the Homeland. Sounds more like cold-war Russia (wry grin).
Hopefully innoffensive,
Jeff Kyer
End of The Glorantha Digest V7 #308
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