Hojo Clan
Hojo Clan is primarily concerned with self improvement thru art, group effort, celebration, and brotherhood. Being a part of Hojo Clan requires dedication not only to the Clan, but to yourself. For that reason, applicants should be ambitious in whatever realm they enjoy, from politics, to swordplay, to crafting.
Hojo Clan is made of Personae that follow the Feudal Japanese styles, manners, techniques, cultures, arts and philosophies. The Clan is designed using the same structure and rules (within reason) of the origional Hojo Clan, which ruled Japan during the 12-13th centuries CE.
While the origional Japanese culture was wildly xenophobic, a new land requires new rules. For that reason, we're not limited to Japanese Personae, but members are expected to try and heavilly represent the culture in their Personae, attitude, garb, and styles, more so as they advance in rank.
Like the Japanese culture, the Hojo Clan shows proper defference to positions of power and respect. As a consequence, we tend to seek positions worthy of defference. The Clan itself holds its own courts, and awards rank within those courts to members that excell. The major qualification for any rank is either service to the Kingdom or awards of various orders.
Hojo Clan stresses specialization of individuals, and diversity of the group. If each of us is a master of our own realm of influence, then Hojo Clan would be a master of many diverse realms of influence. Of course, mastry is a rare and wonderous situation, a worthy goal, but not if it's contrary to humility and defference.
Glory for the Clan inspires us to help one another in all ways. To improve your brother or sister is to improve your family, and by way of cooperation, yourself. We are unashamed of our nepitism. In furthering the Clan we learn humility. While we're expected to succeede for the glory of the Clan, we're also expected to keep our materialism in check. We celebrate competition, but the pursuit of accusitions is not a competition.
Art is a major function of our development. Each member of Hojo Clan is expected to produce some equivalent of one haiku every week. Of course, not everyone is a writer, so any form of visual, auditory, cullinary, or tactile art is acceptable. While it's not required, it's suggested members share their art on this site.
While we try to promote self-control and ettiquette, we also find great glory in celebration. Never let it be said that a gathering of Hojo Clan isn't a blast. Hedonism is a time honored tradition in Japan, it's just carried out with dignity.
In Hojo Clan, we hold artistic skills in our left hand, and martial skills in our right. Every member of Hojo Clan is expected to know how to devend the Clan if it came down to it. In Feudal Japan, even the peasants (men and women) were expected to take up a naginata in defense of the village. Those members who are not fighters by nature are taught the rudimentary forms of defending with the naginata.
