Okay, I am actually genuinely curious about this. Why is it that distinctly European stuff (doors (not shoji), four poster beds, quills/pens, grand ballrooms, etc.) end up in fanfics? It bugs the heck out of me! Unless there is some sort of story as to how all that stuff got there or some sort of very non-cannon plot going on where Euro-Asia culture/furniture is blended nicely to make it a very original piece, I find the sudden appearance of a quill where there should be a brush leads to a rather curious eye tick of mine.

Now, what I would like to know from y'all is this: Is this a sort of subculture or style of fanfiction that is simply lost on me (which would actually be a relief) or are people just being lazy/forgetting that they're writing in Sengoku period of Japan?

Thanks for any input you have! Hopefully this is just me being stupid and I can -- with confirmation -- move on and ignore it like I do with most things that give me the eye-twitches.

How about tomatoes and potatoes?

I would say that it might possibly be that authors/writers see that since Sesshoumaru is a lord and probably has a mass of wealth would be able to obtain items from other countries.

Or it could be that authors like to add in their own personal touch when writing and not wanting to stick with the some ol'hum drum thing, you know?

Or it could be that they haven't done the research and are going by what they know best.

Lol, I don't really notice. I read more for the story than the little details, unless those details add to the AWESOMENESS of a story... =D

Iam weird and when I imagine Sesshomaru's castle I imagine it like a European castle LOL so I never write it as Japanese!

I do that too....
the castle I imagine is bright with yellow lighting. Has stone floors and wood walls, and a shoji door where ever the author says so...

I don't have a clear image of it in my head though. There are always details missing.

in my fic i think i mentioned that furni was imported

Well continental Asian (particularly Chinese and Korean) influence goes back to as early as the Yayoi Era (400-300 BCE - 250CE) as it was mentioned in the Chinese The Book of Later Han in 57CE and Japan even sent tributes to China during the Kofun Era. In fact Japan didn't even become an independent state until the Nara Era.

Now by 1543 which was the Sengoku Era (the era that the Feudal half of Inuyasha takes place)Europe (specifically the Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish)had began establishing trade after a Dutch ship was blown off course and happened across Japan. (Of course in the Edo Period, the Tokugawa Shogunate, kicked all foreign powers back out.) This was also when Christianity was first introduced to Japan, but I digress.

Therefore, it could quite easily be taken as creative license and potentially FACTUAL that there could be European influence in a Japanese shiro (castle). Especially if said daimyo (feudal lord) was affluent in trades.

And like a good writer, source time! A quick overview of the History of Japan .

And in the name of informative eye candy Japanese Castles !

Hope this helps clear the air on some canon vs. fanon issues.

You also need to remember that Jaken had bragged at one time about Sesshomaru having traveled to different lands with him accompanying him. Since his outfit does have mainland influences it can easily be inferred that he had picked up different styles here and there if he wanted to show his power to others by having things others didn't.

I think such details would bother me, since it is set in medieval Japan after all. Unless, of course, it is explained that the non-Japanese items are imported, or since trade was established with European countries, it'd be "trendy" to try to spice the dull old Japanese castles with some cool new European touches or something of the sort. The existence of European influence in Japan can be justified quite easily, and if it is, then it wouldn't bother me.

Still, I think for many it's easier to write about their own native culture and their own native history, and there are plenty of writers out there too, who don't bother with research so that the setting and details would be correct. They care more about their plot, and the SessKaggy romance, simple as that. How realistic and authentic Sesshy's Japanese castle is, is simply not their priority, and I can understand that.

The fact of the matter is that people write what they know. Dokuga is wonderful in that it draws people from all over the world, but the are plenty of people of Europein decent that write. Not only that but the type of things you're talking about have been romanticized with the 'prince and princess' plot line. Sesshomaru is of course a prince. And while Euripein culture like what you mentiones went all thruough Europe and beyond (thanks to impearealism) you must remember that Japan practiced isolationism which alloud them to have a highly unike culture. So most people don't realy know much about that type of culture unless they are history nuts, or are some way connected to the contry.
I commend the authors that got he extra mile to authenticate their fan fictions, but some just don't have the time or resources to research these types of things. It's struggle enogh to find time to write.