Musui’s Story is the exciting tale of a low class samurai’s life towards the end of the Tokugawa era. Although one would normally imagine a samurai to be a noble illustrious figure, Musui’s Story portrays the rather ignominious life of an unemployed samurai. Nonetheless, this primary account demonstrates the tenacity of samurai values and privileges present at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. The social status of samurai had been elevated to such a state that even someone like Musui was easily able to gain influence in everyday affairs with his privileges. Not only that, but he had retained his values as a warrior and still kept great pride for his arts in weaponry.
Katsu Kokichi lived a rather extraordinary life, under the many privileges of being a bannerman of the shogun. At the time, three classes of vassals served the shogun: daimyo, bannerman, and housemen. Although these vassals held incredible social status, they were not all as noble as one would imagine. In fact, almost a quarter of samurai were unemployed, as there simply weren’t enough official and military posts to accommodate them all. This group of samurai became to be known as ronin. Katsu is part of this group, and although his brothers hold administrative positions at some point in their lives, he is the only male sibling who does not. Rather than lead the generalized prestigious life of a samurai, Katsu uses his high status and enjoys life to the fullest. Although Katsu acknowledges his rather dishonorable life, he in no way shows any regret for his actions, but instead, pride.
Although, Katsu does not act like an honorable samurai, he certainly still uses the status and privilege of being a samurai to his advantage. Throughout the account, he strongl...
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...imply by looking at the length and quality a sword, Kenkichi backed down. The sword was essentially an extension of the samurai body during battle. Katsu not only displays great swordsmanship throughout his story, but he shows deep reverence for his sword, befitting of a samurai warrior.
In conclusion, Katsu’s tale allows one to delve deep into the day to day life of an unemployed samurai during the end of the Tokugawa era. His life can be observed to see the immense privilege the samurai status held. Not only that, he displays the values of a samurai warrior and although he does not act like an honorable samurai, he is an honorable warrior. Katsu displays the tenacity of both samurai privileges and values during the late Tokugawa shogunate. Although his life may not exemplify the ideal samurai, it does in fact allow one to observe the life of an ordinary samurai.
His attitude towards school, and his attitude at home was not much different than the attitude that was portrayed at school. He had a hard time focusing at school, because he had learned horse-riding and sword fighting at such an early age disengaging him from his academics. He despised his grandmother very much. "My grandmother by adoption had been known for her mean disposition from the time she was a young girl. It was said that she drove both of my adoptive parents to an early death. She was nasty to me, too, and nagged and scolded day after day.” (p. 14) He ran away from home twice, but the first time he left home he spent his time begging on the side of the road, until he got so close to dying. When returning home, he was punished for his bad behavior. The economy during this time period really conflicted with Kokichi’s social life, and family life resulting his bad behavior. His childhood was unbelievably bad and only gave us a sneak peek of what his future was going to be
In document B written by Catharina Blomberg, it says, “Loyalty toward the feudal lord in Japan was hereditary.” If becoming a samurai was hereditary, then some samurai weren’t chosen to be a samurai because of their abilities, but because they were the son of a samurai. That means that not all samurai are the best fighters. It also says in document E, written by the DBQ project, “To dishonour knighthood was the greatest disgrace.” Part of the code is to always obey your king, so a knight would want to fight harder and not back out.
In the ancient Japanese culture, one great aspect was on how they emphasized on the intrinsic themes of loyalty and honor. They had fierce warriors known as samurai’s. A samurai was a traditional warrior who would protect and be loyal to their masters no matter what. They were known to be skilled soldiers, benevolent men, self-sacrifice, sense of shame, along with other major characteristics that embodied them as a samurai. While this class of warrior no longer exist today, the remembrance of a samurai is present in the minds of the characters in the novel, The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama. Tsukiyama does a fascinating piece of work by really elaborating and describing the great attributes that Matsu possess of a true samurai. In the
Akira Kurosaw’s Seven Samurai is a film that encompasses various ideologies in order to allow the audience to understand the lives of Japanese people during the 1600’s. The film delves deep in social issues of the roles of the people within the society, the expectations as well as the obligations within the respected castes and elements within groups of ; suffering, working together, protecting family and working for the better good of the community.
Akutagawa is famous for his use of symbolism and aspects of modernism in order to convey a hidden truth about human nature in society. To put it simply, his story, “In a Grove,” is a tale about a murder. However, underlying throughout the story are themes of deception and honor. The murder victim, a trained samurai is lured into a grove and killed, and the suspects are his wife, the robber, and himself. Rather than plead innocent, each suspect pleads guilty to preserve their honors. The blade is a recurring symbol in this story and shows the preservation of this honor. On page 25 the robber, Tajomaru, claims that he “didn't like to resort to unfair means to kill” the samurai, Takehiko. Instead, he claims that he offered to cross swords with him, and then killed him after twenty-three strokes. In this way the sword represents a means to accomplish an act of honor. To murder the samurai without a fight would be dishonorable, but by using the sword Tajomaru achieves honor. Furthermore, Takehiko goes on to claims, You, you don't use your swords. You kill people with your power, with your money,” (Akutagawa 20). Takehiko makes the accusation that the Ju...
Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto continually subverts the viewer’s expectations. The film appears at the outset to be about heroism, as the two protagonists, Takezo and Matahachi, make the decision to enter battle. However, the battle scenes are muddled and chaotic, and the two men encounter one disastrous situation after another. Eventually it becomes apparent that this will not be a stirring film about heroism, but rather it is about the struggle between chaos and order, control and submission. Takezo is wild and reckless, as evidenced by his fighting style, the way he rides his horse, and his callous treatment of others. Throughout the story, he insists that he needs no one in the world, indifferent to both love and sex. However, long shots throughout the movie in which he is a tiny speck against a vast outdoor backdrop reveal him to be powerless against nature, and a scene with him thrashing ar...
“Until the seventeenth century, Japanese Literature was privileged property. …The diffusion of literacy …(and) the printed word… created for the first time in Japan the conditions necessary for that peculiarly modern phenomenon, celebrity” (Robert Lyons Danly, editor of The Narrow Road of the Interior written by Matsuo Basho; found in the Norton Anthology of World Literature, Second Edition, Volume D). Celebrity is a loose term at times; it connotes fortune, flattery, and fleeting fame. The term, in this modern era especially, possesses an aura of inevitable transience and glamorized superficiality. Ironically, Matsuo Basho, (while writing in a period of his own newfound celebrity as a poet) places an obvious emphasis on the transience of life within his travel journal The Narrow Road of the Interior. This journal is wholly the recounting of expedition and ethos spanning a fifteen hundred mile feat, expressed in the form of a poetic memoir. It has been said that Basho’s emphasis on the Transient is directly related to his and much of his culture’s worldview of Zen Buddhism, which is renowned for its acknowledgement of the Transient as a tool for a more accurate picture of life and a higher achievement of enlightenment. Of course, in the realization that Basho does not appear to be unwaveringly religious, perhaps this reflection is not only correlative to Zen Buddhism, but also to his perspective on his newfound celebrity. Either way, Matsuo Basho is a profound lyricist who eloquently seeks to objectify and relay the concept of transience even in his own name.
Stories about war and implements of such can be observed throughout the course of Japanese history. This shows the prevalence of martial training and the profession of arms as a tradition that has not faded since ancient times (Friday and Humitake 13).
This essay will be about the samurai class in the Tokugawa era and all the events leading to their fall. It will also talk about how they did not technically ‘fall,’ but were in fact replaced by the commoner class in Japan. This commoner class brought on an economy centred around money rather than land, making the Samurai class bow down to the commoner class, since the Samurai were already in poverty at this point, however, they were still supported by what the commoner class had to offer so there were not wars between the classes. Unfortunately, this meant Samurai no longer thrived from their land economy. They had control over that part until this series of events unfolded; then, control was limited. This was the beginning of the so called ‘fall’ of the samurai class. Before the Meiji Restoration occurred, Samurai were a very prominent class in Japan, and were well respected and known, and most importantly, they were needed. However, when the Meiji Restoration came into effect, this brought in a new era of modernization. A modern Japan, where Samurai were seen as traditional and virtually unneeded in society. During their peak of samurai life, they had access to everything and were wealthy, but as the Tokugawa declined to the Meiji restoration, samurai experienced increasing poverty. “It was worth noting, that the possession of wealth
Throughout History, there have been many different groups or events that are still widely known today. Groups of people such as the Indians or Vikings are popular groups which are referenced constantly in today’s society. However, none of these groups is more known or referenced than the Japanese Samurai. Originating in 646 AD, these Japanese warriors developed from a loose organization of farmers to the dominant social class in Feudal Japan. Along with their dominant military and political standing, the samurai brought with them a unique code or moral belief that became the core of Samurai culture. Because of this, the Samurai and their principles still affect modern day Japanese society with social customs today deriving directly and indirectly from the beliefs of the Samurai.
Takeda Shingen was a swift and meticulous daimyo in feudal Japan during the late stage of the Sengoku period. He ruled the Kai Province from 1541-1573. Born on December 1, 1521, Takeda Shingen was the eldest of 3 sons of Japanese warlord, Takeda Nobutora of the Kai Province. During his childhood, Shingen was called “Taro” (a commonly used pet name for a Japanese family’s eldest son) or “Katsuchiyo.” Around 1535, Katsuchiyo had an elaborate coming of age ceremony which included court notable Sanjo Kinyori, a retired Dainagon, whose daughter Katsuchiyo would soon marry. In addition, shogun Ashikaga Yoshiharu sent word for Katsuchiyo to add “Haru” into his adult name, thus he became known as Harunobu. In feudal Japan, it was common practice for a high-ranking warrior to grant a character from his own name to a subordinate as a symbol of recognition. Upon discovery that his father, Nobutora, was planning to name his second son, Nobushige, as his heir, it caused great strife between Harunobu and Nobutora. It was in 1541 that Harunobu rebelled against his father and Nobutora was exiled to Suruga, ruled by the Imagawa clan. Many of Nobutora’s top Takeda retainers saw advantage in supporting Harunobu, as many held personal grudges against his father. An alliance was formed with the Imagawa clan for their support in this bloodless coup.
Gaskin, Carol. and Hawkins, Vince. The Ways of the Samurai. New York: Byron Preiss Visual
After I got captured in this wasteland, I made a couple friends. I was given the name Tsuchiya; named after the great captain of the Oshima district. "Master, what is the point in doing all of these useless moves." Raichi protested. "You'll never become a samurai if you don't want to learn discipline, now go run around the high mountains for 25 minutes". Master responded. I was later told that Raichi was my cousin, there was no evidence stating why; but I had to accept it. Master had had a nice cup of sake, as we were performing the moves he was telling us to do, until one moment he pointed his finger towards me and gestured for me to come. “You’ll now be betrothed to my daughter, with my command" Master stated. "Yes, I will do as you're told", insisted Master; I couldn't do anything about it, not following Tohan customs will result in a death penalty. I later met this woman at the wedding, She came upto me in a perturbed state "I understand that we need to get married, but we will now need to escape this hell hole, we should start up our own clan." Maichi said. She told me of a plan, then it was an act of Justice. I stood up on the roof of the temple of the commander. Gave out a speech which then caused the people living in suffering repent. "Today is the day, to create a new tribe, new opportunities for all residents". There was a great war, between the residents and the military. As I was
For Papa’s family’s descent from the samurai class, he only had to muddle through no longer being as important; unlike at Manzanar, where his whole life