Set in 1600s, around 1665, the book Samurai’s Tale is a story showing the honor and loyalty that it takes to be a samurai, Erik Christian Haugaard tells the story of a vicious place in the countryside, we see the disaster of wars and killing through the eyes of Taro, a orphan child that was taken from his parents when he was young and witnessed his family be murdered in front of him for then to join the people that killed his family and fighting with them, in this story we see the pain and gore people had to go through when they were getting their village raided
,Killing thousands even tho this did not only go on in the town of taro it was happening all across the land they focused on the town of noble lord Akiyama, one of the most confusing and interesting point is how much loyalty samurai’s had to join the army of the people that just wiped out your whole village and family and they would train and grow up to do exactly that to other families.
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The people that went through this normally relied on friends and would see them as their only family because that's the only people that they had left, early in the beginning of the novel main character Taro befriends a cook that worked in the same settlement as him and his name is Togan and he became Taros mentor, while they were fighting attacking a settlement the only thing keeping them alive is themselves, it was everyman for himself since not everybody had a motive or a purpose to be fighting and raiding village, through the text of the book Erik puts the reader in the time period that this story took place in by using the proper terminology for the different names for different social classes , and used very stereotypical characters like the mentor that changed Taros perspective on life and the power of Zen as shown in this quote “Nearly all samurai practice Zen - it is the way of
Knights and samurai have a lot in common. For example, they both follow a code and protect land. Although they are very similar, there are a lot of things that set them apart. Samurai had a different social status, had different weapons, and expectations. While knights and samurai have many similarities, in a one on one battle, the advantage would be to the knights and this can be seen in their honor code, training, and armor.
Samurais or a knight? The question was, who would win the battle? A samurai - a samurai? Or a king of a knight? Of course they both have their advantages and disadvantages, but they also both have things in common that they can't do.
In The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama, a young man is thrown from his established world, left in a new, confusing realm that holds more than meets the eye. In the midst of a violent and ferocious war between the Chinese and Japanese in mid 1937, this young man, Stephen, contracts tuberculosis, and is sent to his family’s summer house in Japan. There he meets the house’s caretaker, Matsu, a simple and reserved man who holds back all but the most necessary speech. This meeting will come to define many of Stephen’s interactions with others throughout the novel: reserved and limited. In this odd land filled with subtle secrets and unspoken uncomfortability, Stephen is prepared for a very quiet and restful period, marked with healing and growth.
Though Stephen initially felt isolated both physically and psychologically due to his illness, through Sachi’s comfort and the calm beauty of Matsu’s garden, Stephen finds his stay at Tarumi to be much less secluded. This proves that though one may feel alone at times, other people or things may help vanquish that feeling. In today’s world, isolation is everywhere – there is isolation due disease, intelligence, race, etc. Yet, people find that the little things like _____ to make them realize they are not alone. This sense of aid shows that like the paint in the puddle of water, all it takes is something small to make the biggest difference.
Many people often see little similarity between the country of Japan and Europe. However, there are actually several similarities between these two countries. In fact, Reischauer and Jansen note that Feudal Japan had departed so far from East Asian norms that it was more similar to medieval Europe than it was to China. Thus, the knight of Europe and the samurai of Japan despite a lack of contact with one another shared several common elements. This was a result of many similarities social and cultural influences experienced by the two distant countries.
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
As learners of Europe and Japan, the question “ who would win a battle-a samurai or knight” is commonly kept in mind. A samurai and knight are similar in many ways. A samurai would mostly win the battle because they have better weapons, armor, and training. While knights and samurai have many similarities, in a one on one battle, the advantage would be to the samurai and this can be seen in weapons, armor, and training.
Do you know someone in the military? A loved one, a friend, do you know what they go through? I may not, but I do know about the harsh training and war that occurred for the Samurais and Knights. In Europe and Japan the empires were falling and Clans were taking over Japan. The government came up with an idea to create feudalism. There was an agreement in both Europe and Japan that exchanged land for protection. The similarities between Samurai and Knights were greater than the differences. This can be shown by looking at the three most similar areas: social position, training and armor, and life, honor, and death. The Samurai and Knights has their differences, but were the similarities greater than those differences.
In the book Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan, Karl Friday focuses on war in early medieval Japan. A central thesis could be the political primacy of the imperial court. (Lamers 2005) This is the tenth through fourteenth centuries, before the samurai became prominent in Japan and were trying to form themselves into more of what we think of them today. Friday focuses on five aspects of war in his book; they are the meaning of war, the organization of war, the tools of war, the science of war, and the culture of war.
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.
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.
"Explain the meanings and discuss the concepts and origins of Samurai and Bushido code, then relate these concepts towards the modern Japanese Soldier and Leader during World War 2 and show evidence to support that the Japanese soldier treated enemy prisoners exploiting Samurai and Bushido traditions."
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...
Katsumoto, who sees his rebellion in service for the Emperor, has pledged his life to defending the dying code of the samurai; “out of loyalty to the tradition the emperor represents, he would sacrifice his life in an instant…if the emperor requested it” (Ebert). That the emperor has not requested Katsumoto to commit the ritual suicide known as seppuku tells of his split views on the modernizers and the traditionalists; perhaps reflecting The Last Samurai’s message of trying to reconcile both modernism and tradition to create a new cultural identity, one that Nathan Algren has achieved by the end of the film. While Katsumoto himself does not achieve this, dying by his own hand as samurai tradition dictates, he initiates the catalyst for Algren’s renewal of identity and purpose; he ‘recognizes in Algren something of the warrior stuff” and holds “philosophical conversations with [Algren] about the ethnics of war and warriors” (Schickel). These styles of conversations between Algren and Katsumoto, alongside with scenic views of the nature surrounding the village and temple, “breaks the convention that the Western hero is always superior to the local culture” (Ebert); Algren finds himself impressed and respectful of the cultural heritage that Katsumoto imparts with him,
There are many historical aspects of the Japanese, but the most interesting is the history of the Samurai. In Japans history war played a large role in the country. Controlling clans fought for parts of the land and overall control of the country. These clans were powerful families that resided in the country and who all wanted power and control of Japan for themselves. The families that would be in control were known as Shoguns. These shoguns would have warriors that fought for them if any of the other clan families would try to attack him in order to overthrow him and take his power from him. The Samurai followed a code that developed from Chinese beliefs when in battle. The Samurais code was known as the Bushido. This code was also known as “The Way of The Warrior” which was the main belief s...