New Weapons that Changed the Way of the Samurai
A Samurai Sword symbolizes and means the Samurai’s prestige and his skills in battle. It is a measure of his stature in society. To all samurai it’s their prize possession and it is worn proudly by its master – until the teppo was introduced. The samurai considered it as dishonorable to tradition. This changed the way samurai fight and changed their view to samurai swords. The teppo is an example of a weapon that changed the way of samurai – it was introduced in the 16 century in Japan through Portuguese trade.
They were easy to use and deadly. The teppo were produced on a large scale by Japanese gunsmiths since introduced. By the end of the 16th century, there were more firearms any European nation.The Battle of Nagashino is a great example of a turning point between swords and guns. Oda Nobunaga made deadly use of the teppo at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, leading to the end of the famous Takeda clan. Guns can wipe out a whole clan in just one battle. It was considered very deadly.
In the movie ‘The Last Samurai’ it strongly relates to the concept of guns taking over traditional samurai swords and guns destroying loyal samurai clans. The film’s plot is loosely based on the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion led by Saigo Takamori, and also on the story of Jules Brunet, a French army captain who fought alongside Enomoto Takeaki in the Boshin War. It also gives an enhanced and better understanding of how these weapons can be deadly to the traditions of the samurai and the changes that are happening when these weapons are introduced. Introducing these weapons to the samurai was a mistake that the Portuguese made.
The samurai would have been better without the guns and weapons that were introduced by foreigners. Samurai teachings can still be found today in modern day society with the martial art Kendo, meaning the way of the sword. Samurai Raid a Japanese Village The lonely village on the Far East side of Japan encountered a group of vicious samurai last week that attacked the tiny village. Many possessions have been stolen from these poor villagers. These villagers were brutally beaten with a bamboo sticks in order to entertain these vicious fighters. They were left with bruises, body aches and pains.
The villagers are furious and wish for revenge on these fighters. The Chief of the village has announced a public meeting with the local villagers to discuss the actions that need to be taken in order to receive revenge on the people that brought terror and pain in the incident that has occurred last week. We interviewed one of the local villagers – he said he lost all his gold plates that were passed down from past generations and were meant to be past down to future generations – he cannot fulfil his ancestors wishes.
He is very disappointed and angry for his loss. The villagers suffered a great loss. They have little left, not even enough to feed a family for more than one week. The villagers were suffering with food loss before the raid but now they have to suffer even more. Fake samurai swords are being sold to the public.. Beware Yesterday morning when merchants come and sell their goods a man in his late 20’s spotted samurai swords for sale. He asked the merchant the price of the swords. The merchant told the man he would sell the sword to the man for only ? 1,000.
The man thought he was very lucky and immediately bought the sword. He took the sword home happily. When he got home he realised the sword was a fake because it didn’t have the sharpness a true sword would have. He was very angry and decided to go and confront the merchant. When he arrived at the same place he got the sword, the merchant was nowhere to be seen. The man was very disappointed that he wasted ? 1,000 on a fake sword. He notified the local guards – they are still searching for the merchant.
The Merchant was wearing a blur robe, has a long black beard and a scar on his right cheek. If you think you have found the merchant please notify the local guard. Samurai to hold meeting for the production of fake samurai swords… As you know about the article about a man buying a samurai sword the other day and found it was a fake. It has been announced by the chief samurai that there would be a meeting with all the daimyo’s and discuss the action that need to be taken to catch the merchant that was selling this illegal swords to poor villagers. We interviewed the man and he said ‘…
I am so happy that the samurai are following this merchant that has taken my money in return of a piece of metal that is useless to me… ‘ So please if you have any information on this suspicious merchant, please notify your local guard. Nitobe was not the first person to document Japanese chivalry in this way According to the Japanese dictionary Shogakukan Kokugo Daijiten, “Bushido is defined as a unique philosophy (ronri) that spread through the warrior class from the Muromachi (chusei) period. ” In Bushido: The Soul of Japan (1899), author Nitobe Inazo wrote: “…
Bushido, then, is the code of moral principles which the samurai were required or instructed to observe… More frequently it is a code unuttered and unwritten… It was an organic growth of decades and centuries of military career. ” According to the editors of Monumenta Nipponica, “Tens of thousands of documents survive from the medieval period… Only a few have been translated into English, or are likely ever to appear in translation. ” One of the oldest English-language academic journals in the field of Asian studies, much of Dr.
Steenstrup’s significant findings were written for Monumenta Nipponica. In his text Feudal and Modern Japan (1896) Historian Arthur May Knapp wrote: “The samurai of thirty years ago had behind him a thousand years of training in the law of honor, obedience, duty, and self-sacrifice….. It was not needed to create or establish them. As a child he had but to be instructed, as indeed he was from his earliest years, in the etiquette of self-immolation. The fine instinct of honor demanding it was in the very blood… ” Translation of documents related to bushido began in the 1970s with Dr.
Carl Steenstrup, who performed a lifetime of research into the ethical codes of famous Samurai clans including Hojo Soun and Imagawa Ryoshun. Steenstrup’s 1977 dissertation at Harvard University was entitled “Hojo Shigetoki (1198–1261) and his Role in the History of Political and Ethical Ideas in Japan”. The stylings of bushido have existed in the Japanese literature from the earliest recorded literary history of Japan predating the introduction of Confucian ethic from China. The Kojiki is Japan’s oldest extant book.
Written in AD 712, it contains passages about Yamato Takeru, the son of the Emperor Keiko. It provides an early indication of the values and literary self-image of the Bushido ideal, including references to the use and admiration of the sword by Japanese warriors. Yamato Takeru may be considered the rough ideal of the Japanese warrior to come. He is sincere and loyal, slicing up his father’s enemies “like melons”, full willing to combat the enemy single-handed, unbending and yet not unfeeling, as can be seen in his laments for lost wives and homeland.
Most importantly, his portrayal in the Kojiki embodies an early example of the appeal of the warrior-poet. Published by Sephora Hidalgo and Maranie Ing BUSHIDO From the Bushido literature of the 13th to 16th Centuries, there exists an abundance of literary references to the ideals of Bushido. In his 1979 Dissertation, Dr Carl Steenstrup noted that 13th and 14th century writings (gunki) “portrayed the bushi in their natural element, war, eulogizing such virtues as reckless bravery, fierce family pride, and selfless, at times senseless devotion of master and man. Compiled in 1371, the Heike Monogatari chronicles the struggle between the Minamoto and Taira clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century—a conflict known as the Gempei War. Clearly depicted throughout the Heike Monogatari is the ideal of the cultivated warrior. The warriors in the Heike Monogatari served as models for the educated warriors of later generations, and the ideals depicted by them were not assumed to be beyond reach. Rather, these ideals were vigorously pursued in the upper echelons of warrior society and recommended as the proper form of the Japanese man of arms.
By the time of Imagawa Ryoshun’s Regulations at the beginning of the 15th century, the bushido ideal was fairly clear, and the term itself came into widespread use. As illustrated by these various writings and house codes, bushido already encompasses loyalty to one’s master, filial piety, and reverence to the Emperor. Bushido includes compassion for those of lower station, and for the preservation of one’s name. Early bushido literature further enforces the requirement to conduct oneself with calmness, fairness, justice, and propriety.
The relationship between learning and the way of the warrior is clearly articulated, one being a natural partner to the other. Finding a proper death in battle, for the cause of one’s lord, also features strongly at this point in history.
