Age of Samurai on Netflix...

[SteyrAUG]

If you've ever even had a passing interest in the subject of feudal Japan, the Sengoku period (a time of almost constant civil war lasting over 100 years) and eventual unification under a single Shogun you want to watch this series.

I started to investigate this period of history related to the study of martial arts around 1979 / 1980 and this may be the best "series" I have ever seen on the subject. Things like the tv series "Shogun" presented a mostly accurate environment but when it came to the "details" they were a lot like "The Patriot" with mix and match facts and names.

The absolute best thing about the series is the participation of those like Stephen Turnbull who demystifies events and people and provides a less romanticized assessment. The historical events are simply related in a coherent timeline with the nature and relationship of events simply explained in context.

Esoteric ideas and cultural considerations unique to people, places and persons are simply defined rather than made a source of wonder. The first three episodes conveyed more "easily understood" critical people and events information than some entire semesters of Japanese history classes I have participated in. Many people who have studied parts of this time but don't feel 100% about their understanding of this and that will watch in and go "Oh....that is what that idiot kept trying to talk about."

There is a tendency among teachers of Japanese history, and the samurai in particular, to spend more time trying to impress students and peers with their command of Japanese language (but usually it is just words they know) and known nuances unique to both than to try and convey any of this information in a way that can be grasped, understood and remembered by westerners.

It's time well spent and so far I haven't caught a single error, only points of contention where more than one POV is possible. They even delved into the "many kinds of samurai" can of worms pretty competently as what a samurai was changed over time and could be unique from location to location, it really wasn't until after the unification that the conventional model of "what is a samurai" was really defined.

And yeah, a lot of time is spent discussing the role of firearms in nearly every conflict of the Sengoku period and how those who discovered how to employ them in a practical way were usually the victor, even when greatly outnumbered.

But best of all, there is coherence among all of the historical experts and it's not like an episode of Crossfire where this guy suggest this happened and another expert disagrees with him and promotes and completely alternate point of view.

[everready73]

Thanks for the write up. I saw this was coming out and set a notification for when it was released. Just saw the notification pop on my phone yesterday that it came out

Will be watching this week and will report back

[murphy j]

Started this series a couple nights ago. I have found it interesting and informative, so far.

[Averageman]

Good Stuff.
Cutting your own eyeball out though?

[SteyrAUG]

Good Stuff.
Cutting your own eyeball out though?

If you aren't afraid to die, you aren't afraid of a lot of things. He either did it himself or had someone do it for him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_Masamune

[WillieThom]

The whole going around and ceasing commoners’ weapons so they can’t resist the warrior-elite minority seems to be a common thing amongst leaders with tyrannical leanings...

[mack7.62]

If you aren't afraid to die, you aren't afraid of a lot of things. He either did it himself or had someone do it for him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_Masamune

Not just not afraid to die but willing to die by Seppuku makes cutting out a bad eye kind of minor.

[SteyrAUG]

The whole going around and ceasing commoners’ weapons so they can’t resist the warrior-elite minority seems to be a common thing amongst leaders with tyrannical leanings...

Yeah. And no doubt Nobunaga was a vicious, shitbag who lived at the expense of everyone else. This is made worse by the fact that Yoritomo established a military government in 1185 (the Kamakura bakufu) which meant military (samurai families) leaders ran the whole show. Worked "ok" until the Minamoto dynasty came to an end and things eventually went up for grabs.

But Japan was an ongoing lesson in "tyranny" through most of her history. Not many "golden ages" marked by prosperity and freedom. Even with the modernization after Meiji, they simply transitioned from a military government run by Shoguns to an Imperial government that was quickly taken over by modern "pro military" members of government complete with their own "Night of Long Knives" for liberals leaders who wanted more general freedoms. This culminated in Hideki Tojo becoming Prime Minister and those who advocated for an expansionist empire of domination of the Pacific.

There is some merit to the argument that as a participant in "democracy" and an ally in World War I they learned the lesson that nobody is gonna take them seriously or reward their good deeds with colonies comparable to those enjoyed by European powers before and after World War I. But Japan didn't simply wage a war to secure their piece of the pie to have the raw goods necessary to sustain independence of others. They waged a brutal war of atrocity almost from the start and showed "modern" Japan was capable of incredible acts of cruelty against men, women and children that even some Samurai of old would have considered unthinkable, except of course for Nobunaga who really was a Class A POS who would have stabbed babies with sticks and roasted them like marshmallows over a fire if the idea had ever occurred to him.

[Adrenaline_6]

Yeah. And no doubt Nobunaga was a vicious, shitbag who lived at the expense of everyone else. This is made worse by the fact that Yoritomo established a military government in 1185 (the Kamakura bakufu) which meant military (samurai families) leaders ran the whole show. Worked "ok" until the Minamoto dynasty came to an end and things eventually went up for grabs.

But Japan was an ongoing lesson in "tyranny" through most of her history. Not many "golden ages" marked by prosperity and freedom. Even with the modernization after Meiji, they simply transitioned from a military government run by Shoguns to an Imperial government that was quickly taken over by modern "pro military" members of government complete with their own "Night of Long Knives" for liberals leaders who wanted more general freedoms. This culminated in Hideki Tojo becoming Prime Minister and those who advocated for an expansionist empire of domination of the Pacific.

There is some merit to the argument that as a participant in "democracy" and an ally in World War I they learned the lesson that nobody is gonna take them seriously or reward their good deeds with colonies comparable to those enjoyed by European powers before and after World War I. But Japan didn't simply wage a war to secure their piece of the pie to have the raw goods necessary to sustain independence of others. They waged a brutal war of atrocity almost from the start and showed "modern" Japan was capable of incredible acts of cruelty against men, women and children that even some Samurai of old would have considered unthinkable, except of course for Nobunaga who really was a Class A POS who would have stabbed babies with sticks and roasted them like marshmallows over a fire if the idea had ever occurred to him.

As cool a culture as Japan has, and it has many great aspects of it. People tend to forget how brutal they could be.....except the Chinese....I don't think they'll ever forget. They made the Holocaust look almost acceptable (not saying it was).

[SteyrAUG]

As cool a culture as Japan has, and it has many great aspects of it. People tend to forget how brutal they could be.....except the Chinese....I don't think they'll ever forget. They made the Holocaust look almost acceptable (not saying it was).

Yep, martial artists also have a tendency to glorify them in. Every time I hear a kendo student remark along the lines of "man I wish I could have lived back then, it must have been awesome to be a samurai" and I have to remind them "you mean you wish you could live your life in servitude to a lord of the land and have virtually no say in your destiny and stand ready to kill anyone including your family or yourself without explanation if so ordered?"

The samurai as a culture can be completely fascinating but not all of them were honor bound, dutiful individuals with an impressive grasp of right action. And as you noted, this manifested itself in terrible ways when the mindset found it's way to Nanking. If you can throw a baby in the air so it can be caught on a bayonet and everyone involved things it's a special skill or at least entertaining...you need to completely reevaluate yourself as a human being.