Knight vs Samurai Essay

Gail Tsukiyama's The Samurai's Garden tells the story of Stephen Chan, a young Chinese man who is sent away from his family to live in Tarumi after being diagnosed with tuberculosis who finds it hard to fit in. He is cared for by the caretaker of the family house, Matsu, a solemn man who has lived alone in the house for many years. Stephen then meets Sachi, a woman diagnosed with leprosy and sent to Yamaguchi, a colony for those with leprosy. Stephen and Sachi initially feel isolated, but upon…

The Meiji Restoration in 1868, was a chain of events that reset practical imperial rule in Japan. This was caused by a series of political and social revolts over the course of about three years—1866-1869. These lead to the eventual rule of the leader of these revolutions, the Meiji Emperor. These revolutions were likely partly due to the threat of western imperialism. The people of China/Japan were still recovering in many ways from their western defeat in the Opium Wars and likely…

Launa Ms. Grandin Foundations English Hero’s Journey Essay Momotaro's story takes place in Japan during the Edo period which was from 1603 to 1867. In the story, Momotaro's family lives as part of the peasant class. This time period was marked by “the powerful southwestern tozama domains of Chōshū and Satsuma exerted the greatest pressure on the Tokugawa government and brought about the overthrow of the last shogun.” (Encyclopedia Brittanica) A shogun was a military ruler. The government…

The Downfall of the once Great Samurai Samurai’s have a long, rich history and what it meant to be a Samurai is honor, valor, loyalty. You were also wealthy and were one of the elites of Japan’s class system. Although samurais were once known as “Great”, the samurai’s downfall was inevitable because they want to keep the same traditions not trying modernize. During the eighth century, the Heian Period, around the year 800 to 1200, Samurai originally was referred to household…

“The Samurai is a term for the military nobility of pre-industrial and agrarian Japan. From the Samurai, the warrior class (known as “bushi”, hence “bushido”), one learns the art of being disciplined in growing or perfecting oneself. One learns to outthink, outmaneuver and out-win ones enemies or rivals (Low 183).” The Samurai class called for a life of duty and discipline both on and off the battlefield. The loyalty and bravery to the daimyo far surpassed friends and even family which played a…

Saigō Takamori was born on on 1827/12/7 in the Castletown of Kagoshima, an isolated area within the Satsuma domain under the control of the Shimazu clan which had established themselves as the oldest living clan in Japan at the time of his birth. The Shimazu clan were of notable prestige in that they were the only clan that received foreign ambassadors in a time when, under the orders of the Tokugawa Shogunate (the shogunate was a council of military commanders led primarily by a single domain),…

whoever has control of the military, has control of the country. Like any other feudal country, there was a cast system that was establish long before time. Sadly, for most people, there is no movement between each class. If you were born into a samurai family, luck was by your side. On the other hand, if you were born into a farm family, you stay in the peasant…

Question 1) Who were the Samurai? The Samurai were the warrior class of Japan. Being a Samurai was the greatest honour most men could have. Their masters were the Daimyos and Shogun. Question 2) Who were the Daimyos? The Daimyos were warlords whose status was below the Shoguns but above the Samurai. The Daimyos were wealthy, and this wealth usually came from the taxes they collected from people of lower status to them. Part of the Daimyos wealth had to be shared with higher status warlords and…

into a modern era. During the Tokugawa period there were many blossoming developments that prompted the modernisation of Japan to take place such as the decline of the Bakufu (military government) which led to democracy, the changing role of the samurai allowed for social mobility, the arrival of the black ships introduced industrialisation to Japan and Commodore Matthew Perry’s arrival resulted in the Militarisation of Japan. These were…

After Meiji Restoration, Japan had almost completed its modernization stage. During its modernism period, the flourish of mass media brought various doctrines and ideologies into Japanese people minds namely Capitalism, Marxism, and Militarism. Compared with the literature written in Meiji Restoration era, the ideology of Success Advancement now was not main focusing point as before. In my opinion, the reason is that after Meiji Restoration, Japanese people gained the confidence on their rapid…