History of the Samurai: Outsiders to Legends

[Music] Paragons of virtue exemplars of Honor beacons of integrity and masters of warfare the Knights of the East this is what we generally picture when we think of the infamous samurai while it is an attractive view of these legendary warriors it is nevertheless quite a misleading one in this video we shall do our best to correct this and cover the even more fascinating roles and perceptions of the samurai in Japanese society from the earliest days all the way to the modern day the geographical situation that spawned the samurai where they did is a unique one in the world the Japanese home islands are an archipelago just off the Korean Peninsula and the Asian mainland leading German adviser Jakob mecca in the Meiji Restoration period to remark that Korea was a dagger pointed at the heart of Japan despite this divide the superpower of the region China has influenced Japan more than any other nation and the relationship between the two has had a massive impact on history the position of Japanese Emperor itself may have been adopted from China the proto Kappa knees state of the early Heian period thrust north with an army based mainly on the Chinese heavy infantry model of the Tang Dynasty eventually however they came upon the emmy xi or harry people of north eastern han Xu this distinct group had developed horse archery tactics similar to those of the Huns and Mongols the a mobile early Japanese could not deal with these irregular guerrilla tactics so eventually their tactics were adopted by the Heian and the amici were gradually assimilated this resilient group had a profound impact on the formation of the first samurai and it has been said that the very core of the Japanese spirit is the ghost of the ameesha as the high-end Japanese began to subjugate the Amisha at the end of the eighth century many families of this group created a network of semi-autonomous feudal domains who would become the first samurai literally translated as servant or henchman they were given this name by warriors in the hey n capital who sought to distinguish themselves from the unsophisticated louts in the provinces this is one of the first misconceptions of the samurai that must be corrected they were not just katana wielding swordsmen with fancy armor it is likely that the very first proto samurai were in fact these same rural ameesha horse archers which the Emperor's came to favor in suppressing internal unrest as the Heian period continued the central government in modern Kyoto became less and less interested in actually running the country this allowed the samurai to become more independent and entrenched and allowed them to gain more power eventually a series of revolts occurred and members of the samurai class took control of the country establishing the Kamakura Shogunate the first Shogunate in Japanese history a Shogun was technically a high-ranking samurai ruling in the Emperor's name but in reality they were the military dictator while the Emperor was just a figurehead sometimes in Japanese history however even the Shogun was a puppet ruler and the actual holders of influence were the powerful feudal land holders or the daimyo during the Kamakura era the Japanese state came under severe threat the yuan Empire under Kublai Khan launched two invasions of Japan and the samurai were itching for a fight in both circumstances the samurai used unconventional tactics to hinder their enemy they drove boats full of burning pitch into the mongol ships and launched constant suicide attacks eventually two hurricanes destroyed the mongol fleets and japan were saved [Music] the samurai have often been seen as the eastern mirror image of the Knights in medieval Europe due to their code of conduct and seemingly elite nature but unlike Knights samurai usually comprised a dominant number of troops in feudal Japanese armies compared to the relatively small number of Knights in European armies which were often filled with enlisted men at arms or peasants this was the case in the Mongol invasions as almost the entire Japanese army consisted of samurai nevertheless these wars with the Mongols had weakened for Kamakura and the first Shogunate fell not long after after more political maneuvering and an attempted imperial restoration the Ashikaga Shogunate eventually came to power in 1338 never as powerful as their Kamakura predecessors the Ashikaga slowly began to lose their hold on local demeo's and when a samurai feud for kyoto began between the hosokawa and Yamana in 1467 the Shogunate effectively lost all control over the provinces one of the most famous eras in samurai history the Sengoku Jidai was about to begin by the end of the onin war Japan was essentially split into hundreds of separate feudal domains ruled by their demeo's literally great names many of the common myths and legends about the samurai took root during this era and likely did happen but only in certain places and at certain times this was the Golden Age of samurai warfare and one of the periods that later samurai would look back on romanticize and attempt to emulate honor was common as was deceit a contest between two famous warlords is an example of the former who Asuka Kenshin and Takata Shingen had a rivalry which unlike many of the more cutthroat conflicts during this time was more like an annual competition between sophisticated gentlemen they would meet at the same place every year to battle one another and then go back home on one occasion when another clan disrupted the tacit as salt supplies Kenshin sent his own as a replacement he stated courteously that he chose to fight his adversaries with swords and not salt as the 16th century progressed this kind of gentlemanly conduct became less and less common European traders in the south of Japan had introduced early firearms such as the R coppice while the Japanese were not unfamiliar with gunpowder this new technology changed the battlefield dramatically another common misconception popularized by films such as The Last Samurai is that samurai did not adopt firearms because they were viewed as dishonorable some Japanese were indeed shocked by the new weapons viewing them as impractical and ineffective rather than dishonorable however most daimyo who could buy them did and experienced success because of it the aforementioned tacit a shin gain bought 300 of them before his yearly battle against yasugi Kenshin in 1571 nor did samurai restrained themselves from even the worst kinds of betrayal in situations where it could benefit them in contrast to their popular portrayal as Paragons of truthfulness and honesty as oda nobunaga was on his way to conquering japan and possibly unifying it he was betrayed by a seemingly loyal general akechi mitsuhide a who claimed the title of Shogun for himself many reasons have been speculated upon for this act but many believed Mitsuki day had a grievance against his treatment by Nobunaga who was trapped and committed suicide while Mitsuki day was killed a few months later when oders allies returned to deal with the traitor in 1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu won the battle of sekigahara and unified Japan under the Tokugawa Shogunate the sudden cessation of warfare in the country left the martial samurai class with little to occupy their time they were solidified as a hereditary class and gradually began to find work as clerks in their lords storehouses night watchmen tax collectors security guards courtiers and administrators all the while still dressed for the battlefields of old a symbolic mark of prestige they essentially began to occupy positions in what we would call the civil service of the Shogunate in stark contrast to their formerly austere nature some samurai during the peaceful Tokugawa era began having extravagant swords created which they could not possibly hope to wield in combat and started to wear their hair in outlandish boo fonts while the Warrior Ethos of Bushido remained the actual samurai began to lose their military training and became a symbol of Japan's past rather than the protectors of its future to match their new civil roles Bushido was gradually modified to include values such as etiquette and politeness which would serve them well in their bureaucratic occupations their martial training generally continued throughout the era but it was more of an art form rather than preparation for real battle practical battle training and weaponry were sidelined in favor of styles such as kendo the way of the sword it is from this development that the katana wielding samurai was popularized in contrast to the actual practical ways in which they fought earlier battles such as those at Sega Kihara and against the Mongols in this period agriculture became less of a crucial aspect to the Japanese economy because of this the stipend that the samurai were paid by the state began to stagnate and decrease this caused animosity between samurai and the rising merchant class who began to get rich from the changes in the social system this trend continued into the late Tokugawa period and only got worse to the extent where many of the poorer samurai were on the level of peasants in terms of wealth this led to unrest among the samurai class and eventually masterless samurai known as Ronin increasingly became skilled bandits in order to make more money eventually under pressure from outside powers the Tokugawa Shogunate was replaced by the Japanese Empire and the samurai were essentially sidelined the fact that the samurai evolved now no longer existed only fueled further misconceptions and romanticism and this allowed the new Japanese nation to warp and twist Bushido into a philosophy that was used to signify a good citizen the intensity that these new values created in the new nation of Japan burned white-hot until the Second World War and the nuclear attacks at Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the subsequent surrender Bushido was reconsidered and became more of a historical monument notably however the Japanese are still seen as a dedicated people when it comes to business and industry even in the modern day the legacy of the samurai is clear and present in the and of the Rising Sun this has been our video on the history perceptions and reality of the samurai throughout Japanese history we are planning more videos like this so make sure you are subscribed to our channel and have pressed the alarm bell these videos are made possible by our brilliant patrons over at patreon and our YouTube sponsors visit our patreon or press the sponsorship button to learn more about the perks this is the kings and Generals Channel and we will catch you on the next one

Channel: Kings and Generals

Views: 854,588

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Keywords: history lesson, documentary film, kings and generals, full documentary, world history, decisive battles, animated documentary, war - topic, historia civilis, armies and tactics, roman empire, ancient history, military history, history channel, epic history tv, history documentary, ancient battle, extra credits history, samurai, nagashino, sekigahara, myth, reality, history of the samurai: outsiders to legends

Id: cKyEkgf_Z5A

Length: 12min 59sec (779 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 01 2018