The Samurai Tradition of Taking Heads

so there is something I haven't really talked much about yet even though it was an extremely important part of samurai tradition this being of course head taking so I wanted to make an extra video here discussing the history and importance behind samurai collecting and displaying defeated enemy heads the tradition of head taking in Asia has ancient origins as the concept of decapitating and showcasing your fallen enemies head is a custom which can be seen in China as far back as the 200s BC thus its rise and popularity in Japan can be attributed through the spread of its practice from the mainland however in terms of the samurai the earliest we begin to see samurai taking enemy heads is roughly around the 900s although more unconfirmed reports of head taking most likely occurred before this point in the earlier years of the samurai combat was seen as more gentlemanly we're often on the battlefield two samurai would single each other out and engage in a duel with the victor claiming his defeated foes head which he would then display to his lord for payment as a form of proof of service of course this also worked to grow ones renowned if you were a samurai that had defeated many other samurai thus taking many heads if anyone was able to take your head they would in turn gain much honour and renown from it this continues so on and so forth the most famous early example of head taking is with the rebel samurai Tyranno masa karo who was killed in 940 having his head taken back to the capital Kyoto to be displayed before the Emperor and the imperial court although legend says his head would eventually find its back to the east you can learn more about the rebellion of Caetano masa caro in episode 2 of my setting the stage series before the Gympie war and the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate the lords of clans had less ability to elevate the status and position of the samurai who served them as well as lacking the ability of giving them land to rule over yet after the rise of the Shogunate in 1192 were the samurai came to essentially rule the country the shougo military land governors under the Shogun now had the freedom to raise the ranks and status of samurai in their clan there were still the old gifts of wealth and items perhaps a fine sword spear or bow but now in addition samurai could be given new ranks titles status and land of course one's own status could be grown simply by their own merit and hard work however a more rapid approach to gaining rank was through slaying and decapitating enemy samurai and displaying the defeated head in front of their Lord in fact this act became ceremonial it was to be known as a head viewing ceremony this tradition would grow and spread across the country until finally by the Sengoku Jidai Japan's warring States period it was a common staple of samurai culture where after a battle a feudal daimyo would perform this ceremony allowing his soldiers to come forth with the heads of their defeated enemies what is extremely important to note is that during the single coogee die samurai status was still a Korell to commoners and peasants thus if a simple ashigaru foot soldier somehow managed to slay an important samurai and sent his head to his Lord this ashigaru could have his position elevated to that of a Samara transcending the feudal class system in Japan now these head viewing ceremonies were carried out under interesting customs and guidelines heads had to be presented in an elegant fashion before battle samurai would often make sure their head appeared suitable should they be killed during battle and their head taken this often meant applying fragrances to their head so that it would smell good after decapitation and even applying makeup to hide blemishes or scars whatever the case a samurai wanted his own head to look good if it was to be presented in addition after a head was taken it was the responsibility of the samurai who took it to ensure this present ability this would include washing it thoroughly combing its hair back and blackening its teeth to showcase its noble status the head would then be wrapped in a white cloth after which it would be placed on a wooden display with the name of whose head it was along with the name of who took it there were some further formalities as well for example if the head belonged to an archer it would be displayed with his bow although it should be mentioned that a while on a campaign there wasn't always time for a formal head viewing ceremony in this case things would be carried out a bit more rushed leading to not all of the traditions and customs being followed through however this system was often exploited along with the fact that it also ran in to other issues for one some samurai or ashigaru tried to lie their way into receiving a reward they take the head of a simple foot soldier but attempt to present it as being a samurai with much higher status sometimes their trick would pay off deceiving everyone around them other times they were caught in the act also some samurai would exit a battle early after they had claimed a notable head thus ensuring their payment and justifying that they had done their job in service to the Lord all while actually abandoning their responsibility to actually aid in achieving victory yet even without the presence of these exploits the problem remains that head taking is still a rather lengthy process as it frequently involved pinning an opponent down and using a blade to cut off his head and in the heat of battle when swiftness can be key to success many commanders and Lords began to notice this unfortunate time-consuming side-effect of head taking all of these problems coupled together led to lords occasionally forbidding the taking of heads however in doing so the Lord also risked angering pretty much his entire army as soldiers and Samurai alight were allied off of head taken for payment and gaining renown the most famous example of a lord forbidding the taking of heads was at the night attack at kaua GUI in 1545 when Hojo uga sue ordered his men to forego with the act in order to ensure a more rapid assault you can learn more about the knight attack at kaua GUI in my single goo GDI series video upsets in the east head taking as a tradition in Japan would continue well past the fall of the samurai and was carried out by the Japanese even up into the second world war so there you have it an extra history lesson on samurai had taken hopefully this video will help to educate as well as fill in any gaps in my other videos in the future I will continue to occasionally produce these extra samurai history videos so that we can shed light on many of the background details within feudal Japan and samurai culture thank you for watching don't forget to Like subscribe and bring that notification bell if you enjoy this video and found it to be most informative you [Music]

Channel: The Shogunate

Views: 177,098

Rating: 4.9290671 out of 5

Keywords: Samurai, Shogun, History, Japan, War, Head, Heads, Taking heads, severed heads, decapitation, battle, conquest, bushido, attack, katana, Daimyo, feudal japan, clans, clan, slice, victory, fight, warrior, Taira no Masakado, Hojo Ujiyasu, Shogunate

Id: TXPrkZ5Kpmo

Length: 8min 24sec (504 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 21 2019