Samurai College Essays Samples For Students

I had a special attachment to old things. I was so amused going through the attic and searching for memorabilia from my parents’ respective homes. There was an old phonograph, a stack of vinyl records in two sizes, and a particularly intriguing Japanese Samurai sword. I brushed off the dust and smut on the fitting and carefully took out the sword. The sword had collected rust but I surmised then that it could still be polished to perfection. The mounting, in brown leather, had intricate details. There were inscriptions in Japanese and some embossed leather lining which prevented the sword from slipping ...

Analysis: Shinsengumi: The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps

The book details the history of the Samurai. It is the historical retelling of 1864 stories when Ronin Samurai saved the capital, Kyoto and helped in preventing assassinations. The book was written by Hillsborough Romulus, and he made use of the rare primary sources. The book describes more about the chaotic period that characterized the end of Tokugawa era. In their last and desperate efforts to extend their grip on power, they created a unique group of Samurai corps that helped them fight back the rebel groups, rebel Shishi Samurai. The book places much focus on Shinsengumi, a term that means ...

Akira Kurosawa’s film The Seven Samurai is as much a commentary on the themes of justice and selflessness as it is about samurai warfare. The primary conflict of the samurai against the raiders they are hired to drive away from the village is that of old-fashioned, underdog honor overcoming the ideals of both ruthless chaos (the raiders) and passive defeat (the villagers). Over the course of the film, all seven samurai find their own reasons for defending the village, overcoming their own pride, naivete and pity to band together as an opposing force and strike a blow for honor and ...

In this paper there will be the analysis, comparison and contrasting of the Samurai and the Knight. Both of them used armors but they were designed differently. The knight’s armor was known as the plate armor that was made from iron and steel plates. This was a full suit of armor that enclosed the wearer from head to toe. On the other hand, the Japanese Samurai armor was different from that of the Knight in that it was not a full suit but it was made of small overlapping metal scales that were lacquered and tied together using ...

Historical event has a major influence on the present event. Despite the need to embrace the modern occurrences, history still has a hand in the current event. Considering various aspects sociological, economic and political it is vital to observe the critical issues that indicate various developments. Everything that is done has an origin, and this is considered historical, from the inception of the current state of the event or item.
The historical perception of the film, “The Last Samurai” portrays the various spheres of life. A 2003 production highlights the American war. Edward Zwick directed the film. Certainly, the ...

I strongly agree with those people, who consider Bushido as a perfectly logical and practical extension of Zen, due to the close relation between the two. For instance, Bushido was the ethical code of conduct of the entire Warriors of Samurai that originated from both Shintoism and Zen. Also, the developments of Bushido were highly influenced by several Zen concepts like upholding self-control, inevitable acceptance, as well as emotional control in the process of any function. Inclusion, most of the Zen teachers such as the Zen master, called Rujing taught the real concept Zen, which put more emphasis on ...

Question 1

The Analects for ideal women in Chinese society are expected to act in a discreet manner. They are expected to tell were they intent to go or say the people they talk. The traditional perception sees the essence of a good woman is the one who knows other women well. According to Book, three on "learning rites" a woman is expected to welcome a female guest by they herself and speaking humbly. Further, in book four on the need of raising early, a woman is perfected to be the first one to rise and prepare her, fetch firewood and ...

The Love Suicides at Amijima is a play produced in 172, written by Chikamatsu. It is one of the finest of jôruri (puppet) plays, and is perhaps the best out of fifteen other plays written by Monzaemon of the shinjûmono (love suicide) genre. The play represents the first popular culture of Japan that flourished during the Genroku period. Chikamatsu is regonized as a colossal figure of Japanese theatre. Conflict that was common to every one of the shinjûmono and many kabuki and jôruri plays of the Edo era is splendidly portrayed in the play. In Japanese theatre, ...

Part 1: Viewpoint Essay

Tokugawa Ieyasu founded the Tokugawa Shogunate where he established a political peace that lasted from 1600 to 1868; he was also the third of the three great unifiers of Japan. The Tokugawa period is a period of many years, which was characterized by political peace. The Tokugawa period came after the Sengoku period, which was characterized by warring states. It started in the 1600s after the Battle of Sekigahara. Tokugawa Ieyasu dedicated all he had to solidify the kingdom and ensuring that peace reigned. It is evident that he did quite a good job since he laid the foundation ...

The art of Japan during the Edo period were highly influenced by the Zen Buddhism; most of the paintings have Chinese influences since most of them were done using paintbrush and rendered on silk scrolls. The most prolific Japanese painter known to paint beautiful landscapes was Ogata Korin whose painting iconography is well-known throughout the world because of the delicateness in portraying the images found in the environment especially the flowers and animals. One particular artwork he made during the Edo period was the Red and White Plum Blossoms dated in the 18th century was a diptych makeshift wooden ...

The rigid social hierarchy and the already miserable situations of both Jihei and Kohei were the two catalysts that prompted to their suicide as an escape from the harsh reality of 18th century Japanese society. The story was originally intended as a play for the Bunraku Puppet Theatre but due to the immense popularity, the play was adopted in to Kabuki theatre which further emphasized the realistic theme of the play. Chikamatsu was indeed a master of Japanese play with his successful combinations of social duty and love to create conflict. The timeless romance between the star-crossed lovers Kamiya ...

The movie The Best Intentions by Ingmar Bergman and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai by Jim Jarmusch both involve complex relationships between characters with a code of honor such as Ghost Dog and Henrik Bergman, and other characters that try to influence the lives of these two men. Henrik becomes a Priest, while Ghost Dog follows the Samurai way. The Bergman film is semi-autobiographical and is based upon his parents’ marriage. Ghost Dog is completely fictional. Jarmusch tries to explore the balance of crime under the context of an eye for an eye. Bergman displays the struggles between social ...

The Tokugawa Period lasted between 1603 and 1867 (Yanemoto). It was founded by Tokugawa Ieyasu, and it was also called the Edo period. The Tokugawa period was characterized by political stability, internal peace, and economic growth. The people were led under military dictatorship. During this time, the Japanese society experienced some changes. Some of the transformation include educational expansion, commercialization and economic growth among others.
The social order in the society was totally frozen. The society was divided into four classes: Samurai class, Farmers/Peasants, Artisans, and Merchants. Peasants were concerned with food production through farming. Artisans used their crafts ...

Survival, Resilience, and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand

During the US Civil War, the Union’s famous Gen. Sherman once said that war is “all hell.” Many military commanders, as well as the countless victims of warfare, have echoed this sentiment down through the ages. Certainly, warfare reveals humanity to sometimes be far less than humane. The worst characteristics of human kind are often brought to the forefront by the nature of war and its relentless objectives. But as horrible as warfare can be for the average soldier in the trenches fighting next to his comrades, it can be (and often is) even more nightmarish and unimaginably ...

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Introduction
The novel, ‘City of Thieves’ by David Benioff, presents an opportunity to analyze the concept of masculinity under the circumstances of war. What is significant in this literary work is that manliness emerges under extreme adversity, which is often considered as the very test of being a man. Although Benioff’s ‘City of Thieves’ is fictional, the circumstances are realistic and is based on a historical incident that happened around six decades ago in Leningrad, which is the present day St. Petersburg in Russia. Becoming a man is one of the most confusing rhetoric there is. ...

The history of the Abe family is one of the most dramatic and impressive stories Mori Ogai have described in his works. It tells how the action of one man can shame all the family. Those times when Hosokawa Tadatoshi ruled, the devoted samurais used to ask their lords to make a suicide after their death, as they wanted to serve no other lord. But only some of them were lucky to get such a credit. Their families were awarded with high stipends, privileges and honor. Suicide without authorization was a disgrace.
The lord Tadatoshi had eighteen retainers, all ...

The viewing experience of any one classic film made by director Akira Kurosawa, the influential Japanese filmmaker, can elevate the viewer’s taste for cinema to a whole new level. He had been able to make not merely a couple, but dozens of classic films of high artistic and creative caliber. In an October 06, 1985 interview with Julia Cameron, Akira Kurosawa said that films are something that carry across to many different countries and are seen by many different kinds of people. In this sense, they have a tremendous power of communication (3). His films rarely fall short ...

Rashomon is a movie that marks best manifestations of the world intellectual history. It was directed more than 60 years ago, but still remains well timed. Rashomon questions individual perception of four important human concepts: truth, fact, reality, and objectivity. According to the dictionary, “truth” is something corresponding to reality, “fact” is an occurrence that really happened, “reality” is a social realm, something people really see, and “objectivity” means equity and lack of prejudice. Rashomon concentrates on the story of the samurai who was killed, and his wife who was raped by the bandit; however, the real killer of ...

Primary Point

In the essay Trying Out One’s New Sword, Midgley addresses a way that many people have chosen to deal with strange cultures. Midgley refers to the view as “moral isolationism” and says it involves denying that one can ever understand any other culture well enough apart from their own to make moral judgments about it. The reason many people have opted to adopt the view is because they think it is respectful. According to Midgley, that is not the case, and she firmly discourages it. In the essay, Midgley’s has this to say about moral isolationism, “People ...

The westerns forces in mid 18th century needed Japan to open its markets for their merchandise because they needed to utilize Japan as a coaling station for steam engines. By 1856, France, Britain, the Netherlands, and Russia had additionally constrained Japan to sign comparative arrangements. In 1858, the Americans constrained the Japanese to open more ports to exchange arrangements. The settlements stipulated that the Japanese could just charge low import obligations on foreign products. Moreover, remote nationals were excluded from the Japanese law.
Understandably, the mortifying settlements were loathed bitterly by the Japanese and called them unequal bargains. Moreover, ...

One of the Four Great Plays of Chikamatsu Monzaemon, the Shinju Ten no Amijima is a sewamono; a type of play whose plot involves common people enduring social and emotional pressures. A true masterpiece and a delight for all the readers, the play captures the human emotions onto paper as if they were real. Other human acts such as debauchery, doubt and fickleness are also vividly expressed by the author himself. The play begins using a third party narrative. “The ocean cannot be emptied using only a small shijimi shell,” (Chikamatsu, Miyamori and Nichols, 1). Chikamatsu compares the pleasure quarters of Osaka to an ...

Pre-modern East Asia

Wu Zao, Hojo Masako, and Queen Sondok are the prominent and strong women of China, Japan, and Korea respectively, they have exerted great influence on the country and it is also because of their efforts that the country is making progress up till now. These three women have played a significant role in the beginning of the Kamakura period. They have played an important role in the Premodern East Asian History. In this essay, the role of these women in historical context, the rise and fall of their power, their influence, and existence of similarities among them are discussed.

Wu Zao

Empress Wu ...

Chapter 12 : Christianity and the Medieval Mind

- The seven sacraments are:
- Baptism – symbolizes the beginning of the commitment to God and the reborn as sons of God. It symbolizes death to sin and resurrection with Christ.
- Eucharist – It is the body and blood of Jesus who gives to men as food for eternal life.
- Reconciliation – through repentance and confession of sins, men ask God for forgiveness and He offers through this sacrament new life. Through this sacrament the state of Grace is recovered.
- Confirmation – it symbolizes the deepening of the commitment with God. The Holy Spirit is ...

Iranian civilization history

For the first time in history in the 13th century a phenomenon arose in central Asia of a virtual world war due to the fury of the Mongolians. The existence of new tormentors amidst them was something the Euro/Asiatic land masses did not expect as the Mongol tribe unleashed their fury on them.
The few works of art that have lived to give an impression of how the invaders looked like being just two objects that show similar images but different cultures of the Mongol conquerors: The furthest point to the west that the Mongols reached which in recent times ...

Olympe de Gouges: she was a French political activist and playwright whose abolitionist and feminist writing reached a large audience. Her play writing career began in the early 1780s at a time when France experienced increased political tension. She immediately became an advocate for improving the conditions of slaves in French colonies and also began writing political pamphlets. She is known in history as among the first feminist who demanded that French women be awarded equal rights as French men. In her text “Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen” written in 1971, Olympe de Gouges challenged the notion ...

US Military and Japanese Military

Military power has long been seen as a very crucial aspect of government around the globe since the early civilizations. Countries spend billions of dollars to improve their fighting advantage, which would be spent in weapons, training and research. The military also serves as the first line of defense in times of threat, and the last option for governments if they cannot resolve disputes peacefully. In the 21st century, the military image still remains as a respected entity, but now varies on how the country utilizes its power and how it is seen by society. Two notable examples of two different ...

Ukiyo-e is an artform which dates back to the seventeenth century. It was a major part of Japanese life for many years and, even today, is still an important element of the country’s culture.
The Japanese art of ukiyo-e, which translates as "pictures of the floating world", was born in the metropolitan culture of Tokyo (Johansson, 2007).
The dazzling and warmly attractive art of the Ukiyo-e woodblock print is certainly the most commonly known of all Japanese arts. This specific style of art thrived in Japan from the mid-seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century (Ukiyo-e).
The word ...