Samurai: Those that serve (our need to laugh at other’s expense)

One of the very first things that you can think of when mentioning Japan (just after Godzilla) is the word samurai. This word has come to embody a spirit of loyal, courageous, strong warrior that has a lifestyle that people can come to envy and respect. Yet, not everyone knows or they often forget that the word samurai really means “to serve.” At certain points in time before Nobunaga, Toyotomi, or Tokugawa, samurai had the ability to sustain themselves and enjoy some freedom reminiscent of European knights. Yet soon enough, they were held in place by several factors including no longer being allowed to own land for themselves. While the samurai is undoubtedly a symbol of the past, as proved by several museum exhibits to this effect, the image pervades into popular culture and media even now. Behold the mighty warrior looking to serve a new master:

It kinda makes you feel kind of sad for the guy, all he wants is a little attention. But back to the matter at hand, the image of the samurai is often glorified to extremely high expectations. Everything about him had to be perfect from his attitude to his attire. In a desperate situation, such as imminent defeat, the samurai was expected to either charge forward to his death or bring about his own death by way of seppuku (ritual suicide). Hollywood made a good (if slightly embellished) example of this with Last Samurai.

The final fight scene of this movie was inspired by a real conflict between approximately 300-400 samurai led by Saigo Takamori and 300,000 imperial troops. About here the truth blurs into the fantastic. 1) There was no foreigner fighting in that battle in any active roll. 2) Saigo Takamori (Ken Watanabe’s character Katsumoto) wasn’t opposed to all Western ideals, in fact he often wore French military uniforms and had a part in creating the conscript army he is so opposed to in the movie. 3) While the samurai did charge into cannon fire with no hope of winning, they weren’t all killed on the spot and Takamori actually committed seppuku after the battle hidden in the woods. It’s not quite the same idealized spirit as in the movie just like these commercials you may or may not have seen:

Osaka-jo castle has examples of the types of weapons and armor that samurai wore during their time.

They also have a bit more lighthearted section promoting a movie about samurai that was being released to DVD. On the 4^th floor of the castle for a small fee, you can try on armor and take pictures.

…whether it fits or not. I have no idea how they were able to fight anyone with stuff like that on their heads. What does stand out more than the crazy helmets usually are the katana, considered by some to be the most perfect type of sword made. Japanese TV shows miss no chance to examine this claim by making a really nice sword and testing the sharpness in a very dramatic way.