Figure 1.--Here we see Japanese boys dressed up in elavorate Sanurai costimes. The photograph was taken in Tokyo (March 6, 1932). We do not know what the banner says. We have no addirional information avout the group, but given the elaborate costumes, including play swords. Their parents must take the samutai legends very serioily. Notice the Japanese soldiers in the background. ThevJapanese Imperial Arny by 1932 was well on its way to controlling he Government and was exrtinhg increasing influence in the schools.

A Samurai was a kind of Japanese knight. The Japanese Bushido code. sometimes called the soul of Japan, was comparable to European chivalry. Medieval Japanese society was a feudal society much like medieval Europe, although the country was unified under one national leadership. There were many similarities such as extreme loyalty to the feudal lord, fighting skill, and honor unto death. Another similarity was the importance of the sword. Notice the boy's here all ahve sords, probably wooden ones. One artifavt of his is samurai warfare deckined wa he creation of kendo. One major difference was suicide. This was prohibited by the Christian church. Feudalism was knighthood (except as an honorific) was destroyed in Europe by a combination of the Renaissance, Reformation, and the Enlightenment along with the related developments, capitalism and democracy. None of this occurred in Japan which remained a feudal society at the time of the arrival of Commodore Perry and the Black Ships (1853). This set in motion a modernization process, but at the time of World War II was still in many ways a feudal society with much of the land owned by a landed aristocracy. The Meiji Restoration occured (1868). There were a wide range of reforms. One of those reforms was aimed at the traditional rights and privileges of the Samurai class. The Meiji Restoration meant that that there were many unemployed Samurai. It might be recalled in Europe that one reason Pope Urban launched the Crusades was to occupy many unemployed knights. There was no such war for unemployed Samurai. And the Meiji Government gave considerable attention to the former Samurai. Their privileges were reduced or ended. The Samurai were renamed the Shizoku and the once-proud Samurai class officially ceased to exist. Members of the Samurai class and those who claimed Samurai status were categorized as either Shizoku or Sotsuzoku (1869). The Meiji Government then re-categorized the Sotsuzoku, former Samurai, as Shizoku or as Seimin meaning commoners (1872). The word Shizoku, thus came to mean a former Samurai. This was not a small group. Some 3 million Japanese men fell into this category. As the Meiji reforms continued, The Shizoku saw many of their traditional privileges reduced or ended. [Hunter] The prestigious right to carry swords was abolished. This was both a matter of status and public order. The Meiji Government instituted conscription for the Imperial Japanese Army, opening the military to all classes. The traditional stipends payed to Samurai were replaced with Government bonds. This all undermined the traditionally privileged position of the Samurai. Some former Smurai or Shizoku, however, came to play an impotnt role in the social, political, and economic life of Meiji Japan. The Samurai as a class ceased to exist (1914). The individual's class ceased to be officially recorded. It became a matter of family heritage rather than any kind of privileged position in Japanese society. The Meiji Restoration was a period of rapid change to a still very traditional society. There were disorders, even rebellions stemming from the Samurai/Shizoku c class. The peasant class was also not quiet. The most important such outbreak was Satsuma Rebellion (1877). Another important Meiji reform was the formal creation of the Imperial Japanese Army (1871). Some 10,000 men drawn from the feudal armies, most former Samurai or Ashigaru (professional foot soldiers employed by Samurai). This first force became the Imperial Guard (Konoe). Yamagata Aritomo vice minister of military affairs and the first commander. Yamagata was a member of a prestigious Samurai family from the Choshu domain. The first commander of the Imperial Guard, Saigo Takamori, was another former Samurai from the Satsuma domain. (He would lead the Satsuma Rebellion). The Imperial Japanese Army was thus from the very beginning heavily influenced by the Samurai. And their are many examples of Japanese world War II commanders who came from Samurai families. One of the most notable was Tadamichi Kuribayashi, the Japanese commander on Iwo Jima, who came from a minor Samurai family. Few Marines on Iwo would question the assertion that they fought a modern Samurai in the terrible blood letting that Iwo became. The aspect of all of this was the degree to which the Samurai spirit and ethos imprinted on the millions of commoners conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army.

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Created: 12:24 AM 7/11/2017
Last updated: 10:32 PM 12/30/2024