Samurai in 3 minutes: (English narration with Japanese subtitles)
The title graphic says "You can understand Samurai in 3 minutes" but actually this runs longer than 3
minutes. It seems to be from a TV show.
Take a look at the videos below. They show what the inside of a samurai house looked like (1st one) and a dinner table (2nd).
Inside a samurai house: (no audio)
Dinner table: (no audio)
This is called Hakozen, or box-table. Each family member had his/her own table. The bowls and other utensils go into the box part after eating.
The photo above shows the tables without the box part. They are made of Japanese lacquer ware. Japanese in those days usually didn't use a big table. This photo is from a commercial film on TV so it's not truly accurate but you see how the tables are placed. Actually, in most samurai families, women didn't eat with men.
More about photos from the time period:
Japanese Old Photographs of the Bakumatsu-Meiji Periods, Nagasaki University
Bauduin Collection (excerpt of the collection above)
Edogoyomi, amazing 3D images!
Edo, another amazing 3D Edo world!
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Wow. I had no idea that samurai were so similar to chivalrous knights in certain respects. I mainly assumed them to be 'honourable' warriors recognized by their use of swords in combat. (Are they called "katanas"?) And it just so happens that they rarely use them! Ha!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your nice comment. Well, it's too bad I can show you a real battle but here's more clips you may enjoy! (Yes. They may be too offensive for some viewers.)
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/wcc30VZjWN8
It says a BBC show about Sekigahara (1600). I'm not very knowledgeable of this time of history but it's a BBC show. I think it's accurate.
http://youtu.be/zHkxUiE1Vxo
The battle scene from Last Samurai. The setting and roles are not real, a fiction based on or influenced by the Seinan Senso, or Satsuma Rebellion, in 1877 and other rebellions against the Meiji government (1868~1877, not continuous. Different rebellions by different people here and there). The Meiji government army carries guns, the rebellion of samurais wear the old fashioned battle gears.
The story was not so impressive to me but this battle scene goes me nuts! Without any rational reason, it makes me feel "I've gotta be there". (Please don't be mistaken, I love peace.)
Between these two major battle times, 17th ~ mid 19th century, called Edo period, we had no war. Their "katana" swords were mainly the symbol of samurai class.
Hope you enjoy the videos!