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Essay on Describe the effects the Japanese Samurai had on
Western culture and the effects of
Western culture had on the Japanese Samurai.
Samurai is the word for a Japanese warrior class. The term samurai was originally used to denote the aristocratic warriors, but it came to apply to all the members of the warrior class that rose to power in the 12th century and dominated the Japanese government until the Meiji Restoration.The Samurai is an upgraded version of the knight. Like the knight, it requires iron to build, but it does not require horses as the knight does. The Samurai has an additional defensive point, making it a powerful all-purpose unit which is equally suited for both assault and defense roles.
The Japanese samurai warriors came into existence in the 12th century when two powerful Japanese clans fought bitter wars against each other namely the Taira and the Minamato. Samurai were bound in loyalty to their feudal lord, and ruled by a rigid honor code. Samurai were supposed to lead their lives according to the ethic code of bushido ("the way of the warrior"). They became the only caste allowed to carry two swords. They were supposed to give up their lives for their lord without hesitation.
Since the 1600s, the Japanese islands had been run by the Tokugawa shogunate. "Shogun" was the title of the supreme military leader in Japan .In 1633, shogun Iemitsu forbade traveling abroad and almost completely isolated Japan in 1639 by reducing the contacts to the outside world to very limited trade relations with China and the Netherlands in the port of Nagasaki. In addition, all foreign books were banned.
Despite the isolation, domestic trade and agricultural production continued to improve. During the Edo period and popular culture flourished. New art forms like kabuki and ukiyoe became very popular especially among the townspeople. The first contact of Japan and west was Nagasaki business. To do business with Japan, some foreigners visited Japan and by these people west could know about Japan......
