EXPLORE MEDIEVAL TRADITIONS

“And I think that this in turn underlies a further paradox about the standing of the Samurai in the imagination, which is that on the one hand, they are indelibly Japanese. They are up there with geisha and with tea ceremonies and sumo and all that kind of thing as absolutely kind of A-list markers of Japanese culture. A samurai is Japan.”

“The thing about the samurai, and this is what makes them different, say, from other very mythologized classes of warrior, like Vikings, say, or the Knights of Medieval Christendom. These are medieval warriors who actually outlast the Middle Ages. And I think that this is why in the West, as well as I would guess in Japan, they're aesthetic, the sense of them as having kind of moral codes, their vibe, can actually seem much more attuned to contemporary culture.”

“And the title Shogun. So Shogun is an ancient title, isn't it? Or at least in its full version, it's an ancient title. And it's basically a great general or warlord who subdues barbarians, isn't that right?”

“The regime that Tokugawa establishes, and which is run by his descendants, endures for two and a half centuries. So right the way up until the middle of the 19th century. And throughout that entire period, Japan remains at peace. So you've had 200 years of kind of savage war, warlords tearing chunks out of each other, and then you have two and a half centuries of stability and order.”

“Throughout this period of peace, the samurai are effectively functioning as bureaucrats, as civilians, but they never give up their military status. The shogunate is always casting itself as a military regime. And the grander you are as a samurai, the better your birth, the more you are expected to kind of cosplay as a lord from the era of the warring states.”