The Japanese Samurai

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The Japanese Samurai

• A Sean Viers and Bryan Cross Production

2
Brief Background

• Samurai is defined as the word for a Japanese
  warrior class.
• Started to come into existence in the 12th
  Century
• Around 1185 the shogun rose to power and removed
  power from emperor.

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General Samurai Information

• Allowed 2 swords (Long and Short)
• High Status among community
• Different rankings of a Samurai
• Kenin
• Mounted Samurai
• Foot Soldier

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Bushido Code

• Bushido means "way of the warrior This is the
  code the Samurai lived by.
• The code places emphasis on loyalty,
  self-sacrifice, justice, and sense of shame,
  purity, frugality, honor and affection.

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Death and Seppuku

• The samurai do not fear death because they
  believe as Buddhism teaches, after death one will
  be reincarnated and may live another life here on
  earth.
• Seppuku is a ritual suicide and the Samurai saw
  it as an honorable death.
• Hara-kiri translates to stomach cutting, which
  was a major part of the seppuku ritual.

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Seppuku Images courtesy of www.google.com
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Reasons for Seppuku

• Reasons for committing seppuku were connected to
  honor, disgrace, and punishment.
• Seppuku could also be a way of showing a
  disagreement with one's master.

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Down fall of the Samurai

• In the late 1800s the last shogun resigned and
  the emperor was reinstalled as the formal leader
  of Japan.
• The old feudal system and the privileges of the
  Japanese samurai class were officially abolished.
  
• The daimyo had to return the land to the emperor
  for which they received pensions by the Japanese
  state

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The Last Samurai

• The Western world had started to develop upgrades
  in military and technological warfare such as
  rifles, pistols, and cannons.
• In 1877 the last of the samurai had gathered
  under the famous samurai Takamori Saigo.
• The Samurai had an open field battle with the
  Japanese military.

V.S
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The Last Samurai (cont)

• There were 60,000 military troops and only 20,000
  Samurai
• Because the Samurai only used their swords and
  arrows they got wiped out by the guns and cannons
  of the military.
• After the battle there was only 300 Samurai left.
  They ran away and committed Seppuku.

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By the Way of the warrior is meant death. The
Way of the warrior is death. This means choosing
death whenever there is a choice between life and
death. It means nothing more than this. It means
to see things through, being resolved.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo