HIEA 100A

Introductory Seminar

Who Was the Last Samurai? Samurai Rule in Japan from the 11th to the 19th Century

Marcon

Who was the last samurai? Both scholarly sources and popular culture agree: it was the charismatic Saigô Takamori (1827-77), the “last samurai” who in 1877 rebelled against the rapidly modernizing Japanese nation-state. But is it really so simple? Weren’t Takamori’s romantic ideals of samurai loyalty, honor, and aristocratic elitism anachronistic and surpassed well before Japan’s industrial modernization of the late nineteenth century? This seminar will try to answer this question by following the rise and fall of the warrior aristocracy of Japan from the 11th to the 19th century. It utilizes a variety of sources, ranging from literary texts, historical and religious documents, and historical illustrations, as well as contemporary manga, novels, and movies to follow the transformations of the social, political, and cultural role of the samurai in eight centuries of Japanese history.

No previous knowledge of Japanese history is required to enroll in this class. Reading materials consists of primary and secondary sources, amounting to a weekly load of 150-200 pages.