Samurai in Japan - Research Paper Example

Topic: Samurai The samurai represented Japans war horizon for seven centuries. The ‘Samurai’ has been taken from the Japanese word ‘saburau’, which means service. The samurai appeared as military ranks and then as military rulers. Their interference in government started in 1156, and from 1160 to 1185 the warrior Taira no Kiyomori dominated matters of law (http://www.samurai-archives.com/los.html). The historical figures of Japanese classical warrior were waging war in the north of Honshu by the end of the eighth century. The dependence for saving the rulers by the Samurai class has increased to the extent of Emperor’s courtiers playing no role and remaining idle while Samurais were fighting battles on the horse backs with bows and arrows as well as newly crafted curved swords (http://www.samurai-archives.com/ots.html). The samurai warriors’ downfall came with modernization of Japan. In most of the cases, a country’s modernization is welcomed by its people and the government but that was not true in the case of Japan. Military class ruled Japan with extended responsibilities to serve the people and social affairs. This class was called ‘Samurai’ who not only defended the boundaries but were active in the social and cultural settings, and were distinct by being given a status of elite class by the rulers but they were not able to keep their hold on the nation and society for too long. With the downfall of Tokugawa shogunate, the rulers since 1600s to mid of 1800s, the coming back to power of the king in 1868, the newly established Meiji bureaucrats wanted reformation of the country to its earlier status. This reformation brought to the end the samurai class of warriors by late 1870’s; the downfall was not totally due to progress on the technology front but reform in all walks of life such as social, political, and cultural (Moscardi, 2007). The Meiji rulers wanted to restore the old glory of Japan, which came under aggression due to treaties made with the U.S. by the Tokugawa bakufu rulers, which put foreigners in an advantageous position by not charging taxes on imports and granting them immunity to Japanese law. The Emperor Meiji wanted to bring Japan on the same platform were the whole of West was standing. The aim of reformation was “having an economics system of industrial capitalism and a political system of liberal or quasi-liberal constitutionalism as in the U.S. and other European countries (Mason 257)).” With the opening of Japanese ports to others and ending seclusion in the mid 1800’s, the rulers found the country lacking behind world powers in the matter of technology, sciences, political, and economic affairs (257)) (Moscardi, 2007). Reformation impacted all walks of Japanese life but Samurais were most affected by political reformation. Emperor was made the supreme power although symbolic while government functions were performed by a cabinet of bureaucrats. Samurais reacted against such functioning of the rule and tried to bring a representative government to snatch power from Meiji rulers and become politically powerful themselves. A written constitution was adopted, agreeing to other party system governments (Lu, 327)). Before the commissioning of the constitution, the government was run as a coalition of administrator daimyos helping the emperor in the functions of the government. After social reform, the new class system consisted of nobility, samurai, gentry and soldiers, and rest of the common people who had freedom to choose their business (Turnbull 180-1)) (Moscardi, 2007). . Lordship powers of the daimyo were taken away by Meiji in 1869 by guaranteeing them political powers in return against giving up their right over their lands. Meiji rulers further pushed the daimyo in the tight corner by making bureaucratic appointments to put the government functioning in better hands and relinquishing daimyos from all powers. It was a total structural reform on the European lines by structuring a system of cabinet, led by a prime minister and a task force of earlier samurais and at the same time going for a civil services examination system to select officials for running the government (Gordon, 63-64)). A number of samurais from the Satsuma, Choshu, Tosa, and Hizen states reacted to this by self-appointing positions of power and attempted to strengthen the central government. Samurais raised their voice against the central government once they found that they had failed in their efforts to keep samurai elite (Lu, 314)). Stripped of all their sheen and ancestral privileges, other samurais who were not awarded any rank in the government got disappointed. Government functioned without any status recognition to samurais. Reform was happening to samurai class slowly and steadily. (Ravina, 161-63)) (ibid). Economic reform was also initiated when Meiji were at the helm of affairs. Economic policy of Meiji affected samurai financial policy, remuneration, and their overall economic rank. Economic reforms had a positive impact on the economic growth of Japan but not on samurais, as an industrialized Japan was “incompatible with an idle military class.” Thus, samurai needs were sacrificed to fulfill the long term purpose of Restoration (Turnbull, 180)). Samurai stipends were cut down even then they were a big burden on the government financials. Government in its desire to stop samurai stipends divided them into upper and lower categories to tax their stipends and changed them into bonds paid with interest, which heavily affected samurai income (Gordon, 65)) (ibid). Reformation reduced samurai strength greatly. Around six percent samurai got jobless. Other than military no other work suited them but there too, chances were negligible of getting employed. Government on its own tried to compensate by providing them with a meager stipend and without any interest although its intentions were to erase the whole class of samurai (Turnbull, 183)). Samurai gathered themselves against the government to protest against a cut of 30 to 80 percent on their income but they were not united in their rebellion; some of them joined Saigo Takamori’s Satsuma Rebellion (Ravina 199)) while others opted for industrial occupations, finding “justification for assuming the new profession that had been the bane of their class in earlier days (Lu 345)).” Thus, economic reform put samurai in a tight corner not to come out survived (ibid). Samurai mentality was against all western concepts. Samurai followed a diplomatic policy “sonno-joi,” meaning “Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarian. There was an upsurge in samurai groups against the Tokugawa and Europeans. Finally Meiji government succeeded in Restoration by defeating Tokugawa bakafu but samurai kept alive till the last moment their anguish against foreigners through “sonno-joi” slogan. Social environment also was not conducive to samurai. People were happy with the government modernization effort. They were free to choose their profession. With the removal of feudalism, huge social and political consciousness arrived in the minds of population. Earlier, samurai served on civilian and army, both fronts but under the new political structure conscript armies attended to military functions and civilian functions were performed by local administration. Samurai rights remained at the government’s target; they were not permitted to carry sword in public. They felt neglected in the government, as they were not involved in any decision making process. They revolted against such conduct they were not habitual to. The final bolt in samurai demise came when government vetoed a Korean aggression when Korea refused to keep alive a centuries old treaty. Samurai would have got all their lost reputation and glory of military elite had the government not vetoed the aggression of Korea but the government made the excuse that war at that stage would affect economic growth and would come in the way of its modernization efforts and Restoration (Lu, 325)). Angered by government response, samurai waged a revolt under Saigo Takamori in which samurai from Satsuma and Chosu states waged a war against their own country, which proved to be the final nail in their coffin. The samurai warriors met their demise (Turnbull 185)) (ibid). Samurai are remembered for some of major wars like the Gempei War, Mongol Invasion, and the Onin War. The Mongol Invasion took place in 1274 and 1281 at Kyushu, esp. Hakata Bay in which the Mongol, Chinese, and Korean armies under the command of Kublai Khan fought with Japanese forces under Dazai Shôni Tsunetsugu. Kublai Khan was defeated by the samurai forces that were quite united by their patriotism and organization. The Mongol Invasion has global importance as well as it is considered a feat accomplished by Japanese army in its history, as it was instrumental in controlling Mongol expansion (http://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Mongol_invasions). The Onin War was fought for a long period in the history of Japan, known as the Sengoku Jidai, which meant the “Age of the Country at War.” Starting from a quarrel between a father and his son-in-law, it transformed into a war that got prolonged for eleven years at a stretch. The war destroyed the city of Kyoto by igniting bloodshed that has not been seen before. The colossal loss took several years after the war to bring back peace to the Kyoto city. There was disturbance all around, even country side could not remain unaffected due to the fires of war. Villages under the Ji-Samurai gathered together to create their own army called Ikki, which very early transformed their ranks into disciplined armies from common peasants. This was yet another beginning of a period of clashes and bloodshed due to family feud in Hatakeyama clan with the upsurge of Ikki and the disturbances in Yamashiro. The Age of the Country at War” had started (http://www.samurai-archives.com/tow.html). The reassessment of Gempei War has been made, as there has been no historical record maintained. It is claimed that fighting was a local matter and more so was opportunisitic. The Taira had been a mysterious organization, and their standing against Minamato was at purely local scale. The western samurai authors have taken the records of Heike Monogatari for battle accounts word by word. It is derived that personification of war figures has been made keeping the interests of audiences in mind. Further, the only true war happened at Kurikawa. Worth mentioning achievement has been the 1184 Court-Minamato agreement that cleared the path for the Kamakura Bakufu (http://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Gempei_War). In the background of samurai wars that happened in the history of Japan and the elite status occupied by samurai, their demise to modernization is also a distinct and unique feature wherein the government created such environment, which made samurai existence worth for nothing. References Abbasi, Mohammed. (2010). Life of samurai and Shogunates. Retrieved May 28, 2010, from http://www.samurai-archives.com/los.html Gempei war. (2009). Retrieved May 28, 2010, from http://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Gempei_War Jilbert, J.(2007). The Onin war (Onin no Jidai). Retrieved May 28, 2010, from http://www.samurai-archives.com/tow.html Lay, David. (2007). Origins of the samurai. Retrieved May 28, 2010, from http://www.samurai-archives.com/ots.html Moscardi, Nino. (2007). Modernization and the decline of the samurai. Retrieved May 28, 2010, from http://www.samurai-archives.com/mds.html SamuraiWiki. (2008). Mongol invasions. Retrieved May 28, 2010, from http://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Mongol_invasions Read More