The Last of the Samurai: Japan’s Legendary Warriors | 1868 | Time Travels

Name: The Last of the Samurai: Japan’s Legendary Warriors | 1868 | Time Travels | Humix Video
Uploaded: 2025-04-16T18:09:20+00:00
Duration: 23 min 28 s

0:00
It's 1945 and a lone aircraft roars through the sky, searching for its target
0:05
Charles is a young pilot, barely 19, and he is on a special mission
0:10
His nation is first and foremost in his mind, but he can't help but turn his thoughts towards his young bride waiting at home
0:18
Her photo is pinned to the instrument panel of his aircraft. Suddenly, up ahead looms the giant hulk of a warship, an enemy warship
0:25
and the young pilot steals himself and he lines his aircraft up on the target
0:29
In his mind, he has become a warrior of old, a hero of his homeland
0:34
His zero-fighter roars in at 300 miles per hour, and there can be no turning back
0:42
During the Second World War, Japan's troops proved themselves to be a ferocious fighting force
0:47
driven by an intense desire to further their homeland's interests. But this just wasn't any old kind of nationalism, though
0:54
It was a deliberately manufactured mindset. that the government had done its best to instill in all of its men
1:00
It called back to Japan in the Middle Ages, when a tough breed of statesman and warrior
1:04
rose to lead states within the nation in an ever-evolving war of dominance
1:09
But who were these men, and how did they have so much influence in Japan
1:14
Hello, time travellers. My name is Michael Brady, and this is the true story of the lasting legacy
1:19
of Japan's legendary warriors, the samurai. One, zero, liftoff
1:36
We all know their name. Over centuries, the word has passed into popular culture and myth
1:41
But who actually were the samurai? Where did the infamous samurai warrior spirit come from
1:46
And how was it used to encourage young men to sacrifice their lives so willingly all those years later during the Second World War
1:53
Well, to answer these questions, we have to turn the clock all the way back and find out where the samurai came from and how they evolved over centuries
2:03
In feudal Japan, they had originally formed a mixed warrior and ruling class
2:07
but they had descended from a much older class of public servant from all the way back in the 8th century
2:12
Feudal Japan, which ran roughly from the 7th century up until the late 1860s
2:16
was a very hierarchical society. Now, let me try to distill it down
2:20
The emperor and court nobility were theoretically on top and were the most highly respected positions in the country
2:27
I say theoretically though because they were powerless when compared to the shogun
2:32
The shogun was the military dictator of Japan and he was owed allegiance to by the daimyo class
2:38
The daimyo were landowners who had been passed great swathes of land down over generations
2:43
and it was to them that the samurai were assigned for protection
2:48
The samurai were the next class down. In return for their loyalty, the daimyo-awarded samurai land in their domain
2:54
as well as salary of food or money. Now, these classes made up the Japanese mobility
2:59
Well, beneath the nobility and descending order of respect, were the peasants, the craftsmen, and finally the merchants
3:05
Now, interestingly, merchants were considered as the lowest of classes because they didn't actually produce anything themselves
3:11
and only seemed to serve as a middleman between the craftsmen and their customers
3:15
Now, contrary to popular belief, the samurai weren't just warriors, but formed a landed nobility in their society, about the same as a medieval European knight
3:25
They were expected to serve their daimyo faithfully, following every order and sacrificing their life if necessary
3:31
Now, this way of life, all of the nuances and duties, was eventually organized into what has been called the Bushido Code, meaning the way of the warrior
3:40
While the Bushido Code was set down as the blueprint for a samurai's way of life
3:44
it was not set in concrete. It changed and evolved from the 1600s on
3:49
as Japan itself changed and soon it evolved into something unique and terrifying
3:54
giving the samurai immense power. Despite Japan having an emperor that was recognised by all
4:02
the daimyo kind of functioned as their own individual statesman, fighting wars amongst themselves
4:08
Until the Edo period began in 1600 and the country finally became united under a shogun
4:14
there was never a shortage of battles for the samurai to fight. From the mid-15th century until 1600, Japan was in a state of constant warfare between the different regional daimyo
4:25
In these wars, the Japanese social system was far less entrenched than it would eventually become
4:29
allowing samurai to rise through social ranks through merit or even overthrowing their superiors
4:35
In this way, many of the daimyo were established as rulers. Christianity began to arrive in Japan in the 16th century through Portuguese missionaries
4:44
and quickly established a foothold. These efforts were particularly successful on the most southern of Japan's largest island
4:50
Kyushu, where several independent daimyo were converted to Christianity, who in turn converted their samurai beneath them
4:58
The religious fervor quickly led to the destruction of Buddhist and Shinto shrines in the region
5:02
as part of the warfare conducted between the newly converted lords and those who were still following Japan's traditional belief system
5:11
It might seem strange that newly arrived missionaries would be so easily able to convert high-ranking members of the nobility
5:18
and establish a religion that had no historical presence in the region
5:22
But at this point in Japanese history, the island had been subject to civil war for so long
5:26
that anything that could provide an advantage was seen as being on the cards
5:30
Which brings us to the next point. Being a Christian offered trade advantages with foreign
5:35
powers, such as allowing access to gunpowder and weaponry. Prior to the unification of Japan under
5:43
the Shogun being a samurai meant a near constant fight for survival in the many wars being fought and scrambling for any advantage that might be afforded to your side Now this included joining with foreigners and their religion if that what your lord ordered you to do
5:59
Now despite the reputation for honourable conduct and the strict code of honour that the samurai followed
6:04
they were fundamentally mercenaries that did whatever it took to win. This all changed in 1600 when the shogun managed to take power in the country and united the many daimyo under his rule
6:17
An era of peace began that would last for centuries and dramatically change the role of the samurai
6:22
Much bigger changes were to come, though. Before the 1630s, Japan engaged in much the same trade and maritime activities as the rest of the world
6:32
In that decade, a series of edicts were issued by the shogun that would close Japan almost entirely off from the rest of the world
6:40
These policies were collectively known as Sokoku, and they restricted trade with most foreign powers
6:46
as well as forbidding Japanese people from leaving the country under penalty of death
6:51
The samurai in Japan itself would enter a period of peace that would last until the 1860s
6:57
And from this point, culture rather than warfare flourished among the samurai
7:01
But this couldn't last forever. As with the rest of the world, technology and modernization
7:06
were soon to catch up with Japan and the samurai. Spanish missionary Francis Xavier arrived in Japan in the mid-16th century
7:16
and was immediately impressed with the cultivated lifestyle practiced by the samurai
7:21
Literacy was common for both men and women, with poetry and gardening being especially popular pastimes for the elite
7:29
Xavier wrote back to Europe that the samurai sent their children to monasteries
7:33
from the age of 8 to 18, where they would learn literacy and religion before graduating
7:38
and applying themselves to politics and marriage. He called them discreet, magnanimous
7:46
and lovers of virtue and letters. That being said, they were first and foremost a military class
7:51
so fighting and training took up large portions of their time. From childhood, both male and female samurai children
7:58
were taught martial arts and swordsmanship. Men practiced so they would always be ready for war
8:03
and women so they would be able to defend their home in case the men were away fighting
8:08
Now the samurai's status and power had grown to immense proportions. During the Edo period, to treat a samurai with disrespect could result in immediate death for whoever it was that had insulted the warrior
8:22
They had the right to kill members of the lower classes that had insulted them as part of a practice called Kirisute Gomen
8:29
There were strict rules around this. The killer blow had to be delivered in one hit immediately after the offence
8:35
and the samurai would have to immediately report the incident. to a government official
8:39
At the same time, there were also restrictions that had been placed on the samurai
8:43
They were forbidden from taking part in commerce and trade, as it was seen as being beneath their social status
8:50
A policy of death before dishonor was also implemented. Seppuku, a ritual disembowelment
8:58
was practiced by the samurai, who felt that they had been dishonored or had failed a task
9:02
In a seppuku ceremony, a samurai would stab themselves in the stomach with their own blade
9:07
and pull across, slicing their belly open, while a second would stand overhead
9:12
ready to decapitate the victim after their blade had been pulled. This could be ordered by a superior officer
9:18
if a samurai had shamed themselves through bad conduct, but was more common as a means of honourable death after a defeat in battle
9:25
It was considered shameful to lose a battle and be taken prisoner, but by seppuku, the samurai could keep their honour
9:32
In Japan, only samurai and members of the upper classes had the right to carry weapons
9:36
and they were awarded two swords that they always carried on the left side as a marker of their class
9:43
Despite the prosperity of the Edo period, all was not well. Between the country being closed in the 1630s and the country opening up again in the 1850s
9:52
the population of Japan had roughly doubled. On top of this, the urban population had absolutely exploded
9:58
and the capital city Edo's population had increased drastically from 100,000 in 1600
10:03
to over 1 million in just 250 years. This increase in population and urbanization
10:09
was causing social unrest even before the opening of the country. The new concentration of people in urban areas
10:15
had catapulted the wealth of the merchant class, despite them being originally considered
10:19
as the lowest of the social classes. By contrast, the lands of Samurai weren't heavily taxed
10:25
and this began to reduce the income of the ruling class. This social tension came to a head in 1853
10:32
when an American fleet under the command of Admiral Matthew Perry sailed into Edo, which is now Tokyo Harbor
10:38
and demanded that Japan open themselves up to the rest of the world. Although the country was closed to most
10:44
in certain ports, trade with the Dutch remained open, particularly for the importing of weaponry
10:50
The samurai had been using gunpowder weaponry for far before Admiral Perry's expedition made land
10:55
but the arrival of this new fleet had huge other ramifications. It meant that Japan would lose the ability
11:01
to regulate its own trade and would be forced to accept whatever provisions were forced upon it by
11:06
the west. Now seeing the superiority of the American fleet, knowing what had happened to China when it
11:11
had attempted to resist western powers in the opium wars, that's definitely a story for another time
11:17
the shogun reluctantly accepted the unequal treaties forced upon them by America and later
11:22
by other western powers. Now the daimyo and the samurai were badly disillusioned by this enormous
11:28
changed to Japanese society. This was a group of people who'd been practicing
11:32
an intense and ritualistic way of life for centuries. Now, it all felt like it was coming to an end
11:39
The Shogun finally lost the loyalty of the Daimyo who rallied around the Emperor instead the tensions were too much and a brutal civil war broke out as the Daimyo rebelled against the Shogun
11:50
Even as the Shogun tried to modernize his armies with Western help, the combined forces of the Daimyo proved too much
11:56
and at the decisive four-day battle of Toba Fushimi, the Shogun's rule was ended
12:02
The 15-year-old Emperor, Mai-ji, became the true head of Japan, no longer just a figurehead
12:08
Thus began the period of Japanese modernization that would dominate the remainder of the 19th century
12:13
and completely transform Japanese society from the ground up. When the American expedition reached the shores of Japan in 1853
12:22
it became apparent just how far behind Japan was when compared to the rest of the world
12:27
The samurai split into two groups, those who wished to preserve the shogun
12:31
and retain what they considered to be Japan's natural state, and those who wished to modernize and enter the new world
12:39
The new Japanese government quickly found that an elite military caste was not suited to the challenges of the modern world
12:44
and that a reformation of the army would be required if Japan was to keep its independence in the face of all those Western empires at their doorstep
12:52
Field Marshal Yamagata Aritomo introduced conscription for all Japanese men over 20 years old
12:58
regardless of social class. The army was no longer the sole domain of the samurai
13:03
but had become a national institution. On top of this, loyalty to the regional daimyo
13:08
began to be seen as outdated and divisive. Efforts were made to ensure the soldiers and Japanese society as a whole
13:15
were not connected simply to a region, but felt loyalty towards the emperor and the entire unified country
13:23
The Japanese government also began a series of industrialization projects, building factories and railways all across the islands
13:30
that dramatically changed the economy. The payments that had previously been given to the samurai by their lords also stopped
13:37
as the new government didn't feel there was any point in continuing to supply that class with money
13:43
In 1876, the government went so far as to ban the carrying of swords
13:48
which had been a marker of the samurai class for centuries. This tension between the samurai and the new Japanese government culminated in the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877
13:59
Saigo Takamori was a samurai who had originally supported the rise of the emperor
14:03
but by 1877 he was uncomfortable with the direction that the Japanese nation was taking
14:09
He saw industrialization and the adoption of Western culture as a deep betrayal of the Japanese way of life
14:14
and he began setting up paramilitary groups led by samurai in the Satsuma region
14:19
in violation of the government's ban on weapons. When the newly formed Japanese Imperial Army was sent to disarm the groups
14:26
Takamori found himself leading a samurai rebellion against the government. Once the Tokyo government had mobilized however it quickly became clear
14:34
just how outdated the samurai were in New Japan. There were around 30,000 samurai at Takamori's command
14:43
armed with traditional swords and spears supplemented with antiquated gunpowder guns that had been in Japan for centuries
14:50
The imperial army however was able to mobilize over 200,000 conscripts armed with the latest in Western weaponry, including artillery and machine guns
15:00
The result was a massacre of the samurai. Of the major battles fought in the rebellion, not a single one was a samurai victory
15:08
And less than a year after the rebellion had begun, Takamori's forces had been reduced to just a few hundred men
15:14
And he performed seppuku to avoid capture. The last of the samurai with him chose to charge the Imperial Army lines
15:32
in a hopeless attack as a last, wild gesture of defiance, and they were gunned down with ease
15:39
With this, the last of the samurai were defeated, and Japan's modern era had truly begun
15:48
This marked the end of the traditional samurai way of life, and those remaining alive fairly quickly adapted to the new order
15:55
taking new roles in a society that was rapidly changing to meet the challenges of a new age
16:02
Mori Arunori, for example, was from a samurai family and was the first minister of education in Japanese history
16:08
serving beforehand as ambassador to various nations. Though he was a descendant of samurai, he could be seen as one of those more radical reformists in the Japanese government
16:16
He was a converted Christian and went so far as to suggest the abolition of the Japanese language in favour of English
16:24
This sounds insane today, but it just reflects how deeply concerned the samurai and all of Japanese society was
16:30
when faced with the prospect of other powers being so obviously capable of conquering them
16:36
In a way, the word Western became a code word for modernity
16:40
and what had been Japanese became outdated and weak. This cultural self-hate wouldn't last, of course
16:46
but in the early days it contributed significantly to the destruction of the traditional samurai way of living
16:54
Despite the massive changes, some traditional elements remained. Devotion to a master changed from the daimyo to the emperor
17:02
and it did not disappear. The Bushido Code itself was first adapted and then adopted
17:07
by the new conscript army, modified for its new role in an army of common people rather than nobility
17:13
In terms of the absolute devotion to a master and a sense of honor that must never be infringed
17:17
upon, it was not until after the Second World War that the Bushido Code was truly rendered obsolete
17:23
Believe it or not, the samurai themselves never truly went extinct. The social classes might have
17:28
been abolished and the ways of living changed but the samurai families have maintained their influence in Japanese society even to the modern day A recent BBC article described the situation thus In 1868 the samurai surrendered their swords cut their hair put on western suits and marched into the ministries and they still there today
17:47
The samurai families continue to dominate politically and economically within the country
17:51
In fact, Shinzo Abe, who was Japan's longest-serving prime minister, was actually descended of samurai
17:56
So it was that in the 20th century, though the samurai might have been abolished
18:05
their influence continued to be felt through much of Japanese culture. In much the same way medieval knights were looked upon in Europe as an idealized culture
18:13
that upheld chivalry and all things that were good, the samurai came to be seen as a symbol of Japanese strength and pride
18:20
This became especially true during the Second World War, when the entirety of Japanese society was mobilized and taught absolute devotion to the emperor, even unto death
18:30
In fact, the emperor was seen as a kind of deity, and the whole royal family was considered holy
18:36
Their preservation and the protection of Japan was of the utmost importance
18:41
and virtually the entire nation rallied behind this ideal. This brings us back to our young pilot
18:47
Probably the most famous implementation of the Bushido Code of Self-Sacrifice after the modernization of Japan
18:52
was by the kamikaze pilots. Japan had entered the Second World War confident it could defeat the
18:57
United States and the British, but American production had proved just too much. By 1944
19:02
and 1945, late in the war, America's warship sailed almost with impunity as Japan's navy
19:08
sat mostly at the bottom of the ocean. And defeat bred desperation. The enemy would have to be
19:14
stopped at all costs. Government propaganda specifically cited Bushido and the old warrior
19:20
spirit to call on young men to do something radical. They could never sink American warships
19:25
en masse with bombs or rockets. It might take dozens of bombs and torpedoes to sink just one
19:30
battleship, but a fully laden airplane loaded with explosives could prove a killer blow
19:35
The kamikaze were born, instructed to fly their aircraft directly into American warships
19:40
and sink them. They would be hailed as the new heroes of Japan and the newest incarnation
19:45
of the loyal samurai. The effect was not enough to change the tide of the war, but they had an
19:51
intense psychological effect on the Americans and the rest of the world, who looked with shock and
19:56
horror as Japanese fighter aircraft and bombers began to be flown deliberately into the decks of
20:01
Allied warships in droves. The effect was tremendous. Thousands of Allied sailors and
20:06
airmen were killed by waves of kamikaze attacks, and over 30 ships were sunk. This loss of men and
20:12
materiel was to American leadership kind of to be expected. The sheer fighting will of the Japanese
20:18
soldier was impossible to ignore. The Japanese generals of the time hoped that such intense
20:23
devotion would be able to overcome the enemy's numerical and material superiority. And this was
20:29
stated directly by General Kawabe, commander of the Kamikaze pilots while addressing the American
20:34
Commission of Inquiry after the war. He explained that, right up until the end, we believed we could
20:40
outweigh your material and scientific superiority by the force of our moral and spiritual convictions
20:47
Now the Code of Bushido might have originated with the samurai, but by the Second World War it
20:52
was permeated throughout all of Japanese society. The kamikaze pilots were by and large not the
20:57
fanatical descendants of samurai themselves, but were often well-educated students who did what
21:02
they felt to be their duty to Japan. In Ryuji Nagatsuka's book, I Was a Kamikaze, he wrote
21:10
of the internal conflict felt by himself and his companions when faced with the prospect of a
21:14
kamikaze attack. He said, I was longing to go back to my studies. I was unconsciously hoping to be
21:20
demobilized while in my conscious mind I was determined to offer up my life in the service
21:25
of my country. More tragically than pilots willingly sacrificing themselves was the events
21:30
on the island of Saipan when over 1,000 civilians chose to jump off the island's cliffs rather than
21:36
be captured by American forces. When it became clear that the war was going to be lost, the entire
21:40
population of the Japanese mainland was mobilized to fight off an invasion, with millions being armed
21:45
with little more than sharpened sticks. The Japanese military government had taken the code
21:50
of no surrender to heart and was perfectly prepared to sacrifice the entire country
21:55
if that's what it took. Finally, in August 1945, Emperor Hirohito made the decision
22:01
after months of intense firebombing and the dropping of two nuclear bombs
22:04
that surrender was Japan's only option if it was to ever exist into the future
22:10
He spoke on radio the first time the Japanese people had ever heard their holy emperor's voice
22:16
Japan would finally surrender to the enemy. And even after hearing the emperor himself give the order to lay down their arms
22:24
there was an attempted coup from the army to prevent that surrender. That's how deeply ingrained the code of Bushido had become in the society
22:34
despite the samurai being abolished long before the second world war the bushido code has survived
22:40
and still influences much of japanese society to one extent or another to this day
22:44
a famous author yukio mishima adhered to the lifestyle of samurai to the point that in the
22:49
1970s he attempted to stage a coup to restore the emperor to power and rebuild the empire of japan
22:55
now this failed catastrophically and he was even heckled by the very soldiers he attempted to rally
23:00
but it shows that even in the 1970s, the samurai spirit was alive and well

The Last of the Samurai: Japan’s Legendary Warriors | 1868 | Time Travels

Time Travels

Colombian senator and presidential hopeful shot and wounded at rally

Italy holds referendums on citizenship and workers' rights

Movie Remakes With Worse Rotten Tomatoes Scores Than The Original

LADY ELIZABETH SCHOOL Deputy Head Chris Lowe Talks to BayRadio

SuperfastCPA Reviews: How Jeff Passed His CPA Exams

Graduate Scholarship at Monash University | Study in Australia

Predictions for the collapse of our civilization

How to Create a Spring Boot 3.0 Project Using Spring Initializr (Step-by-Step)

Google Translate API Integration in Python Without API Key – Translate Text Seamlessly in Terminal

Assassin's Creed Shadows - The Onryo Samurai: 11 Masked Samurai Introduction Cutscene | Nagata Death

Jackie Chan revives Karate Kid's EPIC legacy with Ralph Macchio in 'Karate Kid: Legends' | Capital

Breakout and On the Run (New) Haunted House at The Queen Mary's Dark Harbor: The Spirits Rise 2024

Up next in 10

The Last of the Samurai: Japan’s Legendary Warriors | 1868 | Time Travels

Time Travels