Just Finished Reading: A Brief History of The Samurai – The Way of Japan’s Elite Warriors by Jonathan Clements

I have been fascinated with stories of the Samurai for as long back as I can remember. These tales of amazing courage, skill and dedication couldn’t fail to move me and move me they did. The philosophy of Bushido – the Way of the Sword or the Way of the Warrior – was something almost mystical to aspire to. Over the years I’ve read a few books about certain aspects of the Samurai and their code so it came as no surprise that I instantly picked up this book on our recent visit to the Hay Book Festival and it’s no surprise that I read it so quickly afterwards. [As an aside it also alerted me to a whole series of Brief History books that I’ve started acquiring.]

I think what surprised me so much about this book is that the reality of the centuries of internecine warfare was so different to the legendary stories. In the seemingly interminable squabbles, feuds, uprisings and reprisals that characterised Medieval Japan I saw precious little sign of the Samurai virtues I had expected. Even their highest ideal of loyalty to their leader or Emperor was apparently open to interpretation and often, it seems, interpreted in a way that those seeking power acted in the way they needed to in order to take it. Although they often rushed directly at their enemies on the open battlefield calling out their names and ancestry to find a suitable opponent, they were not above killing their enemies by stealth, deception and the breaking of oaths. They certainly saw themselves as a cut above the ordinary soldier so, not unsurprisingly, hated the introduction of firearms which enabled a poorly trained peasant to kill a Samurai who had spent his whole life training with sword and bow. Such was the power of the Samurai in Japanese society that, after some years of being on the receiving end of matchlocks and later flintlocks, firearms of all types where first highly restricted and eventually banned from use.

Such halting of technological development and use became much easier when the ports were closed to foreigners and the country entered into a strange period of stasis. Despite efforts by the major European powers to open trade with Japan it was not until the advent of steam ships and the consequent need for coaling stations throughout the Pacific Rim that prompted the American Navy to force open negotiations with the Japanese at gun point. Of course after that everything changed though by this point the Samurai themselves had been in serious decline for some considerable time.

I did struggle a little bit with this generally readable history of an interesting but rather strange military elite. Above all else, I think, I just couldn’t keep track of the people’s names – especially when they intermarried, adopted and took on different family names. It was all rather confusing despite the author’s best efforts. Also, despite the fact that this was, inevitably, a book filled with battles I did find it a bit tedious to read about so many! Apart from that I did enjoy having my rather naïve preconceptions put right and being made aware of what really happened during a fascinating period in the history of, at least in my opinion, one of the strangest places on Earth.