Samurai in 100 Objects

Description

From lowly attendants (samurai literally means ‘those who serve’) to members one of the world’s most powerful military organizations, the samurai underwent a progression of changes to reach a preeminent position in Japanese society and culture. Even their eventual eclipse did not diminish their image as elite warriors, and they would live on in stories and films. This proud and enduring tradition is exemplified and explored by the carefully selected objects gathered here from Japanese locations and from museums around the world. These objects tell the story of the samurai from acting as the frontier guards for the early emperors to being the inspiration for the kamikaze pilots. The artifacts, many of which are seen here for the first time, include castles, memorial statues, paintings and prints associated with the rise of the samurai along with their famous armor and weapons. The latter include the Japanese longbow, a thirteenth century bomb and the famous samurai sword, but not every artifact here is from the past. In a Japanese souvenir shop was found a cute little blue duck dressed as a samurai complete with helmet, spear and surcoat, dressed authentically as the brutal samurai Katō Kiyomasa, who was responsible for a massacre at Hondo castle in 1589! Contents......Page 6 Introduction......Page 9 The Eastern Gate of Fort Akita......Page 13 An Ivory Carving of Samurai......Page 15 An ebitra or Quiver ......Page 17 A Samurai Helmet......Page 19 Picture Scroll of the Later Three Years’ War......Page 22 Sword of the tachi Style ......Page 23 Spiritual Guardian Nio ......Page 25 Head Inspection......Page 28 Itsukushima Shrine......Page 29 Minamoto Yoshitsune’s Helmet......Page 31 Tomoe Gozen......Page 33 A Heike Crab......Page 35 A Mongol Bomb......Page 37 The ‘Chrysanthemum on the Water’ Crest......Page 39 The Temple Door of the Nyoirinji......Page 41 Wooden Statue of Ashikaga Takauji......Page 43 The Scroll Boki Ekotoba......Page 46 A wakizashi Sword......Page 47 The wako......Page 49 The Temple of the Golden Pavilion......Page 51 Marishiten......Page 54 Helmet Crest of Fudo Myo-o......Page 55 Sword of katana Style......Page 57 Castle Tower of the Sengoku Period......Page 60 Spear......Page 61 Arquebus......Page 63 Hanging Scroll of Uesugi Kenshin......Page 65 Hanging Scroll of Kosaka Masanobu......Page 67 Wooden Statue of Matsu Hime......Page 69 Itagaki Nobukata’s War Fan......Page 72 An ashigaru’s okegawa-do......Page 73 Painted Screen of the Battle of the Anegawa......Page 75 The War Drum of Hamamatsu Castle......Page 77 Torii Sune’emon......Page 79 Battle Standard in the Form of a gohei......Page 81 Stone with the Face of a Devil ......Page 83 Cannon of Otomo Sorin......Page 86 Battle Map of Tanaka Castle......Page 87 The Kai Shrine and Yufu Korekiyo’s Grave......Page 89 The Red-Walled Temple......Page 91 Bronze Statue of Bernardo Nagasaki......Page 93 Kato Yoshiaki......Page 95 Konishi Yukinaga......Page 97 The Siege of Haengju......Page 100 Armour of Kobayakawa Takakage......Page 102 Statue of a Siamese War Elephant......Page 104 Matsumoto Castle......Page 106 Painted Screen of the Siege of Ulsan......Page 107 The Fujito Rock......Page 109 The Bloody Ceiling of the Hosen-In......Page 111 Painted Screen of the Battle of Sekigahara......Page 113 Red Armour of the Ii Family of Hikone......Page 116 Armour of Tachibana Muneshige......Page 117 Statue of Arima Harunobu......Page 119 Samurai and Cherry Blossom......Page 121 The Ehon Ryukyu Gunki......Page 123 Nakijin Gusuku......Page 125 Silver Catfish Tail Helmet of Maeda Toshinaga......Page 127 Namban Helmets of the Tachibana Family......Page 129 The Uto Tower of Kumamoto Castle......Page 131 Battle Standard in the Form of a shakujo......Page 134 Miyamoto Musashi......Page 135 Armour of King James I......Page 137 The kokka anko Bell of the Hokoji......Page 139 Statue of Tomura Yoshikuni......Page 141 Ema of Sanada Yukimura......Page 143 The Hachisuka Navy......Page 146 Surcoat and Armour for a daimyo......Page 147 Shoki, The Queller of Demons......Page 150 Armour of yukinoshita-do Style......Page 151 Ema of Yamada Nagamasa......Page 153 Secret Christian Tea Bowl......Page 155 ‘Strange Helmets’ ......Page 160 The Art of Swimming in Armour ......Page 162 Ainu Ear Mound ......Page 163 Mansenshūkai and the Water Spider ......Page 165 Hanging Scroll of the Matsuura Army ......Page 167 Ōishi Yoshio’s Baton of Command ......Page 169 Fire Helmet ......Page 171 Sword Guards ......Page 173 A Conch Shell Trumpet ......Page 175 Helmets with Antlers ......Page 178 Helmet in the Style of a Human Head ......Page 180 Horse Armour ......Page 181 The Training Pole of the Jigen-ryū ......Page 183 Hayashi’s Picture of a Catapult ......Page 185 The Torture Rope of the Shinsengumi ......Page 187 Statue of Katsura Kogorō of Chōshū ......Page 190 An Imperial Activist from Tosa ......Page 192 Armour of the Satake Family ......Page 193 Photograph of Ikoma Chikayuki ......Page 195 A Boshin War Graveyard ......Page 197 The Statues of the Ōmura Drummer Boy ......Page 200 A Bullet Hole ......Page 201 Oka Castle in Ōita prefecture ......Page 203 An Armour of mogami haramaki Style ......Page 205 ‘Cherry blossom’ Suicide Plane......Page 207 Akechi Mitsuhide and Fukuchiyama Castle ......Page 210 A Cute Samurai ......Page 211 Picture Credits and Locations......Page 214