Thomas Cleary on "Lords of the Samurai"

[Andy_S]

It is odd how so many in the West laud the samurai as the perfect warriors, a noble blend of fighting machine and artistic temparement.

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For more than 600 years, Japan's government relied on this warrior class. Samurai culture taught that "as soon as the sword is gone from the scabbard, you are defeated," Cleary said. "As soon as you draw your sword, it is already too late. The more highly developed the warrior, the greater the caution in using that power."
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This was more the ideal than the reality.

While I do not deny that (even today) Japanese have a well-defined aesthetic sense, are many,many, many examples of ruthless, brutal and thuggish samurai with a welter of atrocity to their names. (The same could be said of European knights, but there is not the same mystical aura surrounding knighthood as their is about bushido)

I will be VERY interested in Cleary's new project on the brutalization of Japanese society through to the 1930s, though.

In the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-1905, the Japanese soldiery were know not just for professionalism and valour, but were also the epitome of chivalry. Western militaries were highly impressed by the discipline of the Jap armed force from Meiji up to WWI.

By the 1930s, however, the Jap military were forging an unparalleled reputation for brutality and atrocity. The world would be horrified by their actions in China and the various theatres of WWII.

Whence this change? Many uneducated people blame it on the samurai background, but the early professional Japanese Armed Forces were highly respected. I know of no study that details this change in the Japanese martial mindset/behavioural set.

Post WWI Germany's descent into darkness has been well documented.

AFAIK, Japan's has not.

[Michael]

"What I see is that we keep doing the same things as a world," Cleary said.
Cleary grew up in New Jersey in a family of three boys. His mother was German and his father Irish. Both were chemists, and both hid their ethnicities when they immigrated, telling their sons to always report they were "American" on ethnicity questionnaires.

US Census questionnaires from 1940 had questions about ethnicity, such as "Are you of Japanese/German/Italian descent?" This information was used to round up and incarcerate American citizens (their land and property was confiscated) in concentration camps during WW2. While the US Constitution only provides for the counting of people, current census questionnaires ask about gun ownership and how many and what kinds of stocks you own while census takers around the country this year have been using GPS devices and computers to document the exact location of every front door in America.

He added, "There's the saying, 'Those who don't learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.' The whole process of struggling for supremacy goes on. In my mind, the lessons are not being learned."

People don't "repeat history" out of ignorance of the past, they simply repeat normal human behavior because human nature doesn't change without a lot of individual effort.

[Muad'dib]

Bushido is just about as made up as chivalry/ The difference is instead of Burgundian poets, you have 19th century "samurai" made lazy by decades of peace writing Hagakure as a means to teach "modern" samurai how they used to do it in the old days. Of course the writer was not around in the old days though, and those days were several hundred years ago, so basically he selected stories that suited his purpose and went from there... Voila, bushido, the code of the Samurai. Take seven basic concepts, add sake, boredom and an attempt at18th century mind control and there you have it.

Japanese society is all about codes, but the individuals they recognize for historical greatness are those who had the strength and courage to live for and fight for what they believed in, not what the rules told them to do. If they happen to die along the way, so much the better.

[Michael]

Zhong Kui has sent his final manuscript to his publisher, captured the local general, lectured his troops, and hari kari'd the correct about romanticizing death in front of him.

[KEND]

I feel that the samurai have been romanticized by people that admire power, possibly because they see weakness in themselves. The samurai had little free will, they were in essence the creatures of their master and would obey him without question, hence if the master was flawed this could mean havoc and all those ethical considerations go out the window. Kurosawa exploded many of the myths in his movies, I am surprised that Cleary was taken in by the pretty phrases where the reality was a lot darker, academics who are out of touch with the real world often make this mistake.

[Steve James]

I dont' think it's valid to compare the historical samurai (or their budo code) to the Imperial Japanese Army's atrocities, even if they used katanas etc. The IJA used the samurai ideal to motivate and unite their troops, not because they operated according to any ideal. Japanese imperialism in the 20s, 30s and 40s was modelled after British imperialism, more than samuari idealism.

Afa Cleary is concerned, I think he was saying that the Japanese samurai connected the ideas of beauty and death; that the presence of death should make the enjoyment of beauty more important and sweeter. In a way it reminds me of the Spartans on the last night before Thermopylae. Other Greeks are asking why the Spartans are grooming their hair and shining their gear when they know they're going to die. Similarly, people idolize the Spartans as warriors, defenders of democracy and central to the development of the West, in spite of what they actually did --imperialism, murder, theft, etc. When it comes down to it, there aren't any countries or cultures with warriors that have been partcularly noble or nice.

[Muad'dib]

I agree with Kend's first sentence, but not with the rest. Perhaps its just the way it reads, but it makes Samurai seem like mindless automatons. Samurai had quite a number of ways to protest actions by their lords, up to and including rebellion and suicide, but prior to that they had recourse to the court system, the lord's higher ups, etc.

[Craig]

wasn't tom cruise a samurai? maybe the samurai are actually scientologists!

[Michael]

Because he was the last samurai, he couldn't set any religious precedents. Just speaking logically here.

[Muad'dib]

Other things.

1. It's Hara Kiri.
2. Regarding Japan's descent into darkness, its been quite well documented, just not in the West. Basic research into the rise of State Shinto, the effect of the Great Depression, the Spanish Influenza, alteration of labor laws, changes in Japanese educational structure, and other elements are fairly indicative of the changes in Japanese society. The other point to consider is this. The Russo-Japanese war did not contact any large bases of civilian population, nor a mass mobilization of some of the more ignorant Japanese masses.

[Michael]

Can you elaborate on your last point about the Russo-Japanese war? What's the connection between a war fought in the boonies and Japan's "descent into darkness"? I'm almost totally unfamiliar with both topics, so if you have the time I'd appreciate some information. TIA.

[Muad'dib]

Michael, I was merely playing off the earlier comment that Japanese behavior during the Russo-Japanese war was considered to be extremely gentlemanly. The socio-economic and political climate of Japan shifted rather rapidly during the interim.

[Michael]

Gotcha. Was hoping for a free history lesson.

[Muad'dib]

It's not really my area of specialization. I know just enough to make some broad generalizations and appear more informed than I truthfully am.

[Michael]

You too? God, that's all I ever do!