Essays on History of Asia

We examine three characteristics of Seven Samurai, the magnum opus of Akira Kurosawa, one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Kurosawa’s works are foundational to a wide variety of film techniques and tropes. While Kurosawa himself considered Ran to be his best film, Seven...

Hagakure Hagakure, also known as the samurai bible, is a book that represents the attitude that goes beyond the modern pragmatism or the love for materialism to the overall spiritual development of individuals. Despite the interpretations that people have had on this book, Hagakure applies...

As one of the few surviving autobiographical writings from early Japan, in Musui’s Story, Katsu Kokichi narrates his life as a late Tokugawa-period samurai. Amid the Tokugawa period, also known as the Edo period, grand wars and conflicts slowly dwindled in number and size. The...

The concept of writing and designing a cinematic production that is even loosely based on a real-life period in history can be an extremely difficult task. This kind of production comes with the expectations and responsibility that history should be retold in a respectful manner,...

Many people today have a unique perception of Japan, blurring the line between Asian and Western culture. Much of this odd culture can be credited to a lesser-known editorial titled Datsu-A Ron, which found itself in a newspaper in 1885. The Datsu-A Ron was anonymously...

The process of contemporization in Japan spearheaded the inception of the metamorphosis of women’s roles within Japanese society. Throughout history, the country of Japan underscored strict gender roles. In fact, the social position and status of women in Japanese society can indeed be ascribed to...

Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s invasion was one of the first big events for Modern East Asia, the invasion had huge impacts on Japan as well as Korea, but also on China.  Political impacts from Hideyoshi’s invasion were a significant impact during the period, when looking at the...

August 6, 1945, was the day Hiroshima suffered under the devasting power of the first-ever atomic bomb used by the United States. This historic event changed the nature of war which led to a surge in the production of nuclear-powered weapons after WWII.1 With many...

“I always go back to Harry Truman: Should we drop an atomic bomb to save 100,000 lives? That’s a hell of a decision to make. Did he make that decision by himself? No, he had advisers.” Lee Lacocca The act of dropping an atomic bomb...

The Second World War was a medium for numerous atrocities, with the Japanese Army infamous for their own wartime actions. In the present, we hear stories of unspeakable inhuman acts committed by the Imperial Army, yet what is taught about this war in modern-day Japan...

Prior to the development and establishment of feudalism in Medieval Europe and Japan from 600 – 1450 CE, both civilizations were fragmented. The collapse of the Roman Empire left Europe open to invaders from all fronts, and Japan had long been a land of clans....

Throughout the years of Japan, there has been many changes which revolve around the development of their society and culture. Rather it be a rebellion or sudden spark of a new popular interest, every event that has taken place in the 17th century Japan lead...

Have you ever thought about the modern Japanese emperors were not the first time being powerless public figures? Well, the emperors from medieval Japan were treated the same by society. From 1192 to 1868, Japan was ruled under three different feudal governments called shogunates which...

Introduction The renaissance, golden ages and enlightenment period are examples of when and how European culture and traditions were created, of which a lot are still visible today. For Japan this defining moment of cultural traditions is probably the Tokugawa period, also known as the...

Modernity has become an ultimate goal of all nations as it symbolized the highest level that human intelligence can be attained. In this research paper, I am going to demonstrate Fukuzawa Yukichi’s view on modernity according to three aspects, his view of the modern world,...

One may have heard the word samurai, one thinks of a skillful warrior dressed in heavy armour and fighting their battles with the famous Katana or possibly the ultimate battle of skill between the samurai and his brother-in-arms the ninja or simply the warrior one...

Medieval Europe shared some similarities with medieval Japan, yet they also shared conflicts. One including their soldier or their warriors, those who struggled for their land. In medieval Europe they took horses and in Japan they took samurais, they fought in different ways. They were...

The Knights of Medieval Europe and Samurai of Shogunate Japan shared a number of similar characteristics such as a strict code of behaviour which emphasised honour and loyalty, and both were mounted warriors that relied heavily on their swords. However, the Samurai also had the...

As the market and money economies came to replace the predominant agricultural society, social mobility began to develop within Tokugawa Japan. Those from social classes lower than the samurais as peasants, artisans, and merchants, who were formerly restricted by the class tradition, were now opened...