The Samurai

Ancient Civilisations

This episode explores the rise and fall of the Samurai, tracing their evolution from medieval mercenaries to a powerful military aristocracy

Key takeaways

• The term 'samurai' originally meant 'those who serve,' referring to hired bodyguards for Kyoto nobility.
• The Genpei War between the Taira and Minamoto clans established the foundation for samurai political dominance.

Main topics

• Origins of the Samurai
• The Genpei War

Notable quotes

They are at war with progress.

Conclusion

A profound look at how a legendary warrior class was dismantled by the

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:00) It's September the 22nd, 1877. Darkness has fallen over the coastal town of Kagoshima, in the southwestern province of Satsuma, Japan. The night is cool, following a rain shower, in contrast to the stifling heat of the day. The breeze carries with it a faint scent of pine needles, and, fainter yet, gunpowder. Across the bay, illuminated by a ribbon of moonlight stitched across the water, the smouldering volcano, Sakurajima, stands in ghostly silhouette against the inky black sky. A thick plume of smoke billows from its crater, serving as a constant reminder to the local people of the fragility of life as they know it. Tonight, they need no reminding. Speaker 5 (1:00) Six months earlier, a government official named Saigo Takamori recruited men from Satsuma and other southern provinces to launch a rebellion. Their enemy is the Emperor. He has been attempting to modernize Japan, but this has involved steadily dismantling the warrior class to which Saigo belongs. Speaker 5 (1:23) Saigo and his followers are samurai, elite swordsmen of noble heritage, known to espouse a strict code of honor both on and off the battlefield. For a thousand years, they have been the dominant political force in Japanese society. But now, these rebels truly are the last of their kind. Speaker 5 (1:47) Today, in the volcano's shadow, the insurgents, wielding swords, did battle against 35,000 Imperial troops armed with rifles. Tonight, outnumbered and outgunned, Saigo and his few remaining men have retreated to the slopes of a hill overlooking Kagoshima town. They take advantage of the pause between bombardments to repair their bamboo defences and tend to the wounded. But they know they're fighting a losing battle. While his advisors debate tactics, Saigo himself walks quietly to the edge of the camp and peers over the top of the rudimentary battlements. Below, the enemy garrison stretches into the distance, an impenetrable wall of manpower and modern artillery. With just a few hundred samurai against the swarming Imperial soldiers, resistance is beginning to look suicidal. Speaker 5 (2:46) Surrender, surely, is the only option. Saigo's grip tightens around the hilt of his blade. Before they know it, it'll be morning. He has a decision to make. In this episode, we'll take a trip to the Land of the Rising Sun to meet an elite group of legendary warriors whose exploits helped forge the very soul of Japan. But who exactly were these mysterious men and women? And are they really deserving of the acclaim and even reverence that they've received since their demise? This is the Samurai. Amid crackling gunfire and exploding shells, Saigo Takamori stands on that moonlit hillside, faced with a choice of inglorious surrender or inevitable death. Speaker 5 (4:03) As battle recommences, his troops are mown down by gatling guns as wave after wave of samurai soldiers, trained in the art of kendo or the way of the sword, are slaughtered by civilian conscripts equipped with new-fangled weaponry. A terrible truth begins to dawn on Saigo. The samurai are not at war with the emperor's army, but with an enemy that is even more resolute and ruthless. They are at war with progress. Speaker 5 (4:36) But to understand how this mighty warrior class ended up here, teetering on the brink of oblivion, we first have to understand where they came from. And for that, we need to travel back to Japan in the Middle Ages. Due to the lack of official records from this time, it can sometimes be hard to separate truth from legend when dealing with the early history of the samurai. One thing we know for sure, however, is that their rise was not the result of a sudden revolution, but instead, in the words of historian Carl Friday, a matter of incremental evolution occurring in fits and starts. By the 9th century AD, Japan is ruled by an increasingly insular aristocracy. From their extravagant palace in modern-day Kyoto, The imperial family spends most of its time indoors, engaged in leisure activities and artistic pursuits, with much less attention afforded to the business of governing. Practical matters like tax collecting and empire expansion are left in the hands of the military. And over the years, the Japanese armed forces have been undergoing some pretty drastic changes. For example, in the mid-8th century, the court abolishes the conscript system, ending the reliance on peasant soldiers. Instead, they introduce smaller, more mobile units of specially trained mercenaries. And over the next few centuries, these mercenaries will be engaged in an ongoing conflict along the northern border of the Japanese peninsula with a group of indigenous people called the Emishi. The Emishi are a distinct ethnic group native to northern Japan. Whereas the majority of the Japanese population, the aristocracy included, are descendants of the Yayoi people, who migrated from Korea and China around 300 BC to 300 AD. Jonathan Clements is a historian and author Speaker 3 (6:50) of A Brief History of the Samurai. The history of Japan is one of civilization, shall we call it, advancing gradually along from the south to the north. And it's very easy to forget that in the Heian period, so in the late 8th, early 9th century, what we now call northern Honshu, what we now call the northern part of the largest island in Japan, was still a wilderness. It was still terra nullius as far as the Japanese were concerned, but it was inhabited. There were aboriginals who lived there called Yemishi. And in fact, Japanese history has been for the last 2,000 years. A tale of the Japanese, as they define themselves, rolling steadily northward and the Emishi being slowly pushed backwards. Speaker 5 (7:29) Up to this point, the Japanese military has been heavily influenced by that of neighbouring China. This includes the use of crossbows, heavy metal armour and straight double-edged swords. But the Emishi's guerrilla tactics forced the Japanese to adapt. For example, the Amicia skilled horsemen and archers, enabling them to outmaneuver the Japanese, whose cumbersome equipment is ill-suited to the forests of northern Honshu. So the Japanese trade their crossbows for longbows. They learn to shoot arrows from horseback. They exchange the straight sword for a single-edged curved blade, the katana, which is easier to unsheath while riding. Speaker 5 (8:13) Metal armor, they realize, is too heavy and prone to rust, so they replace it with leather. And they incorporate their shields into this armor in the form of boxy shoulder flaps that move to one side when firing an arrow. Even their hairstyle changes. They begin wearing top knots with shaved sides to better secure their helmets. These helmets take on an idiosyncratic look, with flared side panels and strong rounded tops. This ensures Emishi arrows will deflect off them as they charge into battle, their heads lowered. In other words, Japanese soldiers are beginning to resemble what we recognize today as samurai. But when did these warriors become known as samurai? Medieval Japan is a strictly hierarchical society. The aristocracy alone is divided into 30 ranks, with the top four ranks consisting of princes and lords. Among other things, your rank determines what size fan you can use to keep yourself cool in hot weather, as well as your position within the government. This upper echelon represents just one-tenth of one percent of the population of Japan. While they live in luxurious comfort in the capital, life out in the sticks can be grim and squalid. For the military generals in the north, many of whom are themselves descended from court nobility, being stuck in the far-flung provinces becomes a problem. Despite the wealth they've accumulated from their vast land holdings, their power counts for nothing unless, that is, they find a way to return to Kyoto and regain access to the royal court. Speaker 3 (10:04) There's probably room for about 5,000 people in the center of power. And that is a little enclave, a little bastion of high culture surrounded by people who are frankly still living in the Bronze Age. And so if you can fight your way in or buy your way in somehow, get back to the imperial palace, become one of the nobility, you get to live a relatively luxurious life. But if you're stuck outside that citadel, your life is miserable. And so these people start to come back to the capital. Speaker 5 (10:35) Once they make it back to Kyoto, the gentry do everything they can to move up the political hierarchy. It's a dog-eat-dog world of snobbery and conflicting interests, with fights breaking out in the streets of the capital. To protect himself, every ambitious young nobleman assembles an entourage of trustworthy henchmen. These henchmen are drawn from the elite warrior class, formed over the centuries of fighting Speaker 3 (11:02) the Amishi in the north. Some of the nobles in Kyoto, fighting for their power positions, angling to try and get their daughter married to the emperor, trying to become court nobility, started to use these warriors as hired thugs. They started to hire them as bodyguards. They started to invite entourages down from the north and say, could you maybe stay at my house for a while? And if we get into a fight with someone else's entourage, at least I know I've got some good muscle. And so in order to make it really, really clear that these people that they were hiring were safe, that they weren't going to seize control for themselves, say, they called them those who serve, which is where we get the term samurai. But those who serve Speaker 5 (11:45) won't be servants for long. Speaker 5 (11:51) It's the late 12th century, and in Kyoto tensions are running high. In medieval Japan there's a custom of emperors abdicating while still young. This allows them to enjoy all the lavish benefits of retirement without any of the tedious responsibilities of leadership. However, unwilling to cede power completely, these retired emperors continue to exert an influence over the incumbent monarch from behind the scenes. The imperial court becomes filled with competing pretenders to the Chrysanthemum throne, all backed by rival retired emperors, who employ members of various samurai families to do their dirty work. By this stage, two such families, or clans, have emerged as dominant, the Taira and the Minamoto. At first, both samurai clans are mere pawns in the strategic machinations of the imperial family. But over time, the balance of power begins to shift until it's unclear who is controlling whom. Speaker 5 (12:59) It's an intricate and perilous game of chess. For years, the samurai have been serving the nobility, gaining a foothold within various courtly factions. Now it becomes a question of backing the right imperial candidate and waiting for the moment to strike. In 1180, that moment arrives. Speaker 4 (13:26) This September, on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Jane Austen Stories, Dame Julie Andrews continues to bring Austen's beloved classic, Emma, to life. On Short History Of, we're in medieval England for the fascinating story of the Peasants' Revolt. And 25 years on from 9-11, we're on the ground in New York City. On Real Survival Stories, we're on a luscious winery in Northwest America, and venturing into a missile silo in the dead of night as the U.S. is threatened with nuclear disaster. And in Sherlock Holmes short stories, get two episodes each week as Hugh Bonneville explores Conan Doyle's great novel, A Study in Scarlet. Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noisa Plus. Speaker 1 (14:13) I'm Julie