Chapter Two

“The Coming of the Samurai: Violence and Culture in the Ancient World”

In this chapter, Ikegami explains how Samurai effectively built their military up to professional standards while also using agriculture to join the economic world (47-48). The samurai were unique in that they existed alongside the aristocracy and would not fulfil court positions until the 19^th century (48). Ikegami claims the honour culture in Japan arose “only” alongside Samurai, with mentions of honour in Japanese literature rising alongside the class of warriors (49). In this section of the book containing chapter 2,3 and 4, Ikegami explores all aspects of the rising Samurai class. She argues that Western literature about the rise of the samurai is one-dimensional and does not assess all the necessary aspects important to the social class. Though her book was written in 1995, her sentiment still holds true, at least about ancient Samurai. When scrolling through databases such as JSTOR, it is difficult to find articles detailing the rise of the samurai as Ikegami’s book does. Nancy K. Stalker’s book Japan: History and Culture from Classical to Cool has a chapter titled “The Rise and Rule of the Warrior Class: 12th–15th Centuries” this chapter feels as though it is a quick summary of events and does not delve into why the Samurai class developed the way it did, rather presents a timeline. This is also valuable information, though cause and effect must be discussed to understand events fully. In a recent discussion about Ikegami’s book within the classroom, there has been feedback that her book is too general or vague, though in order for her to address all the topics and keep her book multi-dimensional, she must delve into a variety of topics which does indeed run the risk of seeming vague to the reader. 

      After her discussion on religious and ceremonial hunting practices, Ikegami uses folklore to explore the rise of the samurai. Specifically, she uses the story “A Crusade Against the Monkey Gods” which details how the violent samurai class began controlling villagers and expanded past the old ways of society (61- 62). The latter half of this chapter uses this story as a transition to explain how samurai slowly gained power and continued to grow their honour culture. Sometimes they were seen as “landed lords resembling the bosses of organized crime” (65). 

This chapter does not mention the honour culture as much as some of the other chapters we will see, though it gives the reader important context. As I have said before, to understand the samurai from multiple dimensions, it is important the reader sees all the sides of development. In this way, the book will better illustrate how the honour culture emerged and why it formed the way it did. 

Ikegami, Eiko. The Taming of the Samurai. U.S.A: Harvard University Press, 1995. 

Nancy K. Stalker. 2018. Japan : History and Culture From Classical to Cool. Oakland, California: University of California Press. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=nlebk&AN=1838711&site=eds-live.