Samurai vs Knight

1340 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Japan and europe feudalism comparison

Samurai vs Knight

Many people often see little similarity between the country of Japan and Europe. However, there are actually several similarities between these two countries. In fact, Reischauer and Jansen note that Feudal Japan had departed so far from East Asian norms that it was more similar to medieval Europe than it was to China. Thus, the knight of Europe and the samurai of Japan despite a lack of contact with one another shared several common elements. This was a result of many similarities social and cultural influences experienced by the two distant countries.

Japan has a history that dates back thousands of years. Researchers believe the Japanese people descended from many groups that migrated to the islands from other parts of Asia, including China and Korea. As early as 4500 B.C., the Japanese islands

were inhabited by fishermen, hunters and farmers. The early culture was known as "Jomon," named after the "cord pattern" pottery crafted by the people at the time. Major Japanese cultural changed occurred about 200 B.C. The people were known as "Yayoi." The Yayoi were mostly farmers. It is believed that the present-day Japanese closely resemble the Yayoi in appearance and language. Ancient Yayoi warriors developed weapons, armor and a code during the ensuing centuries that became the centerpiece for the Japanese samurai.

War played a central part in the history of Japan. Warring clans controlled much of the country. A chief headed each clan; made up of related families. The chiefs were the ancestors of Japan's imperial family. The wars were usually about land useful for the production of rice. In fact, only 20% of the land was fit for farming. The struggle for control of that land eventually ga...

... middle of paper ...

...ope.

.

Bibliography

Edwin O. Reisher, Marius Jansen. The Japanese Today.

Conrad Schirokauer, A brief History of Japanese Civilization

R. Tsunoda, Sources of Japanese Tradition (vol 1)

Paul varley, Japanese Culture

Duby, Georges. The chivalrous society. Berkeley press, 1977

Gies, Francis. Knights in History. Harper and Row, New York. 1987

Cook, Harry. Samurai: The Story of a Warrior Tradition. Sterling Publishing, 1985.

Darrell, Craig. Iai: The Art of Drawing the Swor. Charles Tuttle Co., 1989

Draeger, Donn. The Martial Arts and Ways of Japan. Weatherhill Inc., 1990

Miyamoto, Musashi. The Book of Five Rings. Shambhala Inc.

Shimabukuro , Masayuki. Flashing Stee. Frog Publishing Ltd. 1994

Suino, Nicklaus. The Art of Japanese Swordsmanship. Weatherhill Inc. 1998

Bibliography:

Show More
Related

  • Knights Vs Samurai Dbq Essay

    493 Words  | 1 Pages

    Knights and samurai have a lot in common. For example, they both follow a code and protect land. Although they are very similar, there are a lot of things that set them apart. Samurai had a different social status, had different weapons, and expectations. While knights and samurai have many similarities, in a one on one battle, the advantage would be to the knights and this can be seen in their honor code, training, and armor.

    Read More

  • Dbq Essay On Samurai Or Knights

    631 Words  | 2 Pages

    The question was, who would win in a battle? A samurai? Or a knight? Of Course they both have their advantages and disadvantages but they also both have things in common that they can't do. A samurai warrior was a member of a powerful japanese military. On the other hand a knight warrior was a man of noble birth who after a couple stages, he would be raised to honorable military rank. While knights and samurais have many similarities, in a one on one battle, the advantage would be to the samurai and this can be seen in their armor, beliefs, and their training techniques.

    Read More

  • Samurai Dbq

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    As learners of Europe and Japan, the question “ who would win a battle-a samurai or knight” is commonly kept in mind. A samurai and knight are similar in many ways. A samurai would mostly win the battle because they have better weapons, armor, and training. While knights and samurai have many similarities, in a one on one battle, the advantage would be to the samurai and this can be seen in weapons, armor, and training.

    Read More

  • Samurai And Knights Comparison Essay

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    Do you know someone in the military? A loved one, a friend, do you know what they go through? I may not, but I do know about the harsh training and war that occurred for the Samurais and Knights. In Europe and Japan the empires were falling and Clans were taking over Japan. The government came up with an idea to create feudalism. There was an agreement in both Europe and Japan that exchanged land for protection. The similarities between Samurai and Knights were greater than the differences. This can be shown by looking at the three most similar areas: social position, training and armor, and life, honor, and death. The Samurai and Knights has their differences, but were the similarities greater than those differences.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Karl Friday's Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan

    1648 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the book Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan, Karl Friday focuses on war in early medieval Japan. A central thesis could be the political primacy of the imperial court. (Lamers 2005) This is the tenth through fourteenth centuries, before the samurai became prominent in Japan and were trying to form themselves into more of what we think of them today. Friday focuses on five aspects of war in his book; they are the meaning of war, the organization of war, the tools of war, the science of war, and the culture of war.

    Read More

  • Saburo Ienaga's Impacts Of The War In The Pacific War

    1437 Words  | 3 Pages

    Japan led a ruthless assault in the Pacific for fifteen years. This small island was able to spread imperialism and terror to neighboring countries through means of force and brutality. Japan even attempted to combat and overcome European and Western countries such as Russia and the United States. Even with an extreme militaristic government, Japan was unable to achieve the glory it was promised and hoped for. The Pacific War analyzes Japan’s part in the war and what the country could have done to prevent such a tragedy.

    Read More

  • Samurai And Knights Similarities

    667 Words  | 2 Pages

    As can be seen above, European knights and Japanese Samurais shared lots of differences including training, armor, weaponry, true values and rules. This is because they both came from different countries, and have different lifestyles, cultures, and religions, which influenced them to develop

    Read More

  • Samurai

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    Musui’s Story is the exciting tale of a low class samurai’s life towards the end of the Tokugawa era. Although one would normally imagine a samurai to be a noble illustrious figure, Musui’s Story portrays the rather ignominious life of an unemployed samurai. Nonetheless, this primary account demonstrates the tenacity of samurai values and privileges present at the end of the Tokugawa shogunate. The social status of samurai had been elevated to such a state that even someone like Musui was easily able to gain influence in everyday affairs with his privileges. Not only that, but he had retained his values as a warrior and still kept great pride for his arts in weaponry.

    Read More

  • Comparison of Tokugawa and Manchu

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Chinese and Japanese faced much internal conflict, but while China faced a combination of economic setbacks and political weakness, the Japanese were riddled with wars along their countryside. First, the Chinese emperor was too weak in comparison to his bureaucracy, which ended up making most of the decisions for the last Ming dynasty emperor. This was due to the emperor’s realization that having a title as Son of Heaven did not mean he had all the power of the empire. Instead he lived a laid back life where the bureaucrats vied for power and wealth amongst themselves and he merely managed them. Like the Chinese, the Japanese also saw elites battling it out for power, but this time on the battlefield with armies of samurai. These battles put Japan in a period much like the Warring States period in early Chinese history, where families fought and fought for power almost endlessly. The political weakness in China contributed to its economic failure as well. With no force to manage to seas, pirates were free to raid trade ships and villages along the coast line, weakening the Chinese economy that relied on a transport system to supply the country. These two major forces led to China’s fragmentation and eventual takeover by the Manchu. In contrast, the battles happening in Japan were not harmful to the economy as much as they were in China. This is due to the fact that the Japanese daimyos were independent...

    Read More

  • Comparing Britain To Japan

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

         The establishment of the Japanese archipelago assumed its present shape around 10,000 years ago. Soon after, the era known as the Jomon period began and continued for about 8,000 years. Gradually, they formed small communities and began to organize their lives communally. Japan can be said to have taken its first steps to nationhood in the Yamato period, which began at the end of the third century AD. During this period, the ancestors of the present Emperor began to bring a number of small estates under unified rule from their bases around what are now Nara and Osaka Prefectures.

    Read More

  • Japaneses Colonialism in Malaysia

    1174 Words  | 3 Pages

    Japan was a great force in Eastern Asia between 19th and 20th centuries and it has much influence areas that spread year by year.

    Read More

  • Japanese Samurai and European Knights: Were the Similarities Greater Than the Differences?

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...e respect, honor, and loyalty make this difference for me, but there is something to be said about the comparison. I find that the knights are very efficient, great warriors, and are very similar to samurai’s in a lot of ways. They both wear armor, they both train from a young age, and both are taught about honor, loyalty, and respect; but samurais are taught more effectively in their training, and the Japanese concepts were better. So to answer the essential question of this essay, I would say that there is certainly a large amount of similarities between the two warriors, but if you would consider the samurai’s skills that are better, or enhanced; to be differences, than I would have to conclude with no. The ‘differences’, are far too great in my opinion to say that the similarities are so great that they are almost the same, because they are very different indeed.

    Read More

  • Essay On Feudal System

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    It has been seen that though Europe and Japan did not have any kind of contact during the period of medieval, but still they have same socio political systems. These systems are however labeled as feudal. The Feudal system of Japan and Europe are built on the system of hereditary classes. In this hierarchy, the nobles were at the very top, which then included the warriors and then the tenant’s farmers. The bad standard found was based on the lack of social mobility where the children of farmers also were becoming farmers while on the other hand, children of lords become ladies and lords. In Europe and Japan, there are constant warfare that are made warriors in the society and are also the most important class in Japan and Europe. These warriors are named as “Samurai” in Japan and “Knights” in Europe.

    Read More

  • Reflection of Modern East Asia

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    Our preliminary class gave a brief, yet detailed outline of major events affecting the East Asian region. Within that class, prompted by our limited geographical knowledge of Asia, we were given a fundamental explanation of the geographical locations of the various events taking place in the region. In subsequent classes, we were introduced to the major wars, political shifts, and economic interests which shaped Japan, China and Korea to what they are today. We examined the paradigm of pre-modern Japanese governance, the Shogunate, and the trained warriors which defended lord and land, Samurai. In addition, we examined the socio-economic classes of Medieval Japan, which included the Samurai, peasants, craftsmen, and the merchants. We also examined pre-1945 Japan’s policies toward foreign entities, notably the Sakoku Policy, which sought to expunge all foreign presence and commerce in an effort to protect its borders and culture. 1945, however, saw ...

    Read More

  • Japan and Japanese Culture

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many historical aspects of the Japanese, but the most interesting is the history of the Samurai. In Japans history war played a large role in the country. Controlling clans fought for parts of the land and overall control of the country. These clans were powerful families that resided in the country and who all wanted power and control of Japan for themselves. The families that would be in control were known as Shoguns. These shoguns would have warriors that fought for them if any of the other clan families would try to attack him in order to overthrow him and take his power from him. The Samurai followed a code that developed from Chinese beliefs when in battle. The Samurais code was known as the Bushido. This code was also known as “The Way of The Warrior” which was the main belief s...

    Read More

More about Samurai vs Knight

Open Document