Japanese history researcher Yasutsune Owada joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about samurai. What caused the ultimate downfall of the samurai? What was samurai warfare like? What was it like to train to become a samurai? Did women ever become samurai? What did Ronin stand for? And did samurai ever use firearms on horseback? Answers to these questions and many more await on Samurai Support.
0:00 Samurai Support
0:18 Samurai training
1:19 Becoming a samurai
2:48 Are there still samurai?
3:42 Samurai Weaponry
6:09 Samurai drip
9:25 Samurai: Origins
10:44 Yasuke
12:35 Samurai warfare
13:48 Samurai tats
14:42 The samurai lifestyle
16:49 Plain white rice
18:08 Samurai code of honor
20:08 Bushido
21:31 Women samurai?
22:47 Samurai free time
23:37 The best places in Japan to experience Samurai culture
24:51 Samurai ceremonies
26:05 Gun-weilding Samurai on horseback
27:04 Ronin
28:59 Samurai nostalgia
30:26 Impact of Samurai
Director: Nobuyuki Yamamoto
Director of Photography: Keita Kawahara
Editor: Philip Anderson; Louis Lalire
Creative Producer: Sho Yamada, Lisandro Perez-Rey
Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi
Associate Producer: Paul Gulyas
Production Manager: Peter Brunette
Sound Mixer: Ryoko Uesugi
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Additional Editor: Paul Tael; Jason Malizia
Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds
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@jameswatson5807
December 5, 2024 at 3:01 pm
man does not look shonen the tom cruse ryu/ken look 😂
@nessidoe8080
December 5, 2024 at 3:11 pm
Love this long form video ,❤ finally enough time to actually learn something
@Vi0lad0r
December 5, 2024 at 3:17 pm
Wait, what? No questions about the greatest of the samurai, Miyamoto Musashi? Someone bring this lovely gentleman back for part two about Musashi’s life!
@janetf23
December 5, 2024 at 3:18 pm
Very entertainingly informative👏
@rociosilverroot2261
December 5, 2024 at 3:40 pm
*HIRE A SAMURAI* 9:25
@nuke291
December 5, 2024 at 5:29 pm
I love Japanese takes 30 seconds to read a 5 words question xd
@itaysharf3207
December 5, 2024 at 5:34 pm
Yep I’m sure yt is secretly making me a sub to random channels cus I’ve never followed this account
@user-zx2dc7jl1j
December 5, 2024 at 5:39 pm
Next, a time for NINJA!!!
@dwcs_here
December 5, 2024 at 5:44 pm
based
@SC1ENCEP1E
December 5, 2024 at 6:03 pm
Oh well won’t be putting this one on for bed 😂
@DrakesBigAssForehad
December 5, 2024 at 6:14 pm
Assasins Creed Shadows
*Sweats nervously*
@quietstar09silver50
December 5, 2024 at 6:20 pm
Everytime I watch this man speak, I learn so much. I’ve watched him speak on documentaries and on expert videos. Samurai are incredibly fascinating and he’s a wealth of information.
@MoramothHauntz
December 5, 2024 at 6:46 pm
Give the man another hour!
@gandhialwaysleavesanonion679
December 5, 2024 at 6:51 pm
As someone who’s grown up playing Samurai Warriors and being obsessed with Sengoku period because of it, this video is fascinating to see
@KingOfNormans
December 5, 2024 at 6:57 pm
I have a problem with this video: the subtitles are f*cking unreadable. Small, white on often light background, and I can’t just follow the speaker because I don’t know Japanese. I don’t usually complain about this kind of things, but Jesus f*ck
@Elliana2002
December 5, 2024 at 7:09 pm
I usually listen to these interviews with my phone in my pocket… now i must learn japanese 😮💨
@CromiumDestaliate
December 5, 2024 at 7:24 pm
When you realize samurai were the OG multitaskers: horseback archers, spear fighters, sword duelists, aquatic ninjas, gun-toting snipers… all for a paycheck in rice. Truly built different
@pmc8451
December 5, 2024 at 7:30 pm
You didn’t read the subtitles properly did you
@pmc8451
December 5, 2024 at 7:38 pm
It’s fascinating how similar the feaudal system in medieval Japan is to medieval Europe and how both developed an aristocratic warrior class that are nearly identical in how they fight and operate, without having any contact with each other.
@MaryBethPetra
December 5, 2024 at 7:39 pm
I love the beautiful illustrations included to show the history.
@bushhippie7372
December 5, 2024 at 7:42 pm
This is so fascinating
@ZeroEscape2074
December 5, 2024 at 7:42 pm
oh this is awesome, it’s always fun to go directly to the source for more accurate information, I wouldn’t mind reading subtitle if we can explore more of this type of subject
@robbpatterson6796
December 5, 2024 at 7:44 pm
5:37…how short were they? If that spear was about 2 meters (6ft6) then they must have been between 5/5 1/2 ft tall at most
@Dash_Inc
December 5, 2024 at 8:00 pm
Love his authenticity and enthusiasm!
@Zahri8Alang
December 5, 2024 at 8:07 pm
When was the last time the wakushu was the… Uh, common?
@30kaz30inu
December 5, 2024 at 8:07 pm
10:44 ちゃんと弥助の話も出てるのか。
@AlbiNiigataOuen
December 6, 2024 at 10:24 am
Good thing you didn’t feature a Hawaiian who is like a 200th generation American-Japanese to talk about this.
@MMHay16
December 6, 2024 at 10:56 am
Wired really said subs over dubs 💪
Wonderful video, it’s always so much fun to watch these, and I’m so glad you allowed him to explain his expertise in his most familiar language rather than having to translate. Major shoutout to the translator/subtitler as well.
@schiz0phren1c
December 6, 2024 at 11:13 am
“Here you can see the armor they wore”…Wow!, they were even smaller than I heard!, Yasuke must have been HUGE!
@hoofhearted4
December 6, 2024 at 11:48 am
10:45 dont be surprised. No one else knew who he was until the new Assassins Creed game was announced, and all the internet keyboard warriors looked him up so they could argue with haters.
@normtrooper4392
December 6, 2024 at 11:56 am
It is interesting that both in Japan and Europe, some noble families fell into financial ruin but retained their social status, then selling them to others with money for that status
@lovekaede7133
December 6, 2024 at 12:00 pm
I will send this to Ubisoft hahahahaha
@reenameena8117
December 6, 2024 at 12:14 pm
Please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please call blackpink
@littlesmallworld123
December 6, 2024 at 12:38 pm
I actually really don’t mind the subtitled videos! Reading it honestly helps you grasp it better anyway. I’m curious if anyone knows: at the beginning of the video the subtitles say “the first question” but he speaks like 10 syllables. Is that really what he said directly translates to? I’m just wondering why there were so many sounds/how its broken down.
@Peanutchy
December 6, 2024 at 5:04 pm
He says まず最初のご質問ですけれども (mazu saisho no go-shitsumon desu kere domo). The only part that literally translates to “the first question” is “saisho no go-shitsumon”. “mazu” can be thought of as something like “to start us off…” or “to begin with…”, and is very commonly heard in Japanese, even if it sounds a little redundant to write out the literal translation. The last part, desu kere domo, is a little complicated, but just think of it as boilerplate Japanese for very politely bringing up a topic. Since he’s about to dive in to the first question, this is a natural way to transition using polite speech. You can make it less formal by changing “keredomo” to “ga”.
@dac545j
December 6, 2024 at 8:09 pm
“Well, now then, here we have the first question; …” as Peanutchy notes, some what he said is a common set phrase, e.g.. desu kere domo “Well, now then ..”. Cheers.
@kaneki1303
December 6, 2024 at 1:32 pm
Snoop I love you but stop appearing every other second dawg!!! Amount of ads on these videos are insane 💀😭
@LiimpZ
December 6, 2024 at 2:56 pm
The story of Yasuke is cool, too bad we don’t have a lot of records on him. He likely ended up going back to his former owner as a slave :/ Less than a decade later a certain William Adams appeared in Japan aswell. His life in Japan is very well recorded 😉
@AS-kq7hw
December 6, 2024 at 3:18 pm
Fascinating. I will say, white subtitles on a background of white are not the easiest to read. In the future, maybe tint the text so it stands out a little better.
@bassyey
December 6, 2024 at 5:36 pm
They should’ve just used YouTube sub feature. Not really sure why people are always hardcoding sub into videos. If they used Youtube subs, it can be styled, including increasing font size and background color.
@cgrim1584
December 6, 2024 at 3:30 pm
I finally got a simple answer on how the samurai began and gained so much power if they were lower class nobles.
@kimberlypikaart380
December 6, 2024 at 3:57 pm
What a great video, I couldn’t stop watching because there was so much info packed in. If they do a follow up with him I have a question: are there still people in Japan who consider themselves descendants of samurai? Kind of like the Daughters of the American Revolution (that’s the best example I could think of, maybe it’s not applicable).
@ZarlanTheGreen
December 6, 2024 at 5:43 pm
Speaking of bushido: Japanese history is full of samurai who lie all the time, constantly switch their allegiance, betray their masters, are cowardly, are merciless, do/say scandalous things etc etc. There were ideals (which had nothing to do with the supposed Seven Virtues, that Nitobe made up, with no basis in anything Japanese), but they were rarely upheld, in reality. Of course, much the same was true, in most other places, as well.
@jeregard
December 6, 2024 at 5:57 pm
前に日本人の研究者がこれに出た時は不自然な言葉の切り方がされてたけど今回はされてなくて良かった…
@ZarlanTheGreen
December 6, 2024 at 6:00 pm
Nitobe’s book had no basis in reality, and was based more on _Western_ concepts (and things he simply made up), than anything Japanese. As pretty much all experts agree. Also, there was never a universally agreed upon standard, for samurai ideals (nor for European knights), and “bushido” was invented in the peaceful Edo period, by non-warrior samurai, struggling to justify the existence of their class.
@jeregard
December 6, 2024 at 6:02 pm
*For non-Japanese
The “Middle Ages” in Japan means the 11th to 16th centuries, unlike the 5th to 15th centuries in Europe.
@ZarlanTheGreen
December 6, 2024 at 6:03 pm
Most of those “dirty” and “dishonourable” things, that samurai supposedly didn’t do but instead had underlings do, are things that the records clearly show that they did, and never thought of as dishonourable, in the least. There were some acts they avoided doing themselves, and instead hired lower status people, often bandits or the like, to do, but that was mainly because of the danger, discomfort, and how bandits would be far more skilled at it.
@ZarlanTheGreen
December 6, 2024 at 6:19 pm
Firearms saw great use by cavalry, in the West. Ones that were no more quick or convenient to reload, than the Japanese ones. It’s quite bad for someone who is supposed to be an expert, to be ignorant of that.
@ZarlanTheGreen
December 6, 2024 at 6:21 pm
To say that a samurai without a master, isn’t a samurai (only a bushi), is preposterous. In the Edo period, anyone born to a samurai, was a samurai. Regardless of whether they, or their father, were warriors. It was a caste. Not a job. (pre-Edo, however, what he says is true: You were only a samurai, if you served a lord. as his samurai)
@LightFykki
December 6, 2024 at 6:27 pm
I like how honest and, well, academic, he was with the answer about Yasuke
@ZarlanTheGreen
December 6, 2024 at 6:28 pm
Samurai almost never chose death before dishonour. The cases where they did, are significant due to how rare and exceptional they were …and many cases that may seem like examples of it, are cases where they couldn’t escape death anyway, or where they chose to die, to spare their family/relatives/clan, rather than any concern for their personal honour.
@ImagineGTAVI
December 6, 2024 at 7:04 pm
Got it, dragonball gt, thanks
@Justanotherconsumer
December 6, 2024 at 8:03 pm
Just a random request – when doing subtitles, use a colored tablecloth. The white writing on the white background is very hard to see, especially when watching on a phone.
@SquizzMe
December 6, 2024 at 8:19 pm
If they wear kabutos on their head, then aren’t they technically kabutops?
@harryrabbit2870
December 7, 2024 at 2:16 am
Really enjoyed this. Thank you very much.
@nvera2
December 7, 2024 at 3:41 am
10:53 oh, my dear innocent man….
@flextheprettiest4878
December 7, 2024 at 3:50 am
小和田先生、このたび大変ありがとうございます。先生の説明が分かりやすいし、様々なテーマに詳しいので動画を見るのがすっごく楽しかったです。やはりかつての日本人も今の日本人も侍の影響を受けているに違いないですね。どこの国でも一般人が上流階級の生活を真似しがちだと思いますね。特に、中世と近世の時代それが顕著のではないでしょうか。現代、侍の歴史とか生き方は漫画や映画に通じ伝えられ、外国にもこの立派な武士たちに憧れる人がいます。これは素晴らしいことだと思います。
@koLo.MRA2023
December 7, 2024 at 4:28 am
Finally segment about Japan universe.
@shiro-motion
December 7, 2024 at 4:32 am
Here comes Mr.Owada! good choice. Not only him but also his father Tetsuo is one of the most famous and reliable historian in Japan. Besides their ancestors were Samurai for sure.
@amicaaranearum
December 7, 2024 at 5:19 am
Thank you for not dubbing over the speaker. This is a great format for subtitles, because there isn’t much going on visually that you’re missing by reading the subtitles.
@toki4319
December 7, 2024 at 5:48 am
Looking at this comment section, I strongly feel that some people overseas have too strong an admiration, fantasy, and expectations for Samurai or Bushi. Therefore, instead of acknowledging that they “don’t understand” things they don’t understand, they cling to their fantasies and mistake them for reality. Japanese people are no exception, and ordinary people do not have specialized knowledge of history. There are many historical matters on which opinions differ even among experts.
@jessintokyo
December 7, 2024 at 5:50 am
This was awesome! Glad to hear about bajutsu and yumi as I learn both and it is very interesting❤
@noble_sword64
December 7, 2024 at 6:21 am
Oooooh I’m so excited to watch the entire video! I just gotta say, as a side note, I think the advent of guns made everything with warfare significantly less cool. There isn’t a lot of variety and inventiveness there.
@noscar_
December 7, 2024 at 6:29 am
This is something everyone overlooked about katana. Katana aren’t meant for clashing with another katana, it mean for slicing and stab directly to the body. But for an anime/movie perspective, doing clashing with each other katana looks cool btw.
@Insertia_Nameia
December 7, 2024 at 12:24 pm
In reality those swords would chips and shatter pretty quick. Even European medieval sword fights weren’t the clashes modern day depicts them as.
@akrich8640
December 7, 2024 at 7:12 am
I’m Japanese. He used quite difficult words but i think subtitles really made sense and it’s understandable. I enjoyed wired every time thanks.
@Insertia_Nameia
December 7, 2024 at 12:17 pm
Thats why as an English speaker that only has a basic grasp on the grammar and whose vocab for Japanese is happy they used subs. If they made him speak English, between a thick accent and him likely not being fluent, he would’ve struggled to explain the topics in a proper way and dubs tend to be more overzealous on corrections than subs which means a lot likely would’ve been lost.
@zhaif6091
December 7, 2024 at 7:34 am
samurai not exist anymore but the clan tho?
@BMWE3692
December 7, 2024 at 8:29 am
Did you notice that in this video the questions are on the right and the answers are on the left ?
@schmu2o331
December 7, 2024 at 8:55 am
meddl loide
@REXFORGT
December 7, 2024 at 10:46 am
Yo wired, I was hoping you would allow a daily stoner to answer burning stoner questions on one of your videos? I’ve been smoking for 8 years at this point. 27m, semi-employed, on benefits, I smoke for asperger and adhd and recreationally, weed is illegal where I live but I can wear a mask 😷. Please give me a chance 🙏 😀
@FullCaber
December 7, 2024 at 10:57 am
bro pulled out yasuke question
ubisoft take notes heheh
@神崎アオイ-o4o
December 7, 2024 at 11:46 am
omg people asking if white rice was too boring. I’m guessing that’s what europeans would also think of potatoes when they have to eat them every day.
*intense asian cringe* it’s a good world we live in that we can ask each other questions like these and actually have someone to answer them and give us a glimpse of what their story surrounding somethings really was.
white rice, even in many countries these days, is still remembered as a central symbol of stability and sustenance.
and now 2024 here i am, a hong kong chinese not eating white rice because it’s really bad for my blood sugar. and then of course i’d want a change of pace and go eat spaghetti lol. what a world we live in. but yeah it’s white rice and then it’s money.
@神崎アオイ-o4o
December 7, 2024 at 11:51 am
i appreciate the translation, but what Owada san said about white rice was not ‘delicacy’, but ‘the most extravagant indulgence’. 大変に贅沢品だったのです
@dnakatomiuk
December 7, 2024 at 12:20 pm
Most of Ubisoft Devs making the next AC should be watching this since they haven’t a clue
@HaraldKnorpsonn
December 7, 2024 at 12:22 pm
Historian: Yasuke is a retainer picked by Nobunaga himself to serve him.
Ubisoft: Yep, he is a samurai, time to make him a main character in a franchise that always had fictional main characters.
@Mr.Monkeyreal7
December 7, 2024 at 2:12 pm
Get dorcy Armstrong back please!!
@denan1
December 7, 2024 at 2:26 pm
This historian literally destroyed the woke garbage that is Yasuke and assassins creed shadows.. Bravo for him..
@greyareaRK1
December 7, 2024 at 4:59 pm
Is Japanese honour similar to Chinese face, in which it is the outward appearance of propriety that is important more than actual conduct?
@didlast8116
December 7, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Think he was reading english comments in Japanese? lol
@maxlor6206
December 7, 2024 at 7:05 pm
Finally a Japanese history historian
@jasonharrelson83
December 8, 2024 at 12:12 am
SUPER interested but can’t read that fast after a couple of drinks and trying to go to bed
@bwehhhh
December 8, 2024 at 2:05 am
you can see how passionate he is, yasuke only really became a popular talking point of japanese history on internet recently so when asked about this really niche obscure guy with a cool story his eyes just light up lol
@hanmaruf2919
December 8, 2024 at 2:17 am
Most of you already know..name companies like Honda, etc their ancestor were former samurai….
@dexterdextrow7248
December 8, 2024 at 2:23 am
21:32 That was probably the most round about way I’ve seen of saying”no” to “were there female samurai?”.
@Snacks256
December 8, 2024 at 3:40 pm
It’s not roundabout, historians give nuanced answers to even the simplest questions. Ask “Did Alexander the Great ever hit the griddy?” and you’ll get 5 paragraphs with 30 citations on the history of Macedonian dance, military culture, and the estimated size of Alexander’s feet.
@drongobum2037
December 8, 2024 at 2:51 am
Most foreigners are unaware Japanese people consider the samurai to have been a bunch of corrupt and lazy parasites.
@Tetratronic
December 8, 2024 at 3:04 am
Finally, a sane answer to the whole Yasuke debate.
No evidence of him ever being a samurai, or being treated as such. The Talk page on Wikipedia about this topic is has been a bloodbath for months.
@commandercavy9549
December 8, 2024 at 5:41 am
That’s because a certain video game company had it’s fanatical followers launch a campaign to rewrite history to win an argument they were losing.
@明石-n4h
December 8, 2024 at 7:16 am
This is why should not trust Wikipedia.
@Chroniclilskip27
December 8, 2024 at 3:16 pm
Did you watch the video? His answer was “there is a debate” meaning he can’t say for sure one way or another which is also essentially has been happening with the discussion around the new AC game
@N9iNETR3Y
December 8, 2024 at 3:19 pm
Ahh, threatening to boycott Ubisoft in “protest” are we? 😁😆 Feel like you accomplished something today?
@Tetratronic
December 8, 2024 at 3:50 pm
@@commandercavy9549 I’ve observed that Wiki bloodbath since day one. I knew about Yasuke like 15 years ago. And, he was never considered a samurai. Nobody questioned it, because there was zero evidence to support that claim. Then the woke Ubisoft zerglings came along and just overrun the page, citing history fanfic writers like Thomas Lockley as “legitimate historical sources”, because the burden of proof was on the zerglings. Then they went through extreme mental gymnastics and semantic kung-fu, only to land on the sentence “Yasuke was a man of African origin who served AS a samurai.” Can you notice how subtle it is? Since they couldn’t prove he was a samurai, because of course there was no evidence, and every single argument was disproven, about this sword, house and stippend, they argued that “while he might not have OFFICIALLY been a samurai, he served AS a samurai, in SOME capacity.”
That would be like me doing a citizen’s arrest and then claiming I’m a police officer. It’s raw insanity of the highest order of magnitude.
@kunchamp-5195
December 8, 2024 at 3:12 am
日本の戦争史関して面白くなって深い詳細のも説明してくれて皆さんにわかりやすい日本武器では種類が別々管理してはねコメント者も面白いコメントを置って逆にあなたは返事して詳細的に説明
@GMCDBHOY
December 8, 2024 at 3:18 am
Not ready for subtitles. Al come back when I’m not hungover.
@antonnovo695
December 8, 2024 at 4:24 am
samurai = slave
@sidneysun5217
December 8, 2024 at 4:58 am
ya i remember this tidbit too; that the samurai rarely used swords. since anyone smart enough would choose a long rang weapon over a short one to increase survivability. so the sword at the end became more of a status symbol and too precious to actually be used
@evgoproductions
December 8, 2024 at 5:00 am
Isn’t that a naginata (polearm) and not a spear at 0:56?..
@sangletan7076
December 8, 2024 at 10:05 am
A spear is a type of polearm.
Though yes, that is a naginata, though you could say it’s basically a spear cuz most naginata have short shaft
@vladtheimpaler9577
December 8, 2024 at 5:32 am
While Samurai no longer exist as an official social class, many of the ‘bushido’ traditions persist to this day in the military. Especially during WW1-WW2 Japanese soldiers and generals were encouraged to live up to their ancient warrior traditions and fanatical devotion. Accomplished officers were given ceremonial garbs and swords as badges of honor and Japanese soldiers were known to commit seppuku when defeated in WW2.
@commandercavy9549
December 8, 2024 at 5:40 am
I hope Ubisoft paid attention to this, especially at the 10:44 mark.
@benniytb12
December 8, 2024 at 11:38 am
It’s exactly the same thing as they said in their video : “There is still a debate whether he is a samourai or not. We used this unknown par of his life and took creative liberties to write an interesting story” (or something like that). There are soooo many things wrong with Ubisoft, it’s absurd to me that everyone is trying to call them out on the one thing they did properly
@vladtheimpaler9577
December 8, 2024 at 6:07 am
Next up bring a Spanish historian to talk about Conquistadors. Or a mexican police veteran to talk about drug cartels.
@nny2055
December 8, 2024 at 6:57 am
東アジア史の間違いじゃないの？
@andrewhobbs255
December 8, 2024 at 7:15 am
fake history
@OmnipotentO
December 8, 2024 at 7:18 am
So Sword Saint Isshin pulling out his Glock is historically accurate.
@roelhodzelmans1004
December 8, 2024 at 8:10 am
He seems very knowledgeable, can’t wait till @metatron sees this one.
@柏餅-h5y
December 8, 2024 at 10:23 am
武士道は死狂ひなり
@三角スケール
December 8, 2024 at 10:37 am
He speaks in very simple terms, as if he were talking to a child.
I think it’s a good show. Especially the comment section
@足袋-j7q
December 8, 2024 at 10:43 am
18:00
Interestingly, brown rice is now more expensive than white rice. This is because white rice is the staple food in modern Japan.
However, because only the core of the grain is eaten, white rice has much lower nutritional value than brown rice or millet. Additionally, because grains such as brown rice and millet were rich in nutritional value, farmers during the Edo period were sometimes healthier than ordinary people living in cities.
@足袋-j7q
December 8, 2024 at 10:49 am
In areas where trade cooperatives and fishermen’s cooperatives existed, it was easy to obtain fish for protein, and in towns where a carnivorous culture remained, samurai and others had large, muscular bodies. This was a common tendency among Japanese people living in Kyushu during the late Edo period.
@cez19
December 8, 2024 at 10:46 am
Concerning Yasuke for all the fragiles, at least he admits there’s debate whether he was a samurai or not. The fact that there’s not enough records on Yasuke doesn’t automatically disqualify him as samurai, nor does it that he was. It’s always gonna be up for debate.
@さんまたろう-p9k
December 8, 2024 at 11:12 am
弥助の侍論争について議論の余地はありません。彼は侍として定義される要素のうち一つたりとも持ち合わせてはいないからです。強いて言えば織田信長の個人スタッフの様な人ではあったかも知れませんが記録に残る弥助とはその程度の人物です。弥助はただ出身地がアフリカ大陸だったという理由だけで現代の政治的都合で脚色された嘘の侍です。
@Vancoueber
December 8, 2024 at 1:53 pm
The samurai closely resemble European knights, in spite of their mutual isolation. It’s like a natural process that plays itself out for a few centuries.
@VickyDaJuice
December 8, 2024 at 7:29 pm
I hit the like button so hard
@IvoMonti
December 8, 2024 at 8:16 pm
I find it annoying how you all of you Americans believe everyone in the world should speak English and are now complaining that you have to read subtitles. Everyone else in the world is just accustomed to reading them and keeping up with the scene and imagery. Leads me to believe that all of you Native English Speakers read subtitles (and text in general) in a way that 8/10 of the free world would consider lethargic.
@covrachang
December 9, 2024 at 8:22 am
弥助は謎が多いからこそ憶測で変な言説が流布したんだろうな
そこに付け込んで歴史改竄にまで発展するんだから下手なこと言えんわ
@rosso757510
December 9, 2024 at 11:20 am
It has been proven by checking various documents that Yasuke was not a samurai. That’s great.
@RDG99
December 9, 2024 at 11:33 am
I was hoping he’d at least mention Sumo being one more remnant of the samurai culture
@Lemont321989
December 9, 2024 at 12:50 pm
What a funny language. Then you note that all languages are funny
@corsosrarebooksandcollecti562
December 9, 2024 at 12:56 pm
I could watch this gentleman for hours. So incredibly interesting. Please do a part 2 with him!
@nanachi8899
December 9, 2024 at 1:36 pm
まぁ弥助のwikiの改竄に気付かなかったのは誰も興味なかったからだろうしなぁ
@joaopedrooliveira7568
December 9, 2024 at 2:37 pm
Despite samurai being predominantly male, there were female figures like Tomoe Gozen and Nakano Takeko who defied the strict code of society and still made a difference by becoming warriors in their own right. Takeko herself led an army of 20 around of fellow women (Joshitai) trained during the battle of Aizu in the middle of the Boshin War. I feel those figures should have their history and actions explored in shows like Disney+’s Shogun
@chrono1742
December 9, 2024 at 4:01 pm
The most impressive part of this is him acknowledging cultural and historical values without phrasing it in a way adverse to modern values. Tat is a difficult line to walk and he does it very well.
@TerminalWorld
December 9, 2024 at 4:27 pm
Annoying fake sounds added: this is unwatchable.
@losbexp
December 9, 2024 at 4:51 pm
Amazing Q&A. There is a similar proverb in Turkey about honesty. Also horseback archery and fighting were the building stones of central asian civilizations. they heavily relied on their bows and arrows, sword was used as a last resort.
@chocolatefrenzieya
December 9, 2024 at 6:10 pm
I find it offensive you could just buy samurai status, and I’m not even Japanese! 😀
@norwaydude
December 9, 2024 at 6:45 pm
Loved this one. Ninja expert next please.
@yasuyoshi
December 9, 2024 at 8:21 pm
SEPPUKU or HARAGIRI is Samurai honor .
@yasuyoshi
December 9, 2024 at 8:21 pm
haragiri
@luckyarchery
December 9, 2024 at 9:09 pm
I love the translations using subtitles rather than dubbing over the speaker, it makes difficult concepts flow naturally, and it’s nice to hear the inflection and tone of a native speaker with extensive knowledge on the topic. Thank you Mr. Yasutsune Owada for sharing your expertise!
@imanmukhlis5052
December 9, 2024 at 10:05 pm
Spear was the most used and most efficient weapon during medieval era at any regions, but today sword is more popular and glorified because it looks “cooler” while being used. Apparently running around slashing enemies is cooler than standing still and poking.
Few region I know that still portray spear as the main weapon in modern culture like movies, novels and games is China (Dynasty Warriors, Wukong, etc).
@atleastwetried7587
December 10, 2024 at 2:54 am
Not one mention of Taira No Masakado.
@Chissyak
December 10, 2024 at 8:35 am
Metatron reacting to this in 3.2.1….
@merchant69420
December 10, 2024 at 10:14 am
Thankfully it’s an actual japanese instead of these fake white boys pretending to know Feudal Japanese History💀 one even manage to fabricate a fake black samurai and make a book about it.
@Javelineer
December 10, 2024 at 10:26 am
13:29 Ashigaru spam was real.
@UnclePutte
December 10, 2024 at 10:43 am
It was an interesting talk that humanized the warlike image of the samurai.
@Gravikaa
December 10, 2024 at 12:25 pm
+
@ヴァイキングス
December 10, 2024 at 1:52 pm
実際体験してない時代の歴史について知識をおもしろく紹介する範囲にとどめて
答えを断定しない歴史学習は尊敬できる
@人暇-l6d
December 10, 2024 at 4:23 pm
そしたら私らある意味では超マイルドな侍なのかな😂
侍は男性社会だっただろうから、今の日本が男尊女卑で性差が激しいのもなんだか納得。
花道を嗜んでたのなんだかギャップ萌え
とても分かりやすくて勉強になりました！
@dannyherbert4482
December 10, 2024 at 4:53 pm
Someones been playing too much ghost of tsushima 😆 not allowed to assassinate using stealth 🤣 ninja were just samurai with more training. Ninja were basically the SAS of ancient japan, first and foremost they were just soldiers/samurai but they were taught to gather information, sneak across borders undetected and things like that, they were even used in open battles along with other samurai. If stealth was against the samurai code there would be no ninja. There was no ninja clans that people like to fantasise about, they where just part of the army for whatever lord ruled their lands.
@Native_Creation
December 10, 2024 at 9:33 pm
Absolutely wonderful Wired video, one of the best. Yasutsune Owada had some incredible answers, demystifying many perceptions and expertly conveyed the history and also the gray areas of how Feudal Japanese history evolved. I’m happy to see people looking at the deeper nuances of Japanese history and how it’s impacted modern Japan.
@tee_swag
December 11, 2024 at 1:58 am
Samurais used guns more often.
@ay-lk5lf
December 11, 2024 at 5:36 am
小和田泰経先生以外に出演してくれる歴史学者いなかったのかなあ…
@Reginmund
December 11, 2024 at 7:05 am
Bushido should be thought of along the lines chivalry. A romantic ideal that the realities of war usually don’t allow for. It’s telling that these ideals were only fully expressed and formalized in the Edo period, a time when most samurai wouldn’t see actual combat. Ironically the battle of Sekigahara, arguably the most decisive encounter of the Sengoku Jidai, was decided by treachery.
@malle_yeno
December 11, 2024 at 8:11 am
The expert here is clearly knowledgeable and passionate, which is awesome! I don’t mind reading the subtitles, but I do wish they were easier to read on mobile. The black border shrinks a lot on mobile and so you end up with very low contrast against the white background. I would have liked them to be a bit bigger (or offer them as YouTube captions in English, since those use black bar backgrounds that are very easy to read)
@Mahbu
December 11, 2024 at 1:37 pm
10:44 “We don’t know what rank Yasuke was”. Interesting. The anti-woke crowd assured me he was definitively a servant who couldn’t possibly be a samurai and this was all but assured. They also told me retainers couldn’t possibly be samurai and this historian just stated Akechi Mitsuhide was a retainer. Akechi Mitsuhide. . who was a samurai.
I ain’t saying Yasuke was or wasn’t but I’m beginning to think this crusade to “prove” Yasuke wasn’t a samurai is NOT motivated by the pursuit of “historical accuracy”.
@makitinkonkankonyoko
December 11, 2024 at 8:02 pm
Not only samurai status but also non-samurai servants are retainers if they serve the daimyo. Therefore, both high-status samurai like Mitsuhide and non-samurai servants who do household chores and other chores at samurai mansions are retainers.
Therefore, even though Mitsuhide and Yasuke are both Nobunaga’s retainers, there is no contradiction in saying that one is a samurai and the other is not.
@Vograx
December 11, 2024 at 4:30 pm
That was really good. Not just short answers to the questions, but very nice elaboration and more insights about various things. Enjoyed that a lot!
@mandeep3.14
December 11, 2024 at 4:59 pm
More videos like this of experts speaking in their native tongue with proper and varied subtitle options👌🏼
@nd-ok2ws
December 11, 2024 at 6:36 pm
As a Japanese who has studied Japanese history, I can assure you that his commentary is most balanced, with little beautification or trivialization.
@TheDevilockedzombie
December 11, 2024 at 8:25 pm
Lol I love how this just proves all the SJW’s and reality deniers wrong. Yasuke wasnt a samurai. He wasnt even a good retainer.
Dude (in typical black person fashion) left the first sign of trouble.
That new Assassins Creed is doa.