Question: What's the best tale of samurai?
There are many. Here are just a few off the top of my head.
The 47 Ronin
You might start with The 47 Ronin. It is the one of the most well known samurai stories, is a great example of traits that were valued by samurai, and is free. A century ago, A. B. Mitford, introduced this story to the West in his book, Tales of Old Japan. You can grab a copy for free here. It's the first story in the book. The others in there are worth reading too.
It's short enough that I'd suggest just reading the Mitford version, but if you'd rather dive into the Wikipedia summery, here you go
Musashi
Musashi is considered by many to be the greatest or one of the greatest swordsman in Japanese history. He lived when the samurai were probably at their peak, at the end of the civil war period. Eiji Yoshikawa's telling of his story is fantastic, and the English version has a great translation. Get it here
Yoshikawa's other two great books that have been translated to English also bear mention.
Taiko
This is the story of Hideyoshi, the peasant who became a samurai who then became the most powerful man in Japan, reuniting the country after the century of civil war. You will be hard pressed to find a better story taking place in Japanese history. Get it here.
Wikipedia link about Hideyoshi.
The Heike Story
This is a retelling of the Japanese epic Heike Monogatari, or the Tale of the Heike, which itself is a romanticized telling of the Genpei war, the war between the Heike (the Taira) and the Genji (the Minamoto). This is the beginning of samurai rule in Japan. Unfortunately the translation here is not as good as that of Musashi or Taiko, but it is still a great story. Get it here.
If you want to skip the retelling and go straight to Heike Monogatari, here is a great recent translation of it.
Or you can just read the Wikipedia summery here.
The above are all in the fairly accurate historic fiction category. A bit more fictional but still based on reality is this classic...
Shogun
This is based on the story of Will Adams, an Englishman who landed in Japan and somehow managed to gain the attention of Tokugawa Ieyasu and become a samurai. Clavell changes all the names, which is unfortunate, but if you know a little history of the time you can recognize all the major players. It's an entertaining story. Get it here (the Kindle version is on sale for 2 bucks as I write this).
Lone Wolf and Cub
If you dig manga (comic books), you are in for a treat. Lone Wolf and Cub is a wonderful tale of a ronin's adventures as he seeks to get revenge against the clan that murdered his wife and household. Now this story is heavily romanticized and is more akin to samurai movies than reality, but it is still a great, exciting read and will introduce you to many historically true elements of a samurai's world.
I believe you can buy the books on Comixology if you are outside Japan. Since I am inside I can't find it and give you a link, but you might try searching yourself.
Speaking of samurai movies, if you haven't seen any of the Kurosawa films, go watch them now. Pretty much required viewing for anyone interested in samurai.
All of them are great, but if you haven't seen any, I'd start with Yojimbo.
Yojimbo
Now Kurosawa was a huge John Ford fan and his samurai films are Westerns in a large part. That doesn't make them any less exciting, but you should be aware of it. And like Westerns, the historic accuracy of his movies is questionable. Still, for great stories, they can't be beat! You can likely find Yojimbo on any streaming service.
Maybe that is enough to get you started. I'll edit this and add more if I think of any others.
Ask Me Japan
Do you have any questions about Japan that you just can't find the answer to and are itching to know? Ask me in the comments and if I have any insight I'll address your question in another post.
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 | David LaSpina is an American photographer lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time. More? |
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What are some good original texts for folk talkes that are beyond copyright protection to look at trying to translate?
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Oh, I must say that I enjoy reading this blog so much. Maybe partly it is because the Japanese Ronins are not strange to Chinese. And I learned "Hideyoshi" who tried to invade Ming Dynasty(China) from the history textbook long time ago , but I never know his personal story, from a humble peasant to the most powerful man in Japan. (Of course, it is not unique. The founding emperor of Ming Dynasty was from a peasant family, too.)
I also find the theme song of "Lone wolf and cub" is expectedly so popular in China. I can search its video in Chinese version from Baidu website(Chinese search engine) very easily, being sung by the famous HK actor 郑少秋.
Thank you for sharing it so much!
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