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seikei7248@... wrote:
> There is a movie based on the story of the 47 Ronin
>
> Chushigura..... Mifune is in this one; I was
> also surprized that no one
> has mention the Hidden fortres; also with Mifune..
> lol I am seeing a pattern
> here. Hmm
Um, well, I love Hidden Fortress, and many other
movies with Mifune. I don't think there is an
anti-Mifune conspiracy here.
> Blesing to all and Thanks for all the post I find
> them infomative and
> intersting. Although I was a little concern when I
> spoke with my daughter she told
> me that she is afraid to post on here. She feels
> that there are some in here
> that wold treat her as if she were hmm interesting
> that she feels that way. I
> am saddden by this news.. But I have seen some post
> on here that I can
> understand why she would feel that way. She wants
> to ask question but feels like
> if she ask then people will be kinda like ; How can
> you not know this? I
> hoep that we can all be resepectful and a little
> more humble about how we Make
> are psot to help others that are interested in
> Samuria History.
Your daughter is more than welcome to post here.
Honest questions about samurai/Japanese history are
welcomed and will be answered. Problems occur when:
a. people come in with preconceived notions shaped by
pop culture and refuse to accept that pop culture is
wrong 80% of the time, at least. We are all wrong at
some point in our lives, and it's better to learn to
accept it and learn from it then defend mistaken
ideas.
b. People ignore the "history" portion of the "Samurai
History" groups. While martial arts are okay as a
side-topic in relation to the Samurai, this is NOT a
martial-arts forum. Additionally, "I read in a comic
book", "my sensei told me so", and "I saw in a
movie/anime/tv show" aren't considered accurate
historical references, and anyone who uses these as
documentation for supposed facts deserves whatever
rebuttal with historical sources they get. Many
"history" books aren't correct, either. Turnbull does
a great job of getting information into English, and
I've got a collection of many of his books. However,
some I wish I hadn't wasted money on--sometimes he (or
his editor) gets lazy and prints counterfactual
information, and he tends to publish the same
information (complete with the
same...anecdotes...over...and...over). ALL sources
need to be verified, doublechecked, or corroborated.
Sansom, God love him, while a great source of overview
knowledge, has sadly been passed up by a lot of recent
research, and is downright wrong on some things.
[/rant]
Sorry, got off-track there. The bottom line of the
above is that even real historical sources aren't
always "right", so when a question is asked here, it's
not always easy to give a simple answer. Honestly,
many people ask superficial questions--as if all
Samurai were the same, and what applied to one samurai
applied to another in all cases, regardless of
station, socio-economic status, time period, location,
etc. A lot of romanticized ideals bring people here,
and as with any romanticized ideal, the reality is
sort of sobering and disappointing to some.
Personally, I find the betrayal, self-serving
aggression, and general chaos of the Sengoku to be
much more interesting than the idea that all samurai
followed this neat little code called Bushido and
committed seppuku if they sneezed in public. It's
asked of every member who signs up that they read the
Top Ten (11) misconceptions of the Samurai webpage,
which serves as the baseline for discussion.
http://www.geocities.com/klancesegall/home.htm
Anyone who wants to challenge those statements may do
so, but the weight of Japanese Historical Scholastic
Endeavours, in both English and Japanese, is against
you.
Lastly, it's an internet web discussion group--nothing
anyone says should be taken personally. Some people
tend to load their messages with irony (I've been
accused of this...) and some people take that
personally. Don't. I don't know you, and you don't
know me. If someone comes around making claims of
speaking fluent Japanese and having XYZ amount of
knowledge, I'm immediately suspicious. I've studied
Japanese for 11 years now, live in Japan, deal with
Japanese government officials on official business in
Japanese on a daily basis, rented a house and make
bank transactions in Japanese, and I still (and
probably never will) don't consider myself "fluent".
However, this happened on another board, and when I
asked if said person could function in Japan, that
person provided me with ample evidence chronicling his
last 30 years or so in Japan. Skepticism gone. What it
all boils down to is being able to back up your
statements/assertions with documentable facts and
experience, and if you can't, being willing to accept
the answers of those who can.
Welcome to your daughter, we look forward to her
questions and contributions to the board. Any issues,
please report them to me or Kitsuno, and they'll be
dealt with.
Nate
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