Download or read book Samurai to Soldier written by D. Colin Jaundrill and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2016-07-09 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Samurai to Soldier, D. Colin Jaundrill rewrites the military history of nineteenth-century Japan. In fifty years spanning the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate and the rise of the Meiji nation-state, conscripts supplanted warriors as Japan’s principal arms-bearers. The most common version of this story suggests that the Meiji institution of compulsory military service was the foundation of Japan’s efforts to save itself from the imperial ambitions of the West and set the country on the path to great power status. Jaundrill argues, to the contrary, that the conscript army of the Meiji period was the culmination—and not the beginning—of a long process of experimentation with military organization and technology. Jaundrill traces the radical changes to Japanese military institutions, as well as the on-field consequences of military reforms in his accounts of the Boshin War (1868–1869) and the Satsuma Rebellions of 1877. He shows how pre-1868 developments laid the foundations for the army that would secure Japan’s Asian empire.

Download or read book The Soldier and the Samurai written by Louis Rosas and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-07-12 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the former Newly Selected Corps of Samurai known as the Shinsengumi were driven from their base in Kyoto, the tide of Japan's Boshin War had turned against the remaining Tokugawa Loyalists. Of the Shinsengumi's three surviving captains, no one knew for certain what became of 10th Unit Captain Harada Sanosuke. Until now. Based on a real-life 1965 rumor that surfaced in a Japanese newspaper, The Soldier and the Samurai is an epic tale of gratitude. It is the fictional account of a man who claimed to be the famous lost Samurai who appeared in Manchuria twenty-seven years after his alleged death at the Battle of Ueno, saving the lives of three Japanese soldiers during the First Sino-Japan War before disappearing again. One man will seek out the truth of what took place during that January 1895 and the discovery of a mysterious inscription written on the back of a Japanese tanto knife. A message that will alter the course of his life and that of his family for generations to come!

Download or read book Samurai to Soldier written by D. Colin Jaundrill and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2016-07-09 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Samurai to Soldier, D. Colin Jaundrill rewrites the military history of nineteenth-century Japan. In fifty years spanning the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate and the rise of the Meiji nation-state, conscripts supplanted warriors as Japan’s principal arms-bearers. The most common version of this story suggests that the Meiji institution of compulsory military service was the foundation of Japan’s efforts to save itself from the imperial ambitions of the West and set the country on the path to great power status. Jaundrill argues, to the contrary, that the conscript army of the Meiji period was the culmination—and not the beginning—of a long process of experimentation with military organization and technology. Jaundrill traces the radical changes to Japanese military institutions, as well as the on-field consequences of military reforms in his accounts of the Boshin War (1868–1869) and the Satsuma Rebellions of 1877. He shows how pre-1868 developments laid the foundations for the army that would secure Japan’s Asian empire.

Download or read book Soldiers of the Sun written by Meirion Harries and published by Random House. This book was released on 1994-07-05 with total page 605 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soldiers of the Sun traces the origins of the Imperial Japanese Army back to its samurai roots in the nineteenth century to tell the story of the rise and fall of this extraordinary military force. Meirion and Susie Harries have written the first full Western account of the Imperial Japanese Army. Drawing on Japanese, English, French, and American sources, the authors penetrate the lingering wartime enmity and propaganda to lay bare the true character of the Imperial Army.

Download or read book African Samurai written by Thomas Lockley and published by Harlequin. This book was released on 2019-04-30 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This biography of the first foreign-born samurai and his journey from Africa to Japan is “a readable, compassionate account of an extraordinary life” (The Washington Post). When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traveled much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child, he had ended up a servant and bodyguard to the head of the Jesuits in Asia, with whom he traversed India and China learning multiple languages as he went. His arrival in Kyoto, however, literally caused a riot. Most Japanese people had never seen an African man before, and many of them saw him as the embodiment of the black-skinned Buddha. Among those who were drawn to his presence was Lord Nobunaga, head of the most powerful clan in Japan, who made Yasuke a samurai in his court. Soon, he was learning the traditions of Japan’s martial arts and ascending the upper echelons of Japanese society. In the four hundred years since, Yasuke has been known in Japan largely as a legendary, perhaps mythical figure. Now African Samurai presents the never-before-told biography of this unique figure of the sixteenth century, one whose travels between countries and cultures offers a new perspective on race in world history and a vivid portrait of life in medieval Japan. “Fast-paced, action-packed writing. . . . A new and important biography and an incredibly moving study of medieval Japan and solid perspective on its unification. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal (starred review) “Eminently readable. . . . a worthwhile and entertaining work.” —Publishers Weekly “A unique story of a unique man, and yet someone with whom we can all identify.” —Jack Weatherford, New York Times–bestselling author of Genghis Khan

Download or read book Oba the Last Samurai written by Don Jones and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In July 1944 the Americans took the island of Saipan, but Captain Sakae Oba of the Japanese Army refused to acknowledge defeat.

Download or read book No Surrender written by Hiroo Onoda and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2013-12-04 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the spring of 1974, Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda of the Japanese army made world headlines when he emerged from the Philippine jungle after a thirty-year ordeal. Hunted in turn by American troops, the Philippine police, hostile islanders, and successive Japanese search parties, Onoda had skillfully outmaneuvered all his pursuers, convinced that World War II was still being fought and that one day his fellow soldiers would return victorious. This account of those years is an epic tale of the will to survive that offers a rare glimpse of man's invincible spirit, resourcefulness, and ingenuity. A hero to his people, Onoda wrote down his experiences soon after his return to civilization. This book was translated into English the following year and has enjoyed an approving audience ever since.

Download or read book Samurai Warfare written by Stephen R. Turnbull and published by Arms & Armour. This book was released on 1997 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A look at Samurai warfare and specific battles in which it was applied.

Download or read book Samurai War Stories written by Antony Cummins and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2013-04-01 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enter the world of seventeenth-century Japanese warfare and the warrior elite, the Samurai. Samurai War Stories: Teachings and Tales of Samurai Warfare is a collection of three major texts, published in an English translation for the first time. These works include writings on three distinct military strata: the Samurai; the Ashigaru or foot soldier; and women in war. Including guidelines, tactics, commentaries and advice written by Samurai of the period, as well as intricate illustrations. Narratives of actual battles and sieges are included in the texts, such as the famous Battle of Sekigahara. This collection is an invaluable resource that sheds new light on the world of the legendary Japanese warrior.

Download or read book Modern Hand to Hand Combat written by Hakim Isler and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2014-09-30 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Apply the ancient close-combat secrets of the Samurai to modern warfare with this military martial arts self-defense guide. Today's ground soldier may be required to carry up to 60 lbs. of equipment when on patrol, or in any situation where they might be engaging the enemy. Unfortunately, mobility is sacrificed in the name of protection. In close-proximity combat, the modern soldier is at a decided disadvantage compared to his more nimble opponent -- but this is nothing new in the history of warfare. On the battlefields of medieval Japan, the Samurai faced a similar situation. This created the need to devise a new defense method that you can learn from today. In his self-defense guide Modern Hand to Hand Combat, Isler has blended Samurai techniques with the battlefield combat needs of the modern soldier. This book gives step-by-step instructions on how to effectively deal with life and death situations through movements and principles that still hold true. These principle-driven guidelines make for a variety of self-defense applications and are valuable to everyone from law enforcement officers and security personnel to soldiers and military professionals. With almost 300 illustrations and a detailed instructional DVD, the guidelines set out in this book and DVD set can, and will, significantly enhance the warfighter's ability to survive in combat. Topics covered include: Chapter 1) JOURNEY TO CREATION Chapter 2) LESSONS FROM THE PAST Chapter 3) B.P.C. PHILOSOPHY Chapter 4) FOCUSES OF B.P.C. TRAINING Chapter 5) THE BASICS Chapter 6) UNDERSTANDING DISTANCE Chapter 7) WINNING CONCEPTS Chapter 8) EXHAUSTIVE MEASURES Chapter 9) BATTLEFIELD GROUND COMBAT Chapter 10) TECHNIQUE SET 1 To learn how the martial arts of the Samurai can be useful to those in the military and beyond, Modern Hand to Hand Combat is the most comprehensive guide to blending these two systems for optimal safety and effectiveness.

Download or read book Samurai Invasion written by Stephen R. Turnbull and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2002-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Lively....Skillfully pieceing together contemporary accounts from Japanese and Korean sources, the author provides a vivid and horrifying picture of the strategy, tactics, and technology of Japanese warefare....Belongs in public as well as college libraries.”—Library Journal. “Impeccably researched, lavishly illustrated, clearly written for the general reader, as outstanding on its subject as it is unique.”—Booklist.

Download or read book Way of the Modern Warrior written by Stephen F. Kaufman and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2012-11-10 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn how to apply bushido philosophy and long-standing samurai strategies to your modern-day practice -- and lifestyle -- in this guide from a former soldier and martial arts expert. A warrior is anyone who applies their energy and creativity in support of a cause or ideal through creation or conflict. Real warriors have an ethos, a guiding belief that provides him or her with a clear purpose for their actions and an understanding that the battle in which they are engaged will have results that lead to a higher good. The Way of the Modern Warrior is an explanation of the samurai philosophy, or Bushido, of Japan's fiercest warriors, practiced for over 1,000 years. The author, Hanshi Stephen Kaufman, has been a warrior for 50 years, first as a member of the military, then as an advisor to the military, and finally as one of the world's most distinguished martial arts philosophers. In his years of experience, he has collected the wisdom that comes from lessons learned and lessons taught. The 55 precepts in his new book are the result of those years of experience, and these samurai strategies will guide the modern day warrior as they devote energy and creativity to their practice. These principles and philosophies, drawn from samurai history, include Kaufman's insights about: Arrogance Ease and Grace Wise Men and Evil Being Genuine Shame and the Glory The Way of the Modern Warrior is an essential handbook for the 21st-century samurai warrior who lives by honor, duty, and service.

Download or read book The Meiji Restoration written by Robert Hellyer and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-05-07 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines the Meiji Restoration through a global history lens to re-interpret the formation of a globally-cast, Japanese nation-state.

Download or read book Yankee Samurai written by Joseph Daniel Harrington and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Author Joseph D. Harrington has written an informative and insightful history of the Nisei (Second-generation Japanese Americans), working for the U.S. armed forces in the Pacific during World War II. This is no whitewashed narrative, as it exposes U.S. internment camps, prejudices, and the frustrations of patriotic Japanese-Americans who wanted to fight for their country, but were initially rebuffed. As the book relates, not all Nisei were in favor of fighting, and even those that did encountered another kind of prejudice at first, from Hawaiian-born Nisei who more than occasionally felt that continental Japanese-Americans just didn't measure up, linguistically-speaking. Like other children of immigrants, the Nisei were, to a large extent, caught between Japanese tradition and U.S. culture. The concept of honor, an essential element in Japanese-American family life, ended up serving U.S. military interests well. The author has done an outstanding job of uncovering names and telling little-known stories. Especially fascinating are the ones that describe the analytical acumen of Nisei translators.

Download or read book Musui s Story written by Katsu Kokichi and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2023-02-21 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A series of picaresque adventures set against the backdrop of a Japan still closed off from the rest of the world, Musui's Story recounts the escapades of samurai Katsu Kokichi. As it depicts Katsu stealing, brawling, indulging in the pleasure quarters, and getting the better of authorities, it also provides a refreshing perspective on Japanese society, customs, economy, and human relationships. From childhood, Katsu was given to mischief. He ran away from home, once at thirteen, making his way as a beggar on the great trunk road between Edo and Kyoto, and again at twenty, posing as the emissary of a feudal lord. He eventually married and had children but never obtained official preferment and was forced to supplement a meager stipend by dealing in swords, selling protection to shopkeepers, and generally using his muscle and wits. Katsu's descriptions of loyalty and kindness, greed and deception, vanity and superstition offer an intimate view of daily life in nineteenth-century Japan unavailable in standard history books. Musui's Story will delight not only students of Japan's past but also general readers who will be entranced by Katsu's candor and boundless zest for life.

Download or read book Samurai Heraldry written by Stephen Turnbull and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-06-20 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dazzling spectacle presented by the armies of medieval Japan owed much to the highly developed family and personal heraldry of samurai society. From simple personal banners, this evolved over centuries of warfare into a complex system of flags worn or carried into battle, together with the striking 'great standards' of leading warlords. While not regulated in the Western sense, Japanese heraldry developed as a series of widely followed practices, while remaining flexible enough to embrace constant innovation. Scores of examples, in monochrome and full colour, illustrate this fascinating explanation of the subject by a respected expert on all aspects of samurai culture.

Download or read book Japan s Imperial Army written by Edward J. Drea and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2016-05-03 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Popular impressions of the imperial Japanese army still promote images of suicidal banzai charges and fanatical leaders blindly devoted to their emperor. Edward Drea looks well past those stereotypes to unfold the more complex story of how that army came to power and extended its influence at home and abroad to become one of the world's dominant fighting forces. This first comprehensive English-language history of the Japanese army traces its origins, evolution, and impact as an engine of the country's regional and global ambitions and as a catalyst for the militarization of the Japanese homeland from mid-nineteenth-century incursions through the end of World War II. Demonstrating his mastery of Japanese-language sources, Drea explains how the Japanese style of warfare, burnished by samurai legends, shaped the army, narrowed its options, influenced its decisions, and made it the institution that conquered most of Asia. He also tells how the army's intellectual foundations shifted as it reinvented itself to fulfill the changing imperatives of Japanese society-and how the army in turn decisively shaped the nation's political, social, cultural, and strategic course. Drea recounts how Japan devoted an inordinate amount of its treasury toward modernizing, professionalizing, and training its army-which grew larger, more powerful, and politically more influential with each passing decade. Along the way, it produced an efficient military schooling system, a well-organized active duty and reserve force, a professional officer corps that thought in terms of regional threat, and well-trained soldiers armed with appropriate weapons. Encompassing doctrine, strategy, weaponry, and civil-military relations, Drea's expert study also captures the dominant personalities who shaped the imperial army, from Yamagata Aritomo, an incisive geopolitical strategist, to Anami Korechika, who exhorted the troops to fight to the death during the final days of World War II. Summing up, Drea also suggests that an army that places itself above its nation's interests is doomed to failure.