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Samurai military history book – “Samurai” (ABC-CLIO Press, 2019) – Constantine Vaporis interview
Check out the book here https://amzn.to/2uImEGh
Dr. Constantine Vaporis teaches and writes on Japanese history, especially that of the samurai. We recently discussed his latest book on the samurai of the Tokugawa period. Samurai (ABC-CLIO Press, 2019)
0:38 – Constantine talks about how he got into writing on Japan and samurai.
3:22 – Constantine talks about how he determined what he wanted to focus on in this book. He focused on the Tokugawa period.
7:48 – Constantine talks about how the daimyo and samurai ran the government.
9:18 – Constantine talks about how samurai and non-samurai interacted in the government.
11:14 – Constantine talks about how men became samurai.
13:12 – Constantine talks about loyalty among the samurai.
14:53 – Constantine talks how some samurai were developed to be military leaders both in the army and navy.
18:30 – Constantine talks about the make-up of the Japanese military.
19:31 – Constantine talks about the size of the Japanese military before Tokugawa and during that period.
21:27 – Constantine talks about how the Tokugawas took weapons from the populace and the pacification of the countryside.
22:23 – Constantine talks about Japan became remilitarized and how samurai were unmade in the mid 1800s.
24:08 – Constantine talks about how the peace was kept during the Tokugawa period.
26:30 – Constantine talks about how peasants dealt with their problems with samurai.
27:29 – Constantine talks about the rules of the military household.
29:19 – Constantine talks about female fighters.
30:43 – Constantine talks about samurai who fled to southeast Asia at the end of the 16th century.
31:32 – Constantine talks about samurai attachment to their name and the land.
34:07 – Constantine talks about the cultural diversity of Japan in this period.
37:44 – Constantine talks about the resources he used for this book. He mentions the archives he used.
40:04 – Constantine talks about samurai helmets and sword guards.
42:05 – Constantine talks about the quality of samurai weapons and armor.
44:07 – Constantine talks about conflicts between Japanese and westerners.
45:36 – Constantine talks about the pressure the westerners put on Japanese culture.
47:02 – Constantine talks about Japanese analysis of western books and technology.
48:57 – Constantine talks about coming across a temple to a loyal cat. He also talks about samurai keeping dogs.
54:30 – Constantine talks about how justice was dispensed by the samurai.
1:00:48 – He has a site at voicesofearlymodernjapan.wordpress.com
Links of interest
https://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=A4999C
voicesofearlymodernjapan.wordpress.com
Contact Information
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Guests: Constantine Vaporis
Host: Cris Alvarez
Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, chanbara, seven samurai, daimyo, shogun, edo, tokugawa, status, tokugawa ieyasu, jesuits, portuguese, smithsonian, osaka, Sekigahara, muskets, suicide, vendetta, shogunate, mito, izu, naginata, fief, martial customs, horse riding, katana
