Yoshitsune Villain

The Samurai’s Tale by Erik Christian Haugaard is about a boy named Taro, the protagonist in the story. The major characters in the story are Taro, Yoshitoki, Lord Takeda Katsuyori, Lord Akiyama Nobutomo, and Togan. The setting of the story is in Japan, in around the 16th century. In the beginning of the story he was presented as a gift by the great Lord Takeda Shingen to Lord Akiyama after his parents had been killed. By using his wits and suppressing his fierce pride, Taro slowly escalates the ranks of his lord’s household until he achieves his greatest goal—becoming a samurai like his father and Lord Akiyama, whom he has come to admire. The life of a samurai is not so easy, Taro finds himself sacrificing opportunities of love and friendship

The Minamotos won, and the emperor made Minamoto Yoritomo shogun, the head of the military. Yoritomo however wanted more and took all power away from the emperor and made himself dictator. At this time the samurai gained power, through land given to them by the new shogun. Their rise in status was beginning.

In 1159, Kiyomori of the Taira clan was victorious over the Minamoto clan. Kiyomori murdered all the adults of the Monamoto clan and forced the children into exile. The emperor rewarded Kiyomori victory by giving him an advisor position in the government. This event was significant because Kiyomori was the first warrior in Japan’s government. Like the Fujiwara family, Kiyomori desired a royal bloodline within the Taira clan. So the Taira clan consorted with the imperial family in efforts to secure an imperial bloodline. Later, Kiyomori obtain a higher government position and more importantly a grandson was born and is heir to the throne. Feeling cheated an imperial prince sought the exiled Minamoto to overthrow the Taria clan. In 1180, Yoritomo of the Minamoto clan formed an army and battled with Taira clan that is known as the Genpei War. Eventually, Kiyomori died and the Taria clan shortly declined after him. During these battles warriors ran amok pillaging the Japan’s cuntryside. To end the chaos and violence the imperial turned to Yoritomo. Yoritomo in return raise an army of samurais and took complete control of the government and transformed it into a military government. The Kamakura government consisted of the emperor, shogun, and the house men. The emperor served merely as a figurehead, he little to no control of his government. The shogun had

The samurai, or bushi (warrior), are well-trained cavalrymen that serve a particular lord. The first recorded history of the samurai was about the 9th century A.D. At that time the capitol of Japan was Kamakura, a military installation. Japan was ruled by an emperor who controlled his empire through the use of shoguns. Shoguns were generals that ruled over

The emperor is an important religious figure, he swapped lands swapped land with nobles exchange for their support for he couldn't handle all the land far far away from him. In the shogunate period the emperor didn't have much power for the shoguns had basically controlled the government.

The Samurai’s Tale is about a young boy named Taro, who had became the hero of the story. The main characters in the story was Lord Akiyama, Lord Takeda Shingen, and Togan. This story took place in Japan around the 16th century. The story began with Taro, Murakami Harutomo, arguing with his mother about what she had been telling him to wear for an event that was going to happen without him knowing about. Later that day Taro saw that soldiers came attacking his house, his mother leaving him with Yone in a chest trying to keep them safe in a storehouse that had laid behind the house. A soldier then found them both and took them out of the chest, then as they walked out of the store hold, he found his mother on the ground dead. A plot twist that

Samurai were the warriors of japan who were known for their skills as warriors . The samurai date all the way back to the heian period.The samurai were the protectors of the emperors in japan and the land around it.

After delivering the message about the disloyal ronins who had harassed him, Taro became Akiyama's messenger and befriended Yoshitoki, a young samurai. At age 15, he was sent with Yoshitoki to carry a message to Tsutsujigasaki Castle. On the way, they escaped from two bandits disguised as monks. A strange old man invited them into his hut and predicted that neither Lord Oda Nobunaga nor Lord Takeda Shingen would rule Japan. On their return from the castle, Yoshitoki and Taro found the hut of the strange man empty and decided that the man had been a ghost. Lord Akiyama gave Taro back his family name- Murakami- and presented him with a sword.

Loyalty and honor are of the highest value in the eyes of the samurai. This is a statement that many scholars and young educated persons believe to be true on the basis of assumption. Thomas Conlan challenges this preconceived notion of loyalty and honor in his book State of War by piecing together a much more difficult and situationally based definition of loyalty which differed depending on the samurai and by observing how times of war and hardship truly challenged an individual’s sense of honor.

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the first shogun. Throughout his time he had multiple achievements. His first major achievement was at the age of twelve, where he was appointed his first imperial court title, this was due to his imperial blood. But the 1159 civil war threw a bit of a curve ball for Yorimoto, as the new Emperor named Nijo was appointed head

By the 900’s, the Japanese government began losing control over rural areas due to its weak ruler and the samurai warrior class stepped in to take control. This was due to a civil war called the “Hogen Rebellion” in 1156. This rebellion was due to conflicts regarding Imperial Japanese succession and unexpectedly laid the groundwork for the samurai clans to gain dominance. With both “would-be emperors” losing the Hogen Rebellion, the imperial government of Japan lost all of its remaining power. This led to the Heiji Rebellion in 1160 which was fought between two samurai clans, the Minamoto and Taira. With the victory of the Taira clan, the first samurai-led government (Shogunate) was formed. This type of government was controlled by the samurai clans, and the Emperor of Japan was only used as a figurehead to the government.

“Like many great men, deep faults paralleled his towering gifts. Yet by choosing compassion over confrontation, and benevolence over belligerence, he demonstrated ageless qualities of manliness” (McKay). This is one of the most highly valued codes and is related to every other value from the Bushido Codes. Character shows in all actions made by a person and samurai always try to show good character through their actions by serving others and following

If the main character of “Samurai Rising” by Pamela S. Turner had been a female, the book would not have been made or would’ve been a very boring story. Back in the 1100’s, women did not have the same rights as men. They were housemaids, dancers, or they protected and cared for children. Samurai Rising is a book about a strong Samurai general that flipped the tides of the war with the opposing samurai clan. However, if Yoshitsune had been a girl, then she would’ve spent her life in the temple. The boy had escaped becoming a samurai with a famous samurai trainer who happened to be his uncle, who of course wouldn’t have been accepted if he had been a woman. Back in medieval Japan, Woman had so many fewer rights than now. Samurai Rising would

Another evident sign of the declining of the samurai was Yoshida's lack of faith in what he called the third group, "those who were with Oishi in his plan to get the castle restored, but who were suddenly unavailable when it came to embarking on the road to vengeance." (P.172) This proved to be true, as certain developments began unfolding, the original 300 ronin who pledged allegiance, dwindled down to 47. The decline of the samurai was also evident in the house of Uesugi as well, and after the successful assassination of Kira, a messenger from the Shogun's council arrived before Lord Uesugi to carry out the Shogunate's official decrees. Lord Kira's grandson, Sayhoe, was to disembowel himself for his inability to fight to the death in defense of his kinsmen. Secondly, the retainers who fled without aiding their kinsmen were to be beheaded and cast adrift as ronin. Lastly, since Lord Uesugi failed to act on behalf of Kira, his domain is ordered to be ceased forever. The official decrees of the Shogunate all display the decline of the samurai under the house of Uesugi.

War played a central part in the history of Japanese samurai. As regional clans gathered manpower, resources and struck alliances with each other, they formed a hierarchy centered around a toryo, or chief. This chief was typically a relative of the emperor