Comments on: Young Samurai Book One (of at least three): Harry Potter Bushido

By: Jonathan Dresner

Jonathan Dresner — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 03:22:58 +0000

Konrad,

I’ve read the Learning from SHOGUN collection, and it’s quite good. Imagine my surprise, though, when I got to the glossary (p. 144) and found

ninja (pp. 1050-62). Practitioners of ninjutsu (“the art of stealth”), experts in espionage, sabotage, and assassination. The ninja of Shogun, whose “only purpose in life was violent death for pay” (p. 1062), reflect the romanticization of the ninja in modern Japanese popular entertainment: the historical ninja were primarily experts in political intelligence rather than fanatical assassins. Although Toranaga was said to have considered ninja to be “filth” (p. 1077), the historical Ieyasu prized the services of ninja and used them extensively. In fact, the only lord in Japan in 1600 who could have ordered a ninja attack of the scale mounted by Ishido in Shogun
would have been Ieyasu himself, since he then controlled the Koga and Iga ninja, the two largest traditional groups. For an account of the ninja, see Andrew Adams, Ninja: The Invisible Assassins (Ohara Publications, Los Angeles, 1970).

Most of it holds up fine, though.

By: Jonathan Dresner

Jonathan Dresner — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:21:48 +0000

I do try to note the things that a book gets right; when some details are right but the overarching plot depends on myths, anachronisms and misunderstandings, though, I have to say so. And when it’s literature directed at children, I have no tolerance for it: the actual history and culture is quite dramatic enough. I’ll have to read the Smith collection — I’ve read the introduction so far — but it seems to be taking a similar approach, contextualizing what’s done right, pointing out where dramatic necessity changes the history and culture. With Clavell, at least, there’s a strong sense of attempting to get the culture and history right: it’s the relationships which are the most spectacular failure. With most of what I’ve reviewed here recently, they’re telling any old story they want with a smattering of historical detail for verisimilitude.

By: K. M. Lawson

K. M. Lawson — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:34:28 +0000

Doh. Thanks for revealing my secrets to the world Derek! :-) Living in Scotland and Norway as a child books like Sensei, the Bushido role-playing game, and new agey works like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and the works of Alan Watts were all a part of my proud collection. I can deploy mockery as well as the next Asian history snob now, but to do so would risk denying the powerful role such works had in drawing me towards the study of Japan and Asia. I really came to realize when I saw how effectively Henry Smith could use the mini-series Shogun to raise questions about Japanese history. ( http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/learning/index.html )

By: Jonathan Dresner

Jonathan Dresner — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:27:03 +0000

Putting it in the early medieval is, at least, a little original. It might not be fair for me to read them now: 25 years later our understanding of the military and social context of medieval Japan is much better. I’ll troll our public library — these things live on forever — but I don’t know how much more of this I can take before it bcomes an unhealthy obsession. Or, as we call it in academia, a research project.

By: Derek

Derek — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:04:43 +0000

This mish-mash of anachronistic historical fiction in Japan reminds me of the Sensei series by David Charney. I was lent them many years ago by Mitch Lawson, although now he would probably disavow any knowledge of those books. They were an enjoyable escapist read for a young Japanophile, but now knowing a little of Japanese history and such I'm almost embarrassed to admit I once enjoyed reading them. I'd recommend them for at least comparative purposes, but they are long since out of print, so it you probably just can't go buy a copy, and I'd be surprised if you average library has a copy of them.