Samurait

[Andy]

Huomasin hämmästyksekseni että samuraille ei ollut vielä olemassa omaa ketjuaan. Nyt on.

Mikähän tämä kuvan taustalla mahtaa olla?

[Mika]

Japanilaisten tunnetusti kummalliset fetissit?

Vakavammin puhuen tuohan on mielenkiintoinen aihe.

In the earlier periods such as the Heian and Kamakura, there were female members of the samurai class who became prominent or even present on the battlefield. They were the exception and not the rule, but this doesn’t mean that most women were powerless.

[DeusVult]

Pienellä google-jutsulla selviää että kyseessä on huutokaupattu portretti Kabuki-näyttelijästä (yksi monista).

Description

Unknown photographer. Portraits of Japanese Kabuki actors and geisha. 1870s. 34 albumen prints. Each circa 8,5 x 5,5 cm,5 x 9 cm and 21 x 27 cm (2). Each mounted to board (some traces of use), smaller prints 16 to a page.

Relatively early and unusual portraits of Kabuki actors and geisha. – Most smaller prints faded, especially in edges, some with light smudge marks, otherwise in good to very good condition.

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/141 ... ors-and-ge" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Netin residentit feministit ovat ilmeisesti kuitenkin spämmänneet kuvaa ympäri weppiä väärillä viittauksilla :

An onna-bugeisha (女武芸者?) was a type of female warrior belonging to the Japanese upper class. Many wives, widows, daughters, and rebels answered the call of duty by engaging in battle, commonly alongside samurai men. They were members of the bushi (samurai) class in feudal Japan and were trained in the use of weapons to protect their household, family, and honour in times of war. They also represented a divergence from the traditional 'housewife' role of the Japanese woman. They are sometimes referred to as female samurai. Significant icons such as Empress Jingu, Tomoe Gozen, Nakano Takeko, and Hōjō Masako are famous examples of onna bugeisha.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onna-bugeisha" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ikkyu]

Aika moni valokuva "samuraista" on todennäköisesti puvustettu ja lavastettu studiossa Meiji-kaudella (samurai-ajan jälkeen) kuvattavien itsensä riemuksi tai myytäväksi.

[sinappi]

Pienellä google-jutsulla selviää että kyseessä on huutokaupattu portretti Kabuki-näyttelijästä (yksi monista).
Netin residentit feministit ovat ilmeisesti kuitenkin spämmänneet kuvaa ympäri weppiä väärillä viittauksilla :

An onna-bugeisha (女武芸者?) was a type of female warrior belonging to the Japanese upper class. Many wives, widows, daughters, and rebels answered the call of duty by engaging in battle, commonly alongside samurai men. They were members of the bushi (samurai) class in feudal Japan and were trained in the use of weapons to protect their household, family, and honour in times of war. They also represented a divergence from the traditional 'housewife' role of the Japanese woman. They are sometimes referred to as female samurai. Significant icons such as Empress Jingu, Tomoe Gozen, Nakano Takeko, and Hōjō Masako are famous examples of onna bugeisha.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onna-bugeisha" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

En muista koskaan kuulleeni, että Japanissa olisi ollut soturinaisia armeijoiden mukana. Toki suurin osa armeijasta koostui huoltojoukoista.

Muistaako joku paremmin asiaan vihkiytynyt, että jollekkin Tokugawa Ieyasun sotaretkistä ajoittuvan piirityksen yhteydessä piiritettävän linnan naiset olisivat hyökänneet piirittävää joukkoa vastaan elintarvikkeiden loputtua? Heidät tietenkin tapettiin melko pian.

En voi sietää sitä, miten ihmiset lähettävät facebookkiin tai kamppailufoorumeille juuri tuon Andyn postaaman kuvan kaltaisia kuvia, joihin on liitetty joku pseudofilosofinen soturisitaatti. Syöpäisin esimerkki tällaisesta on facebookin shihan essence -yhteisö. Siellä olevia juttuja lukiessa tekee mieli tökätä haarukka silmään.

[Jussi Ekholm]

Eipä tuolla Japanissa ennen vanhaan tuossa naisen asemassa ole ollut liikaa kehumista.

Onhan noita muutamia vahvoja soturinaisia kai Japanin historiassa, mutta eipä noita taistelusaavutuksia ole kauhean monien osalta jäänyt kirjoihin.

Tässä on vähän Ellis Amdurin kertomaa aiheesta (moni on täällä kyseistä herraa kehunut, joten ajattelin linkittää hänen tekstiinsä ): http://www.koryu.com/Library/wwj1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Vähän katkaistuna tuosta ylläolevasta miten karua Sengoku-kaudella oli.

It was probably at this time that the image of women fighters with naginata arose. However, as Yazawa Isao, a sixteenth-generation headmistress of Toda-ha Buko-ryu wrote (in 1916), the main weapon of most women in these horrible times was not the naginata, but the kaiken, which Bushi women carried at all times. Yazawa stated that a woman was not usually expected to fight with her dagger. Instead, she was required to kill herself in a manner as wrapped in custom as the male warrior's seppuku. This was known as jigai. In seppuku, a man was required to show his stoicism in the face of unimaginable pain by disemboweling himself. In jigai, women had a method in which death would occur relatively quickly. The nature of the wound was not likely to cause an ugly distortion of the features or disarrangement of the limbs that would offend the woman's dignity after death. The dagger was used to cut the jugular vein.

Women did not train in using the kaiken with sophisticated combat techniques. If a woman was forced to fight, she was to grab the hilt with both hands, plant the butt firmly against her stomach, and run forward to stab the enemy with all her weight behind the blade. She was to become, for a moment, a living spear. She was not supposed to boldly draw her blade and challenge her enemy. She had to find some way to catch him unawares. If she were successful in this, she would most likely be unstoppable. More often than not, however, a woman could not expect to face a single foe nor, even then, to have the advantage of surprise. If she were captured alive, even after killing several enemies, she would be raped, displayed as a captive, or otherwise dishonored. In the rigid beliefs of this period, women would thereby allow shame to attach to their name. The only escape from what was believed to be disgrace was death at one's own hands.

Kuuluisin naissamurain esine on varmasti Tsuruhimen haarniska, joka on ilmeisesti ainut Muromachi-kauden säilynyt naishaarniska Japanissa.



Tästä kuvasta se ei näy niin hyvin, mutta yhdessä Kailla olevassa japanilaisessa haarniskakirjassa oli kuvia tästä, ja siitä kävi selvästi ilmi että tämä oli naiselle tehty.

Tässä pieni pätkä kyseisestä naisesta: http://books.google.fi/books?id=oGvKpxC ... ma&f=false" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Bonhamssilla oli huutokaupassa ilmeisesti myöhäisen Edo-kauden naishaarniska, joka ei mennyt kaupaksi. Hinta-arvio oli minusta kova, vaikken kyllä ymmärrä oikein haarniskojen päälle... Naisille tehdyt haarniskat ovat kai todella harvinaisia.

http://www.bonhams.com/press_release/11545/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20023/lot/292/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Muistaako joku paremmin asiaan vihkiytynyt, että jollekkin Tokugawa Ieyasun sotaretkistä ajoittuvan piirityksen yhteydessä piiritettävän linnan naiset olisivat hyökänneet piirittävää joukkoa vastaan elintarvikkeiden loputtua? Heidät tietenkin tapettiin melko pian.

Kyseessä on ehkä tämä piiritystilanne, mikä on kai kuuluisimpia naisten sankaritekoja. Ilmeisesti lähteeksi tälle tiedolle on merkitty Bichi Hyoranki. En oikein voi sanoa juuta enkä jaata todenperäisyydestä, kun en löydä googlettamalla oikeastaan muuta tietoa kirjasta kuin nuo lainaukset naissamuraiden uroteoista englanninkielisillä sivuilla.

Perhaps the most profound tale of a woman in battle however is the wife of Mimura Kotoku. When his castle was besieged, most of the women and children took part in a mass suicide, which they found more honorable than being captured, raped, and displayed as prisoners. Mimura’s wife was disgusted by this, and took a naginata into her hands as she lead eighty-three of her husband’s men out of the castle against the attacking forces. She personally challenged the enemy Taisho, Ura Hyobu, who was on horseback leading his troops. He was stunned by this woman who ‘spun her naginata like a waterwheel’, and backed away like a coward, yelling that she was a demon. Instead of attacking her himself, he ordered his men to attack her for him. Not only did she live through the battle, but also she managed to fight off the men and make her way back to the castle on her own.

[taikuri]

Kuuluvatko Kunoichit tähän ketjuun? Mitään tekemistä kunnian kanssa näillä ei kyllä ole toisin kuin samurailla?

[Leiska]

Syöpäisin esimerkki tällaisesta on facebookin shihan essence -yhteisö. Siellä olevia juttuja lukiessa tekee mieli tökätä haarukka silmään.

Onko se yhteisö täyttä kuraa, vai onko tutustumisen arvoinen? Kiinnostavalta näyttää, mutta en ole vielä lukenut mitään sieltä

[sinappi]

Kuuluvatko Kunoichit tähän ketjuun? Mitään tekemistä kunnian kanssa näillä ei kyllä ole toisin kuin samurailla?

Elikkä ninjat, jotka ovat sukupuoleltaan naisia. Samurailla oli ihan yhtä vähän tai paljon tekemistä kunnian kanssa kuin ninjoilla, koska ninjat yleensä olivat soturiluokasta. Ninjutsu oli osa sodankäyntiä siinä missä vaikka jousimiesosastot. Armeijoilla oli myös tapana kohdistaa sotatoimia siviiliväestöön ryöstämisen ja raiskaamisen merkeissä. Myös kaivoja saatettiin myrkyttää. Se siitä kunniasta.

[sinappi]

Syöpäisin esimerkki tällaisesta on facebookin shihan essence -yhteisö. Siellä olevia juttuja lukiessa tekee mieli tökätä haarukka silmään.

Onko se yhteisö täyttä kuraa, vai onko tutustumisen arvoinen? Kiinnostavalta näyttää, mutta en ole vielä lukenut mitään sieltä

Nosiis, siellä on kuvia, joissa yleensä on jokin mestaritason kamppailija tai joku korni itämaalaisvaikutteinen kuva. Sitten kuvaan on liitetty jokin idän viisaan miehen sanoma itsestäänselvyys.

Siellä voisi olla vaikka jostain samuraileffasta napattu kuva, johon on photoshopattu bushido-kanji. Kuvan alla olisi teksti:
"Vain harjoittelemalla määrätietoisesti voit olla yhtä universumin kanssa"
- Morihei Ueshiba
Niistä sitten tykkäillään ja hymistellään, miten taas oli ajatonta ja syvällistä viisautta. Hirveetä skeidaa.

Käy katsomassa. Pahin mitä voi käydä on että haluat tökätä itseäsi haarukalla silmään.

[sinappi]

Tiesittekö että samurait istuivat slaavikyykyssä? Iromegane.comin artikkelin mukaan seizasta tuli muodollinen tapa istua vasta Meiji-kaudella:

Is Seiza really the traditional way to sit for Japanese people?

Does Japanese tea ceremony fascinate you? Everyone sit in a small tatami room and taste bitter matcha tea. Entire ceremony follows the very elegant ritual. Tea ceremony, as well as other Japanese traditional arts such as calligraphy, kado (flower arrangement) or Aikido, carries a zen philosophy. During the ceremony, people sit in seize (正座). You haven´t seen sieza? It looks like this, sitting on your heels.
seiza

The word seiza is written 正座 in Japanese. 正 (sei) means correct and 座 (za) means a seat. Actually the kanji for to sit is 坐 but because of the regulation of toyokanji (当用漢字/ list of kanji for daily use), it has been decided to use 座 instead of 坐. Anyway, seiza has a meaning of “sit correctly”.
This is why, everyone, including Japanese people, thinks this is the right way to sit in Japan.
Is seiza really the traditional way to sit for Japanese people?
Not really. I mean yes, it´s one of the traditional ways of sitting but not the only one, moreover this way of sitting is relatively new. It was introduced after the Meiji Restoration.

According to a specialist in mind-body interventions of ancient Japanese, Hidemasa Yatabe, the concept of seiza and even the name was created by the government structured in the Meiji period. In other word, seiza was formed in the late 19th century by learning at schools and became the formal way of sitting for Japanese people. Surprisingly, seiza is a quite new custom for Japanese people.

Then, what was the traditional way of sitting for Japanese people? Nothing fixed. If you look at the painting
on fusuma doors, ukiyoe or statues of the shoguns and monks, they sit in variety of ways. You will find some in sieza but they are not the majority.

kimono03


kimono01


You may be surprise but the master of the tea ceremony, Sen no Rikyu (千利休) made tea in Tatehiza (立て膝) way like the portrait of a noble woman below. Can you imagine, the grave tea master makes tea with one knee up in front of the important shoguns?
oichi



Other ways of sitting are Anza (安座). You cross the toes in front of you. If you practice yoga, this may be familiar to you.
yoga1308-p1



Agura (あぐら). You cross your legs a little deeper than anza. This is a quite common way to sit on the floor for us now too. Some say Agura causes bowlegs that many Japanese girls suffer.
agura



Rakuza (楽座). You put the back of the feet together. I see many babies sit this way but for adults this may not be the most comfortable one. I´ve seen people having trouble with this in yoga classes.
rakuza



Rakuza seems to be a common way of sitting for the ancient Shoguns or the Emperors. This statue shows how he would sit.
kamakura era



Wariza (割座) also called onesan zuwari (お姉さん座り). First you sit seiza then slide the legs on one side. Your bottom is on the floor. This samurai is even leaning onto his sword.
yokozuwari






Sonkyo (蹲踞) is what Japanese call, unching style (うんちんぐスタイル) because this is how people crouch in the toilet. Samurai were sitting this way even in the Edo period. In the samurai TV programs, all of them sit in seiza but in the reality, sonkyo seemed to be more common.
yanky



Sonkyo is also called, “Yankii zuwari (ヤンキー座り)”. Bad youngsters in the 80s would sit like this and the name was established.
sonkyo


Kikyo (跪居). It looks like sonkyo but you lift the heels and sit on the toes. If you have seen sumo, this is kikyo.
kikyo


The image of samurai sitting seiza style seems to be the influence of TV programs and films. Have you ever sit seiza? Maybe you are better than me but I can´t do it even for five minutes. After 10 minutes, my legs are already numb. Samurai were warriors and had to be always attentive to a sudden attack. It wouldn´t have much sense if they had numb feet and could´t fight. You could say that samurai must´ve been used to it. Perhaps, but it´s not practical. Sitting seiza could impede a quick reaction to the enemies. Until the mid Edo, the correct way of sitting (seiza) was agura (cross legs) or Tatehiza (one knee up). What we call now seiza was called Kiza (危坐/跪座).

Tatehiza is more appropriate for Samurai. This is from Iaido.
iaido






So when people sit in seiza?
Samurai were obliged to sit seiza to see the shogun in Edo period. It was the way to sit to show the obedience and loyalty.



In the middle of Edo period, seiza was becoming more common. The book “正座と日本人 (Seiza to Nihonjin / Seiza and Japanese)” explains that seiza was a symbol of the control of Shogunate. Shogun and Daimyo (feudal lord) forced the lower class samurai to show the obedience. Or perhaps it was introduced as a courtesy in the hierarchy society.
haitukubaru

When I was at school, seiza was used for a punishment. If we forgot homework, seiza. If we forgot any class material, seiza at the back of the room. If we don´t listen to the teacher, seiza. In the sense of obedience, it´s still functioning. But this could make more Japanese people dislike seiza.
There is Japan Seiza Association in Japan. Their aim is to give better image about seiza and talk about anything related to seiza; history, furniture or event. If you can read Japanese, maybe it´s interesting to have a look.


References:
Kimono to seiza　http://manji.blog.eonet.jp/art/cat8382306/
Seiza to Nihonjin http://1000ya.isis.ne.jp/1329.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Japan Seiza Association http://www.seizajsa.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.iromegane.com/japan/culture/ ... se-people/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;