A History of Samurai Japan
Taught by Elliott Brichford
Elliott Brichford is a Japan, History, and History-of-Japan enthusiast. Having majored in East Asian Studies and minored in history at Denison University, lived in Japan for 2 ½ years, and spent copious amounts of his free-time reading up on Japan, Elliott is making his Brainery debut teaching The History of the Samurai course.
After Pokémon, ninjas, and Godzilla, the samurai are one of Japan’s most famous icons. But what did it mean to be a samurai? With centuries of history in which the samurai were at the center of Japanese life, the answer to this question changed greatly over time.
In this course we'll examine Japan’s warrior aristocracy throughout its 700 year history. This class will follow the samurai and their feudal lords from obscurity to prominence and the development of what it meant to be a samurai. We’ll watch the definition and duties of a samurai as they were transformed, first by a long period of constant civil war followed by an even longer era of peace. Finally, we’ll discuss the downfall of the old order and why a small group decided to do away with their own social class for the good of the nation.
