Reddit reviews The Taming of the Samurai: Honorific Individualism and the Making of Modern Japan

I've seen a handful of people say that this sort of academic content is only produced (or acceptable to produce) about white men. I'd like to note that cultural, anthropological and historical studies of specific demographics, especially groups of alienated men, are actually pretty common. Take this classic study about Kashmiri Jihadists, or this one about drug dealers in East Harlem or hell, this study of the changing mores and social expectations in samurai culture. In other words, studying the identity of a group of men who are finding their social status threatened, uncertain or rapidly changing is actually quite a common academic pursuit.

In academic contexts like this there are clear epistemological and ethical considerations to keep in mind. The first is that any study of a group of people, whoever they are, needs to engage with the voices, experiences and worldviews of those people in good faith. This doesn't mean agree with, or even have an overall positive view of them or their beliefs - see the studies about Kashmiri Jihadists or drug dealers above - but it does mean that the purpose should be to reach a kind of understanding of the way these people think and feel about their world. A course that talks about the experiences of white men, with an aim at looking at processes of anger or radicalisation, would almost certainly be approaching the issue from this angle. I don't see anything to indicate that this won't be the case.

From the responses I've seen, a lot of people imagine this course to basically be a semester long dunk-session on white dudes without any nuance. From where I stand it seems pretty clear this course is intended to deconstruct, understand and talk about the experiences and alienation of certain white men in the US and UK in the last 70 years.

I think, in 2019, most Westerners with eyeballs have realised that young white men are a demographic that is noticeably prone to radicalisation, extremism and alienation. I think it's inevitable that this will be a phenomenon that is increasingly discussed and researched in academic and public circles.

It's culturally constructed from Japan's Meiji era. Literally the kanji for "road" (道). After samurai were abolished in 1870s, many former samurai went back and recreated their history and emphasized the "way" of things. As such, many things became "way-ified," as if there was a prescription that one could only do things in a specific way.


In that specific book, you're looking at one author's "method" or "plan." The "way-ification" of things is a more modern translation. Most samurai followed many different rules of conduct throughout pre-modern Japanese history.


For more: https://www.amazon.com/Taming-Samurai-Honorific-Individualism-Making/dp/0674868099


https://www.amazon.com/Inventing-Way-Samurai-Nationalism-Internationalism-ebook/dp/B00N306Y1I/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1CPOZVC905KF5&keywords=oleg+benesch&qid=1556915103&s=books&sprefix=oleg+ben%2Cstripbooks%2C166&sr=1-1

You should read "The Taming of the Samurai" by Eiko Ikegami. I read it in university and it really serves to show how complicated the social and political structure of the Shogunate and the Daimyo were and how this affected the samurai class. Samurai wanted to distinguish themselves but they had to do so while paying homage to their betters. This fine line between showing off their accomplishments and needing to be humble and collaborate with others is fascinating and informs so much of Japanese society even today.

It does a lot more analysis rather than a regurgitation of facts and events. Just as a warning it is a bit heavy handed and gets fairly dense as you read. Take that as you will.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0674868099?pc_redir=1412659343&robot_redir=1