| Samurai Movies (10) |
November 25, 2021
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| The members of 'Shinsen-gumi' were mainly former 'ronin'. A 'Ronin' is a samurai who used to be a retainer of a han (clan /domain) or the Tokugawa Shogunate, but lost their jobs. There were mainly two main ways to become 'ronin'. 1. The Tokugawa Shogunate consisted of the Tokugawa han and three other major hans which supported the Tokugawa han. Originally, they were not different from the other (about 270) hans. So, the Tokugawa Shogunate was always afraid that the other hans might make an alliance and fight against the Tokugawa Shogunate. Because of this, the Tokugawa Shogunate made a strong law called 'Buke-sho-hatt' in order to limit each han's power. Some of the rules of the law were like this: ・A han couldn't make a new castle. If a han wanted to renovate one's castle, they needed to get an approval in advance. ・The lord of each han had to stay in their residence in Edo for a year, every other year. Their wife as well as the chosen successor of the han of the lord had to live in their residence in Edo always. ・If a lord wanted to get married, he needed an approval in advance. If a han violated the law, the han would be severely penalized by the Edo shogunate.  During the 270 years of the Edo period, a lot of hans were severely penalized and lost their ability to retain their samurai, thus, their retainers became 'ronin'. 2. If a samurai committed a crime or did an inappropriate thing in each han as well as the Tokugawa Shogunate, they would be fired, and become 'ronin'. If you watch samurai dramas and movies, you can easily see 'ronin' in them. 'Seven Samurai' is a story in which a good 'ronin' group helped villagers and fought against a group of gang 'ronin'. 'The Rain Has Stopped's protagonist is a 'ronin' who had been traveling with his wife for a job. In 'Twilight Seibei', Seibei had to fight a former 'ronin' who lost his wife from tuberculosis during a job seeking trip. Seibei felt sympathy for him because he too had lost his wife with the same disease. Even now the word 'ronin' is used for students who have failed an entrance exam and are studying for the next year's examination. He got an idea and checked on the internet about how 'ronin' got their new jobs: ・Sword /Spear /Archery instructor As a coach in a han or at a private school, if they had those skills. ・Bodyguard, Security guard Merchants or inn owners would employ them if their places were remote, ex: far from a town which had police. ・Writer, Scholar, Artist Some became famous: Matsuo Basho: a poet of haiku, 5, 7, 5 syllables poem. Chikamatsu Monzaemon: a kabuki writer. Arai Hakuseki: a Confucian scholar. Hiraga Gennai: an inventor who invented the thermometer, the pedometer, fireproof clothing, etc. ・Financial consultant As temporary workers, they would consult about various constructing projection, financial arrangements, business management, etc. ・Private school teacher Private schools for children (they were called 'tera-koya' or 'tenarai-jo') and their teachers didn't need license. Children ranging from 6 to 12 who were from regular citizens, farmers and low ranked samurai learned from morning to early afternoon. The fee was flexible, sometimes they would be paid by vegetables and other crops. They learned basic reading, writing and calculating. ・Crafts maker In the movie 'Twilight Seibei', the protagonist Seibei would make small insect bamboo cages to support himself. Making umbrellas from bamboo shafts and paper seemed to be a typical side job, as he had often watched on TV dramas. ・Gardening If they had any space for gardening, they could plant some vegetables. He saw this in a lot of samurai movies. The character Seibei also had chickens on his premises for eggs. ・Becoming a plain citizen Craft making and gardening were just some of the side jobs that were overlooked by the authorities. However, if an employed samurai wanted to do those things as his main job, or do it as a business, they would have had to quit being a samurai, and then become a merchant, a craftsman, or a farmer. (To be continued ...) |
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No.456
*retainer :家臣
*alliance :同盟
*successor :後継ぎ
*penalize :罰する、ペナルティーを与える
*retain :雇う
*tuberculosis :結核
*spear :槍（やり）
*scholar :学者
*Confucian :儒教
*pedometer :万歩計
*overlook :大目に見る