Audiobook14 hours
Legends of the Samurai
Written by Hiroaki Sato
Narrated by Walter Dixon
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Over the decades the reputation of the samurai has grown to mythical proportions, owing to such films as Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Yojimbo as well as works such as James Clavell's epic Shogun.
In Legends of the Samurai, Hiroaki Sato confronts both the history and the legend of the samurai, untangling the two to present an authentic picture of these legendary warriors.
Through his masterful translations of original samurai tales, laws, dicta, reports, and arguments accompanied by insightful commentary, Sato chronicles the changing ethos of the Japanese warrior from the samurai's historical origins to his rise to political power.
A fascinating look at Japanese history as seen through the evolution of the samurai, Legends of the Samurai stands as the ultimate authority on its subject.
In Legends of the Samurai, Hiroaki Sato confronts both the history and the legend of the samurai, untangling the two to present an authentic picture of these legendary warriors.
Through his masterful translations of original samurai tales, laws, dicta, reports, and arguments accompanied by insightful commentary, Sato chronicles the changing ethos of the Japanese warrior from the samurai's historical origins to his rise to political power.
A fascinating look at Japanese history as seen through the evolution of the samurai, Legends of the Samurai stands as the ultimate authority on its subject.
Related to Legends of the Samurai
Related audiobooks
Samurai: A Concise History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Miyamoto Musashi: The Life and Legacy of Japan’s Most Legendary Samurai Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Shogun's Last Samurai Corps: The Bloody Battles and Intrigues of the Shinsengumi Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Code of the Samurai: A Modern Translation of the Bushido Shoshinshu of Taira Shigesuke Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shogun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sekigahara and Shiroyama: The History of the Battles that Unified and Modernized Japan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Let the Samurai Be Your Guide: The Seven Bushido Pathways to Personal Success Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tales of Old Japan Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Battle of Shiroyama: The History and Legacy of the Samurai’s Last Stand in Japan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hagakure: The Secret Wisdom of the Samurai Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yakuza and the Triads: The History of Asia’s Most Notorious Transnational Criminal Organizations Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Samurai and Ninja: The History of Japan’s Legendary Warriors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tengu's Game of Go Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Snow Empress: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Japanese Fairy Tales Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 47th Samurai Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Japanese Tales: 21 Stories from the Famous Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great Clans of Rokugan: The Collected Novellas Volume Two Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/547 Ronin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bushido: The Soul of Japan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ninja: The History and Legacy of Feudal Japan’s Secret Agents Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Autumn Bridge Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Samurai Road Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Tales of Old Japan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShinto, Simple Guides Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Personal Growth For You
101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 48 Laws of Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unfu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and into Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Highly Sensitive Person Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing The Uncommon Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Man's Search For Meaning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries: When To Say Yes, How to Say No Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Happiness Makeover: Overcome Stress and Negativity to Become a Hopeful, Happy Person Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Paris: The Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Perfection Trap: Embracing the Power of Good Enough Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It Starts with Self-Compassion: A Practical Road Map Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Banish Your Inner Critic: Silence the Voice of Self-Doubt to Unleash Your Creativity and Do Your Best Work Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for Legends of the Samurai
Rating: 3.8636363272727277 out of 5 stars
4/5
22 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This isn't a Japanese history text, but it could be a great supplement to one. It's a collection of Japanese legends and histories which feature samurai, presented chronologically but also divided into three parts: tales of individual heroics and other famed acts; tales of war that do verge on relating Japanese history; and a more philosophically themed section that mostly covers events of the Tokugawa period, featuring Musashi's Book of Five Elements and the revenge story of the Forty-Seven Samurai.The introduction is fantastic at briefly providing an overview of the different eras of Japan's history, and at establishing basic knowledge about samurai culture. I liked the presentation of the content that followed, which alternates between translations from the sources and the author's explanatory passages that establish setting and context. There are also substantial footnotes provided as aids. A straightforward translation of the sources without any of this support would have left me in the dark and much less appreciative. Hiroaki Sato uses sources that were recorded closest to the actual occurrence of events, to minimize the exaggeration in their retelling over the centuries. Even so, the earliest tales read like Greek mythology, but there is a clear progression in the objectivity with which these histories were recorded. The author/translator notes a bias whenever he feels one occurs, sometimes citing sources with opposing versions for contrast.Thanks to this work I'm now much more familiar with the 'greats' of samurai lore. I can't seem to readily retain most of these Japanese names, but I'll be keeping this book as reference and making connections as I read other works on the subject in hopes of making the names 'stick' eventually. I was surprised how frequently deception is lauded as a tactic in these tales (particularly the faking one's death, an oft-used ploy); I would have thought that ran contrary to the samurai honour code, so it goes to show how much I've yet to understand. I was also intrigued by the strong emphasis on art forms that balances or even overshadows the rigorous martial arts training a samurai required. Poetry is closely linked to the warrior way, as explained in the introduction, and it is featured in many of the tales. The author does a great job of explaining quoted poetic nuances through his asides or in the footnotes. The content here consists only of highlights from the selected sources, some of them very brief. You would have to look elsewhere to find the full source translations, but this is a great overview of select readings that provides a solid framework and goes a long way to introducing the legends of the samurai.