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Samurai_on_horseback repaint

Acrylic on canvas 90x100 cm

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Just found the old sketch. The ronin who finds his life partner. For tears and blood. For dream and real world.

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Posters from various expositions held in Japan in the 1920s to 1940s. Second Sino-Japanese War Exhibition - Osaka, 1938 and National Defense Science Exposition - Tokyo/Kanagawa, 1940

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Probably the best propaganda poster of all time.

I know that if I was living in Japan during WW2 and saw that, I’d be thinking, “Wow, we can do this!”

Then my hopes would be fried at Hiroshima.

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Modernizing Propaganda: Avant-Garde Postcards One of the most stunning revelations of the picture postcards that the Japanese produced en masse is how extraordinarily “modern” and even avant-garde many of them were. Japan’s great tradition of exquisite graphic craftsmanship obviously is reflected here—but so also is the degree to which aesthetic sensibility had been modernized, “Westernized,“ and commercialized in ways unimagined only a decade or so earlier. Explosions, hot-air military observation balloons, Russian and Japanese war flags, enemy gunboats, even sinking warships and landmines became transformed into emblems of beauty, modernity, and cutting-edge creativity. And all—in this case—for a popular audience and a practical purpose. The “blank” spaces on most graphics—often aesthetically attractive in themselves—were where messages were written. In some cases, the personal message was handwritten right over the image.

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Tameshigiri (試し斬り, 試し切り, 試斬, 試切) is the Japanese art of target test cutting. The kanji literally mean "test cut" (kun'yomi: ためし ぎり tameshi giri). This practice was popularized in the Edo period (17th century) for testing the quality of Japanese swords[1] and continues through the present day.

During the Edo period, only the most skilled swordsmen were chosen to test swords, so that the swordsman's skill was not a variable in how well the sword cut. The materials used to test swords varied greatly. Some substances were wara (rice straw), goza (the top layer of tatami mats), bamboo, and thin steel sheets.

In addition, there were a wide variety of cuts used on cadavers and occasionally convicted criminals,[2][3] from tabi-gata (ankle cut) to O-kesa (diagonal cut from shoulder to opposite hip). The names of the types of cuts on cadavers show exactly where on the body the cut was made. Older swords can still be found today that have inscriptions on their nakago (tang) that say things such as, "5 bodies with Ryu Guruma (hip cut)".

Aside from specific cuts made on cadavers, there were the normal cuts of Japanese swordsmanship, i.e. downward diagonal (Kesa-giri), upward diagonal (Kiri-age or Gyaku-kesa), horizontal (Yoko or Tsuihei), and straight downward (Jodan-giri, Happonme, Makko-giri, Shinchoku-giri or Dottan-giri). These cuts would then be cut on the cadavers (ex: A swordsman would do a Jodan-giri cut on 3 bodies at the hips. The inscription would then be, "3 bodies Ryu Guruma").

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tameshigiri

http://www.popgive.com/2008/06/how-to-use-samurai-sword-properly.html

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The Ronin - Free Life Samurai

The restrictions and severe demands placed upon samurai can result in men who through the unfortunate vagarities of fate and the fortunes end up as outcasts beholden to no lord. These masterless samurai are called ronin (wave-men), referring to the idea that having been cut loose from the stability of his Clan, the masterless samurai drifted through life as if borne upon the ocean waves. While some ronin did indeed find acceptance into other clans as a result of some meritorous deed, many were doomed to roam the land as itinerant instructors, swords for hire, or simply brigands.

While some element of romance is present in the wild, free life of a ronin, he or she was at best a social outcast, mistrusted by commoners and despised by other samurai. Ronin should expect frequent challenges from other samurai who find their very existence distasteful and insulting. Such characters will also find themselves under intense scrutiny by authorities, for ronin frequently were a constant source of trouble. In addition, it should not be surprising that many of these dispossed warriors bore considrable enmity toward the faction that caused their loss of status. Vengeful men and women are perhaps the most dangerous, especially since they now had nothing left to lose apart from their lives.

Such an environment of confrontation and suspician naturally forced many ronin to become extremely competent and deadly fighters, with nothing to lose and everything to gain from challenging individual samurai, sensei or even an entire ryu (school). What ronin lack in the finer points of kenjustsu and iaijtsu, they often make up for it by sheer experience of many fierce challenges and it is a foolish samurai who underestimates them. Several of the more noted characters like Dairya and Ginawa have become infamous among the samurai for their duelling skills.

http://limsk.tripod.com/samurai.htm

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Harakiri 腹切り - Seppuku 切腹

Seppuku is a ritual disembowelment originally reserved to the samurai, the warrior class of Japan. Priests, peasants and merchants were not allowed to commit seppuku as it was commonly believed that they were unable to tolerate the agony and pain.

Samurai committed ritual suicide either

voluntarily to die in honour in case of their capture by enemies or to avoid capture or

as a token of fidelity and loyalty in case they had lost their master known as oibara (追腹 or 追い腹, kun'yomi) or tsuifuku (追腹, on'yomi) or

as a measure of protest or indignation over the way they had been treated by their lords (無念腹　munen-bara) or funshi (憤死) or

to protest a lord's decision (諫死 kanshi, "remonstration death" or "death of understanding") or

if they were found guilty of serious crimes or acts of shame as a means of capital punishment.

Seppuku (切腹 【せっぷく】) literally means "stomach-cutting" and is also referred to as harakiri (腹切; 腹切り 【はらきり ) which is contrary to common belief, not a vulgarisation, but a native kun'yomi reading of the more formal seppuku, a Chinese on'yomi reading. Therefore, harakiri is used in colloquial context, while seppuku is more common in written language.

The ritual of seppuku

The ritual of disembowelment changed significantly over the centuries. In most instances, the samurai was bathed, dressed in white robes (symbolising spiritual purity) and offered his favourite meal. Usually, a shintō priest and scribes were present. Dressed ceremonially, with his sword placed in front of him and sometimes seated on special cloths, the warrior would prepare for death by writing a death poem. The ritual took either place on the samurai's own estate, in front of the local shintō shrine (but not on sacred ground) or at the local daimyō's court. There are rare cases documented where seppuku would take place inside the premises on special tatami matts featuring white edgings that were discarded of after the samurai's cremation.

One of the most important institutions of seppuku was the second (介錯人 kaishakunin), a skilled swordsman who beheaded the samurai committing seppuku in order to quicken the death and thereby to spare him any further unnecessary pain and ugly sights. The selection of the second was arranged in accordance with the rank of the samurai committing seppuku. It was customary for a samurai, therefore, to choose and designate as second someone renowned for his swordsmanship.

It was common at the seppuku ceremony that a samurai about to commit seppuku and the second exchange a few words before the act of disembowelment and let each other know their respective status, names and the second's school of martial arts in which he had been trained. Next, the samurai would open his kimono (robe), take up his tantō (knife) or wakizashi (脇差, short sword) — which the samurai held by the blade with a portion of cloth wrapped around so that it would not cut his hand and cause him to lose his grip—and plunge it into his abdomen, making a left-to-right cut. The kaishakunin would then perform kaishaku, a cut in which the warrior was decapitated. The maneuver should be done in the manners of dakikubi (抱き首, lit. "embraced head"), in which way a slight band of flesh is left attaching the head to the body, so that it be hung in front as if embraced.

By the middle of the Tokugawa period it had become quite common for the second to behead the man the moment he started stabbing his abdomen in order to spare him any prolonged and unnecessary pain. Sometimes a white fan was used as a "symbol" in lieu of a sword for seppuku, and the moment a samurai picked up the fan, the second instantly beheaded the man with a masterly stroke, maximizing speed and minimizing pain.

A specialized form of seppuku in feudal times was known as kanshi (諫死, "remonstration death" or "death of understanding"), in which a retainer would commit suicide in protest of a lord's decision. The retainer would make one deep, horizontal cut into his stomach, then quickly bandage the wound. After this, the person would then appear before his lord, give a speech in which he announced the protest of the lord's action, then reveal his mortal wound. This is not to be confused with funshi (憤死, indignation death), which is any suicide made to state dissatisfaction or protest. Some samurai chose to perform a considerably more taxing form of seppuku known as jūmonji giri (十文字切り, "cross-shaped cut"), in which there is no kaishakunin to put a quick end to the samurai's suffering. It involves a second and more painful vertical cut on the belly. A samurai performing jumonji giri was expected to bear his suffering quietly until perishing from loss of blood, passing away with his hands over his face.

Jigai - the female suicide ritual

Women had their own ritual suicide, jigai (自害, "suicide"). Some females belonging to samurai families committed suicide by cutting the jugular vein with a knife such as a tantō (短刀 "short sword", see image above) or kaiken (懐剣, a short dagger). The main purpose was to achieve a quick and certain death in order to avoid capture. Before committing suicide, a woman would often tie her knees together so her body would be found in a dignified pose, despite the convulsions of death. Jigai, however, does not refer exclusively to this particular mode of suicide. Jigai was often done to preserve one's honor if a military defeat was imminent, so as to prevent rape. Invading armies would often enter homes to find the lady of the house seated alone, facing away from the door. On approaching her, they would find that she had ended her life long before they reached her.

Seppuku as capital punishment

The most common form of seppuku was actually obligatory seppuku, used as a form of capital punishment for disgraced samurai, especially for those who committed a serious offense such as unprovoked murder, robbery, corruption, or treason. The samurai were generally told of their offence in full and given a set time to commit seppuku, usually before sunset on a given day. If the sentenced was uncooperative, it was not unheard of for them to be restrained, or for the actual execution to be carried out by decapitation while retaining only the trappings of seppuku; even the short sword laid out in front of the offender could be replaced with a fan. Unlike voluntary seppuku, seppuku carried out as capital punishment did not necessarily absolve the offender's family of the crime. Depending on the severity of the crime, half or all of the deceased's property could be confiscated, and the family stripped of rank.

Abolition of seppuku

In 1873 judicial seppuku was officially abolished by the Meiji administration, but cases of voluntary seppuku continued to occur. Despite the abolition many Japanese feared after the capitulation of the Japanese Imperial Army on August 15, 1945 that Emperor Hirohito might ask the military to commit seppuku over their defeat, but that order was never given. However, high-ranking officers and members of the general staff such as War Minister Anami Korechika (阿南 惟幾) committed voluntary seppuku on the very day of the capitulation.

The most recent known cases of voluntary seppuku involve the famous Japanese author Mishima Yukio (三島 由紀夫, 1925-1970) who committed suidice in the headquarters of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the judoka Inokuma Isao (猪熊 功, 1938-2001).

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Bloodbath

Killing time illustration, draw with photoshop.

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Samurai Movies

It has been a while since people have seen classic hack and slash movies that have the components of history, art, and principles; and samurai movies offer the kind of entertainment that provides you a vivid imagery of ancient Japanese warriors and sword wielders. You cannot even line them up with modern movies that belong to the action genre because these are considered classics, with the level of close combat that just cannot compare, except for martial arts movies being the closest. With the celebration of the Samurai Festival in Japan drawing near, see the top 10 best samurai movies of all time.

10. The Last Samurai

  The Last Samurai stays true to its title as being the last in this list although it can be attributed that its director, Edward Zwick, was able to bring out culture and tradition that has been prevalent in other samurai movies before it. Tom Cruise was the perfect actor portraying the role of an American officer that came in contact with samurai warriors during the Meiji Restoration period.

9. The Sword of Doom

  This classic movie was released in 1966 in displaying a different kind of samurai movie that often shows leading roles playing knight-in-shining-armor roles. Tatsuya Nakadai acts the part of Ryunosuke Tsukue where he was known to be a master swordsman with an unusual fighting style and a past-feeling resolve in killing where he is not moved by his conscience. Nevertheless, the movie takes shape when a turning point in his life made him change for the better, paying the price with his life while seeking for retribution.

8. 47 Samurai

  Perhaps the story of the 47 Ronin has been one of the most adapted true-to-life samurai stories when it comes to portraying loyalty, honor, and sacrifice. The 47 samurai were under the service of Lord Asano Naganori, who refused to accept bribery from a member of the court, Kira Yoshinaka. With the master avoiding the said evil deed, he assaulted the court member and was forced to commit suicide. The 47 ronin, now being masterless, plotted murder against Kira, and were successful, thus also ending their lives due to political dishonor.

7. Samurai Rebellion

  Samurai Rebellion is a classic story that displays the love of a father to a son that has been deceived of love and marriage, being manipulated by the influence of the rich. Isaburo Sasahara was a product of a loveless marriage, which he does not want his son to experience. At the time Yogoro, Sasahara’s son, was arranged to marry Ichi, the daimyo’s ex-concubine, the family agreed to the arrangement, which bore fruit of a daughter named Tomi. When the heir died, Ichi was forced to go back to the daimyo’s castle, thus tricking Sasahara, his younger son, and Yogoro into committing suicide just to lure her back. However, the skilled swordsman planned for an attack that resulted in the death of Ichi, sacrificing herself for the life of her husband, while catching the spear for love. Sasahara turned himself over to the Shogun, only to be killed by assassins before arriving to his destination. Tomi was left alone, encouraged by the grandfather to be as loving as the mother and as brave as the father.

6. Shogun Assassin

  Based from the story Lone Wolf and Cub, Shogun Assassin is about the story of Ogami Itto who has been branded falsely as an assassin because of the accusations of the Yagyu Clan, being the Shogun’s executioner carrying a battle Dotanuki battle sword. He was forced to trudge on a path of darkness, while bringing his son, Daigoro, along with him on a push cart after his family was killed due to his occupation as an executioner that killed many feudal lords and other offenders of the Shogun. The path had carried the father and son tandem to many adventures and killings during the journey, which ended when Itto was killed and Daigoro killing the father’s killer, Retsudo, a member of the Yagyu Clan.

5. Throne of Blood

  With acclaimed director Akira Kurosawa making the movie, the Throne of Blood literally is a story about samurai commanders being enticed with the plot of taking the throne of their local lord, thanks to the spirit that foretold them of their future. Killing their lord and making one of the unconscious guards as the murderer, the couple Washizu and Asaji almost got away with the crime. However, fate has turned the tides and Waishizu was killed in the process.

4. Harakiri

  An act of disembowelment and suicide, commonly for the cause of retaining honor, pride, and a sense of self-worth, Harakiri also portray the same kind of principles in the movie. However, you will be surprised that a suicidal attempt goes at the very beginning of the movie, which makes you expect that there is something more to the Japanese warrior tradition. Hanshiro Tsugumo who became a ronin after his lord died, was commanded not to commit seppuku, for the sake of his loved ones.

3. Ran

  Another great Akira Kurosawa – Tatsuya Nakadai team movie that was based from the legends of daimyo Mori Motonari, being one of the best, and most expensive Japanese jidaigeki (swordfight) movies, spending over $12 million in budget. The plot was all about the lust of power, the betrayal of family and loved ones for the evil intention, and even the wars that resulted from the rebellion of the many that kills all the main characters in the movie.

2. Yojimbo

  Yojimbo may be known by the modern generation as a samurai summon in Final Fantasy X that performs biddings based on the payment being given. This very perception is what makes Yojimbo one of the best films that celebrated the genius of Akira Kurosawa in making jidaigeki films, even being sought by modern generations who have heard of the character. The plot may not be much to be interested of. However, fight scenes to be seen here are beyond ordinary, even when there were no special effects involved. It was a sheer display of classic fighting cinematography that goes as raw and as beautiful as it can be.

1. Seven Samurai

  Since this is the number one movie, you can never expect any less of the genius being rendered by Akira Kurosawa in this movie adventure that portrays seven different samurais who have been hired on the quest to protect the farming village from bandits. The samurais have trained the farmers, fortified the village, and have even befriended the members of the community in the process. The funny part is that at the end of the movie, it was revealed that Kambei, the main man in the group mentioned that it was the farmers that won the battle…

by RAGA Z, Knowledgerobot.com

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Forest Whitaker in "Ghost Dog". Cool movie, one of favorite quotes in this movie "Power Equality Always C Everything", Another way to see Samurai, must see this.

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Renokur The Bloodlust Samurai, I wanna cut some head! Yeaahh!

Photo booth on imac, maybe next post i'll show a good resolution

Pencil on paper (21x27.9 mm)

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We have earlier buzzed that lately Japanese folks have been indulging their pets in extended opulence. But we were wrong. This trend of pampering and protecting our best friends has been going in Japan since decades ago. Take a look at this authentic suit of dog armor that is about 200 years old. It is believed that this set was made from a dog belonging to a very senior samurai, possibly a daimyou, who apparently was extremely found of this canine companion. Supposed to be crafted in Japan between 1800 and 1850, this armor is distinctive as it its materials include chanfron armor, doeskin leather, silk brocade, a hand-carved wooden mask and gold leaf. www.luxurylaunches.com

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Kesa giri ("monk's robe" cut) You'll notice in the diagram above that the "X" pattern for an armored samurai has sharper angles. This is because you want to cut from the base of the neck to the armpit. This is where Japanese armor is typically vulnerable. If you tried to cut from shoulder to hip, you would run right into the breastplate and wouldn't do much damage. Do (abdomen cut) Same as described above for an unarmored samurai, but you'll have to be more precise. The target area is much more narrow since the gap between the breastplate and the hip guard is minimal. Kiriage (upward cut) This is the opposite of a Kesa giri cut. It follows a diagonal line from the armpit to the base of the neck. Follow through several inches past the target. Kote (wrist cut) Same as described above for an unarmored samurai. There is some light armor on the wrist, but a heavy blow can still cut through. Men (straight down head cut) Same as described above for an unarmored samurai. If you can smash through the helmet, you still won't get very far, but it is possible to cut through the helmet with a heavy blow. Ski (straight thrust) You are limited to only a few targets with Ski: eyes and throat. The ribs and abdomen are covered with a breastplate. There is a throat guard, but it's possible to pierce or slip under it. www.popgive.com