Pilot Lecture: The Rise of the Samurai

Overview

Course No. 90176

Journey back to the distant past and discover how the rise of the warrior class known as samurai helped transform the social and political landscape of Japan.

Films and other media have given us a distinctively rugged and romantic idea of the samurai. But who were they really? What was the source of their power? Did their famous code of honor—Bushido—actually exist? How did they emerge as a social force, and why do they continue to fascinate us today?

Join Dr. Constantine Vaporis (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) to explore these questions and trace the samurai’s influence over seven centuries of Japanese history.

Video Lessons

01: The Rise of the Samurai (37 min)

Discover how the samurai emerged, where their power came from, and why they reshaped Japan’s cultural and political landscape.