The Last Samurai In Rare Photos From 1800s

Thank you for the research. Very interesting.

Look up Tomoe Gozen, a 12th-century" onna-bugeisha".

Yakuza and other organizations that popped up attempted to use much of already estabilished bushido ways. Irezumi has been around for some historians say at least 10k BC. Tattoos were often signs of dedication and prayers of protection. You'd get a God on you in hopes they would give you ultimate strength in battle with no fear. Many Lords in Japan are rumored to have tattooed or branded their guard. A sign of ultimate dedication and loyalty. It wasnt until the Kofun period that it got a bad taste. During that period they began tattooing criminals to publicly shame them for their crimes and so people could profile them to avoid becoming their next victim. Much of the world did this practice at one point or another. Because of that it became the stereotypical ignorance of society to assume that all tattoos were on criminals only. Many priest have been getting inked for tens of thousands of year. But if gangsters can exploit things they will. Thus they kept the concept alive using fear.

Yakuza represent only a small percentage of tattooed people in Japan. It has been much more common for firfighters and carpenters to be tattooed. And as for the commenter stating that a smaurai wouldn't do this, tattooing has gone back and forth between being accepted and outlawed for hundreds of years and there would have been nothing dishonarable about getting tattooed at that time. The idea of it being dishonorable is a very recent developement following the latest outlawing of tattooing in the 20th century and it becoming popularly assiciated with yakuza.

Tattoo covers full body was quite common as fashion back in those days in Japan. I highly doubt connection between yakuza and samurai at all. Yakuza has tradition to have authentic ink done by hand without machine( it harts a lot more! ) to show others they have gut to do it.

yakuza and tattooed people is not that famous in japan to this very day. There are onsens even that you can't enter with the smallest tattoo on your back. Wearing a tattoo is dishonorable, that a samurai would never do, even after becoming a ronin.

Japanese tebori/Irezumi wamono tattoo dates back hundreds of years. You have to remember that during the sengoku jidai, the bushi class (aka samurai) became the single biggest superpower in japan. They even successfully overthrew the emperor and turned him into their political puppet. Up until a couple hundred years ago, everybody who was ANYBODY in Japan was from samurai lineage. Just about EVERYTHING in Japan is "connected" to samurai culture and tradition.

I'm not very educated on this matter but from what I remember Part 1: even before the restoration when Japan was a closed society the Samurai were largely out of work because there was nothing for them to do (except martial arts training) so otherwise they spent much of their time enjoying entertainment at the Kabuki theatre and flirting with guests of various social classes (which was very rare in Japan). then on the other side of things there was groups of sleazy merchants, and snake oil salesman types (known as Tekiya), and Gambling and Loan-sharking gangs (known as: bakuto) who were formerly a part of the lowest class of people in society but had started to gain ground because of their underhanded skills to con people and make sneaky deals, etc which allowed them to grant favours to some and maneuvere in ways that others were too afraid to do as it would jeopardiz there honour and were occasionally hired by the government to carry out certain tasks as well. continued next post...

The Samurai became the Yakuza.

Could you please explain (other than your native knowledge) how we would know?

Yeah, I'd be grateful if you explained too.

They just shadowed his face too hard - keep in mind these were "colorised" after the fact and a certain amount of artistic license was used.

That's because he was 78, at the time.

His face is not emancipated. Google what evacuation actually looks like.

I think it's also the angle combined with the shadowing. I wouldn't say he looks ill...he looks lean and strong.

They should have added some more color to his face when they colorized it.

Or that's how people looked before fast / facsimile food.

Shaved

Great point Gonçalo

This is an interesting comment but nit actually true. By the time these photos were taken Samurai rarely if ever actually wielded their swords in combat. By this time period, most of what Samurai did was just based on ceremony and privilege. In the 1500s, samurai nearly destroyed the Japanese state in their incessant wars. But after 1615, they presided over 250 years of peace, the longest that any large society has ever known. In these photos, you’ll encounter shimmering swords and intimidating armor, and discover that most were actually made at a time when war had passed from memory into myth. The primary function of the blades and armor was not to protect an owner or to fell foes, but to justify the inherited privileges of warriors who had not fought a battle in generations.

Wow! That's profound Gonçalo!

Well they were either still alive because they were stronger and a better warrior than most or because they were more politically shrewd, power hungry and ruthless than most. But either way, I agree. Beware of the last man standing so to speak.

I like this quote. Can you please share the source?

Don't underestimate a japanese warrior. every day in peace in war they were practicing their proffesion even after they become masters. They were hard to kill. And looking at these or other photos they do lived a long life.

And with a paper fan, no less. (What is the fan for? Anyone?)

Don't remember the details but I once saw a picture of one of these suits made of jade. All little squares, individually fastened together. Maybe it was just ceremonial?

if I'm not mistaken, a Samurai armour was mainly built from lackered leather pieces

Bamboo

Also a bell or gong! Imagine when his opponents banged this helmet....

Ah, lol