The Samurai

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is the story of the legendary Samurai - how did they go from provincial bodyguards to revered warriors? Why did they transform from ancestral soldiers to office workers? And will we ever see them again?

Dan is joined by Christopher Harding, a cultural historian of Japan, India and East-West connections. Chris explains the long history of the Samurai and the potential renewal of the Samurai spirit in Japan's future.

Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.

If you would like to subscribe to Chris' substack, then it can be found at www.IlluminAsia.org.

If you want to hear more about samurai history, check out the Echoes of History podcast here - https://podfollow.com/echoes-of-history/view.

You can also find Chris' Substack, IlluminAsia, here - https://www.illuminasia.org/.

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Transcript

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1:18.8	Hi everybody. Welcome to Dan Snow's history yet. It was April 25th, 1185, and a great naval battle
1:27.4	was about to decide the fate of Japan for centuries to come.
1:32.5	The Tyra clan had the boy emperor on their side. He was about six years old. He was decked out in
1:39.9	the imperial regalia, and they were hoping that his presence at the battle would help to make up
1:47.2	for the profound advantage in numbers and experience and resources that their enemy, the Minamoto,
1:56.6	enjoyed. In the end, a child dressed in fancy clothes was not enough. The Minamoto arrived with
	...

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