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S-A Podcast Discussion Megathread / FAQ; Everything you wanted to know and talk about, but were afraid to ask.
Topic Started: Jul 20 2017, 11:25 AM (4,860 Views)
kitsuno
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The Shogun

This thread will be the Samurai Archives podcast megathread, we'll keep all podcast conversation here (I shut down the podcast subforum because having one thread per episode didn't seem to do much more than add clutter, so I think this is a more effective way of doing things). Ask any questions, contribute ideas, discuss episodes, whatever works. As new episodes are posted, I'll put the notifications here. But feel free to discuss past episodes as well.

Please read this post before posting to the thread.

Podcast Frequently Asked Questions

1. Suggestions/How about topic X?

We absolutely welcome suggestions and topic ideas, and we have a list. Just keep in mind that we can't tell you when or even if we'll get to it. There are a few reasons we have to pick and choose topics that we tackle:

A. We're all full time doing something else. Until a rich benefactor bankrolls this whole production, we do this during (not much) free time. Some of us don't have the time to explore any topics beyond what we're currently researching, so ideas that are a little too far away from that may not work.

B. Some great ideas are just impossible due to lack of sources and a lack of existing scholarship. Over the millennia, documents get lost, burned, looted, and trashed. Sometimes there just aren't any extant documents or information and what actually happened has been lost to history. Or maybe it exists in some mountain temple in Niigata, but hasn't been examined by scholars yet. You get the point. The best we could do would be a discussion about what might have happened, but per point A, no guarantees that will happen. It really depends on the topic/subject.

C. Interests matter. If a topic falls outside of the interest or specialty of everyone, it probably won't happen. On the bright side, that's when we can take the opportunity to interview other people with those specialties or interests. So if it's not something we'd tackle, sometimes we can find someone who does.

If we try to tackle something that is constrained by A, B, or C, it results in weak episodes, and can (or will) tick off people with that interest. So the cost/benefit ratio is just not worth it.

2. Audio Quality Stuff

Up to about early 2013 the episodes were done live in Honolulu, and because there is no winter, buildings for the most part are shoddy third world contraptions with no insulation or soundproofing (I'm looking at you, University of Hawaii). So that's pretty much the main reason why the sound quality was so bad. That and the old digital recorder had a problem with the left speaker. I have a new digital recorder, so any new in-person podcasts should be fine, and otherwise we're at the mercy of skype. Also, since this is all out of (my) pocket, I can't really afford to get super high tech with it. I'd like to get mics and/or a soundboard I could plug into the digital recorder, but that will probably have to wait until the Patreon income reaches that financial goal. I'm a software guy, not a hardware guy, so I do what I can with what I have - and thus spend hours and hours on post production.

3. Format Stuff

Mainly our format is to pick one of three formats:
1. A specific research interest one of us has, and talk about it.
2. One or two journal articles with an interesting topic to introduce and talk about.
3. Some sort of event/conference/presentation that one or more of us attended.
Ideas that fall into one of those three are the most likely to get done sooner rather than later.

Everyone involved in the podcast is free to do one-off type episodes or change the format as they wish - interview a third party, write a "scripted" individual episode, team up with another person and do an episode, etc. It's sort of rare because of time constraints. The Bonus Episodes are an example of "going off format". And with all episodes, if a person wasn't there for the recording, they have nothing to do with it. That should be obvious, but sometimes people don't get it, so there you go. The members of the podcast are much more of a confederation than a team. Sometimes person A is around, sometimes person B, sometimes person C, and sometimes only A and C or B and C, etc.

I like to expand the format whenever I can and as much as possible, and I'd like to do more of that as time and ability permits. Some people prefer discussion, some people prefer scholarly treatments, some people prefer philosophical meanderings on Japanese history; I try to address all that when I can. I don't like being locked into one format.

Also, I really don't like to "date" the episodes. I like the idea that if someone listens to an episode recorded in 2014 in 2022, it's still relevant, and doesn't include a lot of references to current events, the date, etc. Each episode should be considered a standalone episode, with very little impact on the preceding and following episodes.

Are you going to do any narrative history episodes like the XYZ podcast?

At least one. More if possible. The sheer volume of reading and research and time that goes into it is staggering. I don't like to half-ass that sort of thing like some other podcasts out there that crank out lots of episodes but with little substance. Just my preference. If I'm going to do it, I want to do it right.

4. How much work goes into the podcast? How hard can it be?

Well, depends on a few things. If the topic is a research topic someone is already working on, it's a lot easier, and essentially becomes an interview with that person. Topics based on journal articles basically just require reading that article, and maybe one or two related to get a good foundational base. That plus any prior knowledge. Bigger topics take more time, effort, and reading. The individual episode I'm working on has been in process for about 7 months, with the majority of work being done in the last three months. Currently free time is at a premium, so I do a little bit here and there when I can.

The number one thing that requires the most time and effort is editing the audio. Conservatively it takes about 3-5 times as long to edit an episode as the episode is long. So for every hour of audio, it takes an additional 3-5 hours to go through and edit it all into a coherent and clean episode. This is a big reason I'm currently only doing one episode per month.

5. How can I support the podcast/forum/website/blog?

The Samurai Archives has been around for 18 years. I've always tried to keep pace with the technology, so that's why there is so much stuff. But doing so means $$$. So I've dutifully paid out of pocket for these 18 years, scraping together funds from the Amazon links, the T-shirt shop, etc. But anything above and beyond that income comes right out of my pocket. SO, help is greatly appreciated. I've set up a Patreon account that is at this point finally paying for the podcast. If you check out the site, you'll see the financial goals that I've set, as well as the little perks you can get for donating. And like I always say, even 1$ an episode helps - As things progress, I can tick off each financial goal, and every time that happens I'll be able to continue improving the podcast.

So please take a look, and consider contributing. It's a pretty easy process, and you have full control over how much and how often you contribute:

https://www.patreon.com/samuraiarchives

You can also toss out a positive review on iTunes and help get the word out. You don't even have to write anything. You can just click the stars, and bam, all done.

If you can think of any other questions, feel free to ask them here.
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kitsuno
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The Shogun

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that the reason that the story has the Ronin kill himself with a bamboo sword was specifically and simply a plot mcguffin to move the plot forward. That's probably the most realistic assumption. But in the reality of the Edo period, would the Ii clan really bother with that or would they just toss him out the door on his head? Or would that not be an option because decorum wouldn't allow the Ii clan to treat someone of the Samurai class (albeit a scruffy Ronin) that way? And on that note of decorum, in reality would they at least provide a real sword or maybe a kaishaku?

I think that was my only sticking point in the movie, but it's been a few years.
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kitsuno
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Just an FYI, I've had three people email me in the past month that their reviews did not show up on iTunes. So if you did write a review you might want to go take a look and see if it actually showed up. Not sure what's up with that, but resubmitting seems to take care of that.
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kitsuno
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Here are all of the sources that I used for the podcast episode on Seppuku. At least, I'm pretty sure this is all of them.


Anestis, M. D., Moberg, F. B., & Arnau, R. C. (2014). Hope and the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior: replication and extension of prior findings. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 44(2), 175–187.

Ansart, O. (2007). Loyalty in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Samurai Discourse. Japanese Studies in the History of Science, 27(2), 139–154.

Di Marco, F. (2013). Act or Disease?: The Making of Modern Suicide in Early Twentieth-century Japan. The Journal of Japanese Studies, 39(2), 325–358.

Di Nunno, N., Costantinides, F., Bernasconi, P., & Di Nunno, C. (2001). Suicide by hara-kiri: a series of four cases. The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 22(1), 68–72.

Durkheim, E. (2007). On Suicide. Penguin Classics

Ellgen, J. P. (2007). The Changing Significance of Seppuku in Tokugawa Japan (M.A. Humanities). California State University Dominguez Hills.

Foust, M. A. (2015). Nitobe and Royce: Bushidō and the Philosophy of Loyalty. Philosophy East & West, 65(4), 1174–1193.

Fusé, T. (1980). Suicide and culture in Japan: A study of seppuku as an institutionalized form of suicide. Social Psychiatry. Sozialpsychiatrie. Psychiatrie Sociale, 15(2), 57–63.

Harte, R. H. (1898). VI. A Case of Hara-Kiri which terminated in Recovery. Annals of Surgery, 27(6), 745–752.

Joiner, T. (2005). Why People Die by Suicide. Harvard University.

Kakubayashi, F. (1993). An Historical Study of Harakiri. The Australian Journal of Politics and History, 39(2), 217–225.

Kelly, B. D. (2011). Self-immolation, suicide and self-harm in Buddhist and Western traditions. Transcultural Psychiatry, 48(3), 299–317.

Klonsky, E. D., & May, A. M. (2015). The three-step theory (3ST): A new theory of suicide rooted in the “ideation-to-action” framework. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 8(2), 114-129.

Masahide, B., & Smith, H. D. (2003). The Akō Incident, 1701-1703. Monumenta Nipponica, 58(2), 149–170.

McMullen, J. (2003). Confucian Perspectives on the Akō Revenge: Law and Moral Agency. Monumenta Nipponica, 58(3), 293–315.

Mishima, Y. (2010). Patriotism. New Directions; 2nd edition

Mitford, A. B. (2011). Tales of old Japan. Tuttle Publishing.

Morillo, S. (2001). Cultures of Death: Warrior Suicide in Medieval Europe and Japan. The Medieval History Journal, 4(2), 241–257.

Morita, S., Inokuchi, S., Aoki, H., Yamagiwa, T., Iizuka, S., Nakagawa, Y., & Yamamoto, I. (2008). The comparison of characteristic and clinical features of self-inflicted abdominal stab wound patients in Japan: simple stab wounds versus Hara-kiri wounds. The Journal of Trauma, 64(3), 786–789.

Pescosolido, B. A., & Georgianna, S. (1989). Durkheim, suicide, and religion: Toward a network theory of suicide. American Sociological Review, 33-48.

Pierre, J. M. (2015). Culturally sanctioned suicide: Euthanasia, seppuku, and terrorist martyrdom. World Journal of Psychiatry, 5(1), 4–14.

Rankin, A. (2012). Seppuku: A history of samurai suicide. Kodansha USA.

Ravina, M. J. (2010). The Apocryphal Suicide of Saigō Takamori: Samurai, “Seppuku”, and the Politics of Legend. The Journal of Asian Studies, 69(3), 691–721.

Selby, E. A., Anestis, M. D., Bender, T. W., Ribeiro, J. D., Nock, M. K., Rudd, M. D., … Joiner, T. E. (2010). Overcoming the fear of lethal injury: Evaluating suicidal behavior in the military through the lens of the Interpersonal–Psychological Theory of Suicide. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(3), 298–307.

Smith, H. (2006). The media and politics of Japanese popular history: The case of the Akō Gishi. Historical Consciousness, Historiography, and Modern Japanese Values. Retrieved from http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/pdf/2006_Ako_Gishi_media_and_politics.pdf

Takai, M., Yamamoto, K., Iwamitsu, Y., Miyaji, S., Yamamoto, H., Tatematsu, S., … Miyaoka, H. (2010). Exploration of factors related to hara-kiri as a method of suicide and suicidal behavior. European Psychiatry: The Journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists, 25(7), 409–413.

Tsunetomo, Y. (2012). Hagakure: the Book of the Samurai. Shambhala Publications.

Van Orden, K. A., Witte, T. K., Gordon, K. H., Bender, T. W., & Joiner Jr, T. E. (2008). Suicidal desire and the capability for suicide: tests of the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior among adults. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 76(1), 72.

Van Orden, K. A., Witte, T. K., Cukrowicz, K. C., Braithwaite, S. R., Selby, E. A., & Joiner Jr, T. E. (2010). The interpersonal theory of suicide. Psychological review, 117(2), 575.
Chicago


Here is the lecture by Dr. Thomas Joiner referenced in the episode:


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kitsuno
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The next episode will go live on 10/9, but is available now on Patreon for the $5+ supporters. I'll post again when it goes live.
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kitsuno
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Seppuku: Samurai Suicide - Tales of the Samurai #1
http://samuraipodcast.com/seppuku-samurai-suicide-tales-of-the-samurai-1

Ok, it's live. It took a grand total of nine months to get everything together, along with 3 hours of recording and 9 hours of editing, but it's good to go. I've never talked three hours straight into a microphone, and definitely don't have any voice training, so I'm not sure how I did. I drank a gallon of water, and still my voice and throat were dry as the Sahara. But not too bad for a first try I hope, and I'm looking for feedback for it, content, etc., since it's the first time I'm doing this, so fire away.

I covered pretty much everything in regards to Seppuku, and in addition to the history I did some interdisciplinary work with the medical consequences of cutting the abdominal wall, and a section on modern suicide theory and how it does or doesn't pertain to the Samurai. I didn't go into the level of psychological analysis that I wanted, and I also didn't go into the depth I wanted to with Buddhism and Shinto vis a vis Seppuku, and kept it pretty general with these two topics, mainly due to time constraints. But I don't think you'll find anything outside of an actual specialized book that hits this level of detail. So, let me know what you think. Hopefully it maintains the illusion of organization.
Attached to this post:
Attachments: Seppuku.png (394.78 KB)
Edited by kitsuno, Oct 9 2017, 05:28 PM.
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chingwa
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This was a great podcast. Interesting, informative, entertaining, and provided points I had not thought about before. Thanks!

One note... where you spoke of why the Kaishaku would not use his own sword for the beheading... I have read somewhere (probably on this forum) that as the Kaishaku was often a close friend or associate, they would not want the remembrance of killing their friend every time they looked at or used their own sword. Thus the borrowing. I have no references, but it seems plausible.
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kitsuno
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chingwa
Oct 10 2017, 12:04 PM
This was a great podcast. Interesting, informative, entertaining, and provided points I had not thought about before. Thanks!

One note... where you spoke of why the Kaishaku would not use his own sword for the beheading... I have read somewhere (probably on this forum) that as the Kaishaku was often a close friend or associate, they would not want the remembrance of killing their friend every time they looked at or used their own sword. Thus the borrowing. I have no references, but it seems plausible.


That makes sense, I couldn't think of a good reason aside from maybe a Shinto relation, and I didn't find any reasons.
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Sam
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This was a very interesting episode, thank you!

A hypothesis: we have a hard time comprehending seppuku not because it comes from a different culture but because it is "altruistic suicide" in Durkheim's terminology. Today (and you could say for more than 50 years now) a culture that demanded "altruistic suicide" would be seen as illegitimate. Put differently the society is far too individualistic for such a practice to survive.
Also what is the song playing at the end?
Edited by Sam, Oct 14 2017, 09:43 PM.
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kitsuno
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Sam
Oct 14 2017, 09:30 PM
This was a very interesting episode, thank you!

A hypothesis: we have a hard time comprehending seppuku not because it comes from a different culture but because it is "altruistic suicide" in Durkheim's terminology. Today (and you could say for more than 50 years now) a culture that demanded "altruistic suicide" would be seen as illegitimate. Put differently the society is far too individualistic for such a practice to survive.
Also what is the song playing at the end?


That was more or less my point. I didn't address it directly head on and framed it from the cultural aspect, but yeah, "altruistic suicide" is equally as alien to us "modern" people as Seppuku. Seppuku is an alien cultural aspect that can be explained by Durkheim's theory of "altruistic suicide". I'm glad I knew about Durkheim, otherwise I don't think I would have found a good, published theory.

The song at the end is "Samurai Soul", by Urufuruzu / Ulfuls (depending on who you ask). It seemed to be an obvious choice.
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Sam
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Quote:
 
That was more or less my point. I didn't address it directly head on and framed it from the cultural aspect, but yeah, "altruistic suicide" is equally as alien to us "modern" people as Seppuku. Seppuku is an alien cultural aspect that can be explained by Durkheim's theory of "altruistic suicide". I'm glad I knew about Durkheim, otherwise I don't think I would have found a good, published theory.
I got your point by imagining the reaction to someone advocating for "altruistic marriage" today.
Quote:
 
The song at the end is "Samurai Soul", by Urufuruzu / Ulfuls (depending on who you ask). It seemed to be an obvious choice.
It is a very catchy tune and since I don't know Japanese I could not find it (I actually thought the chorus was "Samurai sword ..."
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kitsuno
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Sam
Oct 15 2017, 05:05 PM
It is a very catchy tune and since I don't know Japanese I could not find it (I actually thought the chorus was "Samurai sword ..."




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Sam
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Also one small quip, I am not sure whether this was intentional or not but when you instruct your assistant to commit seppuku the cutting sound is really loud, I literally jumped in my chair.
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chingwa
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True Samurai does not flinch from sound of seppuku!
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isshokenmei
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Quick question about episode 136 on the Ouchi clan. Nate mentioned in passing that gokenin shouldn’t be translated as vassals because it’s a loaded term with feudal connotations. The samurai wiki describes gokenin as housemen or direct retainers of the shogun. Is “housemen” the preferred translation? Or what is the preferred translation and why is it superior to vassals? Thanks.
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ltdomer98
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isshokenmei
Nov 6 2017, 03:08 AM
Quick question about episode 136 on the Ouchi clan. Nate mentioned in passing that gokenin shouldn’t be translated as vassals because it’s a loaded term with feudal connotations. The samurai wiki describes gokenin as housemen or direct retainers of the shogun. Is “housemen” the preferred translation? Or what is the preferred translation and why is it superior to vassals? Thanks.


Sorry for the delay, I wanted to go back and listen to what I said before I responded, and it's been a busy month.

So, the problem with "vassal" is the same with many terms that come from the study of Medieval Europe. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of better alternatives. "Housemen" would be the literal translation of "gokenin" but just sounds strange to me; for all I know, that's the butler, the stable boy, etc. Direct retainers works, but is kind of clunky.

In all honesty, "vassal" probably works fine in casual contexts. The problem is that "vassal" denotes a particular form of "service for land" typical of a European (really, French) feudalism. The objection to it relates to the differences in how socio-economic higher-lower relationships worked in Japan. Next semester is really the fundamental class in which I'll get to debate this with my boss, but as I understand it for now, he tries to avoid using too many European terms, especially if they relate to feudalism, because of the cross contamination effect. A non-specialist may not see why it's important that a samurai retainer was granted rights to produce from the land rather than the land itself like in a European context, but something like that is a big difference when you're in the weeds of it. Vassal is probably one of the ones that some people object to, others are less strict. A more contentious one would be "clan" (you'll notice I take great pains to avoid ever saying this word....it's the Ouchi house, the Ouchi family, etc...) because in the original use describing Scottish clans, it means something different than the Japanese ie or house. We've got a whole podcast on that somewhere in the archives.

I'd just go with "retainer." If for no other reason that, in the context of the podcast, "vassal" is too formal a relationship (I imagine a knight laying his sword at the king's feet and making some sort of pledge of fealty, etc.) to describe the relationships I'm looking at between the Hokoshu and the Ouchi or the Shogun, etc. Does that help? It might just make it less clear.
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ltdomer98
Nov 15 2017, 06:32 AM
isshokenmei
Nov 6 2017, 03:08 AM
The samurai wiki describes gokenin as housemen or direct retainers of the shogun.

I'd just go with "retainer." If for no other reason that, in the context of the podcast, "vassal" is too formal a relationship (I imagine a knight laying his sword at the king's feet and making some sort of pledge of fealty, etc.) to describe the relationships I'm looking at between the Hokoshu and the Ouchi or the Shogun, etc.
I'm curious. Is the difference between hatamoto and gokenin a ranking hierarchy, e.g., rojou vs ometsuke? Or does it indicate different group affiliations, e.g., hanshi vs buke?
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Nov 15 2017, 12:50 PM
I'm curious. Is the difference between hatamoto and gokenin a ranking hierarchy, e.g., rojou vs ometsuke? Or does it indicate different group affiliations, e.g., hanshi vs buke?
Roujuu 老中, dammit. Sorry about that!
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Nov 15 2017, 12:50 PM
I'm curious. Is the difference between hatamoto and gokenin a ranking hierarchy, e.g., rojou vs ometsuke? Or does it indicate different group affiliations, e.g., hanshi vs buke?


Keep in mind that terms change over time. I'm using Gokenin in a medieval sense:

日本国語大辞典
 
(2)中世、鎌倉幕府の将軍と直接主従関係を結んだ家臣。将軍に忠誠義務を尽くす代償として、所領安堵や新恩の給与などの保護をうけた。また、鎌倉殿御家人、関東御家人などと呼ばれて、非御家人とは厳重に差別されていた


So, those retainers specifically designated by Kamakura (and later the Ashikaga) as having a special direct service-for-compensation relationship. Being a gokenin gave you status relative to someone who wasn't gokenin. In this instance, "direct retainer" (or, vassal if you want to) captures the idea. Prior to Kamakura (Heian or so) it's a more generic "retainer," but in the Kamakura/Muromachi its a very specific designation of being a direct retainer to Kamakura/the Ashikaga.

Hatamoto, on the other hand, isn't in used until much later, according to 日本国語大辞典, and initially refers to not the retainers, but the specific location of the daimyo/busho, in other words, a synonym for honjin. During the Sengoku it becomes associated with the retainers surrounding the daimyo--ie, the bodyguard. Thus, it's not a generic "retainer" nor a "direct retainer," but literally "the guys who surround and protect the big bossman."

Now naturally, those who are around the daimyo are the ones who gain his trust, right? And so they then may be put in command. It's the mid/late Sengoku when "hatamoto" starts to denote a specific group of retainers with privileged status because of their proximity to the daimyo. They may be given tasks/assignments/commands not physically "under the flag" at this point, but their still a select group within the daimyo's retainer band.

Where it gets interesting is the early Edo period. Again, from 日本国語大辞典:

Definition of Gokenin again
 
(3)江戸初期、大名以外の将軍直属の一万石以下の家臣の称。のちに、旗本と御家人に区別されるようになる。直参(じきさん)。


The Tokugawa define Gokenin status as direct retainers below the daimyo rank, who hold stipends of under 10,000 koku. And then, LATER, this is again separated from the hatamoto (see next definition).

Quote:
 
(4)江戸中期以降の将軍直臣のうち、御目見(おめみえ)以下の武士。旗本より身分が低く、直接将軍に謁見する資格をもたない小祿の者。御目見以下。


Gokenin are retainers of the shogun, but rank below hatamoto, and the distinction is lower stipends and lack of direct access privileges. They cannot request direct audiences. Hatamoto can.

For reference, here's the Edo period definition of hatamoto:

Quote:
 
(4)江戸時代、幕府直参の士で、祿高一万石未満百俵以上で、将軍に御目見(おめみえ)する資格がある者の称。御家人に対する語。御目見以上ともいう。


Hatamoto are retainers holding between 100 bales and 10,000 koku of rice with direct audience privileges with the Shogun. The definition specifically says as opposed to Gokenin.


This is a roundabout way to say that you shouldn't think of Gokenin and Hatamoto as two categories in a ranking hierarchy until the Edo period (when really, Gokenin just means "retainers" in a generic sense again). Before the Edo period, you should then further divide it by period. If we're talking Kamakura and Muromachi? Gokenin is the term to use, and hatamoto really isn't a thing--they are neither equivalent nor different ranks in a hierarchy. Sengoku, it gets fuzzy, but the difference is one of function; if I found "gokenin" as a term in a document, I'd call it "direct retainer," whereas "hatamoto" would be trickier, but may be something like "bodyguard" earlier in the period or "subordinate commander" later in the period, but I'd really have to go more by context than anything else.



Edited by ltdomer98, Nov 16 2017, 07:05 AM.
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ltdomer98
Nov 16 2017, 07:03 AM
Hatamoto, on the other hand, isn't in used until much later, according to 日本国語大辞典, and initially refers to not the retainers, but the specific location of the daimyo/busho, in other words, a synonym for honjin. During the Sengoku it becomes associated with the retainers surrounding the daimyo--ie, the bodyguard. Thus, it's not a generic "retainer" nor a "direct retainer," but literally "the guys who surround and protect the big bossman."
Sou, ka. I don't mind the roundabout, I find the evolution of the terminology very interesting. Thank you! So does honjin 本陣 refer specifically to mobile military headquarters--aka, a camp on the road or inn at a post-station town--as opposed to say, the daimyou's primary Edo residence 江戸の上屋敷 or home castle 国の城?
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"Oh yes, but you seem to enjoy it so"
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ltdomer98
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Kurogami
Nov 16 2017, 03:47 PM
Sou, ka. I don't mind the roundabout, I find the evolution of the terminology very interesting. Thank you! So does honjin 本陣 refer specifically to mobile military headquarters--aka, a camp on the road or inn at a post-station town--as opposed to say, the daimyou's primary Edo residence 江戸の上屋敷 or home castle 国の城?


Actually, in the Edo period, honjin would be the type of high-level inn a daimyo would stay at in a post town along the route to/from Edo while doing sankin kotai (or a traveling noble, high level priest, etc...).

When I'm using the term, pre-Edo, it's the actual field headquarters location--a camp, a temple taken over temporarily, etc.

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Kurogami
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ltdomer98
Nov 16 2017, 04:12 PM
Kurogami
Nov 16 2017, 03:47 PM
Sou, ka. I don't mind the roundabout, I find the evolution of the terminology very interesting. Thank you! So does honjin 本陣 refer specifically to mobile military headquarters--aka, a camp on the road or inn at a post-station town--as opposed to say, the daimyou's primary Edo residence 江戸の上屋敷 or home castle 国の城?


Actually, in the Edo period, honjin would be the type of high-level inn a daimyo would stay at in a post town along the route to/from Edo while doing sankin kotai (or a traveling noble, high level priest, etc...).

When I'm using the term, pre-Edo, it's the actual field headquarters location--a camp, a temple taken over temporarily, etc.

どうもありがとうございました! :read:
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Toranosuke
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So does honjin 本陣 refer specifically to mobile military headquarters--aka, a camp on the road or inn at a post-station town--as opposed to say, the daimyou's primary Edo residence 江戸の上屋敷 or home castle 国の城?


I can't speak to medieval uses, but in the Edo period, honjin absolutely refers only to a certain kind of inn/lodgings set aside for elites traveling in post-stations, port towns, and the like. The term would not be used for a lord's own residences, e.g. his Edo mansion, or his home castle.

Incidentally, many lords maintained secondary residences in regional parts of their territory (or even in other domains, I think?) - for example, the lord of Iyo Matsuyama (based at what is today Matsuyama City, Ehime prefecture, on Shikoku) maintained a few extra residences on islands in the Inland Sea, for when he visited out there. The lord of Fukuyama (in modern-day Hiroshima prefecture) similarly maintained a residence in the port-town of Tomonoura. These were separate (distinct) from the honjin, and were called chaya 茶屋.
Edited by Toranosuke, Nov 20 2017, 06:52 PM.
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kitsuno
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Somewhat OT, but I wanted to mention that because I've been asked multiple times in the past, I'm finally putting together some Samurai Archives Podcast logo stuff. And there will be more, this is just the start. So if you want to rock some podcast gear and support the podcast, you can find it here:

http://www.cafepress.com/samuraiarchives/14913008

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Kurogami
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kitsuno
Oct 3 2017, 09:49 PM
...the podcast episode on Seppuku...
In the podcast, Seppuku: Samurai Suicide - Tales of the Samurai #1, you mentioned Mishima Yukio's botched suicide. I found a version in "The Life and Times of Yukio Mishima" by H.S. Stokes, pp. 30-31, that provides details of who was involved.

The original kaishaku, Morita Masakatsu, was supposed to cut off Mishima's head and then follow him in death by cutting his own belly. As you mentioned Morita botched the decapitation, missing the neck in his first two hacks and instead slashing Mishima's shoulders and back. On his third try he finally managed to strike the neck, but left part of it still unsevered. (Ugh. :roll: ) Fellow Tatenokai member Koga Hiroyasu/Furu-Koga was trained in kendo. He took the sword from Morita and successfully cut off Mishima's head, as well as Morita's, with the properly applied one stroke apiece.

You can read about it by searching "Furu-Koga" in this Google Books preview: https://books.google.com/books?id=PjYSgQSCIlsC&pg=PA30#v=onepage&q=Hiroyasu%20Koga&f=false
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Kurogami
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kitsuno
Oct 3 2017, 09:49 PM
Here are all of the sources that I used for the podcast episode on Seppuku.
I like the tune at the end of the podcast. What is it called? Can you link me to a full version?
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