Toyotomi Hideyoshi's The Last Samurai

CONCLUSION

Hideyoshi contributed militarily, culturally and politically to Japan. Militarily, he was a tough warrior. Culturally, he made Osaka Castle as beautiful as it was strong. Inspired by Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto (the Golden Pavilion), he constructed a fabulous portable tea-room covered with gold leaf. Using this mobile innovation he was able to practice the tea ceremony wherever he went, powerfully projecting his unrivalled power and status. Politically, he set up a governmental system that balanced out the most powerful daimyo; in some ways it has been described as like a parliament with a president.

Upon Hideyoshi’s death in 1598, Tokugawa took control, leaving in place a majority of Hideyoshi’s decrees to use as a base upon which to

As I’ve discovered over the course of my research, this is the image most people have of samurai. Set during a turbulent period in Japan’s history as the country began its uneasy transition from ancient tradition to modern world power, it features 1870s Japan indelibly stamped with Hollywood’s mark. The film is about two men from very different backgrounds who become united by honour and respect. Both are warriors who fight their demons as much as their enemies and who desire to understand and learn from each other in the hope of finding

In 1990 at the age of eighty, Japan’s most widely admired film director, Akira Kurosawa, was awarded a honourary Oscar at the Academy Awards in Hollywood. From the latter half of the 1940s until his death in 1998, Kurosawa had directed over thirty films including, Rashomon (1950), Seven Samurai (1954), Throne of Blood (1957), and Ran (1976). He directed samurai epics, crime thrillers, literary adaptations, and films of social realism. One film, Seven Samurai, set during the sengoku jidai, is thought by many to be the greatest Japanese film of all time. His work was a huge influence on directors like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg who revered him as “Master of the