Elven Samurai...

[Larry Fitz]

Dragongirl? It's still moving I think...

::kicks poor hijacked thread while it's down::



Charter Member of BADA
(Bothered About Dragongirl's Aim)

 

[Theuderic]

Dragon Girl I can speak for myself thank you. Yes I did take it the wrong way and I do understand now sorry about that man it's just that I've encountered a lot of racism in my time. I geuss some of that spilled out onto this thread sorry about that.

 

[Chun-tzu]

Hey, no hard feelings on my end, Theuderic. Misunderstandings happen. I'm glad we were able to work things out peacefully, without this thread getting closed or deleted.

 

[Theuderic]

Ya I've had it rough in this ara my friend and what's more is people judging me and making decisions on what I'm thinking ( I wont name any names) without letting me say for myself oh well we are cool man I DID learn some things from this though especially about the oriental side of things!

 

[Blood Jester]

Dragongirl? It's still moving I think...

::kicks poor hijacked thread while it's down::



Charter Member of BADA
(Bothered About Dragongirl's Aim)

Ohh! OOHH! Let me join BADA. Please?!?

 

[Graf]

[embarrising edit: the Tokugawa period started in 1600s not the 1500s. Completely wasn't paying attention when I was typing.]

The US confronted Japan in the 1850's because US sailors who were shipwrecked were being put to death.

I'm curious about this. Its the first time I've heard it. Could you supply more info? I've heard a lot about Perry and his black ships but nothing involving shipwrecked sailors. (The reason why I'm curious is that lacking contact with the West in any form I don't know how the US, or anybody else, would know that their sailors had wound up on Japan and then been exicuted).

I would suggest that the Japanese aversion to having contact with Westerners during the "closed country period" was not racism.

Interesting fact:
The appearance of missionaries in southern Japan around 1600 triggered massive conversions among the poor and lots of rioting. This led to a lot of Crucifitions in 1615 and ultimtately to the idea that western religous ideas were dangerous and the closing of the country once the last suriving general Tokugawa managed to solidify his control.
Every year during the annual census each member of Japanese society was made to trek to their local temple where they were registered. Each temple had a picture of Jesus on the floor. Everyone was made to stand on the tile and recite a set phrase affirming that they were not a Christian and that by standing Jesus' face they affirmed this.
Anybody who was discovered to be a Christan was put to the death.
Despite this there were still enclaves of Christians dwellling in secret in Japan when the country was opened hundreds of years later. Though many had very different rituals because the tradition had been carried down orally for years and changed over time.

Personally I tend to see the government's reaction against western religious views including the Crucifictions of thousands of (japanese) Christans and the later illligalization of Christianity as being a situtaion of elites attempting to clamp down on "subversive" ideas. Similar in some ways to the responce to Communism in the US during the middle of the last century (i.e. 1900s) if you're looking for a modern correlary.

I realize this is probably a bit too historic for most games (including my own) but there are some nuances which are good to grasp.

[edit: link about a Christian rebellion:
http://www.baobab.or.jp/~stranger/mypage/hara.htm
and another one about religion in Nagasaki during and before the Tokugawaperiod :
http://www.nagasaki-gaigo.ac.jp/nagasaki/5.html

 

[Ysgarran]

Every year during the annual census each member of Japanese society was made to trek to their local temple where they were registered. Each temple had a picture of Jesus on the floor. Everyone was made to stand on the tile and recite a set phrase affirming that they were not a Christian and that by standing Jesus' face they affirmed this.
Anybody who was discovered to be a Christan was put to the death.

Very interesting,
This was included in the 'Lone Wolf and Cub' trade paperback series. If you have any interest in the Tokugawa era the LWaC series has a lot of historical points like this. The series is a bit grim at times but overall I've enjoyed it.

Ysgarran.
________

http://www.storymania.com/cgibin/sm2/smshowtitlebox.cgi?category=novels&page=1&title=JohnnyReb

 

[Lela]

See, this is why I think sleep is a waste of time and should be abolished.

I miss whole conversations on these boards while I'm zonked out. Looks like this was a good one too.

Aw well, back to to topic,

Though I know it isn't so, I've always pictured samurai as doing flips and basic ninja turtles stuff all through combat. As such, the idea of Elven Samurai appeals to my own inner vision of the ancient warriar class.

It's my other predisposition of the Elven race as Chaotic that holds me back from going all out with the idea.

Though, as Teifling says, if the race lives all acrossed the world, there's no reason they must all act the same. As such, I should likely consider the idea.

So, if any of you ever get the elven code typed up or anything of that nature, I wouldn't mind a copy. If you could manage it.

 

[Ranger REG]

Oh I see now. The Japenese/Chinese influenced elves are typically racist bastards..... hmmmm......

Well, they don't always go out of there way to remove gaijin, but they do limit the exposure into their "harmonious" society.

Besides, the most xenophobic of elves are the wild elves and wood elves. And they're not Asian-influenced.

One could equate the Asian-influenced elves to be similar to the gray elves, who limit their contact with non-elves, sometimes to the point of rolling their eyes at the lifestyle of their more sociable cousins, the high elves.

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

I'm curious about this. Its the first time I've heard it. Could you supply more info? I've heard a lot about Perry and his black ships but nothing involving shipwrecked sailors. (The reason why I'm curious is that lacking contact with the West in any form I don't know how the US, or anybody else, would know that their sailors had wound up on Japan and then been exicuted).

I would suggest that the Japanese aversion to having contact with Westerners during the "closed country period" was not racism.

I don't have my text books with me at the moment (I'm at work) but this is something that came up as a part of Perry's justification for his actions in ?1854? As far as how they found out, don't forget that the Tokugawa Shogunate did leave two cities open to trade and foreign legations, on the south coast of Honshu.

Also, I agree that the closed country was probably not a result of racism, but of xenophobia and a desire for total control on the part of the ruling elite. However, whatever the original motivation, the policy did encourage a de-facto racist attitude.