A groundbreaking samurai exhibition promises to challenge “everything we thought we knew about the Warrior Emite” at a Millennium Museum next year.
Titled Samurai, the blockbuster exhibition will reveal a world beyond armored warriors, as marketed in Akira Kurosawa’s video games.
Much of the myth of the Samurai – including the word “samurai” – was invented long after their heyday, a modern phenomenon linked to mass and pop culture.
The exhibition, which opens in February, will also show that, far from being a male warrior cult, female samurai were educated, managed and fought.
Rosina Buckland, the exhibition’s lead promoter, told the Guardian:
“There are also shows, especially in Japan, about the arts of the Samurai. But it is trying to say that there are many that are misunderstood and based on myth.”
Recalling that the British Museum had previously mounted two displays of Smarrai swords, he said: “The swords are more important than the trial before the trial before the trial before the trial before the trial
“What I want to address in the exhibition is how the understanding of the samurai emerges from this warrior man who uses a weapon.
“That’s a small part of hundreds of years. They were warriors in the beginning, but there was a balance between the military and the literature and the art. That’s a big part of the story.”
He added: “This retelling of female samurai history rules out centuries of hypered muths and challenges the hyper-menore image of the samurai that still dominates film, anime and gaming.”
Samurai emerged in the 900s as mercenaries for the imperial court. They were formidable and fearsome warriors during the Middle Ages.
They gained political power from the 1100s and, in a long period of peace from 1615, they became government officials, scholars and patrons of the arts. In the late 19th century, their hereditary status was abolished as Japan modernized itself.
The exhibition features more than 280 objects, many of which have never been seen in the UK before. It will also acquire the British Museum’s own collection – one of the largest outside Japan – whose objects are keenly on permanent display.
As well as arms and armor, there are paintings, woodblock prints, books, clothing and ceramics.
“Because the Samurai were elite, the best quality items were made for them,” says Buckland. “The different clothes for boys and girls are different from other social classes. Most importantly, men are allowed to wear two swords.”
Exhibits on view for the first time include an amazing suit of armor acquired by the British Museum. The helmet and its golden scale, which is like an iris leaf and covered with gold leaf, make the wearer look scary.
Buckland says that the suits recycle over the centuries, wearing strong sections from those inherited from previous generations and more attractive like silk sleeves, among other elements. Even away from the battlefield, a suit of armor is an iconic symbol.
In one such exhibit, the oldest part dates from 1519, while other details were made in the early 19th century.
The exhibition will show that the Samurai enjoyed centuries of peace, with plenty of time to pursue artistic and intellectual interests. The paintings range from a cute cat depicting the wife of a Samurai Lord to botanical studies.
There is also a fire jacket worn by women while serving inside the Edo castle. Fires were so common in the wooden city of Edo – today’s Tokyo – that the fires were known as “flowers motas of Tassely fire protection. The high-ranking Samurai were responsible for raising the alarm, fire management and evacuation.
The word “samurai” is used a lot in Japan but only because it is used by foreigners, Buckland said: “It is difficult to get foreigners.
“But there are other words in Japanese that mean a warrior or a member of the military class. Literally, samurai means a way that Japanese have never used before.
“In earlier times, the Word for Warrior was ‘Musha’ and, in later times where the Samurai were in charge, they were called ‘Bushi’.”
Buckland observed the Japanese imported some of the western thinking “because it was useful for the tourist industry”.
He added: “I went to a hotel last year and was greeted by three virtual check-in Refectists, Godzilla, a Geisura.”