British Museum Holding “Samurai” Exhibition

London, Feb. 7 (Jiji Press)–The British Museum in London is holding an exhibition on “samurai,” exploring the reality of the Japanese feudal-era warriors through furnishings, works of art and video images. The exhibition, set to run until May 4, showcases some 280 items collected in and outside Britain, including those from the museum’s own collection. Visitors can see armor sent from Tokugawa Hidetada, the second shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, as a gift to King James I of England, along with swords, “kabuto” helmets, folding screens and woodblock prints. The exhibition also shows samurai’s influence on modern culture, such as Darth Vader, a villain of the popular movie series “Star Wars.” Rosina Buckland, curator of the museum’s Japanese collections, said that it is “the first exhibition to range beyond the presentation of spectacular military equipment and sophisticated artworks” and “interrogate” the mythologization of samurai. She said that “the word ‘samurai’ conjures up an image of formidable warriors,” indicating that the general public’s knowledge of samurai is based on misunderstanding, invented traditions or partial understanding. The image of samurai common around the world is “a man in armor holding a weapon,” but Buckland paid attention to the fact that “women formed half” of the samurai military class. She has spotlighted samurai women, who played roles different from those of men. She also said that idealizing samurai “helped to legitimize the continuing superior social status of the samurai,” adding that Japan used the spirit of “bushido,” or the samurai code, in propaganda during World War II. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]