In medieval Japan, samurai were a powerful minority class. They were typically nobility who swore loyalty to a feudal lord, and most famously demonstrated this loyalty in battle when the ambitious warlords and their clans clashed. Think of all the minor vassal houses sworn to the principal noble families in Game of Thrones – Clegane to Lannister, Manderly to Stark, etc.
Anyway, should a samurai fail his master, or should the lord be slain, the most honourable thing a samurai could do was take his life – showing complete commitment to his commander.
A ronin, by contrast, was a samurai without a master.
This lord-less situation of a samurai could arise via multiple ways: the death or political fall of the master, loss of favour, desertion or a decision not to commit suicide/seppuku. Either way, the ronin became wandering men without lands. To survive, typically they would become sellswords or mercenaries, enlisting in other lords’ armies (if the rulers would have them) or hiring themselves out as bodyguards and enforcers. Where the samurai had other skills, as artists for example, they could attempt to offer those for hire too.
Of course, this was easier said than done. During the later Edo period, ronin were shunned. They were considered disobedient and disgraced, clearly prioritising their life too highly – above that of their overlord – when they should have rectified their shame through ritualistic suicide.
This said, the ronin were masters of their own destiny. They may have struggled to live day to day but they were no longer taking orders and deprioritising their sense of self, and self-worth.
And that ultimately is the situation in which I now find myself. After a decade of wage slavery in the advertising industry, I have walked away from that Aerys II Targaryen of a Master. Instead I am moving to Japan for minimum a year to teach English with the JET Programme, and do my bit for cultural ambassadorship.
I am a wandering man, selling my skills and rediscovering a sense of self-confidence that I have felt crushed from me, particularly in recent years. This is a time for new beginnings, where my chosen "lord" - my driving concern - is Happiness. Contentment. Fulfilment. In all areas of my life.
I don't consider this selfish; I consider it a necessity.
This blog is intended to act as an account of this personal journal, capturing my experiences, travels and brushes with Far Eastern "unusualness". So stop by here often for an update on my roamings.
Salani kahle and sayonara, South Africa.
Konnichiwa and howzit, Japan.
Anyway, should a samurai fail his master, or should the lord be slain, the most honourable thing a samurai could do was take his life – showing complete commitment to his commander.
A ronin, by contrast, was a samurai without a master.
This lord-less situation of a samurai could arise via multiple ways: the death or political fall of the master, loss of favour, desertion or a decision not to commit suicide/seppuku. Either way, the ronin became wandering men without lands. To survive, typically they would become sellswords or mercenaries, enlisting in other lords’ armies (if the rulers would have them) or hiring themselves out as bodyguards and enforcers. Where the samurai had other skills, as artists for example, they could attempt to offer those for hire too.
Of course, this was easier said than done. During the later Edo period, ronin were shunned. They were considered disobedient and disgraced, clearly prioritising their life too highly – above that of their overlord – when they should have rectified their shame through ritualistic suicide.
This said, the ronin were masters of their own destiny. They may have struggled to live day to day but they were no longer taking orders and deprioritising their sense of self, and self-worth.
And that ultimately is the situation in which I now find myself. After a decade of wage slavery in the advertising industry, I have walked away from that Aerys II Targaryen of a Master. Instead I am moving to Japan for minimum a year to teach English with the JET Programme, and do my bit for cultural ambassadorship.
I am a wandering man, selling my skills and rediscovering a sense of self-confidence that I have felt crushed from me, particularly in recent years. This is a time for new beginnings, where my chosen "lord" - my driving concern - is Happiness. Contentment. Fulfilment. In all areas of my life.
I don't consider this selfish; I consider it a necessity.
This blog is intended to act as an account of this personal journal, capturing my experiences, travels and brushes with Far Eastern "unusualness". So stop by here often for an update on my roamings.
Salani kahle and sayonara, South Africa.
Konnichiwa and howzit, Japan.
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