Documentary

If I was going to make a documentary, I would do it on the impact of samurai culture on modern day Japan. I am part Japanese and have always been deeply interested in Japan. I lived there for a nearly a year after I graduated from college, and taught English there. I really love learning about Japanese culture and greatly enjoyed reading "Tale of Genji" this past summer. I believe that the roots of samurai culture are still influencing modern day thought and way of life in Japan in some degree, also that hold may be diminishing somewhat with time. Japanese people are very commited to tradition, even as they are usually on the forefront of innovation, and love to keep traditional elements alive in their way of life and thought. My message would be that modern Japanese culture is still heavily influenced by samurai tradition and this tradition both impedes and pushes the Japanese forward as a people group and world player.

To make this documentary I would first decide who to interview. I would want to interview professors of Japan and Japanese culture, history, language, anthropology, etc. I would interview some professors who are Japanese and some who are from other countries but who have studied Japan. I believe that they would give a good "outsiders" perspective that might be difficult for a Japanese person to give. I would also compile some of my own memories and those of others who lived in Japan, focusing on our impressions of Japanese ways and correlating them to samurai cultural ways. I would also like to interview those who practice the ancient samurai arts, such as swordfighting, ikebana (flower arrangment), and the tea ceremony as these were important aspects of samurai life in peacetime.

I would ask each person to describe, as best they could, Japanese culture and then samurai culture. I would ask them how they would rate the importance of various attribuutes held sacred by the samurai, and ask them to react to news of salaryman suicides and heads of company honor suicides, among samurai influenced behavior.

I would film some traditional arts: ikebana, tea ceremony to use in the film, as well as some martial arts. I would tour some of the castles for traditional images, as well as all the interviews. I would potentially include my footage of the emperor's New Year's speech.

It might be difficult to get a truly accurate portrayal because it is hard for a culture to analyze themselves, but I think it would be pretty accurate, since I am an outsider and I would be the editor of the documentary. It would also be difficult as I would not be interviews members of all parts of society, but only a few that I select. So the teenage cute world might not be used, which is a lare part of Japanese culture as well.