What Tom Holland has said about Tokugawa shogunate
2 quotes · 1 episode · Apr 5, 2026
Tom Holland, English actor cast as Telemachus, has been quoted on Tokugawa shogunate 2 times in 1 episode of The Rest Is History, most recently on April 5, 2026. Each quote below is verbatim and links to the moment it was said.
In their words
Holland argues that Tokugawa Ieyasu legitimised a radical new regime by adopting the ancient title of shogun and nominally serving the emperor.
“A radical revolutionary new form of government dignifies and disguises its radicalism beneath a show of tradition”
The Rest Is History: 658. Dawn of the Samurai: The Shadow of the Sword (Part 1) (Apr 5, 2026) · Listen from 8:36
Holland says it is a myth that the shogunate banned firearms; it regulated them very strictly instead.
“It's often said that the shogunate banned firearms, for instance. This isn't true. What they do is to regulate the use of firearms very, very strictly”
The Rest Is History: 658. Dawn of the Samurai: The Shadow of the Sword (Part 1) (Apr 5, 2026) · Listen from 14:25
Episodes
658. Dawn of the Samurai: The Shadow of the Sword (Part 1)The Rest Is History · Apr 5, 2026 · 1 h 3 min
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook trace the origins of Japan's samurai, from the Tokugawa shogunate and the Bushido myth back to the 10th-century warlord Taira no Masakado.
Tom Holland on other topics
- Samurai · 9 quotes
- Odyssey · 7 quotes
- Slavery in the United States · 7 quotes
- Fall of Maximilien Robespierre · 4 quotes
- Habsburg monarchy · 4 quotes
- Jefferson–Hemings controversy · 4 quotes
- Apartheid · 4 quotes
- Mona Lisa · 4 quotes