Samurai
Subject in History
Samurai has come up in 1 episode across 1 podcast in TMT, including The Rest Is History. 1 person has made recorded remarks about it.
What people said
Tom HollandEnglish actor cast as Telemachus
Holland identifies the fusion of obsession with honour and with material reward as the nearest thing to an authentic samurai code.
“it's this kind of fusion of obsessional interest in their own honor and an obsessional interest in getting on in life If you want a samurai code, that is the samurai code”
The Rest Is History: 658. Dawn of the Samurai: The Shadow of the Sword (Part 1) (Apr 5, 2026) · Listen from 41:25
Holland explains that Chinese-style peasant conscription failed in Japan because of fewer peasants, fiscal crisis and poor soldiering.
“And also, peasants just make terrible soldiers. They're hopeless. They're always running away and stuff”
The Rest Is History: 658. Dawn of the Samurai: The Shadow of the Sword (Part 1) (Apr 5, 2026) · Listen from 38:08
Holland notes that the word samurai originally meant vassal or servant rather than warrior, and carried low-status connotations.
“literally, a samurai does not mean a warrior. It means a vassal, a subordinate, a person who is in service to a great lord”
The Rest Is History: 658. Dawn of the Samurai: The Shadow of the Sword (Part 1) (Apr 5, 2026) · Listen from 27:59
Holland argues the samurai's enduring glamour stems from their mastery of self-mythologising, which was urgent because they began as despised provincial outsiders.
“right from the very beginning, the samurai were masterly at the art of creating their own myths. This was a very urgent task for them”
The Rest Is History: 658. Dawn of the Samurai: The Shadow of the Sword (Part 1) (Apr 5, 2026) · Listen from 28:16
Podcasts
- The Rest Is History · 1 episode
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.