Introduction

Abstract

1876 was not a very good year for the Samurai. After hundreds of years of considerable success in ruling over Japan, several events conspired to bring their powers to an abrupt and unseemly finale. You may well have seen the Hollywood epic drama The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise, and depicting the westernization of Japanese society towards the end of the 1800s. And, as the title strongly hints the poor old Samurai didn’t come off too well in all the confusion. A whole way of life that had emerged during the 7th century AD and been dominant in the region for many centuries came to an end.

“This could be our best century ever… or it could be our worst.”

Ian Goldin, Ex-Vice President The World Bank, and Director of the James Martin 21st Century School, University of Oxford¹