Symbols of State Ideology: The Samurai in Modern Japan

Symbols of State Ideology: The Samurai in Modern Japan

Blog Article

Between the Meiji period (1868-1912) and the end of the Pacific War in 1945, the Japanese state systematically created and propagated a nationalistic ideology in order to foster a coherent, unified identity among the newly nationalised population and mobilise support for its agenda.This ideology was represented by a series of discursive symbols, of which I examine the particular image of the samurai.Through the deliberate glorification and imbuement of this image with certain moral and Full Sofa Sleeper behavioural values including the ideals of loyalty, obedience and self-sacrifice, the state elite deployed the samurai symbol to promote its ideology.This symbol was widely disseminated via official indoctrination efforts, but as I will demonstrate, this did not necessarily translate into a profound impact on the popular mindset.

Drawing on a range of sources, I investigate the construction, projection and significance of the samurai image in the particular context of pre-war and wartime Japan, and in DEODORANT MILLED SOAP DUSK so doing shed some light on the function of symbols as tools of ideology.