For Media Studies, I'm writing a 3000 word essay on how far Hollywood has influenced films like The Last Samurai in terms of its representation of Japan/samurai etc. Seeing as this is another prominent example of a Westren view on Japan, can anyone give me some insight as to how far it accurately shows Japan?
Thnx in advance!
Try this article. I only just started reading it but it discusses the accuracies of the book.
http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/learning/
It covers the book. But i am watching the movie now. I will let you know how close it is to the book. and hence the articles.
Hey great link bogus-9, thanks. The author does comment on the TV miniseries at the end of the article. He said although the article was about the book he had gotten so many inquiries about the miniseries that he felt he should at least briefly comment on what he thought about it. He said the novel is by far a more accurate and in-depth look into that period of Japan; the series looked good but did a far poorer job of giving us an accurate representation of the Japanese of that period. He commends it though for increasing interest in Japan and its history and both the book (more so) and series were far and away pro-Japanese.
There are numerous books recommended about all things Japanese for further study- by no means does he seem to recommend that the Shogun novel and miniseries alone are enough to give you the best picture of Japanese history.
It's important to note that the authors of those essays are almost all Western. To my understanding, Shogun actually got a somewhat less warm reception in Japan. Specifically I recall Akira Kurosawa commenting on it and saying that Clavell should really study Japanese history more thoroughly before writing on it. While I do think Clavell really tried to be accurate, he was a product of his time and I think he had prejudiced and stereotyped views of the Japanese people, and that shows up in his work.
I really enjoy Shogun, by the way, so i'm not trying to trash him or the story. It's enjoyable as a work of fiction. But it should be treated with caution in terms of historical or cultural accuracy, and shouldn't be used as a history lesson.
The mini series and the book are utter BS. People complain about the way the Japanese are portrayed, but the Europeans are portrayed at least as ridiculous. Except Blackthorne, of course, he's such an honorable Englishman!🙄
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