The film titled, " Twilight Samurai," is an amazing story of a man who cared more about his family than to rise int he ranks as a Samurai.
When I taught a last year a unit on Japan, I didn't humanize the Samurai for my students, to them it they were only warriors from the past been compared to the knights from Medieval Europe.
After watching the movie twice, I will definitely will show it to my students next school year, so they can comprehend that the Samurai were men, warriors, soldiers, and an institution. Throughout the movie, the lead character of the movie, Seibei Iguchi, puts his 2 daughters Kayano and Ito first. he leaves his job at the imperial palace stores to go home early and spend time his daughters and his elderly mother. At one point, he declines to propose marriage to Tomoe the love of his younger years, because he is too ashamed for being poor. Towards the end of the movie, he is order by the leader of his clan to go kill a man named Yogo, he refuses at first, but at the end he complies, because he must do as he is told, is his duty.
I remember reading a primary source document with my students about the Samurai's Bushido Code, and they agreed that for the Samurai duty was first than family. I will like them to answer tot the prompt, " Was duty more important than family for the Japanese Samurai? explain. The students will write a short essay in which they will explain and support their argument with evidence from the movie, "Twilight Samurai" and the Samurai Code primary source document.
I'm really excited to be able to show this movie and do this draft of a lesson with my students next school year.
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