Famous Japanese Samurai Trivia Quiz

Answer: MINAMOTO Yoritomo

In the Twelfth Century, there were four major samurai clans in Japan: the Tairo, the Minamoto, the Fujiwara and the Tachibana. All these were descendant somehow of the Imperial family, but they were granted honourable titles (and land) instead of being named princes (with the right to succeed the Emperor).

While the two other clans remained neutral, the Tairo and the Minamoto fought a bloody war, and Yorimoto of the Minamoto won. The Emperor appointed Yorimoto as Shogun, supreme commander of the army. But as two other clans remained, different factions continued skirmishes, and there was no central authority over all of Japan.

Answer: ODA Nobunaga

ODA Nobunaga is one of the few people better known by his first name only, thus I've used his first name henceforth.

Nobunaga was born near Nagoya and was trained as a samurai. When his father Nobuhide died in 1552, Nobunaga (as the sole legitimate heir) was destined to take over the role of daimyo (landlord), but several of his half-brothers stood in the way.

So in a long series of battles he fought his half-brothers and some other clans, finally reuniting most of the main island Honshu in 1568. But the islands Shikoku, Kyushu and Hokkaido still had several rival clans, and so the fighting continued - until Nobunaga committed ritual suicide to avoid being captured in 1582.

The red herrings were not samurai, but other noteworthy Japanese people.
Tange (1913-2005) was an architect. Sugiyama (born 1975) was a tennis player. And Mifune (1920-1997) was an actor.

Answer: TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi

Toyotomi (1537-1598) worked under Oda Nobunaga's tutelage and eventually succeeded in accomplishing his mentor's dream of uniting all of Japan in 1591.

Toyotomi was born in Nakamura to a foot soldier without clear samurai ancestry. He enlisted in Nobunaga's army and rose the ranks, up till a trusted assistant to Nobunaga. When Nobunaga died without heirs, Toyotomi filled the vacuum and continued the unification of Japan. The Emperor appointed him kampaku (supreme civil leader).

Toyotomi dreamt of Japanese sovereignty over the continent, and so he invaded Korea. Alas, both invasions failed - mainly through the intervention of Chinese army and navy.

Toyotomi proclaimed that only the samurai were permitted to bear arms. Peasants, craftsmen and merchants were forbidden the possession and use of arms, and thus had to defend against outlaws using only their trade tools or their bare hands - which eventually would lead to the invention of some martial arts.

The red herrings are from other periods in history and are not known as would-be invaders of Korea. Abe (1954-2022) was Prime Minister of Japan from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2020. Katsushika (1760-1849), better known by his first name Hokusai, was a painter and printmaker. And Murasaki (973 -1014) was a poetess and novelist.

Answer: TOKUGAWA Ieyasu

After the battle of Sekigahara in 1603, all Japan was unified as one Empire. The Emperor appointed TOKUGAWA Ieyasu, victor of the battle, to Shogun. And Ieyasu's family would keep this hereditary title until 1868, the date the shogunate was abolished.

Ieyasu, as we will call him henceforth (as most people named in this info section share the surname Tokugawa), was born in Okazaki Castle in 1543 with the first name Takechiyo. He adopted the first name Ieyasu only in 1563, when he was officially already fourteen years daimyo of Okazaki Castle - but these fourteen years he was held hostage by his neighbours, the warring factions ODA and IMAGAWA. In 1563 Ieyasu chose ODA Nobunaga as his mentor and ally, and he seconded Nobunaga in the effort to unify Japan. In 1605 Ieyasu abdicated officially as Shogun, in favour of his son Hidetada, but in fact he retained all power behind the screens, until his death in 1616.

Tsunayoshi was the fifth TOKUGAWA Shogun, and Yoshimune the 15th and final Shogun of this dynasty. James Clavell has romanticized the era 1600-1603 in his novel "Shogun", but he changed the main character to the fictive TORANAGA Yoshi.

Answer: TOKUGAWA Iemitsu

TOKUGAWA Iemitsu was the third Shogun from the TOKUGAWA dynasty. Born in 1604, he became Shogun in 1623 and stayed in function until his death in 1651. To sketch the background of the Sakoku policy, it is important to realize that Japan traded intensively with China, importing almost all silk used in Japan.

When the Spanish and Portuguese reached the Far East, they imposed themselves as intermediators for this Japanese-Chinese trade. But Spanish and Portuguese people had the habit of meddling in internal policies of Japan too, and of trying to convert the Japanese to Roman-Catholicism. Although the Japanese needed intensive trade with China, they didn't want too much meddling of the Spanish and Portuguese, and thus closed all harbours but Nagasaki to these "southern barbarians" (the first Spanish and Portuguese arrived via the southern route). After a rebellion by Roman-Catholics, Iemitsu expelled all "southern barbarians".

At the end of the 16th Century, Dutch and English sailors also reached Japan, via an easterly route. Trading with the Dutch had some advantages, as these were also willing to trade western inventions and because the Dutch did not make great efforts to convert Japanese people to the (Protestant) religion. But most of the trade via the "southern barbarians" and via these "eastern barbarians" was in exchange for Japanese silver, and silver became scarce. That's why the Shogun TOKUGAWA Iemitsu also limited the trade with the Dutch to the island Dejima (near Nagasaki), the only place in Japan where Dutch were allowed to settle. Besides Dejima, there were only three other harbours available for direct trade with Korea or with the Ainu on Honshu and the Kuril islands.

Sakamoto (1952-2023) was a pianist and composer. Kano (1860-1938) developed the sport judo. And Honda (1906-1991) founded the eponymous motorcycle and automobile factory.

Answer: ITO Mancio

Ito was born in 1569 with the first name Sukemasu. He converted in 1580 to Roman Catholicism and was baptised Mancio (written in Japanese as Mansho), and studied Latin and (Roman-Catholic) theology.

In 1582 three Roman-Catholic daimyo sponsored a mission by some promising young samurai to Europe, where they would meet the Spanish King Philip II, Grand Duke Francesco I de Medici and the Pope Gregory XIII. Ito was chosen as leader of this delegation, with three other young samurai. While in Rome, Ito was made an honorary citizen and had even his portrait painted by Domenico Tintoretto. After his return to Japan Ito joined the Jesuit and was ordained a priest. He died in 1612.

Yamada (1590-1630) enlisted on the Portuguese ships that traded between Japan and South-East-Asia. He settled in Thailand and became a military advisor to king Songtham of Ayutthaya. HOJO Tokimune (1251-1284) was Shikken (regent for the underage Shogun) between 1268 and 1284. During his reign, two Mongol invasions were thwarted thanks to a typhoon. Shinoda (born 1986) was a Japanese singer, actress and model.

Answer: MIYAZAKI Hayao

Miyazaki (born 1941) was an animator and filmmaker. He is best known as one of the founders of Studio Ghibli. In 1863 the Sakoku policy was still in effect, which made sailing abroad punishable by death. Yet these young samurai did so.

Ito (1841-1909) was one of the first group sent to the UK to study. Later on he would be Prime Minister of Japan four times (1885-1888, 1892-1896, 1898, and 1900-1901). Yamao (1837-1917) was trained as an engineer and also rose to the Japanese government, as Minister of Industry. Endo (1836-1893) became head of the Japanese mint.

The other two students were INOUE Kaoru (1836-1915), who held several minister posts, and INOUE Masaru (1843-1910, no close relative of Kaoru), who became president of the Imperial Railways.
 

Answer: FUKUZAWA Yukichi

Fukuzawa (1835-1901) was born into a lower samurai family in Osaka. He studied Dutch in Nagasaki (Dutch being the language used by the only European traders allowed on Japanese soil at that time).

Around the same time, various naval expeditions by the great powers (USA, Russia, UK) had forced upon Japan a number of treaties to open the commerce to non-Dutch ships. As a consequence, many foreigners arrived in Japan, and Fukuzawa was astonished to discover most spoke English, not Dutch. That's why he studied English too. In 1860 Fukuzawa was sent on a diplomatic mission to the USA. After his return, he was appointed official translator for the government. In 1862 he was sent on a second diplomatic mission, this time to Europe.

Several of the highest ranking samurai family tried in 1861-1863 to turn back the clock and to expel all non-Dutch foreigners. This caused a civil war which led to the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji Restoration (1868): all power was returned to the Emperor, Japan started industrialization at a forced rate, and in 1869 the samurai class was abolished (in name, but most samurai continued to call themselves samurai). It was around that time that Fukuzawa, as supporter of the Meiji Restoration, sold his samurai swords and took up a full-time job as teacher.

Hattori (1542-1597) was one of the best generals under TOKUGAWA Ieyasu, and not the legendary swordsmith as portrayed in several movies and TV-series. Miura (1564-1620) was born in Kent (England) as William ADAMS. He was the first English sailor to reach Japan in 1600 and soon became hatamoto (one of the most trusted samurai vassals) of TOKUGAWA Ieyasu. In James Clavell's novel "Shogun", the fictive character of John BLACKTHORNE had a similar experience. Fuma (died 1603) was head of the ninja (group of spies for hire).

Answer: TOJO Hideki

Tojo (1884-1948) started his career in the Imperial Japanese Army in 1905, with the infantry. He rose to the ranks to general. In 1940, he took up a seat in the government as Minister of the Army, and became Prime Minister in October 1941.

Japan was at that time already at war with China and desperately needed secure supply of all kind of resources, and the hawks in the government (including Tojo) were convinced this could only be done by invading South-East-Asia. Such a move would probably provoke war with the USA, and thus the hawks were in favour of a pre-emptive strike against the American navy. Tojo and the other hawks ordered the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Yamamoto (1884-1943) was the chief admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Nagumo (1887-1944) was the head of the Imperial Japanese Air Fleet. Yamagata (1838-1922) was the chief of staff of the Imperial Japanese Army and is generally seen as the "father" of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Answer: MISHIMA Yukio

Mishima (born 1925 as HIRAOKA Kimitake) was a late descendant, via his paternal grandmother, to the well-known Shogun TOKUGAWA Ieyasu. His grandmother was influential in his youth, and she bragged regularly about her ascendants.

Mishima began writing at an early age. When his first short story was published, the editors chose Mishima's pen name to avoid altercations with Mishima's very militaristic father, who loathed literature.

In 1944 Mishima was mustered for active military service, but deemed unfit for medical reasons. The unit for which his fellow recruits were called upon, fought in the Philippines with a major mortality rate. Mishima was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967 and 1968, the year his compatriot Kawabata won.

In 1970 Mishima completed the manuscript of his masterpiece "The Sea of Fertility" and tried to incite the troops at a military camp to revolt and hand back the absolute power to the Emperor. As he most likely expected, the troops turned down his proposition, whereupon Mishima committed seppuku - the ritual suicide of a samurai by cutting open the abdomen.

Kawabata (1899-1972) and Oe (1935-2023) were the first Japanese laureates of the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1968 and 1994 respectively. Murakami (born 1949) has also been nominated more than once for the Nobel Prize in Literature.