This week we travel back to 16th century Japan with Throne of Blood! Join us for a discussion of Japanese armor, elite marriages, creepy forest spirits, and more!

Sources:

Armor and Helmets:

Helmet, pennant; OA+.13545.a. ; 17th c. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_OA-13545-a "Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156-1868" The Met (2009). https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2009/art-of-the-samurai w/photo gallery here: https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2009/art-of-the-samurai/photo-gallery Davison Packard Koenig, "Japanese Samurai Helmet and Half Mask," Arizona State Museum, https://statemuseum.arizona.edu/online-exhibit/curators-choice/samurai-helmet-half-mask Ian Bottomley, "The Art of Defense, a History of Samurai Helmets," Sotheby's https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-art-of-defense-a-history-of-samurai-helmets ; example: 16th century helmet and mask https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/fine-japanese-art-l19229/lot.55.html?locale=en Myra Shackley, "Arms and the Men; 14th Century Japanese swordsmanship illustrated by skeletons from Zaimokuza, near Kamakura, Japan," World Archaeology 18:2 Weaponry and Warfare (October 1986): 247-54. https://www.jstor.org/stable/124618 Morten Oxenboell, Akuto and Rural Conflict in Medieval Japan (University of Hawai'i Press, 2018). https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvsrgc7 Nancy K. Stalker, "Disintegration and Reunification 1460s-Early 1600s," Japan: History and Culture from Classical to Cool (University of California Press, 2018), 112-43. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctv2n7fgm

Women and Marriage:

Wakita Haruko, "Marriage and Property in Premodern Japan from the Perspective of Women's History," Journal of Japanese Studies 10, 1 (1984) David Spafford, "The Language and Contours of Familial Obligation in Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century Japan," in What is Family? Answers From Early Modern Japan, ed Mary Elizabeth Berry and Marcia Yonemoto. University of California Press. Hitomi Tonemura, "Women and Inheritance in Japan's Early Warrior Society," Comparative Studies in Society and History 32, 3 (1990)

Film Background:

Stephen Prince, "Throne of Blood: Shakespeare Transposed," The Criterion Collection Film Guides (6 January 2014). https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/270-throne-of-blood-shakespeare-transposed Gavin J. Blair, "1957: When Akira Kurosawa's 'Throne of Blood' Was Ahead of Its Time," The Hollywood Reporter (16 March 2016). https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/1957-akira-kurosawas-throne-blood-876215 "Shooting the Arrows in Throne of Blood," CriterionCollection (14 January 2014). https://youtu.be/W5MtUiYxBiY and for more info on that snippet, see https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3017-shooting-the-arrows-in-throne-of-blood "Throne of Blood" Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throne_of_Blood