this video was made possible by viewers like you over on patreon check out the link in the description to hear how you can help make shows like this be even more amazing y'all ever heard of the movie redon it was a 1971 Western about a group of Bandits hijacking a train containing the ambassadors of tokuga yoshinobu and stealing their diplomatic gift of an Exquisite sword Destin for President usss Grant with the Bandit leader link Stewart played by Charles Bronson betrayed Ambassador kudo ju played by toshiro mun endless link to find the treacherous go whatever bring
him the justice and reclaim the sword but link has other ideas like finding out where go hid the hall from the train I don't know why but after watching this movie a month back I got weirdly obsessed with this comparison of late 1800's Samurai and 1800's Cowboys two extremely different jewels of their country's Generations who have been uniquely Bound in cinema through the mid to late 1900s cuz yeah I know all these well-known spaghetti western movies are basically just retellings of old Samurai movies most of which coming from the great Akira Kurosawa fist full of
dollars is basically just Yojimbo as was Django magnificent s was just Seven Samurai W man was just zatoichi rec room for a gringo was just haki and the outrage was just asaman and the list goes on but you know I guess never mind the fact that some of kurosawa's other works such as Throne of blood the bad sleep well and none were just flagrantly lifted from Shakespeare's McBeth Hamlet and King Lear in that order but I guess that's besides the point the point is is that a lot of people are talking about the connections between
cowboy movies and Samurai movies especially online with videos and essays talking about how one influenced the other in a multitude of ways and reasons of which I'm going to be parting a lot of their points and analyzing them so stake Kino story drive go easy on me guys I'm only wanting to add to the conversation but the thing is these essays usually only contextualize the relationship between Cowboys and Samurai exclusively in cinema and I think that's a mistake because I think the dynamic of these these two figures and the interest thereof is a lot more
transient than that just as there's a sizable number of people in the west who love all things Samurai there's a pretty big group of people in Japan who love all things wild Western in Kumamoto for example there's the Country Gold festival with folks in the area getting all spruced up in cowpoke atire and line dancing and this event's been going on consecutively for more than 15 years or how about the seu geki goo event in chba back in 2020 by hyper doaku which spawned this little gy on the internet [Music] over 70 Wild West enthusiasts
in full and authentic costuming came together to live a day in the world of the Wild West I mean shoot they've even got replica howitzers and Gatling guns and wild west themed bars those have been around in Tokyo and other big Japanese cities for well over 30 years at this point showcasing the fact that behind the Salman suits within packed Rush Hour trains there's tons of Hardcore weekend Cowboys in a weird twist of fate the Samurai movie epics that shaped the classic cowboy spaghetti western turned right back around influencing Japanese audiences he shto mamoto arguably
the most well-known individual in the gaming industry is a great example talking about how he grew up with western movies like Lone Ranger Gunsmoke and ELO Baka did did I just say that right and interest that from what I could tell brought about the legendary lawn laan Ranch into the Zelda franchise and you can see how Japan's growing up with and love of old western movies permeated into its own median the late ' 80s and early 90s with shows like try gun and cowboy bbop or video games like Sunset Riders wild guns and Wild Arms
and there are plenty of other examples that even merge the Two Worlds of Samurai and guns singers together remember Samurai Western on the PS2 that had you as a samurai going around chopping up all kinds of Western Outlaws or God what about Chia from cocka Rangers the LA born Black Ranger Ninja introduced as a rollerblading fast drawing Cowboy even one of my oldest and dear shapanese friends who goes by the online handle of Hutch absolutely adores the Western aesthetic I'm not able to really show it but I can remember how happy he was when I
got him his own Texas hat in the last time we went to go visit him this year and then again when we started playing Fallout 76 together how hard he wanted to lean into the cowboy aesthetic of his character there's something here between these two figures that binds them and more than just movies because the comparative interest in Samurai in the west and cowboys in the East transcends cinematic media becoming a love and identity something that permeates the lives of people who love them I mean just listen to the reasons why so many of these
Japanese Cowboys got into the saddle so to speak well I first got interested in cowboy things when I saw American movies and TV shows then I started listening to country and western music on Armed Forces Radio and hanging out with these guys I don't know I think my life is sort of like a Cowboys you know I ride a train to work it's kind of like riding a horse and my office is kind of like a ranch and maybe I shouldn't say this but roping in customers is how I make a living and I want
to find out why what is it about these two hyper romanticized figures that brings people a literal World apart together I mean it's entirely possible that this is just another example of people liking what they like and if so that's that but what floors me is that our cultures are so drastically different between the US and Japan that I find it surprising there's so much cultural cross permeation when it comes to these two in their Aesthetics they are deeply rooted symbols of their unique cultures and considering how different they are on the surface I'm surprised
they would even tolerate each other no seriously put these two and their cultures together in a room by themselves and it's like looking at night and day first of all clothing cowpokes would look at a samurai kimono and Haka combination and probably just call it a dress well unless you have some special use for men dressed up like women let them know as for the kamishimo I think most folks would see that as a bit ridiculous likewise Samurai would look at Cowboys and think they have zero decorum no family symbolism basic attire of cotton and
let's be real here Samurai would likely be put off by a cowboy's inevitable terrible smell Samurai on the other hand were so careful about their scent that they would put perfume in their helmets should their heads be taken and battle and presented protocol would be a big clashing Factor too Samurai even before this idea of bidita would still adhere to strict systems of conduct through their lives big and small how to Bow how lo about what words to use with their superiors and inferiors there were just so many protocols that Samar were bound to Cowboys
and even local lawmen on the other hand were seen as extremely Rough Around the Edges bending the laws as needed constantly getting drunk being far more callous and rude even their day-to-day the samurai would never associate themselves with that kind of behavior honest though it may be finally there's the context in which they fight Samurai were taught from birth to be a Warrior fighting other Warriors for their superiors using tactics and cunning and cowboys while they did fight were fighting to protect cattle ranches and their employers from wild animals rustlers Natives and whatever came from
the Wilderness not exactly something you need to draw battle lines for the scope of combat between these two are just so incredibly different it seems like they would have nothing to talk about when it came to fighting but all that aside I actually think there's infinitely more things that would actually bring these two fighters together rather than push them apart now first of all I can't really talk much about how these two are similar without talking about what makes them so similar in popular media after all that's probably why half you are here the Catalyst
that really brings these two figures into the hearts of people from Japan to the United States and vice versa equally is not only the romanticization but how the romanticized Cowboys Gunslingers and other folks of Western nature have long been believed to follow this code of the west or Gan Audrey's Cowboy code a concept first chronicled by Zane gray in his 1934 book of the same name though there was never any written code of cowpokes many assume or at least like to believe that Western folk had an ethical set of rules and morals that govern their
life such as a cowboy must never shoot first hit a smaller man or take unfair Advantage he must always tell the truth he must always be gentle with children the elderly and animals he must help people in distress he must keep himself clean in thought speech action and personal habits and if this is all starting to sound weirdly familiar it's because it's almost entirely the same as the code of Bido a collection of ethical concepts of Truth morality servitude and respect that many posto period Samurai would cling to but much in the same way that
the cowboy code and the code of the West were established well after the time of cowboys relevance so too was bashid created retroactively long past the true historical significance of Samurai i' like to think of it like this Samurai and cowboys would not only have much in common to talk about ethically but would have much to say to each other about the importance of these codes given the time and speaking of romanticized reverence I think another thing that Samurai and Cowboys could easily come together on is their near mythical faith in their specialized Weaponry the
glorification of the revolver and the katana two weapons Which romanticized history would claim made or broke the Samurai and the cowboy in every idealized depiction of cowboys they always had a revolver in hand sometimes in too and every Samurai had a katana in hand sometimes too the great irony in all this is that when it comes to both of these figures neither were so specialized in fact more often than not they would use other weapons Far Far more often and for the same reason at the conception of the Samurai in the 600s bows were the
go-to weapon easy to use on Horseback and made for greater distance fighting capabilities after the Mongols Samurai would move predominantly to polearm weapons it was only during the Edo period of peace that Samurai begin to specialize and romanticize combat specifically with a katana likewise Cowboys didn't come out of the womb do wielding pistols and don't get me wrong the cold 45 was a master class in personal Firearms choice but the West Was one more often than not with rifles the Hawken Plains rifle the Springfield trapo the Winchester the sharps the trusty double barrel shotgun all
of these were equally if not more critical firearms in the west and why because they had better range better punching power and greater ease of stable aiming using one's entire body of firing instead of just a stiff arm now I think about that's the exact same reason why Samurai started using guns in the 1600s like let's be real here in a real historical setting I would imagine that Cowboys and Samurai would interact like Oda noaga and Billy the Kid in the anime Drifters both ooing and aing over the latest greatest Firearms Tech throughout history heck
I'd imagine Samurai would be telling their fair share of back in my day stories about guns considering they used them over 200 years prior to the founding of the United States and speaking of guns oh look at this boy you want him this plush cuddly throw back to Samurai Gunnery and my adorable V tuing rig developed by the equally adorable Yuki goba you want to get this little gunny Tanuki or guki as I like to call the genre of canid wielding heavy Firearms then pop on over to makeship Via the link in the description we
got around 50 of these boys sold but we got to sell a total of 200 to get them made with roughly I don't know at this point what 8 days to go so grab your boy before it's too late right sorry uh Cowboys and Samurai so with the more Fantastical and mythical aspects out of the way let me explain why I think these two legends would actually get along in a real life scenario so for one these were two figures that lived for their weapons Cowboys would live work and ride every single day with their
guns and the idea of a cowpoke riding without one was unheard of likewise Samurai would live work and ride with their Blades of choice everywhere they went they had a blade at their belt and were taught to always always be ready to use it and for a samurai not to have a die show out in public was not only unheard of but it was technically illegal even the ritualistic levels of Maintenance and appreciation could be something they could both share a Colt 45 revolver and a masamune blade easily have one in common craftsmanship while both
are fairly simple weapons mechanically there is a hidden level of appreciation that both of these two could understand and appreciate through these two weapons an appreciation that I very much believe we could see to this day from Japanese appreciating a cold 45 or Winchester while the American could appreciate the craftsmanship of a well-tempered toll but that's not the only thing that these two could appreciate these two historical figures were defined by the horse Samurai quite literally in Japan the only people who were allowed to use and own horses were those of the Samurai class and
with that right came hundreds of years of exclusive combat and animal handling training to the samurai like the use of the bow it wasn't until after the Mongolian invasion of the 1270s that Samurai would even consider fighting with their feet on the ground Cowboys on the other hand though not bound by any law or social obligation would never consider being without their horse for the more practical reason of if you had no horse you were probably just going to die out in the Great American Plains or the harsher deserts on the western side of the
country it would also make your primary job of cattle driving near impossible without the speed maneuverability of your horse despite the very different uses of these animals it's incredibly safe to say that these two not only loved horses but could easily share much to bond over with them but with that other way let me move on to some of the less considered similarities that could easily Bond on the Samurai and cowboy together and I think the best one I could think of is speed now consider this what is the greatest spectacle of the 1800's Cowboy
what are they most well known for not only in cinema but just any sort of historical context now most of you likely said the Quick Draw where the faster you shoot the faster you can take down that no good dirty pull cat banet that's been harassed in your local Town well what about the samurai what in both media and real life are they the most well known for in my opinion that would be the Adoration of II Jutsu that amazing ability of being able to draw your sword and strike in a blink of a eye
felling dozens of rabble of noble cetti that's been harassing your local village now that might seem like a coincidence but what makes this particular observation really interesting is that Cowboys and Samurai practic these two things for the exact same reason if the cowboy code was anything to be believed rule one was to never shoot first a possible piece of the unspoken rules of the web of don't be the first to incur violence well Samurai in the Edo period had the exact same rule under much greater penalty if you were a samurai under the local magistrate
office or other local authorities if you drew your blade first it could mean your literal head a samurai would never allow themselves to draw their blades first whoever did draw their blade first always was the one legally responsible thus Samurai developed and closely adopted iutu as a way of being able to unath and strike faster than there would be aggressors who had already begun done pulling a blade shooting or slashing it really didn't matter these two things were done for the exact same reasons and I could easily imagine a cowboy and Samurai trying to outspeed
each other in terms of who could draw and shoot or who could draw and slice first now this next observation might sound a lot more stupid but I think one thing that Cowboys and Samurai would both have in common and could respect would be their hair now I know one of them is a cleancut short affair while the other is a near foot long of hair tied up over a shaved head but despite these two looks being drastically different they serve the exact same purpose Samurai would wear the CH M hairstyle with a shaved head
and pulled up and tied ponytail in order to keep their head cool and scalps cushioned while they wore their helmets that is the bottom line Cowboys on the flip side would keep their hair short and clean to facilitate their hats which kept their faces out of the hot sun and help them regulate temperature in fact let's talk about hats for a literal hot second Cowboys are iconic for their 10g hats with their wide brims and pointed centers while Samurai were well known for their jingasa hats which have wide brims and pointed centers come on man
the only difference here is that one was made of cow hide and dipped while the other was made of vegetation and cone shaped aside from that slight detail there are fundamentally the exact same hat with the exact same purpose keep nature out of your face finally there's one great unifier between Cowboys and Samurai that I think could really bring them closer together than anything else could and I'll tell you right now it's not the idea of the wandering Warrior trying to prove one's code of conduct I know there are plenty of other essays who would
claim that the wandering nature of the cowboy who followed the code of the West Was in direct comparison with the samurai that was sent on the Journey of the Musa Shugo but I find this to be a very poor example for two reasons one while plenty of cowboys were rors I can't imagine many of them in real life would really care that much about showcasing their own personal code of the West in reality Cowboys were more or less rambunctious Drifters sided in the police Gazette in 1879 as quote gloriously drunk that begins to yell like
a wild Indian and shoots off his big revolvers promiscuously into a crowd he's little less than a crazy demon at such times and woe betide the man who crosses his path yeah that doesn't exactly strike me as John Wayne material and two Samurai who left on Musa Shugo Warrior pilgrimages were very very few and far between in a Samurai's heart their place was serving their Superior and fighting not gallivanting across Japan could they learn a lot of useful things and have a lot of great life lessons sure but here's the other problem while on a
Musa Shugo a samurai was classified then as a ronin and let me just say right now you don't ever ever want to be adonin not only will people look at you with distrust as you have no family or Clan to serve in the meantime but you are also completely lacking in the protection of a family or Clan safe to say it wasn't exactly an occupation many Samurai ever really wanted no the one thing that I think really binds the Samurai and the cowboy together is modernization think about it so many of the greatest Samurai movies
are in regard to either the time changing due to the tokuga shogunate or the major restoration or the very Fallout of the Edo period or the major restoration's peace time where there would be this big conflict of identity and would have well-meaning Samurai turn to netti Bandits they were quickly entering a time where they were not needed anymore their lifestyle of war was just not necessary in fact in some cases it was Det mental to the Edo period's Newfound piece same too do so many stories of cowboys revolve around the modernization of the US in
the 1800s not just in terms of the Industrial Revolution but the increasing power of the rich nearly autocratic businessmen who controlled much of the property that Cowboys were paid to protect and maintain what ended up killing the cowboy way of life was the modernization of the ranching industry and the Industrial Revolution that demystified the wild west as ranches grew and technology developed Cowboys became more and more redundant with machines quickly taking over their jobs in the industrial revolution and as those ranches grew and Industry boomed more and more businesses filled the West which by that
point wasn't so wild anymore despite their self-sustaining skills grit and hardworking nature Cowboys just were not needed anymore for Samurai it was no different except for the fact that instead of Corporations it was the establishment of a centralized government that had been absent for nearly 300 years Samurai like Cowboys at their core were hired help hired by Dio landlords to protect their territory from Invasion due to the fracturing of Japan that lasted for centuries but as the country reunified under one government there was no longer any need to pay Samurai for protection actually no scratch
that I'm wrong it was corporations because the merchant class which was at the bottom of the totem pole in Japan had during the Edo period taken power away from the samurai class which inevitably led to the boen war modernization and economy made samurai irrelevant and you know what if you still don't believe me red son brings up this exact point and perfectly illustrates what I'm talking about here some right life is service kodo pido says Be Strong have courage sacrifice yourself for your master my father was Samurai his father his his his 400 years or
died fighting there is great honor in my family but now all is changed Japan has had big Wars between Lords has become different country soon the great nation like yours then samai life will finish all must give of Sword become Farmers fisherman become nothing so I must succeed one lost time so all in all this is why I believe that the very essence of Samurai and cowboy are so easy to permeate between the vastly different cultures of the US and Japan while there are plenty of differences there's far more reasons why both fictitious and real
that there's this Nations spanning appreciation of these two figures of History I never thought about it like this until I saw this movie and really considered all these things also please go check out my guki boy on makees sure please I want him to be a real boy and I want people who love him to have him to and a huge thank you to my patrons who continue to support off-the-wall Wild video ideas like this and if you want to help make videos like this reality get them early or help decide topics be sure to
check us out on patreon so if nothing else thanks for watching everyone I'm be real with y'all I have no idea what I'm going to be working on next but October is right around the corner which means orktober is right around the corner so I might have a couple of things in the works there but aside from orcin I've got plenty of other ideas to dig through so if you like cultural analysis and pop media that you love sub up and check back every two weeks or so for a brand new cultural analysis video but
until next time everyone this is Skai jenba signing
