Samurai means "he who serves," and these fierce warriors acted in the
service of powerful feudal lords known as daimyo. Among the most
important daimyo families were members of the Hosokawa clan, whose
lineage dates back some six hundred years. Lords of the Samurai
illuminates the private and public lives of the daimyo by focusing on
approximately 160 works from the Hosokawa family collection housed in
the Eisei-Bunko Museum in Tokyo, the Kumamoto Castle and the Kumamoto
Municipal Museum in Kyushu. Objects discussed include suits of armor,
armaments (including swords and guns), formal attire, calligraphy,
paintings, tea ware, lacquer ware, masks and musical instruments.
Hosokawa Morihiro, eighteenth-generation head of the Hosokawa family and
seventy-ninth prime minester of Japan, introduces the book. Takeuchi
Jun'ichi, director of the Eisei-Bunko Museum, contributes an essay of
the literary world of the daimyo. Yoko Woodson, curator of Japanese art
at the Asian Art Museum, surveys the history of the Japanese warrior
over several centuries. Deborah Clearwaters, director of education at
the Asian Art Museum, considers the artistic world of the samurai, with
special emphasis on the Way of Tea (chanoyu). Lords of the Samurai
demonstrates that Japanese warriors were not mere fighters but were also
dedicated and inspired men of culture. It lays bare the principles that
governed the spirit of the samurai, enabling it to endure for hundreds
of years and continue to resonate today.
