Lost Treasures of the Ancient World: Samurai Japan

I watched this documentary because Japanese mythology was among the leftover from my art studies.

First of all, this documentary isn't what it said it is because it's not about ancient Japan but about Japan from creation to WWII. However, the history is clearly told, illustrated with a lot of pictures and animation.

It's amazing to see that each civilization has traits that are enduring and result from big moments in history. The interesting fact is that those traits can be sometimes opposite, in contradiction thus the civilization can appear like schizoid.

Japan being an island is very similar to England and not only because of tea. People are really stuck together from top to bottom and it's very difficult to shatter the society. This documentary highlights well the Japanese identity: the political power is only a game because it's the clans that decide. The Japanese are highly coded: everything must be done from a book of rules (bushido, Zen). They are afraid of foreigners because they are a threat to those rules. They are as much peaceful with nature than ruthless warriors. Those aggressive, dark factors are usually not evident as the society is totally aesthetic looking for beauty in everything.