Samurai, Daimyo, Matthew Perry, and Nationalism: Crash Course World History #34

In which John Green teaches you about Nationalism. Nationalism was everywhere in the 19th century, as people all over the world carved new nation-states out of old empires. Nationalist leaders changed the way people thought of themselves and the places they lived by reinventing education, military service, and the relationship between government and governed. In Japan, the traditional feudal society underwent a long transformation over the course of about 300 years to become a modern nation-state. John follows the course of Japanese history from the emergence of the Tokugawa Shogunate to the Meiji Restoration and covers Nationalism in many other countries along the way. All this, plus a special guest appearance, plus the return of an old friend on an extra-special episode of Crash Course.
Chapters:
Introduction: Nationalism 00:00
Nationalism Around the World 0:49
The Modern Nation-State 1:52
The Tokugawa Bakufu of Japan 4:59
The Meiji Era and Japanese Nationalism 7:43
An Open Letter to Public Education 9:19
The Dark Side of Nationalism 10:28
Credits 11:18
Resources:
A Modern History of Japan by Andrew Gordon bit.ly/3Ocfxu0
Giving Up the Gun by Noel Perrin bit.ly/37JFQqA
Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at / crashcourse
Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?
Facebook - / youtubecrashcourse
Twitter - / thecrashcourse
Instagram - / thecrashcourse
CC Kids: / crashcoursekids

[@EASYTIGER10]

Matthew Perry arriving in Japan: "Could these markets BE any more closed??"

[@LopezSAntonio]

Gold. Hahaha

[@kenllacer]

Matthew Perry is a thug in a suit.

[@SealyAl]

+EASYTIGER10 "OPEN THE COUNTRY. STOP HAVING IT bE CLOSED"

[@kenllacer]

dfoley63 Whatever economic value his 'visit' entailed, doesn't change the fact that he threatened a nation who wished to be left in peace to open up so America could 'set-up shop' in the far east. It can also be argued that his counter isolationist policy turned Japan into the brutal Imperial Japan that raged through the Asia-Pacific in the name of Industrial Expansion introduced by the west.

[@kenllacer]

dfoley63 Thank you for insulting me and my ancestors with your insensitive remarks. It's a shame you take my views aggressively. My ideas and interpretation of OUR history are my own as you are with yours.

[@lolzersguy6]

"Open your country. Stop having it be closed" -Matthew Perry

[@johnnyboy3390]

Thank you so much

[@BBBuilds12]

History of Japan?

[@top10geography39]

+Rockstar Zombie best video ever!

[@AJ627]

+Rockstar Zombie I came back her because of that video

[@drag0n_rage682]

Yes, was looking for thiz!

[@christianactuallyimjewish4285]

"A big part of being Irish, for instance, is not being English." I'm Irish and I think that nearly sums it up ;) haha

[@goldbullet50]

"Swedes we no-longer are, Russians we do not want to become, let us therefore be Finns!" - Adolf Ivar Arwidsson So this counts for Finland as well :)

[@matthewmcneany]

Not just not being English, but rather not being British either.

[@Lilypup142]

Irish people are awesome!

[@imperialinquisitormaximusv3645]

Gaelic

[@Aritul]

@@goldbullet50 That was interesting about the Finns once being Swedes.

[@BURNOUTRS]

I can see how the arrival of Chandler Bing would have been a problem for the shogunate. Terrorizing the countryside with his sarcasm

[@ahmadusmani2230]

Mongols VIP is naruto

[@crystalward1444]

Ah yes, Christianity: Oh my GOD.

[@GodImJust2Sxy]

That’s Ms. Chanandler Bong

[@katiecook6332]

husband: hi honey wife: welcome home bald rat

[@kazzykinsYo]

Yarn Addict I can honestly see this being accurate.

[@BlankPicketSign]

Public Education is important... _"Because I don't like living in a country with a bunch of Stupid People!"_ Best wishes: John Green

[@RCShufty]

"It's because I don't like living in a country full of stupid people". Nail on the head right there.

[@Lilypup142]

Shufty same tho

[@icylooz]

Good thing you dont live in the UK 😳

[@iTzNikkitty]

Knock knock. It's the United States, with huge boats, with guns, gunboats.

[@pottertheavenger1363]

Knock knock, we are here to liberate your market

[@Victor-zd1jr]

Open up your port, stop, having it, be closed

[@maggiekwan6700]

"Open the country" said the united states "Stop having it be closed"

[@eleanortan4816]

With guns and ships and so the balance shifts..... :D Hamilton fandom anyone?

[@Tenkay0]

@@eleanortan4816 no

[@InvadersMustDie2CR]

" I don't like living in a country with a bunch of stupid people " Is the best single sentence about public education I have heard as of yet.

[@SteadholderXBL]

I know I chuckled at it as well :D

[@vandercecil9449]

Nice to actually see your high school history teacher you so often mention!

[@twilitetra9245]

I was completely focused on the video and what John Green was saying...until I saw Amaterasu gallop across the screen. That reference deserved a like.

[@mr.e8325]

DUDE! I'm _so_ happy I'm not the only person who got that!

[@raymondshields7764]

Was just about to say the same thing... 6:03

[@hgnbfc2]

I had a loud freak out in class when I saw that. Everyone was confused, but the fact that John is a fan of Okami really makes me giddy.

[@ftwsam2246]

I was like "was that amateratsu?"

[@pokeyrusher]

Okami, best the humans ever made.

[@sarahp6512]

I love your non-eurocentric approach to history, because I'm sick of not knowing about the rest of the world. However, this isn't great when I have to study for a test in my very eurocentric history class.

[@FFFanboy7]

5:36 for me stability isn't underrated, it may cost some administative power, but it gives me more taxes and more trade power... i bet 3 guys got that reference

[@TehHobbyist]

Apparently 4 did.

[@davidkelly4210]

I don't even touch EU4, too much fun with CK2. lol

[@michaelindustries9460]

Eu4 is cool but Victoria 2 is more fun for me

[@reizayin]

at least seven people got that reference.

[@marypusineri6291]

At least 85 people got the reference

[@user-ui8dk9py2k]

*”japan is a island by the sea, filled with volcanos and its, BEAUTIFUL”*

[@corwintipper7317]

a billion years ago Japan might not even exist

[@adjm642]

Corwin Tipper u don't know when the earth got shaped aren't ya

[@martinch3318]

I love how I don't take History classes since High-School and I can still enjoy watching these crash course videos for fun. They do an amazing job at making history enjoyable!

[@343bola4]

No, I didn't think you were going to say Germany. I read the video title

[@ElBandito]

I love public education cause I get to hang out with people who actually understand that it is the earth that travels around the sun, not the other way around.

[@EndrChe]

Well, it's certainly a start.

[@TheSkyrimmaniac]

El Bandito You know more about the solar system than Sherlock Holms.

[@krakenshark9482]

Isak Svensson gotta clean out that brain attic

[@TheDudeMaaaan]

well people that go to public schools still believe Noah's ark is real, and the Earth is only 6000 years old. Our public education in America is a fucking joke

[@EndrChe]

Actually, they're learning that from church leaders, not from the schools, same as children in every other country in the world. The nice Jewish, Dutch computer programmer still thinks you'll burn in hell for all eternity just like any Kentucky Baptist.

[@shawnajayne1642]

"You can bite me Bismarck" hahaha Im dead

[@jennyairplane8384]

The addition of a reference to Mattew Perry, or more specifically Chandler Bing from Friends practically paid for the like.

[@s4ujcd]

Jenny Airplane I'll be there for youuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!

[@jennyairplane8384]

When the rain starts to falllll

[@theweredragon9887]

" I don't like living in a country full of stupid people" amen brother

[@jacobkern2060]

And yet we do anyways.

[@Questron71]

ever heard of homeschooling? Public education doesn't really work with such backdoors...

[@theweredragon9887]

i was homeschooled

[@okiedokie56]

I don't like living in a country full of liberal morons like you.

[@theweredragon9887]

no one takes a joke anymore. the fact that i said the above comment makes me an idiot its a semi paradox.

[@tcc5750]

5:30 just a heads up, the Tokugawa clan actually forged a document showing they descended from the Minomoto clan (one of the former shogun clans) thus gaining the decree of Shogun. It's important, because the nobles in court were NOT going to hand over the title to Shogun unless you had "proper" decent. Hence why Oda Nobunaga, who terrified the court, couldn't get the Shogun title.

[@summertime69]

It amazes me that most of my knowledge on feudal Japan is accurate mostly thanks to the anime Ruroni Kenshin, a wandering sumari at the start to the tokugawa regime.

[@juliuskull]

Wow, you used pics taken in Estonia, when describing nationalism. We are honored.

[@Adam-dl4xk]

As an Egyptian, I'd like to thank John Green for making me feel that Egypt hasn't ended with the fall of the Ancient Egyptian civilization :D

[@pancreasnostalgia]

Even a couple of years after taking IB Asian history, I still love this episode. A Modern History of Japan was even our textbook for the Japan unit.

[@bonders20]

Wow. I *just* stumbled across this channel and I've already watched 2 videos, with a bunch more in my watch 'watch later' folder ! These are FANTASTIC ! Keep making them, and thank you !!

[@Kmct]

"Hire a samurai"

[@GustavoRodriguez-qr5po]

Those who couldn't afford one did not

[@Tinnesa]

History of Japan video?

[@GustavoRodriguez-qr5po]

yep

[@nicholassiena8895]

america with their boats with guns, gun boats

[@aubster321]

I love how many History of Japan or History of the World references are made on a totally different channel.

[@Saltynerd]

"you can bite me bismarck"

[@Kardia_of_Rhodes]

ignorance is the root and stem of all evil -Plato

[@sofiapandolfo4131]

Loved the open letter to public education. It's necessary and benefits anyone, even if it doesn't benefit you directly!

[@madisonreitler1038]

I just finished my master's in US history but am watching these videos to brush up on my world history knowledge for my teaching certification exams. I have never read the comments before but knew I had to for this video for the Matthew Perry comments-- did not disappoint!

[@carolinegv3028]

Anyone else laugh when they showed the friends Matthew Perry?😂

[@renren2740]

I still amazed with Japan, honestly.. After the Meiji restoration in 1868, Japan modernized her country and become on par as a world player in the early of the 20th century.. Such a rapid transition from a majority agricultural country to a modern nation for less than a 50 years!

[@syedali-rs8cj]

I agree, Japan was smart and modernized in order to not get invaded by foreign countries in the 19th century.

[@sol2544]

They really did earn their place in history and modern culture as a major player, and even today they are a vital chunk of the economy. Praise from America for such a rapid and miraculous growth!

[@jonathanallison785]

try slowing the video to 0.5 speed and listen to john speak

[@thelin9061]

Jonathan Allison Gahahaha, it sounds like he's on drugs xDDD

[@linhhoang1363]

+Jonathan Allison omg EPIC dude =D

[@GaelicStallion]

is there a way to do this on youtube?

[@DRosie222]

+GaelicStallion yes, on the desktop version

[@askeskipper3783]

Sounds like he's high

[@joshborsykowsky1540]

the subtitles make watching so much better! they also have a bit more than what is spoken

[@johnnyo.7668]

Part time History teacher, Full time Savage... hahaha Public Education..

[@allendu5954]

"Nationalism in Europe? What could go wrong?" -Kate McKinnon, SNL

[@NINjaboy20111]

Hey don't forget Oda Nobunaga, he was the reason Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu rose to power.

[@darthcyclone2019]

i literally played a game on my ds about this

[@TroyBrownTV]

Crash course should win an award for this work

[@BulletsToBrainRatio]

John's pronunciation of Japanese words is fantastically fun to listen to.

[@aman-tl9gd]

i feel proud when someone from other country talks about my country

[@MrRoboskippy]

Hey a cameo with Raoul Meyer! That's awesome!

[@HelloItsPrisca]

Thanks, you have practically saved my freshman year with videos.

[@asneakychicken322]

All these people complaining about public schooling omg, having gone through it I can recognise that in some cases while it doesn't always work out amazingly, it is the best method we have and certainly far preferable to a totally private school system where it will be restricted to the people who can afford it, thus widening the gap between the rich educated class and everyone else, that would essentially be returning to the way things were for most of our history where like 1% of the population would be literate and educated because they had been schooled and there would be little social mobility

[@dallenforsyth2942]

Homeschooling man.

[@MrGamerGuy951]

Dallen Forsyth Not everyone has the time, ability or skill to educate their children and you will always have parents who simply don't care.

[@lordblazer]

same. I went through it too and if I had no opportunity for 0 schooling. I wouldn't have traveled the world, or even bothered going to graduate school. Public Education is something worth protecting.

[@garysanders6091]

Aaron Brougham Well "omg" back to you guy. The public education system widens the gap by forcing up the cost of private education.. If you make $30,000 a year you cannot possibly afford to simultaneously pay the taxes to pay for public education AND pay for private education (that has expensive prices because any cost effective school would be competing with 'free').. However, if you made $30,000 a year and you didn't have the tax burdens put on by the state, and private education were to be able to compete for your dollar you would see a HUGE increase to quality of education.. There is a reason why people who get publicly educated tend to stay in the lower class, and why people from private education and homeschools have a higher class mobility rate.. Its because the public education is set in place to keep poor people from competing with the wealthy.

[@ravengrey8891]

Dallen Forsyth I like homeschooling

[@trustme2674]

Hello John Green, thx for doing this, i have been learning a lot :) keep it up man!

[@leonorrustemi3418]

there was an albanian sultan of egypt? Well you learn something every day

[@thelonewolf498]

Hey John.Thank you ,for saying the great stuff about the Balkan nations too .

[@xlilcarebear]

everything went straight over my head

[@Jack-zl7cb]

I don't know how he made it through the whole video without a single reference to "The Last Samurai."

[@willowmasquerade2107]

Surrounded and outnumbered FIFTY TO ONE, SWORD FACES GUN 🎤🎵🎶

[@darthcyclone2019]

bruh same

[@maciejzuk7756]

When he started talking about public education in Japan I thought about "Shonan Junai Gumi" and "Great Teacher Onizuka". The original Japanese ones.

[@griffinhalperin5967]

After seeing this video, I really want to see an interpretation of West Side Story that involves only samurai characters and an occasional shogun. That would be amazing!

[@rae4486]

"You can bite me, Bismarck." John Green sass levels through dat roof

[@fawadjavaid1]

Man this channel is a gem😁

[@kemchobhenchod]

Mathew Perry just wanted some Friends.

[@jaclyncraeming2623]

This entire channel is amazing

[@petika654]

In the 34th episode i first heard about Romania , thanks a lot !

[@ashtonboyle969]

Would you be able to do one on the Sengoku-jidai period, regarding the Battle of Sekigahara, Nagashino, etc?

[@cloe412]

I miss him. So relevant in 2019.

[@tris5on9582]

6:02 That lovely Okami reference right there

[@PochitaNegrita]

Raoul! yay! Crash Course is Great; thank you guys for what you do!

[@bridger1221]

Oh man, Rip Matthew Perry

[@avidarois5505]

♫ hire a samurai ♫

[@sergiovillarreal9744]

to kill Trump

[@contrasbeatshop]

agreed lmao

[@user-yk5gr8tg9e]

Omg, the videos are insanely well done:O

[@bigbeardjer]

Thank you. With regards to your open letter in this piece; I am a parent and I have never been able to adequately explain to people who are not why they should pay more taxes dedicated to public school funding. Or to those who no longer have children in school. Everyone benefits from having smarter people in society. Thank You.

[@altareggo]

"Bring back my globes: i feel naked without them." Best KZbin quote EVAH!!

[@kencarter6481]

1:17 that of course does not age well

[@mangosentinel695]

Love this channel!!!

[@trishplusmama]

tysm for this as usual mr green

[@KOS_Nova]

"OPEN THE COUNTRY" he said "STOP HAVING IT BE CLOSED"

[@bombay9891]

i wish you guys would've covered more of japans history but i'll take what i can get. p.s. love the series.

[@19Pyrus70]

I love what you said about paying taxes that are used for funding education.

[@anawisa88]

Open letter is straight facts. He was spittin 🔥

[@lmaothischannelsnotcomingb3616]

On 6:03, did I just see Amaterasu from Okami?

[@BakusanDayo]

How John not managed to bring up Nobunaga I am not sure lol Fantastic video nonetheless.

[@Jrflippp990]

Soren G 織田がつき 羽柴がこねし 天下餅 座りしままに 食うは徳川. Nobunaga pounds the rice cake, Hideyoshi kneads it, and in the end Ieyasu eats it. (The Japanese uses family names and Hashiba Hideyoshi was the name he was born with.)

[@BakusanDayo]

Soren G I know not to go into detail, but not even a mention? I think if you ask any Japanese today to name the top three historical figure in Japanese history and you are bound to find Nobunaga mentioned every time, yet John managed to go over most of Japanese history without mentioning him This is not a criticism, of course, because I think all crash course videos are awesome. but com on! You HAVE to at the very least mention Nobunaga! (Don't get me started about shinsengumi and that era. lol)

[@Jrflippp990]

Cfli731 I just tested your theory and asked two publicly educated Japanese people (my wife and my daughter(but she's only half Japanese)) and they confirmed you are correct. Nobunaga was mentioned both times. Except my nine year old didn't know his family name.

[@BakusanDayo]

Brad Pearson lol I will ask my cousin later and see if he mentions Nobunaga as well. Allow me to expend on that prediction.. Top 5 Japanese historical figure: Oda Nobunaga Toyotomi Hideyoshi Tokugawa Ieyasu Sakamoto Ryoma (Bakumatsu period yes!) Hijikata Toshizou Let's see how this list goes :)

[@omega5279]

Cfli731 I disagree. For the topic of the video, a lot of the Sengoku Jidai isn't necessary, just the closing moments and how they led to the Sakoku of the Edo Jidai. The Shinsengumi, also, don't necessarily need to be mentioned as they simply fell under the category of the failing Tokugawa bakufu. Oda and the Shinsengumi are interesting topics, but they don't need to be mentioned in a summary of the modernization period. Toyotomi didn't need to be mentioned either.

[@suranjanasinharoy4786]

best open letter in all of crash course

[@ranjitkaur5950]

I loved his book 'The Fault in Our Stars

[@TheThOdOr1s]

Thanks for mentioning us ~Greece

[@ranaklindor8069]

+Znik Or worse for you, focusing on Kosovo as a case study.

[@TheThOdOr1s]

Znik Tbh most Americans don't even know that Serbia Croatia Bosnia Montenegro and so on even exist. They refer to the whole region as Yugoslavia, as if it's the 20th century. Or worse. Basically Americans know about Europe as much as you and I know about Iowa and Mississippi. Which explains a lot of their foreign policy decisions.

[@SparkyFinch]

Crash Course, thank you for making these wonderful videos! I am diagnosed ADHD and dyslexic and I barely made it through public education and am now an Engineer. These videos are the best way I've ever leaned History. Please keep in mind that Public Education is not anything amazing. To me, it's simply a relic of the industrial revolution and quite frankly, we can do better. It's thanks to options like Crash Course that we can really enjoy great, free education. Keep it up!

[@skunkjulio]

I'm glad over a million people have viewed this. Before I went to Japan, I had very little knowledge of how the United States impacted it in a meaningful way prior to the war. But in my years living there, I saw statues and other memorials of Perry all over the country that acknowledged the immense catalytic effect that he had on revolutionizing the Japanese state. Hopefully, more people will realize the meaningful role and special relationship the United States has had with Japan since then and not think like me (from the past) that it all started in 1941.

[@REBerkshire]

Mortar Board not graduation hat, I am really enjoying your programs. I share with my children who are both in High School and they like your style and content.

[@EpsilonEridani_]

Heh, I like the art style of the thought bubbles :)

[@agoodcitizen6559]

I loveee this channel. Greetings from Romania

[@JoeCoolMaveric]

6:01 Was that Amaterasu from Okami? Cool.

[@sirbillius]

I once worked in a customer service department and I would argue that we do, in fact, live in a country with a bunch of stupid people.

[@exilley2134]

'Murica

[@4600norm]

A couple of problems. The Tokugawa Shogunate actually did centralize power, otherwise there would have been constant war between the Daimyos. Also, most samurai during that time were not bureaucrats. Most of them were semi-employed warriors with minimal duties, a bunch more were ronin, and another bunch were bureaucrats.

[@armanyahya580]

Juat aware how important is public education........thanks for that sentences. ❤

[@ryanweaver962]

Fascinating stuff… country and world

[@jdxanadu872]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the Satsuma rebellion. Also technically Japan kinda sorta already had control of Okinawa, but they kept it a secret because they didn't want to piss off the Chinese.

[@kaustavadhikary8940]

I love Japanese history its awesome!!

[@thegibusman2622]

Kaustav Adhikary Just make sure to get the full picture.

[@sonic_owl4465]

If you haven't seen it and want to learn more I recommend Extra History's warring states period series.

[@Necroskull388]

Kaustav Adhikary Yeah, but its Imperial phase is pretty scary.

[@adityasah1563]

Yq

[@aurorarising1945]

2:15 "me from the past, you are getting smart" I see what u did there 😂😂

[@aniotashogun007]

the man who is in right position in 1:37 is not Hirohito, he is Hideki Tojo

[@zinklerkelter]

In my oppinion nationalism it's a response to the suffering of the people in certain place ( nation, town, etc.). The fact of hoping for a better future (real or not) gives them the strengh and willpower to unite under a single idea. It's a pitty we still don't see the planet with that idea.

[@secularmonk5176]

Hey, why no comment about the return of the open letter fancy chair? (I've been binge watching)

[@chibiprussia5574]

I hope this helps with my AP exam

[@nickloschen2717]

These are awesome.

[@anisb6980]

Anyone else here after Matthew Perry died?

[@spazzitronmcgee6254]

6:02 OKAMI!!!!!

[@spazzitronmcgee6254]

+Spazzitron McGee *Ammy lol

[@Creepzza]

Oh, I missed that!

[@ROLLOVER48]

it would be great if this nationalism case study was turned into a series for some

[@tdav1991]

The history of Aboriginal Australians please John Green - would make for a great episode or two