Movie recommendation for you to react to: THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER (2023), a really cool gothic horror, which is based on an excerpt from Bram Stoker's Dracula tale, and is basically an ALIEN on a boat, but with some surprises, it's worth checking out.
May I ask... are you guys all friends in real life and decided to start this channel, or is Raggedy Pack an ever-growing community of friends who rendezvous online. Forgive me in advance for my ignorance if this has been discussed before.
Anjin (William Adams) becoming a "hatamoto", a high-ranking samurai directly serving the shogun as a foreigner was extraordinary due to the country's strict isolationist policy and rigid social hierarchy. At that time, Japan was very closed off to foreigners, with stringent restrictions on their activities and roles within Japanese society. The samurai class, especially those in positions like the hatamoto, held significant social status, power, and privilege. Anjin's elevation to this position is remarkable because even for Japanese samurai, becoming a "hatamoto" was extremely challenging. These positions were typically reserved for those who had demonstrated military prowess, were from prestigious families with a long history of serving the shogunate, or had other significant merits.
It was not until 1639 that Japan banned the entry of Catholic countries (Portugal and Spain) into Japan and limited trade to the Protestant Netherlands and the Qing dynasty.
