Screenshot A reported bomb threat on an inboundflight to Washington, DCs Reagan Washington National Airport halted all flights in and out of the Nations capital on Tuesday. United Flight

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Cinematic samurai have long been depicted as sword-fighting, philosophy-spouting, honor-bound warriors of feudal Japan, but some movies thankfully go deeper and explore more nuanced and historically accurate truths about this social class. Everything from dealing with poverty in a myriad of ways to cruelty fueled by unearned privilege have all made their way to big-screen productions that today serve as valuable educational tools. The following five movies cast a light on many real yet often overlooked aspects of samurai life and expose the humanity (or lack thereof) behind their legend.1. Harakiri (1962): The Theater and Tragedy of Ritual SuicideStill from the Movie Harakiri directed by Masaki Kobayashi, 1962. Source: Harakiri original trailerMasaki Kobayashis Harakiri cuts deep into the myth of samurai honor and the Japanese warriors supposed embrace of death while revealing the blood-soaked reality beneath. Set in 17th-century Edo (modern-day Tokyo), the movie follows Tsugumo Hanshiro (Tatsuya Nakadai), a ronin who arrives at the estate of the powerful Ii clan and requests to commit seppuku in their courtyard to escape his life of poverty in a dignified way. What follows next is a powerful showcase of samurai as human beings, with all their fears, arrogance, and cruelty, as well as a lesson in ritual suicide in Japan.The film contrasts two key practices: Seppuku, a ritual of self-disemboweling that typically ends with beheading by a second (kaishaku), and harakiri, the physical act of cutting open the stomach, which is certainly a part of formal seppuku but which by the Edo Period (1603-1868) had mostly been turned into a symbolic gesture.Traditionally, a samurai choosing death on their own terms bathed, dressed in white (the color of the dead), and then cut open their belly, which showed they were not afraid of pain and which, most importantly, was believed to release their spirit through the stomach wound. However, starting in the 17th century, many samurai would instead simply touch their abdomens with a sword or fan before being decapitated. The reality is that the samurai, as human beings, did not really want to needlessly suffer unimaginable pain in their final hours, even at the supposed cost of their souls becoming trapped.Tousei buyuuden: Takasaki Saichirou, Ukiyo-e woodblock print of warrior about to perform seppuku. Kunikazu Utagawa, 1850s. Source: Wikimedia CommonsHarakiri acknowledges these trends among Edo-period samurai and then additionally criticizes the practice of seppuku when a young ronin is forced to actually slice open his belly before receiving the kaishakus mercy. Worse yet, he has to do it with a bamboo sword. It was a gruesome act that was driven by practicality and cruelty masquerading as honor. The people behind it, the men of the Ii clan, wanted to discourage other ronin from pretending to want to commit suicide in the courtyards of great houses in the hopes of being given some money to go away, which was apparently common at the start of the Edo Period when many former warriors had trouble finding work.Historical records confirm that by this time, seppuku had changed from the way for a warrior to arrange their death on their own terms into a tool for punishment. What transpires next in the movie is a violent takedown of this way of thinking that, nonetheless, exposes the honor of seppuku as little more than a faade.2. Ran (1985): The Insignificance of Family During a Quest for PowerStill from the Movie Ran (1985), directed by Akira Kurosawa. Source: Official trailerAkira Kurosawas Ran fuses Shakespeares King Lear with Japanese history to show that, when it came to consolidating power during Japans Sengoku Period, blood-ties meant very little. In the movie, Lord Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai) divides his domain among his two sons while disinheriting a third one. This leads to bloodshed and the titular chaos (the literal meaning of ran) as Ichimonjis sons betray their father.The movie captures a sad truth of the period: for samurai, family was expendable when lands, castles, and power were on the line. The famous warlord Oda Nobunaga, who kickstarted the unification of Japan following the decline of the Ashikaga Shogunate, orchestrated the deaths of two of his family members. During the early stages of his career, Nobunaga killed his uncle (by forcing him to commit seppuku) to strengthen his control of the Oda as Nobutomo was unwilling to accept his young nephew as the head of the clan.Ukiyo-e of Oda Nobunaga, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 1830. Source: Wikimedia CommonsLater, Nobunagas younger brother Nobuyuki (also known as Nobukatsu) plotted with another family to overthrow Nobunaga. Twice. The second time earned him a death sentence after being lured into a castle in Kiyosu thinking that he was visiting his sick brother.Nobunaga additionally ordered his retainer, Tokugawa Ieyasu, to sentence his own son and wife to death after the two were alleged to be working with Oda rivals. Ieyasu was not in a position to rebel against Nobunaga but he never made a move against him after rising through the ranks, suggesting that he simply accepted the trade-off of his family for his political ambitions.In Ran, the eldest sons turn on their father with cold efficiency, echoing the unfortunate yet historic truth of the Sengoku period when samurai honor coexisted with calculated familial murder.3. The Twilight Samurai (2002): The Rural Samurais Late-Stage Farmer-Warrior DualityStill from the Movie The Twilight Samurai directed by Yoji Yamada, 2002. Source: Official trailerYoji Yamadas The Twilight Samurai dismantles the myth of the samurai as noble warriors by following Seibei Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada), a low-ranking samurai in rural Yamagata (northeastern Japan) during the final days of the Edo Period. The most fascinating thing about Seibei is, ironically, how boring his life is. He is shown to be a capable warrior but he is primarily a clerk and farmer growing his own crops for survival. When he is not at the office (shuffling paper around and taking stock of a feudal lords provisions), there seems to be little to no outward difference between Seibei and a peasant, up to including his tattered clothes and smell. And that is precisely the point.Historically, samurai have held many roles. They are best known as warriors, but the high-ranking ones were also administrators of provinces, while everyone else tried their hand at everything from teaching to office work and farming. A samurai primarily made their living by receiving a rice stipend, sometimes in literally rice but oftentimes in its monetary equivalent. Near the mid-19th century, as Japans borders were forcibly opened and feudalism was on its way out, those stipends were severely reduced. Rich samurai were not affected by this but low-rank ones like Seibei struggled and were pushed into farming. Rice stipends would also ultimately be one of the main causes behind the famous last stand of the samurai.Japanese peasants. Photograph from a Russian book entitled Japan and Japanese, 1902. Source: Wikimedia CommonsIn The Twilight Samurai, Seibei is pleased with his lot in life and does not mind the prospect of becoming a full-time farmer once the feudal classes are abolished. But it is important to remember that for him and many others like him, farming was not a hobby; it was first and foremost a means of survival. For centuries, Japan lived by the iron-clad rules of a hierarchical society where peasants were peasants, merchants were merchants, and samurai were samurai. While these groups were supposed to stay out of each others way, the prospect of famine caused societal rules to take a backseat.The juxtaposition of Seibei with his sword and his day-to-day life as a clerk and farmer reveals the reality of late-stage Japanese feudalism when famine blurred class lines and made even the greatest sword masters realize that a man cannot eat honor.4. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999): Bushido in a World That Forgot ItStill from the Movie Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai directed by Jim Jarmusch, 1999. Source: Official trailerJim Jarmuschs Ghost Dog is a tale of the titular, modern-day hitman (Forest Whitaker) who follows the Hagakure, a centuries-old samurai manual written by Yamamoto Tsunetomo. Seemingly the epitome of bushido, the famous samurai code of honor, the book guides Ghost Dog in his quest to be a 20th-century samurai but, in the end, it is the thing that gets him killed because samurai values have no place in a world of the American mob. That is very apt, considering the origin of the book and the very idea of bushido.Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659-1719) was a scribe with no combat experience. He lived in a time of peace, having been born long after Tokugawa Ieyasu completed his unification of Japan. Tsunetomo wrote of loyalty, death, and service, but from the safety of a time period where those ideas could never truly be tested. It is not merely a question of the Hagakure being from another time. Trying to live by an unflinching code of honor would have gotten a samurai killed during the vicious Sengoku period when not only retainers rebelled against their lords but whole families went at each others throats. Hagakure is ultimately nostalgia for a world that never existed.Place of Origin and a Stone Monument of Hagakure, A Lesson of Samurai Knowledge by Yamamoto Tunetomo, Pekachu, 2016. Source: Wikimedia CommonsYamamotos contemporaries must have felt that way since his book was ignored for centuries. It really only took off in the 20th century when even more people started to romanticize the idea of samurai while ignoring historical reality. Some of them, like author Yukio Mishima, who wrote a famous commentary on Hagakure, did end up losing his life by suicide after a failed coup attempt because he tried to implement made-up samurai rules to real life.In the movie, Ghost Dog similarly lives by the rules of the Hagakure, being loyal to a mobster who ultimately betrays him for his own selfish needs, and never even considers defending himself from his master. In the end, Ghost Dog is the only one who sees honor and glory in his death. To everyone else, he just looks like a man viciously gunned down in the street.The film dissects Hagakure and ultimately reveals it as a code rooted in a romanticized idea of war, written in peace, and revived only by those longing for meaning and simplicity in a confusing modern world.5. The Sword of Doom (1966): The Evil That Samurai DoStill from the Movie The Sword of Doom (1966), directed by Kihachi Okamoto. Source: Official trailerKihachi Okamotos The Sword of Doom follows Ryunosuke Tsukue (Tatsuya Nakadai), a samurai whose only purpose in life is killing. He butchers an innocent pilgrim at a remote mountain pass for no reason. He uses any excuse to take a life, like when an opponent comes at him with an illegal move during an exhibition match. He eventually becomes a hired killer, driven only by his bloodlust and his protective status as a samurai. His story, though fictional, is not that out of the ordinary. Samurai, as all people, came from all walks of life. And some of them were psychopathic killers.Sano Jirozaemon, a samurai, killed a prostitute in Edos Yoshiwara red-light district in 1696, and that seems to have broken something in him because he went on to kill anywhere between 12 and 20 people during his spree. Actually, the finale of The Sword of Doom, might have been inspired by the story of Sano Jirozaemon as it also takes place in a pleasure quarter and seems to have been triggered by a courtesan.The movie takes place near the end of the Edo Period but Japan had seen mentally unstable samurai before like Kani Saizo (1554-1613), who reportedly took 17 heads at the great Battle of Sekigahara, which he marked by stuffing them with bamboo leaves and grass. Hence his nickname: The Bamboo Samurai.Sano Jirozaemon, Utagawa Kunisada, 1860. Source: Wikimedia CommonsPop culture tends to have an image of the samurai who did not kill. They dueled, or they avenged, or protected. But this portrayal ignores things like kirisute-gomen, the samurais right to strike down disrespectful commoners for perceived slights, as seen in the first episode of Shogun. It was not a license to kill but being legally allowed, under the right circumstances, to take the life of a person who had no way of protecting themselves. That is a system that is just asking to be exploited by the worst of humanity.Sano Jirozaemon was ultimately sentenced to death on account of insanity, but Kani Saizo retired as a celebrated hero. The Sword of Doom comments on these kinds of samurai by using Ryunosuke to ask a question: What happens when you give a sword and unchecked privilege to a monster?

The Silk Road was a web of trade routes that spanned from about 138 BCE to around 1453 CE that enabled the flow of trade items and cultures between North Africa, parts of the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. First established by Chinas Han dynasty and later revived by the Tang dynasty, it is widely referred to as the first artery of global exchange because of the influence it had on Eastern and Western cultural, economic, and governance systems.Why the Han Dynasty Established the Silk RoadSun Quan, Great Emperor of Eastern Wu from the Thirteen Emperors Scroll by Yan Liben, Tang Dynasty, 7th century CE. Source: Wikimedia Commons (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)The Han Dynasty led by Emperor Wu initially established the Silk Road as it sought to trade with regions in the West. Unfortunately, it faced constant threats from nomadic tribes. To overcome the problem, Wu sought to engage in diplomacy and extensive military campaigns. And so he dispatched an envoy, Zhang Qian, to forge alliances against the formidable Xiongnu confederation of nomadic groups that hindered the expansion of the trade routes. In 138 BCE, the Han envoy Zhang Qian undertook a mission to the Western Regions that provided invaluable intelligence. His first mission is considered to be the initial foundation of the Silk Road.Zhangye National Geopark in the Hexi Corridor. Source: WikipediaOn his second mission in 119 BCE, he established the first diplomatic ties with kingdoms such as Wusun through the exchange of items such as gold and silk. Soon, the Han Dynastys military was able to advance into the Hexi Corridor and Tarim Basin, creating the security needed for trade to flourish. This was achieved through major military attacks that defeated the Xiongnu and pushed them from the Hexi Corridor. The corridor harbored a key route that connected China to the Western Regions. Military bases were set up along the route to secure it.What Happened After the Fall of the Han DynastyMap of the Tang Dynastys Empire. Source: Wikimedia CommonsBy the 1st century CE, Chinese silk was in high demand as far west as Rome. Over time, the Han-era Silk Road became one of the biggest achievements of the Han dynastys foreign policy. Notably, the routes constantly required military protection against the Xiongnu, leading to the extension of the Great Wall and the establishment of garrisons and fortified towns. However, after the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220 CE, other regional groups such as the Sassanid Empire in Western Asia began to fill in the void by managing some of the routes.That was until the 7th century CE when the Tang Dynasty re-established Chinese control over the routes.Changes After the Tang Dynasty Reestablished Control Over the Silk RoadEmperor Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei Playing Flute Together by Yashima Gakutei, 16031867, via Museum of Fine Arts, BostonThe revival brought renewed stability and a vibrant cosmopolitan culture. In the new era, the military strength of the Tang helped to secure the Tarim Basin from the Eastern and Western Turks. A few years later, the Tang dynasty established the Protectorate General to Pacify the West around 640 CE in order to enhance control over the Silk Road. While it was a military-led administration, it marked a new era of secure trade. Around 702 CE, the Protectorate General of Beiting was established to oversee the Silk Roads northern route.The dynasty reduced taxes on merchants while consolidating control over the oasis kingdoms of Kucha, Khotan and Kashgar. The strategy was initially successful and the stability greatly favored the Sogdian merchants an Eastern Iranian-speaking people who transported goods between the interconnected regions, while acting as translators. In the late 8th century, however, the An Lushan Rebellion spanning from 755 CE to 763 CE weakened the dynastys control over the routes due to the withdrawal of troops. The interruption resulted in the Tang dynasty losing significant territories to the Tibetans.How the Tang Dynasty Influenced Silk Road CulturePresent-day Xian, via Belt and Road NewsDespite losing territories, the Tang Dynasty still maintained cultural influence for some time, and places such as Changan (modern-day Xian) became bustling international metropolises. This was because the Tang had turned such cities into inclusive, vibrant hubs to attract traders and inhabitants from across Asia. As many as 1 million people lived in the city of Changan and its suburbs. As such, it was widely referred to as the million-man city in Chinese records.The Tang Dynasty officially ended in 907 CE. The decline marked the close of the Silk Roads Golden Age. The next era saw the routes fragmented. Subsequent empires such as the Mongols would later revive the routes but the foundational work of the Han and Tang was complete.

A surprising number of U.S. states owe their names to real historical figures, some well-known and others more obscure. From monarchs and naval heroes to the nations preeminent Founding Father, these names grace US maps as well as fill its history books. Yet, behind them hide deeper tales of power dynamics, colonial ambitions, and cultural values.Virginia: Queen Elizabeth IThe Darnley Portrait of Elizabeth I of England, 1575, unknown artist. Source: National Portrait Gallery, LondonVirginia was the first permanent British colony established in the United States, so it was fitting to name it after the famous monarch who granted its charter, Queen Elizabeth I. Known as the Virgin Queen because she refused to marry, Elizabeth cultivated her image as a symbol of purity and national devotion and was more than happy to grant permission for the new colony to honor her title. The name Virginia first appeared on European maps following Sir Walter Raleighs use of the name in 1584. The courtier and one of the Queens favorite adventurers bestowed the title on the new English Colony without ever stepping on American soil, in honor and thanks to Elizabeth for granting his brother Humphrey Gilbert the charter for the expedition.Interestingly enough, until the Virgin Queen presumably gave her blessing for the name, the British referred to their new American colony as Wingandacona misinterpretation of the lands name derived from their initial encounter with the Indigenous population. The name appeared in official English documents until the more fitting one proposed by Raleigh replaced it in the late 16th century. The change was made official during Elizabeths reign, likely showcasing her support, when Richard Hakluyt, a well-respected chronicler, geographer, and promoter of English colonization, began using it in his published works, including 1589s The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of the English Nation.Similarly to Elizabeth bestowing her name, albeit indirectly, on the new British lands in America, so did the colony confer it on the first baby born across the Atlantic Ocean, Virginia Dare, a granddaughter of the governor of the ill-fated first British settlement of Roanoke.North and South Carolina: King Charles IPortrait of King Charles I by Anthony van Dyck, c. 1635. Source: National Portrait Gallery, LondonThe name Carolina, like Virginia, stems from an English monarch, Charles Imore specifically, the feminine variation of the Latin version of the Kings name, Carolus. The earliest use of the name appears on the 1629 patent that Charles granted his loyal supporter Sir Robert Heath, then Attorney General of England, to establish a colony in the New World. Ironically, the venture never materialized due to the lack of funding and religious restrictions against Catholic settlers whom Heath hoped to grant passage to the New World. The idea was revived under Charles son, Charles II, in 1660, following his fathers execution and the English Civil War between the King and Parliament.Having reclaimed the throne, Charles II issued a new Carolina charter in 1663 to a group of aristocrats who had supported his return to power after a time of Parliamentary rule. Known as Lord Proprietors, the eight aristocrats intended to create a quasi-feudal society proposed by philosopher John Locke. However, geography and economics soon divided the colony into two distinct entities. Whereas North Carolina developed slowly with diminutive tobacco farms, fewer water ports, and scattered settlements, South Carolina expanded and blossomed after establishing Charleston in 1670. It promptly became one of the wealthiest colonies in America, built on rice, indigo, and the backs of enslaved laborers.The formal split occurred in 1712, yet the two existed under the same proprietorship until 1729, when the British government purchased them from the Lord Proprietors and turned them into two separate royal colonies. Despite the change, the name Carolina remained a symbol of the restored monarchy and the Crowns colonial reach.Georgia: King George IIPortrait of George II by Thomas Hudson, 1744. Source: National Portrait Gallery, LondonGeorgia was the last of the original British colonies, and the last of the dozen original colonies formed and populated by immigrants arriving from the Old World, rather than carved out of other colonies. Unlike the other colonies ties to dreams of profit and religious freedom, Georgia was born out of a social experiment. Chartered in 1732 and named in honor of the reigning British King George II, who ruled from 1727 to 1760, the colony was a brainchild of a former army officer and member of the British Parliament, James Oglethorpe. The politician and a reformer envisioned a colony where the worthy poor, withering away in overcrowded debtors prisons in Britain, could receive a second chance at life.Together with a group of philanthropists known as the Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in Americaundoubtedly named as such to court favor for their endeavorOglethorpe petitioned the King for land where convicted debtors could repay their debt by building communities and avoiding the moral decay of urban poverty. With the charter in hand, the member of Parliament and 120 settlers founded Savannah in 1733. The settlers included debtors, persecuted Protestants, and other poor seeking new opportunities.Intended to blend social idealism and military strategy by acting as a buffer zone between British colonies and Spanish Florida, Georgia hit a snag when it became apparent that its soil and climate made plantation agriculture highly profitable. The original charter favored a society of industrious farmers, banning slavery, large landholdings, and rum. Watching the success of the neighboring colony of South Carolinas cash crop economy, the settlers demanded changes to Georgias strict rules. By 1752, the Trustees had given up control, and the colonys utopian vision gave way to a market-based economy.Louisiana: King Louis XIVPortrait of King Louis XIV by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1700-1701. Source: Louvre MuseumBecause King Louis XIV, the Sun King, was arguably the most powerful monarch in Frances history, it was fitting to name the nations grand prize in the Americas after him. While an earlier expedition down the Mississippi River to find its source was unsuccessful, the 1682 endeavor by Ren-Robert Cavelier and Sieur de LaSalle that saw them reach the Gulf of Mexico secured for their King the rights to the entire river valley.Standing on the banks of what today is New Orleans, La Salle proclaimed: On the part of the very-high, very powerful Prince Louis the Great, by the grace of God King of France and Navarre, fourteenth of this name[I have taken possession] of this country of Lousiana. Following a ceremony at the mouth of the Mississippi River, the explorers planted a cross and buried a brass plate proclaiming the land as belonging to the Sun King. Their claim extended from the Great Lakes down to the Gulf, encompassing parts of fifteen current US states and more than 800,000 square miles.Louisiana, or more correctly, La Louisiane (meaning the Land of Louis), was designed as a linchpin of Frances empire in the Americas, linking New France (modern-day Canada) to the Gulf of Mexico. Sparsely populated and thinly governed, the area became a loose network of missions and forts operated by French Jesuits and traders. Always lightly defended, France ceded Louisiana to Spain following defeat in the Seven Years War in 1763, to avoid losing it to the British along with French Canada.Spain ruled the territory until 1800, when it quietly returned it to France through the Treaty of San Ildefonso. Seeking funds for his military conquests, Napoleon Bonaparte then sold Louisiana to the United States in 1803, doubling the size of the young republic.Washington: George WashingtonAmericas First President, George Washington, by Gilbert Stuart, 1803. Source: The Clark MuseumWashington became a state relatively late in the United States history. In fact, by the time it was admitted to the Union in 1889, more than a century had passed since George Washington led the nation as the first president, and the name Washington was already synonymous with American ideals of republican virtue.Because the Columbia River acted as a natural divide within Oregon Territory, and the settlers of the northern portion felt cut off from the areas political and economic center in the south, a petition arrived in Congress to carve out the northern portion of the territory and grant it its own governance. In 1853, Congress christened the land Washington Territory as a tribute to the nations Founding Father. The symbolism was not lost on the Legislative branch members as the United States was being torn apart at the seams by sectional conflict, which would plunge the nation into the Civil War in less than a decade. Washingtons name was meant to serve as a unifying symbol, a reminder of shared origins and ideals, especially with its location in the often-contested western frontier.The only debate and confusion stemmed from fears that its name would be confused with Washington, D.C., the capital also named after the Revolutionary War general. Ultimately, the symbolism and need for a unifying event won over, leading to Washington Territory becoming the only state named after a native-born American when it was finally granted statehood in 1889. Unlike previous states named after people, Washingtons naming celebrated democracy, merit, and American identity instead of honoring hereditary titles and noble patrons.Lesser-Known Inspirations in the Mid-AtlanticThe Thirteen Original Colonies in 1774 (McConnells historical maps of the United States). Source: Library of CongressWhat separates Maryland from other early colonies named after kings or queens is that Queen Henrietta Maria, in whose honor the colony was christened in 1632, was a consort and not a reigning monarch at the time. The French-born Catholic wife of King Charles I of England never visited or influenced the colonys founding. Terra Mariae (Marys Land) first appeared in the original charter granted to Cecil Calvert, the 2nd Lord Baltimore, to lend the colony monarchical legitimacy. It was also a nod to Catholicism, as Calvert envisioned Maryland as a haven for persecuted English Catholics, who shared the Queens religion.The name Delaware originates from Sir Thomas West, the third Baron De La Warr, who once served as the governor of Virginia in the early 17th century. West never set foot in Delaware during his lifetime. Having arrived with fresh supplies and military leadership following Jamestowns Starving Time of 1609-1610, West was widely credited with saving the Virginia colony. The following year, sailing under De La Warrs authority, Virginia explorers encountered a body of water they decided to name after him, De La Warrs River and De La Warrs Bay, as a way to honor the hero of Jamestown, who at the time was the highest-ranking colonial official. Soon, the locals began calling the surrounding lands Delaware, a name that stuck when the area ultimately became a colony.Finally, in the late 17th century, King Charles II of England owed a significant debt to the estate of Admiral Sir William Penn, a distinguished naval officer who helped restore the monarch to the throne. To settle the said debt, the King granted Admiral Penns son, the young William Penn, a large tract of land in the Colonies in 1681. Charles named the 45,000 square miles in the New World Pennsylvania, which means Penns Woods.