Angering some and appalling others, Briton Karl Beattie has recently claimed that he is a samurai, despite the fact that the samurai class was officially abolished in 1868.

In recent months, a number of popular films, such as Lost in Translation, The Last Samurai, and Kill Bill have been released, and it is unclear whether jettisoning Japan into the popular consciousness has sparked claims such as Beattie’s. Perhaps Beattie’s absurd claim that he was granted the obsolete title by the Japanese Emperor — the Office of the Imperial Household told The Japan Times that it has done no such thing — is merely emblematic of a strangely and culturally inappropriate misplaced tendency of self-aggrandizement.

Mr. Beattie gushingly asserts that “Being a samurai is the ultimate honor.”

Challenging and expanding notions of national and cultural identity is certainly a productive thing to do. But what this sword-wielding Briton is suggesting is both anachronistic and troubling. This self-styled samurai is harkening back to a pre-modern feudal system in a highly militarized Japan. While it is doubtful that Mr. Beattie will have any significant impact, cultural or otherwise, it is problematic that he is, in effect, fetishizing a historical and cultural phenomenon.

When he is not busy occupying himself with the samurai way of life, Mr. Beattie runs a British production company. One of the company’s hit shows, Most Haunted, features Mr. Beattie’s wife, Yvette, tracking down ghosts and attempting to prove paranormal phenomena.  

Mimi Hanaoka