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Samurai, member of the Japanese warrior caste. The term samurai was originally used to denote the aristocratic warriors, but it came to apply to all the members of the warrior class that rose to power in the 12th century and dominated the Japanese government until the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
- Tea Ceremony
The ceremony takes place in a tea house (), which ideally is...
- Maebara Issei
Maebara Issei (born April 28, 1834, Hagi, Nagato province,...
- Tea Ceremony
- Development & Status
- Samurai Weapons
- Samurai Armour
- Bushido
- Seppuku
- Samurai as Heroes: Yoshitsune
- The 47 Ronin
- Decline & Subsequent Mythologising
The government system of conscription in Japan was ended in 792, and so in the following Heian Period (794-1185), private armies were formed in order to protect the landed interests (shoen) of nobles who spent most of their time away at the imperial court. This was the beginning of the samurai, a name meaning 'attendant' while the verb samuraumeans...
Trained from aged 10 or even earlier in martial skills, samurai rode and fought on horseback in the early medieval period, primarily using a bow but also a curved long sword when necessary. They had a second, shorter sword, and a decree by the ruler Hideyoshi in 1588 stated that only full samurai could wear two swords, and this became an important ...
Cuirasses made of metal plates stitched together and protected by lacquer date back to the Kofun period (c. 250-538). A more flexible armour was then made using narrow strips of bronze or iron which were held together with cord or leather ties. Leather plating was another common material for armour throughout the medieval period as it was both ligh...
Thebushido or shido, meaning the 'way of the warrior,' is the famous warrior code of conduct the samurai followed, but it was only compiled in the late 17th century by the scholar Yamago Soko (1622-1685), by which time the samurai were no longer active militarily but functioned more as moral guides and advisors. It is, therefore, difficult to ascer...
Those in the top echelons of the samurai were expected to fight to the death, even if this meant killing oneself to avoid capture. The honourable method was seppuku (aka hara-kiri) or self-disembowelment as the stomach was considered to contain the spirit, not the heart. The warrior first donned a white robe, symbol of purity, and then cut his abdo...
Many heroes in Japanese mythology are samurai warriors and none is more famous than the legendary Yoshitsune (1159-1189). Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune, born Ushiwakamaru, was the younger brother of the shogun and a successful general in the Gempei War (1180-1185). His legendary status springs from his standing as the epitome of the loyal, honourable, and...
Perhaps the most famous real-life samurai, episode of mass-seppuku, and example par excellence of maintaining honour through death is the story of the 47 Ronin (Shijushichishi) which occurred in January 1703 (although commemorated today every December 14). The lord of Ako, Asano Naganori (1665-1701) was at the castle of the shogun in Edo one day wh...
The importance of samurai and local armies was greatly reduced following the stabilising policies of the Tokugawa Shogunate which brought relative peace across Japan. This continued the process begun half a century earlier when the rural populace was disarmed. In addition, many samurai, faced with becoming either peaceful farmers or retainers to lo...
- Mark Cartwright
Terminology. In Japanese, historical warriors are usually referred to as bushi (武士, ), meaning 'warrior', or buke (武家), meaning 'military family'.According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning 'to wait upon', 'accompany persons' in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau.
- Miyamoto Musashi (1584 – 1645) Born in 1584, Myamoto Mushashi was a famous and accomplished soldier, swordsman, and artist. He first engaged in real combat when he was 13.
- Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543 – 1616) Born Matsudaira Takechiyo in 1542, this great samurai was the son of the lord of Mikawa province. He came of age in a Japan wracked with civil war and bloody feuds between territorial lords.
- Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537 – 1598) This feudal lord lived from 1536/37 to 1598 and served as chief Imperial minister. He helped finish to 16-century unification of Japan, helping to create the country we know today.
- Oda Nobunaga (1534 – 1582) Oda Nobunaga’s story is the source of many others, but it is well worth knowing on its own. Born in 1534, Nobunaga lived in a deeply fractured Japan.
Samurai. Samurai Armour. The samurai (or bushi) were the warriors of premodern Japan. They later made up the ruling military class which eventually became the highest ranking social caste of the Edo Period (1603-1867). Samurai employed a range of weapons such as bows and arrows, spears and guns, but their main weapon and symbol was the sword.
A series of clashes, culminating in the Genpei War (1180–1185), ended with the defeat of the Taira. The victorious Minamoto went on to establish a new, warrior-led government at Kamakura, their eastern stronghold. In 1185 the great Minamoto leader Minamoto Yoritomo (1147–1199) was appointed sei-i-tai shogun (lit.
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Oct 5, 2022 · Samurai were elite and highly skilled warriors that arose in the tenth century in Japan. They performed military service using a bow or swords of varying lengths and were essential components of Medieval Japanese armies. The samurai were both highly mythologised and romanticised as the epitome of chivalry and honour, famous for their code of ...
