Culture Samurai - the Japanese warrior class

The word "samurai " (侍) has its origins in the pre-Heian period . It is derived from the classical Japanese verb saburau, meaning to serve or attend. It was not until the early modern period, specifically the Azuchi-Momoyama period and the early Edo period of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, that the term isaburai was replaced with samurai. However, by then, the meaning had already changed long before.

During the era of the rule of the samurai, the earlier term yumitori (bowman) was also used as an honorary title of an accomplished warrior, even when swordsmanship had become more critical. Japanese archery (kyujutsu) is still strongly associated with the war god Hachiman.

The following terms are related to samurai or the samurai tradition:

• Buke (武家) – A martial house or a member of such a house
• Mononofu (もののふ) – An ancient term meaning a warrior.
• Musha (武者) – A shortened form of bugeisha (武芸者), lit." martial art man."
• Shi (士) – A word roughly meaning "gentleman," it is sometimes used for samurai, in particular in words such as 武士 (bushi, meaning warrior or samurai).
• Tsuwamono (兵) – An old term for a soldier popularised by Matsuo Bashō in his famous haiku. Meaning "a strong person."

Translated by Lucien Stryk

Weapons

The samurai used various weapons. Bushido taught that a samurai's soul is in the katana that they carried. Sometimes a samurai is pictured as entirely dependent on the katana for fighting. This is, much like the difference between the role of a crossbow in medieval Europe and the role of the sword to a knight, a symbol of being samurai rather than the actual importance of the katana itself. Upon reaching the age of thirteen, in a ceremony called genpuku (元服), a male child was given a wakizashi (脇差) and an adult name and became a samurai. This also gave him the right to wear katana though it was usually sealed with strings to prevent the accidental drawing of a katana. Wielding both the katana and the wakizashi together is called daishō (大小, lit. "big and small").

The samurai's weapon of choice was a yumi (弓, compound bow), and it remained unchanged for centuries until the introduction of gunpowder and rifle in the 16th century. A Japanese-style compound bow was a powerful weapon. Its size made it possible to shoot various projectiles, such as fire arrows and signal arrows, over a distance of 100 metres with accuracy, and over 200 metres when accuracy was not a concern. It was usually used on foot behind a tedate (手盾), a large wooden shield, but it could be used even from horseback. The practice of shooting from horseback became a Shintō ceremony of yabusame (流鏑馬). In battles against Mongolian invaders, these compound bows were the decisive weapon, outdistancing smaller compound bows and crossbows that the Chinese and Mongolians preferred. Mongolians lacked the horses they had used so devastatingly against their opponents and were forced to fight on foot, thereby reducing their effectiveness.

In the 15th century, the yari (槍, spear) also became a popular weapon. It displaced the naginata from the battlefield as personal bravery became less of a factor and battles became organised. It was simpler and more deadly than a katana. A charge, mounted or dismounted, was more effective when using a spear, and it offered better than even odds against a samurai using a katana. In the Battle of Shizugatake, where Shibata Katsuie was defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi , then known as Hashiba Hideyoshi, the Seven Spearmen of Shizugatake (賤ヶ岳七本槍) played a crucial role in the victory.

One of the most significant controversies surrounding the samurai's weapons is whether they ever charged on horseback. Horses of that time were smaller yet durable, but it was questionable how well they would perform carrying heavily armoured samurai. A traditional belief held that samurai mainly fought on horseback, acting as heavy cavalry and charging through hapless foot soldiers. It is currently believed that they primarily fought on foot and used horses for transportation, charging only occasionally against disordered and retreating enemies. The Battle of Nagashino was one such battle where samurai supposedly charged on horseback.

After the matchlock rifle was introduced from Europe, the samurai started practising this weapon. It became the favourite weapon for sniping on the battlefield as samurai were awarded for every enemy they took down themselves. However, commanding was an essential aspect of the samurai. Conscripted soldiers also used matchlock rifles, but instead fired in volleys to break up enemy ranks. Toward the end of the feudal period, some samurai organised dragoons as part of their troops, and some were reportedly used in the Battle of Sekigahara and later battles.

Some samurai were unarmed on the battlefields except for katana. Takeda Shingen was one such samurai. This did not mean that they fought using a katana. Instead, they focused on commanding and were confident that they could trust those they commanded for protection. In one of the Battles of Kawanakajima, this almost got Shingen killed. A plan went awry, and troops under Uesugi Kenshin 's command charged into those under Shingen's command, who were unaware that their entrapment plan had been detected. With only half of his troops and completely taken by surprise, Shingen himself had to defend his life with a wooden staff that he had used to order attacks. The rest of his soldiers barely returned in time to save Shingen and the rest of his force from being completely wiped out.

Other weapons used by samurai were jō (杖) and bō (棒), both long wooden staff weapons, as well as grenades, catapults and cannons. However, specific samurai sometimes favoured others. During the battles surrounding the Meiji Restoration , more modern weapons, such as Gatling guns and rifles, were employed.

Origin of samurai

Before the Heian period, the Japanese army was modelled after the Chinese military and was under the direct command of the emperor. Except for slaves, able-bodied men had the duty of enlisting for the army. These men had to supply themselves, and many became lost or gave up returning and settled down along the way home. This was treated as part of taxation and could be substituted with other forms of tax, such as bolts of cloth. These men were called sakimori (防人), lit. "defenders," but they are not related to samurai.

In the early Heian period, the late 8th and early 9th century, Emperor Kammu sought to consolidate and expand his rule in northern Honshū. The armies he sent to conquer the rebellious Emishi lacked motivation and discipline and were unable to prevail. He then introduced the title of seiitaishōgun (征夷大将軍) or shōgun and began to rely on the powerful regional clans to conquer the Emishi. Skilled in mounted combat and archery, these clan warriors became the emperor's preferred tool for putting down rebellions.

During the Heian period, the emperor's army was disbanded, and the emperor's power gradually declined. While the emperor was still the ruler, powerful clans around Kyōto assumed positions as ministers, and their relatives purchased their seats as magistrates to collect taxes. To repay their debts and accumulate wealth, they often imposed heavy taxes, forcing many farmers to leave their lands. Regional clans grew powerful by offering lower taxes to their subjects as well as freedom from conscription. These clans armed themselves to repel other clans and magistrates from collecting taxes. They would eventually form themselves into armed parties and become a samurai.

The samurai came from guards of the imperial palace and private guards clans employed. They also acted as a police force in and around Kyōto. These forerunners of what we now know as samurai had the ruler-sponsored equipment and were required to hone their martial skills. They were saburai, servants, yet their advantage of being the sole armed party increasingly became apparent. By promising protection and gaining political clout through political marriages, they amassed power, eventually surpassing the ruling aristocrats.

Some clans initially were farmers who had been driven to arms to protect themselves from the imperially appointed magistrates sent to govern their lands and collect taxes. These clans formed alliances to protect themselves against more powerful clans. By the mid-Heian period, they had adopted Japanese-style armour and weapons and laid the foundation of bushidō, their famous ethical code.

Kamakura Shogunate and the Rise of Samurai

Initially, these warriors were merely mercenaries in the employ of the emperor and noble clans (kuge). But slowly they gathered enough power to usurp the aristocracy and establish the first samurai-dominated government.

As local clans gathered manpower and resources and struck alliances with each other, they formed a hierarchy centred around a tōryō (棟梁, "chief"). This chief was typically a distant relative of the emperor and a lesser member of one of three noble families (the Fujiwara, Minamoto, or Taira). Though originally sent to provincial areas for a fixed four-year term as a magistrate, the tōryō declined to return to the capital when their terms ended. Their sons inherited their positions and continued to lead the clans in putting down rebellions throughout Japan during the middle and later Heian periods.

Due to their growing military and economic power, the clans ultimately emerged as a new force in the court's politics. Their involvement in the Hogen Rebellion in the late Heian period only consolidated their power, ultimately pitting the rival Minamoto and Taira clans against each other in the Heiji Rebellion of 1160. Emerging victorious, Taira no Kiyomori became an imperial advisor, the first warrior to attain such a position, and eventually seized control of the central government to establish the first samurai-dominated government and relegate the emperor to a mere figurehead. However, the Taira clan was still more aristocratic than the later Minamoto clan . Instead of expanding or strengthening its military might, the Taira clan had its women marry emperors and attempted to control through the emperor.

The Taira and the Minamoto once again clashed in 1180, marking the beginning of the Gempei War, which concluded in 1185. The victorious Minamoto no Yoritomo established the superiority of the samurai over aristocrats. In 1190, he visited Kyōto and in 1192 became seii taishōgun, establishing the Kamakura Shogunate. Instead of basing his rule in Kyōto, he set up the Shogunate in Kamakura, near his base of power.

Over time, powerful samurai clans became warrior nobility (buke) who were only nominally under court aristocracy. When the samurai began to adopt aristocratic customs, such as calligraphy, poetry, and music, some court aristocrats also began to acquire samurai skills. Despite various machinations and brief periods of rule by different emperors, the real power was in the hands of the shogun and samurai.

Ashikaga Shogunate and the Feudal Period

Various samurai clans struggled for power over the Kamakura and Ashikaga Shogunates.

Zen Buddhism spread among samurai in the 13th century and helped to shape their standards of conduct, particularly overcoming the fear of death and killing. Zen Buddhism in Japan took Sakyamuni as the principal image and taught to be a living Buddha with enlightenment through Zen meditation training. While major schools of Buddhism among the populace took Amitabha Tathagata, a Buddha is said to be capable of taking believers to paradise after death.

In the 13th century, the Yuan, a Chinese state of the Mongolian Empire, invaded Japan twice. Samurai, unused to combating in a group, barely survived the first brief battle. However, they were prepared for the second invasion and samurai devastated large, but disorganised armies composed of Chinese, Korean and Mongolian. It is believed even without the kamikaze; they would have driven back these invaders. An innovation on the Japanese sword was accomplished by a blacksmith named Masamune in the 14th century; the two-layer structure of soft and hard iron was adopted, and the style spread rapidly due to its fantastic cutting power and endurance in continuous use. Since then, Japanese swords have been recognised as one of the invincible carry weapons during the pre-industrial era of East Asia. It was one of the top exported items, few even making their way as far as India.

The issue of inheritance initially caused family infighting because primogeniture became common, whereas the division of succession was previously designated by law before the 14th century. To avoid infighting, a continuous invasion against neighbouring samurai's territories was instead favoured, and bickering among samurai was a constant problem to the Kamakura and Ashikaga Shogunate.

The Sengoku jidai ("warring-states period") was marked by the loosening of samurai culture, in a sense. Those born into other social strata could sometimes make names for themselves as warriors and thus become a de facto samurai. In this turbulent period, bushidō ethics became important factors to control and maintain public order.

Japanese war tactics and technologies underwent rapid improvement in the 15th and 16th centuries. Use of large infantry troops called ashigaru (足軽, foot soldiers), which was formed by the humble warriors or populace, with nagayari (長槍, long lance was introduced and combined with cavalry in manoeuvres. The number of people mobilised in warfare was generally in the thousands to over a hundred thousand.

Harquebuses, also known as matchlock guns, were introduced by the Lusitanians, also referred to as the Portuguese, in 1543. The Japanese succeeded in producing and spreading it across the country within a decade. Groups of mercenaries with harquebuses and mass-produced rifles played a critical role. By the end of the feudal period, several hundred thousand rifles were in circulation in Japan, and massive armies of over 100,000 troops clashed in battles. The most massive and powerful army in Europe, the Spanish armies had only a few thousand rifles and could assemble an army of only 30,000. Ninja also played a critical role in military intelligence.

The social mobility of human resources was flexible, as the ancient regime collapsed and the emerging samurai needed to maintain a large military and administrative organisation in their areas of influence. Most of the samurai families that survived up to the 19th century originated in this era. They declared themselves to be the blood of one of the four ancient noble clans, Minamoto, Taira, Fujiwara and Tachibana. In most cases, however, it is hard to prove who their ancestors were.

Oda, Toyotomi and Tokugawa

Oda Nobunaga was a renowned lord of the Nagoya area (formerly known as Owari) and an exceptional exemplar of the samurai of the Sengoku Period . He came within a few years of laying down the path to the reunification of Japan.

He made innovations in organisations and war tactics, heavily utilised harquebuses, developed commerce and industry, and treasured innovations. The consecutive victories enabled him to realise the termination of the Ashikaga Shogunate and disarmament of the military powers of the Buddhist monks, which had inflamed futile struggles among the populace for centuries. Attacking from a "sanctuary" of Buddhist temples, they were a constant headache to any warlords and even the emperor who tried to control their actions. He died in 1582 at the assault of one of his followers, Akechi Mitsuhide . Importantly, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (see below) and Tokugawa Ieyasu , who made the Tokugawa Shogunate, were Nobunaga's loyal followers. Hideyoshi was brought up from a nameless peasant to one of the top generals under Nobunaga, and Ieyasu had shared childhood with Nobunaga. Hideyoshi defeated Mitsuhide within a month and was regarded as the rightful successor of Nobunaga by avenging the treachery of Mitsuhide.

The two were gifted with Nobunaga's previous achievements to build a unified Japan. So there was a saying:

"The reunification is a rice cake; Oda made it. Hashiba shaped it. At last, only Ieyasu tastes it."

Hashiba is the family name that Toyotomi Hideyoshi used during his time as a follower of Nobunaga.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who became a grand minister in 1586, himself the son of a poor peasant family, created a law that codified the samurai caste as permanent and heritable, and that non-samurai were forbidden to carry weapons.

It is important to note that the distinction between samurai and non-samurai was so obscure that during the 16th century, most male adults in any social class (even small farmers) belonged to at least one military organisation of their own and served in wars before and during Hideyoshi's rule. It can be said that an "all against all" situation continued for a century.

The authorised samurai families after the 17th century were the winners who chose to follow Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu. Large battles occurred during the periods of transition between regimes, and some defeated samurai were either destroyed or assimilated into the general populace.

Tokugawa Shogunate

During the Tokugawa era, samurai increasingly became courtiers, bureaucrats, and administrators rather than warriors. The daishō, the paired long and short swords of the samurai, became more of a symbolic emblem of power rather than a weapon used in daily life. They still had the legal right to cut down any commoner who did not show proper respect; to what extent this right was used, however, is unknown. When the central government forced the daimyō to cut the size of their armies, unemployed rōnin became a social problem.

Bushidō was formalised by many samurai in this time of peace, much like how chivalry was formalised after the knight as a warrior became obsolete in Europe. The conduct of samurai became a favourable model of a citizen in Edo with the emphasis on formalities. With time on their hands, samurai spent more time pursuing other interests, becoming scholars.

Samurai decline during the Meiji restoration

The last bravado of the original samurai was in 1867, when samurai from the Chōshū and Satsuma domains defeated the shogunate forces in favour of imperial rule. The two domains were the lands of the daimyō that submitted to Ieyasu after the war of Sekigahara (1600).

Other sources claim that the samurai's last stance took place in 1877, during the Satsuma Rebellion under Saigō Takamori , in the Battle of Shiroyama.

The main players of the revolt came from the lower-class samurai in every province. Their ultimate political goal was the same: to maintain Japan's independence against Western powers. But the two daimyō clashed first, and these bloody conflicts lasted for years. At last, they realised that long-lasting civil war must be avoided because that was just what the foreign powers were waiting for. Therefore, the last shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu , resigned, thus restoring imperial rule to avoid further bloodshed. Some resisted, believing this was a coup d'état by Choshu and Satsuma and that actual power was in their hands. Groups of Tōhoku samurai organised an armed resistance, and they were eventually defeated.

Emperor Meiji abolished the samurai's right to be the sole armed force in favour of a more modern, western-style conscripted army. samurai became shizoku (士族 ) who retained some of their salaries, but the right to wear katana on the street was eventually abolished.

Post Meiji Restoration

In defining how a modern Japanese should be, members of the Meiji government decided to follow the footsteps of the United Kingdom and Germany. It would be based on the concept of "noblesse oblige", and samurai would not be a political force much like that of Prussia. The Imperial Japanese Armies were conscripted, but many samurai volunteered to be soldiers, and many advanced to be trained as officers. These volunteers were highly motivated and had undergone rigorous training. The Japanese Empire won the Sino-Japanese War (1894) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904), and it can be reasonably inferred that these victories were mainly due to the efforts of these volunteers and officers. Most soldiers of both the Chinese and Russian armies could neither read nor write, and after their officers were killed, these armies quickly disintegrated.

Many early exchange students were samurai, not because they were samurai, but many were literate and well-educated scholars. Some of these exchange students began their higher education at private schools. Some samurai took up pens instead of swords and became reporters and writers, setting up newspaper companies. Other samurai entered governmental services as they were literate and well-educated.

Culture

As de facto aristocrats for centuries, the samurai developed their own culture, thus shaping Japan for centuries.

A samurai was expected to read and write, as well as to know some mathematics. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a great samurai yet a peasant at the start, could only read and write in hiragana, and this was his biggest drawback. Some hint that this was what prevented him from becoming a shōgun. Samurai were expected, though not required, to have interests in other arts such as dancing, go, literature, poetry, and tea. Ōta Dōkan, who founded Edo, wrote how he was ashamed to realise that even a commoner had more knowledge of poetry than he did, and this made him study harder.

Samurai culture ranged from a spartan, Zen Buddhism-influenced culture to an extravagant Kano-style culture. Most samurai lived rather simply, not due to preference, but out of necessity. As commerce developed in the Edo period, samurai who were supplied with rice as income were faced with the inflating prices of common goods. Some samurai engaged in crafts, while others farmed to support themselves. These impoverished samurai still found the money and time to teach their children the value of education. By the middle of the Edo period, samurai were required to practice their martial arts skills. There were stories of samurai being threatened and forced to run away against well-muscled workers; some were even beaten in a fight. As samurai were specialists in fighting, these troubles were never reported out of shame, but were still documented.

With time on their hands, many samurai began to study topics such as archaeology, botany, and literature. Samurai introduced vegetables like the potato and sweet potato to farmers who remained apathetic to these imported vegetables. Samurai also transcribed and studied historical books and records. The Kojiki, as well as Chinese classics, were studied. Samurai also engaged in scientific studies, often relying on translations of Dutch books.

Samurai Names

A samurai was usually named by combining one kanji taken from his father or grandfather and a new kanji. Many samurai chose names phonetically similar to famous ancestors, to honour their fame and attain similar glory. This name was applied after the genpuku. Many of them also had a childhood name. Most samurai had a second name and even used their title as a part of their name. Oda Nobunaga would be officially called "Oda Kouzukenosuke Owarinokami Nobunaga" (織田上総介尾張守信長), and he would be referred to as "Oda Kouzukenosuke" or "Oda Owarinokami".

Marriage

A marriage of samurai was usually arranged by someone with the same or higher rank than those being wedded. While it was a necessity for those samurai in upper ranks, as most had few opportunities to meet a woman, this was still done as a formality for lower-ranked samurai. Most samurai married women from other samurai families, but for a lower-ranked samurai, a marriage to a commoner was permitted. In these marriages, dowries were a common practice.

Mistresses were also common, but higher-ranked samurai closely scrutinised their social backgrounds. In many cases, such relationships were treated as marriages. When the mistress was a commoner, a messenger would be sent, submitting betrothal money or notes of tax exemption, asking for her parents' approval. Many parents gladly accepted, and if she gave birth to a son, he could be elevated into the ranks of samurai himself.

Samurai could divorce their wives for a variety of reasons, with approval from a superior. A divorce was, while not nonexistent, a rare occasion. An important reason would be her incapacity to produce a son, but adoptions could easily be arranged and were quite common, too. A samurai could divorce for personal reasons, but this was generally avoided, as this would have been embarrassing to the samurai who arranged the marriage in the first place. Women could also arrange a divorce, although it would generally take the form of a samurai divorcing her. In a divorce, samurai had to return the betrothal money, and this often prevented a divorce. Some wealthy merchants had their daughters marry samurai to settle a samurai's debt and advance their own positions.

Succession

The eldest son of the previous chief became the next leader of the clan. If his eldest son had passed away before the succession, the eldest son of the eldest son would have become the next leader of the clan. If the eldest son did not have children, the second son became the next leader. These rules were sometimes bent at the request of the former leader. When the next leader was too young or inexperienced, the brothers and retainers of a previous leader would act as leaders until the clan could be handed over. Dividing a domain had been popular in the Kamakura and Ashikaga periods, but declined later as it often resulted in weakening a clan's position.

Many samurai changed their names not because they didn't like them, but because other clans adopted them. This was done for many reasons. The primary reason is that many clans sought a successor with formidable abilities and skills, even if it meant passing over the sons of the previous leader. If that successor happened to be from a higher clan, even better. While this had to be approved by the shogunate or the daimyō in the Edo period, numerous such cases occurred. When the previous leader died without a son but with a daughter, it was common for the clan to adopt a samurai from another clan and have him marry the daughter.

Samurai had a lot of children and were faced with disease and wars, often causing succession problems. This sometimes led to decline, disintegration and the eventual destruction of the entire clan. Several steps were taken to avoid this from occurring. Adoption was one step, and the other was called kōkaku （降格, demotion), where a son was given a new clan name and became a retainer and a vassal of their elder brother. Some samurai even became merchants or farmers because of kōkaku.

Philosophy

Philosophies of Buddhism and Zen, to a lesser extent, as well as Confucianism, influenced samurai culture, as did Shintō. Meditation became an essential teaching, offering a process to calm the mind. The Buddhist concept of reincarnation and rebirth led the samurai to abandon torture and needless killing. Some samurai resigned to become Buddhist monks after realising how fruitless their killings were.

Bushidō, codified during the Edo period, was the "way of the samurai"; yet, its deceptive simplicity led to countless arguments over its interpretation. Hagakure, the Book of the Samurai, by Yamamoto Tsunetomo, is a manual instructing the samurai. Even as it was published, it raised some reviews that criticised strict and impersonal interpretations. If the lord is wrong, for example, if he ordered the massacre of civilians, should he observe loyalty to the killings as ordered, or should he observe rectitude to let civilians escape unharmed? If a man had sick parents but committed an unamendable mistake, should he protect his honour by committing seppuku or should he show courage by living with dishonour and care for his parents?

The case of the "47 Rōnin " sparked debates about the righteousness of their actions and the proper application of bushidō. They had defied the shōgun by taking matters into their own hands, but it was an act of loyalty and rectitude as well. Finally, their acts were agreed to be rectitude but disloyalty to the bushidō. This made them criminals with conscience and eligible for seppuku.

Explanations of shudō (衆道) in Hagakure were highly controversial even at the time when such practices were standard. It illuminates one of the samurai's methods of platonic love, which were sometimes homosexual relationships between a seasoned and a novice samurai. Even though this was not considered a crime at that time and was not exactly prohibited by religion, the notion that some samurai advanced by being sexually attractive was enough to raise an uproar. Samurai were not supposed to be prostitutes but advanced by having abilities and skills, not by engaging in illicit relationships.

The most famous book of kenjutsu (剣術, swordsmanship) dates from this period (Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings, 1643). The book, however, focused not only on Japanese swordsmanship but also on the proper spirit of a swordsman and on ways to build character.

Samurai in Fiction

Jidaigeki (時代劇, lit. "historical drama") had been a staple of movies and TV from the very beginning. This genre usually featured a samurai standing up against evil samurai and merchants. Mito Kōmon (水戸黄門), a fictitious character based on Tokugawa Mitsukuni's travel, is a popular TV drama where Mitsukuni travels disguised as a retired wealthy merchant with two unarmed samurai also disguised as his companions. He finds trouble wherever he goes, and after gathering evidence, he has his samurai confront and knock down unrepentant evil samurai and merchants. He then reveals his identity, which, if he wished, could destroy the entire clan, leaving the bad guys with no other choice but to surrender.

The samurai-themed works of film director Akira Kurosawa are among the most acclaimed in the genre, influencing many filmmakers worldwide with his techniques and storytelling. Notable works of his include The "Seven Samurai," in which a besieged farming village hires a band of drifting samurai to defend them from bandits; "Yojimbo," where a former samurai involves himself in a town's gang war by working for both sides; and "The Hidden Fortress," in which two foolish peasants find themselves helping a legendary general escort a princess to safety. The latter was one of the primary inspirations for George Lucas' "Star Wars," which also borrows aspects from the samurai, such as the Jedi Knights featured in the series.

Samurai films and westerns share some similarities, and the two have influenced each other over the years. The works of director John Ford inspired Kurosawa. In turn, Kurosawa's works have been remade into westerns, such as "The Seven Samurai" into "The Magnificent Seven" and "Yojimbo" into Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars."

Another fictitious television series, "Abarembo Shogun," featured Yoshimune, the eighth Tokugawa shogun. Samurai at all levels from the shōgun down to the lowest rank, as well as rōnin, featured prominently in this show.

"Shōgun" is the first novel in James Clavell's Asian Saga. It is set in feudal Japan, around the year 1600. It provides a highly fictionalised account of the rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu to the shogunate, as seen through the eyes of an English sailor whose fictional heroics are loosely based on William Adams' exploits.

The Hollywood movie "The Last Samurai," a blend of fact and fiction, was released in 2003 to generally positive reviews in North America. The film's plot is loosely based on the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion led by Saigō Takamori, and also on the story of Jules Brunet, a French army captain who fought alongside Enomoto Takeaki in the Boshin War . The lifestyle and the war tactics shown in the movie "The Last Samurai" are those of out-of-country samurai of the Sengoku jidai, precisely of the era before 1543; not those in the 19th century. The historical battle, however, was only slightly different from the one depicted in the movie, with the only difference being katana to be waved for soldiers to charge instead of sabres.

"Kill Bill" by Quentin Tarantino can be described as a modern-day glorification of the samurai sword, the katana.

The samurai have also appeared frequently in Japanese comics (manga) and animation (anime). Most common are historical works where the protagonist is either a samurai or a former samurai possessing considerable martial skill. Two of the most famous examples are "Lone Wolf" and "Cub", where the former proxy executioner for the shōgun and his toddler son become hired killers after being betrayed by other samurai and nobles; and "Rurouni Kenshin," where a former assassin, after helping end the bakumatsu era and bringing about the Meiji era , finds himself protecting newfound friends and fighting off old enemies while upholding his oath to never kill again through the use of a reverse-bladed sword. Samurai-like characters are not limited to historical settings; some works set in the modern age and even the future feature characters who live, train, and fight like samurai. Notable examples include Goemon Ishikawa XIII from the "Lupin III" series of comics, television series, and movies; and Motoko Aoyama from the romantic comedy "Love Hina."

Samurai are also heroes and enemies in many games, where they can be either the greatest friends or the worst nightmares. These samurai would use mostly katana and are devastating foot soldiers. An example is the "Age of Empires" series.

The concept of a samurai, as opposed to that of a knight, has led to different perceptions of how a fighter or hero should be, especially in role-playing games. A samurai does not have to be tall and muscular to be strong. He can be barely five feet tall, seemingly weak and disabled. He can even be a "she". This means equating size with power and strength does not appeal to the Japanese aesthetic.

References:

• This article was originally based on an older version of Wikipedia's entry on Samurai but has been altered using the resources listed below.
• Bryant, Anthony J.; The Samurai (Elite), Osprey 1989
• Turnbull, Stephen; Samurai Armies 1550-1615 (Men-at-Arms), Osprey 1979
• Turnbull, Stephen; Samurai: The World of the Warrior, Osprey 2006
• Turnbull, Stephen; The Samurai: A Military History, Routledge 1999 (2nd ed.)
• Yamamoto, Tsunetomo; Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai, Stackpole 2002