Product Code Database
侍]] were members of the warrior class who served as retainers to lords in Japan prior to the Meiji era. Samurai existed from the late 12th century until their abolition in the late 1870s during the Meiji era.Samurai: The Story of a Warrior Tradition, Harry Cook, Blandford Press 1993, ISBN 0713724323 They were originally provincial warriors who served the Kuge and imperial court in the late 12th century.Samurai: The Story of a Warrior Tradition, Harry Cook, Blandford Press 1993, ISBN 0713724323
In 1853, the United States forced Japan to open its borders to foreign trade under the threat of military action. Fearing an eventual invasion, the Japanese abandoned feudalism for capitalism so that they could industrialize and build a modern army. The adoption of modern firearms rendered the traditional weapons of the samurai obsolete, and as firearms are easy enough for peasant conscripts to learn, Japan had no more need for a specialized warrior caste. By 1876 the special rights and privileges of the samurai had all been abolished.
In the Japanese language, the word samurai was colloquial and its meaning varied over the centuries. The word samurai originally referred to domestic servants and did not have military connotations. As the term gained military connotations in the 12th century, it referred to landless footsoldiers who served the gokenin. The gokenin were warrior vassals to the shogun. (2025). 9781472844026, Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781472844026 According to Michael Wert, "a warrior of elite stature in pre-seventeenth-century Japan would have been insulted to be called a samurai". According to Morillo, during the Sengoku period, the term "marks social function and not class, It means a retainer of a lord - usually, in the sixteenth century, the retainer of a daimyo", and was used to refer to "all sorts of soldiers, including pikemen, bowmen, musketeers and horsemen".Morillo, Stephen. “ Milites, Knights and Samurai: Military Terminology, Comparative History, and the Problem of Translation.” In The Normans and Their Adversaries at War, ed. Richard Abels and Bernard Bachrach, 167–84. Woodbridge: Boydell, 2001. "Finally there is the term samurai. This noun derives from the verb saburau, to serve, and it is again a social marker, though it marks social function and not class, It means a retainer of a lord - usually, in the sixteenth century, the retainer of a daimyo, a leader of one of the essentially independent states of the Sengoku, or warring states period. It has no functional component - all sorts of soldiers, including pikemen, bowmen, musketeers and horsemen were samurai" In the Tokugawa period, the terms were roughly interchangeable, as the military class was legally limited to the retainers of the shogun or daimyo. However, strictly speaking samurai referred to higher ranking retainers, although the cutoff between samurai and other military retainers varied from domain to domain. Also usage varied by class, with commoners referring to all sword carrying men as samurai, regardless of rank. (2025). 9780834821996, Shambhala. ISBN 9780834821996
Taxation during the 8th century was high but temples, monasteries, shrines, and certain aristocrats obtained tax exemptions through their connections to the imperial court. To evade taxes, many landowners in the countryside donated their lands to these tax-exempt entities. The land would be registered in the name of said noble or temple and would become part of their tax-exempt estate ( shōen) but would still be used by the same person who originally owned it. The former owner, now a steward on his lord's estate, had to pay his lord an annual tribute that was less than what he would have had to pay the emperor in tax had he been the landowner. There was usually an agreement that when the steward died, his children would inherit his position. If the temple or lord cheated the steward somehow, the farmer could retaliate by exposing the scheme, which might have cost the temple or noble its tax-exempt privilege.Stephen Turnbull. The Samurai: A Military HistoryEiko Ikegami. The Taming of the Samurai. p. 52: "Because local reclamation landownership at this stage was still unstable, and restricted by the framework of the ancient codes, local reclamation landowners sometimes sought the protection of the power-holders in Kyoto by “commending” their own land to them. Thus the actual local owners were able to secure not only their control over land but also immunity from the local government." The growth of the shōen led to a loss of tax revenue for the imperial court, and a heavier tax burden on those farmers who worked the remaining taxable land. These farmers often could not cope and abandoned their lands, which were bought up by the landowning magnates.Mikiso Hane. Premodern Japan, p. 57: "The rise of the shōen meant a steady decline in the authority of the central government. Taxes collected by the government decreased, and police and military power in the provinces fell increasingly into the hands of the local magnates. ... The deterioration of the peasantry resulted in part from the fact that, as tax-free estates proliferated, the tax burden grew heavier upon those who worked the little-remaining taxable land. ... Unable to pay their debts and unable to bear the burden of heavy taxes, they left the land and joined the ranks of vagrants. The land they abandoned was taken over the rising local landowning magnates."
Up until the late 8th century AD, Japan had a national conscript army. As peace settled in, the imperial court began dismantling the system, eventually ending it by 792 AD. Conscripts were seen as unreliable and poorly trained, to be used only in emergencies such as when the Mongols invaded. Conscript footsoldiers proved to be particularly ineffective in the Japanese' war with the Emishi, an ethnic minority in the north that relied on mounted warriors and were thus highly mobile. The deciding factor in most battles had been professional mounted archers who came from the wealthy families.Paul Varley. Warriors of Japan as Portrayed in the War Tales, p. 3: "In 792, two years before the move to Heian, the court issued an edict ending most conscription and dissolving the gundan, except for those in outlying regions: Mutsu and Dewa provinces in northern Honshu, Sado Island in the Sea of Japan, and northern Kyushu. Conscription had proved difficult to administer and was socially disruptive. Moreover, most peasant conscripts were poor fighters. On those occasions when gundan forces were mobilized for battle in the late sixth and seventh centuries, the horse-riding bowmen of the elite district families provided the decisive fighting power. The government didn't bother training conscripts in horsemanship as it required years to produce a good cavalryman. So it instead recruited men who already had these skills, acquired through private training funded by their families' wealth.Karl Friday. Hired Swords, p. 39: "...fighting from horseback was an extraordinarily complex skill to master, one that required years of training and practice. It was simply impossible to produce first-rate cavalrymen out of short-term, peasant conscripts. ... The government expended minimal effort training ordinary conscripts as horsemen, preferring instead to rely on the talents of those who had acquired skills in mounted archery before their induction." Similarly, soldiers in the imperial army were expected to provide most of their own equipment.Clements. A Brief History of the Samurai: "Although Temmu died before his system had been fully implemented, by the early eighth century an organization was in place that was designed to levy a conscript militia from local peasants. Heavy matériel was provided by the state from the district arsenals, but the conscripts were expected to bring their own sword and dagger, armour and a helmet made from wicker or straw, a bow and fifty arrows." Wealthy men who could afford horses and archery training were promoted to elite units, whereas the poor were consigned to being footsoldiers. The poor disliked military service for this reason, and because their farms often fell into decay with their absence, so there was popular support for ending conscription.
In the Heian period it was the habit of emperors to keep harems, and consequently the imperial family got so large it burdened the treasury. In the early 9th century AD, Emperor Saga expelled several dozen members from the imperial family, who formed two new clans: the Minamoto clan (814 AD) and the Taira clan (825 AD). Many wealthy provincial families married into the Minamotos and Tairas in order to acquire aristocratic status, gaining prestige and often tax exemptions. And so the Tairas and Minamotos became big and wealthy clans with lots of warrior retainers.Jonathan Clements. A Brief History of the Samurai: "Sons of the Taira and Minamoto were promising matches for the daughters of provincial strongmen, adding a noble cachet to outer clans. The daughters were similarly highly thought of, and many husbands took on the surname of their wives in recognition. Even those Taira and Minamoto fallen on hard times still had their name to trade; numerous noble-born debtors adopted their provincial creditors as their heirs as a form of payment in kind, ensuring that the Taira and Minamoto names were soon firmly ingrained in provincial landholdings."
Thus with the downsizing of the national army and the decline in tax revenue, the emperors delegated the matter of security in the countryside to the burgeoning class of landed warriors. They had a personal incentive to suppress lawlessness in their own lands as it directly impacted their revenue. War and law enforcement became increasingly privatized affairs.
In 1156, the former emperor Sutoku attempted to take back the throne from his brother, Emperor Go-Shirakawa, in what is remembered as the Hōgen rebellion. It failed and Sutoku was exiled. Members of the Minamoto and Taira clans had fought on both sides of the rebellion, but the Minamoto loyalists received smaller rewards than the Taira loyalists, and the Minamoto rebels received worse punishments than the Taira rebels. All this angered the Minamotos, and consequently political factions in the imperial court began to reform around clan affiliations rather than personal allegiances.Jonathan Clements. A Brief History of the Samurai, chpt. 3: "Members of the Fujiwara, Minamoto and Taira clans had fought on both sides, but the punishments caused the disparate factions to begin uniting along lines of clan affiliation, instead of personal allegiance." The next rebellion would be a direct Taira/Minamoto clash.
The Minamotos took part in the Heiji Rebellion of 1160 in the hopes that they could have the Taira leader Taira no Kiyomori banished.Stephen Turnbull. The Samurai: A Military History: "This time any rebellion was bound to turn into a direct Taira/ Minamoto clash. Taira Kiyomori was a loyal subject of both Emperor and ex-Emperor, so to avoid being branded as rebels the Minamoto would have to kidnap both sovereigns while Kiyomori was out of town, and then make the Emperor declare Kiyomori a rebel." This rebellion also failed, and in the aftermath the Tairas ended up with even more influence in the imperial court. Their leader, Taira no Kiyomori, became the first samurai ever to be given a senior rank in the imperial court (chief minister in 1167).Jonathan Clements. A Brief History of the Samurai, chpt. 3: "Kiyomori wasted no time in insinuating himself into the capital, and in 1160 became the first samurai to be awarded a senior courtly rank."
In 1180, Taira no Kiyomori installed his two-year-old grandson (Emperor Antoku) on the throne, pushing aside older male heirs whose mothers were from the Minamoto family. This sparked a rebellion by the Minamotos, leading to the Gempei War (1180-1185). Minamoto no Yoritomo promised lands and administrative rights to warriors who swore allegiance to him. The Minamotos won the war and the Taira clan was effectively destroyed. In April 1185, the controversial child emperor was drowned by his own grandmother, who then committed suicide.
The new emperor, Emperor Go-Toba, was of Fujiwara clan lineage on his mother's side, which Minamoto no Yoritomo found acceptable. But Yoritomo took over most of his authority, reducing the emperor to a figurehead. Previous emperors had been figurehead rulers too, with the real power being wielded by a regent, often the previous emperor. But Yoritomo went further: he didn't take over the imperial bureaucracy, he instead established a parallel military government staffed by the warriors who had fought for him. That was the reward they were promised and due, lest they turn on him. So began the first shogunate. Whereas the imperial court was in Kyoto, Yorimoto chose to base the shogunate in Kamakura.
Japan under the shogunate became a feudal state. The warrior clans were made vassals of the shogun and were called gokenin. They were formally granted a great deal of autonomy, and the shogun was more of a mediator and coordinator than a true ruler.Eiko Ikegami. The Taming of the Samurai, p. 82: " Sōryō were granted extensive autonomous powers (defined by the official code of the Kamakura shogunate) over the members of their ie. In turn, they owed the house’s military obligation to the shogun as direct vassals. ... Indeed, the function of the Kamakura government was to control and mediate the “international relations” of these independent social organizations" In the early 1190s, the shogun began appointing military governors ( shugo) to the provinces.Marius Jansen. Warrior Rule in Japan, p. 15: "The shogun began Not only were there no shugo at all until the early 1190s" Only warriors from the Kantō region could become shugo. These military governors eventually displaced the authority of the civilian governors ( kokushi) which had been appointed by the imperial court.Louis Frédéric. Japan Encyclopedia, p. 891 A shugo's main duties were coordinating his area's gokenin in military matters, suppressing rebellions, and enforcing the law. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 3, p. 81: "He was to act as coordinator of his area's gokenin, in particular, commanding them in war and leading them in their peacetime guard duty in Kyoto. Second, he was to assume responsibility for controlling local rebellion and crimes of a capital nature, both duties hitherto discharged by the older civil governors. Finally, he was to serve as an adjunct to Kamakura's judicial system, performing in the joint roles of investigator, enforcer, and liaison."
During the Gempei War, many warriors had seized control of the private estates ( shōen) of the courtiers in Kyoto. They presumptuously declared themselves the stewards of these estates. Cambridge History of Japan Volume 3: Medieval Japan, p. 59: "With the war officially over, warriors could no longer use the Gempei labels to justify their private lawlessness. Their aggression was thus more directly an attack on the courtier-dominated estate system." The shogunate now had a responsibility to restrain this lawlessness. It was decreed that all stewards had to be appointed by the shogun. Most stewards were chosen from warrior families. Appointing warrior stewards undermined the authority of the courtiers in Kyoto who owned the shōen. Warrior stewards would surely be loyal to the shogun, not the imperial court. The title of jitō was heritable. A steward could not bequeath his office to someone outside his family. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 3: Medieval Japan, p. 86: The bakufu permitted its jitō to bequeath their titles, in unitary or partible fashion, to legitimate relatives of their own choosing. They were not allowed to bequeath their offices to external parties. Under the Kamakura shogunate, a jitō could not be punished for misconduct by his landlord. The landlord had to appeal to the shogunate for justice. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 3: Medieval Japan, p. 83: "If the steward committed any kind of offense against man or property, the estate owner had no recourse but to appeal to Kamakura for redress. This obliging of the stewards to manage lands on behalf of a proprietor exercising no direct control over him was what made the office revolutionary. It also ensured an unending need for a bakufu judicial authority."
The title of shogun was supposed to be hereditary. In 1203, the shogun Minamoto no Yoriie died and his son was only 11 years old, so the leader of the Hōjō clan, Hōjō Tokimasa, declared himself regent ( shikken). The Hōjō clan refused to return power to the Minamotos when the young son came of age, but out of respect for the tradition of hereditary titles, they did not declare themselves shogun but kept the title of shikken.
Various samurai clans struggled for power during the Kamakura shogunate. Zen Buddhism spread among the samurai in the 13th century and helped shape their standards of conduct, particularly in overcoming the fear of death and killing. Among the general populace Pure Land Buddhism was favored however.
In 1274, the Mongol-founded Yuan dynasty in China sent a force of some 40,000 men and 900 ships to invade Japan in northern Kyūshū. Japan mustered a mere 10,000 samurai to meet this threat. The invading army was harassed by major thunderstorms throughout the invasion, which aided the defenders by inflicting heavy casualties. The Yuan army was eventually recalled, and the invasion was called off. The Mongol invaders used small bombs, which was likely the first appearance of bombs and gunpowder in Japan.
The Japanese defenders recognized the possibility of a renewed invasion and began construction of a Genko Borui around Hakata Bay in 1276. Completed in 1277, this wall stretched for 20 kilometers around the bay. It later served as a strong defensive point against the Mongols. The Mongols attempted to settle matters in a diplomatic way from 1275 to 1279, but every envoy sent to Japan was executed.
Leading up to the second Mongolian invasion, Kublai Khan continued to send emissaries to Japan, with five diplomats sent in September 1275 to Kyūshū. Hōjō Tokimune, the shikken of the Kamakura shogun, responded by having the Mongolian diplomats brought to Kamakura and then beheading them. The graves of the five executed Mongol emissaries exist to this day in Kamakura at Tatsunokuchi. On 29 July 1279, five more emissaries were sent by the Mongol empire, and again beheaded, this time in Hakata. This continued defiance of the Mongol emperor set the stage for one of the most famous engagements in Japanese history.
In 1281, a Yuan army of 140,000 men with 5,000 ships was mustered for another invasion of Japan. Northern Kyūshū was defended by a Japanese army of 40,000 men. The Mongol army was still on its ships preparing for the landing operation when a typhoon hit north Kyūshū island. The casualties and damage inflicted by the typhoon, followed by the Japanese defense of the Hakata Bay barrier, resulted in the Mongols again being defeated.
The thunderstorms of 1274 and the typhoon of 1281 helped the samurai defenders of Japan repel the Mongol invaders despite being vastly outnumbered. These winds became known as kami-no-Kaze, which literally translates as "wind of the gods". This is often given a simplified translation as "divine wind". The kami-no-Kaze lent credence to the Japanese belief that their lands were indeed divine and under supernatural protection.
The southern court, descended from Emperor Godaigo, and the northern court, descended from Emperor Kōgōn, were established side by side. This period of coexistence of the two dynasties is called the Nanboku-chō period, which corresponds to the beginning of the Muromachi period. The Northern Court, supported by the Ashikaga shogunate, had six emperors, and in 1392 the Imperial Court was reunited by absorbing the Southern Court, although the modern Imperial Household Agency considers the Southern Court to be the legitimate emperor.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> 天皇陵. Imperial Household Agency The de facto rule of Japan by the Ashikaga shogunate lasted until the Onin War, which broke out in 1467.
From 1346 to 1358 during the Nanboku-cho period, the Ashikaga shogunate gradually expanded the authority of the , the local military and police officials established by the Kamakura shogunate, giving the Shugo jurisdiction over land disputes between and allowing the Shugo to receive half of all taxes from the areas they controlled. The Shugo shared their newfound wealth with the local samurai, creating a hierarchical relationship between the Shugo and the samurai, and the first early , called , appeared.
During the Nanboku-chō period, many lower-class foot soldiers called began to participate in battles, and the popularity of increased. During the Nanboku-chō and Muromachi periods, and became the norm, and senior samurai also began to wear by adding (helmet), (face armor), and gauntlet.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> 甲冑の歴史（南北朝時代～室町時代） Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World.
Issues of inheritance caused family strife as primogeniture became common, in contrast to the division of succession designated by law before the 14th century. Invasions of neighboring samurai territories became common to avoid infighting, and bickering among samurai was a constant problem for the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunates.
Daimyo who became more powerful as the shogunate's control weakened were called , and they often came from shugo daimyo, , and . In other words, sengoku daimyo differed from shugo daimyo in that a sengoku daimyo was able to rule the region on his own, without being appointed by the shogun.
During this period, the traditional master-servant relationship between the lord and his vassals broke down, with the vassals eliminating the lord, internal clan and vassal conflicts over leadership of the lord's family, and frequent rebellion and puppetry by branch families against the lord's family. These events sometimes led to the rise of samurai to the rank of sengoku daimyo. For example, Hōjō Sōun was the first samurai to rise to the rank of sengoku daimyo during this period. Uesugi Kenshin was an example of a Shugodai who became sengoku daimyo by weakening and eliminating the power of the lord.
This period was marked by the loosening of samurai culture, with people born into other social strata sometimes making a name for themselves as warriors and thus becoming de facto samurai. One such example is Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a well-known figure who rose from a peasant background to become a samurai, sengoku daimyo, and kampaku (Imperial Regent).
From this time on, infantrymen called , who were mobilized from the peasantry, were mobilized in even greater numbers than before, and the importance of the infantry, which had begun in the Nanboku-chō period, increased even more. 歴史人 September 2020. pp.40–41. When were introduced from Portugal in 1543, Japanese swordsmiths immediately began to improve and mass-produce them. The Japanese matchlock was named after the Tanegashima, which is believed to be the place where it was first introduced to Japan. By the end of the Sengoku Period, there were hundreds of thousands of arquebuses in Japan and a large army of nearly 100,000 men clashing with each other.
On the battlefield, began to fight in close formation, using (spear) and . As a result, , (bow), and became the primary weapons on the battlefield. The , which was difficult to maneuver in close formation, and the long, heavy fell into disuse and were replaced by the , which could be held short, and the short, light , which appeared in the Nanboku-cho period and gradually became more common. The was often cut off from the hilt and shortened to make a . The , which had become inconvenient for use on the battlefield, was transformed into a symbol of authority carried by high-ranking samurai.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Basic knowledge of naginata and nagamaki. Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum, Touken World
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Arms for battle – spears, swords, bows. Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum, Touken WorldKazuhiko Inada (2020), Encyclopedia of the Japanese Swords. p42. Although the had become even more obsolete, some sengoku daimyo dared to organize assault and kinsmen units composed entirely of large men equipped with to demonstrate the bravery of their armies.Kazuhiko Inada (2020), Encyclopedia of the Japanese Swords. p39.
These changes in the aspect of the battlefield during the Sengoku period led to the emergence of the style of armor, which improved the productivity and durability of armor. In the history of Japanese armor, this was the most significant change since the introduction of the and in the Heian period. In this style, the number of parts was reduced, and instead armor with eccentric designs became popular. 日本の甲冑 Costume Museum
By the end of the Sengoku period, allegiances between warrior vassals, also known as military retainers, and lords were solidified. Vassals would serve lords in exchange for material and intangible advantages, in keeping with Confucian ideas imported from China between the seventh and ninth centuries. These independent vassals who held land were subordinate to their superiors, who may be local lords or, in the Edo period, the shogun. A vassal or samurai could expect monetary benefits, including land or money, from lords in exchange for their military services.
Oda Nobunaga made innovations in the fields of organization and war tactics, made heavy use of arquebuses, developed commerce and industry, and treasured innovation. Consecutive victories enabled him to end the Ashikaga Bakufu and disarm of the military powers of the Buddhist monks, which had inflamed futile struggles among the populace for centuries. Attacking from the "sanctuary" of Buddhist temples, they were constant headaches to any warlord and even the emperor, who tried to control their actions. He died in 1582 when one of his generals, Akechi Mitsuhide, turned upon him with his army.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who founded the Tokugawa shogunate, were loyal followers of Nobunaga. Hideyoshi began as a peasant and became one of Nobunaga's top generals, and Ieyasu had shared his childhood with Nobunaga. Hideyoshi defeated Mitsuhide within a month and was regarded as the rightful successor of Nobunaga by avenging the treachery of Mitsuhide. These two were able to use Nobunaga's previous achievements on which build a unified Japan and there was a saying: "The reunification is a rice cake; Oda made it. Hashiba shaped it. In the end, only Ieyasu tastes it." (Hashiba is the family name that Toyotomi Hideyoshi used while he was a follower of Nobunaga.)
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who became a grand minister in 1586, created a law that non-samurai were not allowed to carry weapons, which the samurai caste codified as permanent and hereditary, thereby ending the social mobility of Japan, which lasted until the dissolution of the Edo shogunate by the Meiji revolutionaries.
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 organization 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 authorized samurai families after the 17th century were those that chose to follow Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu. Large battles occurred during the change between regimes, and a number of defeated samurai were destroyed, went rōnin or were absorbed into the general populace.
During the Azuchi–Momoyama period (late Sengoku period), "samurai" often referred to , the lowest-ranking bushi, as exemplified by the provisions of the temporary law Separation Edict enacted by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1591. This law regulated the transfer of status classes:samurai ( wakatō), , , and . These four classes and the ashigaru were and peasants employed by the bushi and fell under the category of . In times of war, samurai ( wakatō) and ashigaru were fighters, while the rest were porters. Generally, samurai ( wakatō) could take family names, while some ashigaru could, and only samurai ( wakatō) were considered samurai class. Wakatō, like samurai, had different definitions in different periods, meaning a young bushi in the Muromachi period and a rank below and above ashigaru in the Edo period.
Kiyomasa withdrew back to Korea after retaliatory counterattacks from the Jurchen people in the area, whose castles his forces had raided. Shimazu Yoshihiro led some 7,000 samurai into battle, and despite being heavily outnumbered, defeated a host of allied Ming dynasty and Korean forces at the Battle of Sacheon in 1598. Yoshihiro was feared as Oni-Shimazu ("Shimazu ogre") and his nickname spread across Korea and into China. In spite of the superiority of Japanese land forces, the two expeditions ultimately failed after Hideyoshi's death, though the invasions did devastate the Korean peninsula. The causes of the failure included Korean naval superiority (which, led by Admiral Yi Sun-sin, harassed Japanese supply lines continuously throughout the wars, resulting in supply shortages on land), the commitment of sizable Ming forces to Korea, Korean guerrilla actions, wavering Japanese commitment to the campaigns as the wars dragged on, and the underestimation of resistance by Japanese commanders.
In the first campaign of 1592, Korean defenses on land were caught unprepared, under-trained, and under-armed. They were rapidly overrun, with only a limited number of successfully resistant engagements against the more experienced and battle-hardened Japanese forces. During the second campaign in 1597, Korean and Ming forces proved far more resilient and with the support of continued Korean naval superiority, managed to limit Japanese gains to parts of southeastern Korea. The final death blow to the Japanese campaigns in Korea came with Hideyoshi's death in late 1598 and the recall of all Japanese forces in Korea by the Council of Five Elders, established by Hideyoshi to oversee the transition from his regency to that of his son Hideyori.
In this politically unstable situation, Maeda Toshiie, one of the Gotairō, died of illness, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of the Gotairō who had been second in power to Hideyoshi but had not participated in the war, rose to power, and Ieyasu came into conflict with Ishida Mitsunari, one of the Go-Bukyō and others. This conflict eventually led to the Battle of Sekigahara, in which the led by Ieyasu defeated the led by Mitsunari, and Ieyasu nearly gained control of Japan.
Social mobility was high, as the ancient regime collapsed and emerging samurai needed to maintain a large military and administrative organizations in their areas of influence. Most of the samurai families that survived to the 19th century originated in this era, declaring themselves to be the blood of one of the four ancient noble clans: Minamoto, Taira, Fujiwara clan, and Tachibana. In most cases, however, it is difficult to prove these claims.
Following the passing of a law in 1629, samurai on official duty were required to wear two swords. However, by the end of the Tokugawa era, samurai were aristocratic bureaucrats for their daishō, becoming more of a symbolic emblem of power than a weapon used in daily life. They still had the legal right to cut down any commoner who did not show proper respect ( kiri-sute gomen), but to what extent this right was used is unknown.Michael Wert9780190685102, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190685102 When the central government forced daimyōs to cut the size of their armies, unemployed rōnin became a social problem.
Theoretical obligations between a samurai and his lord (usually a daimyō) increased from the Genpei era to the Edo era, strongly emphasized by the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, required reading for the educated samurai class. The leading figures who introduced Confucianism in Japan in the early Tokugawa period were Fujiwara Seika (1561–1619), Hayashi Razan (1583–1657), and Matsunaga Sekigo (1592–1657).
Pederasty permeated the culture of samurai in the early seventeenth century. The relentless condemnation of pederasty by Jesuit missionaries also hindered attempts to convert Japan's governing elite to Christianity. Pederasty had become deeply institutionalized among the daimyo and samurai, prompting comparisons to ancient Athens and Sparta. The Jesuits' strong condemnation of the practice alienated many of Japan's ruling class, creating further barriers to their acceptance of Christianity. Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third shogun, was known for his interest in pederasty.
From the mid-Edo period, wealthy and farmers could join the samurai class by giving a large sum of money to an impoverished to be adopted into a samurai family and inherit the samurai's position and stipend. The amount of money given to a gokenin varied according to his position: 1,000 ryo for a and 500 ryo for an Some of their descendants were promoted to and held important positions in the shogunate. Some of the peasants' children were promoted to the samurai class by serving in the office. Kachi could change jobs and move into the lower classes, such as chōnin. For example, Takizawa Bakin became a chōnin by working for Tsutaya Jūzaburō.
In 1612, Hasekura Tsunenaga, a vassal of the daimyo Date Masamune, led a diplomatic mission and had an audience with King Philip III of Spain, presenting him with a letter requesting trade, and he also had an audience with Pope Paul V in Rome. He returned to Japan in 1620, but news of the Tokugawa shogunate's suppression of Christianity had already reached Europe, and trade did not take place due to the Tokugawa shogunate's policy of sakoku. In the town of Coria del Rio in Spain, where the diplomatic mission stopped, there were 600 people with the surnames Japon or Xapon as of 2021, and they have passed on the folk tale that they are the descendants of the samurai who remained in the town.
At the end of the Edo period (Bakumatsu era), when Matthew C. Perry came to Japan in 1853 and the sakoku policy was abolished, six diplomatic missions were sent to the United States and European countries for diplomatic negotiations. The most famous were the US mission in 1860 and the European missions in 1862 and 1864. Fukuzawa Yukichi, who participated in these missions, is most famous as a leading figure in the modernization of Japan, and his portrait was selected for the 10,000 yen note.
The Japanese began importing large quantities of European and American weapons and hiring European and American veterans to train their armies. The new weapons included modern rifles with caplock and breechloader mechanisms. These new firearms were more versatile and deadly than the matchlock muskets the Japanese had been using for three centuries. Their rifling gave them better accuracy and range, their mechanisms were less fiddly and worked even in wet weather, and they could be fitted with to double as spears. Whereas the matchlock musket was used alongside spears and bows on the battlefield, the new rifles became the standard infantry weapon.Hoya Toru, in Hellyer et al. The Meiji Restoration
Even before the Meiji Restoration, the shogun and other feudal lords put a stronger emphasis on commoners when they set about rebuilding their armies.Jaundrill. Samurai to Soldier, p. 71: "On the national level, the Tokugawa shogunate had inaugurated an ambitious attempt to create a new kind of army: one composed primarily of commoner soldiers and solidly under the control of Tokugawa authorities—not vassal warriors, as had been the case early in the regime’s history."Hoya Toru, in Hellyer et al. The Meiji Restoration, p.153: "In the wake of armed internal conflicts, almost every domain embraced modern, military organizational methods modeled after those of contemporary Europe. The key trigger to these reforms was the adoption of modern firearms, notably rifles, which decisively reshaped the military organizations of the day." There were political advantages. Commoners tended to be more submissive as they came from humbler backgrounds, did not inherit any military tradition, and were easier to replace.Jaundrill. Samurai to Soldier, p. 47: "Because the soldiers recruited through the 1863 conscriptions ranked as the lowest members of the warrior status group, Tokugawa military leaders were free to use them as test subjects in their experimental effort to create a Westernized military. Unlike the warriors who had attended (or avoided) the Martial Arts School, the new recruits had no prior experience with military service, and thus no preconceptions about the limits of their superiors’ authority." They were less resistant to social reform because they had little to lose and a lot to gain. They typically came without any political baggage or conflicting loyalties, which became especially important later on when the Meiji government sought to create a national army that cut across feudal domains. During the Meiji era, conscription into the national army exposed men across Japan to nationalist indoctrination, a way to build unity and national identity.Jaundrill (2019). Samurai to Soldier, p. 44: "Others domains like Choshu and Saga recruited on and outside the margins of the warrior status group in order to avoid sparking political conflicts within the domain."Esposito. Japanese Armies 1868-1877, p. 13: "The peasant conscripts would be trained in regular, disciplined units with modern firearms; there would be no place for the selective loyalties of traditional samurai entourages in any future wars."Edward J. Drea. Japan's Imperial Army, pp. 22, 29
The Japanese realized that in order to match the industrial and military might of the Western imperial powers, Japan had to abandon feudalism for a capitalist economy with a strong central government.Jaundrill. Samurai to Soldier, p. 31: "Thus the Ansei (1854–1860) round of reforms aimed to graft new technology onto existing organizational frameworks. The setbacks encountered in the Ansei reform era led shogunal and domainal leaders to conclude that technological reform was not possible without organizational reform—a political act that most authorities were unwilling to undertake unless absolutely necessary."Ravina. To Stand with the Nations of the World, p. 106: "...the crisis of 1866 prompted one of the most remarkable reform efforts in Japanese history. Defeat by Chōshū had discredited defenders of the shogunal status quo. Yoshinobu seized this chance to push through the most radical Japanese reform project in a millennium. Yoshinobu sought nothing less than the complete reorganization of the shogunate “from a feudally organized suzerain regime into a unified national regime organized along the bureaucratic lines of Napoleonic France." In November 1867, the unpopular shogun relinquished his authority to the emperor, who was seen as a unifying figure by the Japanese. Thus began the Meiji Restoration.Ravina. To Stand with the Nations of the World, p. 116: "Yoshinobu’s move was tactically brilliant. By agreeing to restore political power to the court, he stole the issue from Chōshū and Satsuma. At the same time, his “surrender” allowed Yoshinobu to reposition himself in the emerging political order. The imperial court accepted Yoshinobu’s “return of political authority” on 10/15 but also called for a meeting of the daimyo to decide the course of reform. Since Yoshinobu had deftly manipulated daimyo councils before, he had every reason to expect substantial power in any national assembly. Between 1869 and 1871, the daimyo (Japan's feudal lords) were stripped of their lands and titles. Their domains became prefectures subject to the authority of the imperial government. Some former daimyo were given government jobs, but most retired with lavish pensions.Ravina. To Stand with the Nations of the World, p. 122: "Rather than fight in defense of noble privilege, many of the last generation of daimyo were eager to be coopted: a handful received positions in the new Meiji government, but most simply accepted lavish pensions and disappeared from political life.
The dissolution of the daimyo class made the samurai defunct as a feudal retainer caste, so the Meiji government began repealing their special rights and privileges. In 1869, the government reclassified high-ranking samurai as shizoku (warriors) and lower status samurai as sotsuzoku (foot soldiers).Ravina. To Stand with the Nations of the World, p.131: "As vassals of vassals, Inada samurai were to be classified as soldiers (sotsu) rather than samurai (shi), resulting in a reduction in both income and status." In 1872, the sotsu rank was abolished and the sotsuzoku were reclassified as shizoku.Ravina. To Stand with the Nations of the World, p. 181: "It eliminated the distinct rank of “sotsu” for lower samurai and classified all retainers with heritable income as “shizoku,” a neologism for “former samurai.”" In 1871, the government banned the samurai topknot (the chonmage). From 1873 to 1879, the government started taxing the stipends and transformed them into interest-bearing government bonds. The main goal was to provide enough financial liquidity to enable former samurai to invest in land and industry. In 1876, the government forbade anyone outside the military to wear swords even if they were of samurai lineage, and repealed the right of a samurai to strike an insolent commoner with potentially lethal force ( kiri-sute gomen).Laurence Winkler. Samurai Road: "In 1876, the wearing of swords was forbidden to anyone except members of the national armed forces, and all samurai stipends were converted to government bonds, at significant financial loss. The samurai right of kirisute gomen, which allowed them to execute commoners who paid them disrespect, was abolished."
Most samurai accepted these reforms. In fact the Meiji leadership was composed mostly of samurai. Although they were no longer entitled to rule, many former samurai were offered positions in the new civilian government because they were typically well-educated. Others were offered teaching positions in the new public education system.Eiko Ikegami. The Taming of the Samurai, pp. 360-361
But some samurai could not be placated, leading to sporadic samurai rebellions. The largest of these was the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. Many disgruntled samurai flocked to Satsuma where the radical samurai Saigo Takamori had set up academies where he taught samurai the ways of modern war and his militant right-wing beliefs. The Meiji reforms of 1873 gave farmers ownership rights so that the government could tax them directly. This eliminated the traditional feudal role of the samurai landowners, of which Satsuma had an exceptionally high number. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 5: The Nineteenth Century, p. 395: "In most fiefs the gōshi had lost their warrior status at the beginning of the Tokugawa period and were assimilated into the wealthy farmer ( gōnō) class. However, the Satsuma gōshi were accorded elite status and continued to think and act as warriors. ... More concretely, the 1873 land tax revision threatened their socioeconomic power in the village. By conferring ownership rights on peasant farmers and taxing individual proprietors, the Meiji land tax eliminated the feudal role of the Satsuma gōshi as petty overlords." Saigo therefore found a lot of sympathetic samurai in Satsuma. The imperial government feared an insurrection and sent a task force to disarm Takamori's growing paramilitary force. In response, Takamori marched his army on Tokyo. The rebel samurai were defeated by the imperial army, which was composed mostly of commoners. Both armies were equipped with modern weapons. After this rebellion was quashed, the Meiji government faced no further challenges to its authority.Ravina. To Stand with the Nations of the World, p. 196: "A primary cause of the 1877 rebellion was the government’s attack on samurai privilege."
In 1947, the shizoku class was abolished.
The translator of Hagakure, William Scott Wilson, observed examples of warrior emphasis on death in clans other than Yamamoto's: "he (Takeda Shingen) was a strict disciplinarian as a warrior, and there is an exemplary story in the Hagakure relating his execution of two brawlers, not because they had fought, but because they had not fought to the death".Wilson, p. 91
Literature on the subject of bushido such as Hagakure ("Hidden in Leaves") by Yamamoto Tsunetomo and Gorin no Sho ("Book of the Five Rings") by Miyamoto Musashi, both written in the Edo period, contributed to the development of bushidō and Zen philosophy.
According to Robert Sharf, "The notion that Zen is somehow related to Japanese culture in general, and bushidō in particular, is familiar to Western students of Zen through the writings of D. T. Suzuki, no doubt the single most important figure in the spread of Zen in the West."
Waka poems were also used as . Hosokawa Gracia, Asano Naganori, and Takasugi Shinsaku are famous for their jisei no ku.
Noh and kemari were promoted by the Ashikaga shogunate and became popular among and samurai. During the Sengoku period, the appreciation of noh and the practice of tea ceremonies were valued for socializing and exchanging information, and were essential cultural pursuits for daimyo and samurai. The view of life and death expressed in noh plays was something the samurai of the time could relate to. Owning tea utensils used in the tea ceremony was a matter of prestige for daimyo and samurai, and in some cases tea utensils were given in exchange for land as a reward for military service. The was also used as a place for political meetings, as it was suitable for secret talks, and the tea ceremony sometimes brought together samurai and townspeople who did not normally interact.
Some samurai had buke bunko, or "warrior library", a personal library that held texts on strategy, the science of warfare, and other documents that would have proved useful during the warring era of feudal Japan. One such library held 20,000 volumes. The upper class had Kuge bunko, or "family libraries", that held classics, Buddhist sacred texts, and family histories, as well as genealogical records.Murray, S. (2009). The library : an illustrated history. New York: Skyhorse Pub.; Chicago : ALA Editions, 2009. p. 113
In a letter dated 29 January 1552, St Francis Xavier observed the ease of which the Japanese understood prayers due to the high level of literacy in Japan at that time:
In a letter to Father Ignatius Loyola at Rome, Xavier further noted the education of the upper classes:
For example, the full name of Oda Nobunaga was "Oda Kazusanosuke Saburo Nobunaga" (織田上総介三郎信長), in which "Oda" is a clan or family name, "Kazusanosuke" is a title of vice-governor of Kazusa province, "Saburo" is a formal nickname ( yobina), and "Nobunaga" is an adult name ( nanori) given at genpuku, the coming of age ceremony. A man was addressed by his family name and his title, or by his yobina if he did not have a title. However, the nanori was a private name that could be used by only a very few, including the emperor. Samurai could choose their own nanori and frequently changed their names to reflect their allegiances.
Samurai were given the privilege of carrying two swords and using 'samurai surnames' to identify themselves from the common people.
A samurai could take , but their backgrounds were checked by higher-ranked samurai. In many cases, taking a concubine was akin to a marriage. Kidnapping a concubine, although common in fiction, would have been shameful, if not criminal. If the concubine was a commoner, a messenger was sent with betrothal money or a note for exemption of tax to ask for her parents' acceptance. Even though the woman would not be a legal wife, a situation normally considered a demotion, many wealthy merchants believed that being the concubine of a samurai was superior to being the legal wife of a commoner. When a merchant's daughter married a samurai, her family's money erased the samurai's debts, and the samurai's social status improved the standing of the merchant family. If a samurai's commoner concubine gave birth to a son, the son could inherit his father's social status.
A samurai could divorce his wife for a variety of reasons with approval from a superior, but divorce was, while not entirely nonexistent, a rare event. A wife's failure to produce a son was cause for divorce, but adoption of a male heir was considered an acceptable alternative to divorce. A samurai could divorce for personal reasons, even if he simply did not like his wife, but this was generally avoided as it would embarrass the person who had arranged the marriage. A woman could also arrange a divorce, although it would generally take the form of the samurai divorcing her. After a divorce, samurai had to return the betrothal money, which often prevented divorces.
A samurai's daughter's greatest duty was political marriage. These women married members of enemy clans of their families to form diplomatic relationships. These alliances were stages for many intrigues, wars and tragedies throughout Japanese history. A woman could divorce her husband if he did not treat her well and also if he was a traitor to his wife's family. A famous case was that of Oda Tokuhime (daughter of Oda Nobunaga); irritated by the antics of her mother-in-law, Lady Tsukiyama (the wife of Tokugawa Ieyasu), she was able to get Lady Tsukiyama arrested on suspicion of communicating with the Takeda clan (then a great enemy of Nobunaga and the Oda clan). Ieyasu also arrested his own son, Matsudaira Nobuyasu, who was Tokuhime's husband, because Nobuyasu was close to his mother Lady Tsukiyama. To assuage his ally Nobunaga, Ieyasu had Lady Tsukiyama executed in 1579 and that same year ordered his son to commit seppuku to prevent him from seeking revenge for the death of his mother.
Though women of wealthier samurai families enjoyed perks of their elevated position in society, such as avoiding the physical labor that those of lower classes often engaged in, they were still viewed as far beneath men. Women were prohibited from engaging in any political affairs and were usually not the heads of their household. This does not mean that women in the samurai class were always powerless. Samurai women wielded power at various occasions. Throughout history, several women of the samurai class have acquired political power and influence, even though they have not received these privileges de jure.
After Ashikaga Yoshimasa, 8th shōgun of the Muromachi shogunate, lost interest in politics, his wife Hino Tomiko largely ruled in his place. Nene, wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was known to overrule her husband's decisions at times, and Yodo-dono, his concubine, became the de facto master of Osaka castle and the Toyotomi clan after Hideyoshi's death. Tachibana Ginchiyo was chosen to lead the Tachibana clan after her father's death. Yamauchi Chiyo, wife of Yamauchi Kazutoyo, has long been considered the ideal samurai wife. According to legend, she made her kimono out of a quilted patchwork of bits of old cloth and saved pennies to buy her husband a magnificent horse, on which he rode to many victories. The fact that Chiyo (though she is better known as "Wife of Yamauchi Kazutoyo") is held in such high esteem for her economic sense is illuminating in the light of the fact that she never produced an heir and the Yamauchi clan was succeeded by Kazutoyo's younger brother. The source of power for women might have been that samurai left their finances to their wives. Several women ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne as a female imperial ruler (女性天皇, josei tennō)
As the Tokugawa period progressed more value became placed on education, and the education of females beginning at a young age became important to families and society as a whole. Marriage criteria began to weigh intelligence and education as desirable attributes in a wife, right along with physical attractiveness. Though many of the texts written for women during the Tokugawa period only pertained to how a woman could become a successful wife and household manager, there were those that undertook the challenge of learning to read, and also tackled philosophical and literary classics. Nearly all women of the samurai class were literate by the end of the Tokugawa period.
Jidaigeki (literally historical drama) has always been a staple program on Japanese movies and television. The programs typically feature a samurai. Samurai films and Western movie share a number of similarities, and the two have influenced each other over the years. One of Japan's most renowned directors, Akira Kurosawa, greatly influenced western film-making. George Lucas' Star Wars series incorporated many stylistic traits pioneered by Kurosawa, and takes the core story of a rescued princess being transported to a secret base from Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress. Kurosawa was inspired by the works of director John Ford, and in turn Kurosawa's works have been remade into westerns such as Seven Samurai into The Magnificent Seven and Yojimbo into A Fistful of Dollars. There is also a 26-episode anime adaptation ( Samurai 7) of Seven Samurai. Along with film, literature containing samurai influences are seen as well. As well as influence from American Westerns, Kurosawa also adapted two of Shakespeare's plays as sources for samurai movies: Throne of Blood was based on Macbeth, and Ran was based on King Lear.Roland Thorne, Samurai films (Oldcastle Books, 2010).
Most common are historical works where the protagonist is either a samurai or former samurai (or another rank or position) who possesses considerable martial skill. Eiji Yoshikawa is one of the most famous Japanese historical novelists. His retellings of popular works, including Taiko, Miyamoto Musashi and The Tale of the Heike, are popular among readers for their epic narratives and rich realism in depicting samurai and warrior culture. The samurai have also appeared frequently in Japanese comics (manga) and animation (anime). Examples are Samurai Champloo, Shigurui, Requiem from the Darkness, , and Afro Samurai. Samurai-like characters are not just restricted to historical settings, and a number of works set in the modern age, and even the future, include characters who live, train and fight like samurai. Some of these works have made their way to the west, where it has been increasing in popularity with America.
In the 21st century, samurai have become more popular in America. Through various media, producers and writers have been capitalizing on the notion that Americans admire the samurai lifestyle. The animated series, Afro Samurai, became well-liked in American popular culture because of its blend of hack-and-slash animation and gritty urban music. Created by Takashi Okazaki, Afro Samurai was initially a dōjinshi, or manga series, which was then made into an animated series by Studio Gonzo. In 2007, the animated series debuted on American cable television on the Spike TV channel. The series was produced for American viewers which "embodies the trend... comparing hip-hop artists to samurai warriors, an image some rappers claim for themselves".Charles Solomon, "Way of the sword" Los Angeles Times Feb 2, 2009 The story line keeps in tone with the perception of a samurai finding vengeance against someone who has wronged him. Because of its popularity, Afro Samurai was adopted into a full feature animated film and also became titles on gaming consoles such as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox. Not only has the samurai culture been adopted into animation and video games, it can also be seen in comic books.
The television series Power Rangers Samurai (adapted from Samurai Sentai Shinkenger) is inspired by the way of the samurai.*
p. 155: "Until the late Edo period, smoothbore muskets had been used in conjunction with other weapons such as bows and spears. Furthermore, engagements involved hand-to-hand combat with weapons such as the short spear."
p. 161: "the government effectively disbanded units of archers and spearmen, key components of the early modern military structure. Moreover, the mounted cavalry, which had been the backbone of samurai military organization, was completely eliminated." and became the self-defense weapons of choice, supplanting knives and swords. These firearms were also much easier to use than the traditional weapons of the samurai, requiring only two or so weeks of practice to master as opposed to years.An 1860 British rifle training manual, Drill and Rifle Instruction for the Corps of Rifle Volunteers, on p. 75 recommends one week of drilling followed by one week of target practice.In Questions on the Instruction of Musketry and the Hythe Papers (1862), Elphinstone Waters Begbie rhetorically poses the question "How many days ought the rifle-carbine training of the Royal Artillery recruits to occupy?". In the accompanying answer booklet, Begbie answers: "Fifteen working days"
"According to Kawaguchi, it requires some 3 years to learn to handle the sword with natural ease, and no less than 10 years to tentatively master all aspects of the art."Ellis Amdur. Old School: Essays on Japanese Martial Traditions, Expanded Edition: "To learn the fundamental techniques of spear fighting takes a strong body and perhaps two to three months of practice." Peasant gunmen could be trained on an as-needed basis and were just as effective as samurai gunmen. This rendered the samurai obsolete as a specialist warrior caste.Gwynne Dyer (1985). War, p. 58:
"It is not doing too much violence to history to compare the warrior class of samurai in Japan with the feudal nobility of Europe. Both were groups who owed their wealth, power, and social position to their proficiency with arms and derived their own self-respect from it. But proficiency with arms is only an important distinguishing mark if it takes long and arduous training to achieve and has a direct relationship to a man's chances of success and survival in battle—as it does with the sword, the spear, or the bow. Firearms take far less time to master and are much more democratic in their effects: samurai and commoners died with equal speed and equal futility in Takeda's desperate charges at Nagashino."Noel Perrin. Giving up the Gun, p. 73: "So could Lord Matsudaira, Warden of Kami Province, who said disgustedly of the 1637 rebellion. ‘In this there is no difference between soldiers and peasants, because firearms are used.’"Mark Ravina. To Stand with the Nations of the World pp. 24–25: "A well-disciplined deployment of peasant musketeers could destroy an elite brigade of mounted archers, whose skills reflected years of training and noble privilege."
Martial traditions
During the Heian period (794 - 1185), distinctive weapons such as the tachi and naginata, commonly associated with the samurai, came into use. This era also saw the development of Japanese armour styles such as the ō-yoroi and dō-maru. High-ranking samurai, who fought primarily on horseback using archery ( yumi), typically wore the heavy and expensive ō-yoroi, which was well-suited for mounted combat. In contrast, lower-ranking samurai fought on foot, wielding naginata and wearing the lighter and more affordable dō-maru. The warabite-tō swords used by the Emishi influenced the evolution of Japanese swordsmithing techniques, eventually leading to the development of the curved tachi. As a result, straight swords were gradually replaced by curved ones better suited for slashing in combat
Samurai ranks
The samurai class was highly stratified. Rank was determined by a variety of factors such as the rank of one's lord and the size of one's stipend. Individual domains also made their own distinctions. The domain of Choshu had forty strata for the military class. The highest ranking Tokugawa vassals were the daimyo, who had at least 10,000 koku. Next came the hatamoto, who were distinguished by the right of audience with the shogun, followed by the gokenin. Samurai with a large enough stipend had their own retainers who were also samurai, called baishin. Each daimyo had his own retainers that were divided into many ranks. They were roughly divided into shi and sotsu. The highest ranking shi could have a larger stipend than some daimyo. These were usually cadet branch of the domain's ruler or karō families. Most samurai were hizamurai (ordinary samurai) who had an average stipend of 100 koku, and typically were mounted. Under them were the kachi who were on foot and were sometimes not considered samurai. Ashigaru were the lowest ranking members of the military class. While they carried two swords they are often not considered samurai, although they are sometimes listed as lower samurai. (2015). 9781400879656, Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400879656 (1999). 9783447040754, Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 9783447040754
Bushido
In the 13th century, Hōjō Shigetoki wrote: "When one is serving officially or in the master's court, he should not think of a hundred or a thousand people, but should consider only the importance of the master."Wilson, p. 38 Carl Steenstrup notes that 13th- and 14th-century warrior writings ( gunki) "portrayed the bushi in their natural element, war, eulogizing such virtues as reckless bravery, fierce family pride, and selfless, at times senseless devotion of master and man".Carl Steenstrup, PhD Thesis, University of Copenhagen (1979)
Religion
The philosophies of Confucianism, Buddhism and Zen, and to a lesser extent Shinto, influenced the samurai culture. Zen meditation became an important teaching because it offered a process to calm one's mind. The Buddhist concept of reincarnation and rebirth led samurai to abandon torture and needless killing, while some samurai even gave up violence altogether and became Buddhist monks after coming to believe that their killings were fruitless. Some were killed as they came to terms with these conclusions in the battlefield. The most defining role that Confucianism played in samurai philosophy was to stress the importance of the lord-retainer relationship—the loyalty that a samurai was required to show his lord.
Culture
, , , tea ceremony, and were some of the cultural pursuits enjoyed by the aristocratic samurai in the Sengoku Period.
Education
In general, samurai, aristocrats, and priests had a very high literacy rate in kanji. Recent studies have shown that literacy in kanji among other groups in society was somewhat higher than previously understood. For example, court documents, birth and death records and marriage records from the Kamakura period, submitted by farmers, were prepared in Kanji. Both the kanji literacy rate and skills in math improved toward the end of Kamakura period.Matsura, Yoshinori Fukuiken-shi 2 (Tokyo: Sanshusha, 1921)
There were to Lord Eirin's character many high points difficult to measure, but according to the elders the foremost of these was the way he governed the province by his civility. It goes without saying that he acted this way toward those in the samurai class, but he was also polite in writing letters to the farmers and townspeople, and even in addressing these letters he was gracious beyond normal practice. In this way, all were willing to sacrifice their lives for him and become his allies.Wilson, p. 85
The Nobles send their sons to monasteries to be educated as soon as they are 8 years old, and they remain there until they are 19 or 20, learning reading, writing and religion; as soon as they come out, they marry and apply themselves to politics.
Names
A samurai was usually named by combining one kanji from his father or grandfather and one new kanji. Samurai normally used only a small part of their total name.
(2025). 9780190932947, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190932947
Marriage
Samurai had arranged marriages, which were arranged by a go-between of the same or higher rank. While for those samurai in the upper ranks this was a necessity (as most had few opportunities to meet women), this was a formality for lower-ranked samurai. Most samurai married women from a samurai family, but for lower-ranked samurai, marriages with commoners were permitted. In these marriages a dowry was brought by the woman and was used to set up the couple's new household.
Women
Maintaining the household was the main duty of women of the samurai class. This was especially crucial during early feudal Japan, when warrior husbands were often traveling abroad or engaged in clan battles. The wife, or okugatasama (meaning: one who remains in the home), was left to manage all household affairs, care for the children, and perhaps even defend the home forcibly. For this reason, many women of the samurai class were trained in wielding a polearm called a naginata or a special knife called the kaiken in an art called tantojutsu (lit. the skill of the knife), which they could use to protect their household, family, and honor if the need arose. There were women who actively engaged in battles alongside male samurai in Japan, although most of these female warriors were not formal samurai.
In popular culture
Samurai figures have been the subject for legends, folk tales, dramatic stories (i.e. gunki monogatari), theatre productions in kabuki and noh, in literature, movies, animated and anime films, television shows, manga, video games, and in various musical pieces in genre that range from enka to J-Pop songs.
*
See also
Bibliography
Historiography
External links
|
|
