What is a Samurai?

A samurai is an aristocratic warrior and the retainer of the daimyo. The samurai’s came out at a time when battles for land between three major powers the Minamoto, the Fujiwara and the Taira.

The samurai played an important part in Japanese culture during the beginning of the 9th and the 12th century. At the time the Samurai’ shad two different names the samurai’s and the Bushi. The samurai’s were knights/retainers and the Bushi were warriors. Some of them were relatives of the ruling class of people and the others were hired men.

Under the Tokugawa regime from 1600 to 1867, the samurai’s were on top of the four classes of society. They were the only warriors to carry katana or swords. In the times of war and battle the samurai’s were unstoppable but there did come a time when peace was restored. During that time, most of the samurai’s did work in bureaucratic jobs in the Japanese administration. Some people began to doubt their combat skills because they worked in the offices.

For the most part the samurai’s held the utmost respect and admiration. They lived by the Bushido which was their code of ethics. They showed unwavering loyalty to their overlords and they had such an indifference to pain or death at being a samurai actually looked like a glamorous job.

The samurai’s soon became an expert in fighting on horseback and on the ground. Early samurai’s fought with bow and arrows and later in the 12th century they began using the katana. Soon they changed their fighting style as well. They began to fight on the ground rather than on horseback.

Samurai warriors still are respected and no longer exist to fight. They are now a symbol to the Japanese as great warriors and there has not been any warrior that has come close to that of the Samurai.