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[[Image:Samurai.jpg|thumb|250px|Samurai in [[armour]], 1860s. [[Hand-coloured]] photograph by [[Felice Beato]]]]
[[Image:FirstJapaneseMission.JPG|thumb|250px|Samurai around the 1860s]]

{{Nihongo|'''Samurai'''|[[wikt:侍|侍]]<!--"武士" is pronounced "Bushi" or, occasionally, "mononofu"-->}} is the term for the military nobility of [[Pre-industrial society|pre-industrial]] [[Japan]]. According to translator [[William Scott Wilson]]: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, [[wiktionary:侍う#Etymology 2|saburau]]. In both countries the terms were nominalized to mean "those who serve in close attendance to the nobility," the pronunciation in Japanese changing to [[wiktionary:侍#Etymology 1|saburai]]." According to Wilson, an early reference to the word Samurai appears in the [[Kokin Wakashū]] (905-914), the first imperial anthology of poems, completed in the first part of the tenth century. 

By the end of the 12th century, samurai became synonymous with ''bushi'' (武士) almost entirely and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class. The samurai followed a set of written rules called the [[Bushidō]] . Samurai teachings can still be found today in modern day society with the martial art [[Kendo]], meaning ''the way of the sword''.

==History==
[[Image:KofunCuirass.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Iron helmet and armor with gilt bronze decoration, [[Kofun era]], 5th century. [[Tokyo National Museum]].]]
Following a disastrous [[military]] engagement with [[Tang Dynasty|Tang]] [[China]] and [[Silla]], Japan underwent widespread reform. One of the most important was that of the [[Taika Reform]], issued by Prince Naka no Ōe ([[Emperor Tenji]]) in 646 AD. This edict introduced  Japanese [[aristocracy]] and [[bureaucracy]]<ref name="HW">William Wayne Farris, Heavenly Warriors — The Evolution of Japan's Military, 500–1300, [[Harvard University Press]], 1995.</ref>. As part of the [[Taihō Code]], of 702 AD, and the later [[Yōrō Code]],<ref name="HOJ GS">A History of Japan, Vol. 3 and 4, George Samson, Tuttle Publishing, 2000.</ref> the population was required to report regularly for census, which was used as a precursor for national conscription. With an understanding of how the population was distributed, [[Emperor Mommu]] introduced the law whereby 1 in 3–4 adult males were drafted into the national military. These soldiers were required to supply their own weapons, and in return were exempted from duties and taxes.<ref name="HW"/> This was one of the first attempts by the Imperial government to form an organized army modeled after the Chinese system. It was called ''gundan-sei'' (軍団制) by later historians and is believed to have been short-lived.{{Fact|date=March 2007}} 

The Taihō Code classified imperial bureaucrats into 12 ranks, each divided into two sub-ranks, 1st rank being the highest adviser to the emperor. Those of 6th rank and below were referred to as "samurai" and dealt with day-to-day affairs. Although these "samurai" were civilian public servants, the name is believed to have derived from this term. Military men, however, would not be referred to as "samurai" for many more centuries.{{Fact|date=June 2007}}

In the early [[Heian period]], the late 8th and early 9th centuries, [[Emperor Kammu]] sought to consolidate and expand his rule in northern [[Honshū]], but the armies he sent to conquer the rebellious [[Emishi]] people lacked motivation and discipline, and failed in their task.{{Fact|date=June 2007}}  Emperor Kammu introduced the title of ''Seiitaishogun'' ({{lang|ja|征夷大将軍}}) or [[shogun]], and began to rely on the powerful regional clans to conquer the Emishi. Skilled in mounted combat and [[archery]] ([[kyūdō]]), these clan warriors became the emperor's preferred tool for putting down rebellions.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} Although these warriors may have been educated, at this time (7th to 9th century) the imperial court officials considered them to be little more than barbarians.{{Fact|date=June 2007}}

Ultimately, Emperor Kammu disbanded his army, and from this time, the emperor's power gradually declined. While the emperor was still the ruler, powerful clans around [[Kyoto]] ({{lang|ja|京都}}) assumed positions as ministers, and their relatives bought positions as magistrates.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} To amass wealth and repay their debts, magistrates often imposed heavy taxes, resulting in many farmers becoming landless.{{Fact|date=June 2007}}
[[Image:NasunoYoichi.jpg|200px|thumb|[[Nasu no Yoichi]] firing his famous shot at a fan atop the mast of a Taira ship. From a hanging scroll, Watanabe Museum, Tottori Prefecture, Japan.]]
Through protective agreements and political marriages, they accumulated political power, eventually surpassing the traditional aristocracy.{{Fact|date=June 2007}}

Some clans were originally formed by farmers who had taken up arms to protect themselves from the imperial magistrates sent to govern their lands and collect taxes.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} These clans formed alliances to protect themselves against more powerful clans, and by the mid-Heian period they had adopted characteristic Japanese armour and weapons, and laid the foundations of ''[[Bushido]]'', their ethical code.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} 

Samurai warriors described themselves as followers of "The Way of the Warrior" or Bushido. [[Bushidō]] is defined by the Japanese dictionary [[Nihon Kokugo Daijiten|Shogakukan Kokugo Daijiten]] as "a unique philosophy (ronri) that spread through the warrior class from the Muromachi (chusei) period. From the earliest times, the Samurai felt that the path of the warrior was one of honor, emphasizing duty to one's master, and loyalty unto death.<ref>Cleary, Thomas Training the Samurai Mind: A Bushido Sourcebook  Shambhala (May, 2008) ISBN 1590305728 </ref>

In the 13th century, [[Hojo Shigetoki]] (1198-1261 A.D.) would write:  "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."

Feudal lords such as Shiba Yoshimasa (1350-1410 A.D.) stated that a warrior looked forward to a glorious death in the service of a military leader or the emperor:  "It is a matter of regret to let the moment when one should die pass by....First, a man whose profession is the use of arms should think and then act upon not only his own fame, but also that of his descendants. He should not scandalize his name forever by holding his one and only life too dear....One's main purpose in throwing away his life is to do so either for the sake of the Emperor or in some great undertaking of a military general. It is that exactly that will be the great fame of one's descendants."

In 1412 A.D., [[Imagawa Sadayo]] wrote a letter of admonishment to his brother stressing the importance of duty to one's master. Imagawa was admired for his balance of military and administrative skills during his lifetime and his writings became widespread.  The letters became central to Tokugawa-era laws and were a required study for traditional Japanese until World War II:

{{quote|First of all, a samurai who dislikes battle and has not put his heart in the right place even though he has been born in the house of the warrior, should not be reckoned among one's retainers....It is forbidden to forget the great debt of kindness one owes to his master and ancestors and thereby make light of the virtues of loyalty and filial piety....It is forbidden that one should...attach little importance to his duties to his master...There is a primary need to distinguish loyalty from disloyalty and to establish rewards and punishments.}}

Similarly. the feudal lord [[Takeda Nobushige]] (1525-1561 A.D.) stated:  "In matters both great and small, one should not turn his back on his master's commands...One should not ask for gifts or enfiefments from the master...No matter how unreasonably the master may treat a man, he should not feel disgruntled...An underling does not pass judgments on a superior"

Nobushige's brother [[Takeda Shingen]] (1521-1573 A.D.) also made similar observations:  "One who was born in the house of a warrior, regardless of his rank or class, first acquaints himself with a man of military feats and achievements in loyalty....Everyone knows that if a man doesn't hold filial piety toward his own parents he would also neglect his duties toward his lord. Such a neglect means a disloyalty toward humanity. Therefore such a man doesn't deserve to be called 'samurai'."

The feudal lord [[Asakura Yoshikage]] (1428-1481 A.D.) wrote:  "In the fief of the Asakura, one should not determine hereditary chief retainers. A man should be assigned according to his ability and loyalty."  Asakura also observed that the successes of his father were obtained by the kind treatment of the warriors and common people living in domain.  By his civility, "all were willing to sacrifice their lives for him and become his allies."

[[Kato Kiyomasa]] was one of the most powerful and well-known lords of the Sengoku Era. He commanded most of Japan's major clans during the invasion of Korea (1592-1598). In a handbook he addressed to "all samurai, regardless of rank"  he told his followers that a warrior's only duty in life was to "grasp the long and the short swords and to die".  He also ordered his followers to put forth great effort in studying the military classics, especially those related to loyalty and filial piety. He is best known for his quote:

"If a man does not investigate into the matter of Bushido daily, it will be difficult for him to die a brave and manly death. Thus it is essential to engrave this business of the warrior into one's mind well."

[[Nabeshima Naoshige]] (1538-1618 A.D.) was another Sengoku Daimyo who fought alongside Kato Kiyomasa in Korea. He stated that it was shameful for any man to have not risked his life at least once in the line of duty, regardless of his rank. Nabeshima's sayings would be passed down to his son and grandson and would become the basis for [[Tsunetomo Yamamoto]]'s [[Hagakure]]. He is best-known for his saying "Bushido is in being crazy to die. Fifty or more could not kill one such a man."
[[Image:Sengoku period battle.jpg|thumb|[[Battle of Kawanakajima]] in 1561]]
[[Torii Mototada]] (1539-1600) was a feudal lord in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu. On the eve of the battle of [[Sekigahara]], he volunteered to remain behind in the doomed [[Fushimi Castle]] while his lord advanced to the east. Torii and Tokugawa both agreed that the castle was indefensible. In an act of loyalty to his lord, Torii chose to remain behind, pledging that he and his men would fight to the finish. As was custom, Torii vowed that he would not be taken alive. In a dramatic last stand, the garrison of 2,000 men held out against overwhelming odds for ten days against the massive army of Ishida Mitsunari's 40,000 warriors. In a moving [http://74.125.93.104/search?q=cache:Mr-4Ma_JxJAJ:se1.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent%3FserviceID%3D47%26fileid%3DA2ACEFA7-841A-1AB5-38EF-4F01450AC856%26lng%3Den+http://se2.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent%3FserviceID%3D23%26fileid%3DA2ACEFA7-841A-1AB5-38EF-4F01450AC856%26lng%3Den&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a last statement] to his son Tadamasa, he wrote:

"It is not the Way of the Warrior [i.e., bushido] to be shamed and avoid death even under circumstances that are not particularly important. It goes without saying that to sacrifice one's life for the sake of his master is an unchanging principle. That I should be able to go ahead of all the other warriors of this country and lay down my life for the sake of my master's benevolence is an honor to my family and has been my most fervent desire for many years."

It is said that both men cried when they parted ways, because they knew they would never see each other again. Torii's father and grandfather had served the Tokugawa before him and his own brother had already been killed in battle. Torii's actions changed the course of Japanese history.  Ieyasu Tokugawa would successfully raise an army and win at [[Sekigahara]].

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." <ref>Suzuki,Daisetz Teitaro [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0691017700 Zen and Japanese Culture] (New York: Pantheon Books)</ref>

The rival of [[Takeda Shingen]] {1521-1573} was [[Uesugi Kenshin]] (1530-1578), a legendary Sengoku warlord well-versed in the Chinese military classics and who advocated the "way of the warrior as death". Japanese historian Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki describes Uesugi's beliefs in his text [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0691017700 "Zen and Japanese Culture"] (1959):

"Those who are reluctant to give up their lives and embrace death are not true warriors....
Go to the battlefield firmly confident of victory, and you will come home with no wounds whatever. Engage in combat fully determined to die and you will be alive; wish to survive in the battle and you will surely meet death. When you leave the house determined not to see it again you will come home safely; when you have any thought of returning you will not return. You may not be in the wrong to think that the world is always subject to change, but the warrior must not entertain this way of thinking, for his fate is always determined."

Families such as the Imagawa were influential in the development of warrior ethics and were widely quoted by other lords during their lifetime. The writings of [[Imagawa Sadayo]] were highly respected and sought out by Tokugawa Ieyasu as the source of [http://www.uni-erfurt.de/ostasiatische_geschichte/texte/japan/dokumente/17/tokugawa_legislation/index.htm Japanese Feudal Law]. These writings were a required study among traditional Japanese until World War II.

In his book "Japanese Culture" (2000), historian H. Paul Varley notes the description of Japan given by Jesuit leader [[St. Francis Xavier]] (1506-1552): "There is no nation in the world which fears death less."  Xavier further [http://www.archive.org/details/lifelettersofstf01coleuoft describes] the honor and manners of the people: "I fancy that there are no people in the world more punctilious about their honour than the Japanese, for they will not put up with a single insult or even a word spoken in anger." Xavier spent the years 1549-1551 converting Japanese to Christianity. He also observed: "The Japanese are much braver and more warlike than the people of China, Korea, Ternate and all of the other nations around the Philippines."

In December 1547, Francis was in Malacca (Malaysia) waiting to return to Goa (India) when he met a low-ranked samurai named Anjiro (possibly spelled "Yajiro"). Anjiro was not a nobleman or an intellectual, but he impressed Xavier because he took careful notes of everything he said in church. Xavier made the decision to go to Japan in part because this low-ranking samurai convinced him in Portuguese that the Japanese people were highly educated and eager to learn. They were hard workers and respectful of authority. In their laws and customs they were led by reason, and, should the Christian faith convince them of its truth, they would accept it en masse.<ref name=Coleridge>Coleridge, Henry James  ''The life and letters of St. Francis Xavier'' (London: Burns and Oates, 1872)</ref>

By the 12th century, upper-class samurai were highly literate due to the general introduction of Confucianism from China during the 7th to 9th centuries, and in response to their perceived need to deal with the imperial court, who had a monopoly on culture and literacy for most of the Heian period. As a result they aspired to the more cultured abilities of the nobility.<ref name=Matsura>Matsura, Yoshinori  Fukuiken-shi 2 (Tokyo: Sanshusha, 1921)</ref>

Examples such as Taira Tadanori (a samurai who appears in the [[Heike Monogatari]]) demonstrate that warriors idealized the arts and aspired to become skilled in them.

Tadanori was famous for his skill with the pen and the sword or the "bun and the bu", the harmony of fighting and learning.
Samurai were expected to be cultured and literate, and admired the ancient saying "Bun Bu Ryo Do" (文武両道, lit., literary arts, military arts, both ways) or "The pen and the sword in accord." By the time of the Edo period, Japan had a higher literacy rate than Europe.

The number of men who actually achieved the ideal and lived their lives by it was high. An early term for warrior, "uruwashii", was written with a kanji that combined the characters for literary study ("bun" 文) and military arts ("bu" 武), and is mentioned in the Heike Monogatari (late 12th century). The Heike Monogatari makes reference to the educated poet-swordsman ideal in its mention of Taira no Tadanori's death:

{{quote|Friends and foes alike wet their sleeves with tears and said,<br>
What a pity! Tadanori was a great general,<br>
pre-eminent in the arts of both sword and poetry.}}

In his book [["Ideals of the Samurai"]]  translator [[William Scott Wilson]] states: "The warriors in the [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/heike/heike.html Heike Monogatari] served as models for the educated warriors of later generations, and the ideals depicted by them were not assumed to be beyond reach. Rather, these ideals were vigorously pursued in the upper echelons of warrior society and recommended as the proper form of the Japanese man of arms. With the Heike Monogatari, the image of the Japanese warrior in literature came to its full maturity." Wilson then translates the writings of several warriors who mention the Heike Monogatari as an example for their men to follow.

Plenty of warrior writings document this ideal from the 13th century onward.  Most warriors aspired to or followed this ideal otherwise there would have been no cohesion in the samurai armies.<ref name=Wilson>[[William Scott Wilson]], [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0897500814 Ideals of the Samurai: Writings of Japanese Warriors] (Kodansha, 1982) ISBN 0-89750-081-4</ref>

===Kamakura Bakufu and the rise of Samurai===
[[Image:Tosei Gusoku Hatisuka clan.jpg|thumb|right|Japanese [[samurai armor]], Tosei Gusoku, of the Hatisuka Clan]] 

Originally the emperor and nobility employed these warriors. In time, they amassed enough manpower, resources and political backing in the form of alliances with one another, to establish the first samurai-dominated government.

As the power of these regional clans grew, their chief was typically a distant relative of the emperor, and a lesser member of either the [[Fujiwara clan|Fujiwara]], [[Minamoto]], or [[Taira]] clans.

Though originally sent to provincial areas for a fixed four-year term as a magistrate, the ''toryo'' declined to return to the capital when their terms ended, and their sons inherited their positions and continued to lead the clans in putting down rebellions throughout Japan during the middle- and later-Heian period.

Samurai fought at the naval battle of [[Battle of Dan-no-ura|Dan-no-Ura]] in 1185. Because of their rising military and economic power, the warriors ultimately became a new force in the politics of the court. Their involvement in the [[Hōgen (era)|Hōgen]] in the late Heian period consolidated their power, and finally pitted the rival [[Minamoto]] and [[Taira]] clans against each other in the [[Heiji Rebellion]] of 1160. 

The winner, [[Taira no Kiyomori]], became an imperial advisor, and was the first warrior to attain such a position. He eventually seized control of the central government, establishing the first samurai-dominated government and relegating the emperor to figurehead status. 

However, the Taira clan was still very conservative when compared to its eventual successor, the Minamoto, and instead of expanding or strengthening its military might, the Taira clan had its women marry emperors and exercise control through the emperor.

The Taira and the Minamoto clashed again in 1180, beginning the [[Gempei War]] which ended in 1185. The victorious [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] established the superiority of the samurai over the aristocracy. In 1190 he visited Kyoto, and in 1192 became [[Shogun|Seii Taishogun]], establishing the Kamakura Shogunate, or ''Kamakura Bakufu''. Instead of ruling from Kyoto, he set up the Shogunate in [[Kamakura, Kanagawa|Kamakura]], near his base of power.  "Bakufu" means "tent government", taken from the encampments the soldiers would live in, in accordance with the Bakufu's status as a military government.

Over time, powerful samurai clans became warrior nobility, or "''buke''", who were only nominally under the court aristocracy. When the samurai began to adopt aristocratic pastimes like [[calligraphy]], poetry and music, some court aristocrats in turn began to adopt samurai customs. In spite of various machinations and brief periods of rule by various emperors, real power was now in the hands of the Shogun and the samurai.

===Ashikaga Shogunate===
[[Image:Mooko-Suenaga.jpg|thumb|350px|The Samurai Suenaga facing Mongols, during the [[Mongol invasions of Japan]]. ''[[Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba]]'' (蒙古襲来絵詞), circa 1293.]]
Various samurai clans struggled for power during the [[Kamakura shogunate|Kamakura]] and [[Ashikaga shogunate|Ashikaga Shogunate]]s.

[[Zen Buddhism]] spread among the samurai in the 13th century and helped to shape their standards of conduct, particularly overcoming fear of death and killing, but among the general populace, [[Pure Land Buddhism]] was favored.

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 [[bomb]]s, 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 great, stone barrier around [[Hakata Bay]] in 1276. Completed in 1277, this wall stretched for 20 kilometers around the border of the bay. This would later serve 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. This 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 recalling their armies.
[[Image:Mooko-HakataWall.jpg|thumb|350px|left|Samurai and defensive wall at [[Hakata-ku, Fukuoka|Hakata]]. Moko Shurai Ekotoba, (蒙古襲来絵詞) c.1293.]]

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.

In the 14th century, a blacksmith called [[Masamune]] developed a two-layer structure of soft and hard steel for use in swords. This structure gave much improved cutting power and endurance, and the production technique led to Japanese swords ([[katana]]) being recognized as some of the most potent hand weapons of pre-industrial [[East Asia]]. Many swords made using this technique were exported across the [[East China Sea]], a few making their way as far as [[India]].

Issues of inheritance caused family strife as [[primogeniture]] became common, in contrast to the division of succession designated by law before the 14th century. To avoid infighting, invasions of neighboring samurai territories became common and bickering among samurai was a constant problem for the [[Kamakura Shogunate|Kamakura]] and [[Ashikaga Shogunate|Ashikaga]] Shogunates.

The ''[[Sengoku Period|Sengoku jidai]]'' ("warring-states period") was marked by the loosening of samurai culture with people born into other social strata sometimes making names for themselves as warriors and thus becoming [[de facto]] samurai. In this turbulent period, [[bushido]] ethics became important factors in controlling and maintaining public order.

Japanese war tactics and technologies improved rapidly in the 15th and 16th century. Use of large numbers of infantry called [[ashigaru]] ("light-foot," due to their light armour), formed of humble warriors or ordinary people with ''Nagayari'' (a long [[lance]]) or ([[Naginata]]), was introduced and combined with cavalry in maneuvers. The number of people mobilized in warfare ranged from thousands to hundreds of thousands.

[[Image:NanbanDo.jpg|thumb|150px|left|[[Nanban]] (Western)-style samurai [[cuirass]], 16th century.]]
The [[arquebus]], a [[matchlock]] gun, was introduced by the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] via a Chinese [[pirate]] ship in 1543 and the Japanese succeeded in assimilating it within a decade. Groups of mercenaries with mass-produced [[arquebus]]es began playing a critical role.

By the end of feudal period, several hundred thousand firearms existed in Japan and massive armies numbering over 100,000 clashed in battles. By comparison, the largest and most powerful army in Europe, the [[Spain|Spanish]], had only several thousand firearms and could only assemble 30,000 troops.

In 1590, and again in 1598, [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] decided to invade [[China]] ({{lang|ja|唐入り}}) and sent to [[Korea]] an army of 160,000 peasant and samurai.([[Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea]], {{lang|ja|朝鮮征伐}}). Taking advantage of its mastery of the arquebus, Japanese samurai almost led the war to victory, but were unable to do so, due to the entry of [[China|Ming Chinese]] troops. A few of the more famous samurai generals of this war were [[Katō Kiyomasa]], [[Konishi Yukinaga]], and [[Shimazu Yoshihiro]]. 

Social mobility was high, as the ancient regime collapsed and emerging samurai needed to maintain 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|Fujiwara]] and [[Tachibana clan (samurai)|Tachibana]]. In most cases, however, it is hard to prove these claims.

{{see also|Nanban trade period}}

===Oda, Toyotomi and Tokugawa===
''[[Oda Nobunaga]]'' was the well-known lord of the [[Nagoya, Aichi|Nagoya]] area (once called [[Owari Province]]) and an exceptional example of a samurai of the [[Sengoku Period]]. He came within a few years of, and laid down the path for his successors to follow, the reunification of Japan under a new Bakufu (Shogunate).

Oda Nobunaga made innovations in the fields of organization and war tactics, heavily used arquebuses, developed commerce and industry and treasured innovation. Consecutive victories enabled him to realize the termination of the Ashikaga Bakufu and the disarmament 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.

[[Image:Hasekura in Rome.JPG|thumb|180px|The Samurai [[Hasekura Tsunenaga]] in Rome in 1615, Coll. Borghese, [[Rome]].]]
Importantly, [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] (see below) and [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], who founded the Tokugawa Shogunate, were loyal followers of Nobunaga.  Hideyoshi was brought up from a nameless peasant to be 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 gifted with 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. At last, only Ieyasu tastes it."{{Fact|date=March 2007}} (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, himself the son of a poor peasant family, created a law that the samurai caste became codified as permanent and hereditary, and that non-samurai were forbidden to carry weapons, thereby ending the social mobility of Japan up until that point, which lasted until the dissolution of the Edo Shogunate by the Meiji revolutionaries.

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 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 [[ronin]] or were absorbed into the general populace.

===Tokugawa Shogunate===
[[Image:Samourai servante Itcho.jpg|thumb|left|''Samurai walking followed by a servant'', by Hanabusa Itcho (1652 - 1724)]]
During the [[Tokugawa era]], samurai increasingly became courtiers, bureaucrats, and administrators rather than warriors.  With no warfare since the early 17th century, samurai gradually lost their military function during the [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa era]] (also called the [[Edo period]]).

By the end of the Tokugawa era, samurai were aristocratic bureaucrats for the [[daimyo]], with their ''[[daisho]]'', the paired long and short swords of the samurai (cf. [[katana]] and [[wakizashi]]) becoming 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 (''[[kiri sute gomen]]'' ({{lang|ja|斬り捨て御免}})), but to what extent this right was used is unknown. When the central government forced daimyos to cut the size of their armies, unemployed [[ronin]] became a social problem.

Theoretical obligations between a samurai and his lord (usually a daimyo) increased from the Genpei era to the Edo era.  They were strongly emphasized by the teachings of [[Confucius]] and [[Mencius]] (ca 550 B.C.) which were required reading for the educated samurai class. Bushido was formalized by several influential leaders and families before the Edo Period. Bushido was an ideal, and it remained fairly uniform from the 13th century to the 19th century — the ideals of Bushido transcended social class, time and geographic location of the warrior class.

[[Bushido]] was formalized by samurai such as Imagawa Ryoshun as early as the 13th century.  The conduct of samurai served as role model behavior for the other social classes. With time on their hands, samurai spent more time in pursuit of other interests such as becoming scholars.

Bushido itself is no longer particularly prominent in modern Japan, though some of its ideals and precepts live on.

===Modernization===
{{main|Late Tokugawa shogunate}}
[[Image:ShogunalTroops1864.jpg|thumb|Shogunal samurai troops in 1864 ([[Illustrated London News]]).]]
[[Image:WesternizedSamurai1866.jpg|thumb|Two-sworded samurai in Westernized clothing, during the [[Late Tokugawa shogunate]], 1866.]]
By this time, the Way of Death and Desperateness{{Clarify me|date=March 2009}} had been eclipsed by a rude awakening in 1853, when Commodore [[Matthew Perry (naval officer)|Matthew Perry's]] massive steamships from the U.S. Navy first imposed broader commerce on the once-dominant national policy of isolationism.  Prior to that only a few harbor towns, under strict control from the Shogunate, were able to participate in Western trade, and even then, it was based largely on the idea of playing the [[Franciscan]]s and [[Dominican order|Dominicans]] off against one another (in exchange for the crucial [[arquebus]] technology, which in turn was a major contributor to the downfall of the classical samurai).

From 1854, the samurai army and the navy were modernized. A [[Nagasaki Naval Training Center|Naval training school]] was established in [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]] in 1855. Naval students were sent to study in Western naval schools for several years, starting a tradition of foreign-educated future leaders, such as Admiral [[Enomoto Takeaki|Enomoto]]. 

French naval engineers were hired to build naval arsenals, such as [[Yokosuka]] and [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]]. By the end of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1867, the Japanese navy of the [[shogun]] already possessed eight western-style steam warships around the flagship [[Japanese battleship Kaiyo Maru|''Kaiyō Maru'']], which were used against pro-imperial forces during the [[Boshin war]], under the command of Admiral [[Enomoto Takeaki|Enomoto]]. A [[French Military Mission to Japan (1867)]] was established to help modernize the armies of the [[Bakufu]].

The last showing of the original samurai was in 1867 when samurai from [[Nagato Province|Chōshū]] and [[Satsuma Province|Satsuma]] provinces defeated the Shogunate forces in favor of the rule of the emperor in the [[Boshin War]] (1868-1869). The two provinces were the lands of the daimyo that submitted to Ieyasu after the [[Battle of Sekigahara]] (1600).

The Takugawa Shogunate also isolated Japan until the 1860s.

===Decline===
[[Image:Satsuma-samurai-during-boshin-war-period.jpg|left|thumb|Samurai of the [[Satsuma Domain|Satsuma]] clan, during the [[Boshin War]] period, circa 1867. [[Hand-colored]] Photograph by [[Felice Beato]]]]
[[Emperor Meiji]] abolished the samurai's right to be the only armed force in favor of a more modern, western-style, conscripted army in 1873. Samurai became ''Shizoku'' ({{lang|ja|士族}}) who retained some of their salaries, but the right to wear a katana in public was eventually abolished along with the right to [[execute]] commoners who paid them disrespect.

The samurai finally came to an end after hundreds of years of enjoyment of their status, their powers, and their ability to shape the government of Japan. However, the rule of the state by the military class was not yet over.

In defining how a modern Japan should be, members of the Meiji government decided to follow the footsteps of [[United Kingdom]] and [[Germany]], basing the country on the concept of "[[noblesse oblige]]." Samurai were not to be a political force under the new order.

With the [[Meiji Restoration|Meiji]] reforms in the late 19th century, the samurai class was abolished, and a western-style national army was established. The Imperial Japanese Armies were conscripted, but many samurai volunteered to be soldiers and many advanced to be trained as officers. Much of the Imperial Army officer class was of samurai origin and they were highly motivated, disciplined and exceptionally trained.

[[Image:SaigoWithOfficers.jpg|thumb|[[Saigo Takamori]] (seated, in Western uniform), surrounded by his officers, in samurai attire, during the 1877 [[Satsuma rebellion]]. News article in [[Le Monde Illustré]], 1877.]]
The last samurai conflict was arguably in 1877, during the [[Satsuma Rebellion]] in the [[Battle of Shiroyama]]. This conflict had its genesis in the previous uprising to defeat the Tokugawa Shogunate, leading to the Meiji Restoration. 

The newly formed government instituted radical changes, aimed at reducing the power of the feudal domains, including Satsuma, and the dissolution of samurai status. This led to the ultimately premature uprising, led by [[Saigō Takamori]].

Samurai were many of the early exchange students, not directly because they were samurai, but because many samurai were literate and well-educated scholars. Some of these exchange students started private schools for higher educations, while many samurai took pens instead of guns and became reporters and writers, setting up newspaper companies, and others entered governmental service.

Only the name Shizoku existed after that. After Japan lost [[World War II]], the name Shizoku disappeared under the law on [[January 1]], [[1948]].

==Western samurai==
[[Image:EugeneCollache.jpg|thumb|150px|The [[French Navy]] officer [[Eugène Collache]] fought for the Shogun as a samurai during the [[Boshin War]] (1869).]]
The English sailor and adventurer [[William Adams (sailor)|William Adams]] (1564–1620) seems to have been the first caucasian to receive the dignity of samurai. The Shogun [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] presented him with two swords representing the authority of a samurai, and decreed that William Adams the sailor was dead and that Miura Anjin ({{lang|ja|三浦按針}}), a samurai, was born. Adams also received the title of ''[[hatamoto]]'' (bannerman), a high-prestige position as a direct retainer in the Shogun's court. He was provided with generous revenues: "For the services that I have done and do daily, being employed in the Emperor's service, the emperor has given me a living" (Letters). He was granted a fief in Hemi ({{lang|ja|逸見}}) within the boundaries of present-day [[Yokosuka City]], "with eighty or ninety husbandmen, that be my slaves or servants" (Letters). His estate was valued at 250 [[koku]] (measure of the income of the land in rice equal to about five [[bushel]]s). He finally wrote "God hath provided for me after my great misery" (Letters) by which he meant the disaster-ridden voyage that had initially brought him to Japan.

[[Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn]] (1556?-1623?), a Dutch colleague of Adams' on their ill-fated voyage to Japan in the ship De Liefde, was also given similar privileges by Tokugawa Ieyasu. It appears Joosten became a samurai{{Fact|date=June 2007}} and was given a residence within Ieyasu's castle at Edo. Today, this area at the east exit of [[Tokyo Station]] is known as [[Yaesu]] (八重洲). Yaesu is a corruption of the Dutchman's Japanese name, Yayousu (耶楊子). Also in common with Adam's, Joostens was given a [[Red Seal Ship]] (朱印船) allowing him to trade between Japan and [[Indo-China]]. On a return journey from [[Jakarta|Batavia]] Joosten drowned after his ship ran aground.

Also, during the [[Boshin War]] (1868-1869), French soldiers joined the forces of the Shogun against the Southern Daimyos favorable to the restoration of the [[Meiji emperor]]. It is recorded that the French Navy officer [[Eugène Collache]] fought in samurai attire with his Japanese brothers-in-arms. At the same time, the Prussian [[Edward Schnell]] served the [[Aizu]] domain as a military instructor and procurer of weapons. He was granted the Japanese name Hiramatsu Buhei (平松武兵衛), which inverted the characters of the daimyo's name [[Matsudaira Katamori|Matsudaira]]. Hiramatsu (Schnell) was given the right to wear swords, as well as a residence in the castle town of [[Aizu-Wakamatsu|Wakamatsu]], a Japanese wife, and retainers. In many contemporary references, he is portrayed as wearing a Japanese kimono, overcoat, and swords, with Western riding trousers and boots.

==Culture==
As ''de facto'' aristocrats for centuries, samurai developed their own cultures that influenced Japanese culture as a whole. The culture associated with the samurai such as the tea ceremony, monochrome ink painting, rock gardens and poetry were adopted by warrior patrons throughout the centuries 1200-1600.  These practices were adapted from the Chinese arts. Zen monks introduced them to Japan and they were allowed to flourish due to the interest of powerful warrior elites. Muso Soseki (1275-1351) was a Zen monk who was advisor to both Emperor Go-Daigo and General Ashikaga Takauji (1304-58). Muso as well as other monks acted as political and cultural diplomats between Japan and China. Muso was particularly well known for his garden design.Another Ashikaga patron of the arts was Yoshimasa. His cultural advisor, the Zen monk Zeami, introduced tea ceremony to him.  Previously, tea had been used primarily for Buddhist monks to stay awake during meditation. <ref>Mason, RHP and JG Caiger "A History of Japan" 1997</ref> <!-- Samurai is currently as a partnership with [[Melissa Ricks]] and [[Samurai]].-->

===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 both improved toward the end of Kamakura period.<ref name=Matsura />

Literacy was generally high among the warriors and the common classes as well.  The feudal lord [[Asakura Norikage]] (1474-1555 A.D.) noted the great loyalty given to his father, due to his polite letters, not just to fellow samurai, but also to the farmers and townspeople:  

"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."<ref name=Wilson />

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:

"There are two kinds of writing in Japan, one used by men and the other by women; and for the most part both men and women, especially of the nobility and the commercial class, have a literary education. The bonzes, or bonzesses, in their monasteries teach letters to the girls and boys, though rich and noble persons entrust the education of their children to private tutors.”
"Most of them can read, and this is a great help to them for the easy understanding of our usual prayers and the chief points of our holy religion"<ref name=Coleridge />

In a letter to [[Ignatius of Loyola|Father Ignatius Loyola]] at [[Rome]], Xavier further noted the education of the upper classes:

“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."

"They are discreet, magnanimous and lovers of virtue and letters, honouring learned men very much"

In a letter dated November 11, 1549, Xavier described a multi-tiered educational system in Japan consisting of "universities", "colleges", "academies" and hundreds of monasteries which served as a principle center for learning by the populace:  

"But now we must give you an account of our stay at Cagoxima. We put into that port because the wind was adverse to our sailing to Meaco, which is the largest city in Japan, and most famous as the residence of the King and the Princes. It is said that after four months are passed the favourable season for a voyage to Meaco will return, and then with the good help of God we shall sail thither. The distance from Cagoxima is three hundred leagues. We hear wonderful stories about the size of Meaco : they say that it consists of more than ninety thousand dwellings. There is a very famous University there, as well as five chief colleges of students, and more than two hundred monasteries of bonzes, and of others who are like coenobites, called Legioxi, as well as of women of the same kind, who are called Hamacutis. Besides this of Meaco, there are in Japan five other principal academies, at Coya, at Negu, at Fisso, and at Homia. These are situated round Meaco, with short distances between them, and each is frequented by about three thousand five hundred scholars. Besides these there is the Academy at Bandou, much the largest and most famous in all Japan, and at a great distance from Meaco. Bandou is a large territory, ruled by six minor princes, one of whom is more powerful than the others and is obeyed by them, being himself subject to the King of Japan, who is called the Great King of Meaco. The things that are given out as to the greatness and celebrity of these universities and cities are so wonderful as to make us think of seeing them first with our own eyes and ascertaining the truth, and then when we have discovered and know how things really are, of writing an account of them to you. 10 They say that there are several lesser academies besides those which we have mentioned"

===Shudō===
[[Image:ShudoMonogatari.jpg|thumb|300px|right|A [[Shudo|Shudō]]-type encounter between younger and older samurai. From "Tale of Shudō" (衆道物語) 1661.]]
''[[Shudo|Shudō]]'' ({{lang|ja|衆道}}), the tradition of love bonds between a seasoned and a novice samurai was held to be "the flower of the samurai spirit" and formed the real basis of the samurai aesthetic. It was analogous to the educational [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] [[pederasty]] and an honored and important practice in samurai society. It was one of the main ways in which the ethos and the skills of the samurai tradition were passed down from one generation to another.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}

Another name for the bonds was ''bidō'' ({{lang|ja|美道}} "the beautiful way"). The devotion that two samurai would have for each other would be almost as great as that which they had for their [[daimyo]]. Indeed, according to contemporary accounts, the choice between his lover and his master could become a philosophical problem for samurai. [[Hagakure]] and other samurai manuals gave specific instructions in the way that this tradition was to be carried out and respected. After the [[Meiji Restoration]] and the introduction of a more westernised lifestyle, the practice died out.

Beside its proponents, the shudo tradition also had its critics, like the "Keichu Kibun Makurabunko" written in the Edo era by the pseudonymous ''Insaisen,'' who is clearly critical.<ref>「日本仏教における僧侶と稚児の男色」Hiramatsu Ryuen</ref>

===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.

For example, the full name of [[Oda Nobunaga]] would be "Oda Kazusanosuke Saburo Nobunaga" ({{lang|ja|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 name before ''genpuku'', a coming of age ceremony, and "Nobunaga" is an adult name. Samurai were able to choose their own first names.

===Marriage===
The [[marriage]] of samurai was done by having a marriage arranged by someone with the same or higher rank than those being married.  While for those samurai in the upper ranks this was a necessity (as most had few opportunities to meet a female), this was a [[formality]] for lower ranked samurai. Most samurai married women from a samurai family, but for a lower ranked samurai marriages with commoners were permitted. In these marriages a [[dowry]] was brought by the woman and was used to start their new lives.

A samurai could have a [[Mistress (lover)|mistress]] but her background was strictly checked by higher ranked samurai. In many cases, this was treated like a marriage.  "Kidnapping" a mistress, although common in fiction, would have been shameful, if not a crime. When she was a commoner, a messenger would be sent with betrothal money or a note for exemption of tax to ask for her parent's acceptance and many parents gladly accepted. If a samurai's wife gave birth to a son he could be a samurai.

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 reason for divorce would be if she could not produce a son, but then [[adoption]] could be arranged as an 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 samurai 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. Some rich merchants had their daughters marry samurai to erase a samurai's debt and advance their positions.

A samurai's wife would be dishonored and allowed to commit [[jigai]] (a female's [[seppuku]]) if she were cast off.{{Fact|date=March 2007}}

==Philosophy==
The philosophies of [[Buddhism]] and [[Zen]], and to a lesser extent [[Confucianism]] and [[Shinto]], influenced the samurai culture.  Zen meditation became an important teaching due to it offering 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 realizing how fruitless their killings were. Some were killed as they came to terms with these realizations in the battlefield. The most defining role that [[Confucianism]] played in samurai philosophy was to stress the importance of the lord-retainer relationship; this is, the loyalty that a samurai was required to show his lord.

[[Bushidō]] ("way of the warrior") was a term that began to appear in intellectual and nationalist discourse after the Japanese defeat of China in 1885 and of Russia in 1905 <ref>Sharf, Robert H "The Zen of Japanese Nationalism" ([[University of Chicago Press]], 1993)</ref>.  ''[[Hagakure]]'' or "Hidden in Leaves" by [[Yamamoto Tsunetomo]] and '' Gorin no Sho'' or "Book of the Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi both written in the Tokugawa period (1603-1868)are theories often associated with Bushido and Zen philosophy.  

The philosophies of [[Buddhism]] and [[Zen]], and to a lesser extent [[Confucianism]] and [[Shinto]], are attributed to the development of the samurai culture. "The notion that Zen is somehow related to Japanese culture in general,and bushido 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." <ref>Sharf, Robert H. "The Zen of Japanese Nationalism" (University of Chicago Press, 1993) p. 12</ref>

In an account of Japan sent to Father Ignatius Loyola at Rome, drawn from the statements of Anger (Han-Siro's western name), Xavier describes the importance of honor to the Japanese (Letter preserved at College of Coimbra.):

"In the first place, the nation with which we have had to do here surpasses in goodness any of the nations lately discovered. I really think that among barbarous nations there can be none that has more natural goodness than the Japanese. They are of a kindly disposition, not at all given to cheating, wonderfully desirous of honour and rank. Honour with them is placed above everything else. There are a great many poor among them, but poverty is not a disgrace to any one. There is one thing among them of which I hardly know whether it is practised anywhere among Christians. The nobles, however poor they may be, receive the same honour from the rest as if they were rich" <ref>Varley, H. Paul ''Japanese culture'' ([[University of Hawaii Press]], 2000) ISBN 0824821521, 9780824821524</ref>

==Women==
Maintaining the household was the main duty of samurai women. This was especially crucial during early feudal Japan, when warrior husbands were often traveling abroad or engaged in clan battles. The wife, or ''okusan'' (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 (dagger)|kaiken]]'' in an art called ''[[tantōjutsu]]'' (lit. the skill of the knife), which they could use to protect their household, family, and honor if the need arose.

Traits valued in women of the samurai class were humility, obedience, self-control, strength, and loyalty. Ideally, a samurai wife would be skilled at managing property, keeping records, dealing with financial matters, educating the children (and perhaps servants, too), and caring for elderly parents or in-laws that may be living under her roof. Confucian law, which helped define personal relationships and the code of ethics of the warrior class required that a woman show subservience to her husband , filial piety to her parents, and care to the children. Too much love and affection was also said to indulge and spoil the youngsters. Thus, a woman was also to exercise discipline.

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 samurai women were always powerless. Powerful women both wisely and unwisely wielded power at various occasions. After [[Ashikaga Yoshimasa]], 8th shogun 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, his mistress, became the de facto master of Osaka castle and the Toyotomi clan after Hideyoshi's death. 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 to 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 may have been that samurai looked down upon matters concerning money and left their finances to their wives.

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.

==Weapons==
[[Image:Samurai helmet with face mask.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Samurai helmet with a half-face mask, made of leather and iron, [[Edo period]], 17th century.  [[Asian Art Museum of San Francisco]].]]

The samurai used various weapons, but the katana is the weapon that has come to be synonymous with samurai, metaphorically speaking. [[Bushido]] teaches that the  katana is the samurai's soul and sometimes a samurai is pictured as entirely dependent on the weapon for fighting. They believe that the katana was so precious that they often gave them names and considered them as part of the living. 
After a male ''bushi'' child was born, he would receive his first sword in a ceremony called ''mamori-gatana''. The sword, however, was merely a charm sword covered with brocade to which was attached a purse or wallet, worn by children under five. Upon reaching the age of thirteen, in a ceremony called ''genpuku'' ({{lang|ja|元服}}), a male child was given his first real weapons and armour, an adult name, and became a samurai. A  katana and a Wakizashi together are called a ''[[daishō]]'' (lit. "big and small").

The wakizashi itself was a samurai's "honour weapon" and purportedly never left the samurai's side. He would sleep with it under his pillow and it would be taken with him when he entered a house and had to leave his main weapons outside.

The [[tanto]] was a small knife sometimes worn with or instead of the wakizashi in a ''daishō''. The tanto or the wakizashi was used to commit ''[[seppuku]]'', a ritualized suicide through disembowelment.
[[Image:Samurai with weapons - Kusakabe, Kimbei, 1841-1934.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Samurai with assorted weapons.]]

The samurai stressed skill with the ''[[yumi]]'' (longbow), reflected in the art of ''[[kyūjutsu]]'' (lit. the skill of the bow). The bow would remain a critical component of the Japanese military even with the introduction of firearms during the [[Sengoku period]]. The ''yumi'', an asymmetric [[composite bow]] made from [[bamboo]], [[wood]], [[rattan]] and [[leather]], was not as powerful as the Eurasian [[Reflex bow|reflex]] [[composite bow]], having an effective range of 50 meters (about 164 feet) or 100 meters (328 feet) if accuracy was not an issue. On foot, it was usually used behind a ''tedate'' ({{lang|ja|手盾}}), a large and mobile bamboo wall, but could also be used from horseback because of its asymmetric shape. The practice of shooting from horseback became a Shinto ceremony known as ''[[yabusame]]'' ({{lang|ja|流鏑馬}}).

In the 15th century, the ''[[yari]]'' (spear) also became a popular weapon. It displaced the ''[[naginata]]'' from the battlefield as personal bravery became less of a factor and battles became more organized around massed, inexpensive foot troops (''[[ashigaru]]''). A charge, mounted or dismounted, was also more effective when using a spear rather than a sword, as it offered better than even odds against a samurai using a sword. In the [[Battle of Shizugatake]] where [[Shibata Katsuie]] was defeated by [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], then known as Hashiba Hideyoshi, seven samurai who came to be known as the "[[Seven Spears of Shizugatake]]" ({{lang|ja|賤ヶ岳七本槍}}) played a crucial role in the victory.

[[Image:Japanese armor.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Samurai helmet with a half-face mask, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in [[New York]].]]

The later half of the 16th century saw the introduction of the ''teppō'' or [[arquebus]] in Japan through Portuguese trade, enabling warlords to raise effective armies from masses of peasants. The new weapons were highly controversial. Their ease of use and deadly effectiveness was perceived by many samurai as a dishonorable affront to tradition. [[Oda Nobunaga]] made deadly use of the ''teppō'' at the [[Battle of Nagashino]] in 1575, leading to the end of the [[Takeda clan]]. 

After their initial introduction by the [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] and the [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch]], the ''teppō'' were produced on a large scale by Japanese gunsmiths. By the end of the 16th century, there were more firearms in Japan than in any European nation. ''Teppō'', employed ''en masse'', largely by ''ashigaru'' peasant foot troops, were in many ways the antithesis of samurai valor. With the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate and an end to civil war, production of the guns declined sharply with prohibitions to ownership. By the Tokugawa period most spear-based weapons had been phased out partly because they were suboptimal for the close-quarter combat common at the time; this combined with the aforementioned restrictions on firearms resulted in the ''daishō'' being the only weapons typically carried by samurai.

[[Image:Oozutsu cannon Japan 16th century.jpg|thumb|left|220px|The ''ōzutsu'' (大筒), a swivel breech-loading cannon, 16th century]]

In the 1570s cannons became a common part of the samurai's armoury. They often were mounted in castles or on ships, being used more as anti-personnel weapons than against castle walls or the like, though in the [[Siege of Nagashino|siege of Nagashino castle]] (1575) a cannon was used to good effect against an enemy siegetower. The first popular cannon in Japan were swivel-breech loaders nicknamed ''kunikuzushi'' or "province destroyers". ''Kunikuzushi'' weighed {{convert|264|lb|abbr=on}}. and used {{convert|40|lb|abbr=on}}. chambers, firing a small shot of 10 oz. The [[Arima clan]] of Kyushu used guns like this at the [[battle of Okinawate]] against the [[Ryūzōji clan]]. By the time of the [[Siege of Osaka|Osaka campaign]] (1614-1615), cannon technology had improved in Japan to the point where at Osaka, [[Ii Naotaka]] managed to fire an {{convert|18|lb|abbr=on}}. shot into the castle's keep.

Staff weapons were also used occasionally by samurai, the ''[[bō]]'' being the most famous example of this. It could also be made stronger by being covered with steel rings, an example being the ''[[jō]]''. A club called the [[Kanabo]], which was coated in steel studs, was more frequently seen in mythology than in reality. However, when actually used, it would be a deadly force on the battlefield. 

In later periods, the samurai started using [[arquebus]]'s for a deadly weapon.

==Etymology of samurai and related words== <!-- this heading is linked from [[jujutsu]] -->
[[Image:Samurai-shodo.svg|thumb|right|[[Kanji]] for Samurai|100 px]]

The Term ''samurai'' originally meant "those who serve in close attendance to nobility", and was written in the [[Chinese character]] (or ''[[kanji]]'') that had the same meaning. In Japanese, it was originally pronounced in the pre-[[Heian Period|Heian period]] as ''saburau'' and later as ''saburai'', then ''samurai'' in the Edo period. In Japanese literature, there is an early reference to samurai in the [[Kokin Wakashū|Kokinshū]] ({{lang|ja|古今集}}, early 10th century):

{{quote|Attendant to your nobility<br>
Ask for your master's umbrella<br>
The dews 'neath the trees of Miyagino<br>
Are thicker than rain}}<ref>http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/kokinshu/kikokin.html (Japanese)</ref>

The word '''''bushi''''' ({{lang|ja|武士}}, lit. "warrior or armsman") first appears in an early history of Japan called ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'' ({{lang|ja|続日本記}}, 797 A.D.). In a portion of the book covering the year 721 A.D., ''Shoku Nihongi'' states: "Literary men and Warriors are they whom the nation values". The term ''bushi'' is of [[Chinese language|Chinese]] origin and adds to the indigenous Japanese words for ''warrior'': ''tsuwamono'' and ''mononofu''.

''Bushi'' was the name given to the ancient Japanese soldiers from traditional warrior families. The ''bushi'' class was developed mainly in the north of Japan. They formed powerful clans, which in the 12th Century were against the noble families who were grouping themselves to support the imperial family who lived in Kyoto. Samurai was a word used by the [[Kuge]] aristocratic class with warriors themselves preferring the word ''bushi''. The term ''[[Bushidō]]'', the "way of the warrior," is derived from this term and the mansion of a warrior was called ''bukeyashiki''.

The terms ''bushi'' and ''samurai'' became synonymous near the end of the 12th century, according to [[William Scott Wilson]] in his book ''Ideals of the Samurai—Writings of Japanese Warriors''. Wilson's book thoroughly explores the origins of the word ''warrior'' in Japanese history as well as the ''kanji'' used to represent the word. 

"Breaking down the character bu (武) reveals the radical (止), meaning "to stop," and an abbreviation of the radical (戈 ) "spear." The Shuo Wen, an early Chinese dictionary, gives this definition: "Bu consists of subduing the weapon and therefore stopping the spear." The Tso Chuan, another early Chinese source, goes further:

:Bu consists of bun (文): literature or letters, and generally the arts of peace) stopping the :spear. Bu prohibits violence and subdues weapons ... it puts the people at peace, and harmonizes :the masses.

The radical shi (±) on the other hand seems to have originally meant a person who performs some function or who has the ability in some field. Early in Chinese history it came to define the upper class of society, and in the Book of Han this definition is given :

:The shi, the farmer, the craftsman, and the tradesman are the four professions of the people. He :who occupies his rank by means of learning is called a shi. 

Wilson states that the shi, as the highest of the four classes, brandished the weapons as well as the books. ''bushi'' therefore translates as "a man who has the ability to keep the peace, either by literary or military means, but predominantly by the latter".

It was not until the early modern period, namely the [[Azuchi-Momoyama period]] and early [[Edo period]] of the late 16th and early 17th centuries that the word ''saburai'' was replaced with ''samurai''. However, the meaning had changed long before that.

[[Image:Koshirae.jpg|thumb|300px|''A Samurai [[katana]] in [[koshirae]].'']]
During the era of the rule of the samurai, the term ''yumitori'' ({{lang|ja|弓取}}, "bowman") was also used as an honorary title of an accomplished warrior even though swordsmanship had become more important. (Japanese archery (''[[kyujutsu]]'') is still strongly associated with the war god [[Hachiman]].)

A samurai with no attachment to a clan or ''[[daimyo]]'' ({{lang|ja|大名}}) was called a ''[[ronin]]'' ({{lang|ja|浪人}}). In Japanese, the word ''ronin'' means "wave man", a person destined to wander aimlessly forever, like the waves in the sea. The word came to mean a samurai who was no longer in the service of a lord because his lord had died, because the samurai had been banished or simply because the samurai chose to become a ronin.

The pay of samurai was measured in ''koku'' of rice (180 liters; enough to feed a man for one year). Samurai in the service of the [[han (feudal domain)|''han'']] are called ''hanshi''.
[[Image:Istanbul.Topkapi081.jpg|thumb|right|225px|<center> Samurai armour  <br /><small> [[Topkapi palace]], Istanbul, Turkey </small> </center>]]
The following terms are related to samurai or the samurai tradition:
* ''Uruwashii''<br>a cultured warrior symbolized by the kanji for "bun" (literary study) and "bu" (military study or arts)
* ''Buke'' ({{lang|ja|武家}})<br>A martial house or a member of such a house
* ''Mononofu'' (もののふ)<br>An ancient term meaning a warrior.
* ''Musha'' ({{lang|ja|武者}})<br>A shortened form of ''bugeisha'' ({{lang|ja|武芸者}}), lit. martial art man.
* ''Shi'' ({{lang|ja|士}})<br>A word roughly meaning "gentleman," it is sometimes used for samurai, in particular in words such as ''bushi'' ({{lang|ja|武士}}, meaning warrior or samurai).
* ''Tsuwamono'' ({{lang|ja|兵}})<br>An old term for a soldier popularized by [[Matsuo Bashō]] in his famous [[haiku]]. Literally meaning a strong person.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0">
<tr valign="top"><td align="center" width=10%><td width=30%>natsukusa ya<br>tsuwamono domo ga<br>yume no ato

Matsuo Bashō
<td width=5%><td width=30%>Summer grasses,<br>All that remains<br>Of soldiers' dreams

(trans. Lucien Stryk)
</table>

==Myth and reality==
Most samurai were bound by a code of [[honor]] and were expected to set an example for those below them. A notable part of their code is {{Nihongo|[[seppuku]]|切腹|seppuku}}, which allowed a disgraced samurai to regain his honor by passing into death, where samurai were still beholden to social rules. Whilst there are many romanticised characterisations of samurai behaviour such as the writing of {{Nihongo|[[Bushido]]|武士道|Bushidō}} in 1905, studies of [[Kobudo]] and traditional [[Budo]] indicate that the samurai were as practical on the battlefield as were any other warrior.

Despite the rampant romanticism of the 20th century, samurai could be disloyal and treacherous (e.g., [[Akechi Mitsuhide]]), cowardly, brave, or overly loyal (e.g., [[Kusunoki Masashige]]). Samurai were usually loyal to their immediate superiors, who in turn allied themselves with higher lords. These loyalties to the higher lords often shifted; for example, the high lords allied under [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] ({{lang|ja|豊臣秀吉}}) were served by loyal samurai, but the [[feudal]] lords under them could shift their support to [[Tokugawa clan|Tokugawa]], taking their samurai with them. There were, however, also notable instances where samurai would be disloyal to their lord or [[daimyo]], when loyalty to the emperor was seen to have supremacy.<ref>Mark Ravina, The Last Samurai — The Life and Battles of Saigō Takamori, John Wiley & Sons, 2004.</ref>

==Popular culture==
{{further|[[Samurai cinema]]}}

[[Image:MitoKomonSatomiKotaro.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Actor [[Kotaro Satomi]] on the set of ''Mito Komon'']]
[[Jidaigeki]] (lit. historical [[drama]]) has always been a staple program on Japanese movies and TV. The programs typically feature a samurai with a kenjutsu who stood up against evil samurai and merchants. ''[[Mito Kōmon]]'' ({{lang|ja|水戸黄門}}), a fictitious series of stories about [[Tokugawa Mitsukuni]]'s travel is a popular TV drama in which Mitsukuni travels disguised as a retired rich merchant with two unarmed samurai disguised as his companions {{Fact|date=May 2007}}. He finds trouble wherever he goes, and after gathering evidence, he has his samurai knock around unrepentantly evil samurai and merchants, before revealing his identity. It is then obvious to the villains that he can destroy their entire clan and the villains surrender in the hope that his punishments will not extend to their families.{{Fact|date=May 2007}}

The samurai-themed works of film director [[Akira Kurosawa]] are among the most praised of the genre, influencing many filmmakers across the world with his techniques and storytelling.{{Fact|date=May 2007}} Notable works of his include ''[[Seven Samurai]]'', in which a besieged farming village hires a collection of wandering samurai to defend them from bandits, ''[[Yojimbo (movie)|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]]'s ''[[Star Wars]]'', which also borrows a number of aspects from the samurai, for example the [[Jedi|Jedi Knights]] of the series. [[Darth Vader]]'s costume is largely inspired by a samurai's mask and armor. 

Samurai films and [[Western movie|westerns]] share a number of similarities and the two have influenced each other over the years.  Kurosawa was inspired by the works of director [[John Ford]] and in turn Kurosawa's works have been remade into westerns such as ''The Seven Samurai'' into ''[[The Magnificent Seven]]'' and ''Yojimbo'' into ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]''.  There is also an anime adaptation ([[Samurai 7]]) of "The Seven Samurai" which spans many episodes.

[[Eiji Yoshikawa]] is one of the most famous Japanese [[historical novel]]ists. His retellings of popular works, including ''[[Kampaku|Taiko]]'', ''[[Musashi (novel)|Musashi]]'' and ''[[The Tale of the Heike|Heike Tale]]'' are popular among readers for their epic naratives and rich realism in depicting samurai and warrior culture.

Another fictitious television series, ''[[Abarembo Shogun]]'', featured [[Tokugawa Yoshimune|Yoshimune]], the eighth [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa]] [[shogun]].  Samurai at all levels from the shogun down to the lowest rank, as well as [[ronin]], featured prominently in this show.

''[[Shōgun (novel)|Shōgun]]'' is the first novel in [[James Clavell]]'s Asian Saga. It is set in feudal Japan around the year 1600 and gives a highly fictionalized account of the rise of [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] to the [[Shogunate]], seen through the eyes of an English sailor whose fictional heroics are loosely based on [[William Adams (sailor)|William Adams]]' exploits.

[[Image:ShiroyamaBattle.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Saigo Takamori]] (upper right, in Western uniform) directing his troops, some of them in traditional samurai armour, at the [[Battle of Shiroyama]].]]
A Hollywood movie, ''[[The Last Samurai]]'', containing a mixture of fact and fiction, was released in 2003 to generally good 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 movie ''[[Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai]]'', starring actor [[Forest Whitaker]] takes as its central character a black assassin in contemporary America who gains inspiration from the Hagakure. The soundtrack album positions hip hop against readings of the [[Hagakure]].

''[[Kill Bill]]'' by [[Quentin Tarantino]] can be described as a glorification of the [[katana]]. It is primarily inspired by old kung-fu movies and relates little to the samurai. This same distortion of samurai culture continues onto the low-budget world of the [[cult film]], where in films such as ''[[Samurai Vampire Bikers From Hell]]'', the primary characters attempt to portray a lineage to the samurai but are more closely linked to the [[anime]] or [[comic book]] culture of the late twentieth century.

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 former samurai (or another rank/position) who possesses considerable martial skill. Two of the most famous examples are ''[[Lone Wolf and Cub]]'', where the former proxy executioner for the Shogun 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 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. 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]]''. Another more western movie is [[The Hunted (1995 film)|The Hunted (1995)]], where a surviving samurai clan protects a witness from evil ninjas. Some relevance to the samurai can even be seen in the show ''[[Beyblade]]'', which is set in the present. One character, Jin of the Gale, seems to be a mix of samurai and ninja traits. Another [[anime]] involving samurai, which is intended for adult audiences, is 2004's ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'', which portrays Edo-period Japan combined with modern street-culture and ''[[Hip hop culture|hip-hop]]''. One of the show's main characters is Jin, once an accomplished samurai who became a wandering ronin after killing his master. [[Afro Samurai]] is another tale of a samurai, but takes place in a futuristic setting. 

<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: [[Image:Uybook11.jpg|right|thumb|''Usagi Yojimbo'', the longest running American samurai comic book to date.]] -->
American [[comic books]] have adopted the character type for stories of their own. For instance, the [[Marvel Universe]] [[superhero]] [[Wolverine (comics)|Wolverine]] during the 1980s attempted to use the ideals and concept of the samurai as a means to control his violent urges in a constructive manner. The ronin have also been a feature in popular series such as ''[[Ronin (comic)|Ronin]]'' by [[Frank Miller (comics)|Frank Miller]] and ''[[Usagi Yojimbo]]'' by [[Stan Sakai]].

The concept of a samurai, as opposed to that of a [[knight]], has led to a major gap in how a [[warrior]] or a [[hero]] is characterized in Japan and the rest of the world. A samurai does not have to be tall and heavily muscled to be strong - he can be barely five feet tall, seemingly weak and even [[Disability|handicapped]]. Females can also be samurai. Equating size with power and strength does not readily appeal to the Japanese aesthetic. Perfect examples of this can be found in the ''[[Zatoichi|Blind Swordsman Zatoichi]]'' movie series.

It is also important to note the uses of samurai in the Hip Hop music in both American and Japanese cultures. It is commonly seen as a tangent to the “gangstas” in rap music. Fusions of this are apparent in collaborations rap artists of both cultures and inclusion of anime.
<ref>Condry, Ian. "A History of Japanese Hip-Hop: Street Dance, Club Scene, Pop Market." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA, 237, Middletown: [[Wesleyan University Press]], 2001.</ref>

What has been shown from the cases above is that samurai been recreated in various media. This “continued pattern of reshaping samurai to conform, not to history, but to the needs of the moment… each generation recast the samurai according to its own attitudes and agenda.”<ref>Patrick Drazen, Anime Explosion! The What? Why? & Wow! Of Japanese Animation (U.S.A: Stone Bridge Press: 2003), 109.</ref> This reimaging of the samurai is not restricted to modern media but all forms of media from any time. Samurais from various media share common elements, such as carrying a sword or behaving a certain way. This serves to help the audience identify image to the subject and even reinforce the image also. 

===In computer games===
Samurai are also heroes and enemies in many computer games, and can be found especially in [[computer role-playing game|RPG]], [[strategy]], [[Action game|action]], [[adventure]], and [[fighting game]] genres.

For example, samurai can be seen in the strategy game series ''[[Age of Empires]]'', [[Civilization IV]], ''[[Battle Realms]]'' and in the ''[[Ultima Online: Samurai Empire]]'' [[MMORPG]]. Samurai battles also provide the theme for the strategy simulation ''[[Shogun: Total War]]'', which portrays [[Sun-Tzu]] war philosophy. Samurai character class is available in the famous RPG ''[[Wizardry 8]]''. ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'', ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'', ''X'', ''X-2'' and ''[[Final Fantasy XI|XI]]'' also contain a samurai class.
 
Some popular Japanese titles featuring samurai include ''[[Shingen the Ruler]]'', ''[[Bushido Blade (video game)|Bushido Blade]]'', ''[[Samurai Warriors]]'', ''[[Brave Fencer Musashi]]'', ''[[Musashi: Samurai Legend]]'', and ''[[Seven Samurai 20XX]]''. Also, there is a lead character portraying a samurai in the sci-fi thriller game ''[[Xenosaga|Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse]]'' named [[Jin Uzuki]]. Jin Uzuki, [[Shion Uzuki]]'s brother, is a samurai who fights with a sword only and wears a traditional kimono. Other popular Japanese games featuring samurai as main characters are the ''[[Onimusha (series)|Onimusha]]'', ''[[Genji: Dawn of the Samurai|Genji]]'' and ''[[Way of the Samurai]]'' series. In ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'', one boss is a mounted samurai while another is a demonic fiend who takes the form of a samurai.

Several fighting games hold samurai fighters, for example, [[List of characters in the Darkstalkers series#Bishamon|Bishamon]] from ''[[Darkstalkers]]'', and [[List of characters in the Street Fighter series#Sodom|Sodom]] from ''[[Street Fighter Alpha]]''. ''[[Samurai Shodown (series)|Samurai Shodown]]'' has a roster full of samurai characters. [[List of Samurai Shodown characters#Haohmaru|Haohmaru]] and [[List of Samurai Shodown characters#Genjuro Kibagami|Genjuro Kibagami]] are the most traditional samurai warriors in this fighting game. The ''[[Soul (series)|Soul]]'' series offers one samurai character: [[List of characters in the Soul series#Mitsurugi|Mitsurugi]].

==Famous samurai==
{|
|valign="top"|
* [[Akechi Mitsuhide]]
* [[Date Masamune]]
* [[Hanzo Hattori]]
* [[Hojo Ujimasa]]
* [[Kusunoki Masashige]]
* [[Minamoto no Yoshitsune]]
* [[Minamoto Yoshiie]]
* [[Miyamoto Musashi]]
|width="50"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|
* [[Oda Nobunaga]]
* [[Saigo Takamori]]
* [[Saito Hajime]]
* [[Sakamoto Ryoma]]
* [[Sanada Yukimura]]
* [[Sasaki Kojiro]]
* [[Shimazu Takahisa]]
* [[Shimazu Yoshihiro]]
|width="50"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|
* [[Takeda Shingen]]
* [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]]
* [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]]
* [[Uesugi Kenshin]]
* [[Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi]]
* [[Yagyū Munenori]]
* [[Yamamoto Tsunetomo]]
* [[Yamaoka Tesshu]]
|}

==Samurai films==
===Historical===
'''Directed by [[Akira Kurosawa]]'''
* ''[[Seven Samurai|The Seven Samurai]]''
* ''[[The Hidden Fortress]]''
* ''[[Ran (film)|Ran]]''
* ''[[Kagemusha]]''
* ''[[Yojimbo (film)|Yojimbo]]''
* ''[[Sanjuro]]''
'''Other films'''
* ''[[Samurai Trilogy]]''- stars [[Toshirō Mifune]]
* ''[[Shōgun (film)|Shōgun]]''
* ''[[Twilight Samurai]]''
* ''[[When the Last Sword Is Drawn]]''
* ''[[Lone Wolf and Cub#|Lone Wolf and Cub TV series]]
* ''[[Sword of Doom]]''
* ''[[Aragami]]''
* ''[[Samurai Fiction]]''
* ''[[The Last Samurai]]''
* ''[[47 Ronin]]''
* ''[[Ninja Scroll]]'' (Anime)
* ''[[The Hidden Blade]]''

===Influenced by samurai===
* ''[[Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai]]''
* ''[[Ronin (film)|Ronin]]''
* ''[[The Way of the Gun]]''
* ''[[Le Samourai]]''
* ''[[Star Wars]]''
* ''[[Samurai Jack]]''
* ''[[Afro Samurai]]''
* ''[[Bleach (manga)|Bleach]]''

==See also==
{{wikisourcepar|The Precepts of Kato Kiyomasa}}
{{wiktionary|samurai}}
{{wiktionary|侍}}
{{commonscat|Samurai}}
* [[Japanese clans]]
* [[Kendo]]
* [[Kiri sute gomen]]
* [[List of Japanese battles]]
* [[List of samurai]]
* [[Lone Wolf and Cub]]
* [[Ninja]]
* [[Onna bugei-sha]]
* [[Pechin]]
* [[Samurai cinema]]
* [[Seiwa Genji]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.samurai-archives.com The Samurai Archives Japanese History page] 



[[Category:Japan]]


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