Samurai

The proper term for Japanese warriors is {{nihongo|bushi|武士||extra={{IPA|ja|bɯ.ɕi||}}}}, meaning 'warrior',{{cite book |last1=Lopez-Vera |first1=Jonathan |title=History of the Samurai |date=2020 |publisher=Tuttle |isbn=9781462921348 }} but also could be interchangeable with {{nihongo|buke|武家}}, meaning 'military family', and later could refer to the whole class of professional warriors.{{cite book |last1=Louis-Frédéric |title=Japan encyclopedia |date=2002 |publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674017535 }} Especially in the west, samurai is used synonymous with bushi, but they can have different meanings depending on context.{{cite book |title=World History Encyclopedia Band 2 |date=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781851099306}}

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 foot soldiers.{{cite book |last1=Turnbull |first1=Stephen |title=Weapons of the Samurai |date=2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=9781472844026 |ref=Weapons of the Samurai}} The samurai were subservient to gokenin who held land from which they took their name.{{cite book |last1=Turnbull |first1=Stephan |title=The Lost Samurai |date=2021 |publisher=Pen & Sword Books |isbn=9781526758996 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JP0hEAAAQBAJ}} According to Michael Wert, "a warrior of elite stature in pre-seventeenth-century Japan would have been insulted to be called a 'samurai'".{{Citation |last=Wert |first=Michael |title=Becoming those who served |date=2021-04-01 |work=Samurai: A Very Short Introduction |pages=4–11 |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/32797/chapter/274542399 |access-date=2024-07-05 |edition=1 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/actrade/9780190685072.003.0002 |isbn=978-0-19-068507-2}}, According to Morillo, the term marked social function, and not military function.Morillo, Stephen. “[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281209156 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 cut off between samurai and other military retainers varied from domain to domain.{{cite book |last=Vaporis |first=Constantine Nomikos |title=Samurai. An Encyclopedia of Japan's Cultured Warriors |date=2019 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-4270-2 |publication-place=Santa Barbara, California |page=114}} Also usage varied by class, with commoners referring to all sword carrying men as samurai, regardless of rank.{{cite book |last1=Tokitsu |first1=Kenji |title=Introduction to the Complete Book of Five Rings |date=2010 |publisher=Shambhala |isbn=9780834821996 }}

File:Helmet MET DT305558.jpg helmet, gilt copper, 5th century, Ise Province]]

As part of the Taihō Code of 702, and the later Yōrō Code,A History of Japan, Vol. 3 and 4, George Samson, Tuttle Publishing, 2000. the population was required to report regularly for the census, a precursor for national conscription. With an understanding of how the population was distributed, Emperor Monmu introduced a law whereby 1 in 3–4 adult males were drafted into the state military. These soldiers were required to supply their own weapons, and in return were exempted from duties and taxes.William Wayne Farris, Heavenly Warriors – The Evolution of Japan's Military, 500–1300, Harvard University Press, 1995. {{ISBN|0-674-38704-X}}

The Taihō Code classified most 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 and were initially civilian public servants, in keeping with the original derivation of this word from {{transliteration|ja|saburau}}, a verb meaning 'to serve'.Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten, fifth edition, 1997

File:Blacksmith Munechika, helped by a fox spirit, forging the blade Ko-Gitsune Maru, by Ogata Gekkō.jpg Sanjō Kokaji, the 10th-century blacksmith Munechika, aided by a kitsune (fox spirit), forges the tachi (samurai sword) Ko-Gitsune Maru.]]

In 792, the gundan, or provincial garrisons, in most of the country were abolished. This was a part of a shift from general conscription to conscripting only the rural elite. This came after the garrisons had their numbers reduced and recruitment focused on skilled horse archers.{{cite journal |last1=Friday |first1=Karl |title=Teeth and Claws. Provincial Warriors and the Heian Court |journal=Monumenta Nipponica |date=1988 |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=153–185 |doi=10.2307/2384742 |jstor=2384742 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2384742}} Another principle of the Ritsuryō system had already begun to be abandoned. All the land belonged to the state, and had been distributed on a per capita basis to farmers. However, in 743, farmers were allowed to cultivate reclaimed land in perpetuity. This allowed clan leaders, especially those with lots of slaves, to acquire large amounts of land. Members of the Imperial family, the Kuge and Temples and Shrines received grants of tax-free land. In the 9th Century, the farmers began to give their land over to the nobility in order to avoid taxes. They would then administer and work the land for a payment of rice. This also reduced the wealth of the Emperor, as he had no private land and was dependent on tax income.{{cite book |last1=Inoue |first1=Kiyoshi |title=Geschichte Japans |date=1993 |publisher=Campus Verlag |isbn=3-593-34845-4}}

File:Sagami Jiro and Taira no Masakado Attacking an Opponent on Horseback LACMA M.84.31.433.jpg attacking an opponent on horseback (Yoshitoshi)]]

Warriors in the provinces formed networks for mutual protection at the same time court officials and monataries also established private military entourages.{{cite book |last1=Friday |first1=Karl |title=Hired Swords The Rise of Private Warrior Power in Early Japan |date=1992 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804726962 |page=94 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iNc89Xvh-D0C}} These networks allowed the formation of large private armies as warrior leaders with hundreds of followers could combine forces. These networks were organized vertically, with a prominent figure (such as Taira no Masakado) partnering with lowing ranking warriors.{{cite book |last1=Friday |first1=Karl |title=Hired Swords The Rise of Private Warrior Power in Early Japan |date=1992 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804726962 |page=98 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iNc89Xvh-D0C}} Gradually, the Court began to rely more and more on these private warrior bands instead of the militia. New military and police posts were created to legitmatize the warrior leaders who were then given military responibilites. These leaders often delegated tasks to their followers.{{cite web |last1=Karl |first1=Friday |title=Once and Future Warriors: The Samurai in Japanese History |url=https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/once-and-future-warriors-the-samurai-in-japanese-history/ |website=Association for Asian Studies }}

The Heian period saw the appearance of distinctive Japanese armor and weapons. Typical examples are the {{transliteration|ja|tachi}} (long sword) and {{transliteration|ja|naginata}} (halberd) used in close combat, and the {{transliteration|ja|ō-yoroi}} and {{transliteration|ja|dō-maru}} styles of armor. High-ranking samurai equipped with {{transliteration|ja|yumi}} (bows) who fought on horseback wore {{transliteration|ja|ō-yoroi}}, while lower-ranking samurai equipped with {{transliteration|ja|naginata}} who fought on foot wore {{transliteration|ja|dō-maru}}.[https://web.archive.org/web/20200607115832/https://costume.iz2.or.jp/column/489.html 式正の鎧・大鎧] Costume Museum

File:Samurai o-yoroi.jpg armor, Kamakura period. Tokyo National Museum.]]

Two leading Samurai houses, the Minamoto and the Taira had both gained court positions and became rivals. During the Heiji Incident the Taira gained the upper hand and killed or exiled many members of the Minamoto family. After that Taira Kiyomori, practically controlled the court. This lasted till an imperial succession dispute resulted in a rebellion by Prince Mochihito. The exiled Minamoto Yoritomo joined the rebellion, and promised to guarantee lands and administrative rights to warriors who sworn allegiance to him. This usurped the role of the Court, and also effectively created an independent state in eastern Japan. However, Yoritomo did not fight for independence of his state, but negotiated for court recognition of many of the legal powers that he had usurped. At the end of the Gempei War, this resulted in the foundation of the Kamakura regime.{{cite web |last1=Karl |first1=Friday |title=Once and Future Warriors: The Samurai in Japanese History |url=https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/once-and-future-warriors-the-samurai-in-japanese-history/ |website=Association for Asian Studies }}

In 1185, Yoritomo obtained the right to appoint shugo and jitō, and was allowed to organize soldiers and police, and to collect a certain amount of tax.{{cite web|url=https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/120599?page=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509123300/https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/120599?page=4|script-title=ja:鎌倉幕府は何年に成立？正解を言えますか|language=ja|publisher=Toyo keizai|date=9 June 2016|archive-date=9 May 2022|access-date=9 March 2024}} Initially, their responsibility was restricted to arresting rebels and collecting needed army provisions and they were forbidden from interfering with kokushi officials, but their responsibility gradually expanded. Thus, the warrior class began to gradually gain political power.{{cite web |last1=Karl |first1=Friday |title=Once and Future Warriors: The Samurai in Japanese History |url=https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/once-and-future-warriors-the-samurai-in-japanese-history/ |website=Association for Asian Studies }}

In 1190 he visited Kyoto and in 1192 became Sei'i Taishōgun, establishing the Kamakura shogunate, or Kamakura bakufu. Instead of ruling from Kyoto, he set up the shogunate in Kamakura, near his base of power. "Bakufu" means "tent government", taken from the encampments the soldiers lived in, in accordance with the Bakufu's status as a military government.Wilson, p. 15

The Kamakura period (1185–1333) is seen by some as the rise of the samurai as they were "entrusted with the security of the estates" and were symbols of the ideal warrior and citizen.{{cite book |last1=Kishida |first1=Tom |last2=Mishina |first2=Kenji |title=The Yasukuni Swords: Rare Weapons of Japan, 1933–1945 |date=2004 |publisher=Kodansha International |location=Tokyo; New York |isbn=4-7700-2754-0 |page=42 |edition=1st}} The shogunate had its powerbase in the east, but also had authority over its warrior vassals all over the country. This allowed a subset of warriors to collaborate instead of just competing against each other. This began a gradual process that weakened the central authority to the advantage of the samurai.{{cite web |last1=Karl |first1=Friday |title=Once and Future Warriors: The Samurai in Japanese History |url=https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/once-and-future-warriors-the-samurai-in-japanese-history/ |website=Association for Asian Studies }}

In the late Kamakura period, even the most senior samurai began to wear {{transliteration|ja|dō-maru}}, as the heavy and elegant {{transliteration|ja|ō-yoroi}} were no longer respected. Until then, the body was the only part of the {{transliteration|ja|dō-maru}} that was protected, but for higher-ranking samurai, the {{transliteration|ja|dō-maru}} also came with a {{transliteration|ja|kabuto}} (helmet) and shoulder guards. For lower-ranked samurai, the {{transliteration|ja|haraate}} was introduced, the simplest style of armor that protected only the front of the torso and the sides of the abdomen. In the late Kamakura period, a new type of armor called {{transliteration|ja|haramaki}} appeared, in which the two ends of the {{transliteration|ja|haraate}} were extended to the back to provide greater protection.[https://web.archive.org/web/20211021185717/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/10955/ 胴丸・腹当・腹巻.] Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World.

File:Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba e2.jpg|Samurai of the Shōni clan gather to defend against Kublai Khan's Mongolian army during the first Mongol invasion of Japan in 1274.

File:Battle of Yashima Folding Screens Kano School.jpg|Battle of Yashima folding screens

{{See also|Mongol invasions of Japan}}

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.

File:Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba Mongol Invasion Takezaki Suenaga 2 Page 5-7.jpg of the Hōjō clan (right) assaults the Mongolian and Korean invasion army (left) at the Battle of Torikai-Gata, 1274.]]

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 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.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/japanitshistory00reedgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/japanitshistory00reedgoog/page/n361 291] |quote=tokimune behead. |title=Japan: Its History, Traditions, and Religions: With the Narrative of a Visit in 1879 |first=Sir Edward James |last=Reed |date=17 April 1880 |publisher=J. Murray |via=Internet Archive}} The graves of the five executed Mongol emissaries exist to this day in Kamakura at Tatsunokuchi.{{cite web |url=http://www.kamakura-burabura.com/meisyoenosimajyourituji.htm |title=常立寺|website=www.kamakura-burabura.com}} 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.

{{Wide image|Takezaki suenaga ekotoba bourui.jpg|1000px|Samurai and defensive wall at Hakata defending against the Second Mongolian Invasion. Moko Shurai Ekotoba, (蒙古襲来絵詞) {{circa|1293}}|center}}

File:Takezaki suenaga ekotoba3.jpg, killing the Mongolian soldiers aboard, 1281]]

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".{{cite web|date=2017-04-26|title=Formative Memory: The Thirteenth-Century Mongolian Invasions and Their Impact on Japan|url=https://kyotojournal.org/uncategorized/formative-memory-the-thirteenth-century-mongolian-invasions-and-their-impact-on-japan/|access-date=2020-10-25|website=Kyoto Journal|language=en-US}} 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 1336, Ashikaga Takauji, who opposed Emperor Godaigo, established the Ashikaga shogunate with Emperor Kōgon. As a result, the southern court, descended from Emperor Godaigo, and the northern court, descended from Emperor Kogon, 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.[https://web.archive.org/web/20230414234502/https://www.kunaicho.go.jp/ryobo/successive_list.html 天皇陵.] Imperial Household Agency The {{lang|la|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 {{nihongo3||守護|Shugo}}, the local military and police officials established by the Kamakura shogunate, giving the Shugo jurisdiction over land disputes between {{nihongo3||御家人|gokenin}} 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 {{nihongo3|feudal lords|大名|daimyo}}, called {{nihongo3||守護大名|shugo daimyo}}, appeared.{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/shugodaimyo-sengokubusho/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317181933/https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/shugodaimyo-sengokubusho/|script-title=ja:守護大名と戦国武将|language=ja|publisher=The Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=17 March 2024|access-date=17 March 2024}}

File:大太刀, 銘 正(家), Ōdachi forged by Masaie.jpg}} forged by Sadaie, 14th century, Nanboku-chō period, Important Sword]]

During the Nanboku-chō period, many lower-class foot soldiers called {{transliteration|ja|ashigaru}} began to participate in battles, and the popularity of {{transliteration|ja|haramaki}} increased. During the Nanboku-chō and Muromachi periods, {{transliteration|ja|dō-maru}} and {{transliteration|ja|haramaki}} became the norm, and senior samurai also began to wear {{transliteration|ja|haramaki}} by adding {{transliteration|ja|kabuto}} (helmet), {{transliteration|ja|men-yoroi}} (face armor), and gauntlet.[https://web.archive.org/web/20220406070240/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/51939/ 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.

The outbreak of the Onin War, which began in 1467 and lasted about 10 years, devastated Kyoto and brought down the power of the Ashikaga shogunate. This plunged the country into the warring states period, in which daimyo (feudal lords) from different regions fought each other. This period corresponds to the late Muromachi period. There are about nine theories about the end of the Sengoku Period, the earliest being the year 1568, when Oda Nobunaga marched on Kyoto, and the latest being the suppression of the Shimabara Rebellion in 1638. Thus, the Sengoku Period overlaps with the Muromachi, Azuchi–Momoyama, and Edo periods, depending on the theory. In any case, the Sengoku period was a time of large-scale civil wars throughout Japan.{{cite web|url=https://mag.japaaan.com/archives/132811/3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131030808/https://mag.japaaan.com/archives/132811/3|script-title=ja:最長で200年説も！戦国時代とはいつからいつまでを指すのか？諸説をまとめました|language=ja|author=Akio Tsunoda|publisher=Shōgakukan|date=19 November 2020|archive-date=31 January 2023|access-date=31 January 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=1930|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206163952/https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=1930|script-title=ja:戦国時代|language=ja|publisher=Japan Knowledge|date=|archive-date=6 December 2022|access-date=29 January 2023}}

File:Tepu5.jpg}} (Matchlock)]]

File:Strings for night firing.jpg}} (foot soldiers) in close formation began to use {{transliteration|ja|yari}} (spears) and {{transliteration|ja|tanegashima}} (gun), changing battlefield tactics and the equipment of the samurai class.]]

Daimyo who became more powerful as the shogunate's control weakened were called {{nihongo3||戦国大名|sengoku daimyo}}, and they often came from shugo daimyo, {{nihongo3|deputy Shugo|守護代|Shugodai}}, and {{nihongo3|local masters|国人|kokujin or kunibito}}. 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.{{cite web|url=https://gendai.media/articles/-/83871?page=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307071317/https://gendai.media/articles/-/83871?page=3|script-title=ja:意外と知らない「下剋上」とは一体何か？戦国時代の「主殺し」の実像 3/4|language=ja|publisher=Kodansha|date=18 June 2021|archive-date=7 March 2024|access-date=7 March 2024}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://gendai.media/articles/-/83871?page=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307071419/https://gendai.media/articles/-/83871?page=4|script-title=ja:意外と知らない「下剋上」とは一体何か？戦国時代の「主殺し」の実像 4/4|language=ja|publisher=Kodansha|date=18 June 2021|archive-date=7 March 2024|access-date=7 March 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/shugodaimyo-sengokudaimyo/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317190415/https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/shugodaimyo-sengokudaimyo/|script-title=ja:守護大名と戦国武将の違い|language=ja|publisher=The Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=17 March 2024|access-date=17 March 2024}}

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).{{cite web|url=https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/202017?page=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229075803/https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/202017?page=3|script-title=ja:豊臣秀吉はなぜ「征夷大将軍」ではなく「関白」になったのか——秀吉をめぐる「三つのなぜ」|language=ja|publisher=The Asahi Shimbun|date=24 September 2023|archive-date=29 February 2024|access-date=29 February 2024}}

From this time on, infantrymen called {{transliteration|ja|ashigaru}}, 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. {{ASIN|B08DGRWN98}} When matchlocks were introduced from Portugal in 1543, Japanese swordsmiths immediately began to improve and mass-produce them. The Japanese matchlock was named {{transliteration|ja|tanegashima}} after the Tanegashima island, 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.{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/givingupgun00noel |url-access= registration |title= Giving up the gun: Japan's reversion to the sword, 1543-1879 |pages=17–28|author= Noel Perrin |publisher= David R Godine |year=1979 |access-date=2011-09-22|isbn= 978-0-87923-773-8 }}

On the battlefield, {{transliteration|ja|ashigaru}} began to fight in close formation, using {{transliteration|ja|yari}} (spear) and {{transliteration|ja|tanegashima}}. As a result, {{transliteration|ja|yari}}, {{transliteration|ja|yumi}} (bow), and {{transliteration|ja|tanegashima}} became the primary weapons on the battlefield. The {{transliteration|ja|naginata}}, which was difficult to maneuver in close formation, and the long, heavy {{transliteration|ja|tachi}} fell into disuse and were replaced by the {{transliteration|ja|nagamaki}}, which could be held short, and the short, light {{transliteration|ja|katana}}, which appeared in the Nanboku-cho period and gradually became more common. The {{transliteration|ja|tachi}} was often cut off from the hilt and shortened to make a {{transliteration|ja|katana}}. The {{transliteration|ja|tachi}}, which had become inconvenient for use on the battlefield, was transformed into a symbol of authority carried by high-ranking samurai.[https://web.archive.org/web/20201124014052/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/25694/ Basic knowledge of naginata and nagamaki.] Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum, Touken World[https://web.archive.org/web/20201226054428/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/45927/ Arms for battle – spears, swords, bows.] Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum, Touken WorldKazuhiko Inada (2020), Encyclopedia of the Japanese Swords. p42. {{ISBN|978-4-651-20040-8}} Although the {{transliteration|ja|ōdachi}} had become even more obsolete, some sengoku daimyo dared to organize assault and kinsmen units composed entirely of large men equipped with {{transliteration|ja|ōdachi}} to demonstrate the bravery of their armies.Kazuhiko Inada (2020), Encyclopedia of the Japanese Swords. p39. {{ISBN|978-4-651-20040-8}}

These changes in the aspect of the battlefield during the Sengoku period led to the emergence of the {{transliteration|ja|tosei-gusoku}} 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 {{transliteration|ja|ō-yoroi}} and {{transliteration|ja|dō-mal}} in the Heian period. In this style, the number of parts was reduced, and instead armor with eccentric designs became popular.[https://web.archive.org/web/20190425051228/http://costume.iz2.or.jp:80/column/554.html 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.{{cite book|title=Handbook to Life in Medieval & early Modern Japan|author=William E. Deal |year=2006 |isbn=0-8160-5622-6 |page=136|publisher=Facts On File, Incorporated }} 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.

{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2025}}

File:Himeji_castle_in_may_2015.jpg extensively renovated Himeji Castle to give it its present appearance.]]

The Azuchi-Momoyama period refers to the period when Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were in power. The name "Azuchi-Momoyama" comes from the fact that Nobunaga's castle, Azuchi Castle, was located in Azuchi, Shiga, and Fushimi Castle, where Hideyoshi lived after his retirement, was located in Momoyama. There are several theories as to when the Azuchi–Momoyama period began: 1568, when Oda Nobunaga entered Kyoto in support of Ashikaga Yoshiaki; 1573, when Oda Nobunaga expelled Ashikaga Yoshiaki from Kyoto; and 1576, when the construction of Azuchi Castle began. In any case, the beginning of the Azuchii–Momoyama period marked the complete end of the rule of the Ashikaga shogunate, which had been disrupted by the Onin War; in other words, it marked the end of the Muromachi period.

File:The Three Unifiers of Japan.jpg

Oda Nobunaga was the well-known lord of the Nagoya area (once called Owari Province) and an exceptional example of a samurai of the Sengoku period.{{cite web |url=http://sitereports.nabunken.go.jp/8395 |title=たたかう人びと |author=Nagano Prefectural Museum of History |date=2005-03-01 |website=Comprehensive Database of Archaeological Site Reports in Japan |access-date=2016-09-02}} 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, 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.

File:Battle-of-Nagashino-Map-Folding-Screen-1575.png (1575)]]

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."{{cite book |last1=Varshavskaya |first1=Elena |title=Heroes of the Grand Pacification: Kuniyoshi's Taiheiki eiyū den |date=2021 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-48918-9 |page=26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=22tPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA26 |language=en}} (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 {{nihongo3||若党|wakatō}}, 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), {{nihongo3||中間|chūgen}}, {{nihongo3||小者|komono}}, and {{nihongo3||荒子|arashiko}}. These four classes and the ashigaru were {{nihongo3|townspeople|町人|chōnin}} and peasants employed by the bushi and fell under the category of {{nihongo3|servants of the buke|武家奉公人|buke hōkōnin}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/aichikenshikenkyu/5/0/5_123/_pdf/-char/ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240719201334/https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/aichikenshikenkyu/5/0/5_123/_pdf/-char/ja|script-title=ja:天正拾九年六月廿三日付 豊臣秀次条目について|page=126|language=ja|publisher=J-STAGE/Aichi Prefecture|date=|archive-date=19 July 2024|access-date=19 July 2024}} 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 {{nihongo3||徒士|kachi}} and above ashigaru in the Edo period.

{{See also|Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)}}

File:Ulsan waesung attack.jpg during the Japanese invasions of Korea, 1597.]]

In 1592 and again in 1597, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, aiming to invade China through Korea, mobilized an army of 160,000 peasants and samurai and deployed them to Korea in one of the largest military endeavors in Eastern Asia until the late 19th century.{{Cite web |last=Yasuka |date=2017-07-24 |title=The Imjin War {{!}} KCP International Japanese Language School |url=https://www.kcpinternational.com/2017/07/the-imjin-war/ |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=KCP International |language=en |quote=Hideyoshi needed passage through Korea to get to China. But with Korea refusing his demands, he led a large army of about 160,000 men, landing at the tip of the peninsula then moving northwards.}}{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |title=The Japanese Invasion of Korea, 1592-8 CE |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1398/the-japanese-invasion-of-korea-1592-8-ce/ |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en |quote=One of the largest military operations ever undertaken in East Asia prior to the 20th century CE}} Taking advantage of arquebus mastery and extensive wartime experience from the Sengoku period, Japanese samurai armies made major gains in most of Korea. A few of the famous samurai generals of this war were Katō Kiyomasa, Konishi Yukinaga, and Shimazu Yoshihiro. Katō Kiyomasa advanced to Orangkai territory (present-day Manchuria) bordering Korea to the northeast and crossed the border into northern China.

Kiyomasa withdrew back to Korea after retaliatory counterattacks from the Jurchens in the area, whose castles his forces had raided.{{Cite web |date=2020-12-16 |title=What is the Imjin War (1592-1598)? - Boot Camp & Military Fitness Institute |url=https://bootcampmilitaryfitnessinstitute.com/2020/12/16/what-is-the-imjin-war-1592-1598/ |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=bootcampmilitaryfitnessinstitute.com |language=en-GB}} Shimazu Yoshihiro led some 7,000 samurai into battle, and despite being heavily outnumbered, defeated a host of allied Ming 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.

File:YoshiClimber.jpg, who later commanded the invasion of Korea, leads a small group assaulting the castle on Mount Inaba. Print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.]]

In spite of the superiority of Japanese land forces, the two expeditions ultimately failed after Hideyoshi's death,{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |title=The Japanese Invasion of Korea, 1592-8 CE |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1398/the-japanese-invasion-of-korea-1592-8-ce/ |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en |quote=After protracted and unsuccessful peace talks, Hideyoshi launched a second, much less successful invasion in 1597 CE, and when the warlord died the next year, the Japanese forces withdrew from the peninsula.}} 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.

{{See also|Battle of Sekigahara}}

File:Sekigaharascreen.jpg, known as {{Nihongo|"Japan's decisive battle"|天下分け目の戦い|Tenka wakeme no tatakai}}]]

Before his death, Hideyoshi ordered that Japan be ruled by a council of the five most powerful sengoku daimyo, {{nihongo3|Council of Five Elders|五大老|Go-Tairō}}, and Hideyoshi's five retainers, {{nihongo3|Five Commissioners|五奉行|Go-Bugyō}}, until his only heir, the five-year-old Toyotomi Hideyori, reached the age of 16.{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.go.jp/exhibition/digital/ieyasu/contents3_01/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108090341/https://www.archives.go.jp/exhibition/digital/ieyasu/contents3_01/|script-title=ja:関ヶ原の戦い|language=ja|publisher=National Archives of Japan|date=|archive-date=8 January 2023|access-date=9 March 2024}} However, having only the young Hideyori as Hideyoshi's successor weakened the Toyotomi regime. Today, the loss of all of Hideyoshi's adult heirs is considered the main reason for the downfall of the Toyotomi clan.{{cite web|url=https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=67|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327064223/https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=67|script-title=ja:豊臣秀次|language=ja|publisher=Japan Knowledge|date=|archive-date=27 March 2023|access-date=10 March 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/117781?page=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421180805/https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/117781?page=3|script-title=ja:新説！豊臣家を滅ぼした｢組織運営｣の大失敗|language=ja|publisher=Toyo Keizai|date=22 May 2016|archive-date=21 April 2021|access-date=10 March 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/cf674ebf35996045d03fcb26aab8ae4fd833e8df|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310115834/https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/cf674ebf35996045d03fcb26aab8ae4fd833e8df|script-title=ja:どうして豊臣政権は短命だったのか？存続のカギは弟・豊臣秀長が握っていた|language=ja|publisher=Yahoo News|date=1 September 2023|archive-date=10 March 2024|access-date=10 March 2024}} Hideyoshi's younger brother, Toyotomi Hidenaga, who had supported Hideyoshi's rise to power as a leader and strategist, had already died of illness in 1591, and his nephew, Toyotomi Hidetsugu, who was Hideyoshi's only adult successor, was forced to commit seppuku in 1595 along with many other vassals on Hideyoshi's orders for suspected rebellion.

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 {{nihongo3|Eastern Army|東軍|Tō-gun}} led by Ieyasu defeated the {{nihongo3|Western Army|西軍|Sei-gun}} 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, and Tachibana. In most cases, however, it is difficult to prove these claims.

{{See also|Edo period}}

File:Tokugawa Ieyasu2.JPG, first shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate]]

After the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu consolidated power and was declared shogun in 1603. After the siege of Osaka in 1615, there was a period of peace for 250 years. During the Tokugawa shogunate, samurai underwent many changes, and first became a truly hereditary class. Although this process was begun by Hideyoshi with the combination of the Sword Hunt of 1588 and the Separation Edict of 1591.{{cite book |last1=Schirokauer |first1=Conrad |title=A brief history of Chinese and Japanese civilizations |date=2012 |publisher=Wadsworth}} Most samurai moved from the land to the castle towns, with one town in each domain.{{cite book |last1=Tipton |first1=Elise |title=Modern Japan A Social and Political History |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415185370}} With no warfare since the early 17th century, samurai gradually lost their military function during the Tokugawa era. Neo-Confucianism became very influential and the division of society into four classes was officially adopted by the shogunate. Landed samurai had to choose to either give up their lands to become stipend samurai, or to keep their lands and become peasants.{{cite book |last1=Kwon |first1=Grace |title=State Formation, Property Relations, & the Development of the Tokugawa Economy (1600-1868) |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781317794530}}

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 {{nihongo|kiri-sute gomen|斬り捨て御免}}, but to what extent this right was used is unknown.{{Cite book |last=Wert |first=Michael |title=Samurai: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-068510-2 |location=New York |publication-date=2021-02-01 |pages=35, 84 |language= |oclc=1202732830}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=Taggart |title=Japan and the Shackles of the Past|date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York|isbn=978-0190619589 |pages=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9byvBAAAQBAJ}} The relentless condemnation of pederasty by Jesuit missionaries also hindered attempts to convert Japan's governing elite to Christianity.{{cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=Taggart |title=Japan and the Shackles of the Past|date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York|isbn=978-0190619589 |pages=37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9byvBAAAQBAJ}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=Taggart |title=Japan and the Shackles of the Past|date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York|isbn=978-0190619589 |pages=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9byvBAAAQBAJ }}

From the mid-Edo period, wealthy {{nihongo3|townsman||chōnin}} and farmers could join the samurai class by giving a large sum of money to an impoverished {{nihongo3|||gokenin}} 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 {{nihongo3|||yoriki}} and 500 ryo for an {{nihongo3||徒士|kachi}} Some of their descendants were promoted to {{nihongo3||旗本|hatamoto}} and held important positions in the shogunate. Some of the peasants' children were promoted to the samurai class by serving in the {{nihongo3||代官|daikan}} office.{{cite web|url=https://imidas.jp/jidaigeki/detail/L-57-110-08-04-G252.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240719202919/https://imidas.jp/jidaigeki/detail/L-57-110-08-04-G252.html|script-title=ja:武士（ぶし）／侍（さむらい）|language=ja|publisher=Shūeisha|date=|archive-date=19 July 2024|access-date=19 July 2024}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.cf.ocha.ac.jp/ccjs/j/menu/consortia/d007975_d/fil/121003.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716005713/https://www.cf.ocha.ac.jp/ccjs/j/menu/consortia/d007975_d/fil/121003.pdf|script-title=ja:近世後期の江戸における武家の養子と身分 滝沢馬琴を事例に|language=ja|publisher=Ochanomizu University|date=|archive-date=16 July 2024|access-date=16 July 2024}}{{wide image|Edo Panorama old Tokyo color photochrom.jpg|1000px|Edo, 1865 or 1866. Photochrom print. Five albumen prints joined to form a panorama. Photographer: Felice Beato.}}

File:Yamada-Nagamasa-Portrait-Shizuoka-Sengen-Shrine.png, circa 1630]]

In the late 1500s, trade between Japan and Southeast Asia accelerated and increased exponentially when the Tokugawa shogunate was established in the early 1600s. The destinations of the trading ships, the red seal ships, were Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc. Many Japanese moved to Southeast Asia and established Japanese towns there. Many samurai, or rōnin, who had lost their masters after the Battle of Sekigahara, lived in the Japanese towns. The Spaniards in the Philippines, the Dutch of the Dutch East India Company, and the Thais of the Ayutthaya Kingdom saw the value of these samurai as mercenaries and recruited them. The most famous of these mercenaries was Yamada Nagamasa. He was originally a palanquin bearer who belonged to the lowest end of the samurai class, but he rose to prominence in the Ayutthaya Kingdom, now in southern Thailand, and became governor of the Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom. When the policy of national isolation (sakoku) was established in 1639, trade between Japan and Southeast Asia ceased, and records of Japanese activities in Southeast Asia were lost for many years after 1688.{{cite web|url=https://worldhistorycommons.org/japanese-mercenaries-and-dutch-east-india-company|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208072323/https://worldhistorycommons.org/japanese-mercenaries-and-dutch-east-india-company|title=Japanese Mercenaries and the Dutch East India Company|publisher=World History Commons|archive-date=8 February 2023|access-date=14 February 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jafame/11/0/11_61/_pdf/-char/ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214233332/https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jafame/11/0/11_61/_pdf/-char/ja|script-title=ja:Relationship of Japan and the Netherlands in Asia Market in 17th Century and Today|language=ja|publisher=Wako University/J Stage|pages=61–67|archive-date=14 February 2024|access-date=14 February 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hirogin.co.jp/lib/kaigai/bangkok/report/b2107/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824133456/https://www.hirogin.co.jp/lib/kaigai/bangkok/report/b2107/|script-title=ja:「異国で王になった男」山田長政|language=ja|website=The Hiroshima Bank |archive-date=24 August 2022|access-date=14 February 2024}}

File:Hasekura in Rome.JPG portrayed during his mission in Rome by Archita Ricci, 1615]]

In 1582, three Kirishitan daimyō, Ōtomo Sōrin, Ōmura Sumitada, and Arima Harunobu, sent a group of boys, their own blood relatives and retainers, to Europe as Japan's first diplomatic mission to Europe. They had audiences with King Philip II of Spain, Pope Gregory XIII, and Pope Sixtus V. The mission returned to Japan in 1590, but its members were forced to renounce, be exiled, or be executed, due to the Tokugawa shogunate's suppression of Christianity.

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.{{cite web|url=https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20210316-81043/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128162019/https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20210316-81043/|title=Faithful legacy of the 'samurai ambassador'|publisher=|date=16 March 2021|archive-date=28 November 2023|access-date=15 February 2024}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/pickup/016/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223100039/https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/pickup/016/|script-title=ja:世界を見たサムライ達|language=ja|publisher=National Diet Library|archive-date=23 February 2023|access-date=15 February 2024}}

{{Main|Late Tokugawa shogunate}}

File:Kamei Koremi.jpg in the bakumatsu period]]

The relative peace of the Tokugawa era was shattered with the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry's massive U.S. Navy steamships in 1853. Perry used his superior firepower to force Japan to open its borders to trade. Prior to that only a few harbor towns, under strict control from the shogunate, were allowed to participate in Western trade, and even then, it was based largely on the idea of playing the Franciscans and Dominicans against one another (in exchange for the crucial arquebus technology, which in turn was a major contributor to the downfall of the classical samurai).{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

From 1854, the samurai army and the navy were modernized. A naval training school was established in 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. French naval engineers were hired to build naval arsenals, such as Yokosuka and Nagasaki. By the end of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1867, the Japanese navy of the shōgun already possessed eight western-style steam warships around the flagship Kaiyō Maru, which were used against pro-imperial forces during the Boshin War, under the command of Admiral Enomoto Takeaki. A French Military Mission to Japan (1867) was established to help modernize the armies of the Bakufu.

File:Samurai with sword.jpg, {{circa|1860}}]]

The last showing of the original samurai was in 1867 when samurai from Chōshū and Satsuma provinces defeated the shogunate forces in favor of the rule of the emperor in the Boshin War. The two provinces were the lands of the daimyōs that submitted to Ieyasu after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.

File:Iinuma Sadakichi.jpg, a Japanese samurai of the Aizu Domain. He was the sole survivor of the famous group of young Byakkotai soldiers who committed suicide on Iimori Hill during the Battle of Aizu]]

In the 1870s, samurai comprised five percent of the population, or 400,000 families with about 1.9 million members. They came under direct national jurisdiction in 1869, and of all the classes during the Meiji revolution they were the most affected.Harry D. Harootunian, "The progress of Japan and the Samurai class, 1868–1882." Pacific Historical Review (1959) 28#3: 255–266. [https://instruct.uwo.ca/economics/317b-570/Samura_merchanti.pdf online]

Although many lesser samurai had been active in the Meiji restoration, the older ones represented an obsolete feudal institution that had a practical monopoly of military force, and to a large extent of education as well. A priority of the Meiji government was to gradually abolish the entire class of samurai and integrate them into the Japanese professional, military and business classes.Harry D. Harootunian, "The Economic Rehabilitation of the Samurai in the Early Meiji Period." Journal of Asian Studies 19.4 (1960): 433–444. [http://www.bakumatsu.ru/lib/The_Economic_Rehabilitation_of_the_Samurai_in_the_Early_Meiji_Period.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118062121/http://www.bakumatsu.ru/lib/The_Economic_Rehabilitation_of_the_Samurai_in_the_Early_Meiji_Period.pdf |date=18 November 2017 }}

Their traditional guaranteed salaries were very expensive, and in 1873 the government started taxing the stipends and began to transform them into interest-bearing government bonds; the process was completed in 1879. The main goal was to provide enough financial liquidity to enable former samurai to invest in land and industry. A military force capable of contesting not just China but the imperial powers required a large conscript army that closely followed Western standards. The notion of very strict obedience to chain of command was incompatible with the individual authority of the samurai. Samurai now became Shizoku ({{lang|ja|士族}}; this status was abolished in 1947). The right to wear a katana in public was abolished, along with the right to execute commoners who paid them disrespect. In 1877, there was a localized samurai rebellion that was quickly crushed.James H. Buck, "The Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. From Kagoshima Through the Siege of Kumamoto Castle." Monumenta Nipponica 28#4 (1973), pp. 427–446 {{doi|10.2307/2383560}} [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2383560 Online]

Younger samurai often became exchange students because they were ambitious, literate and well-educated. On return, some started private schools for higher education, while many samurai became reporters and writers and set up newspaper companies.James L. Huffman, "The Meiji Roots and Contemporary Practices of the Japanese Press," The Japan Interpreter (Spring 1977): 448–466. Others entered governmental service.Andrew Cobbing, The Satsuma Students in Britain: Japan's Early Search for the essence of the West (1998), ch. 4. In the 1880s, 23 percent of prominent Japanese businessmen were from the samurai class; by the 1920s the number had grown to 35 percent.{{cite book|author=Mansel G. Blackford|title=The Rise of Modern Business in Great Britain, the United States, and Japan|edition=3rd|url=https://www.questia.com/library/120097948/the-rise-of-modern-business-in-great-britain-the|publisher=U of North Carolina Press|page=122|access-date=18 November 2019|archive-date=7 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807020303/https://www.questia.com/library/120097948/the-rise-of-modern-business-in-great-britain-the}}

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 and called baishin. Each daimyo had his own retainers and there 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 karo families.{{cite journal |last1=Craig |first1=Albert |title=The Restoration Movement in Chōshū |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |date=February 1959 |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=187-197 |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/2941681 |doi=10.2307/2941681}} The most samurai were hizamurai (ordinary samurai) who had an average stipend of 100 koku, 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, although they carried two swords they are often not considered samurai, although they are sometimes listed as lower samurai{{cite book |last1=Jansen |first1=Marius |title=Sakamato Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration |isbn=9781400879656 |ref=Jansen}}{{cite book |last1=Vaporis |first1=Constantine Nomikos |title=Samurai An Encyclopedia of Japan's Cultured Warriors |date=14 March 2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9798216141518 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iwTHEAAAQBAJ}}{{cite book |last1=Lidin |first1=Olof |title=Ogyu Sorai's Discourse on Government |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=9783447040754 |ref=Ogyu}}

{{See also|Bushido|Kiri-sute gomen}}

File:Onikojima Yatarō.jpg. After a battle, the heads of enemies were presented to the daimyo.]]

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)

File:Oishi Yoshio Gishi Seppuku No Zu Painting.png performing seppuku, 1703]]

File:Sekigahara Kassen Byōbu-zu (Gifu History Museum).jpg screen depicting the Battle of Sekigahara. It began on 21 October 1600 with a total of 160,000 men facing each other.]]

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{{cite book |author=Daisetz Teitarō Suzuki |title=Zen and Japanese culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j8c9AAAAIAAJ |year=1938 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-01770-9}}

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.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

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."{{sfn|Sharf|1993|p=12}}

File:Shōkō-ken.jpg}} was a place of politics and socializing for lords and samurai.]]

{{nihongo3|Japanese poetry||Waka}}, {{nihongo3|Japanese dance-drama||noh}}, {{nihongo3|Japanese football game||kemari}}, tea ceremony, and {{nihongo3|Japanese flower arranging||ikebana}} were some of the cultural pursuits enjoyed by the aristocratic samurai in the Sengoku Period.{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/113261/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427025841/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/113261/|script-title=ja:武士の生活|language=ja|publisher=The Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=27 April 2024|access-date=27 April 2024}}

Waka poems were also used as {{nihongo3|death poems|辞世の句|jisei no ku}}. 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 {{nihongo3|feudal lords||daimyo}} and samurai.{{cite web|url=https://www.kokugakuin.ac.jp/article/53496|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205225102/https://www.kokugakuin.ac.jp/article/53496|script-title=ja:神社と深くつながる「蹴鞠」|language=ja|publisher=Kokugakuin University|date=16 February 2018|archive-date=5 December 2022|access-date=27 April 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nohgaku.or.jp/guide/whywhat1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004141553/https://www.nohgaku.or.jp/guide/whywhat1|script-title=ja:能楽と歴史について|language=ja|publisher=The Nohgaku Performers' Association|date=16 February 2018|archive-date=4 October 2023|access-date=27 April 2024}} 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 {{nihongo3|small tea room||chashitsu}} 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.

File:Koan Ogata 1901.jpg, a samurai, physician and rangaku scholar in late Edo period Japan, noted for establishing an academy which later developed into Osaka University]]

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)

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 {{ISBN?}}

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

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:

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.

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 was "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 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.{{cite book |last1=Wert |first1=Michael |title=Samurai: A Concise History |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-093294-7 |page=38}}

File:Taikō gosai rakutō yūkan no zu.jpg with his wives and concubines]]

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.

A samurai could take concubines, 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.

{{Main|Onna-musha}}

{{Unreferenced section|date=June 2023}}

File:Tomoe-Gozen.jpg by Shitomi Kangetsu, {{Circa|18th century}}]]

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.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7GHCwAAQBAJ|title=Samurai Women 1184–1877|last=Turnbull|first=Stephen|date=2012|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-78096-333-4|language=en}}

A samurai's daughter's greatest duty was political marriage. These women married members of enemy clans of their families to form a diplomatic relationship. 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.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

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 may 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.

File:Kasuga no Tsubone (c. 1880).jpg|Kasuga no Tsubone fighting robbers – Adachi Ginko ({{Circa|1880}})

File:Hangaku Gozen by Yoshitoshi.jpg|Hangaku Gozen by Yoshitoshi, {{Circa|1885}}

File:Onodera Junai no tsuma 斧寺重内の妻 (No. 4, The Wife of Onodera Junai) (BM 2008,3037.15404).jpg|Japanese woman preparing for ritual suicide

File:Tomita Nobutaka and his wife Yuki no Kata defend Tsu Castle by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 1885.png|Yuki no Kata defending Tsu Castle. 18th century

File:Femme-samurai-p1000704.jpg|A samurai class woman

{{Further|Samurai cinema}}

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.

Jidaigeki (literally historical drama) has always been a staple program on Japanese movies and television. The programs typically feature a samurai. Samurai films and westerns 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 Star Wars: A New Hope 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, Musashi and The Tale of the Heike, are popular among readers for their epic narratives and rich realism in depicting samurai and warrior culture.{{Citation needed|date=April 2016}} The samurai have also appeared frequently in Japanese comics (manga) and animation (anime). Examples are Samurai Champloo, Shigurui, Requiem from the Darkness, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, 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, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-feb-02-et-afrosamurai2-story.html "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.*{{cite news|url=http://www.denofgeek.us/books-comics/wolverine/160466/villains-of-the-wolverine-silver-samurai-and-viper|title=Villains of The Wolverine: Silver Samurai and Viper|website=Den of Geek|date=26 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109145318/http://www.denofgeek.us/books-comics/wolverine/160466/villains-of-the-wolverine-silver-samurai-and-viper|archive-date=9 January 2015|author=Marc Buxton}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Denison |first1=Rayna |title=Transcultural creativity in anime: Hybrid identities in the production, distribution, texts and fandom of Japanese anime |journal=Creative Industries Journal |date=27 May 2011 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=221–235 |doi=10.1386/cij.3.3.221_1|s2cid=143210545 |issn = 1751-0694 }}
• {{cite magazine |last=King |first=Kevin |date=December 1, 2008 |title=Afro Samurai |department=Youth Graphic Novels in Brief |magazine=Booklist |volume=105 |issue=7 |page=44 |id={{ProQuest|235647197}} |ref=none}}
• {{cite web |last1=Manion |first1=Annie |title=Global Samurai |url=http://www.jrtr.net/jrtr45/pdf/ap.pdf |publisher=Japan Railway & Transport Review |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911002417/http://www.jrtr.net/jrtr45/pdf/ap.pdf |archive-date=11 September 2010 |pages=46–47|date=August 2006}}*{{cite web |last1=Moscardi |first1=Nino |archive-date=19 March 2014 |title=The "Badass" Samurai in Japanese Pop Culture |url=http://www.samurai-archives.com/bsj.html |publisher=Samurai-Archives |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319104000/http://www.samurai-archives.com/bsj.html }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Ravina |first1=Mark |title=Fantasies of Valor: Legends of the Samurai in Japan and the United States |journal=ASIANetwork Exchange |date=1 October 2010 |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=80–99 |doi=10.16995/ane.200 |url=http://www.asianetworkexchange.org/jms/article/view/200 |doi-access=free }}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• {{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-feb-02-et-afrosamurai2-story.html|title=American, Japanese pop culture meld in 'Afro Samurai'|work=Los Angeles Times|author=Solomon, Charles|date=2 February 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20150118054553/http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/02/entertainment/et-afrosamurai2|archive-date=18 January 2015}}

{{div col|colwidth=2}}

• List of Japanese battles
• List of samurai
• Musha shugyō
• Ninja
• Pechin
• Kabukimono
• Seiwa Genji
• Shudō
• Shi
• Hwarang
• Kheshig

{{div col end}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Refbegin|30em}}

• Absolon, Trevor. Samurai Armour: Volume I: The Japanese Cuirass (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017).{{ISBN?}}
• Anderson, Patricia E. "Roles of Samurai Women: Social Norms and Inner Conflicts During Japan's Tokugawa Period, 1603–1868". New Views on Gender 15 (2015): 30–37. [http://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/iusbgender/article/viewFile/13611/19840 online]
• Ansart, Olivier. "Lust, Commerce and Corruption: An Account of What I Have Seen and Heard by an Edo Samurai". Asian Studies Review 39.3 (2015): 529–530.
• Benesch, Oleg. Inventing the Way of the Samurai: Nationalism, Internationalism, and Bushido in Modern Japan (Oxford UP, 2014). {{ISBN|978-0-19-870662-5}}
• Benesch, Oleg. "Comparing Warrior Traditions: How the Janissaries and Samurai Maintained Their Status and Privileges During Centuries of Peace." Comparative Civilizations Review 55.55 (2006): 6:37–55 [https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1669&context=ccr Online].
• Clements, Jonathan. A Brief History of the Samurai (Running Press, 2010) {{ISBN|0-7624-3850-9}}
• {{cite book|title=the Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o6n9jLF4IwUC|publisher=Forgotten Books|isbn=978-1-4510-0048-1|author-link=Henry James Coleridge|author=Coleridge, Henry James}}
• Cummins, Antony, and Mieko Koizumi. The Lost Samurai School (North Atlantic Books, 2016) 17th century Samurai {{ISBN?}} textbook on combat; heavily illustrated.
• Hubbard, Ben. The Samurai Warrior: The Golden Age of Japan's Elite Warriors 1560–1615 (Amber Books, 2015).{{ISBN?}}
• Jaundrill, D. Colin. Samurai to Soldier: Remaking Military Service in Nineteenth-Century Japan (Cornell UP, 2016).{{ISBN?}}
• Kinmonth, Earl H. Self-Made Man in Meiji Japanese Thought: From Samurai to Salary Man (1981) 385pp.{{ISBN?}}
• Ogata, Ken. "End of the Samurai: A Study of Deinstitutionalization Processes". Academy of Management Proceedings Vol. 2015. No. 1.
• {{cite journal

|last = Sharf

|first = Robert H.

|title = The Zen of Japanese Nationalism

|journal = History of Religions

|volume = 33

|issue = 1

|date = August 1993

|pages = 1–43

|publisher = University of Chicago Press

|doi = 10.1086/463354

|s2cid = 161535877

}}

• Thorne, Roland. Samurai films (Oldcastle Books, 2010).{{ISBN?}}
• Turnbull, Stephen. The Samurai: A Military History (1996).{{ISBN?}}
• Kure, Mitsuo. Samurai: an illustrated history (2014).{{ISBN?}}
• {{cite book|author-link=William Scott Wilson|author=Wilson, William Scott|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zAl8YHtqXxgC|title= Ideals of the Samurai: Writings of Japanese Warriors|publisher=Kodansha|year= 1982|isbn=0-89750-081-4}}

• Howland, Douglas R. "Samurai status, class, and bureaucracy: A historiographical essay". The Journal of Asian Studies. 60.2 (2001): 353–380. {{doi|10.2307/2659697}} [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2659697 online].

{{Refend}}

{{Wiktionary|侍}}

{{Wiktionary|samurai}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Samurai}}
• [http://www.samurai-archives.com The Samurai Archives Japanese History page]
• [http://www.history.com/topics/samurai-and-bushido History of the Samurai]
• [https://www.pbs.org/empires/japan/program_1.html The Way of the Samurai] – Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire
• [http://sitereports.nabunken.go.jp/en Comprehensive Database of Archaeological Site Reports in Japan], Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties

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