Samurai

The samurai were warriors who served the noble lords of Japan. They first rose to power around the year 1185 and ruled Japanese society for almost 700 years. Samurai trained in sword fighting, archery, and horseback riding. They followed a strict code of honor called bushido, which means "the way of the warrior."

Japan in this time was a feudal country. A few powerful lords, called daimyo, owned most of the land. The daimyo needed soldiers to protect their land and fight their rivals. Samurai filled that role. In return for their service, a samurai received food, money, or a small piece of land. The system was a lot like the one in medieval Europe, where knights served kings and nobles.

A samurai's most famous weapon was the katana, a long, curved sword. Each katana was made by a master swordsmith, who folded the steel many times to make it strong and sharp. Samurai usually carried two swords: the long katana and a shorter sword called a wakizashi. They also used bows, spears, and later guns. Their armor was made of small metal plates tied together with silk cords. It was light enough to fight in but tough enough to stop arrows.

Bushido shaped how a samurai was supposed to live. The code valued loyalty, courage, honesty, and self-control. A samurai was expected to serve his lord without question, even if it meant dying in battle. If a samurai failed his lord or lost his honor, he was sometimes expected to take his own life in a ritual called seppuku. This rule was harsh, and historians today debate how often it really happened.

Samurai were not only fighters. Many studied poetry, painting, and the tea ceremony. They believed a true warrior should train his mind as carefully as his sword. Some of Japan's most beautiful gardens and most famous poems were made by samurai. The most famous samurai of all, Miyamoto Musashi, won more than 60 sword duels and also wrote a book about strategy called The Book of Five Rings.

The age of the samurai ended in the 1860s. Japan opened up to the wider world and built a modern army with rifles and uniforms. In 1876, the government banned samurai from carrying their swords in public. The samurai class was officially gone within a few years.

Their stories did not disappear. Samurai still appear in Japanese books, movies, video games, and comics. Many people today still study bushido, kendo (sword fighting), and other arts the samurai practiced hundreds of years ago.