The mounted archer represented the quintessential samurai.
Thesamurai (侍) were members of the professional warrior class in pre-industrialJapan, who served as retainers to the lords. These men came from warrior families and trained from a young age in military arts through private instruction. Swordsmanship, archery, and horsemanship were the primary martial skills; and often in Japanese history, only samurai had the right to even possess these weapons.[1] These weapons required years of training to master, and this commitment made the samurai superior to conscripts and militia, the latter who were typically given only days of training.[2] The samurai also studied literature, calligraphy, andConfucian philosophy, befitting their roles as bureaucrats under theshoguns.
In 1853, theUnited States forced Japan to open its borders to foreign trade, dragging the insular country into the industrial age. The adoption of modern firearms rendered the traditional weapons of the samurai obsolete. Firearms require only one or two weeks of training to master as opposed to years for the sword and bow, which meant that conscripts could now be just as effective as samurai in battle. Japan therefore had no more need for a specialized warrior class whose men dedicated their lives to martial training.[3] Furthermore, Japan's transition from feudalism to capitalism left the samurai without any lords to serve, ending their traditional social role. By 1876 the special rights and privileges of the samurai had all been abolished.
Terminology
The proper Japanese term for a professional warrior is "bushi" (武士)[4] and the word "buke" (武家) meant "warrior family (or families)".[5] The word "samurai" was colloquial and its exact meaning varied over the centuries. The word "samurai" is thought to come from the word "saburau" and means "one who serves [their lord]", and therefore the samurai are generally defined as retainers or vassals. The warlords who ruled Japan (thedaimyo and theshogun) were members of thebushi class but were not referred to as samurai, except perhaps when discussing their relationship with the emperor since in principle they all served the emperor.[6]
During the Heian period (794 AD - 1185 AD), it was not necessary for a bushi to serve a master to be considered a bushi. But during the Kamakura shogunate, a bushi's status was contingent on having a master. If a bushi lost his master, he lost his land and honor.
During the Kamakura shogunate (1185 AD – 1333 AD), it was expected for a member of the bushi class to own land where he had his ancestral home and from which he made a living, although this was not required by law.[7] But during the Edo period, the bushi were redefined in law as a caste, a status one inherited regardless of whether one owned land, and most bushi in the Edo period were in fact not allowed to own land. If a bushi served a daimyo, he was called a samurai and received a stipend. If the bushi lost his master, he would lose his stipend as it was paid by the master. He could no longer properly be called a samurai because he served nobody, so he was instead referred to as a ronin. A ronin was still a member of the bushi class and so had the right to carry weapons and use his family name.[citation needed]
During the early Edo period, a warrior was only considered a member of thebushi class if he was a public servant, which among other things entitled him to a stipend.[8]
Rise, transformation, and dissolution
Rise of the warrior clans (700 - 1180 AD)
Up until the late 8th century AD, Japan had a national conscript army. As peace settled in, the imperial court began dismantling the system, eventually ending it by 792 AD. Conscripts were seen as unreliable and poorly trained, to be used only when there were not enough samurai to deal with a formidable enemy, such as when the Chinese invaded. Conscript footsoldiers proved to be particularly ineffective in the Japanese' war with theEmishi, an ethnic minority in the north that relied on mounted warriors and were thus highly mobile. The deciding factor in most battles had been professional mounted archers who came from the wealthy families.[9] The government didn't train conscripts to be mounted archers because that took years and conscripts were short-term warriors. So it instead recruited men who already had these skills, acquired through private training funded by their families' wealth.[10] Similarly, soldiers in the imperial army were expected to provide most of their own equipment.[11] Wealthy men who could afford horses and archery training were promoted to elite units, whereas the poor were consigned to being footsoldiers. The poor disliked military service for this reason, and because their farms often fell into decay with their absence, so there was popular support for ending conscription.
At the start of the 8th century AD, Japan's government was highly centralized at the imperial court, whose bureaucracy was inspired by T'ang dynasty China. All land at first belonged to the emperor, i.e. in the public domain (kokugaryō), but in the middle of the 8th century, the government instituted a major reform which allowed individuals to claim private ownership of new farmland that they had reclaimed from the wilderness. This spurred wealthy people to start reclaiming farmland, which was necessary to feed Japan's growing population. During the 11th and 12th centuries, bushi became conspicuously involved in land reclamation, thereby becoming a landowning class.[12]
Taxation during the 8th century was high but temples, monasteries, shrines, and certain aristocrats obtained tax exemptions through their connections to the imperial court. To evade taxes, many landowners in the countryside donated their lands to these tax-exempt entities. The land would be registered in the name of said noble or temple and would become part of their tax-exempt estate (shōen) but would still be used by the same person who originally owned it. The former owner, now a steward on his lord's estate, had to pay his lord an annual tribute that was less than what he would have had to pay the emperor in tax had he been the landowner. There was usually an agreement that when the steward died, his children would inherit his position. If the temple or lord cheated the steward somehow, the farmer could retaliate by exposing the scheme, which might have cost the temple or noble its tax-exempt privilege.[13][14] The growth of theshōen led to a loss of tax revenue for the imperial court, and a heavier tax burden on those farmers who worked the remaining taxable land. These farmers often could not cope and abandoned their lands, which were bought up by the landowning magnates.[15]
In the Heian period it was the habit of emperors to keep harems, and consequently the imperial family got so large, it burdened the treasury. In the early 9th century AD,Emperor Saga expelled several dozen members from the imperial family, who formed two new clans: theMinamoto clan (814 AD) and theTaira clan (825 AD). Many wealthy provincial families married into the Minamotos and Tairas in order to acquire aristocratic status, gaining prestige and often tax exemptions. And so the Tairas and Minamotos became big and wealthy clans with lots of warrior retainers.[16]
Thus with the downsizing of the national army and the decline in tax revenue, the emperors delegated the matter of security in the countryside to the burgeoning class of landed warriors. They had a personal incentive to suppress lawlessness in their own lands as it directly impacted their revenue. War and law enforcement became increasingly privatized affairs.
Two leading warrior clans, theMinamoto clan and theTaira clan, had both gained court positions and became rivals.
In 1156, the former emperor Sutoku attempted to take back the throne from his brother,Emperor Go-Shirakawa, in what is remembered as theHōgen rebellion. It failed and Sutoku was exiled. Members of the Minamoto and Taira clans had fought on both sides of the rebellion, but the Minamoto loyalists received smaller rewards than the Taira loyalists, and the Minamoto rebels received worse punishments than the Taira rebels. All this angered the Minamotos, and consequently political factions in the imperial court began to reform around clan affiliations rather than personal allegiances.[17] The next rebellion would be a direct Taira/Minamoto clash.
The Minamotos took part in theHeiji Rebellion of 1160 in the hopes that they could have the Taira leaderTaira no Kiyomori banished.[18] This rebellion also failed, and in the aftermath the Tairas ended up with even more influence in the imperial court. Their leader,Taira no Kiyomori, became the firstbushi ever to be given a senior rank in the imperial court (chief minister in 1167).[19]
In 1180, Taira no Kiyomori installed his two-year-old grandson (Emperor Antoku) on the throne, pushing aside older male heirs whose mothers were from the Minamoto family. This sparked a rebellion by the Minamotos, leading to theGempei War (1180-1185).Minamoto no Yoritomo promised lands and administrative rights to warriors who swore allegiance to him. The Minamotos won the war and the Taira clan was effectively destroyed. In April 1185, the controversial child emperor was drowned by his own grandmother, who then committed suicide.
The new emperor,Emperor Go-Toba, was ofFujiwara lineage on his mother's side, which Minamoto no Yoritomo found acceptable. But Yoritomo took over most of his authority, reducing the emperor to a figurehead. Previous emperors had been figurehead rulers too, with the real power being wielded by a regent, often the previous emperor. But Yoritomo went further: he didn't take over the imperial bureaucracy, he instead established a parallel military government staffed by the warriors who had fought for him. That was the reward they were promised and due, lest they turn on him. So began the firstshogunate. Whereas the imperial court was inKyoto, Yorimoto chose to base the shogunate inKamakura.
Japan under the shogunate became a feudal state. Samurai who served the shogun and managed reclaimed land (for which they had a warrant from the shogun) were calledgokenin. Samurai who did not serve the shogun nor manage reclaimed land were calledhigokenin.[20] They were formally granted a great deal of autonomy, and theshogun was more of a mediator and coordinator than a true ruler.[21] In the early 1190s, theshogun began appointing military governors (shugo) to the provinces.[22] Only warriors from theKantō region could becomeshugo. These military governors eventually displaced the authority of the civilian governors (kokushi) which had been appointed by the imperial court.[23] Ashugo's main duties were coordinating his area'sgokenin in military matters, suppressing rebellions, and enforcing the law.[24]
During the Gempei War, many warriors had seized control of the private estates (shōen) of the courtiers in Kyoto. They presumptuously declared themselves the stewards of these estates.[25] The shogunate now had a responsibility to restrain this lawlessness. It was decreed that all stewards had to be appointed by theshogun. Most stewards were chosen from warrior families. Appointing warrior stewards undermined the authority of the courtiers in Kyoto who owned theshōen. Warrior stewards would surely be loyal to theshogun, not the imperial court. The title ofjitō was heritable. A steward could not bequeath his office to someone outside his family.[26] Under the Kamakura shogunate, ajitō could not be punished for misconduct by his landlord. The landlord had to appeal to the shogunate for justice.[27]
The title ofshogun was supposed to be hereditary. In 1203, theshogunMinamoto no Yoriie died and his son was only 11 years old, so the leader of the Hōjō clan,Hōjō Tokimasa, declared himself regent (shikken). The Hōjō clan refused to return power to the Minamotos when the young son came of age, but out of respect for the tradition of hereditary titles, they did not declare themselvesshogun but kept the title ofshikken.
Nanboku-chō and Muromachi period
The Hōjō clan controlled the Kamakura shogunate as regents (shikken) during theMongol invasions of Japan (1274-1281). Many samurai who fought the Mongols felt that they had not been properly rewarded by the regent, who favored his own clan too much.Emperor Godaigo saw an opportunity to restore imperial power. In 1333, the emperor incited the disgruntled samurai to rebel against the shogunate and return power to the imperial court, leading to theKenmu Restoration. But Godaigo's policies proved unpopular, and in 1336 his top generalAshikaga Takauji betrayed him and established a new shogunate, this time headquartered inKyoto. This shogunate is known as theAshikaga shogunate.
The southern court, descended from Emperor Godaigo, and the northern court, descended from Emperor Kōgōn, were established side by side. This period of coexistence of the two dynasties is called theNanboku-chō period, which corresponds to the beginning of theMuromachi 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 modernImperial Household Agency considers the Southern Court to be the legitimate emperor.[28] Thede facto rule of Japan by the Ashikaga shogunate lasted until theOnin War, which broke out in 1467.
From 1346 to 1358 during the Nanboku-cho period, the Ashikaga shogunate gradually expanded the authority of theShugo (守護), the local military and police officials established by the Kamakura shogunate, giving theShugo jurisdiction over land disputes betweengokenin (御家人) and allowing theShugo to receive half of all taxes from the areas they controlled. TheShugo shared their newfound wealth with the local samurai, creating a hierarchical relationship between theShugo and the samurai, and the first earlydaimyo (大名, feudal lords), calledshugo daimyo (守護大名), appeared.[29]
During the Nanboku-chō period, many lower-class foot soldiers calledashigaru began to participate in battles, and the popularity ofharamaki increased. During the Nanboku-chō and Muromachi periods,dō-maru andharamaki became the norm, and senior samurai also began to wearharamaki by addingkabuto (helmet),men-yoroi (face armor), and gauntlet.[30]
Issues of inheritance caused family strife asprimogeniture 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.
Sengoku period
The outbreak of theOnin War, which began in 1467 and lasted about 10 years, devastatedKyoto and brought down the power of the Ashikaga shogunate. This plunged the country into thewarring states period, in whichdaimyo (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, whenOda Nobunaga marched on Kyoto, and the latest being the suppression of theShimabara Rebellion in 1638. Thus, the Sengoku Period overlaps with the Muromachi,Azuchi–Momoyama, andEdo periods, depending on the theory. In any case, the Sengoku period was a time of large-scale civil wars throughout Japan.[31][32]
Tanegashima (arquebus)Large numbers ofashigaru (foot soldiers) in close formation began to useyari (spears) andtanegashima (gun), changing battlefield tactics and the equipment of the samurai class.
Daimyo who became more powerful as the shogunate's control weakened were calledsengoku daimyo (戦国大名), and they often came fromshugo daimyo,Shugodai (守護代, deputy Shugo), andkokujin or kunibito (国人, local masters). In other words,sengoku daimyo differed fromshugo daimyo in that asengoku daimyo was able to rule the region on his own, without being appointed by the shogun.[29]
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.[33] These events sometimes led to the rise of samurai to the rank ofsengoku daimyo. For example,Hōjō Sōun was the first samurai to rise to the rank ofsengoku daimyo during this period.Uesugi Kenshin was an example of aShugodai who becamesengoku daimyo by weakening and eliminating the power of the lord.[34][35]
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 becomingde facto samurai. One such example isToyotomi Hideyoshi, a well-known figure who rose from a peasant background to become a samurai,sengoku daimyo, andkampaku (Imperial Regent).[36]
In 1543, Portuguese explorers taught the Japanese how to make matchlock muskets. The Japanese took a quick liking to this new weapon. Initially, they were items of prestige wielded only by samurai, but certain daimyo noticed that muskets took only a week or two of training to master and therefore should be used in large numbers by peasant infantry.[37]
From this time on, infantrymen calledashigaru, 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.[38] Whenmatchlocks were introduced from Portugal in 1543, Japanese swordsmiths immediately began to improve and mass-produce them. The Japanese matchlock was namedtanegashima after theTanegashima 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 ofarquebuses in Japan and a large army of nearly 100,000 men clashing with each other.[39]
On the battlefield,ashigaru began to fight in close formation, usingyari (spear) andtanegashima. As a result,yari,yumi (bow), andtanegashima became the primary weapons on the battlefield. Thenaginata, which was difficult to maneuver in close formation, and the long, heavytachi fell into disuse and were replaced by thenagamaki, which could be held short, and the short, lightkatana, which appeared in the Nanboku-cho period and gradually became more common. Thetachi was often cut off from the hilt and shortened to make akatana. Thetachi, which had become inconvenient for use on the battlefield, was transformed into a symbol of authority carried by high-ranking samurai.[40][41][42][38] Although theōdachi had become even more obsolete, somesengoku daimyo dared to organize assault and kinsmen units composed entirely of large men equipped withōdachi to demonstrate the bravery of their armies.[43]
These changes in the aspect of the battlefield during the Sengoku period led to the emergence of thetosei-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 theō-yoroi anddō-mal in the Heian period. In this style, the number of parts was reduced, and instead armor with eccentric designs became popular.[44]
By the end of the Sengoku period, allegiances between warrior vassals, also known as military retainers, and lords were solidified.[45] Vassals would serve lords in exchange for material and intangible advantages, in keeping withConfucian ideas imported from China between the seventh and ninth centuries.[45]These independent vassals who held land were subordinate to their superiors, who may be local lords or, in the Edo period, the shogun.[45]A vassal or samurai could expect monetary benefits, including land or money, from lords in exchange for their military services.[45]
The Azuchi-Momoyama period refers to the period whenOda Nobunaga andToyotomi Hideyoshi were in power. The name "Azuchi-Momoyama" comes from the fact that Nobunaga's castle,Azuchi Castle, was located inAzuchi, Shiga, andFushimi 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.
Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa
The three unifiers of Japan: from left to right: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu
Oda Nobunaga was the well-known lord of theNagoya area (once calledOwari Province) and an exceptional example of a samurai of the Sengoku period.[46] He came within a few years of, and laid down the path for his successors to follow, the reunification of Japan under a newbakufu (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.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi andTokugawa 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."[47] (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, wentrōnin or were absorbed into the general populace.
During theAzuchi–Momoyama period (late Sengoku period), "samurai" often referred towakatō (若党), the lowest-rankingbushi, as exemplified by the provisions of the temporary lawSeparation Edict enacted by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1591. This law regulated the transfer of status classes:samurai (wakatō),chūgen (中間),komono (小者), andarashiko (荒子). These four classes and theashigaru werechōnin (町人, townspeople) and peasants employed by thebushi and fell under the category ofbuke hōkōnin (武家奉公人, servants of thebuke).[48] In times of war, samurai (wakatō) andashigaru were fighters, while the rest were porters. Generally, samurai (wakatō) could take family names, while someashigaru could, and only samurai (wakatō) were considered samurai class.Wakatō, like samurai, had different definitions in different periods, meaning a youngbushi in the Muromachi period and a rank belowkachi (徒士) and aboveashigaru in the Edo period.
TheBattle of Sekigahara, known as "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 powerfulsengoku daimyo,Go-Tairō (五大老,Council of Five Elders), and Hideyoshi's five retainers,Go-Bugyō (五奉行, Five Commissioners), until his only heir, the five-year-oldToyotomi Hideyori, reached the age of 16.[49] 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.[50][51][52] 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.[50][51][52]
In this politically unstable situation,Maeda Toshiie, one of theGotairō, died of illness, andTokugawa Ieyasu, one of theGotairō who had been second in power to Hideyoshi but had not participated in the war, rose to power, and Ieyasu came into conflict withIshida Mitsunari, one of theGo-Bukyō and others. This conflict eventually led to theBattle of Sekigahara, in which theTō-gun (東軍, Eastern Army) led by Ieyasu defeated theSei-gun (西軍, Western Army) led by Mitsunari, and Ieyasu nearly gained control of Japan.[49]
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, andTachibana. In most cases, however, it is difficult to prove these claims.
After the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu consolidated power and was declared shogun in 1603. After thesiege 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.[53] Most samurai moved from the land to the castle towns, with one town in each domain.[54] 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.[54] Landed samurai had to choose to either give up their lands to become stipend samurai, or to keep their lands and become peasants.[55]
Thechonmage became the customary hairstyle for samurai during the Edo period.
Following the passing of a law in 1629, samurai on official duty were required to weartwo swords. However, by the end of the Tokugawa era, samurai were aristocratic bureaucrats for theirdaishō, becoming more of a symbolic emblem of power than a weapon used in daily life. They still had the legal right to cut down any commoner who did not show proper respect (kiri-sute gomen), but to what extent this right was used is unknown.[56] When the central government forceddaimyōs to cut the size of their armies, unemployed rōnin became a social problem.
Theoretical obligations between a samurai and his lord (usually adaimyō) increased from the Genpei era to the Edo era, strongly emphasized by the teachings ofConfucius andMencius, 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.[57] The relentless condemnation of pederasty byJesuit missionaries also hindered attempts to convert Japan's governing elite to Christianity.[58] Pederasty had become deeply institutionalized among the daimyo and samurai, prompting comparisons to ancientAthens and Sparta.[58] The Jesuits' strong condemnation of the practice alienated many of Japan's ruling class, creating further barriers to their acceptance of Christianity.[58]Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third shogun, was known for his interest in pederasty.[59]
From the mid-Edo period, wealthychōnin (townsman) and farmers could join the samurai class by giving a large sum of money to an impoverishedgokenin to be adopted into a samurai family and inherit the samurai's position and stipend. The amount of money given to agokenin varied according to his position: 1,000ryo for ayoriki and 500ryo for ankachi (徒士) Some of their descendants were promoted tohatamoto (旗本) and held important positions in the shogunate. Some of the peasants' children were promoted to the samurai class by serving in thedaikan (代官) office.[60]Kachi could change jobs and move into the lower classes, such aschōnin. For example,Takizawa Bakin became achōnin by working forTsutaya Jūzaburō.[61]
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, thered seal ships, were Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc. Many Japanese moved to Southeast Asia and established Japanese towns there. Many samurai, orrōnin, who had lost their masters after the Battle of Sekigahara, lived in the Japanese towns. The Spaniards in the Philippines, the Dutch of theDutch East India Company, and the Thais of theAyutthaya Kingdom saw the value of these samurai as mercenaries and recruited them. The most famous of these mercenaries wasYamada 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 theNakhon 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.[62][63][64]
In 1612,Hasekura Tsunenaga, a vassal of thedaimyoDate Masamune, led a diplomatic mission and had an audience with KingPhilip III of Spain, presenting him with a letter requesting trade, and he also had an audience withPope 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 ofsakoku. 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.[65]
At the end of the Edo period (Bakumatsu era), whenMatthew C. Perry came to Japan in 1853 and thesakoku policy was abolished, six diplomatic missions were sent to the United States and European countries for diplomatic negotiations. The most famous were theUS mission in 1860 and theEuropean missions in 1862 and1864.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 the10,000 yen note.[66]
In 1853, the United States sent a fleet of warships under the command of CommodoreMatthew C. Perry to force the rulers of Japan to open their borders to foreign trade. The shogun had no choice but to comply. His samurai were no match for Perry's marines and as a pre-industrial society, Japan was no match for the United States. The Japanese were aware of how European imperialists defeated and humiliated the Chinese and they feared an invasion of Japan was soon to come. Japan had to modernize if it was to maintain its honor and independence.
The Japanese began importing large quantities of European and American weapons and hiring European and American veterans to train their armies. The new weapons included modern rifles withcaplock andbreech-loading mechanisms. These new firearms were more versatile and deadly than thematchlock arquebuses the Japanese had been using for three centuries. Theirrifled barrels gave them better accuracy and range, their mechanisms were less fiddly, they had a better rate of fire, they worked even in wet weather, and they could be fitted withbayonets to double as spears. Whereas arquebuses had been used alongside spears and bows on the battlefield, the new rifles became the standard infantry weapon.[67]Revolvers andderringers became the self-defense weapons of choice, supplanting knives and swords. These firearms were also much easier to use than the traditional weapons of the samurai, requiring about two weeks of practice to master as opposed to years.[68][69][70][71][72] An army based on the gun does not require men who dedicate their lives to the martial arts, which is what the samurai essentially were. Commoners of any profession could be turned into effective soldiers on an as-needed basis.[73][74]
European armies relied on commoners. The development of firearms had done away withknights andmen-at-arms. From their own history, the Japanese remembered that peasant soldiers had been just as effective with arquebuses as samurai.[75] So even before theMeiji Restoration, the shogun and the other feudal lords emphasized commoners when they set about rebuilding their armies.[76][77] There were also political advantages to using commoners. Commoners tended to be more submissive as they came from humbler backgrounds, did not inherit any military tradition, and were easier to replace.[78] They were less resistant to social reform because they had little to lose and a lot to gain. They typically came without any political baggage or conflicting loyalties, which became especially important later on when the Meiji government sought to create a national army that cut across feudal domains. During the Meiji era, conscription into the national army exposed men across Japan to nationalist indoctrination, a way to build unity and national identity.[79][80][81]
The Japanese realized that in order to match the industrial and military might of the Western imperial powers, Japan had to abandon feudalism for a capitalist economy with a strong central government.[82][83] In November 1867, the unpopular shogun relinquished his authority to the emperor, who was seen as a unifying figure by the Japanese. Thus began theMeiji Restoration.[84] Between 1869 and 1871, thedaimyo (Japan's feudal lords) were stripped of their lands and titles. Their domains became prefectures subject to the authority of the imperial government. Some formerdaimyo were given government jobs, but most retired with lavish pensions.[85] The dissolution of thedaimyo class made the samurai defunct as a feudal retainer caste. The central government took responsibility for paying their rice stipends.
Saigo Takamori is romanticized as the last samurai. He led a failed rebellion against the new government which saw his kind as obsolete and troublesome.
The samurai were now defunct and obsolete, so the Meiji government began repealing their special rights and privileges. In 1869, the government reclassified high-ranking samurai asshizoku (warriors) and lower status samurai assotsuzoku (foot soldiers).[86] In 1872, thesotsu rank was abolished and thesotsuzoku were reclassified asshizoku.[87] In 1871, the government banned the samurai topknot (thechonmage).[88] From 1873 to 1879, the government started taxing the stipends and transformed them into interest-bearing government bonds. The main goal was to provide enough financial liquidity to enable former samurai to invest in land and industry. In 1876, the government forbade anyone outside the military to wear swords even if they were of samurai lineage, and repealed the right of a samurai to strike an insolent commoner with potentially lethal force (kiri-sute gomen).[89]
Most samurai accepted these reforms. In fact the Meiji leadership was composed mostly of former samurai. Many were offered positions in the new civilian government because they were typically well-educated. Others were offered teaching positions in the new public education system. During the Edo period, many samurai lived in poverty because there were few jobs for warriors and they were barred from working as tradesmen or merchants. The Meiji liberalization allowed these men to seek better economic opportunities in other professions.[90]
For some samurai, the reforms were humiliating. The new military doctrine emphasized infantry, and samurai did not see themselves as infantrymen.[91] Historically, the quintessential samurai had been a mounted warrior. Making effective use of firearms required drilling, and drilling was historically done by ashigaru, not samurai.[92] The sword, namely the two-handed katana, was sacred to the samurai. It was not just a status symbol, it had spiritual significance. It was bad enough to be told that swords were obsolete and to stop training with them,[93] but to be forbidden from even carrying them was intolerable.
This led to sporadic samurai rebellions. The largest of these was theSatsuma Rebellion of 1877. Many disgruntled samurai flocked to Satsuma where the radical samuraiSaigo Takamori had set up academies where he taught samurai the ways of modern war and his militant right-wing beliefs. The Meiji reforms of 1873 gave farmers ownership rights so that the government could tax them directly. This eliminated the traditional feudal role of the samurai landowners, of which Satsuma had an exceptionally high number.[94] Saigo therefore found a lot of sympathetic samurai in Satsuma. The imperial government feared an insurrection and sent a task force to disarm Takamori's growing paramilitary force. In response, Takamori marched his army on Tokyo. The rebel samurai were defeated by the imperial army, which was composed mostly of commoners. Both armies were equipped with modern weapons. After this rebellion was quashed, the Meiji government faced no further challenges to its authority.[95]
In 1947, theshizoku class was abolished.
Martial traditions
During theHeian period (794 - 1185), distinctive weapons such as thetachi andnaginata, commonly associated with the samurai, came into use.[96] This era also saw the development ofarmor styles such as theō-yoroi anddō-maru. High-ranking samurai, who fought primarily on horseback using archery (yumi), typically wore the heavy and expensiveō-yoroi, which was well-suited for mounted combat. In contrast, lower-ranking samurai fought on foot, wieldingnaginata and wearing the lighter and more affordabledō-maru.[97][98] Thewarabite-tō swords used by the Emishi influenced the evolution of Japanese swordsmithing techniques, eventually leading to the development of the curvedtachi. As a result, straight swords were gradually replaced by curved ones better suited for slashing in combat[96]
Samurai ranks
The samurai class was highly stratified. Rank was determined by a variety of factors such as the rank of one's lord and the size of one's stipend. Individual domains also made their own distinctions. The domain of Choshu had forty strata for the military class. The highest ranking Tokugawa vassals were the daimyo, who had at least 10,000 koku. Next came the hatamoto, who were distinguished by the right of audience with the shogun, followed by the gokenin. Samurai with a large enough stipend had their own retainers who were also samurai, called baishin. Each daimyo had his own retainers that were divided into many ranks. They were roughly divided into shi and sotsu. The highest ranking shi could have a larger stipend than some daimyo. These were usually cadet branch of the domain's ruler orkarō families.[99] Most samurai were hizamurai (ordinary samurai) who had an average stipend of 100 koku, and typically were mounted. Under them were the kachi who were on foot and were sometimes not considered samurai. Ashigaru were the lowest ranking members of the military class. While they carried two swords they are often not considered samurai, although they are sometimes listed as lower samurai.[100][101][102]
A samurai holding asevered head. 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."[103]Carl Steenstrup notes that 13th- and 14th-century warrior writings (gunki) "portrayed thebushi in their natural element, war, eulogizing such virtues as reckless bravery, fierce family pride, and selfless, at times senseless devotion of master and man".[104]
The translator ofHagakure,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 theHagakure relating his execution of two brawlers, not because they had fought, but because they had not fought to the death".[105][106]
Religion
The philosophies of Confucianism,[45]Buddhism andZen, and to a lesser extentShinto, influenced the samurai culture. Zen meditation became an important teaching because it offered a process to calm one's mind. The Buddhist concept ofreincarnation 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]
Literature on the subject ofbushido such asHagakure ("Hidden in Leaves") byYamamoto Tsunetomo andGorin no Sho ("Book of the Five Rings") byMiyamoto Musashi, both written in the Edo period, contributed to the development ofbushidō 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."[107]
Culture
Thechashitsu (small tea room) was a place of politics and socializing for lords and samurai.
Waka (Japanese poetry),noh (Japanese dance-drama),kemari (Japanese football game),tea ceremony, andikebana (Japanese flower arranging) were some of the cultural pursuits enjoyed by the aristocratic samurai in the Sengoku Period.[108]
Noh andkemari were promoted by theAshikaga shogunate and became popular amongdaimyo (feudal lords) and samurai.[109][110] During theSengoku period, the appreciation ofnoh and the practice of tea ceremonies were valued for socializing and exchanging information, and were essential cultural pursuits fordaimyo and samurai. The view of life and death expressed innoh plays was something the samurai of the time could relate to. Owning tea utensils used in the tea ceremony was a matter of prestige fordaimyo and samurai, and in some cases tea utensils were given in exchange for land as a reward for military service. Thechashitsu (small tea room) 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.[110]
Education
Kōan Ogata, a samurai, physician and rangaku scholar in late Edo period Japan, noted for establishing an academy which later developed intoOsaka University
In general, samurai, aristocrats, and priests had a very high literacy rate inkanji. 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.[111]
Some samurai hadbuke 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 hadKuge bunko, or "family libraries", that held classics, Buddhist sacred texts, and family histories, as well as genealogical records.[112]
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.[113]
In a letter dated 29 January 1552,St Francis Xavier observed the ease of which the Japanese understood prayers due to the high level of literacy in Japan at that time:
The Nobles send their sons to monasteries to be educated as soon as they are 8 years old, and they remain there until they are 19 or 20, learning reading, writing and religion; as soon as they come out, they marry and apply themselves to politics.
Names
A samurai was usually named by combining onekanji 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 ofOda Nobunaga was "Oda Kazusanosuke Saburo Nobunaga" (織田上総介三郎信長), in which "Oda" is a clan or family name, "Kazusanosuke" is a title of vice-governor of Kazusa province, "Saburo" is a formal nickname (yobina), and "Nobunaga" is an adult name (nanori) given atgenpuku, the coming of age ceremony. A man was addressed by his family name and his title, or by hisyobina if he did not have a title. However, thenanori was a private name that could be used by only a very few, including the emperor. Samurai could choose their ownnanori 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.[114]
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 adowry was brought by the woman and was used to set up the couple's new household.
A samurai could takeconcubines, 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.
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, orokugatasama (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 anaginata or a special knife called thekaiken in an art calledtantojutsu (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.[115]
A samurai's daughter's greatest duty waspolitical marriage. These women married members of enemy clans of their families to form diplomatic relationships. These alliances were stages for many intrigues, wars and tragedies throughout Japanese history. A woman could divorce her husband if he did not treat her well and also if he was a traitor to his wife's family. A famous case was that ofOda Tokuhime (daughter ofOda Nobunaga); irritated by the antics of her mother-in-law,Lady Tsukiyama (the wife ofTokugawa 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]
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 privilegesde jure.
AfterAshikaga Yoshimasa, 8thshōgun of the Muromachi shogunate, lost interest in politics, his wifeHino Tomiko largely ruled in his place.Nene, wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was known to overrule her husband's decisions at times, andYodo-dono, his concubine, became thede facto master of Osaka castle and the Toyotomi clan after Hideyoshi's death.Tachibana Ginchiyo was chosen to lead the Tachibana clan after her father's death.Yamauchi Chiyo, wife of Yamauchi Kazutoyo, has long been considered the ideal samurai wife. According to legend, she made her kimono out of a quilted patchwork of bits of old cloth and saved pennies to buy her husband a magnificent horse, on which he rode to many victories. The fact that Chiyo (though she is better known as "Wife of Yamauchi Kazutoyo") is held in such high esteem for her economic sense is illuminating in the light of the fact that she never produced an heir and the Yamauchi clan was succeeded by Kazutoyo's younger brother. The source of power for women might have been that samurai left their finances to their wives. Several women ascended theChrysanthemum Throne as afemale 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.
Much of "everything we think we know about Japan's warrior elite" has been challenged; many ideas about the samurai myth, including the word "samurai" itself, evolved in mass media and pop culture long after the heyday of the warriors. Samurai women, for example, although not part of the legend, were educated, governed and even fought; and there was a balance between the military, and the literary and artistic. A major exhibition at theBritish Museum, "Samurai",[116] from 3 February – 4 May 2026, revealed a world beyond armour-clad warriors and epic duels.[117]
Samurai figures have been the subject for legends, folk tales, dramatic stories (i.e.gunki monogatari), theatre productions inkabuki andnoh, in literature, movies, animated andanime films, television shows,manga, video games, and in various musical pieces in genre that range fromenka toJ-Pop songs.
Jidaigeki (literally historicaldrama) has always been a staple program on Japanese movies and television. The programs typically feature a samurai. Samurai films andwesterns 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, andStar Wars: A New Hope takes the core story of a rescued princess being transported to a secret base from Kurosawa'sThe Hidden Fortress. Kurosawa was inspired by the works of directorJohn Ford, and in turn Kurosawa's works have been remade into westerns such asSeven Samurai intoThe Magnificent Seven andYojimbo intoA Fistful of Dollars. There is also a 26-episode anime adaptation (Samurai 7) ofSeven Samurai. Along with film, literature containing samurai influences are seen as well. As well as influence from American Westerns, Kurosawa also adapted two ofShakespeare's plays as sources for samurai movies:Throne of Blood was based onMacbeth, andRan was based onKing Lear.[118]
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, includingTaiko,Musashi andThe Tale of the Heike, are popular among readers for their epic narratives and rich realism in depicting samurai and warrior culture.[citation needed] The samurai have also appeared frequently in Japanese comics (manga) and animation (anime). Examples areSamurai Champloo,Shigurui,Requiem from the Darkness,Muramasa: The Demon Blade, andAfro 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 byTakashi Okazaki,Afro Samurai was initially adōjinshi, or manga series, which was then made into an animated series byStudio Gonzo. In 2007, the animated series debuted on American cable television on theSpike 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".[119] 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 thePlayStation 3 andXbox. Not only has the samurai culture been adopted into animation and video games, it can also be seen in comic books.
^Harald Kleinschmidt.Warfare in Japan, p. 79: "However, the Kamakurabakufu prohibited those ofbonge status to ride horses or to carry swords, bows, and arrows within the city limits of Kamakura. [...] In it we can detect the intention of thebakufu to make archery, swordmanship, and horsemanship, the major martial skills of thebushi class, the exclusive attribute of those ofbushi status."
^Louis G. Perez.A History of Japan, p. 34: "One mounted samurai armed with a longbow, a good razor-sharp steel long sword, and protected (as was his horse) by lacquered armor and helmet cost more than 50 ashigaru armed with iron pikes and protected by thick twisted straw rope layered over leather armored vests. A samurai took years to train, an ashigaru, only days."
^Gwynne Dyer (1985).War, p. 58: "It is not doing too much violence to history to compare the warrior class of samurai in Japan with the feudal nobility of Europe. Both were groups who owed their wealth, power, and social position to their proficiency with arms and derived their own self-respect from it. But proficiency with arms is only an important distinguishing mark if it takes long and arduous training to achieve and has a direct relationship to a man's chances of success and survival in battle—as it does with the sword, the spear, or the bow. Firearms take far less time to master and are much more democratic in their effects: samurai and commoners died with equal speed and equal futility in Takeda's desperate charges at Nagashino."
^Lopez-Vera, Jonathan (2020).History of the Samurai. Tuttle.ISBN9781462921348.
^Louis-Frédéric (2002).Japan encyclopedia. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.ISBN9780674017535.
^J. H. Gubbins (1918–1920)."The 'Hundred Articles' and the Tokugawa Government"(PDF).Transactions and Proceedings of the Japan Society.17. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co.To use the word samurai in the sense ofbushi is to ignore the distinction between a daimiō and his retainers. Every daimiō was abushi and gloried in the fact; but he never spoke of himself, nor was he spoken of, as asamurai. Our word "soldier" is used to-day in a meaning very similar to that of bushi in feudal days. Every officer with us is a soldier, but he is not aprivate soldier any more than a daimiō was asamurai.
^Harald Kleinschmidt.Warfare in Japan, p. 80: "To possess a base holding (konpon shiryō or honryō), namely the "place of myōji," was the most fundamental criteria of bushi status and the source from which his honor stemmed.[...] a bushi was supposed to make a living from his own land. The same source says that a landless bushi who lives off the support of another cannot be regarded as a bushi in his own right; his dependence subjugates him to his patron much as a horse or ox is subordinate to its master."
^The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 4: Early Modern Japan, p. 95: "The warrior of early modern times was recognized as being of the warrior class only when he was a member of thekōgi group. Individual warriors did not possess their own land and live on it independently; their income from a fief or stipend, under conditions created by Hideyoshi and continued by the Tokugawa, was guaranteed by their belonging to thekōgi group."
^Paul Varley.Warriors of Japan as Portrayed in the War Tales, p. 3: "In 792, two years before the move to Heian, the court issued an edict ending most conscription and dissolving thegundan, except for those in outlying regions: Mutsu and Dewa provinces in northern Honshu, Sado Island in the Sea of Japan, and northern Kyushu. Conscription had proved difficult to administer and was socially disruptive. Moreover, most peasant conscripts were poor fighters. On those occasions whengundan forces were mobilized for battle in the late sixth and seventh centuries, the horse-riding bowmen of the elite district families provided the decisive fighting power.
^Karl Friday.Hired Swords, p. 39: "...fighting from horseback was an extraordinarily complex skill to master, one that required years of training and practice. It was simply impossible to produce first-rate cavalrymen out of short-term, peasant conscripts. [...] The government expended minimal effort training ordinary conscripts as horsemen, preferring instead to rely on the talents of those who had acquired skills in mounted archery before their induction."
^Clements.A Brief History of the Samurai: "Although Temmu died before his system had been fully implemented, by the early eighth century an organization was in place that was designed to levy a conscript militia from local peasants. Heavy matériel was provided by the state from the district arsenals, but the conscripts were expected to bring their own sword and dagger, armour and a helmet made from wicker or straw, a bow and fifty arrows."
^Eiko Ikegami.The Taming of the Samurai, pp. 52-53: "During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, however, the level of samurai activity in land reclamation became conspicuous. With their active participation in the process of land reclamation, the samurai clearly emerged as a class of landed lords."
^Eiko Ikegami.The Taming of the Samurai. p. 52: "Because local reclamation landownership at this stage was still unstable, and restricted by the framework of the ancient codes, local reclamation landowners sometimes sought the protection of the power-holders in Kyoto by “commending” their own land to them. Thus the actual local owners were able to secure not only their control over land but also immunity from the local government."
^Mikiso Hane.Premodern Japan, p. 57: "The rise of the shōen meant a steady decline in the authority of the central government. Taxes collected by the government decreased, and police and military power in the provinces fell increasingly into the hands of the local magnates. [...] The deterioration of the peasantry resulted in part from the fact that, as tax-free estates proliferated, the tax burden grew heavier upon those who worked the little-remaining taxable land. [...] Unable to pay their debts and unable to bear the burden of heavy taxes, they left the land and joined the ranks of vagrants. The land they abandoned was taken over the rising local landowning magnates."
^Jonathan Clements.A Brief History of the Samurai: "Sons of the Taira and Minamoto were promising matches for the daughters of provincial strongmen, adding a noble cachet to outer clans. The daughters were similarly highly thought of, and many husbands took on the surname of their wives in recognition. Even those Taira and Minamoto fallen on hard times still had their name to trade; numerous noble-born debtors adopted their provincial creditors as their heirs as a form of payment in kind, ensuring that the Taira and Minamoto names were soon firmly ingrained in provincial landholdings."
^Jonathan Clements.A Brief History of the Samurai, chpt. 3: "Members of the Fujiwara, Minamoto and Taira clans had fought on both sides, but the punishments caused the disparate factions to begin uniting along lines of clan affiliation, instead of personal allegiance."
^Stephen Turnbull.The Samurai: A Military History: "This time any rebellion was bound to turn into a direct Taira/ Minamoto clash. Taira Kiyomori was a loyal subject of both Emperor and ex-Emperor, so to avoid being branded as rebels the Minamoto would have to kidnap both sovereigns while Kiyomori was out of town, and then make the Emperor declare Kiyomori a rebel."
^Jonathan Clements.A Brief History of the Samurai, chpt. 3: "Kiyomori wasted no time in insinuating himself into the capital, and in 1160 became the first samurai to be awarded a senior courtly rank."
^Harald Kleinschmidt.Warfare in Japan, pp. 79-80: "Gokenin are original reclaimers and proprietors of land (kaihotsu ryoshu) who are in possession of a warrant from the shogun (on-kudashibumi) recognizing their authority over the reclaimed land. [...] Higokenin are people of sarnurai status who do not serve the shogun and do not manage land bearing gokenin duties."
^Eiko Ikegami.The Taming of the Samurai, p. 82: "Sōryō were granted extensive autonomous powers (defined by the official code of the Kamakura shogunate) over the members of their ie. In turn, they owed the house’s military obligation to the shogun as direct vassals. [...] Indeed, the function of the Kamakura government was to control and mediate the “international relations” of these independent social organizations"
^Marius Jansen.Warrior Rule in Japan, p. 15: "The shogun began Not only were there no shugo at all until the early 1190s"
^The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 3, p. 81: "He was to act as coordinator of his area'sgokenin, in particular, commanding them in war and leading them in their peacetime guard duty in Kyoto. Second, he was to assume responsibility for controlling local rebellion and crimes of a capital nature, both duties hitherto discharged by the older civil governors. Finally, he was to serve as an adjunct to Kamakura's judicial system, performing in the joint roles of investigator, enforcer, and liaison."
^Cambridge History of Japan Volume 3: Medieval Japan, p. 59: "With the war officially over, warriors could no longer use the Gempei labels to justify their private lawlessness. Their aggression was thus more directly an attack on the courtier-dominated estate system."
^The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 3: Medieval Japan, p. 86: The bakufu permitted itsjitō to bequeath their titles, in unitary or partible fashion, to legitimate relatives of their own choosing. They were not allowed to bequeath their offices to external parties.
^The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 3: Medieval Japan, p. 83: "If the steward committed any kind of offense against man or property, the estate owner had no recourse but to appeal to Kamakura for redress. This obliging of the stewards to manage lands on behalf of a proprietor exercising no direct control over him was what made the office revolutionary. It also ensured an unending need for a bakufu judicial authority."
^Stephen Turnbull.Samurai Armies 1467–1649, 26: "When first introduced to Japan the arquebus was regarded as a prestige weapon to be carried by samurai, but was daimyō such as Oda Nobunaga who realized very soon that the most effective way for them to be used was by issuing them in large numbers to ashigaru (foot soldiers) and then delivering controlled volleys of bullets."
^abcdeWilliam E. Deal (2006).Handbook to Life in Medieval & early Modern Japan. Facts On File, Incorporated. p. 136.ISBN0-8160-5622-6.
^Nagano Prefectural Museum of History (1 March 2005)."たたかう人びと".Comprehensive Database of Archaeological Site Reports in Japan. Retrieved2 September 2016.
^Hoya Toru, in Hellyer et al.The Meiji Restoration p. 155: "Until the late Edo period, smoothbore muskets had been used in conjunction with other weapons such as bows and spears. Furthermore, engagements involved hand-to-hand combat with weapons such as the short spear." p. 161: "the government effectively disbanded units of archers and spearmen, key components of the early modern military structure. Moreover, the mounted cavalry, which had been the backbone of samurai military organization, was completely eliminated."
^Regulations for conducting the musketry instruction of the Army (1859) "At the several head-quarter stations of the Royal Artillery, and at places where detachments of 500 men and upwards are quartered, there is to be a duly qualified officer-instructor; and two half batteries are to be struck off duty at a time to be exercised in the prescribed annual course of rifle instruction, which can be accomplished efficiently in nine working days. The recruits are to be handed over for rifle-carbine training (which will only occupy fifteen working days)"
^"Train Driver and Master Iaido Swordsman"(PDF).Japan Railway & Transport Review. September 1997. pp. 48–49. "According to Kawaguchi, it requires some 3 years to learn to handle the sword with natural ease, and no less than 10 years to tentatively master all aspects of the art."
^Ellis Amdur.Old School: Essays on Japanese Martial Traditions, Expanded Edition: "To learn the fundamental techniques of spear fighting takes a strong body and perhaps two to three months of practice."
^Stephen Turnbull.The Samurai, chpt. 8: "Now whereas it took years of practice and the development of strong muscles to shoot well with the bow, a peasant could be taught within a few days to shoot an arquebus with all the accuracy of which the weapon was capable."
^Gwynne Dyer (1985).War, p. 58: "It is not doing too much violence to history to compare the warrior class of samurai in Japan with the feudal nobility of Europe. Both were groups who owed their wealth, power, and social position to their proficiency with arms and derived their own self-respect from it. But proficiency with arms is only an important distinguishing mark if it takes long and arduous training to achieve and has a direct relationship to a man's chances of success and survival in battle—as it does with the sword, the spear, or the bow. Firearms take far less time to master and are much more democratic in their effects: samurai and commoners died with equal speed and equal futility in Takeda's desperate charges at Nagashino."
^Mark Ravina.To Stand with the Nations of the World pp. 24–25: "A well-disciplined deployment of peasant musketeers could destroy an elite brigade of mounted archers, whose skills reflected years of training and noble privilege."
^Noel Perrin.Giving up the Gun, p. 73: "So could Lord Matsudaira, Warden of Kami Province, who said disgustedly of the 1637 rebellion. ‘In this there is no difference between soldiers and peasants, because firearms are used.’"
^Jaundrill.Samurai to Soldier, p. 71: "On the national level, the Tokugawa shogunate had inaugurated an ambitious attempt to create a new kind of army: one composed primarily of commoner soldiers and solidly under the control of Tokugawa authorities—not vassal warriors, as had been the case early in the regime’s history."
^Hoya Toru, in Hellyer et al.The Meiji Restoration, p.153: "In the wake of armed internal conflicts, almost every domain embraced modern, military organizational methods modeled after those of contemporary Europe. The key trigger to these reforms was the adoption of modern firearms, notably rifles, which decisively reshaped the military organizations of the day."
^Jaundrill.Samurai to Soldier, p. 47: "Because the soldiers recruited through the 1863 conscriptions ranked as the lowest members of the warrior status group, Tokugawa military leaders were free to use them as test subjects in their experimental effort to create a Westernized military. Unlike the warriors who had attended (or avoided) the Martial Arts School, the new recruits had no prior experience with military service, and thus no preconceptions about the limits of their superiors’ authority."
^Jaundrill (2019).Samurai to Soldier, p. 44: "Others domains like Choshu and Saga recruited on and outside the margins of the warrior status group in order to avoid sparking political conflicts within the domain."
^Gabriele Esposito.Japanese Armies 1868-1877, p. 13: "The peasant conscripts would be trained in regular, disciplined units with modern firearms; there would be no place for the selective loyalties of traditional samurai entourages in any future wars."
^Jaundrill.Samurai to Soldier, p. 31: "Thus the Ansei (1854–1860) round of reforms aimed to graft new technology onto existing organizational frameworks. The setbacks encountered in the Ansei reform era led shogunal and domainal leaders to conclude that technological reform was not possible without organizational reform—a political act that most authorities were unwilling to undertake unless absolutely necessary."
^Ravina.To Stand with the Nations of the World, p. 106: "...the crisis of 1866 prompted one of the most remarkable reform efforts in Japanese history. Defeat by Chōshū had discredited defenders of the shogunal status quo. Yoshinobu seized this chance to push through the most radical Japanese reform project in a millennium. Yoshinobu sought nothing less than the complete reorganization of the shogunate “from a feudally organized suzerain regime into a unified national regime organized along the bureaucratic lines of Napoleonic France."
^Ravina.To Stand with the Nations of the World, p. 116: "Yoshinobu’s move was tactically brilliant. By agreeing to restore political power to the court, he stole the issue from Chōshū and Satsuma. At the same time, his “surrender” allowed Yoshinobu to reposition himself in the emerging political order. The imperial court accepted Yoshinobu’s “return of political authority” on 10/15 but also called for a meeting of the daimyo to decide the course of reform. Since Yoshinobu had deftly manipulated daimyo councils before, he had every reason to expect substantial power in any national assembly.
^Ravina.To Stand with the Nations of the World, p. 122: "Rather than fight in defense of noble privilege, many of the last generation of daimyo were eager to be coopted: a handful received positions in the new Meiji government, but most simply accepted lavish pensions and disappeared from political life.
^Ravina.To Stand with the Nations of the World, p.131: "As vassals of vassals, Inada samurai were to be classified as soldiers (sotsu) rather than samurai (shi), resulting in a reduction in both income and status."
^Ravina.To Stand with the Nations of the World, p. 181: "It eliminated the distinct rank of “sotsu” for lower samurai and classified all retainers with heritable income as “shizoku,” a neologism for “former samurai.”"
^Laurence Winkler.Samurai Road: "In 1876, the wearing of swords was forbidden to anyone except members of the national armed forces, and all samurai stipends were converted to government bonds, at significant financial loss. The samurai right ofkirisute gomen, which allowed them to execute commoners who paid them disrespect, was abolished."
^Eiko Ikegami.The Taming of the Samurai, pp. 360-361
^Conrad Totman.The Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu (1862–1868) p. 470: "The foreigners' arrival presented a radical new demand for a dramatic rise in the level of that absolute effectiveness, and the entire samurai class found that rise extremely hard to achieve because it required fundamental and humiliating changes in fighting techniques. To say it baldly, samurai did not want to become infantrymen."
^Conrad Totman.The Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu (1862–1868) p. 29: "For another thing the attempt to make firearms the main weapon of bakufu forces was confounded by the reluctance of men to drill like common foot soldiers and the failure of reformers to make that drill compulsory."
^Conrad Totman.The Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu (1862–1868) p. 259: "In line with the policy of total conversion to firearms, on 8/8 [1866] Osaka officials instructed those at Edo to halt all practice with swords and pikes and switch instead to firearms."
^The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 5: The Nineteenth Century, p. 395: "In most fiefs thegōshi had lost their warrior status at the beginning of the Tokugawa period and were assimilated into the wealthy farmer (gōnō) class. However, the Satsumagōshi were accorded elite status and continued to think and act as warriors. [...] More concretely, the 1873 land tax revision threatened their socioeconomic power in the village. By conferring ownership rights on peasant farmers and taxing individual proprietors, the Meiji land tax eliminated the feudal role of the Satsumagōshi as petty overlords."
^Ravina.To Stand with the Nations of the World, p. 196: "A primary cause of the 1877 rebellion was the government’s attack on samurai privilege."
^abInada, Kazuhiko (2020).決定版 図説日本刀大全 Encyclopedia of the Japanese Swords (in Japanese). One Publishing Co., Ltd. pp. 33, 35.ISBN978-4651200408.
^ab能楽と歴史について (in Japanese). The Nohgaku Performers' Association. 16 February 2018. Archived fromthe original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved27 April 2024.
Absolon, Trevor.Samurai Armour: Volume I: The Japanese Cuirass (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017).[ISBN missing]
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.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).ISBN978-0-19-870662-5
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): 6:37–55Online.
Cummins, Antony, and Mieko Koizumi.The Lost Samurai School (North Atlantic Books, 2016) 17th century Samurai[ISBN missing] textbook on combat; heavily illustrated.
Karl F. Friday (1992).Hired Swords: The Rise of Private Warrior Power in Early Japan. Stanford University Press.ISBN0-8047-2696-5.
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