CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 6 CHAPTER 1 TO BE A SAMURAI WARRIOR 9 CHAPTER 2 WEAPONS AND PRACTICES 17 CHAPTER 3 NOTABLE BATTLES AND CONFLICTS 26 CHAPTER 4 THE END OF THE SAMURAI 35 GLOSSARY 44 FOR FURTHER READING 46 INDEX 47 5
INTRODUCTION For some seven hundred years from the twelfth to the nine teeth centuries warriors called samurai dominated the gov ernment of Japan Although the country also had emperors during this period real power was in the hands of the samurai The term samurai was originally used to denote aristocratic warriors bushi The word would later come to apply to all the members of the warrior class that rose to power in the twelfth cen tury and dominated the Japanese government for centuries after The first samurai protected the estates of Japanese aristocrats Gradually they gathered in or near the capital where they served both the military needs of the government against rebellions and also as bodyguards for the great noble houses The samurai grew increasingly powerful until in 1185 they gained military control of all Japan In 1192 a samurai warrior first took the title of shogun making the samurai the empire’s ruling class From then until 1868 the shoguns ruled Japan as a type of military government As all good warriors are the samurai were very disciplined They followed an unwritten code of conduct called Bushido which emphasized controlling one’s emotions and maintaining good moral character at all times Above all else the code valued loyal ty particularly with regard to the shogun whom the samurai had vowed to defend and protect In Japan traditionally a warrior’s training emphasized archery swordsmanship unarmed combat and swimming in armor Archers used a special type of bow known as yumi The samurai were perhaps best known for using a curved 6
Today they are mostly a symbol of days gone by but there was a time when the samurai were among the most powerful and respected members of Japanese society 7
