It’s the morning of a great battle You are dressed in your finest armor An intricate helmet protects your head Scaled metal plates protect your chest and thighs Two swords hang at your side Your bow is at the ready arrows strapped to your back You wait on your faithful horse side by side with the other samurai who serve your shogun If you are afraid you don’t show it In fact you have been trained to not show fear And you have been preparing for such a battle since you were only three years old This is what you were born to do Your fellow warriors also show no fear Like you they follow a strict code of loyalty and honor They have pledged to give their lives for their shogun if required You hope today’s battle will end in victory or death There is no room for defeat You hear your commander give the call to fight and you urge your horse forward as the battle begins You are part of the highest class in Japanese society You are a samurai warrior 5
CHAPTER 1 Who Were the Samurai The samurai were members of the elite Japanese warrior class They came to power in Japan in the 1100s They remained active until the mid-1800s Samurai played an important role in Japan’s history In fact they ruled the country for hundreds of years through a military dictator called a shogun Being a samurai was a lifetime commitment It was also a great honor Most samurai warriors were born into samurai families Only men could be samurai They were trained from a very young age They became experts in martial arts and swordsmanship The samurai followed a strict code of honor Samurai valued loyalty above all else Lower samurai served daimyos or land-owning lords The daimyos served the shogun and his family All were members of the samurai class Samurai would fight and die to defend their leader’s honor A samurai would rather die than lose a battle While the samurai were fierce fighters they were also accomplished off the battlefield When they weren’t fighting 6
Samurai were expected to be extremely serious They also valued kindness honesty and morals or training samurai were known to write poetry paint and arrange flowers Most practiced Buddhism 7
