Thanks to movies and TV series, we often picture samurai as brave warriors who always followed a strict code of honor and were ready to sacrifice their lives for the lord. However, this romantic image is very different from reality. We decided to find out what samurai were really like and what ideas about them happen to be just myths.
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Some people believe that samurai appeared in Japan in ancient times. But, according to many historians, this class of warriors originated in the Heian period, which lasted from 794 to 1185. At that time, representatives of the influential Fujiwara clan occupied the most important positions in the government, and many wealthy landowners decided to leave the imperial court and seek fortune elsewhere. They were accompanied by armed supporters who were called samurai.
In Japanese, the word “samurai” roughly means “a man who serves.” The term didn’t necessarily imply a fighter or warrior. The heyday of the samurai began in the mid-12th century, when the emperor lost his influence and other clans entered the political struggle. It was the military genius of the samurai that helped one clan achieve a decisive victory. After that, the status of these warriors became privileged.
It is believed that samurai always followed the strict moral code called “Bushido.” This set of rules did exist, but, firstly, it changed over time, and secondly, the term “Bushido” as a moral code was hardly used until recently. Originally, samurai were not tied to their lord and if he died in battle or mistreated his servants, they could find a new master.
All that changed with the Tokugawa clan coming to power in the early 17th century. There was finally peace in Japan, and this large number of experienced warriors became unnecessary. It was then that the code underwent through some changes.
It wasn’t easy for the samurai to fit into the peaceful life, so some provisions of “Bushido” became a reflection of their search for their way in the new conditions. However, rebellions of samurai against their masters, as well as cases of betrayal, occurred at all times and were not considered unbelievable. One European traveler, who visited Japan in the 16th century, was horrified by the mores that reigned at court, where intrigues were a normal thing. According to his observations, no one trusted anyone: everyone pretended to be friends, but was ready to betray at the first opportunity.
The first samurai did come from the nobility, but in the following centuries any successful warrior who showed skill and bravery on the battlefield could receive this title. In some periods of particularly fierce battles, it was given out almost to everyone. During the Edo period (1603-1868), anyone could become a samurai simply by buying this title.
Moreover, even a foreigner could become a samurai. There are records of samurai Yasuke, who was supposedly born in Mozambique and arrived in Japan accompanying a missionary. It is not known where exactly the priest met the warrior — in Africa or India, but he decided to hire him as a bodyguard. The man’s unusual skin color and tall stature (about 5 feet 11 inches) fascinated the Japanese, even though African natives had already appeared in the country.
In one town, so many people came to see the bodyguard that they accidentally damaged several buildings. The famous warlord Oda Nobunaga, shocked by the fact that Yasuke spoke a little Japanese, took him into his service. Historians still argue whether Yasuke was a samurai or not, but it is known that Nobunaga gave him a sword, which indicates the high position of the warrior.
Other foreigners also became samurai, such as navigator William Adams, who was the prototype of the protagonist in the novel Shōgun.
Another common misconception is that the samurai’s main weapon was the katana. In fact, this sword had more of a symbolic meaning. In the Middle Ages, it was common for rulers to give swords to their followers to reward them for their services or to honor them for a particularly heroic deed. Katanas were expensive, and ordinary warriors simply couldn’t afford this luxury. A sword was often passed down in a family from generation to generation.
But on the battlefield, samurai fought with spears and long bows. They were no strangers to Western firearms, too, once those appeared in the country. The katana was mainly used in street fights, duels and robberies. Samurai took the sword to the battlefield, but only as an auxiliary weapon.
Samurai are thought to have been a handful of elite fighters, but in fact their role in society varied from century to century. In the beginning, they collected taxes, protected public order and acted as bodyguards. From the late 12th century, samurai effectively usurped power in the provinces and sought to impose their will on the emperor, including by force of arms.
From the beginning of the 16th century, when Japan entered a period of peace, samurai began to fulfil the functions of administrators and bureaucrats, living in densely populated cities or on their estates. So, the story shown in the movie The Last Samurai is far from reality. No samurai would have settled in the mountains and trained on swords daily, otherwise his estates would have fallen into decline, and he would have quickly lost his wealth.
Furthermore, by the mid-19th century, the samurai class, which made up about 5% of Japan’s population, controlled the income of everyone else. So, stripping the samurai of all their privileges was unlikely to cause sadness in society.
In Japanese, the word “ronin” roughly means a wanderer, a person who is tossed from side to side by the waves and who sails through life without purpose. If a samurai broke the code or rebelled against his lord, he could become a ronin. In this case, the warrior was deprived of all privileges, resembled a simple peasant, and was treated with contempt.
Ronin were feared quite justifiably, as they were often engaged in robbery and piracy, and in general undermined the foundations of Japanese society by the mere fact of their existence. However, many samurai became ronin quite consciously and even strived for it. They believed that the absence of a lord, to whom the samurai had to obey without question, allowed the ronin to follow the moral code more clearly.
In previous centuries, there was a law that allowed samurai to immediately punish a peasant or merchant (anyone below them on the social ladder) if those offended samurai in any way. However, the recently released TV series Shōgun makes it look like samurai generally had the right to destroy poor peasants for any reason or no reason at all.
In fact, this law was limited by several strict rules, and any incident was necessarily followed by a trial.
Samurai were eager to marry, but marriage was used to continue the lineage and to produce an heir. The love of a woman was believed to sap a warrior’s strength and weaken his mind.
If a samurai kissed his wife in public, he could be called a sissy, which was considered a grave offense.
A traditional katana was sharpened over several days using various sharpening stones until the thickness of the blade was reduced to a few millimeters. This sword could stay sharp for years and easily cut the thinnest hairs from the body. However, it was much less effective against stronger materials.
In the 13th century, the samurai had to fight the warriors in heavy armor. Katanas got hopelessly stuck in their leather armor and often broke. After that, Japan began forging heavier swords. In addition, the quality of Japanese steel was often exaggerated.
The traditional samurai armor used from the 10th to the early 14th centuries was designed for fighting on horseback and effective archery. However, if a samurai had to dismount and draw his sword, the armor became more of a hindrance than an advantage. In addition, the armor weighed about 50 pounds, which made the warrior’s task even more difficult.
In the 16th century, Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered to forge helmets from iron. He did this not to better protect his warriors, but so that they could cook rice in the helmets during breaks. Legend has it that the traditional hakama trousers worn by samurai were meant to conceal leg movements from the enemy, helping them win in battle. In reality, walking around in these wide trousers was uncomfortable, which only increased the chances of losing a battle.
Moreover, during the Edo period, samurai were forced to wear longer and more uncomfortable models of hakama, called nagabakama, at the imperial court.
The samurai were unable to walk quickly in these trousers, and therefore couldn’t suddenly attack a suzerain or another courtier.
In the Edo period, samurai shaved the front of the head and combed the rest of the hair back smoothly into a ponytail. This was originally done because the ponytail helped keep the helmet on the head, and the shaved top of the head was less likely to sweat in the helmet.
Later on, the chonmage became a symbol of high status. So when Emperor Meiji stripped samurai of all privileges in 1871, he also ordered them to cut their hair short.
And here are a few things that prove Japan isn’t just a country but a totally different planet.
