The samurai (or bushi) were the warriors of pre-modern Japan. They later made up
the ruling military class that eventually became the highest ranking social caste of
the Edo Period (1603-1867). Samurai employed a range of weapons such as bows
and arrows, spears and guns, but their main weapon and symbol was the sword.
Samurai were supposed to lead their lives according to the code of bushido ("the
way of the warrior")., Bushido stressed concepts such as loyalty to one's master,
self-discipline and respectful, ethical behaviour.
The Origin of the Samurai:
The samurai, a class of highly skilled warriors, gradually developed in Japan from
646 A.D. Heavy new taxes meant that many small farmers had to sell their land and
work as tenant farmers. Meanwhile, a few large landholders amassed power and
wealth, creating a feudal system similar to medieval Europe's. As in Europe, the
new feudal lords needed warriors to defend their riches. Thus, the samurai warrior
(or "bushi") was born.
Taken from http://asianhistory.about.com/od/warsinasia/p/SamuraiProfile.htm
The two most powerful of these landowning clans, the Minamoto and Taira,
eventually challenged the central government and battled each other for supremacy
over the entire country. Minamoto Yoritomo emerged victorious and set up a new
military government in 1192, led by the shogun or supreme military commander.
The samurai would rule over Japan for most of the next 700 years.
During the chaotic era of warring states in the 15th and 16th centuries, Japan
splintered into dozens of independent states constantly at war with one another.
Consequently, warriors were in high demand.
The country was eventually reunited in the late 1500s, and a rigid social caste
system was established during the Edo Period that placed the samurai at the top,
followed by the farmers, artisans and merchants respectively. During this time, the
samurai were forced to live in castle towns, were the only ones allowed to own and
carry swords and were paid in rice by their daimyo or feudal lords. Masterless
samurai were called ronin and caused minor troubles during the 1600s.
Relative peace prevailed during the roughly 250 years of the Edo Period. As a result,
the importance of martial skills declined, and many samurai became bureaucrats,
teachers or artists. Japan's feudal era eventually came to an end in 1868, and the
samurai class was abolished a few years afterwards.
Taken from http://www.nextsportstar.com/blogs/5444/302/the-samurai
Samurai Culture
The culture of the samurai was grounded in the concept of bushido - "the way of the
warrior." The central tenets of bushido are honour and freedom from the fear of
death. A samurai was legally entitled to cut down any commoner who failed to
honour him (or her) properly. A warrior imbued with bushido spirit would fight
fearlessly for his master, and die honourably rather than surrender in defeat.
Out of this disregard for death, the Japanese tradition of seppuku evolved: defeated
warriors (and disgraced government officials) would commit suicide with honour by
ritually disembowelling themselves with a short sword.
Samurai Weapons
Early samurai were archers, fighting on foot or horseback with
extremely long bows (yumi). They used swords mainly for finishing
off wounded enemies.
After the Mongol invasions of 1272 and 1281, the samurai began
to make more use of swords, as well as poles topped by curved
blades called naginata, and spears.
Samurai warriors wore two swords, together called daisho - "long
and short." The katana, a curved blade over 24 inches long, was
suitable for slashing, while the wakizashi, at 12-24 inches, was
used for stabbing. In the late 16th century, non-samurai were
forbidden to wear the daisho.
Samurai wore full body-armour in battle, often including a horned
helmet.
Women
Maintaining the household was the main duty of samurai women. This was
especially crucial during early feudal Japan, when warrior husbands were often
travelling abroad or engaged in clan battles. The wife, or okugatasama (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 a naginata or a special
knife called the kaiken in an art called tantojutsu (lit. the skill of the knife), which they
could use to protect their household, family, and honor if the need arose.
Traits valued in women of the samurai class were humility, obedience, self-control,
strength, and loyalty. Ideally, a samurai wife would be skilled at managing property,
keeping records, dealing with financial matters, educating the children (and perhaps
servants, too), and caring for elderly parents or in-laws that may be living under her
roof. Confucian law, which helped define personal relationships and the code of
ethics of the warrior class required that a woman show subservience to her husband,
filial piety to her parents, and care to the children. Too much love and affection was
also said to indulge and spoil the youngsters. Thus, a woman was also to exercise
discipline.
Though women of wealthier samurai families enjoyed perks of their elevated position
in society, such as avoiding the physical labour 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 samurai women were always powerless. The source of
power for women may have been that samurai looked down upon matters
concerning money and left their finances to their wives.
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.
Women section taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai