What is a
samurai?
Clinically, the word
samurai means: "Those who serve in close attendance to nobility." Originally pronounced as
saburau and then
saburai, it became known as
samurai in the
Edo period (1615-1868).
The
samurai follow a special code known as
bushido, which translates as: "The way of the warrior".
Bushi (
武士, which means warrior or arms man) is a term first seen in a book of history written in 797AD called
Shoko Nihongi. In the book describing the the year 721AD, it describes
bushi as: "Literary men and Warriors are they whom the nation values".
The term
bushi was given to soldiers from traditional Japanese warrior families, developed first in the north region of Japan, with these families in the 12th Century forming clans against the noble families who who teamed up to support the imperial family who lived inKyoto then the capital of Japan.
Samurai was a word used by the
Kuge aristocratic class with warriors themselves preferring the word
bushi.
For those
samurai who were masterless with no attachment to a clan--perhaps through the over throw and banishment or death of the master, or even by personal choice--they were called
ronin (
浪人), which means 'wave man', a person destined to wander aimlessly forever, likethe waves in the sea.
The pay of
samurai was measured in
koku of rice (180 liters, which was enough to feed a man for one year).You might think it odd for a soldier to be paid in food, but long before the
samurai, Roman solders were paid in salt. If a soldier didn't earn is pay (do his duty), they used to say the soldier wasn't worth his salt. Now you know the origin of that famous adage.
As well, the Latin word for salt is salarium... or what you might now know as the word salary. So, perhaps it's not a stretch to say you earned for salary down in the salt mines.
Weapons:The
samurai had two swords: The
katana and the smaller
wakizashi, two weapons that together are called a
daisho (big and small).
According to
Bushido, the
katana is the
samurai's soul--and is one reason why the warrior class would give the weapon names and consider them to be alive. receive a ceremonial sword covered in brocade called a
mamori gatana.
When the child turned 13, the warrior in training was given via the
genpuku (Coming of Age) ceremony: a
katana and a
wakizashi,
samurai armour, an adult name
The
wakizashi is the
samurai's honour weapon weapon that never left his side--and would even sleep with it under his pillow. When a samurai entered a home or business and was requested to remove his
katana, he would still carry his
wakizashi.
Other weapons include: a
tanto, a small, knife-like sword sometimes worn instead of the
wakizashi. Both of these weapons were key in the performance of
seppuku (disembowelment with one of these weapons, while a retainer would slice off the head with the
katana.
Hara kiri is suicide by disembowelment without the lopping off of the head.
Samurai were not just swordsmen. They also could be bowmen, butswordsmanship was still considered more important. but, to recognize theimportance of a bowman in war fare, the term
yumitori (
弓取,"bowman") (
Yumi means bow) was used as an honorary title of an accomplished warrior in the 1800s.
Still other weapons include the
yari (spear) and
naginata pole weapons originally but became more of a weapon for the foot soldiers to use.
As well, the
samurai used a
tanegashima... a flintlock gun introduced by the Portuguese in the 1540s. However, the
tanegashima was controversial as a weapon for the
samurai, but many clans opted to use it, forgoing
bushido honor for a chance to really take out enemy clans.
By the end of this century, Japanese gunsmiths were making the
tanegashima in large amounts to be used by the peasant class in their battles. Unlike today's guns, these ones took a while to load and fire and were not very accurate.
Samurai would also use: cannons to take out enemy castles; staves like the
bo,
jo,
hanbo and
tanbo; clubs made or iron or wood like the
jutte (one-handed) and the
kanabo (two-hander); and chain weapons like flails, called the
kusarigama and
manriki.
Along with the
katana,
samurai are famous for their unique looking armour. Originally called
o-yoroi (or Great Armour), the scale armour was made from leather or iron and bound into strips coated with laquer and tied together by strips of silk and formed into chest armour. But with the advent of guns, this was replaced by
tosei gosoku that was iron-plated.
Samurai also wore a
kabuto helmet and an iron face plate (
menpo) that often had a scowl on it usually adorned with whiskers... to make themselves look more ferocious. From what I was told, since the Japanese are not known for their beard growing prowess, adding facial hair made them look like wild men.
Emperor Meiji abolished the
samurai's right to be the only armed force in favor of amore modern, western-style, conscripted army in 1873.
Samurai became known as
shizoku (
士族)who kept some of their salary but their right to wear a
katana inpublic was eventually abolished along with the right to execute commoners who paid them disrespect.
The
samurai warrior class finally came to an end after hundreds of years ofenjoyment of their status and its power to shape thegovernment of Japan.
And now you know.
Files compiled by Andrew Joseph
PS: In the photo above, a
LEGO samurai clan pose in front of
Himeji-jo (Himeji Castle) in
Himeji-shi,
Hyogo-ken (Hyogo Prefecture). From my collection, the photo shows off the clan's weapons, treasure chest of coins, and an important barrel of rice.
PPS: This blog is in honour of my friend Matthew Hall. It's his birthday today. He was and continues to be an honourble samurai. Happy birthday big guy! Yay!!!!Oh... and Matthew was with me at
Himeji-jo when I snapped the background photo above!
