In 1185, after five years of war, warriors from the Minamoto clan defeated the rival Taira clan in the Battle of Dannoura. Afterward their leader, Minamoto Yoritomo, took the title of shogun and became the warrior ruler of all Japan. Minamoto didn’t know it then, but a new era had begun for his country.

Who were these samurai warriors? From Minamoto’s time until the emperor returned to power in 1868, shoguns ruled Japan. The samurai were a class of warriors who served daimyos, or great lords, who in turn served the shogun. Fittingly, the word samurai means “one who serves.” Though it was sometimes brutal, the life of a samurai was often one of honor, courage, and even beauty.

Samurai developed different codes, or sets of rules and standards, which are now called bushidō, or “the way of the warrior.” Bushidō evolved over hundreds of years and was shaped by several different religions. Shinto taught patriotism, loyalty, and obedience. Confucianism taught how to treat others properly. Buddhism taught the importance of facing danger calmly. Some samurai even chose to kill themselves, or commit seppuku, rather than face capture by enemies.

Eventually, bushidō included virtues like
justice, mercy, politeness, sincerity, and self-control.

Both men and women in samurai families followed this code. Women learned to fight and protected their families from enemies. Some fought in battles. Samurai marriages were arranged by others, and wives usually came from a family of similar standing. Occasionally, a lower-ranking samurai might marry a commoner. However, if the wife of a samurai gave birth to a son, the son would be born with the rank of samurai.

Samurai trained in traditional arts along with fighting arts. To calm themselves for battle, they might participate in chanoyu, the Japanese tea ritual. This was done with humility and respect, according to bushidō. Samurai left their swords outside the tearoom and crawled in through a low, humble opening. Other art forms like flower arrangement and calligraphy, or decorative writing, served as important parts of samurai life. Many well-known samurai also wrote poetry.

After the Minamoto clan defeated the Taira clan in what was called the Gempei War, Minamoto established a shogunate, or a line of shoguns from the same family. Meanwhile the emperor had no real power. In 1333, a samurai named Ashikaga Takauji allied with the emperor and defeated the shogun.

Only three years later, however, Ashikaga betrayed the emperor. He established the Ashikaga shogunate, which ruled Japan until the Onin War broke out in 1467.

After more than 100 years of civil war, a powerful daimyo named Oda Nobunaga overthrew the last Ashikaga shogun. Oda was later ambushed by one of his own generals and forced to commit seppuku. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was born a peasant and rose through the ranks of Oda’s army, became the most powerful daimyo in Japan. He even received a new title, kanpaku, or Imperial Regent. Shortly after his death, the third great unifier of Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu, defeated Toyotomi’s son and founded the Tokugawa shogunate.

Under the Tokugawa shoguns, Japan was divided into four classes, or ranked groupings: samurai, farmers, artists, and merchants.

Samurai were the most honored of the four. They were given the right to use a surname, or a last name. During the Tokugawa shogunate, many farmers and laborers did not have surnames. As with Japanese names today, the surname came before the first name.

With this right came another one. Samurai wore two swords at the
waist, one long and one short. These were called the katana (long) and
wakizashi (short). Together, they were called daishô, or “big-little.” Only
samurai were allowed to carry two swords, so daishô served as a way
for others to identify them. The blades were made using ancient
Japanese steelmaking techniques. The handles were often highly decorated.

Craftsmen today still make traditional samurai swords, which are valued for their beauty.

Others worked as administrators for the government. During this time, letter writing became an important skill. Samurai letters often expressed strong personal feelings like sadness, loneliness, surprise, and joy. Eventually, some people wanted to modernize Japan to protect it from growing Western threats. Many of them were enemies of the shogun.

In 1868, using modern weapons and with an army that included commoners, they succeeded in returning the emperor to power. This became known as the Meiji Restoration. In 1876, the new government banned wearing samurai swords.

Because they were skilled and educated, many former samurai became government leaders in the Meiji Period. Meanwhile, scholars have pointed out how samurai virtues like patriotism and discipline helped Japanese business owners rebuild after the country’s defeat in World War II.
Today, art forms like the tea ceremony and flower arranging are popular not just in Japan, but around the world.