Samurai

The samurai were a military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. They numbered less than only 10 percent of the Japanese population, and they were highly respected. The word "samurai" or, "bushi", first appeared in the first imperial anthology of poems during the beginning of the 10th century. Samurai became associated with the middle and upper classes of Japanese society. The samurai lived their lives off of the //bushido//, or "the way of the warrior". If they lost in battle, a samurai would commit a ritual suicide, feeling that they lost their honor.

Being that they are warriors, the samurai had many weapons. These weapons were the //katana//, a samurai's "soul" and main sword weapon, the //wakizashi//, or short sword, the //tanto//, a short knife-like sword, the //yumi//, a long bow, various pole weapons, the //tanegashima,// matchlocks or guns,cannons, bows and arrows, spears, staff weapons, clubs and truncheons and chain weapons. The samurai were often mounted on horses.

In 1873 Emperor Meiji abolished the Samurai's right to be the only military force in Japan. He saw the need for a more modernized fighting force, and he indeed made a good decision. Japan's Samurai would have been no match for the Western powers. The Samurai retianed their respected status for a while though, but they eventually were totally disbanned. Most Samurai became officers in the New Imperal Army.