Characteristics of The Samurai

As part of my training curriculum at the University of South Carolina, I ask the students to write a two page paper on the characteristics of the Samurai.

I do this so that my students can develop a better understanding of what the Samurai men and women were like.  While they were legendary for their fighting skills and their sense of honor, they really were so much more than that.

Here are a few examples of papers submitted by students from earlier semesters that did a very good job of telling a story of what the Samurai were like.

I give my students a lot of latitude, so they can focus on an area that interests them, but they must present an overall picture in the life of a Samurai.




Student 1


Samurai is a term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. They were part of the military class of Japanese warriors. They used weapons such as bow and arrows, spears, and guns. However, there most famous weapon was the sword. The Samurai were supposed to follow the code of Bushido. The code called for loyalty and honor to one’s master, self-discipline and respect. Some Samurai would cut their abdomens before being captured by the enemy or dying a dishonorable death. Their strength and will power shown through their behavior makes them the noble word….the samurai. Several periods over time created and shaped these warriors throughout history.


During the Heian period, the samurai’s power and strength started to grow. Landlords started to hire them to help protect their property. Near the end of this period, two military powers grew and fought against each other called the Minamoto and the Taira. These wars of supremacy were fought for years.


The next period was called the Kamakura period. During this time the Minamoto defeated the Taira and created the Minamoto Yoritomo which estabilsed a new military government in Kamakura. Here, the highest military officer would become the ruler of Japan.


The following period was called the Muromachi Period. During this time, the states within Japan were constantly battling each other for power. Because of these many wars the samurai were in great demand. Also the samurai lived on the farms and worked here as protection for their landlords.


The next period was called the Azuchi-Momoyama Period. During this time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi became the ruler of Japan and created a very rigid social caste system. He demanded that rather the samurai live and protect on the farms or work as warriors in castle towns. He also forbids anyone but the samurai to carry a sword.


The last period was known as the Edo period. During this time, the samurai stood at the top of the social system followed by farmers, then artisans then merchants. Also, the samurai were forced to live in castle towns and take their form of payment as rice from the farmers. The master less samurai were called ronin and were known to create trouble in these towns. after the fall of Osaka Castle in 1615, the Tokugawa's last potential rival was demolished, and relative peace prevailed in Japan for about 250 years. As a result, the importance of martial skills declined, and most samurai became bureaucrats, teachers or artists. In 1868, Japan's feudal era came to an end, and the samurai class completely came to an end.

Student 2

The Japanese samurai was a warrior class that existed for several centuries and followed a code called bushido or “the Way of the Warrior.” The samurai were best known for their dedication to service, especially to their masters. The ultimate honor and duty for a samurai was to give his own life for another (“Samurai”). In fact, after risking his life for the defense of his master’s castle in what seemed an impossible battle, a 16th century samurai, Torii Mototado wrote to his son that “it is not the Way of the Warrior to be shamed and avoid death even under circumstances that are not particularly important. It goes without saying that to sacrifice one's life for the sake of his master is an unchanging principle. That I should be able to go ahead of all the other warriors of this country and lay down my life for the sake of my master's benevolence is an honor to my family and has been my most fervent desire for many years” (“Samurai”).


Despite the violent aspects of samurai life, the samurai’s bushido was influenced by Buddhism and Japanese Shinto which brought about the inclusion of wisdom and serenity in their lifestyle (“Bushido”). Other rules of the bushido included “frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and honor unto death” (“Bushido”). The seven main virtues of the samurai code were rectitude, benevolence, courage, honesty, respect, honor, and loyalty. Other virtues for the samurai included filial piety and care for the aged (“Bushido”).


While the samurai were expected to adhere to the bushido if one did commit transgressions there was only one way to find honor again. A fallen samurai would have to commit ritual suicide known as “seppuku” to prove he was aware of his dishonor. The act involved the samurai cutting himself through the abdomen to release his spirit and die in one of the most painful ways one can (“Bushido”).


An interesting point of the samurai lifestyle is how the women in samurai families were trained. While the main role of the women was to take care of the family and the home they were also “trained in wielding a polearm called a naginata or a special knife called the kaiken” (“Samurai”). The women were trained to use these weapons so that they could defend the family and home when the male samurai were away.




The samurai warrior class existed in Japan through the late 19th century. While Emperor Meiji abolished the samurai’s status as the only armed forces in Japan in 1873, it was not until a few years later that the samurai class truly declined (“Samurai”). However, the legend and history of the Japanese samurai is still celebrated in many modern films and other forms of pop culture.

Student 3

The way of the samurai is a very complex and idealistic practice. Their main concern was honor, and they literally defended it with their lives. In addition to pursuing a righteous lifestyle, the other prominent characteristic of samurais was their ability to pursue a life without fear. They were morally bound to the concept of bushido, which literally translates to “the way of the warrior.” To hold their family’s name in the highest social regard was of the utmost importance to the samurai, as a dishonorable lifestyle simply was not an option. The samurai were bound to fight bravely until death, and once defeated in battle they would even commit suicide in order to preserve a sense of honor. This practice, taking their own lives with a short sword, became known as the tradition of seppuku. It is no mystery that under such an idealistic and honor bound set of social principals, as to the reason that samurai were even legally granted the right to kill any commoner that failed to show them proper respect. Early samurai prided themselves as proficient archers, using longbows called “Yumi” while in battle. In fact, they originally only carried the sword to finish off their wounded enemies. As the times evolved, samurais developed new weapons such as “naginatas,” which were basically just long poles with curved blades at the end. The “daisho,” or long and short blade unison, consisted of the two swords that samurais eventually learned were more practical than just carrying a bow and spear. They carried the “katana” for longer range slashing combat, while the “wakizashi” was shorter and only used for stabbing. Samurai could be identified by their daisho, and full body armor.


The ancient art of the samurai is regarded as one of the most coveted fighting systems in the history of humankind. Through intense criticism, vigorous training methods, and a truly perfectionist state of mental discipline, these were some of the purest bred human combat machines in known existence. They were more of an evolutionary class of fighters, since they evolved from several different martial arts systems. In order for the purest definition of the modern day understanding of the samurai to come about, decades of evolution in fighting theory as well as training methods had to take shape into what is thought to be one of the most sophisticated class of soldiers in history.


Before the year 646 A.D., Japan was experiencing a social crisis in its class system and was unaware of how to properly maintain the most effective form of government. In what many would consider a corrupt and tyrannical society, the nation underwent its notorious “Taika” reforms and unknowingly laid the foundation for the beginnings of the Samurais. The new policies involved a feudal type system similar to the one already in place in Europe. As a result, land was taken from many small farmers and re-appropriated to a select few similar to Europe’s feudal “lords.” These landowners, now in possession of all the land and power in Japan, needed some form of security to protect their investments. Their answer to the thieves in search of cheating them out of their wealth: the “bushi,” or, samurai warrior.


The samurai began their endeavor into military history essentially as private security contractors, loyal only to their property masters. In some cases, the samurai were even family members to the landowners they were defending. In a reaffirmation of complete servitude and dedication to their “employer,” the samurai pledged a code of honor to the landowners they were associated with. This system of assigning private security in the form of samurais lasted for a couple hundred years, but the Japanese nation developed new problems when uprisings threatened their existing status quo. When the Heian Dynasty lost control of the rural areas in Japan sometime in the tenth century, the samurai class stepped up to restore stability and order to the areas of Japan outside of the nation’s capitol.


After taking over all major governing aspects of Japan after the year 1100, the samurai began to encounter conflicting interests in the form of disagreement amongst clans. Since they divided themselves into these family structures, known as clans, and never engrained their trust and leadership to outsiders, it was only a matter of time until their competitive natures led to turmoil and cause political unrest in Japan. After several decades of civil war and competition amongst rival clans, even the samurai generals, known as shoguns, began to encounter rivalry and threats to their leadership.


Unfortunately for the Japanese nation under Samurai rule, the all-powerful Chinese empire began to look at Japan as a possible entity for expansion. When the famous mongol ruler Kublai Khan demanded that Japan essentially bow down to his empire, the samurai clans in charge of Japan’s governing body refused. Unpleased with this decision, Khan launched a massive assault that nearly wiped the samurai clean of the pages of world history. Fortunately for those who appreciate the Samurai and their contributions to martial arts in the forms of discipline, training, and combat, two straight Chinese armadas were wiped out by typhoons in route to destroying Japan.


During Khan’s assault on Japan, the samurai were able to fight off the invading Chinese forces while protecting their existing culture and way of life. The shoguns, which at this time were leading Japan, were unable to re-pay the samurai for their service to the nation. While the shogun viewed their military actions as noble, the samurai still thought of themselves as mercenaries like in the days of feudal land-ownership. Demanding pay that simply was not available to them, the samurai launched a political uprising that once again changed the course of Japanese history as well as the modern-day definition of the word “samurai.” Japan reverted back to samurai rule, which offered relatively little stability. Since the nature of the samurai is to be an almighty and dominant force in daily life, this philosophy transcended into years of competition and basically sent Japan into decades of problematic leadership. After the “Warring States Period” and dozens of regime changes in Japan, the country essentially evolved from electing shogun after shogun and turned a new leaf so to speak. When their society began to adopt democratic ideals like public voting, the samurai lost their rule of Japan.