Japanese Shoji Screens :: Japanese Samauri Screen

All things have a story...

The Samurai of Japan have an air of mystery surrounding them and to this day many Westerners do not understand or know the history of their class. The word Samurai actually means “to serve a person in the higher ranks of society [such as nobility].” In Japan the word “saburau” is the original term used to describe Samurai. The history of Samurai begins in the 7th century AD, when Emperor Mommu required 1 in 4 adult males to draft into a national army. These men were often farmers who were required to bring their own military weapons. In return, they were exempt from paying taxes. Eventually these men proved to be so diligent in their ability to fight they were called on from the Emperor to put down powerful regional clans and uprisings.

Over the next few hundred years, these men began to band together and they accumulated political power. The code of the Samurai was soon formed (called Bushido), which consisted of a unique philosophy that emphasized honor and the serving of one’s master until death. Due to their military power, the Samurai were able to soon amass political backing, resources and enough man-power to create the first Samurai-based government in Japan. The chief of the Samurai was often a relative of the Emperor. Around the 12th century, however, the Samurai gained so much control of the government that the Emperor was reduced to a mere figure-head. This was the peak of the Samurai’s power.

By the 17th century, during the Tokugawa era, the Samurai class was beginning to lose its power and instead of being a warrior class, the Samurai were becoming bureaucrats, courtiers and administrators instead. A period of decades without war further eroded their military skills. The ever popular short and long swords of the Samurai, known as “katana” and “wakizashi” were now more of a symbolic emblem rather than the powerful weapon they were just a hundred years before. Still, the Samurai were to be given respect and had the right to kill any man who did not yield them such.

Slowly, the Samurai were losing their power and some of the men focused more on scholarly activities. When Matthew Perry’s big steamships from the U.S. Navy made landfall on Japan’s shores in 1853, the death of the Samurai class was underway. The new technology brought with Perry sealed their fate. Some of this can be seen in the movie “The Last Samurai” with Tom Cruise. In 1873, the Samurai’s right to wear a katana (the Samurai’s sword) in public was taken away and they could no longer execute those who disrespected them. For the Samurai, this was the end of their long reign and influence on Japanese government. Under the Meiji reforms in the late 1800s, the Samurai class was disbanded and the national army emulated the forces from the West with the new technology it was given. Unlike the movie “The Last Samurai” many Samurai actually accepted their situation and volunteered to be army officers. They made excellent ones with their Samurai origin, training skills and discipline. Today, the Samurai still have a significant influence on modern culture. Many books, films, music, and even video games, have been influenced by the Samurai. The Samurai have also been glorified through traditional Japanese artwork, which produces many decorative art pieces with images of this once proud warrior class.