About Japan
Shoguns and Samurai
The samurai, also known as bushi, were warriors of Japan from the 12th century to the Meiji Resoration in the late 19th century.
The samurai valued their honour above all things and called their code of loyalty and behaviour, bushido which means the ‘way of the warrior’.
A system of government developed which saw the emperor and the shogun at the top, next came the daimyo (lords of noble descent) and affiliated to the daimyo came the samurai who fought on their behalf. The samurai formed their own clans and from their ranks emerged the shogunates (military governments) of the 12th-19th centuries.
There are three famous samurai who unified most of Japan. They are Oda Nobunaga (1534-82), Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-98) and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616).
A samurai without a master was known as a ronin.
One of the most famous tales in Japanese history involves an act of revenge by 47 ronin against another samurai called Lord Kira.
They waited patiently for 1 year before storming Lord Kira's mansion in Edo.
During the attack they were able to dispatch all of Lord Kira's guards (38 in all) with the loss of just 1 ronin!
