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Samurai (侍) were members of the warrior class in Feudal Japan.[1] Samurai existed from the late 12th century until their abolition in the late 1870s during the Meiji era.[2] Originally warriors who served the Kuge and imperial court in the late 12th century, they eventually came to play a major political role until their abolition in the late 1870s during the Meiji era.[3][4] From c.1000 to 1450, samurai fought mainly as mounted archers and claimed imperial ancestry. In the 1400s, the classical samurai began to change, as Japan experienced a violent process of political centralization during the Sengoku Period. New weapons such as firearms were adopted, but also more and more bushi were considered samurai, even those without lineage. The end of the warring states period brought the peaceful Edo Period, although rebellions and civil war existed until the Tokugawa clan could secure their power. Afterwards, more samurai became bureaucrats, and this developed the romantic idea of the samurai popular today.[5] The rank of a samurai could vary from a 3 kuko samurai to a powerful daiymo.
Although they had predecessors in earlier military and administrative officers, the samurai truly emerged during the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from c.1185 to 1333. They became the ruling political class, with significant power but also significant responsibility. During the 13th century, the samurai proved themselves as adept warriors against the invading Mongols. During the Sengoku Period, the term is used broadly for soldiers who served as retainers to the daimyo. During the peaceful Edo period, 1603 to 1868, they became the stewards and chamberlains of the daimyo estates, gaining managerial experience and education. During the Edo period, they came to represent a hereditary class.[6] On the other hand, from the mid-Edo period, chōnin (townsman) and farmers could be promoted to the samurai class by being adopted into gokenin families or by serving in daikan offices, and low-ranking samurai could be transferred to lower social classes, such as chōnin, by changing jobs.[7][8][9]
In the 1870s, samurai families comprised 5% of the population. As modern militaries emerged in the 19th century, the samurai were rendered increasingly obsolete and very expensive to maintain compared to the average conscript soldier. The Meiji Restoration formally abolished the status, and most former samurai became Shizoku. This allowed them to move into professional and entrepreneurial roles. Their memory and weaponry remain prominent in contemporary Japanese popular culture.
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