Samurai: History And Exploration

Tonight, we dive into the world of samurai—the elite warriors of Japan who lived by a strict code of honor wielded razor-sharp swords and made medieval Europe’s knights look like amateur cosplayers. These guys didn’t just fight; they had a whole philosophy, a war art, and a deep sense of duty.

But don’t worry, no sword fights here—just a soothing exploration of their history, from their rise to their inevitable decline. So, get comfortable and let the tale of these disciplined warriors lull you into a well-deserved slumber.

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep podcast,

A space to quiet your mind and ease into rest.

I'm Benjamin Boster,

And tonight I'll be reading about samurai in a calm,

Soothing voice.

Take a deep breath,

Settle in,

And let's begin.

Samurai,

Or bushi,

Were members of the warrior class in Japan.

They were originally provincial warriors who served the Kugei,

An imperial court,

In the late 12th century.

Samurai eventually came to play a major political role until their abolition in the late 1870s during the Meiji era.

In the Heian period,

Powerful regional clans were relied on to put down rebellions.

After power struggles,

The Taira clan defeated the Minamoto clan in 1160.

After the Minamoto defeated the Taira in 1185,

Minamoto no Yoritomo established the Kamakura shogunate,

A parallel government that did not supplant the imperial court.

The warriors who served in the shogunate were called gokanin,

Landholding warriors whose retainers were called samurai.

Gokanin were regulated by the samurai dokoro.

During the Sengoku period,

The term was vague,

And some samurai owned land,

Others were retainers or mercenaries.

There was a great increase in the number of men who styled themselves samurai by virtue of bearing arms,

And performance mattered more than heritage.

During the Edo period,

1603 to 1868,

They were mainly the stewards and chamberlains of the daimyo estates,

Roles they had also filled in the past.

During the Edo period they came to represent a hereditary class.

On the other hand,

From the mid-Edo period,

Chonin,

Townsmen,

And farmers could be promoted to the samurai class by being adopted into gokanin families,

Or by serving in daikon offices,

And low-ranking samurai could be transferred to lower social classes,

Such as chonin by changing jobs.

In 1853,

Japan was opened to the West by U.

S.

Commodore Matthew C.

Perry,

Beginning the bakomatsu,

End of the bakufu era.

Samurai from the rebellious chashu and satsuma domains played a major role in the sono-joy movement against the Tokugawa shogunate,

And later in the Meiji Restoration and Boshin War of 1868,

Which restored power to the emperor.

As modern militaries emerged in the late 19th century,

The samurai were considered obsolete and expensive to maintain compared to the average conscript soldier.

Their class was abolished in the 1870s by the policies of the new Meiji government.

Most former samurai became members of the shizoku class,

Ranking above the commoner class and allowing them to move into professional and entrepreneurial roles.

The shizoku class was later abolished in 1947.

The proper term for Japanese warriors is bushi,

Meaning warrior,

But also could be interchangeable to buke,

Meaning military family,

And later could refer to the whole class of professional warriors.

Especially in the West,

Samurai is used synonymous with bushi,

But they can have different meanings depending on context.

According to translator William Scott Wilson,

In Chinese,

The character samurai was originally a verb meaning to wait upon,

Accompany persons in the upper ranks of society.

And this is also true of the original term in Japanese,

Saburō,

And did not have military connotations,

Although bushi in the Heian period who served courtiers were called samurai.

The samurai were superior to kokonon,

Who held land from which they took their name.

According to Michael Wirt,

A warrior of elite stature in pre-17th century Japan could have been insulted to be called a samurai.

In the Tokugawa period,

The terms were roughly interchangeable,

As the military class were legally limited to the retainers of the shogun or daimyo.

However,

Strictly speaking,

Samurai referred to higher ranking retainers,

Although the cutoff between samurai and other military retainers varied from domain to domain.

Also,

Usage varied by class,

With commoners referring to all sword-carrying men as samurai,

Regardless of rank.

The definition of samurai varies from period to period.

From the Heian period to the Edo period,

Bushi were people who fought with weapons for a living.

In the Heian period,

On the other hand,

The definition of samurai referred to officials who served the emperor,

The imperial family,

And the nobles of the imperial court,

The upper echelons of society.

They were responsible for assisting the nobles in their daily duties,

Guarding the nobles,

Guarding the court,

Arresting bandits,

And suppressing civil wars,

Much like secretaries,

Butlers,

And police officers today.

Samurai in this period referred to the fifth and sixth ranks of the court ranks.

During the Kamakura period,

The definition of samurai became synonymous with gokunin,

Which refers to bushi who owned territory and served the shogun.

However,

Some samurai of exceptional status,

High gokunin,

Did not serve the shogun.

Subordinate bushi in the service of the samurai were called roto,

Rodo,

Or raju.

Some of the roto were given a territory and a family name.

And as samurai-han or saburai-ban,

They acquired a status equivalent to that of a samurai.

In other words,

A high-ranking person among the bushi was called a samurai.

During the Muromachi period,

As in the Kamakura period,

The definition of samurai referred to high-ranking bushi in the service of the shogun.

Bushi serving shugo daimyo,

Feudal lords,

Were not considered samurai.

Those who did not serve a particular lord,

Such as the ronin,

Who were vagabonds,

The nobushi,

Who were armed peasants,

And the ashigaru,

Who were temporarily hired foot soldiers,

Were not considered samurai.

During the Sengoku period,

The traditional master-servant relationship in Japanese society collapsed,

And the traditional definition of samurai changed dramatically.

Samurai no longer referred to those serving the shogun or emperor,

And anyone who distinguished themselves in war could become samurai,

Regardless of their social status.

Chizamurai came from the powerful myoshu,

Who owned farmland and held leadership positions in their villages,

And became vassals of Sengoku daimyo.

Their status was half farmer,

Half bushi,

Samurai.

On the other hand,

It also referred to local bushi who did not serve the shogun or daimyo.

According to Stephen Morillo,

During this period the term refers to as a retainer of a lord,

Usually the retainer of a daimyo,

And that the term samurai marks social function and not class,

And all sorts of soldiers,

Including pikemen,

Bowmen,

Musketeers,

And horsemen,

Were samurai.

During the Azuchi-Momoyama period,

Late Sengoku period,

Samurai often referred to wakato,

The lowest-ranking bushi,

As exemplified by the provisions of the temporary law separation edict enacted by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1591.

This law regulated the transfer of status,

Classes,

Samurai,

Jugan,

Komono,

And arashiko.

These four classes and the ashigaru were chonan,

Townspeople,

And peasants,

Employed by the bushi,

And fell under the category of buka hokunin,

Servants of the buka.

In times of war,

Samurai,

Wakato,

And ashigaru were fighters,

While the rest were porters.

Generally,

Samurai wakato could take family names,

While some ashigaru could,

And only samurai wakato were considered samurai class.

Wakato,

Like samurai,

Had different definitions in different periods,

Meaning a young bushi in the Muromachi period had a rank below kachi and above ashigaru in the Edo period.

In the early Edo period,

Even some daimyo,

Feudal lords,

With territories of 10,

000 koku or more,

Called themselves samurai.

At the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate,

There was no clear distinction between hatamato and kokunin,

Which referred to direct vassals of the shogun,

But from the second half of the 17th century,

A distinction was made between hatamato,

Direct vassals with territories of 10,

000 koku or less,

Who were entitled to an audience with the shogun,

And kokunin,

Those without such rights.

Samurai referred to hatamato in the Tokugawa shogunate,

And to chukosho,

A higher status bushi in each han,

Domains.

During this period,

Most bushi came to serve the shogun in the daimyo of each domains,

And as the distinction between bushi and chonin,

Or peasants,

Became stricter,

The boundaries between the definitions of samurai and bushi became blurred.

Since then,

The term samurai has been used to refer to bushi.

Officially,

However,

The high-ranking bushi were called samurai,

And the low-ranking bushi were called kachi.

Samurai and kachi were represented by the word shibun,

A status that can be translated as warrior class,

Bushi class,

Or samurai class.

Samurai were entitled to an audience with their lord,

Were allowed to ride horses,

And received rice from the land and peasants under their control,

While kachi were not entitled to an audience with their lord,

Guarded their lord on foot,

And received rice from the stores of the shogunate in each domain.

Gokonin,

The status of kachi,

Were financially impoverished,

And supported themselves by making bamboo handicrafts and umbrellas and selling plants.

The shibun status of samurai and kachi was clearly distinguished from the keihai status of the ashigaru and chugun who served them,

But it was more difficult to rise from kachi to samurai than from ashigaru to kachi,

And the status gap between samurai who were high-ranking bushi and kachi who were low-ranking bushi was quite wide.

During the Edo period,

Samurai represented a hereditary social class defined by the right to bear arms and to hold public office,

As well as high social status.

From the mid-Edo period,

Chonan and farmers could be promoted to the samurai class by being adopted into Gokonin families,

Or by serving in daikon offices,

And kachi could be transferred to lower social classes,

Such as chonan,

By changing jobs.

As part of the Taiho Code of 702,

And the later Yoro Code,

The population was required to report regularly for the census,

A precursor for national conscription.

With an understanding of how the population was distributed,

Emperor Monmu introduced a law whereby one in three to four adult males were drafted into the state military.

These soldiers were required to supply their own weapons,

And in return were exempted from duties and taxes.

The Toho Code classified most imperial bureaucrats into twelve ranks,

Each divided into two sub-ranks,

First rank being the highest advisor to the emperor.

Those of sixth rank and below were referred to as samurai,

And dealt with day-to-day affairs,

And were initially civilian public servants in keeping with the original derivation of the word from sabarao,

A verb meaning to serve.

In 792,

The gundan or provincial garrisons in most of the country were abolished.

This was a part of a shift from general conscription to conscripting only the rural elite.

This came after the garrisons had their numbers reduced and recruitment focused on skilled horse archers.

Another principle of the ritsuryo system had already begun to be abandoned.

All the land belonged to the state and had been distributed on a per capita basis to farmers.

However,

In 743,

Farmers were allowed to cultivate reclaimed land in perpetuity.

This allowed clan leaders,

Especially those with lots of slaves,

To acquire large amounts of land.

Members of the imperial family,

The kuge,

And temples and shrines received grants of tax-free land.

In the 9th century,

The farmers began to give their land over to the nobility in order to avoid taxes.

They would then administer and work the land for a payment of rice.

This also reduced the wealth of the emperor,

As he had no private land and was dependent on tax income.

Warriors in the provinces formed networks for mutual protection.

At the same time,

Court officials and monetaries also established private military entourages.

These networks allowed the formation of large private armies as warrior leaders with hundreds of followers could combine forces.

These networks were organized vertically with a prominent figure,

Such as Tairo no Masakado,

Partnering with low-ranking warriors.

Gradually,

The court began to rely more and more on these private warrior bands instead of the militia.

New military and police posts were created to legitimize the warrior leaders who were then given military responsibilities.

These leaders often delegated tasks to their followers.

The Heian period saw the appearance of distinctive Japanese armor and weapons.

Typical examples are the tachi,

Longsword,

And naginata,

Halberd,

Used in close combat,

And the oyoroi and domaru styles of armor.

High-ranking samurai equipped with yumi,

Bows,

Who fought on horseback,

Wore oyoroi,

While low-ranking samurai equipped with naginati,

Who fought on foot,

Wore domaru.

Two leading samurai horses,

The Minamoto and the Taira,

Had both gained court positions and became rivals.

During the Heiji incident,

The Taira gained the upper hand and killed or exiled many members of the Minamoto family.

After that,

Taira Kiyomori practically controlled the court.

This lasted till an imperial succession dispute resulted in a rebellion by Prince Mochihito.

The exiled Minamoto Yoritomo joined the rebellion and promised to guarantee lands and administrative rights to warriors who swore an allegiance to him.

This surprised the role of the court and also effectively created an independent state in eastern Japan.

However,

Yoritomo did not fight for independence of his state,

But negotiated for court recognition of many of the legal powers that he had usurped.

At the end of the Genpei War,

This resulted in the foundation of the Kamakura regime.

In 1185,

Yoritomo obtained the right to appoint shugo and jito and was allowed to organize soldiers and police and to collect a certain amount of tax.

Initially,

Their responsibility was restricted to arresting rebels and collecting needed army provisions,

And they were forbidden from interfering with kokushi officials,

But their responsibility gradually expanded.

Thus,

The warrior class began to gradually gain political power.

In 1190,

He visited Kyoto,

And in 1192 became sei-tai shogun,

Establishing the Kamakura shogunate,

Or Kamakura bakufu.

Instead of ruling from Kyoto,

He set up the shogunate in Kamakura near his base of power.

Bakufu means tent government,

Taken from the encampments the soldiers lived in,

In accordance with the bakufu's status as a military government.

The Kamakura period,

1185-1333,

Is seen by some as the rise of the samurai,

As they were entrusted with the security of the estates and were symbols of the ideal warrior and citizen.

The shogunate had its power base in the east,

But also had authority over its warrior vassals all over the country.

This allowed a subset of warriors to collaborate instead of just competing against each other.

This began a gradual process that weakened the central authority to the advantage of the samurai.

In the late Kamakura period,

Even the most senior samurai began to wear a domaru,

As the heavy and elegant oyoroi were no longer respected.

Until then,

The body was the only part of the domaru that was protected,

But for higher-ranking samurai,

The domaru also came with a kabuto helmet and shoulder guards.

For lower-ranked samurai,

The hara-ate was introduced,

The simplest style of armor that protected only the front of the torso and the sides of the abdomen.

In the late Kamakura period,

A new type of armor called haramaki appeared,

In which the two ends of the hara-ate were extended to the back to provide greater protection.

Various samurai clans struggled for power during the Kamakura shogunate.

Zen Buddhism spread among the samurai in the 13th century and helped shape their standards of conduct.

Among the general populace,

Pure land Buddhism was favored,

However.

In 1274,

The Mongol-founded Yuan Dynasty in China sent a force of some 40,

000 men and 900 ships to invade Japan and northern Kyushu.

Japan mustered a mere 10,

000 samurai to meet this threat.

The invading army was harassed by major thunderstorms throughout the invasion,

Which aided the defenders by inflicting heavy casualties.

The Yuan army was eventually recalled and the invasion was called off.

The Japanese defenders recognized the possibility of a renewed invasion and began construction of a great stone barrier around Hakata Bay in 1276.

Completed in 1277,

This wall stretched for 20 kilometers around the bay.

It later served as a strong defense point against the Mongols.

The Mongols attempted to settle matters in a diplomatic way from 1275 to 1279,

But were unsuccessful.

Leading up to the second Mongolian invasion,

Kublai Khan continued to send emissaries to Japan,

With five diplomats sent in September 1275 to Kyushu.

The outbreak of the Onin War,

Which began in 1467 and lasted about 10 years,

Devastated Kyoto and brought down the power of the Ashikaga shogunate.

This plunged the country into the Warring States period,

In which daimyo,

Feudal lords from different regions fought each other.

This period corresponds to the late Muromachi period.

There are about nine theories about the end of the Sengoku period,

The earliest being the year 1568,

When Oda Nobunaga marched on Kyoto,

And the latest being the suppression of the Shimabara rebellion in 1638.

Thus,

The Sengoku period overlaps with the Muromachi,

Azuchi-Mamoyama,

And Edo periods,

Depending on the theory.

In any case,

The Sengoku period was a time of large-scale civil wars throughout Japan.

Daimyo who became more powerful as the shogunate's control weakened were called Sengoku daimyo,

And they often came from shugo daimyo,

Shugodai,

Tapiri shugo,

And kokujin or kunibito,

Local masters.

In other words,

Sengoku daimyo differed from shugo daimyo in that a Sengoku daimyo was able to rule the region on his own,

Without being appointed by the shogun.

During this period,

The traditional master-servant relationship between the lord and his vassals broke down,

With the vassals eliminating the lord,

Internal clan and vassal conflicts over leadership of the lord's family,

And frequent rebellion and puppetry by branch families against the lord's family.

These events sometimes led to the rise of samurai to the rank of Sengoku daimyo.

For example,

Hojo Suon was the first samurai to rise to the rank of Sengoku daimyo during this period.

Yasugi Kenshin was an example of a shugodai who became a Sengoku daimyo by weakening and eliminating the power of the lord.

This period was marked by the loosening of samurai culture,

With people born into other social strata sometimes making a name for themselves as warriors,

And thus becoming de facto samurai.

One such example is Toyotomi Hideyoshi,

A well-known figure who rose from a peasant background to become a samurai,

Sengoku daimyo,

And Kampaku,

Imperial regent.

By the end of the Sengoku period,

Allegiances between warrior vassals,

Also known as military retainers,

And lords were solidified.

Vassals would serve lords in exchange for material and intangible advantages,

In keeping with the Confucian ideas imported from China between the 7th and 9th centuries.

These independent vassals who held land were subordinate to their superiors,

Who may be local lords or,

In the Edo period,

The shogun.

A vassal or samurai could expect monetary benefits,

Including land or money,

From lords in exchange for their military services.

Reviews

For some reason it seemed like this was read slower than usual but it might have been my brain! 😂😂😂 Kudos for your excellent pronunciation of some very difficult words. Never made it to the end but that’s the goal so thank you!!! 😊

Fell asleep thinking of Richard Chamberlain in Shogun. That was such a great series so long ago! Thanks Ben, that’s a good one!