Samurai

Samurai (侍) were members of the warrior class who served as retainers to lords in Japan prior to the Meiji era. Samurai existed from the late 12th century until their abolition in the late 1870s during the Meiji era.[1] They were originally provincial warriors who served the Kuge and imperial court in the late 12th century.[2][3]

In 1853, the United States forced Japan to open its borders to foreign trade under the threat of military action. Fearing an eventual invasion, the Japanese abandoned feudalism for capitalism so that they could industrialize and build a modern army. The adoption of modern firearms rendered the traditional weapons of the samurai obsolete, and as firearms are easy enough for peasant conscripts to learn, Japan had no more need for a specialized warrior caste. By 1876 the special rights and privileges of the samurai had all been abolished.

  1. ^ Samurai: The Story of a Warrior Tradition, Harry Cook, Blandford Press 1993, ISBN 0713724323
  2. ^ Vaporis, Constantine Nomikos (14 March 2019). Samurai An Encyclopedia of Japan's Cultured Warriors. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9798216141518.
  3. ^ Samurai: The Story of a Warrior Tradition, Harry Cook, Blandford Press 1993, ISBN 0713724323
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