What Is a Samurai? 侍 (Samurai) Meaning, History and the Myths

What is a samurai? 侍 (samurai) and 武士 (bushi)

A samurai was a member of Japan's warrior class who served a lord, from about the Heian period until the 1870s. The word is 侍 (さむらい, samurai, “warrior (esp. of military retainers of daimyos in the Edo period)”), from an old verb meaning "to serve", and the broader word for a warrior is 武士 (ぶし, bushi).

Samurai were not one thing for centuries. The first ones were mounted fighters who served nobles and the court. Later they were regional lords and their retainers, and in the long peace of the Edo period (1603 to 1868) many became officials who lived on stipends and rarely fought. Then Japan's new government ended the class in the 1870s.

This guide covers the word, the history, what samurai really did, the myths about bushidō, famous samurai, swords and armour, women warriors, and whether samurai still exist.

Samurai meaning: what does 侍 literally mean?

Samurai literally means "one who serves". The word comes from the verb 侍う (さむらう, samurau, “to attend (a person of high rank)”), an old word for waiting on someone of high rank. Its older form was さぶらふ, and by the 16th century the noun had settled into さむらい. The kanji 侍 is the one used for both the verb and the noun.

侍 and 武士 are not quite the same word

The two words overlap, but they began apart:

• 武士 (bushi) is the broad word: a warrior whose job was war. It is made of 武, "military", and 士, a character the dictionary also uses for a respected man. Japanese Wikipedia says warriors of this kind were born in the Heian period and lasted until the end of the Edo period.
• 侍 began as a narrower word. In the Heian period it meant a lower-ranking court official who attended a noble, with duties like a secretary or a guard. By the Kamakura and Muromachi periods it meant a higher-ranking warrior who served the shogun, close to a 御家人 (ごけにん, gokenin, “immediate vassal (of the shogun”). In the 戦国時代 (せんごくじだい, sengoku jidai, “Warring States period (of Japanese history, approx. 1467-1568)”) (usually dated from about 1467 to 1568, though books differ) it became simply another word for a warrior.

In the Edo period, 侍 often meant the upper ranks: men who could meet their lord and ride horses. Below them came the 足軽 (あしがる, ashigaru, “common foot soldier (feudal Japan)”), hired from commoners and counted as lower servants. Japanese Wikipedia says only some of them were allowed a surname.

The English word "samurai" usually means the whole warrior class, which Japanese often calls 武家 (ぶけ, buke, “samurai family”), the warrior houses.

Samurai history: from the Heian period to the Meiji Restoration

Heian period (794 to 1185): the first warriors

Samurai appeared when the court in Kyoto had no police force of its own. Bands of armed men gained power in the provinces while the government neglected them, according to Columbia University's Asia for Educators. Japanese Wikipedia adds that the first warriors came from military aristocrats, families for whom fighting was a profession. Weapons such as the tachi and the naginata date from this period.

Kamakura period (1185 to 1333): the first warrior government

The Genpei War (1180 to 1185) was fought between two warrior families, the Minamoto and the Taira. The Minamoto won, and Minamoto no Yoritomo set up a government of warriors in Kamakura. He received the title 将軍 (しょうぐん, shōgun, “shogun”) in 1192. His government, the 幕府 (ばくふ, bakufu, “shogunate”), gave warriors real power in the provinces and weakened the court in Kyoto.

The Mongols invaded twice, in 1274 and 1281. Storms, later called kamikaze (divine winds), are said to have helped drive them off. English Wikipedia notes that samurai dissatisfaction with their rewards after these wars fed later political instability.

Muromachi and Sengoku (1336 to 1600): a country at war

Under the Ashikaga shoguns, regional lords called 大名 (だいみょう, daimyō, “daimyo (Japanese feudal lord)”) held real power and fought each other. Portuguese traders brought matchlock guns to Japan in 1543, and the battlefield changed. Social lines were looser: Toyotomi Hideyoshi rose from a peasant background to become one of the most powerful men in the country.

Hideyoshi then closed that door. His 刀狩 (かたながり, katanagari, “sword hunt”) of 1588 ordered peasants to give up swords, bows, spears and guns, according to the Kotobank dictionary. In 1591 an edict fixed the boundary between warriors and everyone else.

Edo period (1603 to 1868): peace

After the Tokugawa family took control, Japan had more than 250 years of peace. Society was set in four named groups, samurai, farmers, artisans and merchants, summed up as 士農工商 (しのうこうしょう, shinōkōshō). Modern historians have questioned how rigid this ranking really was, and Japanese textbooks dropped the old diagrams after studies in the 1990s.

A samurai's job had changed. Many served as officials, police, teachers or domain administrators while keeping their stipends and the right to bear arms. The Hagakure, a famous book of samurai sayings, was recorded between 1709 and 1716 from a man born in 1659 who had never been in battle. It looks back at a warrior world that had already gone.

Meiji period (1868 to 1912): the end of the class

The new government ended the samurai class step by step:

The rebellion lasted from January to September 1877, and English Wikipedia says it effectively ended the samurai class. The legal status of shizoku stayed in the registers until 1947.

What did samurai actually do, and how did you become one?

For most of the Edo period, the honest answer is: they worked as officials. Fighting was rare, and many samurai spent their lives without going to war. Estimates of how many there were differ, from about 5 to 10 percent of the population.

Money and rank

Samurai did not farm or trade. They were paid a fixed stipend, the 禄 (ろく, roku, “stipend (paid to court officials, samurai, etc.)”), measured in rice. English Wikipedia says that as inflation ate into the value of this pay, many of them became financially vulnerable. The North Carolina Museum of Art makes the same point: not all samurai were wealthy, and many lower-ranked ones had to work hard to keep their status. Some lived in shared longhouses.

A samurai who served a lord was that lord's 家来 (けらい, kerai, “retainer”). Samurai also wore the pair of swords that marked their rank, and English Wikipedia says they had the legal right to cut down a commoner who did not show proper respect.

How did a person become a samurai?

It depended on the century:

• Before and during the Sengoku period: you needed military strength, regional power or a samurai family. It was possible to rise.
• From the late 1500s: Hideyoshi's separation of warriors and farmers shut the door, and the sword hunt took away the swords that went with the rank.
• In the Edo period: the rank was nearly fixed, and most samurai were born into it. A few outsiders were honoured. The North Carolina Museum of Art says the Englishman William Adams and the Dutchman Jan Joosten, who advised Tokugawa Ieyasu, were allowed to wear samurai swords. It also says most scholars consider Yasuke, an African man who served Oda Nobunaga, a foreign samurai, though this is still debated.

Masterless samurai

A samurai without a lord was a 浪人 (ろうにん, rōnin, “ronin”), a masterless samurai. The word is also used for a student who failed an entrance exam and is waiting to try again.

Famous samurai: who was real and who is a legend

These six were real people, and each shaped a different stage of the story. Where a tale is a legend, it is marked.

• Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147 to 1199) won the Genpei War and became the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192.
• Oda Nobunaga (1534 to 1582) is regarded as the first great unifier of Japan. He ended the Ashikaga shogunate in 1573 and made heavy use of arquebuses. His own retainer Akechi Mitsuhide attacked him at the temple of Honnō-ji in 1582, and Nobunaga died by seppuku.
• Toyotomi Hideyoshi began as a low-born servant, rose under Nobunaga and finished the unification of Japan by 1590. He also ordered the sword hunt.
• Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543 to 1616) won the battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and was appointed shogun in 1603. His family ruled for more than 250 years.
• Miyamoto Musashi (about 1583 to 1645) is the famous swordsman who fought with two swords at once and wrote The Book of Five Rings. His duel with Sasaki Kojirō in 1612, where he is said to have carved a wooden sword from an oar, is the stuff of legend. Historians separate the documented facts from the romantic version, which owes a lot to a popular novel by Yoshikawa Eiji.
• Saigō Takamori (1828 to 1877) helped bring down the Tokugawa shogunate and later led the Satsuma Rebellion. He is often called the "last true samurai".

Samurai and ninja are not the same

A 忍者 (にんじゃ, ninja, “ninja”) was a spy, scout or infiltrator, usually from a peasant-warrior family in Iga or Kōka. English Wikipedia says there is little evidence ninja were assassins, and that the all-black costume and throwing stars come from Edo-period theatre. Samurai were the warrior class, and ninja held a different position in society.

Bushido and the 7 rules of a samurai: what is true?

There is no list of seven rules that all samurai followed. The seven virtues people quote come from a book that appeared around 1900, long after the samurai had gone, and samurai followed different codes depending on their clan and their century.

武士道 (ぶしどう, bushidō, “Bushido”) means "the way of the warrior". It is 武士 plus 道, "way" or "road". Here is how the idea grew:

• The word itself is rare early on. English Wikipedia says it first appears in writing in 1616, in the Kōyō Gunkan, a military chronicle of the Takeda family.
• Earlier warriors had customs, not a code. The English Wikipedia article on samurai quotes a 13th-century warrior, Hōjō Shigetoki, who wrote that a samurai should think only of his master's importance. That is loyalty, but it is one man's advice.
• The Edo period gave it a moral shape. The Kotobank dictionary says bushidō developed from the Kamakura period and was completed in the Edo period together with Confucian thought. English Wikipedia says it was shaped by Neo-Confucianism, Shinto and Zen.
• Nitobe's book made it famous abroad. Nitobe Inazō wrote Bushido: The Soul of Japan in English. Its preface is dated December 1899, and the sources date the first edition to 1899 or 1900. He compared the samurai ethic to European chivalry.

The seven virtues

Nitobe's book gives a chapter each to rectitude or justice, courage, benevolence, politeness, veracity or truthfulness, honour and loyalty. It also has a chapter on self-control, so lists of his virtues run to seven or eight, and other lists differ again. Kotobank, for example, gives loyalty, courage, sacrifice, integrity, honour, propriety, simplicity and compassion for the Edo-period code. These are the usual modern Japanese words for Nitobe's seven, not words he wrote:

Historians are cautious about all this. English Wikipedia sums up the criticism: Nitobe described bushidō through Western ideas of chivalry, and before the Meiji period the codes that existed were more about valour than morals. The picture of one ancient, unbroken "way of the warrior" is mostly a modern idea.

The darker side the quotes leave out

The same codes allowed things we would find shocking now. English Wikipedia's article on bushidō lists striking commoners, tests of weapons on people, and ritual suicide.

切腹 (せっぷく, seppuku, “seppuku”) is the best known. It is sometimes seen as a pure act of honour. English Wikipedia says that in the Edo period it was also a formal capital punishment for samurai convicted of crimes, performed with a trusted assistant who beheaded the man afterwards.

The Hagakure has a famous line: 武士道といふは死ぬ事と見つけたり, "the way of the warrior is found in dying". Wikipedia explains that this is usually misread: the book's point is that keeping death in mind frees a person to do their duty. The book was largely forgotten for about two centuries, and in the Pacific War the military used it as doctrine, which says more about the 1940s than about the Edo period.

Samurai swords and armour in Japanese: 刀, 鎧, 兜 and more

Samurai are known for their gear, and the Japanese words for it are worth knowing:

Some notes on these:

• The sword is not the whole story. Bows came first, and then spears and, after 1543, guns.
• A pair of swords, one long and one short, was the mark of a samurai in the Edo period.
• 鎧 is the armour for the body, and 兜 is the helmet. Both are rarer kanji, so you will see them mostly in museums, games and historical writing. What is Kanji? explains how kanji are built, which makes characters like these easier to learn.

A person who makes the blades is a 刀鍛冶 (かたなかじ, katanakaji, “swordsmith”). After the sword ban of 1876, many of them turned to making farm tools and kitchen knives to earn a living, according to English Wikipedia.

Female samurai: were there women warriors in Japan?

Yes. Women of the warrior class were trained to defend their homes, and some fought in battle. Two words are used for them: 女武者 (おんなむしゃ, onna-musha, “female warrior”) and 女武芸者 (おんなぶげいしゃ, onna-bugeisha). Both are mostly used by historians and writers today, not as ranks or official titles.

Some of the names:

• Tomoe Gozen was an archer and swordswoman said to have served the warlord Minamoto no Yoshinaka in the Genpei War. She appears only in the Tale of the Heike, not in any primary account, so she may be a legend more than a person.
• Hangaku Gozen defended Torisaka Castle against a shogunate army in 1201, in a revolt against Kamakura in which her family, on the Taira side, took part. Her story is told in the chronicle Azuma Kagami.
• Nakano Takeko (1847 to 1868) led an unofficial group of about twenty women, the Jōshitai, at the Battle of Aizu in the Boshin War. She used the naginata, the polearm that came to be linked with women warriors, and died in the fighting. At the Aizu Autumn Festival, girls in hakama and white headbands walk in procession in memory of her unit.

English Wikipedia also reports a study of 105 bodies from the Battle of Senbon Matsubaru in 1580, of which 35 were women, which suggests some women fought and did not only defend castles.

The Edo period made things harder. Neo-Confucian ideas pulled women's duties towards the home, and samurai women needed permits to travel. The naginata stayed linked with women, and many naginata schools were founded in the Edo period.

Are there still samurai today?

No: there are no samurai today in the old sense. The class was abolished in the 1870s, the sword ban came in 1876, and the legal category of shizoku, the former samurai class, was removed in 1947. Nobody holds the rank, and nobody is paid a stipend for it.

What does remain:

• Descendants. The dictionary notes that 士族 can also mean a family of samurai descent. In the 1918 census, about 4 percent of Japan's people were still registered as shizoku, that is, as descendants of the old class.
• The arts. Swordsmanship and other martial arts live on, as 剣道 (けんどう, kendō, “kendo”) and 武道 (ぶどう, budō, “martial arts”).
• The word. 侍 is used for someone with a strong spirit, and for sports teams such as Samurai Japan.
• Memory. Festivals keep the image alive, such as the Aizu Autumn Festival.

Does Japan still use samurai? Not as a class or a job: the 1873 conscription law replaced them with an army of ordinary citizens.

Samurai myths and what historians say

• Myth: samurai followed one code called bushidō. In fact there were many codes, and the famous seven-virtue version comes from a book written in English around 1900.
• Myth: samurai were always fighting. For over 250 years of the Edo period many were officials.
• Myth: seppuku was always a free choice. It was also a punishment.
• Myth: the four-class chart is how Edo society worked. Historians since the 1990s have questioned how rigid it was.
• Myth: only men were samurai. Women of the warrior class trained and, in some cases, fought.
• Myth: every samurai carried a katana and fought with it. Bows and spears came first, and from 1543 guns changed war.
• Myth: ninja were samurai in black. They were a separate group of spies and scouts, and the costume is from the theatre.

To test your knowledge of Japan, try this quiz.

Questions about samurai

What does samurai literally mean?

Samurai literally means "one who serves". It comes from an old verb, さぶらう, meaning to attend a person of high rank, so the first samurai were attendants and guards of nobles.

What are the 7 rules of a samurai?

There were no seven official rules. The list people quote comes from Nitobe Inazō's book of around 1900, which gives chapters to rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, truthfulness, honour and loyalty. Samurai really followed many different codes.

Why did Japan stop samurai?

Japan ended the samurai class because the new Meiji government wanted a modern state with an army of ordinary citizens. It abolished the domains in 1871, introduced conscription in 1873, banned carrying swords in 1876 and ended the stipends the same year. The last big revolt by former samurai, in 1877, was beaten by that conscript army.

Does Japan still use samurai?

No, Japan does not use samurai: the class was abolished in the 1870s. The word lives on in names such as Samurai Japan, and in martial arts like kendo.

Did Japan allow female samurai?

Yes, women of the warrior class trained to fight and some fought in battle, though they were not an official rank like their male counterparts. Hangaku Gozen and Nakano Takeko are historical names, and Tomoe Gozen is best treated as a legend.

How tall was a real samurai?

Probably short by modern standards, but no source gives a solid figure for samurai alone. Japanese Wikipedia, citing the anthropologist Suzuki Hisao's work on skeletons, gives about 157 cm for the average Japanese man of the Edo period, the lowest of Japan's historical period. Individual samurai could be taller or shorter, so be careful with any exact figure you see online.

What does it mean to be a samurai?

To be a samurai meant to belong to the warrior class and to serve a lord, with the duties, rank and privileges that came with it. The popular idea, that it means loyalty, courage and honour, comes mostly from later writers. Today, calling a person a 侍 can praise their strong spirit.

Are there still samurai today?

No, there are no samurai today. The class ended in the 1870s, and its legal status disappeared in 1947. People with samurai ancestors still live in Japan, and the traditions live on in martial arts and culture.

What did samurai actually do?

Samurai were warriors in wartime and, for most of the Edo period, many were officials, police, teachers or domain administrators. Their pay was a fixed stipend, not land or trade.

How did a person become a samurai?

Mostly you were born one. Before the late 1500s you could rise by military strength or regional power, as Toyotomi Hideyoshi did from a peasant background. After Hideyoshi's sword hunt and separation edict, the rank became hereditary, with a few exceptions such as foreign advisers.

Did samurai have male lovers?

Yes. Among warrior men, a tradition called 衆道 (しゅどう, shudō, “male homosexuality”) paired an older man with a boy, whom he mentored in martial skills and warrior manners. English Wikipedia describes it as a mentoring bond, with the sexual side expected to end when the boy came of age. How common it was is not settled, and by modern standards a sexual relationship between an adult and a boy is abuse, so this is history to understand, not a model.

What is a female samurai called?

There is no single official word, but a woman warrior of the past is usually called 女武者 (onna-musha) or 女武芸者 (onna-bugeisha). These are descriptions used by writers and historians, not formal ranks.

Sources

• Readings and meanings: JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0), including its notes on 侍 (the second sense, 侍ジャパン), 士族 (1869 to 1947), 戦国時代 (about 1467 to 1568), 切腹 and 浪人.
• Samurai history, dates and the Meiji abolition: English Wikipedia, Samurai, Satsuma Rebellion and Haitōrei.
• Kamakura shogunate, Ashikaga and Tokugawa: Columbia University, Asia for Educators, Japanese Samurai Governments (1185 to 1868).
• The end of the stipends (1873 and August 1876): Kotobank, 秩禄処分. The sword hunt of 1588: Kotobank, 刀狩. The development of bushidō and Nitobe's book: Kotobank, 武士道. Origins of the warrior class: Kotobank, 武士.
• The words 侍 and 武士, and the height of Edo-period Japanese: Japanese Wikipedia, 侍, 武士 and 身長, citing Suzuki Hisao.
• Who could become a samurai, foreign samurai and samurai lives: North Carolina Museum of Art, Who Could Become a Samurai?.
• Bushidō, Nitobe, Hagakure and seppuku: English Wikipedia, Bushido, Bushido: The Soul of Japan, Hagakure and Seppuku. Nitobe's chapters and the date of his preface: Bushido, the Soul of Japan at Project Gutenberg.
• Edo society and the four classes: English Wikipedia, Edo society.
• Famous samurai: English Wikipedia, Minamoto no Yoritomo, Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Miyamoto Musashi and Saigō Takamori. Ninja: English Wikipedia, Ninja.
• Women warriors: English Wikipedia, Onna-musha, Tomoe Gozen, Hangaku Gozen and Nakano Takeko.
• Male-male relationships: English Wikipedia, Homosexuality in Japan.
• Reviewed independently; the points about 侍 and 武士 in everyday use, the words for women warriors, the Japanese terms for Nitobe's virtues, samurai height and shudō are waiting for a native speaker's check.