Samurai Facts
Samurai Facts
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| Interesting Samurai Facts: |
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| Bushido means 'the way of the warrior'. The Samurai followed the bushido, which was their code. |
| At the peak of the Samurai's power in Japan it is estimated that as much as 10 percent of the population were of the social class of Samurai. |
| In Samurai society the daimyos were territorial lords and shoguns were warlords. |
| The Samurai clothing was designed to allow them to move more freely. Their regular clothing included hakama trousers, a hitatare or silk kimono, and a vest, which allowed for ease of movement if a surprise attack were to occur. Footwear was often wooden sandals or clogs. |
| The Samurai wore a topknot hairdo, and it evolved to include a shaved forehead, which made wearing a helmet more comfortable. |
| Throughout history only four men from the west were given the special honor of becoming a Samurai. These men were William Adams (an adventurer), Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn (Adams' colleague), Eugene Collahe (Navy officer), and Edward Schnell (arms dealer). |
| Samurai originally carried a slim, small straight sword called a 'chokuto'. |
| As the art of sword-making advanced, curved swords became the norm, and the katana (most iconic Samurai sword) was created. |
| The Samurai also carried a smaller sword called a wakizashi. |
| The katana and wakizashi together were called a daisho, which means a 'big and small set'. |
| Samurai swords were often tested out on live prisoners. |
| Samurai name their swords. They believed that their warrior spirit was contained within the katana sword. |
| Samurai also used other weapons, including a longbow called a yumi, spears, and eventually firearms and cannons. They used a flintlock rifle called a tanegashima. |
| Samurai were well educated and were highly literate. Samurai studied math, and calligraphy, as well as flower arrangement. They were artistic and created ink paintings, rock gardens, and wrote poetry. |
| Despite their appearance of looking large and imposing in their armor, most Samurai were no taller than 5 feet five inches, while the knights in Europe during this time were as tall as 6 feet 5 inches. |
| If a Samurai was likely to be captured by an enemy or didn't follow bushido he was supposed to kill himself in a ritual called seppuku that involved using a sword or blade to pierce the stomach, followed by beheading. It could be performed quickly if needed or as a long ritual. |
| Darth Vader, the evil character in the Star Wars movies, wore a helmet that had been designed from inspiration from the kabuto helmet worn by Samurai. |
| There have been several movies made about the Samurai including the 2003 movie The Last Samurai, which starred Tom Cruise, the 1991 movie Samurai Cop, and 47 Samurai (1962). |
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