Samurai

Samurai, warrior class in Japan, or a member of that class. Samurai first arose as provincial administrators acting for absentee estate-owning courtiers who remained in the capital Kyoto. In the unruly provinces, these officials were recruited from local warrior clans bound by bonds of fealty, and led by offshoots of the imperial family, such as the Taira and Minamoto family. By the beginning of the feudal period in the 12th century, the term had come to denote the military retainers of a daimyo, who was a feudal baron under the shogun, or military governor, of Japan. The replacement of the Hojo shogunate with the Ashikaga shogunate in the 14th century led to an even more feudal system, where samurai held lands awarded by their daimyo lords, and collected taxes from peasants. During the turbulent 15th and 16th centuries, the samurai formed the backbone of the clan armies whose feuds convulsed Japan. The Tokugawa shogunate, which finally restored stable government in 1603, segregated the samurai in castle towns. The now samurai formed a distinct class in the rigid Tokugawa system, wearing two swords as a symbol of their caste and following a rigid code of ethics known as bushido. In the peaceful Edo period, the samurai became shogunal or diamyo officials, or simply idle stiperdiaries. Poverty led some to renounce their status or take up trades; others became important scholars or artists. In 1867 the last shogun resigned, and the samurai class lost its privileges in 1871 when the whole feudal system was abolished. The daimyo returned their lands to the emperor, both nobles and retainers were granted pensions, and the practice of wearing swords was prohibited. In 1878, the names daimyo and samurai were changed to kazoku, or nobility, and shizoku, or gentry, respectively.