Samurai in history

Samurai were aristocrats who enjoyed high social status. The samurai became powerful after Minamoto Yoritomo, the leader of the Minamoto clan, established Japan's first shogunate (warrior government) in 1192. Their military strength and administrative organization provided a foundation for a long period of relative peace. In the 1300's to 1500's, under the weak Ashikaga shogunate, the samurai became leaders of Japanese society but battled among themselves.

By the late 1400's, Japan was an armed camp. Peasants in the countryside were forced to take up swords to protect their communities. Temples with large landholdings trained their own armies of warrior-monks to protect their assets. Some estate owners gathered private armies of samurai to guard their lands. Samurai without masters roamed the country offering to fight for pay.

The greatest of the samurai, called daimyo, controlled vast territories. They exercised control over many armed warriors and governed large areas of farmland.

The diamyo fought each other for military supremacy during the 1500's. Japan was reunited in the late 1500's. In 1603, the powerful Tokugawa shogunate was established. The samurai then influenced every part of life until the mid-1800's, when the Japanese emperor regained full control.