SAMURAI

Description

The word samurai (侍 samurai?)1 or samuray 2 is generally used to designate a wide variety of warriors in ancient Japan, although its true meaning is that of a military elite that ruled the country for hundreds of years.3 The origin of the samurai dates back to around the 10th century and was strengthened at the conclusion of the Genpei Wars at the end of the 13th century, when a military government was instituted under the figure of the shōgun, whereby the Emperor of Japan remained in his shadow as a mere spectator of the political situation in the country. Its peak took place during the Sengoku period, a time of great instability and continuous power struggles between the various existing clans, which is why this stage of Japan's history is referred to as the "Warring States Period". The military leadership of the country would continue to be in the hands of this elite until the institution of the Tokugawa shogunate in the 17th century by a powerful samurai landowner (known as daimyō) named Tokugawa Ieyasu, who paradoxically, paradoxically, as he became the highest authority when he was appointed as shōgun, he fought to reduce the privileges and social status of the warrior class, a process that eventually culminated in his demise when the emperor resumed his role as ruler during the Meiji Restoration in the nineteenth century.