Editing Samurai (section)

==History==
===Asuka and Nara periods===
[[File:Helmet MET DT305558.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|A [[Kofun period]] helmet, gilt copper, 5th century, [[Ise Province]]]]
As part of the [[Taihō Code]] of 702, and the later [[Yōrō Code]],<ref name="HOJ GS">''A History of Japan'', Vol. 3 and 4, George Samson, Tuttle Publishing, 2000.</ref> the population was required to report regularly for the census, a precursor for national conscription. With an understanding of how the population was distributed, [[Emperor Monmu]] introduced a law whereby 1 in 3–4 adult males were drafted into the state military. These soldiers were required to supply their own weapons, and in return were exempted from duties and taxes.<ref name="HW">William Wayne Farris, ''Heavenly Warriors – The Evolution of Japan's Military, 500–1300'', [[Harvard University Press]], 1995. {{ISBN|0-674-38704-X}}</ref>

The Taihō Code classified most Imperial bureaucrats into 12 ranks, each divided into two sub-ranks, 1st rank being the highest adviser to the emperor. Those of 6th rank and below were referred to as "samurai" and dealt with day-to-day affairs and were initially civilian public servants, in keeping with the original derivation of this word from {{transliteration|ja|saburau}}, a verb meaning 'to serve'.<ref name="SMK5">''[[Shin Meikai kokugo jiten|Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten]]'', fifth edition, 1997</ref>

===Heian period===
[[File:Blacksmith Munechika, helped by a fox spirit, forging the blade Ko-Gitsune Maru, by Ogata Gekkō.jpg|thumb|upright|In the [[noh drama]] ''Sanjō Kokaji'', the 10th-century blacksmith Munechika, aided by a [[Kitsune|''kitsune'' (fox spirit)]], forges the ''[[tachi]]'' (samurai sword) ''Ko-Gitsune Maru''.]]
In 792, the gundan, or provincial garrisons, in most of the country were abolished. This was a part of a shift from general conscription to conscripting only the rural elite. This came after the garrisons had their numbers reduced and recruitment focused on skilled horse archers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Friday |first1=Karl |title=Teeth and Claws. Provincial Warriors and the Heian Court |journal=Monumenta Nipponica |date=1988 |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=153–185 |doi=10.2307/2384742 |jstor=2384742 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2384742}}</ref> Another principle of the Ritsuryō system had already begun to be abandoned. All the land belonged to the state, and had been distributed on a per capita basis to farmers. However, in 743, farmers were allowed to cultivate reclaimed land in perpetuity. This allowed clan leaders, especially those with lots of slaves, to acquire large amounts of land. Members of the Imperial family, the Kuge and Temples and Shrines received grants of tax-free land. In the 9th Century, the farmers began to give their land over to the nobility in order to avoid taxes. They would then administer and work the land for a payment of rice. This also reduced the wealth of the Emperor, as he had no private land and was dependent on tax income.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Inoue |first1=Kiyoshi |title=Geschichte Japans |date=1993 |publisher=Campus Verlag |isbn=3-593-34845-4}}</ref>

[[File:Sagami Jiro and Taira no Masakado Attacking an Opponent on Horseback LACMA M.84.31.433.jpg|thumb|[[Taira no Masakado]] attacking an opponent on horseback ([[Yoshitoshi]])]]
Warriors in the provinces formed networks for mutual protection at the same time court officials and monetaries also established private military entourages.<ref name="Hired Swords page 94">{{cite book |last1=Friday |first1=Karl |title=Hired Swords The Rise of Private Warrior Power in Early Japan |date=1992 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804726962 |page=94 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iNc89Xvh-D0C}}</ref> These networks allowed the formation of large private armies as warrior leaders with hundreds of followers could combine forces. These networks were organized vertically, with a prominent figure (such as [[Taira no Masakado]]) partnering with lowing ranking warriors.<ref name="Hired Swords page 98">{{cite book |last1=Friday |first1=Karl |title=Hired Swords The Rise of Private Warrior Power in Early Japan |date=1992 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804726962 |page=98 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iNc89Xvh-D0C}}</ref> Gradually, the Court began to rely more and more on these private warrior bands instead of the militia. New military and police posts were created to legitimatize the warrior leaders who were then given military responibilites. These leaders often delegated tasks to their followers.<ref name="asianstudies.org">{{cite web |last1=Karl |first1=Friday |title=Once and Future Warriors: The Samurai in Japanese History |url=https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/once-and-future-warriors-the-samurai-in-japanese-history/ |website=Association for Asian Studies }}</ref>

The Heian period saw the appearance of distinctive [[Japanese armor]] and weapons. Typical examples are the {{transliteration|ja|[[tachi]]}} (long sword) and {{transliteration|ja|[[naginata]]}} (halberd) used in close combat, and the {{transliteration|ja|[[ō-yoroi]]}} and {{transliteration|ja|[[dō-maru]]}} styles of armor. High-ranking samurai equipped with {{transliteration|ja|[[yumi]]}} (bows) who fought on horseback wore {{transliteration|ja|ō-yoroi}}, while lower-ranking samurai equipped with {{transliteration|ja|naginata}} who fought on foot wore {{transliteration|ja|dō-maru}}.<ref name = "o-yoroi">[https://web.archive.org/web/20200607115832/https://costume.iz2.or.jp/column/489.html 式正の鎧・大鎧] Costume Museum</ref>

=== Kamakura shogunate ===
[[File:Samurai o-yoroi.jpg|thumb|upright|Samurai ''[[ō-yoroi]]'' armor, [[Kamakura period]]. [[Tokyo National Museum]].]]
Two leading Samurai houses, the Minamoto and the Taira had both gained court positions and became rivals. During the [[Heiji Rebellion]] the Taira gained the upper hand and killed or exiled many members of the Minamoto family. After that, [[Taira no Kiyomori]] practically controlled the court. This lasted till an imperial succession dispute resulted in a rebellion by Prince Mochihito. The exiled Minamoto Yoritomo joined the rebellion, and promised to guarantee lands and administrative rights to warriors who sworn allegiance to him. This usurped the role of the Court, and also effectively created an independent state in eastern Japan. However, Yoritomo did not fight for independence of his state, but negotiated for court recognition of many of the legal powers that he had usurped. At the end of the Gempei War, this resulted in the foundation of the Kamakura regime.<ref name="asianstudies.org"/>

In 1185, Yoritomo obtained the right to appoint ''[[shugo]]'' and ''[[jitō]]'', and was allowed to organize soldiers and police, and to collect a certain amount of tax.<ref name="toyo090616">{{cite web|url=https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/120599?page=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509123300/https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/120599?page=4|script-title=ja:鎌倉幕府は何年に成立？正解を言えますか|language=ja|publisher=Toyo keizai|date=9 June 2016|archive-date=9 May 2022|access-date=9 March 2024}}</ref> Initially, their responsibility was restricted to arresting rebels and collecting needed army provisions and they were forbidden from interfering with ''[[Kokushi (official)|kokushi]]'' officials, but their responsibility gradually expanded. Thus, the warrior class began to gradually gain political power.<ref name="asianstudies.org"/>

In 1190 he visited Kyoto and in 1192 became ''[[Shōgun|Sei'i Taishōgun]]'', establishing the Kamakura shogunate, or ''Kamakura bakufu''. Instead of ruling from Kyoto, he set up the shogunate in [[Kamakura, Kanagawa|Kamakura]], near his base of power. "Bakufu" means "tent government", taken from the encampments the soldiers lived in, in accordance with the Bakufu's status as a military government.<ref>Wilson, p. 15</ref>

The [[Kamakura period]] (1185–1333) is seen by some as the rise of the samurai as they were "entrusted with the security of the estates" and were symbols of the ideal warrior and citizen.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kishida |first1=Tom |last2=Mishina |first2=Kenji |title=The Yasukuni Swords: Rare Weapons of Japan, 1933–1945 |date=2004 |publisher=Kodansha International |location=Tokyo; New York |isbn=4-7700-2754-0 |page=42 |edition=1st}}</ref> The shogunate had its powerbase in the east, but also had authority over its warrior vassals all over the country. This allowed a subset of warriors to collaborate instead of just competing against each other. This began a gradual process that weakened the central authority to the advantage of the samurai.<ref name="asianstudies.org"/>

In the late Kamakura period, even the most senior samurai began to wear {{transliteration|ja|dō-maru}}, as the heavy and elegant {{transliteration|ja|ō-yoroi}} were no longer respected. Until then, the body was the only part of the {{transliteration|ja|dō-maru}} that was protected, but for higher-ranking samurai, the {{transliteration|ja|dō-maru}} also came with a {{transliteration|ja|[[kabuto]]}} (helmet) and shoulder guards.<ref name = "o-yoroi"/> For lower-ranked samurai, the {{transliteration|ja|[[Japanese armour|haraate]]}} was introduced, the simplest style of armor that protected only the front of the torso and the sides of the abdomen. In the late Kamakura period, a new type of armor called {{transliteration|ja|[[Haramaki (armour)|haramaki]]}} appeared, in which the two ends of the {{transliteration|ja|haraate}} were extended to the back to provide greater protection.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20211021185717/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/10955/ 胴丸・腹当・腹巻.] Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World.</ref>

=== Mongol invasions ===
<gallery class="center" widths="305" heights="150">
File:Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba e2.jpg|Samurai of the [[Shōni clan]] gather to defend against [[Kublai Khan]]'s Mongolian army during the first [[Mongol invasions of Japan#First invasion (1274)|Mongol invasion of Japan in 1274]].
File:Battle of Yashima Folding Screens Kano School.jpg|[[Battle of Yashima]] folding screens
</gallery>
{{See also|Mongol invasions of Japan}}
Various samurai clans struggled for power during the [[Kamakura shogunate]]. [[Zen Buddhism]] spread among the samurai in the 13th century and helped shape their standards of conduct, particularly in overcoming the fear of death and killing. Among the general populace [[Pure Land Buddhism]] was favored however.

In 1274, the Mongol-founded [[Yuan dynasty]] in China sent a force of some 40,000 men and 900 ships to invade Japan in northern [[Kyūshū]]. Japan mustered a mere 10,000 samurai to meet this threat. The invading army was harassed by major thunderstorms throughout the invasion, which aided the defenders by inflicting heavy casualties. The Yuan army was eventually recalled, and the invasion was called off. The Mongol invaders used small bombs, which was likely the first appearance of bombs and gunpowder in Japan.
[[File:Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba Mongol Invasion Takezaki Suenaga 2 Page 5-7.jpg|center|thumb|upright=3|Samurai [[Takezaki Suenaga]] of the [[Hōjō clan]] (right) assaults the Mongolian and Korean invasion army (left) at the [[Battle of Bun'ei#Battle of Torikai-Gata - Japanese victory|Battle of Torikai-Gata]], 1274.]]

The Japanese defenders recognized the possibility of a renewed invasion and began construction of a [[Genko Borui|great stone barrier]] around [[Hakata Bay]] in 1276. Completed in 1277, this wall stretched for 20 kilometers around the bay. It later served as a strong defensive point against the Mongols. The Mongols attempted to settle matters in a diplomatic way from 1275 to 1279, but every envoy sent to Japan was executed.

Leading up to the second Mongolian invasion, [[Kublai Khan]] continued to send emissaries to Japan, with five diplomats sent in September 1275 to Kyūshū. [[Hōjō Tokimune]], the [[shikken]] of the Kamakura shogun, responded by having the Mongolian diplomats brought to Kamakura and then beheading them.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/japanitshistory00reedgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/japanitshistory00reedgoog/page/n361 291] |quote=tokimune behead. |title=Japan: Its History, Traditions, and Religions: With the Narrative of a Visit in 1879 |first=Sir Edward James |last=Reed |date=17 April 1880 |publisher=J. Murray |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The graves of the five executed Mongol emissaries exist to this day in Kamakura at Tatsunokuchi.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kamakura-burabura.com/meisyoenosimajyourituji.htm |title=常立寺|website=www.kamakura-burabura.com}}</ref> On 29 July 1279, five more emissaries were sent by the Mongol empire, and again beheaded, this time in [[Hakata-ku, Fukuoka|Hakata]]. This continued defiance of the Mongol emperor set the stage for one of the most famous engagements in Japanese history.

In 1281, a Yuan army of 140,000 men with 5,000 ships was mustered for another invasion of Japan. Northern Kyūshū was defended by a Japanese army of 40,000 men. The Mongol army was still on its ships preparing for the landing operation when a typhoon hit north Kyūshū island. The casualties and damage inflicted by the typhoon, followed by the Japanese defense of the Hakata Bay barrier, resulted in the Mongols again being defeated.
{{Wide image|Takezaki suenaga ekotoba bourui.jpg|1000px|Samurai and defensive wall at [[Hakata-ku, Fukuoka|Hakata]] defending against the Second Mongolian Invasion. Moko Shurai Ekotoba, (蒙古襲来絵詞) {{circa|1293}}|center}}

[[File:Takezaki suenaga ekotoba3.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Samurai boarding ships of the [[Mongol invasions of Japan#Second invasion (1281)|Second Mongolian invasion fleet]], killing the Mongolian soldiers aboard, 1281]]
The thunderstorms of 1274 and the typhoon of 1281 helped the samurai defenders of Japan repel the Mongol invaders despite being vastly outnumbered. These winds became known as ''kami-no-Kaze'', which literally translates as "wind of the gods".<ref>{{cite web|date=2017-04-26|title=Formative Memory: The Thirteenth-Century Mongolian Invasions and Their Impact on Japan|url=https://kyotojournal.org/uncategorized/formative-memory-the-thirteenth-century-mongolian-invasions-and-their-impact-on-japan/|access-date=2020-10-25|website=Kyoto Journal|language=en-US}}</ref> This is often given a simplified translation as "divine wind". The ''kami-no-Kaze'' lent credence to the Japanese belief that their lands were indeed divine and under supernatural protection.

===Nanboku-chō and Muromachi period===
In 1336, [[Ashikaga Takauji]], who opposed [[Emperor Godaigo]], established the [[Ashikaga shogunate]] with [[Emperor Kōgon]]. As a result, the southern court, descended from Emperor Godaigo, and the northern court, descended from Emperor Kogon, were established side by side. This period of coexistence of the two dynasties is called the [[Nanboku-chō period]], which corresponds to the beginning of the [[Muromachi period]]. The Northern Court, supported by the Ashikaga shogunate, had six emperors, and in 1392 the Imperial Court was reunited by absorbing the Southern Court, although the modern [[Imperial Household Agency]] considers the Southern Court to be the legitimate emperor.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230414234502/https://www.kunaicho.go.jp/ryobo/successive_list.html 天皇陵.] Imperial Household Agency</ref> The {{lang|la|de facto}} rule of Japan by the Ashikaga shogunate lasted until the [[Onin War]], which broke out in 1467.

From 1346 to 1358 during the Nanboku-cho period, the Ashikaga shogunate gradually expanded the authority of the {{nihongo3||守護|[[Shugo]]}}, the local military and police officials established by the Kamakura shogunate, giving the ''Shugo'' jurisdiction over land disputes between {{nihongo3||御家人|[[gokenin]]}} and allowing the ''Shugo'' to receive half of all taxes from the areas they controlled. The ''Shugo'' shared their newfound wealth with the local samurai, creating a hierarchical relationship between the ''Shugo'' and the samurai, and the first early {{nihongo3|feudal lords|大名|[[daimyo]]}}, called {{nihongo3||守護大名|shugo daimyo}}, appeared.<ref name="shugosen">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/shugodaimyo-sengokubusho/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317181933/https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/shugodaimyo-sengokubusho/|script-title=ja:守護大名と戦国武将|language=ja|publisher=The Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=17 March 2024|access-date=17 March 2024}}</ref>

[[File:大太刀, 銘 正(家), Ōdachi forged by Masaie.jpg|thumb|{{transliteration|ja|[[Ōdachi]]}} forged by Sadaie, 14th century, [[Nanboku-chō period]], [[Nihon Bijutsu Token Hozon Kyokai#Shinsa (grading examination)|Important Sword]]]]

During the Nanboku-chō period, many lower-class foot soldiers called {{transliteration|ja|[[ashigaru]]}} began to participate in battles, and the popularity of {{transliteration|ja|haramaki}} increased. During the Nanboku-chō and Muromachi periods, {{transliteration|ja|dō-maru}} and {{transliteration|ja|haramaki}} became the norm, and senior samurai also began to wear {{transliteration|ja|haramaki}} by adding {{transliteration|ja|kabuto}} (helmet), {{transliteration|ja|[[men-yoroi]]}} (face armor), and gauntlet.<ref name="nanmuro">[https://web.archive.org/web/20220406070240/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/51939/ 甲冑の歴史（南北朝時代～室町時代）] Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World.</ref>

Issues of inheritance caused family strife as [[primogeniture]] became common, in contrast to the division of succession designated by law before the 14th century. Invasions of neighboring samurai territories became common to avoid infighting, and bickering among samurai was a constant problem for the Kamakura and Ashikaga shogunates.

===Sengoku period===
The outbreak of the [[Onin War]], which began in 1467 and lasted about 10 years, devastated [[Kyoto]] and brought down the power of the Ashikaga shogunate. This plunged the country into the [[Sengoku Period|warring states period]], in which ''[[daimyo]]'' (feudal lords) from different regions fought each other. This period corresponds to the late Muromachi period. There are about nine theories about the end of the Sengoku Period, the earliest being the year 1568, when [[Oda Nobunaga]] marched on Kyoto, and the latest being the suppression of the [[Shimabara Rebellion]] in 1638. Thus, the Sengoku Period overlaps with the Muromachi, [[Azuchi–Momoyama period|Azuchi–Momoyama]], and [[Edo period]]s, depending on the theory. In any case, the Sengoku period was a time of large-scale civil wars throughout Japan.<ref name="jp191129">{{cite web|url=https://mag.japaaan.com/archives/132811/3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131030808/https://mag.japaaan.com/archives/132811/3|script-title=ja:最長で200年説も！戦国時代とはいつからいつまでを指すのか？諸説をまとめました|language=ja|author=Akio Tsunoda|publisher=[[Shōgakukan]]|date=19 November 2020|archive-date=31 January 2023|access-date=31 January 2023}}</ref><ref name="jk061222">{{cite web|url=https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=1930|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206163952/https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=1930|script-title=ja:戦国時代|language=ja|publisher=Japan Knowledge|date=|archive-date=6 December 2022|access-date=29 January 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Tepu5.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|{{transliteration|ja|[[Tanegashima (gun)|Tanegashima]]}} ([[Matchlock]])]]
[[File:Strings for night firing.jpg|thumb|upright|Large numbers of {{transliteration|ja|[[ashigaru]]}} (foot soldiers) in close formation began to use {{transliteration|ja|[[yari]]}} (spears) and {{transliteration|ja|[[tanegashima (gun)|tanegashima]]}} (gun), changing battlefield tactics and the equipment of the samurai class.]] 
''Daimyo'' who became more powerful as the shogunate's control weakened were called {{nihongo3||戦国大名|sengoku daimyo}}, and they often came from ''shugo daimyo'', {{nihongo3|deputy Shugo|守護代|[[Shugodai]]}}, and {{nihongo3|local masters|国人|kokujin or kunibito}}. In other words, ''sengoku daimyo'' differed from ''shugo daimyo'' in that a ''sengoku daimyo'' was able to rule the region on his own, without being appointed by the shogun.<ref name="shugosen"/>

During this period, the traditional master-servant relationship between the lord and his vassals broke down, with the vassals eliminating the lord, internal clan and vassal conflicts over leadership of the lord's family, and frequent rebellion and puppetry by branch families against the lord's family.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gendai.media/articles/-/83871?page=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307071317/https://gendai.media/articles/-/83871?page=3|script-title=ja:意外と知らない「下剋上」とは一体何か？戦国時代の「主殺し」の実像 3/4|language=ja|publisher=[[Kodansha]]|date=18 June 2021|archive-date=7 March 2024|access-date=7 March 2024}}</ref> These events sometimes led to the rise of samurai to the rank of ''sengoku daimyo''. For example, [[Hōjō Sōun]] was the first samurai to rise to the rank of ''sengoku daimyo'' during this period. [[Uesugi Kenshin]] was an example of a ''Shugodai'' who became ''sengoku daimyo'' by weakening and eliminating the power of the lord.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gendai.media/articles/-/83871?page=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307071419/https://gendai.media/articles/-/83871?page=4|script-title=ja:意外と知らない「下剋上」とは一体何か？戦国時代の「主殺し」の実像 4/4|language=ja|publisher=Kodansha|date=18 June 2021|archive-date=7 March 2024|access-date=7 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="shugosen2">{{cite web|url=https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/shugodaimyo-sengokudaimyo/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317190415/https://www.touken-world.jp/history/history-important-word/shugodaimyo-sengokudaimyo/|script-title=ja:守護大名と戦国武将の違い|language=ja|publisher=The Japanese Sword Museum Nagoya Touken World|date=|archive-date=17 March 2024|access-date=17 March 2024}}</ref>

This period was marked by the loosening of samurai culture, with people born into other social strata sometimes making a name for themselves as warriors and thus becoming ''[[de facto]]'' samurai. One such example is [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], a well-known figure who rose from a peasant background to become a samurai, ''sengoku daimyo'', and ''[[Sessho and Kampaku|kampaku]]'' (Imperial Regent).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/202017?page=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229075803/https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/202017?page=3|script-title=ja:豊臣秀吉はなぜ「征夷大将軍」ではなく「関白」になったのか——秀吉をめぐる「三つのなぜ」|language=ja|publisher=[[The Asahi Shimbun]]|date=24 September 2023|archive-date=29 February 2024|access-date=29 February 2024}}</ref>

From this time on, infantrymen called {{transliteration|ja|[[ashigaru]]}}, who were mobilized from the peasantry, were mobilized in even greater numbers than before, and the importance of the infantry, which had begun in the Nanboku-chō period, increased even more.<ref name="rekishi200940">''歴史人'' September 2020. pp.40–41. {{ASIN|B08DGRWN98}}</ref> When [[matchlock]]s were introduced from Portugal in 1543, Japanese swordsmiths immediately began to improve and mass-produce them. The Japanese matchlock was named {{transliteration|ja|[[tanegashima (gun)|tanegashima]]}} after the [[Tanegashima|Tanegashima island]], which is believed to be the place where it was first introduced to Japan. By the end of the Sengoku Period, there were hundreds of thousands of arquebuses in Japan and a large army of nearly 100,000 men clashing with each other.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/givingupgun00noel |url-access= registration |title= Giving up the gun: Japan's reversion to the sword, 1543-1879 |pages=17–28|author= Noel Perrin |publisher= David R Godine |year=1979 |access-date=2011-09-22|isbn= 978-0-87923-773-8 }}</ref>

On the battlefield, {{transliteration|ja|ashigaru}} began to fight in close formation, using {{transliteration|ja|[[yari]]}} (spear) and {{transliteration|ja|tanegashima}}. As a result, {{transliteration|ja|yari}}, {{transliteration|ja|[[yumi]]}} (bow), and {{transliteration|ja|tanegashima}} became the primary weapons on the battlefield. The {{transliteration|ja|naginata}}, which was difficult to maneuver in close formation, and the long, heavy {{transliteration|ja|[[tachi]]}} fell into disuse and were replaced by the {{transliteration|ja|[[nagamaki]]}}, which could be held short, and the short, light {{transliteration|ja|[[katana]]}}, which appeared in the Nanboku-cho period and gradually became more common. The {{transliteration|ja|tachi}} was often cut off from the hilt and shortened to make a {{transliteration|ja|katana}}. The {{transliteration|ja|tachi}}, which had become inconvenient for use on the battlefield, was transformed into a symbol of authority carried by high-ranking samurai.<ref name = "toukennagi">[https://web.archive.org/web/20201124014052/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/25694/ Basic knowledge of naginata and nagamaki.] Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum, Touken World</ref><ref name = "toukenssw">[https://web.archive.org/web/20201226054428/https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/45927/ Arms for battle – spears, swords, bows.] Nagoya Japanese Sword Museum, Touken World</ref><ref name ="en20p42">Kazuhiko Inada (2020), ''Encyclopedia of the Japanese Swords''. p42. {{ISBN|978-4-651-20040-8}}</ref><ref name="rekishi200940"/> Although the {{transliteration|ja|ōdachi}} had become even more obsolete, some ''sengoku daimyo'' dared to organize assault and kinsmen units composed entirely of large men equipped with {{transliteration|ja|ōdachi}} to demonstrate the bravery of their armies.<ref name ="en20p39">Kazuhiko Inada (2020), ''Encyclopedia of the Japanese Swords''. p39. {{ISBN|978-4-651-20040-8}}</ref>

These changes in the aspect of the battlefield during the Sengoku period led to the emergence of the {{transliteration|ja|[[Japanese armour|tosei-gusoku]]}} style of armor, which improved the productivity and durability of armor. In the history of Japanese armor, this was the most significant change since the introduction of the {{transliteration|ja|ō-yoroi}} and {{transliteration|ja|dō-mal}} in the Heian period. In this style, the number of parts was reduced, and instead armor with eccentric designs became popular.<ref name = "gusoku">[https://web.archive.org/web/20190425051228/http://costume.iz2.or.jp:80/column/554.html 日本の甲冑] Costume Museum</ref>

By the end of the Sengoku period, allegiances between warrior vassals, also known as military retainers, and lords were solidified.<ref name="William E. Deal 2006 136">{{cite book|title=Handbook to Life in Medieval & early Modern Japan|author=William E. Deal |year=2006 |isbn=0-8160-5622-6 |page=136|publisher=Facts On File, Incorporated }}</ref> Vassals would serve lords in exchange for material and intangible advantages, in keeping with [[Confucian]] ideas imported from China between the seventh and ninth centuries.<ref name="William E. Deal 2006 136" />
These independent vassals who held land were subordinate to their superiors, who may be local lords or, in the Edo period, the shogun.<ref name="William E. Deal 2006 136" />
A vassal or samurai could expect monetary benefits, including land or money, from lords in exchange for their military services.<ref name="William E. Deal 2006 136" />

===Azuchi–Momoyama period===
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2025}}
[[File:Himeji_castle_in_may_2015.jpg|thumb|Between 1601 and 1609, [[Ikeda Terumasa]] extensively renovated [[Himeji Castle]] to give it its present appearance.]]
The Azuchi-Momoyama period refers to the period when [[Oda Nobunaga]] and [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] were in power. The name "Azuchi-Momoyama" comes from the fact that Nobunaga's castle, [[Azuchi Castle]], was located in [[Azuchi, Shiga]], and [[Fushimi Castle]], where Hideyoshi lived after his retirement, was located in Momoyama. There are several theories as to when the Azuchi–Momoyama period began: 1568, when Oda Nobunaga entered Kyoto in support of Ashikaga Yoshiaki; 1573, when Oda Nobunaga expelled Ashikaga Yoshiaki from Kyoto; and 1576, when the construction of Azuchi Castle began. In any case, the beginning of the Azuchii–Momoyama period marked the complete end of the rule of the Ashikaga shogunate, which had been disrupted by the Onin War; in other words, it marked the end of the Muromachi period.

====Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa====
[[File:The Three Unifiers of Japan.jpg|thumb|The three unifiers of Japan: from left to right: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu]]

[[Oda Nobunaga]] was the well-known lord of the [[Nagoya]] area (once called [[Owari Province]]) and an exceptional example of a samurai of the Sengoku period.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sitereports.nabunken.go.jp/8395 |title=たたかう人びと |author=Nagano Prefectural Museum of History |date=2005-03-01 |website=Comprehensive Database of Archaeological Site Reports in Japan |access-date=2016-09-02}}</ref> He came within a few years of, and laid down the path for his successors to follow, the reunification of Japan under a new ''bakufu'' (shogunate).

Oda Nobunaga made innovations in the fields of organization and war tactics, made heavy use of arquebuses, developed commerce and industry, and treasured innovation. Consecutive victories enabled him to end the Ashikaga Bakufu and disarm of the military powers of the Buddhist monks, which had inflamed futile struggles among the populace for centuries. Attacking from the "sanctuary" of Buddhist temples, they were constant headaches to any warlord and even the emperor, who tried to control their actions. He died in 1582 when one of his generals, [[Akechi Mitsuhide]], turned upon him with his army.

[[File:Battle-of-Nagashino-Map-Folding-Screen-1575.png|thumb|The [[Battle of Nagashino]] (1575)]]

[[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] and [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], who founded the Tokugawa shogunate, were loyal followers of Nobunaga. Hideyoshi began as a peasant and became one of Nobunaga's top generals, and Ieyasu had shared his childhood with Nobunaga. Hideyoshi defeated Mitsuhide within a month and was regarded as the rightful successor of Nobunaga by avenging the treachery of Mitsuhide. These two were able to use Nobunaga's previous achievements on which build a unified Japan and there was a saying: "The reunification is a rice cake; Oda made it. Hashiba shaped it. In the end, only Ieyasu tastes it."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Varshavskaya |first1=Elena |title=Heroes of the Grand Pacification: Kuniyoshi's Taiheiki eiyū den |date=2021 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-48918-9 |page=26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=22tPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA26 |language=en}}</ref> (Hashiba is the family name that Toyotomi Hideyoshi used while he was a follower of Nobunaga.)

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who became a grand minister in 1586, created a law that non-samurai were not allowed to carry weapons, which the samurai caste codified as permanent and hereditary, thereby ending the social mobility of Japan, which lasted until the dissolution of the Edo shogunate by the Meiji revolutionaries.

The distinction between samurai and non-samurai was so obscure that during the 16th century, most male adults in any social class (even small farmers) belonged to at least one military organization of their own and served in wars before and during Hideyoshi's rule. It can be said that an "all against all" situation continued for a century. The authorized samurai families after the 17th century were those that chose to follow Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu. Large battles occurred during the change between regimes, and a number of defeated samurai were destroyed, went ''[[rōnin]]'' or were absorbed into the general populace.

During the [[Azuchi–Momoyama period]] (late Sengoku period), "samurai" often referred to {{nihongo3||若党|wakatō}}, the lowest-ranking ''bushi'', as exemplified by the provisions of the temporary law [[Separation Edict]] enacted by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1591. This law regulated the transfer of status classes:samurai (''wakatō''), {{nihongo3||中間|chūgen}}, {{nihongo3||小者|komono}}, and {{nihongo3||[[:ja:荒子 (武士)|荒子]]|arashiko}}. These four classes and the ''ashigaru'' were {{nihongo3|townspeople|町人|[[chōnin]]}} and peasants employed by the ''bushi'' and fell under the category of {{nihongo3|servants of the ''buke''|[[:ja:武家奉公人|武家奉公人]]|buke hōkōnin}}.<ref name="asukak">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/aichikenshikenkyu/5/0/5_123/_pdf/-char/ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240719201334/https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/aichikenshikenkyu/5/0/5_123/_pdf/-char/ja|script-title=ja:天正拾九年六月廿三日付 豊臣秀次条目について|page=126|language=ja|publisher=[[Japan Science and Technology Agency|J-STAGE]]/[[Aichi Prefecture]]|date=|archive-date=19 July 2024|access-date=19 July 2024}}</ref> In times of war, samurai (''wakatō'') and ''ashigaru'' were fighters, while the rest were porters. Generally, samurai (''wakatō'') could take family names, while some ''ashigaru'' could, and only samurai (''wakatō'') were considered samurai class. ''Wakatō'', like samurai, had different definitions in different periods, meaning a young ''bushi'' in the Muromachi period and a rank below {{nihongo3||[[:ja:徒士|徒士]]|kachi}} and above ''ashigaru'' in the Edo period.

====Invasions of Korea====
{{See also|Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)}}
[[File:Ulsan waesung attack.jpg|thumb|upright|Korean and Chinese soldiers assault the Japanese-built fortress at [[Siege of Ulsan|Ulsan]] during the [[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)|Japanese invasions of Korea]], 1597.]]

In 1592 and again in 1597, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, aiming to invade China through Korea, mobilized an army of 160,000 peasants and samurai and [[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)|deployed them to Korea]] in one of the largest military endeavors in Eastern Asia until the late 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yasuka |date=2017-07-24 |title=The Imjin War {{!}} KCP International Japanese Language School |url=https://www.kcpinternational.com/2017/07/the-imjin-war/ |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=KCP International |language=en |quote=Hideyoshi needed passage through Korea to get to China. But with Korea refusing his demands, he led a large army of about 160,000 men, landing at the tip of the peninsula then moving northwards.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |title=The Japanese Invasion of Korea, 1592-8 CE |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1398/the-japanese-invasion-of-korea-1592-8-ce/ |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en |quote=One of the largest military operations ever undertaken in East Asia prior to the 20th century CE}}</ref> Taking advantage of [[arquebus]] mastery and extensive wartime experience from the [[Sengoku period]], Japanese samurai armies made major gains in most of Korea. A few of the famous samurai generals of this war were [[Katō Kiyomasa]], [[Konishi Yukinaga]], and [[Shimazu Yoshihiro]]. Katō Kiyomasa advanced to Orangkai territory (present-day [[Manchuria]]) bordering Korea to the northeast and crossed the border into northern China.

Kiyomasa withdrew back to Korea after retaliatory counterattacks from the [[Jurchen people|Jurchens]] in the area, whose castles his forces had raided.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-12-16 |title=What is the Imjin War (1592-1598)? - Boot Camp & Military Fitness Institute |url=https://bootcampmilitaryfitnessinstitute.com/2020/12/16/what-is-the-imjin-war-1592-1598/ |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=bootcampmilitaryfitnessinstitute.com |language=en-GB}}</ref> Shimazu Yoshihiro led some 7,000 samurai into battle, and despite being heavily outnumbered, defeated a host of allied [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] and Korean forces at the [[Battle of Sacheon (1598)|Battle of Sacheon]] in 1598. Yoshihiro was feared as ''Oni-Shimazu'' ("Shimazu ogre") and his nickname spread across Korea and into China.
[[File:YoshiClimber.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], who later commanded the invasion of Korea, leads a small group assaulting the castle on [[Mount Kinka (Gifu)|Mount Inaba]]. Print by [[Tsukioka Yoshitoshi]].]]
In spite of the superiority of Japanese land forces, the two expeditions ultimately failed after Hideyoshi's death,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |title=The Japanese Invasion of Korea, 1592-8 CE |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1398/the-japanese-invasion-of-korea-1592-8-ce/ |access-date=2023-06-28 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en |quote=After protracted and unsuccessful peace talks, Hideyoshi launched a second, much less successful invasion in 1597 CE, and when the warlord died the next year, the Japanese forces withdrew from the peninsula.}}</ref> though the invasions did devastate the Korean peninsula. The causes of the failure included Korean naval superiority (which, led by Admiral [[Yi Sun-sin]], harassed Japanese supply lines continuously throughout the wars, resulting in supply shortages on land), the commitment of sizable Ming forces to Korea, Korean guerrilla actions, wavering Japanese commitment to the campaigns as the wars dragged on, and the underestimation of resistance by Japanese commanders.

In the first campaign of 1592, Korean defenses on land were caught unprepared, under-trained, and under-armed. They were rapidly overrun, with only a limited number of successfully resistant engagements against the more experienced and battle-hardened Japanese forces. During the second campaign in 1597, Korean and Ming forces proved far more resilient and with the support of continued Korean naval superiority, managed to limit Japanese gains to parts of southeastern Korea. The final death blow to the Japanese campaigns in Korea came with Hideyoshi's death in late 1598 and the recall of all Japanese forces in Korea by the [[Council of Five Elders]], established by Hideyoshi to oversee the transition from his regency to that of his son Hideyori.

==== Battle of Sekigahara ====
{{See also|Battle of Sekigahara}}
[[File:Sekigaharascreen.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[Battle of Sekigahara]], known as {{Nihongo|"Japan's decisive battle"|天下分け目の戦い|Tenka wakeme no tatakai}}]]

Before his death, Hideyoshi ordered that Japan be ruled by a council of the five most powerful ''sengoku daimyo'', {{nihongo3|[[Council of Five Elders]]|五大老|Go-Tairō}}, and Hideyoshi's five retainers, {{nihongo3|Five Commissioners|五奉行|[[Go-Bugyō]]}}, until his only heir, the five-year-old [[Toyotomi Hideyori]], reached the age of 16.<ref name="sekigahara">{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.go.jp/exhibition/digital/ieyasu/contents3_01/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108090341/https://www.archives.go.jp/exhibition/digital/ieyasu/contents3_01/|script-title=ja:関ヶ原の戦い|language=ja|publisher=[[National Archives of Japan]]|date=|archive-date=8 January 2023|access-date=9 March 2024}}</ref> However, having only the young Hideyori as Hideyoshi's successor weakened the Toyotomi regime. Today, the loss of all of Hideyoshi's adult heirs is considered the main reason for the downfall of the Toyotomi clan.<ref name="jk270323">{{cite web|url=https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=67|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327064223/https://japanknowledge.com/introduction/keyword.html?i=67|script-title=ja:豊臣秀次|language=ja|publisher=Japan Knowledge|date=|archive-date=27 March 2023|access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="toyo220516">{{cite web|url=https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/117781?page=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421180805/https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/117781?page=3|script-title=ja:新説！豊臣家を滅ぼした｢組織運営｣の大失敗|language=ja|publisher=Toyo Keizai|date=22 May 2016|archive-date=21 April 2021|access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref><ref name="yh100324">{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/cf674ebf35996045d03fcb26aab8ae4fd833e8df|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310115834/https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/cf674ebf35996045d03fcb26aab8ae4fd833e8df|script-title=ja:どうして豊臣政権は短命だったのか？存続のカギは弟・豊臣秀長が握っていた|language=ja|publisher=Yahoo News|date=1 September 2023|archive-date=10 March 2024|access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref> Hideyoshi's younger brother, [[Toyotomi Hidenaga]], who had supported Hideyoshi's rise to power as a leader and strategist, had already died of illness in 1591, and his nephew, [[Toyotomi Hidetsugu]], who was Hideyoshi's only adult successor, was forced to commit seppuku in 1595 along with many other vassals on Hideyoshi's orders for suspected rebellion.<ref name="jk270323"/><ref name="toyo220516"/><ref name="yh100324"/>

In this politically unstable situation, [[Maeda Toshiie]], one of the ''Gotairō'', died of illness, and [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], one of the ''Gotairō''' who had been second in power to Hideyoshi but had not participated in the war, rose to power, and Ieyasu came into conflict with [[Ishida Mitsunari]], one of the ''Go-Bukyō'' and others. This conflict eventually led to the [[Battle of Sekigahara]], in which the {{nihongo3|Eastern Army|東軍|Tō-gun}} led by Ieyasu defeated the {{nihongo3|Western Army|西軍|Sei-gun}} led by Mitsunari, and Ieyasu nearly gained control of Japan.<ref name="sekigahara"/>

Social mobility was high, as the ancient regime collapsed and emerging samurai needed to maintain a large military and administrative organizations in their areas of influence. Most of the samurai families that survived to the 19th century originated in this era, declaring themselves to be the blood of one of the four ancient noble clans: [[Minamoto]], [[Taira]], [[Fujiwara clan|Fujiwara]], and [[Tachibana clan (samurai)|Tachibana]]. In most cases, however, it is difficult to prove these claims.

===Tokugawa shogunate===
{{See also|Edo period}}
After the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu consolidated power and was declared shogun in 1603. After the [[siege of Osaka]] in 1615, there was a period of peace for 250 years. During the Tokugawa shogunate, samurai underwent many changes, and first became a truly hereditary class. Although this process was begun by Hideyoshi with the combination of the Sword Hunt of 1588 and the Separation Edict of 1591.<ref name="Schirokauer">{{cite book |last1=Schirokauer |first1=Conrad |title=A brief history of Chinese and Japanese civilizations |date=2012 |publisher=Wadsworth}}</ref> Most samurai moved from the land to the castle towns, with one town in each domain.<ref name="Modern Japan">{{cite book |last1=Tipton |first1=Elise |title=Modern Japan A Social and Political History |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415185370}}</ref> With no warfare since the early 17th century, samurai gradually lost their military function during the Tokugawa era. Neo-Confucianism became very influential and the division of society into four classes was officially adopted by the shogunate.<ref name="Modern Japan"/> Landed samurai had to choose to either give up their lands to become stipend samurai, or to keep their lands and become peasants.<ref name="Kwon">{{cite book |last1=Kwon |first1=Grace |title=State Formation, Property Relations, & the Development of the Tokugawa Economy (1600-1868) |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781317794530}}</ref>

Following the passing of a law in 1629, samurai on official duty were required to wear [[Daishō|two swords]]. However, by the end of the Tokugawa era, samurai were aristocratic bureaucrats for their ''daishō'', becoming more of a symbolic emblem of power than a weapon used in daily life. They still had the legal right to cut down any commoner who did not show proper respect {{nihongo|''[[kiri-sute gomen]]''|斬り捨て御免}}, but to what extent this right was used is unknown.<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last=Wert |first=Michael |title=Samurai: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-068510-2 |location=New York |publication-date=2021-02-01 |pages=35, 84 |language= |oclc=1202732830}}</ref> When the central government forced ''daimyōs'' to cut the size of their armies, unemployed rōnin became a social problem.

Theoretical obligations between a samurai and his lord (usually a ''daimyō'') increased from the Genpei era to the Edo era, strongly emphasized by the teachings of [[Confucius]] and [[Mencius]], required reading for the educated samurai class. The leading figures who introduced Confucianism in Japan in the early Tokugawa period were Fujiwara Seika (1561–1619), Hayashi Razan (1583–1657), and Matsunaga Sekigo (1592–1657).

[[Pederasty]] permeated the culture of samurai in the early seventeenth century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=Taggart |title=Japan and the Shackles of the Past|date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York|isbn=978-0190619589 |pages=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9byvBAAAQBAJ}}</ref> The relentless condemnation of pederasty by [[Jesuit]] missionaries also hindered attempts to convert Japan's governing elite to Christianity.<ref name="Japan and the Shackles of the Past">{{cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=Taggart |title=Japan and the Shackles of the Past|date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York|isbn=978-0190619589 |pages=37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9byvBAAAQBAJ}}</ref> Pederasty had become deeply institutionalized among the daimyo and samurai, prompting comparisons to ancient [[Pederasty in ancient Greece|Athens and Sparta]].<ref name="Japan and the Shackles of the Past"/> The Jesuits' strong condemnation of the practice alienated many of Japan's ruling class, creating further barriers to their acceptance of Christianity.<ref name="Japan and the Shackles of the Past"/> [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]], the third shogun, was known for his interest in pederasty.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=Taggart |title=Japan and the Shackles of the Past|date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York|isbn=978-0190619589 |pages=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9byvBAAAQBAJ }}</ref>

From the mid-Edo period, wealthy {{nihongo3|townsman||[[chōnin]]}} and farmers could join the samurai class by giving a large sum of money to an impoverished {{nihongo3|||[[gokenin]]}} to be adopted into a samurai family and inherit the samurai's position and stipend. The amount of money given to a ''gokenin'' varied according to his position: 1,000 ''ryo'' for a {{nihongo3|||[[yoriki]]}} and 500 ''ryo'' for an {{nihongo3||[[:ja:徒士|徒士]]|kachi}} Some of their descendants were promoted to {{nihongo3||旗本|[[hatamoto]]}} and held important positions in the shogunate. Some of the peasants' children were promoted to the samurai class by serving in the {{nihongo3||代官|[[daikan]]}} office.<ref name="yamamoto">{{cite web|url=https://imidas.jp/jidaigeki/detail/L-57-110-08-04-G252.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240719202919/https://imidas.jp/jidaigeki/detail/L-57-110-08-04-G252.html|script-title=ja:武士（ぶし）／侍（さむらい）|language=ja|publisher=[[Shūeisha]]|date=|archive-date=19 July 2024|access-date=19 July 2024}}</ref> ''Kachi'' could change jobs and move into the lower classes, such as ''chōnin''. For example, [[Takizawa Bakin]] became a ''chōnin'' by working for [[Tsutaya Jūzaburō]].<ref name="ocha">{{cite web|url=https://www.cf.ocha.ac.jp/ccjs/j/menu/consortia/d007975_d/fil/121003.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716005713/https://www.cf.ocha.ac.jp/ccjs/j/menu/consortia/d007975_d/fil/121003.pdf|script-title=ja:近世後期の江戸における武家の養子と身分 滝沢馬琴を事例に|language=ja|publisher=[[Ochanomizu University]]|date=|archive-date=16 July 2024|access-date=16 July 2024}}</ref>

====Samurai in Southeast Asia====
[[File:Yamada-Nagamasa-Portrait-Shizuoka-Sengen-Shrine.png|thumb|Portrait of [[Yamada Nagamasa]], circa 1630]]

In the late 1500s, trade between Japan and Southeast Asia accelerated and increased exponentially when the Tokugawa shogunate was established in the early 1600s. The destinations of the trading ships, the [[red seal ships]], were Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc. Many Japanese moved to Southeast Asia and established Japanese towns there. Many samurai, or [[rōnin]], who had lost their masters after the Battle of Sekigahara, lived in the Japanese towns. The Spaniards in the Philippines, the Dutch of the [[Dutch East India Company]], and the Thais of the [[Ayutthaya Kingdom]] saw the value of these samurai as mercenaries and recruited them. The most famous of these mercenaries was [[Yamada Nagamasa]]. He was originally a palanquin bearer who belonged to the lowest end of the samurai class, but he rose to prominence in the Ayutthaya Kingdom, now in southern Thailand, and became governor of the [[Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom]]. When the policy of national isolation (''[[sakoku]]'') was established in 1639, trade between Japan and Southeast Asia ceased, and records of Japanese activities in Southeast Asia were lost for many years after 1688.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://worldhistorycommons.org/japanese-mercenaries-and-dutch-east-india-company|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208072323/https://worldhistorycommons.org/japanese-mercenaries-and-dutch-east-india-company|title=Japanese Mercenaries and the Dutch East India Company|publisher=World History Commons|archive-date=8 February 2023|access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jafame/11/0/11_61/_pdf/-char/ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214233332/https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jafame/11/0/11_61/_pdf/-char/ja|script-title=ja:Relationship of Japan and the Netherlands in Asia Market in 17th Century and Today|language=ja|publisher=[[Wako University]]/J Stage|pages=61–67|archive-date=14 February 2024|access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hirogin.co.jp/lib/kaigai/bangkok/report/b2107/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824133456/https://www.hirogin.co.jp/lib/kaigai/bangkok/report/b2107/|script-title=ja:「異国で王になった男」山田長政|language=ja|website=The Hiroshima Bank |archive-date=24 August 2022|access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref>

====Samurai as diplomatic ambassadors====
[[File:Hasekura in Rome.JPG|thumb|[[Hasekura Tsunenaga]] portrayed during his mission in Rome by [[Archita Ricci]], 1615]]

In 1582, three ''[[Kirishitan]]'' ''daimyō'', [[Ōtomo Sōrin]], [[Ōmura Sumitada]], and [[Arima Harunobu]], sent a group of boys, their own blood relatives and retainers, to Europe as [[Tenshō embassy|Japan's first diplomatic mission to Europe]]. They had audiences with King [[Philip II of Spain]], [[Pope Gregory XIII]], and [[Pope Sixtus V]]. The mission returned to Japan in 1590, but its members were forced to renounce, be exiled, or be executed, due to the Tokugawa shogunate's suppression of Christianity.

In 1612, [[Hasekura Tsunenaga]], a vassal of the ''daimyo'' [[Date Masamune]], led a diplomatic mission and had an audience with King [[Philip III of Spain]], presenting him with a letter requesting trade, and he also had an audience with [[Pope Paul V]] in Rome. He returned to Japan in 1620, but news of the Tokugawa shogunate's suppression of Christianity had already reached Europe, and trade did not take place due to the Tokugawa shogunate's policy of ''sakoku''. In the town of Coria del Rio in Spain, where the diplomatic mission stopped, there were 600 people with the surnames Japon or Xapon as of 2021, and they have passed on the folk tale that they are the descendants of the samurai who remained in the town.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20210316-81043/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128162019/https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/20210316-81043/|title=Faithful legacy of the 'samurai ambassador'|publisher=|date=16 March 2021|archive-date=28 November 2023|access-date=15 February 2024}}</ref>

At the end of the Edo period ([[Bakumatsu era]]), when [[Matthew C. Perry]] came to Japan in 1853 and the ''sakoku'' policy was abolished, six diplomatic missions were sent to the United States and European countries for diplomatic negotiations. The most famous were the [[Japanese Embassy to the United States|US mission in 1860]] and the [[First Japanese Embassy to Europe (1862)|European missions in 1862]] and [[Second Japanese Embassy to Europe (1864)|1864]]. [[Fukuzawa Yukichi]], who participated in these missions, is most famous as a leading figure in the modernization of Japan, and his portrait was selected for the [[10,000 yen note]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/pickup/016/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223100039/https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/pickup/016/|script-title=ja:世界を見たサムライ達|language=ja|publisher=[[National Diet Library]]|archive-date=23 February 2023|access-date=15 February 2024}}</ref>

===Dissolution===
[[File:Gasshukoku suishi teitoku kōjōgaki (Oral statement by the American Navy admiral).png|thumb|A [[Woodblock printing in Japan|Japanese woodblock print]] of Perry (center) and other high-ranking American seamen.]]
In 1853, the United States sent a fleet of steamships under the command of [[Matthew Perry (naval officer)|Commodore Matthew Perry]] to force the rulers of Japan to open their borders to foreign trade. The shogun had no choice but to acquiesce. His samurai were no match for Perry's marines and as a pre-industrial agrarian society, Japan was no match for the United States. The Japanese were aware of how European imperialists defeated and humiliated the Chinese, and they feared an invasion of Japan was soon to come. Japan had to modernize if it was to maintain its honor and independence.

The Japanese began importing large quantities of Western-made weapons and hiring European and American veterans to train their armies. The new weapons included modern rifles with [[caplock]] and [[breechloader|breech-loading]] mechanisms. These new firearms were more versatile and deadly than the [[tanegashima (gun)|matchlock muskets]] the Japanese had been using for three centuries. Their rifled barrels gave them better accuracy and range, their mechanisms were less fiddly and worked even in wet weather, and they could be fitted with [[bayonet]]s to double as spears. Whereas the matchlock musket was used alongside spears and bows on the battlefield, the new rifles became the standard infantry weapon.<ref>Hoya Toru, in Hellyer & Fuess. ''The Meiji Restoration''<br/>p. 155: "Until the late Edo period, smoothbore muskets had been used in conjunction with other weapons such as bows and spears. Furthermore, engagements involved hand-to-hand combat with weapons such as the short spear."
<br/>p. 161: "the government effectively disbanded units of archers and spearmen, key components of the early modern military structure. Moreover, the mounted cavalry, which had been the backbone of samurai military organization, was completely eliminated."</ref> [[Revolver]]s and [[derringer]]s became the self-defense weapons of choice, supplanting knives and swords. These firearms were also much easier to use than the traditional weapons of the samurai, requiring only a week or two of practice to master as opposed to years.<ref>Hans Busk (1859). [https://archive.org/details/riflevolunteersh00busk/page/6/mode/2up ''Rifle Volunteers: How to Organize and Drill them''], p. 7-8: "Educated men are not like ploughboys, and there cannot be a doubt that a few days' drill and rifle practice, in the month, would shortly give us a hundred thousand men perfectly fit for the ordinary duties of a soldier."</ref><ref>An 1860 British rifle training manual, [https://archive.org/details/drillforcorpsri02lysogoog/page/n99/mode/1up?q=days ''Drill and Rifle Instruction for the Corps of Rifle Volunteers''], on p. 75 recommends one week of drilling followed by one week of target practice.</ref><ref>In ''[https://books.google.be/books?id=AApXAAAAcAAJ Questions on the Instruction of Musketry and the Hythe Papers]'' (1862), Elphinstone Waters Begbie rhetorically poses the question "How many days ought the rifle-carbine training of the Royal Artillery recruits to occupy?". In [https://books.google.be/books?id=mlABAAAAQAAJ the accompanying answer booklet], Begbie answers: "Fifteen working days"</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=Japan Railway & Transport Review |date=September 1997 |pages=48-49 |title=Train Driver and Master Iaido Swordsman |url=https://www.ejrcf.or.jp/jrtr/jrtr13/pdf/people48.pdf}}
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"According to Kawaguchi, it requires some 3 years to learn to handle the sword with natural ease, and no less than 10 years to tentatively master all aspects of the art."</ref> Peasant gunmen could be trained on an as-needed basis and were just as effective as samurai gunmen, which rendered the samurai obsolete as a specialist warrior caste.<ref>Gwynne Dyer (1985). ''War'', p. 58:<br/>"It is not doing too much violence to history to compare the warrior class of samurai in Japan with the feudal nobility of Europe. Both were groups who owed their wealth, power, and social position to their proficiency with arms and derived their own self-respect from it. But proficiency with arms is only an important distinguishing mark if it takes long and arduous training to achieve and has a direct relationship to a man's chances of success and survival in battle—as it does with the sword, the spear, or the bow. Firearms take far less time to master and are much more democratic in their effects: samurai and commoners died with equal speed and equal futility in Takeda's desperate charges at Nagashino."</ref><ref>Noel Perrin. ''Giving up the Gun'', p. 73: "So could Lord Matsudaira, Warden of Kami Province, who said disgustedly of the 1637 rebellion. ‘In this there is no difference between soldiers and peasants, because firearms are used.’"</ref><ref>Mark Ravina. ''To Stand with the Nations of the World'' pp. 24-25: "A well-disciplined deployment of peasant musketeers could destroy an elite brigade of mounted archers, whose skills reflected years of training and noble privilege."</ref>

Even before the [[Meiji Restoration]], the shogun and other warlords put a stronger emphasis on commoners when they set about rebuilding their armies.<ref>Jaundrill. ''Samurai to Soldier'', p. 71: "On the national level, the Tokugawa shogunate had inaugurated an ambitious attempt to create a new kind of army: one composed primarily of commoner soldiers and solidly under the control of Tokugawa authorities—not vassal warriors, as had been the case early in the regime’s history."</ref><ref>Hoya Toru. ''The Meiji Restoration'', p.153: "In the wake of armed internal conflicts, almost every domain embraced modern, military organizational methods modeled after those of contemporary Europe. The key trigger to these reforms was the adoption of modern firearms, notably rifles, which decisively reshaped the military organizations of the day."</ref> There were political advantages to using commoners. Commoners tended to be more submissive as they came from humbler backgrounds, did not inherit any military tradition, and were easier to replace.<ref>Jaundrill. ''Samurai to Soldier'', p. 47: "Because the soldiers recruited through the 1863 conscriptions ranked as the lowest members of the warrior status group, Tokugawa military leaders were free to use them as test subjects in their experimental effort to create a Westernized military. Unlike the warriors who had attended (or avoided) the Martial Arts School, the new recruits had no prior experience with military service, and thus no preconceptions about the limits of their superiors’ authority."</ref>  They were less resistant to social reform because they had little to lose and potentially a lot to gain. They typically came without any political baggage or conflicting loyalties, which became especially important later on when the Meiji government sought to create a national army that cut across feudal domains. During the Meiji era, conscription into the national army exposed men across Japan to nationalist indoctrination, a way to build unity and national identity.<ref>Jaundrill (2019). ''Samurai to Soldier'', p. 44: "Others domains like Choshu and Saga recruited on and outside the margins of the warrior status group in order to avoid sparking political conflicts within the domain."</ref><ref>Esposito. ''Japanese Armies 1868-1877'', p. 13: "The peasant conscripts would be trained in regular, disciplined units with modern firearms; there would be no place for the selective loyalties of traditional samurai entourages in any future wars."</ref><ref>Edward J. Drea. ''Japan's Imperial Army'', pp. 22, 29</ref> 

Progressive Japanese argued that in order to match the industrial might of the West, Japan had to remake its political system and economy in the Western mold.<ref>Jaundrill. ''Samurai to Soldier'', p. 31: "Thus the Ansei (1854–1860) round of reforms aimed to graft new technology onto existing organizational frameworks. The setbacks encountered in the Ansei reform era led shogunal and domainal leaders to conclude that technological reform was not possible without organizational reform—a political act that most authorities were unwilling to undertake unless absolutely necessary."</ref> In 1866, the shogun pushed to dismantle feudalism and unify Japan under a centralized government similar to Napoleonic France.<ref>Ravina. ''To Stand with the Nations of the World'', p. 106: "...the crisis of 1866 prompted one of the most remarkable reform efforts in Japanese history. Defeat by Chōshū had discredited defenders of the shogunal status quo. Yoshinobu seized this chance to push through the most radical Japanese reform project in a millennium. Yoshinobu sought nothing less than the complete reorganization of the shogunate “from a feudally organized suzerain regime into a unified national regime organized along the bureaucratic lines of Napoleonic France."</ref> This move was opposed by those with a vested interest in the old system. The shogunate was already unpopular for its failure to expel the foreign "barbarians" along with longstanding accusations of corruption and incompetence,<ref>Totman. ''The Collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu'', p. 10: "The erosion of bakufu strength was reflected in the quality of rumors circulating at the time. During Abe's era, there had been talk of foreign invaders and of corruption and incompetence, but only few and vague references to dynastic weakening of critical moment."</ref> so the shogun relinquished his powers to the emperor in October 1867. The emperor supported centralization and was seen as a unifying figure by the Japanese. Thus began the [[Meiji Restoration]]. The shogun expected to receive a high-ranking position in the new government,<ref>Ravina. ''To Stand with the Nations of the World'', p. 116: "Yoshinobu’s move was tactically brilliant. By agreeing to restore political power to the court, he stole the issue from Chōshū and Satsuma. At the same time, his “surrender” allowed Yoshinobu to reposition himself in the emerging political order. The imperial court accepted Yoshinobu’s “return of political authority” on 10/15 but also called for a meeting of the daimyo to decide the course of reform. Since Yoshinobu had deftly manipulated daimyo councils before, he had every reason to expect substantial power in any national assembly.</ref> but his enemies wanted him gone and launched a revolt, kicking off the [[Boshin War]]. In April 1868 the shogun was captured and forced into retirement.<ref>Ravina. ''To Stand with the Nations of the World''<br/>p. 118: "The new government convened on the evening of 12/9 and, over the objections of Tosa and Fukui, moved to change the terms of Yoshinobu’s surrender."<br/>p. 119: "In 1868/4, the last shogun surrendered Edo Castle without a fight."</ref> The shogun's allies and vassals continued fighting the imperial government, eventually suffering their own defeat in June 1869.<ref>Ravina. ''To Stand with the Nations of the World'', p. 124: "Ironically, Yoshinobu’s surrender agreement prompted the most dogged resistance of the Boshin War. The surrender terms ignored both Tokugawa-allied domains such Aizu and ordinary Tokugawa vassals. Those parties felt betrayed and abandoned. They ignored Yoshinobu’s decision to surrender and elected to fight the new imperial government on their own.</ref>

[[File:Saigo Takamori Portrait by Ishikawa Shizumasa.jpg|right|thumb|[[Saigo Takamori]] is romanticized as the last samurai. He led a failed rebellion against the new government which saw his kind as obsolete and troublesome.]]
Between 1869 and 1871, the ''daimyo'' class was peacefully dissolved. Some former ''daimyo'' were given government jobs, but most retired with generous pensions.<ref>Ravina. ''To Stand with the Nations of the World'', p. 122: "Rather than fight in defense of noble privilege, many of the last generation of daimyo were eager to be coopted: a handful received positions in the new Meiji government, but most simply accepted lavish pensions and disappeared from political life.</ref> Their domains became prefectures subject to the authority of the imperial government.

The dissolution of the ''daimyo'' class made the samurai defunct as a feudal retainer caste, so the Meiji government began repealing their special rights and privileges. In 1869, the government reclassified high-ranking samurai as ''shizoku'' (warriors) and lower status samurai as ''sotsuzoku'' (foot soldiers).<ref>Ravina. ''To Stand with the Nations of the World'', p.131: "As vassals of vassals, Inada samurai were to be classified as soldiers (sotsu) rather than samurai (shi), resulting in a reduction in both income and status."</ref> In 1872, the ''sotsu'' rank was abolished and the ''sotsuzoku'' were reclassified as ''shizoku''.<ref>Ravina. ''To Stand with the Nations of the World'', p. 181: "It eliminated the distinct rank of “sotsu” for lower samurai and classified all retainers with heritable income as “shizoku,” a neologism for “former samurai.”"</ref> In 1871, the government banned the samurai topknot (the ''[[chonmage]]'').<ref>https://www.meijishowa.com/calendar/4272/08-09-1871-japan-abolishes-the-samurai-topknot</ref> From 1873 to 1879, the government started taxing the stipends and transformed them into interest-bearing government bonds. The main goal was to provide enough financial liquidity to enable former samurai to invest in land and industry. In 1876, the government forbade anyone outside the military to wear swords even if they were of samurai lineage, and repealed the right of a samurai to strike an insolent commoner with potentially lethal force (''[[kiri-sute gomen]]'').<ref>Laurence Winkler. ''Samurai Road'': "In 1876, the wearing of swords was forbidden to anyone except members of the national armed forces, and all samurai stipends were converted to government bonds, at significant financial loss. The samurai right of ''kirisute gomen'', which allowed them to execute commoners who paid them disrespect, was abolished."</ref> 

Most samurai accepted these reforms. In fact the Meiji leadership was composed mostly of samurai. Although they were no longer entitled to rule, many former samurai were offered positions in the new civilian government because they were typically well-educated. Others were offered teaching positions in the new public education system.<ref>Eiko Ikegami. ''The Taming of the Samurai'', pp. 360-361</ref>

But some samurai could not be placated, leading to sporadic samurai rebellions. In 1873, a prominent samurai named [[Saigo Takamori]] quit the government in protest and moved to Satsuma. Many disgruntled samurai followed him there. Takamori set up military academies to teach samurai the ways of modern warfare and spread his militant right-wing beliefs. The imperial government feared an insurrection and sent a task force to disarm Takamori's growing paramilitary force. In response, Takamori marched his army on Tokyo. The rebel samurai were defeated by the imperial army, which was composed mostly of commoners. Both armies were equipped with modern weapons. After this rebellion was quashed, the Meiji government faced no further challenges to its authority.<ref>Ravina. ''To Stand with the Nations of the World'', p. 196: "A primary cause of the 1877 rebellion was the government’s attack on samurai privilege."</ref>

In 1947, the ''shizoku'' class was abolished.