Compare And Contrast Samurai And Feudal Japan

Both the samurai and the ninja were the warriors of feudal Japan They might seem like they are very similar however they are almost complete opposites. They both served Japan but in very different ways. The Samurai were noble warriors who served Japan honorably. They are often referred to as the “bushi”. They were apart of the military class in feudal Japan. Because of this higher-class status they were awarded special privileges in society. One of these privileges was the ability to be armed; they were allowed to carry two swords, one long and one short. They also had the right to behead any commoner if they had been offended by one. The Samurai followed an ethnic code called the Bushido, which means the “way of the warrior”. The bushido stressed

They believed that as long as they were fighting they were training. The type of training that a samurai received depended on the wealth of their family. Lower class families were trained in their homes by an uncle, father, or older brother. While sons of wealthy families were sent to special academic schools. At these schools they learned literature, the arts, and military skills. Samurai focused on hand-to-hand combat. They learned martial arts and all different types of martial arts training. They also learned how to fight using different weapons, for example they focused on archery. Samurai also trained to be mentally prepared for combat. They felt that being mentally prepared was just as important as being physically prepared. They used the “kata” as meditative practice. Samurai also believed that they should master the fear of death, because if they did not it would interfere with their ability to serve their master. They felt they would bring the whole group down if they worried about dying on the battlefield. The Samurai viewed death as honorable if they died for the right reasons. Samurai believed in seppuku, which is a ritual suicide where one would