The Samurai's Influence On Japanese Culture

Youssef Marakby
ID:900130817
Instructor: Richard Byford
Rhet 1020

The Samurai’s affect on Japan’s culture

For many years, the legendary Japanese samurai warriors showed that they are the most well known class of ancient Japan and also known with their supremacy of honor, service, and duty which the Japanese society still have today. The samurai helped lay the foundations of Japan 's culture. They held values and morals that have held up for so many years; it is wonderful that they have held on to them for so long. If it were not for the samurai influence Japan may not have the same exact views on how to live there life. Samurai 's are a very important part of Japanese’s culture. Japanese samurai were warriors of the shogun rulers amid

Moreover, what really interest me in the Samurai is their way of life, codes and the appreciation of others. Throughout my research process I found out that the Samurai woman played a huge part in combat during wars, also she was called “Onna Bugeisha” and they usually used the naginata weapon in the battle. The Samurai’s armor was designed in a way that allows them to move freely during the battle, also it was interesting to know that the samurai were very open to the idea of Homosexuality as they accepted a relationship between the same sex in their culture and it was considered extremely normal. Also in some movies that were made about the samurai , they didn’t mention that as it’s considered as a shame nowadays. The idea of a Western Samurai made me very interested in the samurai, that’s when I saw “The last samurai” movie by Tom Cruise as it showed that any one can join the samurai and have the honor of fighting along them side by side becoming one of them and have that special honor by respecting their code and having a samurai name. what really fascinates me is that the samurai weren’t a rare elite force; however, they were an entire social class and they were about 10 percent of Japan’s population at that time. What really grabbed my attention is the way the dress up, they were stylish and at their time they were rock stars in their style of clothing. The samurai dressed up to move with speed, to have freedom of movement and travel. The weapons were unique

Today we can still see the values of Bushido in some parts of modern Japan. The Japanese have the tons of respect and loyalty to their country and families. They would do nothing to shame or dishonor them. In World War 2 kamikaze suicide pilots look to the samurai and Bushido as inspiration. Today the two largest religions in Japan are Buddhism and Shintoism, and both influenced Bushido dramatically. Bushido had very deep roots in the philosophies of Buddhism, Confucianism and Shintoism. Some say Bushido was originally created from these ideas. Bushido has played a big part in Japan’s big companies. The workers believe that if an employee does well they are benefiting the whole company. They take each other to lunch and dinner and they are very close to each other. But if a worker does poorly it is considered very shameful. They would most likely quit because of the dishonor towards themselves, their work, and their family. These beliefs are directly connected to Bushido