The last of the Samurai's

Samurai were members of the Japanese warrior caste that rose to power in the 12th century and dominated until the Meiji restoration 1868. With their military skills and bravery, developed a distinct culture that earned respect from the people. But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and that's exactly what happened... When the US came to trade Japan became split on whether it should or not. The Samurai's backed the Emperor who decided not to ( they had always backed the Shogun) and this led to a civil war. In 1876 they lost all their power, status, including their swords and many fell into poverty.

At the core of their beliefs was Bushido, a very complex worldview, which incorporated many philosophical traditions at the time but comprised of Shintoism, Confucianism and Zen Buddhism. This is what made them distinct from other warrior classes in history. The Samurai are very well renowned for their efficiency in battle which was probably thanks to their well-crafted katana swords. It was characterised by a curved single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and a long grip to accommodate two hands. The average total length was about 100 cm. Traditionally the length was measured in Shaku so katana length was just over 2 shaku.

" It is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war " Proverb

And that is the principle they lived by, not only did they train males to be elite warriors many women of the samurai class were taught how to handle a sword to be able to defend themselves and their homes in the event they were invaded by enemy warriors and certain Japanese women learned martial arts and rode out to war beside the men, such as the legendary Tomoe Gozen the most famous female samurai ,who lived around the mid 12th century to the mid 13th century.