The samurai were the hereditary military nobility and retainer class of premodern Japan, formalized as a distinct legal and social status during the Edo period (1603-1868) under the Tokugawa shogunate's rigid four-class social order (samurai, farmers, artisans and merchants), governed by an evolving code of conduct later idealized and systematized as bushido. Samurai status was hereditary and stipended, tied to service to a feudal lord (daimyo), and carried legal privileges including, for much of the period, the right to carry two swords and to execute summary justice against commoners for perceived insult, a documented and legally sanctioned practice (kiri-sute gomen) that was itself constrained by convention and risk of consequence to the samurai involved. The samurai class was formally abolished following the 1868 Meiji Restoration's dismantling of the feudal order, though samurai-descended families and bushido-derived cultural values continued to exert a well-documented influence on modern Japanese social and military culture into the twentieth century. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Group TypeSourced to the subject's own accountHistorical warrior class 1 Typical RegionSourced to the subject's own accountJapan (historical, from roughly the twelfth to the mid-nineteenth century) 1 Primary LanguageSourced to the subject's own account Subsistence ModeSourced to the subject's own accountA hereditary stipended retainer class supported by rice-tax income assigned by a feudal lord (daimyo), rather than direct agricultural labor, in exchange for military and administrative service. 1 Disputed
Population Estimateestimated at roughly 5 to 10 percent of Japan's population by the Edo period (early nineteenth century) 1 Sourced to the subject's own accountPrecise figures depend on which historical period is measured and how broadly the samurai status category (which included lower-ranking retainers as well as elite warriors) is defined. Connections
Associated With
The samurai occupied the top rank of the four-tier mibunsei status hierarchy formalized under Tokugawa Japan, above peasants, artisans and merchants.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Samurai
WikipediaIntroductionQuote, Introduction
The samurai were members of the professional warrior class in pre-industrial Japan, who served as retainers to the lords.
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