japanese samurai histoty

The Origins of Japanese Samurai


The Japanese samurai warriors came into existence in the 12th century when two powerful Japanese clans fought bitter wars against each other - the Taira and the Minamato. At that time the Japanese shogunate, a system of a military ruler, called the shogun was formed. Under the shogun the next hierarchy were the daimyo, local rulers comparable to dukes in Europe. The Japanese samurai were the military retainers of a daimyo. And finally you may have heard of ronin. Ronin are samurai without a master. This is what happened to the 47 Ronin in the famous story of Chushingura after their lord was forced to commit suicide.

According to historians the fierce fights between hostile clans and war lords was mainly a battle for land. Only 20 percent of Japan's rugged and mountainous area can be used for agriculture.


Decline and End of the Samurai History


During the Tokugawa shogunate from 1603 to 1867 (the Edo period) the country lived in peace. The samurai warrior class had basically nothing to do. Now they took other tasks, in the bureaucracy for instance.

In 1867 the last shogun resigned and the emperor was reinstalled as the formal leader of Japan. In 1871 the old feudal system and the privileges of the Japanese samurai class were officially abolished. The daimyo had to return the land to the emperor for which they received pensions by the Japanese state.

Historians estimate the percentage that belonged to the samurai class at 8 percent of the overall population of Japan. The abolishment of the samurai class caused severe social problems. Many samurai did not know how to make a living and survive. There were cases of samurai wives who sold themselves to brothels to support the family.



Samurai in Modern Japan

Although samurai do not have any official status in today's modern Japan, descendants of samurai families still enjoy a high esteem among the Japanese population.

harakiri history

Many people who hardly know anything Japanese, use the word Hara-kiri, freely, meaning 'Suicide'. In Japanese, the word hara means belly or 'viscera', and kiri means cut or split.

This form of suicide was regarded as an act of great honor, and was actually performed willingly by slitting the stomach of oneself. There is another version of 'hara-kiri' - which is an act of submission to be beheaded on the order of a superior. It is known as "seppuku". In this case, the man sits before an admiring circle of friends and colleagues, early morning, facing the rising sun. He is asked to write down a small farewell poem and then accept the inevitable - yet the most honorable end by a sword, wielded by one of his best friends. The Samurais of yore welcomed such a command from their overlords, as an act of sincere penance for a shameful conduct.
Once a Samurai, always a samurai

Though this practice is long extinct in Japan, shame still dwells in the sub-conscious as a silent, unspoken, below-the-threshold psychological trait that influences even the most modern Japanese. Shame can easily silence one or act as a sublimating mechanism in Japanese behavior. The Japanese suffer from the worst fear of committing a shameful act or being ashamed of dishonesty, disrespect or dis-harmony with socially accepted norms. Many of the suicide cases are traced to the Japanese apprehension of acute shame. However, both 'hara-kiri' and 'seppuku' are no longer practiced in today's Japan.

Coming back to the hara, to the Japanese it connotes far more - backbone, heart, mind, guts. And it is the source of breath and hence spirit, similar to the Greek concept of psyche. From the hara rises the breath for chanting sutras. The thoughts that emanate from the hara help to make one's communication agreeable and indulgent. It is called hara-gei - a word that describes the form of trust and intimacy, for instance, between the manager and his worker. One must be capable of reaching another's heart through his 'hara' -somewhat like the expression: "the route to the heart is through the stomach".

There are several connotations related to hara - such as a man of ill will has a black hara and a generous man has a thick hara, and so on. Semantics apart, the Japanese literally protect the hara with a cloth band which is called hara-maki. Women in their fifth month of pregnancy ritualistically wrap themselves in a hara-obi, which they continue until delivery. I have noticed the Japanese advising Indian women not to reveal the midriff and to keep the belly always well wrapped for good health.

In the meditative posture called Zazen, the breath should rise unimpeded from the hara, -comparable to the Indian kundalini- according to Zen practices. The Japanese claim to be able to communicate with others - silently - through the hara, during games, negotiations or meetings. Many Japanese game parlours or meetings are unbelievably quiet, because it's only in silence you can wake up the hara and respond to it.