History of the Samurai
- By Rima Chaddha
- Posted 10.09.07
- NOVA
For more than 800 years, the samurai helped to lay the foundations of Japan's culture. Their reverence for honor, duty, and service remains ingrained in Japanese society even today. Together with their renowned martial capabilities, these characteristics made the samurai what historian Stephen Turnbull calls "the knights of old Japan." In this interactive time line, familiarize yourself with the samurai and their challenges, and learn how the warrior class evolved.
Launch Interactive
Printable Version
In this time line, follow the millennium-long story of these legendary Japanese warriors.
This feature originally appeared on the site for the NOVA program Secrets of the Samurai Sword.
Credits
Images
- (samurai in battle gear)
- Courtesy Bennett, Terry. Early Japanese Images. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1996, 75, 139, pl. 35/wikipedia.org
- (Taira no Shigemori)
- Courtesy wikipedia.org
- (samurai battles beast)
- Courtesy Kuniyoshi, Utagawa/wikipedia.org
- (kamikaze)
- Courtesy Takehara Shunsen/wikipedia.org
- (Masashige's statue)
- © Anthony Collins/istockphoto.com
- (battle during Sengoku period)
- Courtesy wikipedia.org
- (Toyotomi Hideyoshi)
- Courtesy wikipedia.org
- (photo of samurai)
- Silver print by Felice Beato, 1860s/Courtesy wikipedia.org
- (WWII soldiers)
- Courtesy U.S. National Park Service
Related Links
-
Secrets of the Samurai Sword
Examine the thousand-year-old art and science behind the making of a Japanese warrior's signature weapon.
-
Way of the Samurai Warrior
Capture the essence of the Japanese samurai code of honor, from choosing life over death to stifling a yawn.
-
Outfitting for Inca Battles
Inca and conquistador soldiers had very different gear—and that made all the difference.
-
Rise of the Inca
How did the Inca Empire become as vast as the Roman in just over a century?
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