famous samurai. The history of the samurai in Japan Types of Japanese warriors

MUGEN-RYU HEIHO

Katana sword owned by Tokugawa Ieyasu himself

In the samurai times in the Land of the Rising Sun there were many beautiful swords and many excellent masters who brilliantly mastered the art of swordsmanship. However, the most famous sword masters in the samurai tradition were Tsukahara Bokuden, Yagyu Mune-nori, Miyamoto Musashi and Yamaoka Tesshu.

Tsukahara Bokuden was born in Kashima, Hitachi Province. The first name of the future master was Takomoto. His own father was a samurai retainer of the daimyō of Kashima province and taught his son how to use the sword from early childhood. It seemed that Takamoto was a born warrior: while other children played, he practiced with his sword - first wooden, and then real, fighting. Soon he was sent to be raised in the house of the noble samurai Tsukahara Tosonoka-mi Yasumoto, who was a relative of the daimyo himself and brilliantly wielded a sword. He decided to transfer his art, along with his surname, to his adopted son. In him he found a grateful student who was determined to become a master on the "path of the sword."

The boy trained tirelessly and with inspiration, and his perseverance paid off. When Boku-den was twenty, he was already a master of the sword, although few people knew about it. and when a young man dared to challenge the famous warrior from Kyoto, Ochiai To-razaemon, many considered this a daring and rash trick. Ochiai decided to teach the impudent youth a lesson, however, to everyone's surprise, Bokuden defeated the eminent opponent in the very first seconds of the duel, but saved his life.

Ochiai was very upset by the shame of this defeat and decided to take revenge: he tracked down Bokuden and attacked him from an ambush. But the sudden and insidious attack did not take the young samurai by surprise. This time, Ochiai lost both his life and his reputation.

This duel brought Bokuden great fame. Many daimyo tried to get him as a bodyguard, but the young master rejected all these very flattering offers: he set out to further improve his art. For many years he led the life of a ronin, wandering around the country, learning from all the masters with whom fate confronted him, and fighting with experienced swordsmen. The times were then dashing: the wars of the Sengoku jidai era were in full swing, and Bokuden had to participate in many battles. He was entrusted with a special mission, both honorable and dangerous: he challenged enemy commanders (many of whom were first-class swordsmen themselves) to a duel and killed them in front of the entire army. Bokuden himself remained undefeated.

Pedinok on the roof of the temple

One of his most glorious duels was the duel with Kajiwara Nagato, who was reputed to be an unsurpassed master of the naginata. He also did not know defeat and was so skillful with weapons that he could cut a swallow on the fly. However, against Bokuden, his art was powerless: as soon as Nagato swung his halberd, Bokuden killed him with the first blow, which from the outside looked easy and simple. In fact, it was a virtuoso technique of hitotsu-tachi - a style of one blow, which Bokuden honed throughout his life.

The most curious "duel" of Bokuden was the incident that happened to him on Lake Biwa. Bokuden at that time was over fifty, he already looked at the world differently and did not want to kill people for the sake of meaningless glory. As luck would have it, in the boat, where Bokuden was among the other passengers, there was one frightening-looking ronin, stupid and aggressive. This ronin boasted of his swordsmanship, calling himself the best swordsman in Japan.

A boasting fool usually needs a listener, and the samurai chose Bokuden for this role. However, he did not pay any attention to him, and such disrespect infuriated the ronin. He challenged Bokuden to a duel, to which he calmly remarked that a true master seeks not to defeat, but, if possible, to avoid senseless bloodshed. Such an idea turned out to be indigestible for the samurai, and he, inflamed even more, demanded that Bokuden name his school. Bokuden replied that his school was called Mutekatsu-ryu, literally, "the school for achieving victory without the help of hands", that is, without a sword.

This angered the samurai even more. "What nonsense are you talking about!" he said to Bokuden, and ordered the boatman to dock at a tiny secluded island so that Bokuden could practically show him the advantages of his school. When the boat approached the island, the ronin was the first to jump ashore and draw his sword. Bokuden, on the other hand, took the pole from the boatman, pushed off from the shore and in one fell swoop took the boat away from the island. “This is how I achieve victory without a sword!” - said Bokuden and waved his hand to the fool left on the island.

Bokuden had three adopted sons, and he trained all of them in the art of the sword. Once he decided to give them a test and for this he placed a heavy block over the door. As soon as the door was opened, the log fell on the person entering. The eldest son was invited first by Bokuden. He sensed a catch and deftly picked up the block of wood that fell on him. When the block fell on the middle son, he managed to dodge in time and at the same time pull out the sword from the scabbard. When the turn came to the youngest son, he in the twinkling of an eye drew his sword and with a magnificent blow cut the falling log in half.

Bokuden was very pleased with the results of this "exam", because all three were on top, and the youngest also demonstrated excellent instant strike technique. However, Bokuden named his eldest son his main successor and the new head of his school, because in order to achieve victory he did not have to use the sword, and this most of all corresponded to the spirit of Bokuden's teachings.

Unfortunately, the Bokuden school did not outlive its founder. All his sons and best students died in battles against the troops of Oda Nobunaga, and there was no one left who could continue his style. Among the students was the shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru himself, who brilliantly wielded a sword and worthily gave his life in an unequal battle with the killers surrounding him. Bokuden himself died in 1571 at the age of eighty-one. All that remains of his school are many legends and a book of one hundred verses known as the Bokuden Hyakushu. In the verses of the old master, it was about the path of the samurai, which runs along a thin line, like a sword point, separating life from death...

The one-hit technique developed by Bokuden and the idea of ​​​​achieving victory without the help of a sword were brilliantly embodied in another school of ken-jutsu called Yagyu-Shinkage Ryu. The founder of the Shinka-ge school was the famous warrior Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, whose swordsmanship was appreciated by Takeda Shingen himself. His best student and successor was another famous swordsman, Yagyu Muneyoshi.

Miyamoto Musashi with two swords. From a painting by an unknown artist of the 17th century

Muneyoshi, who had achieved considerable skill even before meeting Nobutsuna, challenged him to a duel. However, Nobutsuna suggested that Muneyoshi fight first with bamboo swords with his student, Hikida Toyogoroo. Yagyu and Hikida met twice, and twice Hikida delivered swift blows to Yagyu, which he did not have time to parry. Then Nobutsuna himself decided to fight Yagyu Muneyoshi, who had suffered an obvious defeat, but when the opponents met their eyes, lightning seemed to strike between them, and Muneyoshi, falling at the feet of Nobutsuna, asked to be his student. Nobutsuna willingly accepted Muneyoshi and taught him for two years.

Muneyoshi soon became his best student, and Nobutsuna named him his successor, initiating all the secret techniques and all the secrets of his skill. Thus, the Yagyu family school merged with the Shinkage school, and a new direction arose, Yagyu-Shinkage Ryu, which became a classic in the art of ken-jutsu. The fame of this school spread throughout the country, and the rumor of the famous Yagyu Muneyoshi reached the ears of Tokutawa Ieyasu himself, who at that time was not yet a shogun, but was considered one of the most influential people in Japan. Ieyasu decided to test the already aged master, who said that a sword was not at all necessary to win a victory.

In 1594, Ieyasu invited Muneyoshi to his place to test his skills in practice. Among the bodyguards of Ieyasu there were many samurai who wielded a sword superbly. He ordered the best of them to try to cut down the unarmed Muneyoshi with a sword. But every time he managed to dodge the blade at the last moment, disarm the attacker and throw him to the ground so that the unfortunate crawled away on all fours or could not get up at all.

In the end, all the best bodyguards of Ieyasu were defeated, and then he decided to personally attack Muneyoshi. But when Ieyasu raised his sword to strike, the old master managed to duck under the blade and push its hilt with both hands. The sword, describing a sparkling arc in the air, fell to the ground. Having disarmed the future shogun, the master brought him to the throw. But he didn’t quit, only slightly “pressed”, and then politely supported Ieyasu, who had lost his balance. He acknowledged the complete victory of Muneyoshi and, admiring his skill, offered him the honorary position of personal fencing instructor. But the old master was about to leave for the monastery and offered instead of himself his son Munenori, who later also became a wonderful sword master.

Munenori was a fencing teacher both under the shogun Hidetada, son of Ieyasu, and under his grandson Iemitsu. Thanks to this, the Yagyu-Shinkage school soon became very famous throughout Japan. Munenori himself glorified himself in the battle of Sekigahara and during the assault on Osaka Castle - he was among the shogun's bodyguards and killed enemy soldiers who were trying to break through to Tokutawa's headquarters and destroy Ieyasu and his son Hideta-du. For his exploits, Munenori was elevated to the rank of daimyo, lived in honor and wealth, and left behind a lot of works on swordsmanship.

The Yagyu-Shinkage school paid special attention to the development of an intuitive sense of an approaching enemy, an unexpected attack, and other danger. The path to the heights of this art in the Yagyu-Shinkage tradition begins with comprehending the technique of the correct bow: as soon as the student lowered his head too low and stopped monitoring the surrounding space, he immediately received an unexpected blow to the head with a wooden sword. and so it went on until he learned to elude them without interrupting his bow.

In the old days, the art of the warrior was taught even more ruthlessly. In order to awaken in the student the qualities necessary for survival, the master fed him with slaps in the face 24 hours a day: he quietly sneaked up to him with a stick when he was sleeping or doing housework (usually the students in the master’s house did all the menial work), and beat him mercilessly. In the end, the student, at the cost of bumps and pain, began to anticipate the approach of his tormentor and think about how to avoid blows. From that moment on, a new stage of apprenticeship began: the master no longer took a stick in his hands, but a real samurai sword and taught already very dangerous fighting techniques, suggesting that the student had already developed the ability to think and act simultaneously and at lightning speed.

Some sword masters have perfected their art of zanshin to near-supernatural levels. An example of this is the samurai test scene in Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. The subjects were invited to enter the house, behind the door of which a guy was hiding with a club at the ready and unexpectedly hit the people on the head. One of them missed the blow, the others managed to dodge and disarm the attacker. But the samurai was recognized as the best, who refused to enter the house, because he sensed a catch.

Yagyu Munenori himself was considered one of the strongest zanshin masters. One fine spring day, he and his young squire admired the cherry blossoms in his garden. Suddenly, he began to feel that someone was preparing to stab him in the back. The master examined the entire garden, but found nothing suspicious. The squire, amazed at the strange behavior of the master, asked him what was the matter. He complained that he was probably getting old: he began to let down the feeling of zanshin - intuition speaks of danger, which in fact turns out to be imaginary. and then the guy admitted that, standing behind the back of the gentleman admiring the cherries, he thought that he could very easily kill him, inflicting an unexpected blow from behind, and then all his skills would not have helped Munenori. Munenori smiled at this and, pleased that his intuition was still on top, forgave the young man for his sinful thoughts.

Miyamoto Musashi fights against several opponents armed with spears

The shogun Tokutawa Iemi-tsu himself heard about this incident and decided to test Munenori. He invited him to his place supposedly for a conversation, and Munenori, as a samurai should, respectfully sat down at the feet of the ruler on a mat spread on the floor. Iemitsu spoke to him, and during the conversation, he suddenly attacked the master with a spear. But the movement of the shogun was not unexpected for the master - he managed to feel his "bad" intention much earlier than he carried it out, and therefore immediately made Iemitsu a cut, and the shogun was overturned, without having time to understand what had happened, and not swinging your weapon...

The fate of Yagyu Munenori's contemporary, the lonely warrior Miyamoto Musashi, who became the hero of samurai legends, turned out quite differently. He remained a restless ronin for most of his life, and in the battle of Sekigahara and in the battles at Osaka Castle he was on the side of the losing opponents of Tokutawa. He lived like a real ascetic, dressed in rags and despised many conventions. All his life he honed his fencing technique, but he saw the meaning of the “path of the sword” in comprehending the impeccability of the spirit, and this was what brought him brilliant victories over the most formidable opponents. Since Miyamoto Musashi shunned society and was a lone hero, little is known about his life. The real Miyamoto Musashi was eclipsed by his literary counterpart - the image derived in the popular adventure novel of the same name by the Japanese writer Yoshikawa Eji.

Miyamoto Musashi was born in 1584 in the village of Miyamoto, located in the town of Yoshino, Mima-saka province. His full name was Shinmen Musashi no kami Fujiwara no Genshin. Musashi was a master of the sword, as they say, from God. He took his first fencing lessons from his father, but honed his skills on his own - in exhausting training and dangerous duels with formidable opponents. Musashi's favorite style was nito-ryu - fencing with two swords at once, but he was no less deft with one sword and a jitte trident, and even used any means at hand instead of a real weapon. He won his first victory at the age of 13, challenging the famous sword master Arima Kibei, who belonged to the Shinto Ryu school, to a duel. Arima did not take this duel seriously, for he could not admit that a thirteen-year-old boy could become a dangerous opponent. Musashi entered the duel, armed with a long pole and a short wakizashi sword. When Arima tried to strike, Musashi deftly intercepted his hand, made a throw and hit with a pole. This blow was fatal.

At the age of sixteen, he challenged an even more formidable warrior, Tadashima Akiyama, to a duel and defeated him without much difficulty. In the same year, young Musashi participated in the Battle of Sekigahara under the banner of the Ashikaga clan, who opposed the Tokutawa troops. The Ashikaga detachments were utterly defeated, and most of the samurai laid down their violent heads on the battlefield; young Musashi was also seriously wounded and, most likely, should have died if he had not been pulled out of the thick of the battle by the famous monk Takuan Soho, who came out of the injured young man and had a great spiritual influence on him (as stated in the novel, although this, of course, artistic creation).

When Musashi was twenty-one years old, he went on a musya-shugo - military wanderings, looking for worthy opponents to hone his swordsmanship and take it to new heights. During these wanderings, Musashi wore dirty, torn clothes and looked very untidy; even in the bath he bathed very rarely, because one very unpleasant episode was connected with it. When Musashi nevertheless decided to wash himself and climbed into an o-furo, a traditional Japanese bath - a large barrel of hot water, he was attacked by one of his opponents, who tried to take advantage of the moment when the famous warrior was unarmed and relaxed. But Musashi managed to “get out of the water dry” and defeat the armed enemy with his bare hands, but after this incident he hated swimming. This incident, which happened in the bath with Musashi, served as the basis for the famous Zen koan, asking what a warrior should do in order to defeat the enemies surrounding him, who caught him standing naked in a barrel of water and deprived not only of clothes, but also of weapons.

Sometimes they try to explain Musashi's sloppy appearance with a kind of psychological trick: misled by his worn dress, rivals looked down on the tramp and were not ready for his lightning attacks. However, according to the testimony of the closest friends of the great warrior, from early childhood his entire body and head were completely covered with ugly scabs, so he was embarrassed to undress in public, could not wash in the bath and could not wear the traditional samurai hairstyle when half his head was shaved bald. Musashi's hair has always been disheveled and untidy, like a classic demon from Japanese fairy tales. Some authors believe that Musashi suffered from congenital syphilis, and this serious disease, which tormented the master all his life and eventually killed him, determined the character of Miyamoto Musashi: he felt different from all other people, was lonely and disfigured, and this disease , which made him proud and withdrawn, moved him to great achievements in the art of war.

For eight years of wandering, Musashi fought in sixty duels and emerged victorious from them, defeating all his opponents. In Kyoto, he had a series of brilliant duels with representatives of the Yoshioka clan, who served as fencing instructors for the Ashikaga family. Musashi defeated his older brother, Yoshioka Genzae-mon, and hacked his younger brother to death. Then he was challenged to a duel by the son of Genzaemon, Hanshichiro. In fact, the Yoshioka family intended, under the pretext of a duel, to lure Musashi into a trap, attack him with the whole crowd and kill him for sure. However, Musashi found out about this venture and himself ambushed behind a tree, near which the treacherous Yoshioka gathered. Suddenly jumping out from behind a tree, Musashi cut down Hanshichiro and many of his relatives on the spot, while the rest fled in fear.

Musashi also defeated such famous warriors as Muso Gonnosuke, the hitherto unsurpassed master of the pole, Shishido Baikan, who was reputed to be a master of kusari-kama, and the master of the spear monk Shuji, who was hitherto reputed to be invincible. However, the most famous duel of Miyamoto Musashi is considered to be his duel with Sasa-ki Ganryu, fencing teacher of the influential Prince Hosokawa Tadatoshi, the best swordsman in all of northern Kyushu. Musashi challenged Ganryu to a duel, the challenge was readily accepted and received the approval of the daimyo Hosokawa himself. The duel was scheduled for the early morning of April 14, 1612 on the small island of Funajima.

The first blow is the final blow!

At the appointed time, Ganryu arrived at the island with his men, he was dressed in a scarlet haori and hakama and girded with a magnificent sword. Musashi, on the other hand, was late for several hours - he frankly overslept - and all this time Ganryu nervously walked back and forth along the coast of the island, acutely experiencing such humiliation. Finally, the boat brought Musashi too. He looked sleepy, his clothes were wrinkled and tattered like a beggar's rags, his hair was matted and tousled; as a weapon for the duel, he chose a fragment of an old oar.

Such a frank mockery of the rules of good manners infuriated the exhausted and already angry opponent, and Ganryu began to lose his cool. He drew his sword with lightning speed and furiously aimed a blow at Musashi's head. At the same time, Musashi hit Ganryu on the head with his piece of wood, stepping back. The lace that tied his hair turned out to be cut by a sword. Ganryu himself fell to the ground, unconscious. Recovering his senses, Ganryu demanded the continuation of the duel, and this time, with a deft blow, he managed to cut through his opponent's clothes. However, Musashi defeated Ganryu on the spot, he fell to the ground and did not get up again; blood gushed from his mouth, and he immediately died.

After the duel with Sasaki Ganryu Musashi has changed a lot. Duels no longer appealed to him, but he became passionate about Zen painting in the Suiboku-ga style and gained fame as an excellent artist and calligrapher. In 1614-1615. he participated in the battles at Osaka Castle, where he showed miracles of courage and military skill. (It is not known, however, on whose side he fought.)

For most of his life, Musashi wandered around Japan with his adopted son, and only at the end of his life agreed to serve the daimyō Hosokawa Tadatoshi, the same one whom the late Ganryū had once served. However, Tadatoshi soon died, and Musashi left the Hosokawa house, becoming an ascetic. Before his death, he wrote the now famous "Book of Five Rings" ("Go-rin-no shu"), in which he reflected on the meaning of martial arts and the "way of the sword." He died in 1645, leaving a memory of himself as a sage and philosopher who went through fire, water and copper pipes.

Any tradition - including the tradition of martial arts - knows periods of prosperity and decline. History knows many examples when, due to various circumstances, traditions were interrupted - for example, when the master did not know to whom to transfer his art, or the society itself lost interest in this art. It so happened that in the first decades after the Meiji restoration, Japanese society, carried away by restructuring in a European way, lost interest in its own national tradition. Many beautiful groves, once glorified by poets, were ruthlessly cut down, and factory buildings smoky with chimneys arose in their place. Many Buddhist temples and ancient palaces were destroyed. The survival of the traditions of samurai martial arts was also threatened, for many believed that the era of the sword had irrevocably passed, and sword exercises were a completely pointless waste of time. Nevertheless, the samurai tradition, thanks to the asceticism of many masters, managed to survive and find a place for itself in the transformed Japan, and even splashed out beyond its borders.

One of these masters, who saved the noble art of the sword from extinction, was Yamaoka Tesshu, whose life fell on the period of the fall of the Tokutawa regime and the sunset of the "golden age" of the samurai. His merit lies in the fact that he managed to lay the bridge on which the samurai martial arts passed into a new era. Yamaoka Tesshu saw the salvation of the tradition in making it open to representatives of all classes who wish to dedicate their lives to the "path of the sword."

Master Yamaoka Tesshu was born in 1835 into a samurai family and, as usual, he received his first sword skills from his father. He honed his skills under the guidance of many masters, the first of which was the famous swordsman Chiba Shusaku, the head of the Hokushin Itto Ryu school. Then Tesshu, at the age of 20, was adopted into the Yamaoka samurai family, whose representatives from generation to generation were famous for the art of the spear (soojutsu). Having married the daughter of the head of this family, Tesshu took the surname Yamaoka and was initiated into the innermost secrets of the family school of swordsmanship.

Combining all the acquired knowledge and inspired by Zen ideas, Tesshu created his own style of swordsmanship, calling it Muto Ryu - literally, "style without a sword"; to his own hall for fencing exercises, he gave the poetic name “Syumpukan” (“Hall of the Spring Wind”), borrowed from the poems of the famous Zen master Bukko, who lived in the 13th century, the very one who helped Hojo Tokimune repel the Mongol invasion. By the way, the image of the wind - fast, knows no barriers and can instantly turn into an all-destroying hurricane - has become one of the most important mythologies that reveal the image of a sword master that has developed over the centuries.

In his twenties, Tesshu became famous for his brilliant victories over many skilled swordsmen. However, he had one opponent, from whom Tesshu was constantly defeated, - Asari Gimei, the head of the Nakanishi-ha Itto Ryu school. Tesshu eventually asked Asari to be his teacher; he himself trained with such perseverance and ruthlessness to himself that he received the nickname Demon. However, despite all his tenacity, Tesshu could not defeat Asari for seventeen years. At this time, the Tokutawa shogunate fell, and in 1868 Tesshu participated in the hostilities of the "Boshin War" on the side of the Bakufu.

Zen Buddhism helped Tesshu to rise to a new level of mastery. Tesshu had his mentor, the Zen master monk Tekisui of the Tenryu-ji temple. Tekisui saw the reason for Tesshu's defeats in the fact that he was inferior to Asari not so much in swordsmanship (he had it honed to the limit), but in spirit. Tekisui advised him to meditate on this koan: “When two sparkling swords meet, there is nowhere to hide; be coldly calm, like a lotus flower blooming in the midst of a raging flame and piercing the Heavens! Only at the age of 45 Tesshu managed to comprehend in meditation the secret, inexpressible in words, the meaning of this koan. When he again crossed swords with his teacher, Asari laughed, threw away his blade and, congratulating Tesshu, called him his successor and the new head of the school.

Tesshu became famous not only as a master of the sword, but also as an outstanding mentor, who left behind many students. Tesshu liked to say that he who comprehends this art of the sword comprehends the essence of all things, for he learns to see both life and death at the same time. The master taught his followers that the true purpose of sword art is not to destroy the enemy, but to forge one's own spirit - only such a goal is worth the time spent on achieving it.

This philosophy of Tesshu was reflected in the system of so-called seigan developed by him, which is still widely used in various Japanese traditional martial arts. Seigan in Zen Buddhism means a vow that a monk gives, in other words, a severe test in which strength of mind is manifested. According to the Tesshu method, the student had to train continuously for 1000 days, after which he was admitted to the first test: he had to fight 200 fights in one day with only one short break. If the student passed this test, then he could pass the second, more difficult one: in three days he had to participate in three hundred fights. The third, final test involved going through 1,400 fights in seven days. Such a test went beyond the usual understanding of swordsmanship: in order to withstand such a load, just mastering the technique of fencing was not enough. The student had to combine all his physical strength with the strength of the spirit and achieve a mighty intention to pass this test to the end. Those who passed such an exam could rightfully consider themselves a real samurai of the spirit, which was Yamaoka Tesshu himself.

Surnames and names of samurai

Samurai- This is the Japanese military-feudal estate. The word "samurai" comes from the ancient Japanese verb "samurau", which means "to serve a person of the highest class". That is, "samurai" means "servant man, servant." Samurai in Japan are also called "bushi", which means "warrior".

Samurai appeared in Japan in the 7th-8th centuries AD. Mostly men from wealthy peasant families, as well as representatives of the middle and lower aristocracy (petty nobles), became samurai. From warriors, samurai gradually became armed servants of their feudal lord, receiving housing and food from him. Some samurai received land plots with peasants, and themselves turned into feudal lords.

The beginning of the allocation of samurai as a special class usually dated to the period of rule in Japan by the feudal house of Minamoto (1192-1333). The protracted, bloody civil war that preceded this between the feudal houses of Taira and Minamoto created the prerequisites for the establishment of the shogunate - the rule of the samurai class with the supreme commander (shogun) at the head.

Bushido- the code of honor of the samurai, the set of precepts "Way of the Warrior" in medieval Japan. The code appeared in the period of the XI-XIV centuries and was formalized in the early years of the Tokugawa shogunate. If a samurai did not follow the rules of conduct, he was expelled from the ranks of the samurai in disgrace.

Education and training of a samurai were based on mythical tales of legendary heroes, indifference to death, fear, pain, filial piety and loyalty to one's feudal lord. The mentor took care of the formation of the character of the future samurai, helped to develop courage, courage, endurance, patience. Future samurai were raised fearless and courageous, developed in them qualities that were considered among the samurai as the main virtues, in which a warrior could neglect his life for the life of another. To develop patience and endurance, future samurai were forced to do unbearably hard work, spend nights without sleep, walk barefoot in winter, get up early, limit themselves to food, etc.

After the establishment of peace under the Tokugawa shogunate, a huge number of samurai who only knew how to fight turned out to be a burden for the country, many of them were poor. At that time, books appeared that developed the idea of ​​Bushido (samurai's code of honor), a large number of martial arts schools appeared, which for many samurai were the only means of subsistence.

The last time the samurai took up arms was in the Civil War of 1866-1869, during which the Tokugawa government was overthrown. In this war, the samurai fought on both sides.

In 1868, the Meiji Restoration took place, the reforms of which also affected the samurai. In 1871, Emperor Meiji, who decided to reform the state according to the Western model, issued a decree on the formation of the Japanese army by conscription, not only from the samurai class, but from all others. The last blow to the samurai was an 1876 law prohibiting the carrying of swords. Thus ended the era of the samurai.

Surnames and names of samurai

Abe Masahiro

Abe no Muneto

Azai Nagamasa

Aizawa Seishisai

Akamatsu Mitsusuke(senior)

Akamatsu Norimura

Akechi Mitsuhide

Amakusa Shiro

Aoki Shuzo

Asakura Yoshikage

Asakura Kagetake

Asakura Takakage

Ashikaga Yoshiakira

Ashikaga Yoshimasa

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

Ashikaga Yoshimochi

Ashikaga Yoshinori

Ashikaga Yoshitane

Ashikaga Yoshihide

Ashikaga Yoshihisa

Ashikaga Takauji

Watanabe Hiromoto

Goto Shojiro

Date Masamune

Yoshida Shoin

Ii Naosuke

Imagawa Yoshimoto

Ise Soun

Kawaii Tsugunosuke

Kawakami Gensai

Kato Kiyomasa

Kido Takayoshi

Kita Narikatsu

Kobayakawa Hideaki

Konishi Yukinaga

Kusunoki Masashige

Mamiya Rinzō

Matsudaira (Yuki) Hideyasu

Matsudaira Kiyoyasu

Matsudaira Sadanobu

Matsudaira Tadanao

Matsudaira Hirotada

Matsumae Yoshihiro

Matsumae Takahiro

Maeda Keiji

Maeda Toshiie

Maeda Toshinaga

Mizuno Tadakuni

Minamoto no Yoriie

Minamoto no Yorimasa

Minamoto no Yoritomo

Minamoto no Yoshimitsu

Minamoto no Yoshitomo

Minamoto no Yoshitsune

Minamoto no Sanetomo

Minamoto no Tametomo

Minamoto no Yukiie

Mogami Yoshiaki

Mori Arinori

Mori Motonari

Mori Okimoto

Mori Terumoto

Mori Hiromoto

Nabeshima Katsushige

Nabeshima Naoshige

Nagao Tamekage

Nakano Takeko

Nitta Yoshisada

Oda Katsunaga

Oda Nobukatsu

Oda Nobunaga

Oda Nobutada

Oda Nobutaka

Oda Hidekatsu

Oda to Hidenobu

Oki Takato
Okubo Toshimichi

Omura Masujiro

Omura Sumitada

Otani Yoshitsugu

Outi Yoshinaga

Outi Yoshioki

Outi Yoshitaka

Outi Yoshihiro

Outi Masahiro

Prince Moriyoshi

Sagara Sozo

Saigo Takamori

Saito Dosan

Saito Yoshitatsu

Saito Hajime

Sakamoto Ryoma

Sakanoue no Tamuramaro

Sanada Yukimura

Sassa Narimasa

Shibata Katsuie

Shimazu Yoshihiro

Shimazu Iehisa

So Yoshitoshi

Sogano Iruka

Sogano Umako

Sogano Emishi

Soejima Taneomi

Sue Harukata

Tairano Kiyomori

Tyrano Masakado

Takasugi Shinsaku

Takeda Nobushige

Takeda Nobutora

Takeda Nobuhiro

Takeda Shingen

Tanya Tateki

Tanuma Okitsugu

Chosokabe Moritika

Chosokabe Motochika

Toyotomi Hidetsugu

Tokugawa Yorinobu

Tokugawa Yorifusa

Tokugawa Yoshinao

Tokugawa Iemitsu

Tokugawa Iemochi

Tokugawa Ietsuna

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Nariaki

Tokugawa Nobuyoshi

Tokugawa Tadayoshi

Tokugawa Tadateru

Tokugawa Hidetada

Ukita Hideie

Uesugi Kagekatsu

Uesugi Kagetora

Uesugi Kenshin

Uesugi Norimasa

Fujiwara no Yorimichi

Fujiwara no Kamatari

Fujiwara no Sumitomo

Fukushima Masanori

Harada Sanosuke

Hasegawa Yoshimichi

Hatano Hideharu

Hayashi Razan

Hijikata Hisamoto

Hojo Ujimasa

Hojo Ujinao

Hojo Ujitsuna

Hojo Ujiyasu

Hojo Yasutoki

Hosokawa Yoriyuki

Hosokawa Katsumoto

Hosokawa Masamoto

Hosokawa Sumimoto

Hosokawa Tadaoki

Hosokawa Tadatoshi

Hosokawa Takakuni

Hosokawa Fujitaka

Hosokawa Harumoto

This is Shimpei

Yamana Mochitoyo

On our site we offer a huge selection of names ...

Our new book "The Energy of Surnames"

In our book "The Energy of the Name" you can read:

Automatic name selection

Name selection according to astrology, incarnation tasks, numerology, zodiac sign, types of people, psychology, energy

Name selection by astrology (examples of the weakness of this name selection technique)

Selection of a name according to the tasks of embodiment (goals of life, purpose)

Name selection by numerology (examples of the weakness of this name selection technique)

Name selection according to the zodiac sign

Name selection by type of people

Psychology name selection

Name selection by energy

What you need to know when choosing a name

What to do to choose the perfect name

If you like the name

Why you don't like the name and what to do if you don't like the name (three ways)

Two options for choosing a new successful name

Corrective name for the child

Corrective name for an adult

Adaptation to a new name

Our book "Name Energy"

Oleg and Valentina Svetovid

Looking at this page:

In our esoteric Club you can read:

Attention!

Sites and blogs have appeared on the Internet that are not our official sites, but use our name. Be careful. Fraudsters use our name, our email addresses for their mailing lists, information from our books and our websites. Using our name, they drag people into various magical forums and deceive (give advice and recommendations that can harm, or lure out money for magical rituals, making amulets and teaching magic).

On our sites, we do not provide links to magical forums or sites of magical healers. We do not participate in any forums. We do not give consultations by phone, we do not have time for this.

Note! We are not engaged in healing and magic, we do not make or sell talismans and amulets. We do not engage in magical and healing practices at all, we have not offered and do not offer such services.

The only direction of our work is correspondence consultations in writing, training through an esoteric club and writing books.

Sometimes people write to us that on some sites they saw information that we allegedly deceived someone - they took money for healing sessions or making amulets. We officially declare that this is slander, not true. In all our lives, we have never deceived anyone. On the pages of our site, in the materials of the club, we always write that you need to be an honest decent person. For us, an honest name is not an empty phrase.

People who write slander about us are guided by the basest motives - envy, greed, they have black souls. The time has come when slander pays well. Now many are ready to sell their homeland for three kopecks, and it is even easier to engage in slandering decent people. People who write slander do not understand that they are seriously worsening their karma, worsening their fate and the fate of their loved ones. It is pointless to talk with such people about conscience, about faith in God. They do not believe in God, because a believer will never make a deal with his conscience, he will never engage in deceit, slander, and fraud.

There are a lot of scammers, pseudo-magicians, charlatans, envious people, people without conscience and honor, hungry for money. The police and other regulatory agencies are not yet able to cope with the increasing influx of "Cheat for profit" insanity.

So please be careful!

Sincerely, Oleg and Valentina Svetovid

Our official websites are:

Who are the samurai? They represent the feudal class of Japan, which enjoyed great respect and reverence among all other estates. Samurai were feared and respected for their cruelty in battle and nobility in civilian life. The great names of the samurai of Japan are written in a story that will forever remember these legendary figures.

This is a kind of analogue of European knights, who swore to serve faithfully to their master and played one of the most important roles in the Japanese community. Their activities and way of life were rigidly bound by a code of honor, which was called "Bushido". The great samurai of Japan fought for the feudal lords or daimyo - the most powerful rulers of the country, who obeyed the powerful shogun.

The era of daimyo lasted from the 10th to the middle of the 19th century. During this time, the samurai managed to surround themselves with a kind of halo of nobility, they were feared and respected even outside the country of the Rising Sun. Mere mortals admired them, bowing before their cruelty, courage, cunning and resourcefulness. Many feats were attributed to samurai, but the truth was actually much more prosaic - the famous samurai of Japan were ordinary killers, but what was the nature of their crimes!

Top most famous samurai in Japan

One can talk endlessly about the great samurai. Their stories are shrouded in a halo of mystery and nobility, very often undeserved feats were attributed to them, but these personalities still remained the subject of worship and disinterested respect.

• Taira no Kiyomori (1118 - 1181)

He was a commander and warrior, thanks to whom the first samurai administrative system of government in the history of the Japanese state was created. Prior to the start of his activities, all samurai were simply hired warriors for aristocrats. After that, he took the Taira clan under his protection and quickly achieved success in political activities. In 1156, Kiyomori, along with Minamoto no Yoshimoto (the head of the Minamoto clan), managed to crush the rebellion and began to rule the two highest warrior clans in Kyoto. As a result, their union turned into bitter rivals, and in 1159 Kiyomori defeated Yoshimoto. Thus, Kiyomori became the head of the most powerful warrior clan in Kyoto.

Kiyomori was able to seriously move up the career ladder. In 1171, he gave his daughter in marriage to Emperor Takakura. A little later, their first child was born, which was often used as a lever of pressure on the emperor. However, the plans of the samurai failed to materialize, he died of a fever in 1181.

• Ii Naomasa (1561 - 1602)

He was a famous general or daimyo during the period when the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu was in power. It was one of the most devoted samurai known to the history of Japan. He advanced significantly through the ranks and received great recognition after 3,000 soldiers under his leadership won the Battle of Nagakute (1584). He fought with such vigor that even opponents admired his behavior on the battlefield. The greatest popularity brought him the battle of Sekigahara. During the battle, he was hit by a stray bullet, after which he could not fully recover. His detachment was called the "Red Devils" for the corresponding color of the armor that warriors wore during the battle to intimidate opponents.

• Date Masamune (1567 - 1636)

The list of "The most famous samurai" continues this legendary figure. The daimyo was ruthless and merciless, almost everyone said so about him. He was an outstanding warrior and an excellent strategist, and his personality became even more memorable due to the loss of one eye, for which Masamune received the nickname "One-Eyed Dragon". He was supposed to take the leading place in the clan after his father, but the loss of an eye caused a split in the family and the younger brother Date came to power. Already being a general, the samurai was able to gain a good reputation and was rightfully considered a leader. It was after this that he unleashed a campaign in order to defeat the neighboring clans. This created considerable excitement. As a result, the neighboring clan turned to the father with a request to curb his eldest son. Terumune was abducted, but he managed to warn his son about a similar outcome of events and asked him to kill all members of neighboring clans. Date Masamune followed his father's instructions.

Although this contradicts some ideas about samurai, but Date Masamune was a supporter of religion and culture. He even personally knew the Pope.

• Honda Tadakatsu (1548 - 1610)

He was a general and one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Ieyasu along with Ii Naomasa, Sakakibara Yasumasa, and Sakai Tadatsugu. Of the four, Honda Tadakatsu had a reputation for being the most dangerous and merciless. He was a true warrior, even in the depths of his soul. So, for example, Oda Nobunaga, who, by the way, was not very happy with his followers, considered Tadakatsu a real samurai among all other samurai. It was often said of him that Honda bypassed death itself, as he never received a serious injury, despite the fact that the number of his battles exceeded 100.

• Hattori Hanzo (1542 - 1596)

He was the most famous samurai and ninja of the Sengoku era. Thanks to him, Emperor Tokugawa Ieyasu survived, and a little later became the ruler of a united Japan. Hattori Hanzo showed brilliant military tactics, earning him the nickname Devil Hanzo. He won his first battle at a very young age - Hanzo was only 16 years old then. After that, he was able to free the Tokugawa daughters from the hostages at Kaminogo Castle in 1562. 1582 was a decisive year for him in his career and in winning a leading position - he helped the future Shogun to escape from his pursuers to the province of Mikawa. In this operation, he was helped by local ninjas.

Hattori Hanzo was an excellent swordsman and in his last years, according to historical sources, he was hiding under the guise of a monk. Many often attributed supernatural abilities to this samurai. It was said that he could instantly hide and appear in the most unexpected places.

• Benkei (1155 - 1189)

He was a warrior monk who was in the service of the Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Benkei is perhaps the most popular character in Japanese folklore. The stories about his origins are many-sided: some claim that he was born to a raped woman, while others are inclined to believe that Benkei was a descendant of a god. Rumor has it that this samurai killed at least 200 people in each of his battles. An interesting fact - at the age of 17, he was more than 2 meters tall. He learned the art of naginata (a long weapon that is a mixture of a spear and an ax) and left a Buddhist monastery to join a sect of mountain monks.

According to legend, he went to the Gojo Bridge in Kyoto, and was able to disarm every passing swordsman. Thus, he was able to collect 999 swords. During the 1000th battle with Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Benkei was defeated and forced to become his vassal. A few years later, while under siege, Yoshitsune committed ritual suicide while Benkei fought for his master. Rumor has it that the rest of the soldiers were afraid to oppose this giant. In that battle, the samurai laid down about 300 soldiers, who saw with their own eyes how the giant pierced by arrows was still standing. So everyone was able to learn about the "standing death of Benkei."

• Uesugi Kenshin (1530 - 1578)

He was one of the most powerful commanders of the Sengoku era in Japan. He believed in the Buddhist god of war, and his followers were convinced that Uesugi Kenshin was the incarnation of Bishamonten. He was the youngest ruler of Echigo Province - at the age of 14, he took the place of his older brother.

He agreed to go against the greatest commander Takeda Shingen. In 1561, the largest battle between Shingen and Kenshin took place. The results of the battle were mixed, as both sides lost about 3,000 men in this battle. They were rivals for more than 14 years, but even this fact did not prevent them from exchanging gifts. And when Shingen died in 1573, Kenshin could not accept the loss of such a worthy rival.

Data on the death of Uesugi Kenshin is ambiguous. Someone says that he died from the consequences of heavy drinking, someone is inclined to the version that he was seriously ill.

• Takeda Shingen (1521 - 1573)

This is perhaps the most famous samurai in the history of Japan. He is known, by and large, for his unique military tactics. Often referred to as the "Kai Tiger" for its distinctive characteristics on the battlefield. At the age of 20, he took the Takeda clan under his guardianship, then united with the Imagawa clan - as a result, the young commander received power over all nearby territories.

This was the only samurai who possessed sufficient strength and skill to defeat the powerful Oda Nobunaga, who aspired to power over all of Japan. Singen died while preparing for the next battle. Some say that a soldier wounded him, while others are inclined to believe that the samurai died of a serious illness.

• Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543 - 1616)

He is the first shogun and founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. His family practically ruled the Land of the Rising Sun from 1600 until the beginning of the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu received power in 1600, became shogun three years later, and two years later he abdicated, but remained in power the rest of the time until his death. It was one of the most famous generals in the history of Japan.

This samurai outlived many famous rulers in his lifetime: Oda Nobunaga laid the foundation for the shogunate, Toyotomi Hideyoshi seized power, Shingen and Kenshin, two of the strongest rivals, were dead. The Tokugawa Shogunate, thanks to the cunning mind and tactical thinking of Ieyasu, will rule Japan for another 250 years.

• Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536 - 1598)

It is also the most famous samurai of its kind. He was a general and great politician of the Sengoku era, as well as the second unifier of Japan and the man who ended the Warring States period. Hideyoshi has made efforts to create some cultural legacies. So, for example, he introduced a restriction from which it followed that only members of the samurai class could carry weapons. In addition, he financed the construction and restoration of many temples, and also played a significant role in the history of Christianity in Japan.

Hideyoshi, despite his peasant background, was able to become the great general of Nobunaga. He failed to obtain the title of shogun, but made himself regent and built a palace. As his health began to fail, Hideyoshi began to conquer the Ming Dynasty with the help of Korea. The class reforms that the samurai carried out significantly changed the Japanese social system.

Japan is a country of brave samurai and brave shoguns. The whole world knows about the valor and courage of Japanese warriors. Samurai is an integral part of Japanese culture, its distinctive symbol. The loyalty and discipline of the samurai could be the envy of any warrior.

Who are they, servants of their state, desperate warriors or masters of their land?

Samurai means "warrior" in Japanese. This word also has several other meanings - “serve”, “support”, “servant”, “vassal” and “subordinate”. That is, a samurai is a warrior who serves his state and fiercely defends it.

From ancient Japanese chronicles it is known that the samurai was a nobleman (nothing to do with European nobles). They were not only engaged in military operations. In peacetime, samurai served the highest princes and were their bodyguards.

History of the Samurai

The first samurai appeared in Japan at the beginning of the 12th century. At that time, the state was ruled by the brave shogun Minamoto. These were quite peaceful times, so the number of samurai was relatively small. Warriors took an active part in peaceful life - they grew rice, raised children, and taught martial arts.

During the reign of the great Japanese clan of Tokugawa shoguns, the number of samurai almost tripled. They probably served their shogun, owned a lot of land. Under Tokugawa, these warriors were considered the most prosperous people.

During the time of the Tokugawa, a large set of samurai laws was issued. The main one was considered the law "Bushido". It said that a warrior must unconditionally obey his master and boldly look death in the face. In addition, the samurai was endowed with the right to kill with impunity an ordinary peasant who was unacceptably rude to the soldiers. In times of peace, the samurai, it is true, served their shogun, and sometimes took part in the suppression of peasant revolts.

There were also such samurai who eventually moved into the class of ronin. Ronin are former warriors who got rid of vassalage. Such samurai lived like ordinary people: they conducted trade, craft and agricultural activities.

Many samurai became shinobi. Shinobi are assassins for hire, a kind of ninja.

In the middle of the 18th century, the disintegration of the samurai class began. During this period, the Japanese bourgeoisie began to actively progress. Trade, craft and manufactory flourished. Many samurai were forced to borrow money from moneylenders. The situation of the samurai became unbearable. Their role for the country has become incomprehensible even to themselves. Some tried to adapt to peaceful life, many hit the religion. Others became traders, artisans and farmers. And the samurai - the rebels - were simply killed, finally undermining their will and spirit.

The upbringing and development of the samurai

The upbringing of a samurai is a complex, multi-level process. The formation of a warrior began at an early age. From childhood, the sons of the samurai knew that they were the successors of their kind and reliable keepers of family customs and traditions.

Every evening, before going to bed, the child was told about the history and courage of the samurai, about their exploits. The stories gave examples when the legendary samurai boldly looked death in the face. Thus, courage and valor were instilled in the child from childhood.

An important aspect of samurai education was the Bushido technique. She introduced the concept of seniority, the main thing in the family. From an early age, boys were taught that a man is the head of the family, and only he can determine the direction of his child's activities. Another Japanese technique, Iemoto, taught boys discipline and behavior. The technique was purely theoretical.

In addition, boys from childhood were accustomed to severe trials. They taught various martial arts, tolerance for pain, control of one's own body, the ability to obey. They developed willpower, the ability to overcome even the most severe life situations. There were times when boys were given endurance tests. To do this, they were raised at dawn and sent to a cold, unheated room. There they were closed and not fed for a long time. Some fathers forced their sons to go to the cemetery at night. So they instilled in the boys the courage of a valiant warrior. Others took their sons to executions, forced them to do backbreaking work, to walk without shoes in the snow, to spend several nights without sleep.

At the age of 5, the boy was given a bokken. Bokken is a samurai sword. Since then, began learning the art of fencing. In addition, the future warrior had to be able to swim perfectly, stay in the saddle perfectly, be literate in writing, literature and history. The boys were taught self-defense lessons - jiu-jitsu. In addition, they were taught music, philosophy and crafts.

At the age of 15, the boy turned into a valiant samurai.

Who are the samurai? Samurai is a military-feudal class of petty nobles and princes (daimyo) in feudal Japan. Often, samurai are compared with the knights of medieval Europe, but this analogy is largely incorrect.

The name "samurai" comes from the word saberu, which translates as "serve"; in other words, a samurai is a service warrior. Samurai were not only knight soldiers. They were also the bodyguards of their master, and at the same time served him in everyday life.

Samurai with weapons, photo 1860

Education, training, training of samurai

The title of samurai in feudal Japan was inherited. In the samurai family, the upbringing of future samurai took place in accordance with the samurai code of honor - bushido - from an early age. At an early age, the son of a samurai was given one or two (depending on the position of his father) small wooden swords. This taught the boy to respect his sword - a symbol of belonging to the warrior class. Confucianism was given great importance. According to one of its provisions, children were obliged to honor and respect their parents, not to argue with them, even if the parents are wrong or treat the children badly, not to upset them.

The task of educating the son's duty (oyakoko) in children was not only to develop respect for parents, but also to create devotion to the emperor, who was considered the father of a warrior. The duty of the son was the basis of the loyalty of the vassal to the master. No less than his father, they revered the mentor of the future samurai. The authority of the teacher was extremely great, his instructions were carried out without wrangling. A well-known proverb says: "The parent is the one who gave me life, the teacher is the one who made me a man."

The upbringing in the family and the training of a mentor were the two main circumstances on which the cultivation of young samurai was based, they created the model of an ideal warrior, compiled on the basis of myths, Buddhist disregard for death, reverence for parents and devotion to their overlord. The family and the teacher mainly sought to strengthen the character of the young man, the development of courage and fearlessness, stamina and endurance.

They tried to raise young samurai courageous and brave, in other words, to bring up character traits that were considered the main qualities in the samurai class that taught a warrior to give his life for the life of his master. This way of thinking was established by reading novels and stories about the fearlessness and military prowess of famous heroes, famous commanders and samurai, watching theatrical plays. Often, the father ordered the future samurai to develop courage at night to a cemetery or to a land that was notorious (where, according to legend, ghosts, demons, etc. lived). The boys were taken to public punishments and executions, in addition, a review of the severed heads of intruders was arranged at night, while the future samurai was obliged to put his personal sign to confirm that he really was here.

In order to develop stamina and perseverance in boys, they were forced to do very hard work, not to sleep at night (during the celebrations of the gods of teaching), to walk without shoes in winter, to get up at dawn, etc. A hunger strike was also considered beneficial.

Boys and girls were taught the ability to control their actions, not to allow emotional exclamations, groans and tears. “Why are you crying over such a trifle, coward?” the mother asked her crying son. “And if your arm is cut off in battle or you will be forced to commit hara-kiri?” From the earliest years, samurai children were brought up with a sense of honor and responsibility, honesty and discipline.

This upbringing developed fearlessness, composure and emotional stamina, thanks to which the samurai did not lose their clarity of thought even in the most difficult situations.

Future samurai were required to constantly train, improve the art of weapons, have great strength and dexterity. Young samurai were required to have excellent command of the techniques of fighting with swords and spears, archery, they had to know jujutsu, be able to sit well in the saddle, and understand the tactics of warfare.

In any family, at the court of each samurai, wonderful rooms were equipped for learning how to use a sword, places for practicing archery and physical exercises. Education, as a rule, began at the age of 8 and ended at 16.

In addition to teaching the art of war, there was also the development of literature, history, writing, etc. However, the samurai studied these subjects only if they could be useful in military affairs. Special schools, which for decency were located on the estate of the feudal lord, in which the classical literature of China, artistic creation, etc. were studied, were despised by the samurai. In such educational institutions, mostly sickly and weak children, unable to learn the art of war, with physical disabilities, or people who voluntarily renounced violence studied. Laughing and looking down on such students, the samurai said: "Science is the miserable lot of the gentle effeminate courtiers of Kyoto, whose weakness and sickness does not allow them to use their muscles and does not give them the opportunity to study the sublime art of combat."

However, it was in such schools that most of the Japanese philosophers, famous poets, writers and popular artists of the period of feudal Japan studied.

At the age of 15, the preparation of the future samurai was supposed to be completed. He was given real swords for combat (a set of daisho - katana and wakizashi), with which he was obliged not to part until the end of his life; the girl received a short kaiken dagger - a sign of a woman's belonging to the samurai class. The young samurai moved to another age group - he became an adult.

During the celebration of puberty (genbuku), the young man, according to an old tradition, was given a samurai hairstyle - sakayaki: they shaved the hair near the forehead and braided the hair knot at the crown (motodori).

Motodori

The young man was put on a high headdress - eboshi, which was needed to wear motodori. The person who, in the process of celebration, fixed an eboshi on the head of a young samurai, was called "ushiromi", (guardian), or eboshi-oy ("father by eboshi"). In Japan, the ceremony of entry into adulthood has been held among both the nobility and commoners since ancient times. Next, the samurai put on the clothes of an adult for the first time; it was a wide trousers (hakama), similar to a skirt and was the hallmark of a samurai. Their first festive dressing was a family celebration and correlated with a trip to the temple of the patron god of the family.

During the ceremony, the samurai received an adult name, formed a ceremonial cohabitation with his bride (hoda-awase), and passed the test of the samurai's strength.

As a rule, an influential and famous feudal lord was invited to become the guardian of the past genbuku, for the samurai it was very important and at that time the mutual responsibility of the master and bushi was affirmed.

Taking up the sword and passing the initiation ceremony, the young man received freedom and independence, filled with a sense of dignity and responsibility. He became a real samurai.

Video about samurai

The video provides interesting facts about the most famous class of feudal Japan - the samurai.

Other interesting articles