Upon learning how to become a samurai, it’s always good to understand “which” samurai we’re talking about. By which, we mean, which era.  To stear clear of all the details of Japanese history, we’ll simply say that samurai existed about a 1000years (794~1868).

Naturally, a lot can happen over a millennium. Kimono becomes less elaborate and more functional, military tactics change and so does the weapons and armors, and with all the advancements, rules and mannerisms change as well. And much to most people’s surprise, what we learn today as the “proper” samurai’s way is from the last 300 years.

But first, let’s take a look at how we can categorize the different samurais. In terms of samurai performance, we ruffly divide it into 3 sections.

  1. Heiain~Kamakura(794~1333)
    • The “Classic” Samurai
    • Main weapon: Great Bow on horse back.
    • Popular theme: Yoshitune (源義経)
  2. Sengoku “Age of Warring States”(1467~1600)
    • Many popular war lords portrayed as heroes.
    • Very popular time period for movies, animes, and games.
    • Popular theme: Nobunaga Oda(織田信長), Shingen Takeda(武田信玄), Masamune Date（伊達政宗）and more.
  3. Edo(1603~1868)
    • Peace period that lasts until the end of samurai era. (No more wars)
    • Main weapon becomes the Katana
    • Popular theme: Musashi Miyamoto(宮本武蔵), Shinsen-gumi(新撰組)

And of the three sections, most stories are set in the later two. (Sengoku or Edo). This could be thought as the War period / Peace period (pre 1600, post 1600), and these can be easily identified by the following criteria:

  • War period
    •  Full armor, massive army collision, flags, spears, cavalry, guns, chaotic, mostly on the fields. (Think knights in shivering armor fighting on battle fields.)　Examples: Throne of Blood, Ran.
  • Peace period
    •  No armor, 1 vs 1 duel/ or 1 vs many ambush, often only swords, stillness then ultimate sword master skill, usually inside the city. (Similar to Three musketeers, Count of Monte Cristo) Examples: Yojinbo, Sleepy Eyes of Death, Samurai X

 

So the samurai as the sword master is found during the peace period, while the armor wearing war lord belongs in the war period. These samurais sit differently, bow differently, and use different weapons, so it’s a good idea to know which samurai you intend to portray.

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