Were the Samurai elite martial artists or a self-important militia of romanticised thugs?

Japanese history researcher Yasutsune Owada joins WIRED to answer the internet's burning questions about samurai. What caused ...

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, ...

The conflict resulted in the Taira rising to power to form the first samurai-led government in the history of Japan. In 1180, the Minamoto clan resumed hostilities with the Taira in what became ...

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 ...

Iconic Japanese armor, worn for defense. 16th-century helmets featured outlandish shapes like a giant crescent moon or the ...

The city of Kumamoto is steeped in the spirit of its samurai past, which many of its citizens point to as a major influence on their hometown to this day. In addition to its famed castle, the city ...

When we think of samurai, the image of a male warrior clad in impressive armor comes to mind. However, Japan’s history includes a group of remarkable women warriors known as onna-bugeisha (female ...

Afro Samurai's premise combines post-apocalyptic, historical, and traditional samurai themes and somehow comes up with a very ...

Using these visual sources, students learn about the three different periods of medieval Japan. Adding to the visual record of this time period, literature selections bring the voice of the samurai ...

a real-life historical samurai, Yasuke. However, the decision to include Yasuke, a samurai of African origin who entered Japan enslaved by the Portuguese and served under the Japanese daimyo Oda ...