Samurai

Samurai ( 侍). 1. The character in Japanese saburau, originally meaning “those who serve in close attendance to nobility”, became nearly synonymous with Bushi ( 武士 ) by the end of the twelfth century 2. They lived by the set rule of Bushido (The Way of the Warrior) and practiced Kendo – the way of the sword. 3. Bushido stressed frugality, loyalty, mastery of Martial Arts, and honor to death. If a samurai failed to uphold his honor, he could only regain it by performing seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) 4. The katana, a sword taught to be the samurai’s soul by the Bushido, is the weapon most closely associated with the samurai 5. The decline of the samurai was gradually brought about in 19th century, due to the westernization of the Meiji government which limited the rights of the samurai. The last samurai conflict was in 1877.

All Works Cited: "Samurai." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. .