The warriors that we today call Samurai mostly reflect the Japanese warriors of late medieval period in Japanese history. This period known as the Warring States period and was the product of several factors within centralized military authorities starting in the middle and the end of the Heian era. During the Heian era, power was concentrated within the Imperial Court and military was relatively on the back-burner at the beginning of the period. However, the influence and threat of Tang China led Japan to develop its Ritsuryo military which was governed by the central imperial government through a series of bureaucratic bodies. This system provided for conscription of soldiers similar to the United States draft system where men that qualified could be called upon to serve in the military. This was problematic for the Heian court for two reasons. First, the conscription system was based off of the taxation system leading to complications of enlistment due to miscalculations within the taxation system. Second, only men of wealth could be enlisted as cavalry because it was required that they be skilled archers, and poor peasants could not afford to learn this skill due to a lack of time and resources.

Eventually this military body fell into corruption as the threats from China did not come to a head and provincial officials used their soldiers for non-state affairs. To combat this corruption the Imperial Court took steps to reduce the size of the military and eventually eliminated the conscription system of peasants completely deciding that the conscription of well to do cavalrymen in a private military was more beneficial. This can be interpreted as the beginning of the warrior class. This privatization of military during the latter part of the Heian period led soldiers to become more like mercenaries or sell swords than a central military authority. Many warriors developed strong reputations and began to form groups of sell swords available for military service in exchange for benefits such as positions within the government or rights to administer land within Japan. Because of this privatization of military, it was a relatively fragile system that became decentralized and fostered conflict within the court and amongst bands of warriors.

As the Heian period progressed, warriors gained more and more power eventually establishing themselves a dominant position within the Heian court. With this rise of power, conflict festered leading to armed conflict amongst political groups. Civil war ensued with the victor Minamoto Yoritomo establishing the Kamakura Shogunate which after Yoritomo’s death, was solidified by his widow Masako. This was the first centralized military authority in Japan. The Kamakura Shogunate lasted through the first third of the 14^th century. The first central military government reshaped Japan, establishing warriors as a staple of Japanese history which would last through the end of the pre-modern period.

Civil war continued throughout the reigns of centralized military governments (shogunates) until the assassination of Ashikaga Yoshinori. After Yoshinori’s death, military governors throughout Japan scrambled to obtain sources of power with little regard for the central authority culminating in the Onin War, a conflict amongst regional military governors for the position of deputy shogun. This conflict symbolized the fall of centralized power and the beginning of the sengoku period, otherwise known as the warring states period. The warring states period was dominated by warlords who derived their power from local, community-based sources as opposed to previous recognition from the shogunate. These warlords operated as somewhat miniature shogunates, administrating their region by defining law and conduct within their domain.

The sengoku period not only saw significant shifts in power but also among warrior conduct. In the early years of shogunate rule warriors often fought one on one, announcing themselves, their lineages and accomplishments as well as seeking worthy opponents. During the sengoku period this was forbidden by many warlords (who would be known as Daimyo) to promote warfare fought as a group, not one on one but many on many. This version of samurai, we would argue is most prominent in western views of Japanese warriors. Additionally, the sengoku period saw the introduction of firearms from Europeans. The use of firearms likely had a significant impact on armed conflict as no one wants to bring a sword to a gunfight, although traditional weapons such as swords and bows were still used in a majority of conflicts.

Although conflict amongst regions was so prominent in the sengoku period, centralization was reformed rather quickly by a number of factors and key actors. These actors include Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Each of these actors played a key role in the centralization of power at the end of the sengoku period in their own ways. Nobunaga was the first of the three to attempt to centralize power. He established strong ties to the Imperial house, solidifying his political legitimacy as well as campaigning against Daimyo who opposed him. His military supremacy and political support from within existing structure led him to control nearly a third of Japan by his death in 1582. His successor Hideyoshi, followed in his footsteps dominating through military might and political legitimacy but by comparison was much more involved in politics enacting many laws, the most important of which separated the peasant class and warrior class, making it illegal for warriors to take up the life of a farmer and making it illegal for peasants to possess weapons. Following Hideyoshi’s death conflict among Daimyo arose to decide who would succeed Hideyoshi. The victor Tokugawa Ieyasu further unified the country and established the Tokugawa Shogunate who would possess power in Japan till the end of the premodern period which succeeded the sengoku period.

The transitions in warfare leading into the sengoku period are of great significance, however, to understand the work of Miyamoto Musashi, Hideyoshi’s separation of the warrior and peasant classes is likely of the greatest significance as this separation and the end of the sengoku period forced warriors to take up other occupations instead of just the ways of the warrior as armed conflict amongst individuals began to decline. Additionally, this period during which power was held by the Tokugawa Shogunate was a relative time of peace and many of the arts were developed further during this period. One of the most important parts of the arts was the stories that reflected the idealized version of samurai, likely looking back to the medieval period in Japan. It is possible that these stories led samurai to further identify with their social class as well as developing the version of samurai that we see today in western culture.

Nolan Harris & Detlef Nelson