Seppuku (ritual suicide)

Ritual suicide was used by Samurai to keep themselves from falling into their enemies hands. They could also be order by their daiymo (lords) to commit seppuku. Many warriors also did it to regain honor. The most common form of seppuku for men was composed of the cutting of the abdomen, and when the samurai was finished, he stretched out his neck for someone else to decapitate him. Samurai could generally only commit suicide with permission.

Katana

The first samurai swords we're straight bladed, single edged weapons known as chokuto, which were replaced with the curved blade type at the end of the 8th Century. The name of the curved blade swords which replaced them was Tachi. The reason for this transformation was samurai found that a curved sword could be drawn from the scabbard more swiftly and provided a far more effective cutting angle.

The point of a samurai sword is called a Kissaki. It is the hardest part of the sword. The value of a sword is determined largely by the quality of the point.

Samurai would use wooden swords (Bokken) for practice for safety reasons as well as for preserving their real swords from unnecessary damage.

Marriage

A marriage of samurai was done by having a marriage arranged by someone with same or higher rank than those marrying. Most upper ranked samurai had trouble meeting a female, people of lower rank usually got married. Most samurai married women from a samurai family but for a lower ranked samurai, a marriage with commoner were permitted. In these marriages, a dowry was brought by women and this was used to start their new lives.

A samurai can have a mistress but she was strictly checked by higher ranked samurai on her background. In many cases, it was treated like a marriage and a kidnapping, common in many fictions, would have been a shame if not a crime. When she was a commoner, a messenger would be sent, with a betrothal money or a note for exemption of tax, and ask for her acceptance to her parents. Many parents accepted, if she gave birth to a kid the boy could be a samurai.

This would be an example of mounted samurai!

Samuri

The samurai were the elite military class within the Japanese army.

They used many weapons such as bows and arrows, spears and guns; but their most famous weapon and their symbol was the samurai's sword.

Samurai lead their lives according to the ethic code of Bushido or the "way of the warrior". They were very Confucian in nature, Bushido had ideas such as loyalty to one's master, self discipline and respectful, ethical behavior.

After being defeated, some samurai chose to commit suicide or seppuku by cutting their abdomen rather than being captured or dying a "dishonorable" death.

Samurai warriors had many privileges. They could wear two swords, a long one and a short one. Normal people were not allowed to wear any weapons at all. At one point samurai warriors were even allowed to behead a commoner who had offended them. That is how much power they had.

The Japanese samurai had different ranks with different privileges. A basic ranking system distinguished three major ranks:

• kenin - housemen. They were the administrators or vassals.
• mounted samurai - Only high-ranking samurai warriors were allowed to fight on horse-back.
• foot soldiers