The Bushido Code

In school, they learned of the Kendo, which is fencing with bamboo sticks, the moral code of the samurai, and their religion, Zen Buddhism. Their code of conduct, the Bushido, demanded that a samurai must hold his loyalty, courage, honesty, compassion, and honor. According to The Way of the Samurai by Yamaga Soko, “Within his [samurai] heart he keeps to the ways of peace, but without he keeps his weapons ready for use.” As stated before, samurais have a much lighter armor. This is mainly due to They have an opening on their right arm in order for them to draw their bows faster and

Imagine a knight, jousting in an arena in Europe during the Middle Ages. Surprisingly, across the world during approximately the same time period, samurai warriors fought in Japan. During the time period, 1000 to 1600 CE, the samurai and knights fought in battle in many different ways. Many differences between the samurai and knights included codes, armor, training, and religions. Without a doubt, the differences between the samurai and the knight overshadow the similarities.

The Five Relations sets out the appropriate behaviour one must show to his superiors. This includes: that a vassal must show his master loyalty, a child must show his parent respect, a wife must show her husband affection, a younger sibling must show his older sibling precedence and friends should treat each other with honesty. The teachings of the Five Relations can be witnessed in many aspects of the bushido code. One example is the Lord-Vassal and

The samurai had an unwritten code of honor called the bushido. Bushido means “way of the warrior” (History of the Samurai 3). This provided them with a code to help show them how to live and conduct themselves at home and in battle. One of the most important duties of the samurai was their loyalty to their lord. The samurai would defend their lord until the death. Revenge was also central in the samurai’s

Both the medieval European knights and the Japanese samurai used horses as means of transport into battle. They also both wore armour and used swords. European armour was typically all-metal and was made or either chain mail or plate metal. Whilst this made them more protected, it also restricted their movement. In contrast, the Japanese samurais donned armour which comprised of lacquered leather or metal plates with silk or metal bindings. This light weight armour was advantageous in that it allowed the samurai to be quick and more agile. The drawback to this armour though was that it provided much less protection.

The samurai were a powerful warrior class in Japan, and were very skilled with a sword. Samurai used swords and were trained very well to do many things such as fire a bow while on horseback. The samurai practiced Buddhism, which is a religion that taught people to respect the world to reach enlightenment. When the samurai disobeyed The Bushido Code, they committed Seppuku, which is ritual suicide for the samurai. Japanese culture was influenced by the samurai warrior class.

The entire Japanese culture is based on honor. Honor extends to the nation, the family, and the individual. The samurai are no exception to a code of honor. The samurai follow the code of bushido. Bushido is closer to the western term of chivalry. Bushido places emphasis on courage, benevolence, justice, politeness, truthfulness, honor, loyalty, and most importantly is self-control. The samurai's primary religion is Zen. The samurai adapted Zen easily due to the philosophy that fits closely to Buddhism. Samurai may act in the extreme when it comes to honor. They will kill anyone who may dishonor them or their lord. Nothing is worse to a samurai than to have corrupt dealings. Some of the warriors believed, "Honor is the power of deciding upon certain course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering … to die when it is right to die, to strike when to strike is right." Other warriors believed that "Honor is the bone that gives firmness and stature. As without bones the head cannot rest on top of the spine, nor hands move, nor feet stand, so without honor neither talent nor learning can make of a human frame a

On the surface one may connect Bushido to Japanese tactics and strategy in World War II, but this relationship is only on the surface. Suicide charges and kamikaze pilots may look like and very well be ritual suicide, but the meaning is far too different. In Bushido killing oneself is the ultimate clearing of honor and debt. However the Japanese military coopted this premise and heavily altered the idea that shaming your master was reason enough to enact seppuku into essentially not winning being reason enough to do so. Continuing, the other tenants about honor, respect, and learning were countered by the poor treatment of prisoners, the numerous atrocities committed upon those in occupied lands, and blatant racial attacks on everyone that

The samurai code, however, was much more strict, since it demanded that a samurai kill himself to maintain his honor (Document F). If ever he lost in battle, he was expected to kill himself in a ritual suicide. An European knight would not do this because, as a Catholic, suicide was a sin that would condemn his soul after

The first way that samurais were superior in battles was through there strong tools. In the video “Samurai Showdown” by Terry Schappert it states, “no other weapon was more commonly associated with the samurai than the katana which was considered the soul of the warrior”. This quote shows that the katana was the most common tool among the samurai warriors. An additional piece of evidence that supports the claim is in document d written by Terry Bennett says “Samurai did not wear armor on their right arm so they could easily draw their bow”.This quote proves that samurais had bows and could snipe a knight from a distance rather than being in close-up combat.

In source 4 it says, “A boy in a samurai family was given his first sword when he was born. It was not real, but a symbol of the life he was going to lead” (Source 4). This means that since birth people already started to expect big things from them. Which meant a lot of pressure on them as they grew up. By the age of 13 they knew how to read, write and knew about physical training, poetry, and spiritual discipline since a young age. At the age of 7 they learned kendo, moral code of a samurai, and Zen Buddhism. “At age 13, the young samurai was given a training sword, armor, and a warrior name. They learned how to fight well with a blade and how to fire arrows on horseback with accuracy” (Source 4), source 4 said. Learning how to aim with a blade on a horse would help them in the future during battle. Most samurais has had this training and has started at a young

Did you know that samurai armor is made with the nail-polish? Its called lacquer and if enough is applied, it can be as strong as steel. Samurai were the warriors of Japan during the Medieval Times. Samurai should be considered the ultimate warrior for three reasons: 1: Samurai were loyal to their lords and they had no legal agreements. 2: Samurai follow a strict code and commit suicide if they disobey it.

The ancient babylonians used sharpened weapons such as sickle swords, socketed axes, spears, and the egyptian derived bladed mace, as well as clubs and staffs, and they also used projectiles flung from war slings. The babylonians were a bronze age people, so the bladed weapons they used were made of a softer metal than later civilizations iron and steel. This made them less effective in battle than iron and iron-alloy based weapons, as iron is harder and harder blades that can take a shaper point. At the time, though bronze was top of the line technology. The babylonians were so good at the empire building that later armies modeled their weapons after the babylonians designs.

In the first paragraph, I will be comparing the armor and weapons between the samurai and feudal Knights.The Samurai had different weapons and armor used for different things.One of the most commonly known weapons for the samurai was the katana that was used for self defense and was a symbol of the bushi’s rank,strength,and even soul.Other weapons weapons like the bow and arrow and yari were used for combat,as well the armor the samurai had was distinguished and crafted to perfection for the bushi.The feudal Knights also had had a variety of weapons and armor for their battles and life as a knight.Daggers,flails,maces,lances,and swords were some of the weapons used by feudal Knights for

When the samurai were about to engage in battle, most of them would state their rank, family name, and accomplishments. If the samurai was a high-ranked officer, the winner of the duel would have to send the head of the defeated to the capital city where the city officials and the people could see it (Clark 4). However, if the samurai was not killed by his opponent, he had to commit seppuku. Seppuku, also known as harakiri, is when a samurai must commit suicide by stabbing a knife into his abdomen and disemboweling himself. A kinsmen or friend would then cut off their heads. Seppuku was seen as more honorable than getting captured in battle or being forgiven from dishonor by an upper rank (Clark 5). It was also seen as more honorable to commit seppuku than dishonor the Bushido Code.