By the first few decades of the 17th century, Japan had finally achieved an era of relative peace. The samurai had no armies to fight, but they remained the ruling class of Japan. Many went on to ...

Two swords once carried by samurai have been found during excavations in Ichijodani, one of medieval Japan’s largest cities. On the outskirts of Fukui, a city of a quarter of a million people in ...

Samurai are among the most important people in Japanese culture and history, considering they remain a significant source of inspiration for Japanese artists. Animators have brought samurai ...

But the Samurai's role in Japanese culture is much more complex ... they became part of the country's civil service. A 250-year peace toppled them into identity crisis.In the 19th century, with ...

The samurai belonged to the intellectual elite of Japanese society and practiced creative disciplines like calligraphy and poetry that often contrasted with the violent nature of battle.

Envision Japan’s greatest samurai battle in Sekigahara ... helping Tokugawa Ieyasu unify Japan and usher in a long period of peace and prosperity.