Strength and honor among samurai

The word samurai comes from the verb saburau, which means to serve. This era started in 1615, when men gave up on wearing armors to put on kimonos. The greatness of samurai is not based on their warrior deeds but rather on their noble soul and their loyalty to the lord to whom they are bound. Over the years, the samurai freed themselves from the warlike codes of their bushi ancestors – riders who used to win over their ennemies with bows and arrows – and became civil servants who would work on maintaining the order. However, as they were nostalgic – and proud – of the old military achievements, they kept their right to wear two sabers and taught the art of bushidô to the people around them. Bushidô, also known as “the way of the warrior” is the code of honor that any man who calls himself a samurai must comply with. It holds seven virtues, namely, righteousness, respect, heroic courage, honor, compassion, honesty, and loyalty. It reminds samurai that they serve and protect only one master, and that they shall follow the path of death if they ever come to break their word.

The beginning of the 19th century marks the end of the samurai. Many upheavals led to the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate, and to the restoration of the imperial reign. Japan started to greatly modernize its country by opening to the Western world. Samurai felt the backlash of various reforms and slowly lost their rights. After trying to rebel against the new order, they got defeated by the imperial army shortly before 1880.

Many Japanese artists now pay tribute to this era by combining the history of samurai with great animated shows. Japan Expo was honored to welcome on stage the Aki Hiroshima Busho-Tai company, which tells the tale of famous samurai Motonari MOURI by mixing music and battles, and the Haten Kohro company, which carries out sword displays cadenced by folk songs mixed with some dynamic metal music. You can take a look back at these performances – and watch all the videos of the Sakura and Ichigo stages traditional shows – on JapanExpoTV, our Youtube channel.