Japanese culture is usually respected for grace, tranquility and harmony with nature. The Samurai, sometimes wandering alone, most often fought in Japan’s complex civil wars, the Samurai may have been history's most effective and terrifying warriors. The Samurai is the most skilled swordsman that has ever lived. Samurai's did not fear death and considered it to be beautiful and honorable.
Samurai carried a small arsenal of weapons; bows/arrows, spears, lances and knives, but it was the sword he was most skilled at. These swords were the finest in the world. They were heated to the color of the sun, then pounded and folded over and over again. The name of this sword was the Katana. The Katana was made to be swift and powerful, the black smith's took the design of other blades to make the ultimate blade that can cut through bone as well as armor. Most samurai battles were finished in one blow because of the power of the sword and the balance between the samurai and his sword.
All warriors in every culture were trained to be brave in the face of death. What made the Samurai unique was he often chose to die to save his honor. If defeated in battle or disgraced in some other way, honor demanded seppuku (hara-kiri) which was the ritual were the Samurai plunged his blade into the side of his abdomen, pulling it to the other side and finishing with an upward pull of the blade. This was extremely painful and it could take hours, even days to die. So another person, usually a friend, would stand behind him and at any sign of hesitation would cut off his head. That way he kept his honor. When the head was cut off the friend would leave a tiny piece of skin on the throat so the head wouldn't roll around and insult people.
The word Samurai means "to serve" and that's how it began, as warriors serving the Emperor. Divided by steep mountain ridges, Japan was a difficult land for a central government to rule. The Emperor needed mountaineer warriors who could move swiftly to enforce his authority in even the most remote villages. In the 8th and 9th century they started as rough and tough tax collectors that could shake down the peasants and collect the Emperors taxes. Eventually, the Emperors warrior servants realized they could be the masters. By the year 1300 the Samurai had taken the provinces they had once administrated for the Emperor. The Samurai built castles and created hierarchies where Samurai warriors served Samurai generals, who in turn served Samurai lords, daimyos. Having established themselves the daimyos began fighting each other with Samurai armies. The Samurais fought for their lord to expand his land and to increase his power. However, there was something else at stake; the warriors' personal honor. Nothing was more important than honor. Not even his own life or his family or friend's life, not even loyalty
