SAMURAI
Samurai (侍) or bushi (武士, [bɯ.ɕi]) were members of the warrior class who served as retainers to lords (including daimyo) in Japan. Originally provincial warriors who served the Kuge and imperial court in the late 12th century, they eventually came to play a major political role until their abolition in the late 1870s during the Meiji era.
In 780 general conscription was abolished and the government relied solely on units of capable warriors recruited from the sons of wealthy peasants and officals called kondei. This accompanied a series of land reform that allowed the development of the bushi class. Nobles used their court postions to grant famers tax exempt land in an exchange for part of the rent. This enriched the nobles at the cost of tax revenues, and the wealthy farmers to arm and organize themselves. These warriors then followed powerful families like the Minamoto and Tairia. During the 13th century, the samurai proved themselves adept warriors against the invading Mongols. During the Sengoku Period, the term was vague and some samurai owned land, while others were retainers or mercenaries. Many served as retainers to lords (including daimyo). There was a great increase of the number of men styling themselves samurai, by virtue of bearing arms. During the peaceful Edo period, 1603 to 1868, they were mainly the stewards and chamberlains of the daimyo estates, roles they had also filled in the past. During the Edo period, they came to represent a hereditary class. On the other hand, from the mid-Edo period, chōnin (townsman) and farmers could be promoted to the samurai class by being adopted into gokenin families or by serving in daikan offices, and low-ranking samurai could be transferred to lower social classes, such as chōnin, by changing jobs.
In the 1870s, samurai families comprised 5% of the population. As modern militaries emerged in the 19th century, the samurai were rendered increasingly obsolete and very expensive to maintain compared to the average conscript soldier. The Meiji Restoration formally abolished the status, and most former samurai became Shizoku. This allowed them to move into professional and entrepreneurial roles. Their memory and weaponry remain prominent in contemporary Japanese popular culture.
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