The Cultural Aspects of a Samurai
The Japanese have many cultural aspects known to its country but the Japanese warrior, known other as the samurai, is what stands out the most in their history. Many people have told folk stories and movies based on these noble warriors. Samurais were brave soldiers who fought to their last breath without hesitation of losing their own life. The main aspects within a Samurai’s life was their hierarchy social class, religion, honor, and noble death.
The Japanese had a class system that consisted of six different classes and they lived every to their status. Each level of the class system had an important part of the Japanese society. The merchants were the lowest class members and they were looked down upon frankly because they were thought to be dishonest when it came to business. This class may have been the lowest but often times they would have the most money. Some people would marry into a merchant’s family to gain more money. The next on the hierarchy were the peasants. Most of the peasants consisted of farmers and fishermen. They were responsible for producing food for everyone else. After the fishermen and farmers were the samurai warriors, who were the military of the social class. The samurai class all had a traditional code of honor to follow by. They also had to show kindness to the poor and to respect the gods with their Buddhist religion. The next class consisted of the Daimyo who were the landowners. Their offspring’s would inherit the previous wealth and power. Several Daimyos often gave samurai service or food in return for protection. The shogun was the second to highest of the hierarchy. The primary duty of a shogun was the defend the nation against outsiders. The emperor was the head of the class system. Surprisingly this role had a small amount of power and was viewed mainly as the religious leader of the system.
The samurai practiced Buddhism like most of the people within Japan. Japan was...