History Made Every Day™

SAMURAI: Samurai Showdown

Samurai warrior draws his katana sword. Sakasai Castle - Tokyo, Japan

Location: Japan

Main Battle: Ganryu Island in southern Japan, 1612. Legendary swordsmen and archrivals Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro, both of whom were undefeated, faced off in a one-on-one duel. Musashi ultimately triumphed by outsmarting his opponent and later penned The Book of Five Rings, a guide to the art of fighting and winning that remains in print today.

Who They Were: Samurai were elite warriors who fought for Japan's ruling families and dominated Japanese society for some 700 years. The samurai's rise dates back to the period between the 9th and 12th centuries, when powerful land owners hired bands of warriors to protect their property. The significance of the samurai warrior continued to grow in the centuries that followed, a time when Japan consisted of a number of continually clashing independent regions.

Samurai wore armor made of tiny scales, iron or leather and fought with bows and arrows and guns; however, they were most famous for their sword skills. They followed a code of conduct known as Bushido, or "way of the warrior," that stressed bravery, honor, loyalty to one's master and stoicism. Samurai warriors went into battle expecting and accepting death. A samurai fighter who disgraced himself on the battlefield or faced capture by an enemy was expected to perform a suicide ritual called seppuku, in which he killed himself by slicing open his own abdomen.

By the early 1600s, Japan entered an era of relative peace and many samurai became bureaucrats and teachers. The samurai class was abolished by the late 19th century.

Did You Know?

• Samurai means "one who serves."

• New samurai swords were tested on convicted criminals and rated according to how many bodies they could slice through with a single swing. The rating--or body count--was then inscribed on each sword.