288, 286). Under the samurai were the common folk; the merchants, peasants, farmers, and craft works (Mazour pg. 288). .
Japan is famous for its warriors called the samurai, and Europe is known for its knights. There are many similarities between them, such as the fact that both had a high rank in society (Goldman ). Knights and samurai fought for the nobles while wearing armor and riding on horses, and the armor they wore took hours to put on. (Goldman ) They both, of course, used swords in their battles and when they won they were rewarded with land and money (Goldman ). Although they might have been different, the knights and the samurai had objects they used for luck and belief, probably beginning at childhood when they both began to train (Goldman ). Honor was big in both Europe and Japan, and the knight and the samurai both had what the Japanese call "Bushido" and the Europeans call the "Oath of Fealty", which are both codes of honor. .
Although the similarities of Japanese and European culture might make them look alike, there are also many and perhaps more differences than similarities. A good example of this is the swords. The sword of the knight was much stronger than that of the samurai; and if a knight was to fight a samurai then his sword would most likely slice right through the samurai's armor (Machood ). If a samurai was to try to cut through a knights armor, it might get stuck along the way (Sofina ). The samurai swords were thin and shaped in such a way that they appeared sharper than a heavy European sword (Machood