Samuri

It was not until 1876 that the power was returned to the emperor with the arrival of the U.S. Navy and thus the retirement of the last shogun (Hall, 9-11).
             The samurai were incredibly important in a society generally run by shogun. Within their class, there were several sub-classes. At the top of the class were wealthy chieftains; while at the bottom of the class were poor samurai, barely able to make a living. One thing that is constant is the portrayal of samurai. They are almost always seen in battle or wearing battle attire, ready to use their mastery of the martial arts and various weapons. In Life Among the Samurai by Eleanor Hall she states an interesting fact, "[ ] Even more surprising is the fact that many samurai warriors became scholars, poets, artists, and philosophers who took pleasure in such delicate pastimes as calligraphy, flower arranging, and the tea ceremony (11)." Nevertheless, the samurai were warriors above all else.
             Samurai warriors were trained to use several weapons such as a sword, bow and arrow, and naginata. They were also very skilled horsemen, able to fight while riding. For armor, they used lamellae, metal pieces laced together tightly. The armor usually weighed around 25 pounds and covered a majority of the body. They also wore highly decorated helmets which showed their status and clan affiliation (14).
             Battles of the samurai were very formal with each side facing each other and firing arrows at each other. The samurai would call out opponents from the other army and engage in individual duels. The winner of the duel would customarily cut off the head of his opponent and take it back to camp. Warriors on the losing side were generally killed in painful ways; therefore, many chose to commit a form of suicide called seppuku (which I will talk about later) (Miller, 9).
             Boys born onto the samurai class were schooled in many areas, but expected to become a samurai above all other things.