Medieval samurai did not do things halfway. If a skill was worth having, it was worth perfecting, preferably while riding a horse, wearing heavy armor, and being watched. These ten facts show how Japan’s warrior class turned discipline into an extreme sport.
1. They started as… estate defenders for nobles who were busy drinking tea in the capital
Samurai originally meant “one who serves,” but not in the “polite court attendant with a clipboard” sense.
After conscription ended in 792 CE, nobles who spent most of their time at the imperial court needed private warriors to guard their shoen (landed estates). These early samurai weren’t palace staff; they were armed retainers protecting rural estates on behalf of aristocrats who rarely visited their own property. They served the court indirectly through serving those nobles, and only later did the word become synonymous with “professional warrior.”
2. Samurai opened battles with their LinkedIn summary
Early samurai literally galloped into battle yelling their name, achievements, and pedigree. Basically their résumé shouted from a horse. Later, banners replaced the yelling, but not the bragging.
3. If you weren’t shooting a bow from a horse, were you even training, bro?
Yabusame, a type of mounted archery in traditional Japanese archery, has samurai roots that date back to the beginning of the Kamakura period. Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first shogun (military ruler) of the Kamakura shogunate, alarmed by how poorly his samurai handled a bow, established yabusame to sharpen their archery skills.
4. Their armour weighed 30 kg and still didn’t cover their feet
First appearing in the 10th century during the Heian period, the ō-yoroi suit weighed around 30 kg (over 66 lbs), but samurai still went into battle wearing only socks and rope sandals. Maximum drama, minimal toe protection - definitely not worksafe.
5. Their Helmets Were Basically Medieval Fashion Statements
Crescents, antlers, horns, horsehair explosions - samurai helmets had it all. Daimyo (powerful feudal lords) often sported the flashiest crests, because nothing says “respect my authority” like an iron skullcap topped with elk horns.
6. They shaved the front of their heads to make helmets more comfy
Helmet rash: the silent killer. Early samurai shaved the front of their scalps for comfort and tied the remaining hair into an elaborate bun. By the early Edo period, the sakayaki (the shaved top of the head) had become mandatory for the samurai class. The form of the chonmage (topknot), however, still signaled rank: samurai wore a more pronounced version than artisans or merchants.
7. They carried two swords because one would have been too casual
After 1588, only full samurai were allowed to wear the two-sword set, which comprised the katana (a sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade) and wakizashi (a sword small enough to be inserted through one's obi at one's side). This cemented the “double sword = elite status” rule. Earlier, the longer tachi (a sabre-like sword) was worn edge-down, but samurai eventually standardized the cooler edge-up carry.
8. They practiced 18 martial arts… because why specialize?
By the Edo period, samurai trained in 18 martial arts, including horsemanship, archery, and swordsmanship. Basically, a medieval P.E. program from hell. The Canada Fitness testing doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?
9. Minamoto no Yoshitsune did everything right and still lost
Minamoto no Yoshitsune did everything right. A brilliant tactician and legendary swordsman, he was the driving force behind Minamoto victories in the Genpei War, winning battles like Ichi-no-Tani, Yashima, and Dan-no-ura. He became wildly popular, inspired fierce loyalty from figures like the monk-warrior Benkei, and was still pushed out of power by his own brother, Minamoto no Yoritomo (see item number 3), an ending so unsatisfying that later generations invented legends insisting he must have survived including one in which he escaped death and resurfaced as Temujin, later known as Genghis Khan (which medieval gossipmongers apparently found completely reasonable).
10. Samurai followed a “way of the warrior” that was written after they stopped being warriors
Bushidō (a samurai moral code) wasn’t formalized until the late 1600s when samurai were basically advisors and bureaucrats. It’s the medieval equivalent of publishing a leadership book about a job you no longer do.