The Japanese warrior who, imbued with the spirit of Bushidō (q.v.), the ‘Way to Knightly Virtue’, was trained mentally and physically to apply, in the service of his Lord or Emperor, the highest principles of bravery, chivalry, honour...

Although fighting men played a prominent role in Japanese history from the nation's beginning, the class of warriors known as samurai did not emerge until the twelfth century A. D. By that time, many small chiefdoms had been unified into a central state...

Samurai (侍, Samurai?) was a term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. The word "samurai" is derived from the archaic Japanese verb "samorau," changed to "saburau," meaning "to serve"; thus, a "samurai" is a servant, i.e. the servant of a...

I've always been anxious about attempting cultural readings of foreign films, fearing that it will reveal more about my own ignorance than about the films themselves. Twilight Samurai, however, demands it--and considering that much of my argument here was guided by people much more...

White male seeks aboriginal Other for mutual transformation. Have kimono, will travel. THE LAST SAMURAI Directed by Edward Zwick Warner Bros. Opens December 5 THE ROBE WARRIOR Hokey and predictable, The Last Samurai is unlikely to garner the ringing endorsements accorded a...

A man convicted of murder after nearly beheading his stepfather with a samurai sword was sentenced Wednesday to the maximum 25 years to life in prison.Zachary Gibian, 20, was convicted last month of second-degree murder in the February 2005 death of his stepfather, Scott Nager,...

When Shiro Inoue opened the first Famima store in West Hollywood, Calif., in 2005, he was on a mission.He wanted to change the U.S. image of convenience stores from "a place to stop by if you had to" to "a place where locals want to...

Compares the warrior skills the of the Japanese samurai and Medieval knights. Describes how each represented the ideal man of each society, which was not always fulfilled. Explores how several similarities and differences can be made from core issues of both the knights and the samurai, including feudalism, being guided by a code of honor, education, religion, weapons, and armor.