In everything from martial arts to tea
ceremonies, the storied warriors of Japan remain a potent presence. Many Japanese just can't stop searching for their inner samurai.

Get a taste of Samurai life from this compelling excerpt.

Make way for the samurai. Eyes drop, and crowds step aside as a warrior strides haughtily down a congested lane in Edo, the future Tokyo. The time is the early 18th century, but it could be a hundred years earlier or later: The scene would remain the same in a Japan frozen in feudal ways. On the street there is no mistaking a samurai. Two swords, a long one and a short one, protrude from his waist. As a member of Japan's highest class, that of the warrior, only a samurai may carry both swords, lethal symbols of his authority.

He wears a kimono topped by flowing, skirt-like trousers and a short, loose jacket. His head is shaved on top, with the hair on the sides and back gathered up into a dandyish topknot. The samurai is in no hurry. The government doesn't require him to work, though he might take a job to supplement his yearly stipend of rice. He is asked only to stay in fighting form and to defend the regime in times of trouble. And should some commoner dare to disrespect him — fail to obey an order or bump into his sword — the samurai has the right (rarely invoked) to kill the ingrate on the spot.

Swagger came as a birthright to samurai. Their warrior class dominated Japanese history for nearly 700 years from 1185 to 1867, a reign as ruthless and violent — and as culturally rich — as almost anything experienced in ancient Rome or medieval Europe. Old Europe's knights, in fact, may be the samurai's closest historical kin. Like the knights, samurai (the word means "one who serves") formed a military elite, composed of clan leaders or warlords and the loyal soldiers who fought under them. Traditionally the emperor commanded the highest allegiance in Japan. But as the samurai rose to power, the emperor was relegated to a figurehead, eclipsed by a military dictator called shogun, or commander in chief, a designation that signaled the new rule of the samurai.

The samurai and the knight would have recognized each other in battle. They both wore armor, attacked on horseback, fought with swords and lances, besieged castles, and lived by a code of honor. But where the samurai and the knights differed was in their longevity. The Japanese warrior class enjoyed an amazing run of dominance that ended only when American warships sailed into Japan's harbors, exposing the inability of the shogun to defend the country. Forces rallied around a new emperor and easily overthrew the shogun's army. The samurai's reign had ended.

Extract taken from article published in the National Geographic

December 2003. For the full article you will need to subscribe.