The word samurai comes from saburu (to serve). The higher class samurai warriors are always called “bushi.” Most Japanese refer to the samurai as “bushi.”
Only the samurai could have a last name. Ordinary people did not have a last name.
Only the samurai were allowed to have a horse or use palanquin.
Only the samurai could commit seppuku (ritualistic suicide).
Only the samurai could carry 2 swords.
During the early Edo period samurai could kill anyone on the street and get away with if a samurai though the person was just being disrespectful.
Japanese samurai reward for the service was about 200 koku of rice. In other words their annual salary was 200 x 150 kg of rice. The samurai used to get their salary from daimyo as “rice” not in cash.
Most samurai were able to read and write. They were more educated than the rest of the society.
The samurai often practiced tea ceremony, calligraphy, poetry and ink painting. Samurai were the only ones who could access to prestigious zen gardens, elegant temples and castles.
Since there were not many wars samurai kept improving their techniques by practicing martial arts.
It was extremely difficult, if not impossible, to become a samurai if one is not born in a samurai family. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was an exception.
Samurai were named by taking a kanji character from their father’s name and mixing with another kanji character.
Samurais changed their names after reaching adulthood.
Samurai often visited temples and zen gardens and practiced tea ceremony to reduce the stress they had.
About 10% of the Japanese population were the samurai class and they were the majority who hung out with the geisha and who practiced traditional Japanese arts.
The marriage of the samurai was usually arranged by a higher ranking samurai and it was difficult to get divorced because that’d mean the higher ranking samurai would lose face.
Ordinary people wanted their daughters to get married with a samurai and even paid money to the samurai for this upward social class change.
Some Japanese kamikaze pilots took samurai swords to the cockpit before their final flight.
Samurai were the only ones allowed to carry two swords in public.
Samurai were not allowed to own businesses. Samurais were not allowed to do farming.
If the lord/master of a samurai dies, he loses his social status and rights as a samurai and he becomes a ronin “man of waves.”
Samurai wives were a little unfortunate, they were forbidden to see their relatives and obey their sons.
The samurai used to wash themselves with cold water and put incense in their helmets to show that they are ready to die on any day.
Usually ordinary people kneeled and put their forehead on the floor (dogeza) when a high ranking samurai was passing by. This was not mandatory but very common.
