Samurai trivia

[Maciamo]

Did you know that :

- Samurai could be female. Samurai status was inherited by all descendants (male and female) of samurai, and women samurai were expected too fight fiercely to protect their village/town while the men had left.

- Homosexuality was common among samurai. The word did not exist in Japanese, and such kind of man ot man love was more common than love relationship between spouses. Marriage among the samurai class were always political alliance, and male samurai were advised to sleep with their sword, to protect themselves from their wife.

- Ikebana (flower arrangement) was seen as a martial art, as it helped the samurai to concentrate his mind on a single object.

- Samurai battles were typical a series of one to one fights. They cut their opponent's head as a proof of their victory. Samurai would perfume their hair with incense to make it more pleasant for their enemies.

- Ninja were typically samurai too. Instead of fighting for their honour, they operated in the utmost secrecy, in exchange for money.

- The Bushido ("Code of the warrior") was developed during the peaceful Edo period when the samurai had become mostly state administrators, writers and artists and most of them had never fought in battle. It became an idealised and romanticised version of the code of honour of the true samurai that preceded them. The chivalresque values of protecting the weak and fighting for the emperor arised during that peaceful period. Before that, the samurai were more selfish and brutal, and often did not hesitate to sacrifice their own family members to preserve their personal honour.