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The Samurai's Life During The Tokugawa Period

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The Samurai were the medieval warriors of Japan and were usually called bushi or buke (Matt Williams, Unknown) but only 10% or less of Japan's population was able to become a Bushi. Although this may sound quite desirable, it managed to improve for Buke when the Tokugawa period came. Their lifestyle changed for the better and they didn't have to worry about death, while still retaining the same position on the hierarchy pyramid. Because of this being a samurai knight in the Tokugawa Period was desirable.

The Samurai’s lifestyle changed a lot when the Tokugawa Period came, as this was when civil peace occurred throughout Feudal Japan. (Columbia University, 2009) This meant that there was no longer a need for the samurai to fight. With their fighting role diminished the samurai took on the roles of scholars and advisors. (Red Apple Education, 2013) This …show more content…

One of the changes for the Bushi was that they were fortunate enough that they didn't have to worry about death through fighting and wars anymore, however they still had to uphold the same respect that they had for the daimyo. In some cases the samurai even managed to move up in hierarchy pyramid by becoming courtiers. Courtiers are the people who go with the emperor to court they also move up to become bureaucrats and administrators. (Oxford University Press, 2014) They still retained respect within the public of an honourable position in the feudal system. The samurai still had the right to use a range of weapons such as bows and arrows and spears but their main weapon and symbol was still the sword. (See Appendix 1) (Japan Guide, 2014) They also still had the rights to kill anyone to disrespect them as long as they were of a lower social status. This killing could still be done to keep the peace among the

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