Katana Sword

According to Bushido, or the code of the Samurai, the katana is the samurai’s soul and therefore he is dependent on it for his own life. But who are these samurai? Who were they? Where there particularly famous samurais during their time? Other than the cartoon characters and Hollywood movie protagonists, there are real samurais that served the Japanese Imperial Army to a point that they have become famous throughout history. Discover these famous katana sword keepers.

Perhaps the most famous of all these samurais have to be Musashi Miyamoto. Born in the year 1584 in the Harima province of Japan, he was brought up by his father and two uncles. The first duel that he won was at age 13 and was against a samurai by the name of Arima Kihei. Musahi developed the kenjutsu technique. He perfected this technique of combining a katana with a shorter sword, such as a wazikashi. Other than being a skilled swordsman, he was also adept in the fields of calligraphy, wood and metal sculpting, painting and even architecture. Musashi’s teachings live on in a book he wrote entitled, “The Book of Five Rings” which is his lifelong teachings on strategy, philosophy and war tactics.

Toyotomo Hideyoshi rose to fame as a leader and a proper samurai. He was called Japan’s second “Great Unifier.” He was also known to be the instigator of the time when only proper samurais were allowed to bear arms. With this, Japan was reformed to instill stricter structure of the social classes. He also united Japan by conducting surveys and census of the country.

The title of the “last true samurai” was bestowed unto Saigo Takamori. He lived during the late Edo period; and was born on 1828. As a military man, he lived a colorful life. He was a low ranking officer that fought in battles. He returned to Kagoshima after the death of Nariakira. Following those events, he was arrested, banished, summoned and banished again. Finally, in 1864, he was summoned again and was given duty in the Imperial Court. The famous Hollywood movie, The Last Samurai, based its primary Japanese character, Katsumoto, on Takamori’s experience in the Battle of Shiroyama.

Other popular samurais include Sakamoto Ryoma, Date Masamune, Kusonoki Masashige, Sasaki Kojiro, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Yamamoto Tsunetomo. They all have kept with the Bushido and were all experts of the katana sword.