Introduction Samurai have long captured the Western imagination. From a long and proud mil- itary tradition dating back to the tenth century, the samurai have gone through numerous changes and today have come to symbolize many things for modern Japa nese and the rest of the world. The earliest samurai, or bushi, were provincial fighters who performed essen- tial military services for aristocratic families and the imperial court, in Kyoto. Their political role gradually increased, and at the end of the twelfth century Minamoto Yoritomo established a military-based government, the Kamakura shogunate (1185–1333), in eastern Japan that coexisted with the government of the imperial court in central Japan. From early on, samurai developed a strong sense of identity as professional warriors, one that was characterized by a “cult of honor.” Known at this time as either the “way of the horse and bow” or “the way of the bow and arrow,” this ethos reflected their identity as mounted warriors whose primary weapon was the bow. A second military government (the Ashikaga shogunate, 1336–1573) succeeded the first, but central authority broke down during the Warring States period (1467–1568). During this time in par tic u lar samurai were not known for their loy- alty. On the contrary, they were renown for treachery and lawlessness—whatever it took, including betraying their overlords, to advance their own causes. In this harsh climate, hundreds of warlords or daimyo, served by armies of landed samu- rai retainers, fought to expand their control of local resources. Waging a war of attrition during the late sixteenth century, three powerful daimyo or warlords came to dominate the landscape of Japan, one after the other. The first, Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582), waged a violent and relentless military cam- paign to pacify the realm, unifying nearly one-half of the country before he was betrayed by a close vassal and died at Honnôji temple in Kyoto, likely taking his own life by seppuku (“cutting open the belly,” a type of ritual suicide) before the temple went up in flames. Picking up his overlord’s mantle, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598) was able to build on Nobunaga’s efforts and by 1590 extend po liti cal control across the entire realm. His death without a mature heir led to a military strug gle for power that culminated in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, one of the largest battles in global history, in which more than 150,000 samurai and other men fought. Three years later, the victorious general, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616), was