Samurai, but not as you know them: British Museum exhibition rewrites the warrior myth

"For many of us, our overriding image of Japan's samurai comes from a school trip where we stood in front of a suit of armour and were told about fearless warriors, epic battles and an unbreakable code of honour. Now, the British Museum would like to gently suggest that stereotypes might not be all that they seem. But obviously, any exhibition about the Samurai has to open with a warrior's armour, even if it ends, maybe unexpectedly, with Darth Vader."

"Rather than treating the samurai as a fixed historical type, the exhibition shows them as a social class whose role and image shifted repeatedly. Emerging as elite warriors from the 12th century, they rose to political power through centuries of conflict. Yet when peace settled in from 1615, their lives changed dramatically. Samurai became administrators, scholars and patrons of the arts, and women made up a substantial part of the class."

The exhibition presents samurai as a changing social class rather than a fixed historical type. The samurai emerged as elite warriors from the 12th century and gained political power through prolonged conflict. After peace from 1615 their roles shifted toward administration, scholarship and arts patronage. Women comprised a substantial portion of the class and several female samurai achieved independent fame and territorial impact. The familiar image of the samurai is largely a modern construction influenced by nationalism and nostalgia as much as by medieval warfare. Around 280 objects from multiple lenders illustrate this complex history, including notable arms and armour.

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