Samurais

Samurais were the knights of feudal Japan; some of them were the greatest warriors that ever walked the earth. The samurais were an aristocratic warrior class that rose to great height during the 12th century wars between the Taira and Minamoto clans and was consolidated in the Tokugawa period. They were like the knights of medieval Europe in many ways with their own code of laws and all. They cultivated the martial virtues, which is indifference to pain or death and an unfailing loyalty to their overlords. They were a dominant group of class in Japan. Their influences on Japanese culture were immense.
The samurais were the retainers of the daimyo; many samurais were loyal to a certain daimyo and would fight and work for them. The daimyo meaning great name in Japanese were great feudal landholders of Japan, the territorial barons that were as distinguished as the court nobles. The daimyo built up great tax free estates from the 8th century onward by the alienation of lands...