I believe that Samurai history in Japan is one of the most important pillars of many of the most "unique" aspects in modern Japan culture.

I recently read an introductory book in modern Japan, and it was almost impossible to go into the facts of moderns Japan without having a fair understanding of the historic background of Japanese culture.

I believe that one of the main reasons of why Samurai ended up being such important figure of Japanese culture was the role that they played in protecting their daimyo (or feudal lord) before the Tokugawa shogunate, in which Japan had been submerged in civil war for hundreds of years.

This mean that the whole country was divided, and the threat of invassion from neighboring territories was always at high risk, therefore, these lords created, trained and empowered all kinds of military tactics that evolved into the creation of the warrior (or Samurai) clans, and that ended up perfecting their codes to an almost ideal shape that resulted in the cration of the model Samurai.

The most important thing to consider here, is that we were dealing with a society that was based on war. This created a new (and very powerful) status whose main purpose was to attack and protect. To be a Samurai, was to be disciplined, cultured, skillful, brave and above it all, to be faithful to your master. This was the closest that any Japanese male could get to be considered worthy of honor and glory, so these people were extremely proud, and created a series of rules that nowaday prevail in the current "etiquette" of Japanese culture.

It is also very sad to learn the history of the decay of the Samurai class. When Tokugawa Iyeasu took power and managed to stop all the conflicts among the different territories of Japan, the Samurai were suddenly left without their primary role and essence of existance, so as years went by, they became bourocrats with no other real relevance or function than to bully each other and create trouble.

Regardless of all that, I still admire the legacy of the samurai in today's cultural aspects of Japan, and I think that thick books could be written (if they haven't already) about it ^___________^