This is true even in modern Japanese society. Training in Aikido is no different. Yoshinkan style Aikido, in particular, is considered one of the more traditional forms practiced. As such, it is part of the student's training to learn the customs and understandings of Aikido's samurai heritage. This heritage reveals both the growth and the development of Aikido and the root understanding behind many of our habits and actions.
Japanese history is the embodiment of imperial history.
Its story begins with the Yamato race which established itself in a small province in central Japan during the 4th century. In the course of about the next three hundred years, the Yamato family gradually gained control over the numerous warring tribes and clans in the surrounding provinces. However, as cultural contact with China was interrupted toward the end of the 9th century, Japanese civilization began to take on its own characteristics and form. Life in the capital was marked by great elegance and refinement. While the court gave itself up to the pursuit of the arts and social pleasures, its authority over the martial clans in the provinces became increasingly uncertain.