Few countries have a warrior tradition as long and exciting as that of Japan.
He is the valiant lone swordsman, the ultimate individual warrior. He is the aesthete, appreciating the beauty of the cherry blossom, seeing in its brief career his own short but glorious life. He is the commander of the host on the battlefield, the keeper of the peace, the aristocratic administrator and the avenger of his master. Yet he is also a member of a class that ruled Japan for nearly 700 years, a class whose members fought both for control of the country and to keep Japan free from foreign influence. From its inception in the Heian Period through to the bloody Onin wars, the history of the samurai is a history of political and military struggle.