Rōnin A or " rounin " was a samurai with no lord or master during the feudal period ( 1185 – 1868 ) of Japan . A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master , or after the loss of his master ' s favor or privilege . In modern Japanese usage , the term also describes a salaryman who is " between employers " or a secondary school graduate who has not yet been admitted to university . Etymology . The word " rōnin " literally means " wave man " . The term originated in the Nara and Heian periods , when it referred to a serf who had fled or deserted his master ' s land . It then came to be used for a samurai who had no master . ( Hence , the term " wave man " illustrating one who is socially adrift . ) Status . According to the " Bushido Shoshinshu " ( the Code of the Samurai ) , a samurai was supposed to commit " seppuku " ( also " hara kiri " — ritual suicide ) upon the loss of his master . One who chose not to honor the code was " on his own " and was meant to suffer great shame . The undesirability of rōnin status was mainly a discrimination imposed by other samurai and by daimyo , the feudal lords . Like other samurai , rōnin wore their two swords . Rōnin used a variety of other weapons as well . Some rōnin — usually those who lacked money — would carry a bō ( staff around 5 to 6 ft ) or jō ( smaller staff or walking stick around 3 to 5 ft ) or a yumi ( bow ) . Most weapons would reflect the ryū or martial arts school they came from , if they were students . During the Edo period , with the shogunate ' s rigid class system and laws , the number of rōnin greatly increased . Confiscation of fiefs during the rule of the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu resulted in an especially large increase of rōnin . During previous ages , samurai were able to move between masters and even between occupations . They would also marry between classes . However , during the Edo period , samurai were restricted , and were above all forbidden to become employed by another master without their previous master ' s permission . Because the former samurai could not legally take up a new trade , or because of pride were loath to do so , many rōnin looked for other ways to make a living with their swords . Those rōnin who desired steady , legal employment became mercenaries that guarded trade caravans , or bodyguards for wealthy merchants . Many other rōnin became criminals , operating as bandits and highwaymen , or joining organized crime in towns and cities . Rōnin were known to operate , or serve as hired muscle for gangs that ran gambling rings , brothels , protection rackets , and other similar activities . Many were petty thieves and muggers . The criminal segment gave the rōnin of the Edo period a persistent reputation of disgrace , with the image of thugs , bullies , cutthroats , and wandering vagrants . History . In the Kamakura and Muromachi periods , when warriors held lands that they occupied , a rōnin was a warrior who had lost his lands . During these periods , as small - scale wars frequently occurred throughout Japan , the daimyo needed to augment their armies , so rōnin had opportunities to serve new masters . Also , some rōnin joined in bands , engaging in robbery and uprisings . Especially in the Sengoku period , daimyo needed additional fighting men , and even if one ' s master had perished , a rōnin was able to serve a new lord . In contrast to the later Edo period , the bond between the lord and the samurai was loose , and some samurai who were dissatisfied with their treatment left their masters and sought new lords . Many warriors served a succession of masters , and some even became daimyo . As an example , Tōdō Takatora served ten lords . Additionally , the division of the population into classes had not yet taken place , so it was possible to change one ' s occupation from warrior to merchant or farmer , or the reverse . Saitō Dōsan was one merchant who rose through the warrior ranks to become a daimyo . As Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified progressively larger parts of the country , daimyo found it unnecessary to recruit new soldiers . Next , the Battle of Sekigahara ( AD 1600 ) resulted in the confiscation or reduction of the fiefs of large numbers of daimyo on the losing side ; in consequence , many samurai became rōnin . As many as a hundred thousand rōnin joined forces with Toyotomi Hideyori and fought at the Siege of Osaka . In the ensuing years of peace , there was less need to maintain expensive standing armies , and many surviving rōnin turned to farming or became townspeople . A few , such as Yamada Nagamasa , sought adventure overseas as mercenaries . Still , the majority lived in poverty as rōnin . Under the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu , their number approached half a million . Initially , the shogunate viewed them as dangerous , and banished them from the cities or restricted the quarters where they could live . They also prohibited serving new masters . As rōnin found themselves with fewer and fewer options , they joined in the Keian Uprising ( AD 1651 ) . This forced the shogunate to rethink its policy . It relaxed restrictions on daimyo inheritance , resulting in fewer confiscations of fiefs ; and it permitted rōnin to join new masters . Not having the status or power of employed samurai , rōnin were often disreputable and festive , and the group was a target of humiliation or satire . It was undesirable to be a rōnin , as it meant being without a stipend or farm . As an indication of the humiliation felt by samurai who became rōnin , Lord Redesdale recorded that a rōnin killed himself at the graves of the Forty - Seven Rōnin . He left a note saying that he had tried to enter the service of the daimyo of the Chōshū Domain , but was refused . Wanting to serve no other master , and hating being a rōnin , he had decided to kill himself . On the other hand , the famous 18th - century writer Kyokutei Bakin renounced his allegiance to Matsudaira Nobunari , in whose service Bakin ' s samurai father had spent his life . Bakin became voluntarily a rōnin , and eventually spent his time writing books ( many of them about samurai ) and engaging in festivities . Portrayals in media . Thousands of modern works of Japanese fiction set in the Edo period cast characters who are rōnin . They are often portrayed as " yōjimbo " ( bodyguards ) or as " watari - kashi " ( mercenary fighters ) . Another stereotypical occupation for fictional rōnin is the umbrella - maker . Anime . The ronin Jin is a major character and protagonist in the popular Japanese anime " Samurai Champloo " . Ruroni Kenshin Which was a popular Graphic Novel as well as a popular Animated series was about a Young ronin who was escaping his past and hindrance as an assassin in the Bakumatsu war . His past carries the name " Hitokiri Battōsai " which was loosely translated to mean " Man slayer " . He also carries a sword with a reverse blade known as a " sakabatou " which he carried to protect and never to kill . Television . Person Of Interest - In the Season 1 episode Wolf and Cub , Reese is referred to as a Ronin and a lot of wandering samurai references are made throughout the show . Film . Ronin are often depicted in the jidaigeki of Akira Kurosawa , in particular Yojimbo , Sanjuro and the film Seven Samurai The 1998 film " Ronin " portrays former Special Forces and intelligence operatives who find themselves unemployed at the end of the Cold War . Devoid of purpose , they become high - paid mercenaries . There is also a comparison of the characters to the Forty - seven ronin . The 2013 film " The Wolverine " portrays the superhero Wolverine as a Ronin , " a samurai without a master " .