Samurai: The Weapons And Spirit Of The Japanese Warrior

by Clive Sinclaire

“Clive Sinclaire has written an amazingly complete, riveting history of the Japanese samurai, their culture, and weapons. This book is a welcome surprise. Sinclaire is absolute master of his
subject.” —Midwest Book Review

The history of Japan over the last thousand years is largely the history of the elite military class, the samurai warriors. The samurai were an entire and separate class in society. Until late in the nineteenth century they had an absolute monopoly on the bearing of arms in Japan. They followed a special code known as bushido , a philosophical foundation for a “freedom from fear,” and epitomized the ideals of patriotism and devotion to military duty.
This spiritual philosophy, which in the last century inspired the country in its
headlong drive to modernization, was carried through also into the design, production, decoration, wearing, and use of samurai armor and weapons. The influence of the samurai was one that was created by force of arms, which, although initially influenced in the seventh and eighth centuries AD by mainland Asia, quickly developed into styles that were totally Japanese in character and are impossible to confuse with those of any other nation.
Following decades of painstaking research, the author provides an intriguing, scholarly, yet highly readable history of these fascinating weapons and the men who made and fought with them. This wonderfully illustrated book displays in spectacular photographs, most of which are in color and many of which have never been published before, the most important samurai weapons of all--various types of long and short swords, polearms, bows and arrows, and firearms--as well as the dramatic forms of head and body armor designed specifically for samurai-versus-samurai combat.

Genres: History, Japan, Martial Arts

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2001

Reviews

[Les Mangis]

Very informative and well written.

[Troy Stirman]

Very in depth history and cultural observations along each line and style of weapon. A must read for a collector or museum curator unsure of how to handle such pieces of art.

[Aaron]

An excellent illustration of various weapons and tools used by the samurai. Sinclair has done his homework researching these and provided highly-detailed pictures. Less emphasis is placed on the "spirit" of the samurai than on the weapons, but he still does a fair job introducing the reader to the topic.

A quick read, heavily illustrated. If you have some interest in the weapons of the era, this will be worth the read.

[Bozo]

Good