P1+Swords,+Armor+and+Bows

=P1 Swords Armor and Bows= Bryce P. Jilly E.


 * Swords**

The most famous and feared weapon of the Samurai was their sword. The sword was a deadly weapon of precision, and the intricate dragon designs of the sword were to show its power to allies and enemies, like in __The Ghost in the Tokiado Inn__, when Seiki suddenly knew the sword of Tomomi was real and not a play acting sword when he saw the designs on it. To make one of these beautiful and powerful weapons took a sword smith at least one entire month. A samurai usually carried two swords on their belt. The long sword, the Katana, was the samurai’s weapon for battle. It was a slashing weapon that was swung through the air and never stopped moving until the end of the battle. Some samurai however, used an Odachi instead, a sword with only a sharp tip, and dull edges. It could be used for breaking horse’s legs and bludgeoning opponents as well as stabbing. The second sword, the Wakizazi, was used for the ritual suicide, seppuku, which a samurai committed when he was about to lose a battle or his honor was disgraced beyond repair. The samurai who used them needed protection from their own deadly swords because when in battle, they often fought other samurai. The only solution to this problem was armor.


 * Armor**

In times of war, the samurai needed to wear armor. Samurai wore a helmet, a face mask, shoulder pads, a breast plate; shin guards, shoes and two swords. The swords that the samurai carried were a long sword called Odachi or a Katana. The Katana was sharp on both the tip and the edges. It was used for slashing at enemies. The Odachi was dull on the sides and had a sharp tip. It was used for bludgeoning enemies and breaking horse’s legs. The samurai also carried a short sword called Wakizazi. It was used for the ritual suicide samurai committed rather than shame their honor called seppuku. All swords were highly decorated like Tomomi’s in __The Ghost in the Tokiado Inn.__ This shows the user’s power to enemies and friends. The armor was made out of a combination of leather, iron, bamboo, and silk. A single suit of armor took an armor smith over a year to make. The samurai armor was very strong, and its protection was very important when in battle.


 * Castle Defense**

In the civil war, daimyos built castles to defend their land, but when their enemies struck, they needed protection. The daimyos were very important people. They were the leaders of their clans, like Lord Hakuseiki in __The Ghost in the Tokiado Inn__. Most castles had floors called nightingale floors, which creaked no matter where you stepped on them. This would alert guards that someone was in the hallway, and help them to kill an assassin before he made it to the daimyo. On a larger scale, the castles took measures to stop large armies from capturing the castle. They often built tall, formidable walls that bottlenecked an army into numerous gatehouses, all of which were guarded. The walls could not be scaled because there was usually someone dropping stones on them from above. Also, in the passages on the way between the gatehouses, there would be protected slits in the wall where defenders could rain arrow after arrow onto the attacking army. The warriors to do all of this, on both sides, were the samurai.


 * Samurai**

Samurai were guards that guarded the border of Japan for the Emperor. Samurai also rode on horseback when in battle or traveling on the road. The sword of a samurai was his prized possession. If a samurai lost his sword in a fight the samurai would have to kill himself through a ritual suicide called seppuku. Seppuku would allow a samurai to die, but still preserve his honor. A samurai had to be prepared to die at any time for his master. They were also not permitted to question the orders of any of the daimyos they served under. Daimyos were leaders of local clans, and deserved very high degrees of respect. All of Japan was focused heavily around religion. The religion of the samurai was called Shinto.


 * Religion**

Shinto was the only religion of Japan until Buddhism came over to Japan from India. Both Shinto and Zen Buddhism worship Kami. Kami are the spirits that live in every object in nature. Shinto shrines were built in natural settings so that they could worship these Kami. Buddhism believed that a person was born over and over again in a process called rebirth. If the person lived a good life, their next life would be a good one too. Buddhists also believed in meditating. Meditating is the act of focusing the mind on one thing and nothing else for hours at a time. It was intended to make people feel close to god and their ancestors. When people walked into a shrine in Shinto, they walked under a torii and entered a wash station .In Shinto, people had to be clean to go pray. This meant religiously clean, not physically clean.


 * Bows**

The samurai bow was a less famous weapon, but still very powerful and worthy of fear. The bow could pierce armor from 10 to 15 meters away. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to use because it was often shot from horseback, and required much training to master. Older samurai bows were made from entire sapling trees or from strips of wood cut from larger trees. As the bow developed, however, they began to be made from bamboo. This caused bow makers to move to the center of Japan, where the best bamboo grew. Bamboo caused the bow to flex easier, and have a much more powerful shot. The samurai bow was also different from the composite bow because of its size. Most samurai bows were seven feet long, and they were held towards the bottom, not the middle, to prevent breaking. Since bows could fight enemies from a longer distance, they were good for use in castles, to stop invaders. The samurai and their weapons were very tightly linked together along with religion.

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"a original Japanese samurai sword- katana" .[].[ 2-21-11]. Image.

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