Misconceptions between Samurai’s of Japan and the Knights of Medieval Europe

Two noticeable classes of warriors appeared during the time of feudalism in Europe and in Japan. These were classified as the Samurai's of Japan and the Knights of Medieval Europe. Both were great warriors known for their courage and sacrificed themselves for the protection of their lords. Both were affected by the growth in technology which ultimately guided to their demise. Although the historical documents depict Japanese samurai and medieval knights had the same concept of spending their entire lives preparing for war at a young age, in reality both differed in many ways. Due to the fact that they are in different places in the world they were traditionally and culturally different. The knights and samurai’s followed different religion and they also had different concept of ethical codes. Both samurai and knights were influenced by different code of honor, education, weapons, and armor. Similarity is often drawn between the samurai’s of Japan and European medieval knights, but both are not exactly identical.

While religion played a significant part in Samurai of Japan history, the importance of religion didn't hold in Europe during that time. Samurai practiced Buddhism or Shintoism, while the knights mostly practiced Christianity. The Shinto is a traditional Japanese religion and is based upon ancient traditions and devotion to their culture. It uplifted cooperation among Japanese people for the benefit of the whole nation. To the samurai this was the way of life. They learnt how to focus their mind in a fight and also learned self discipline. While Knights practised catholic religion it was not that important to them yet they still prayed daily. They had to swear loyalty to their lords and god to become a knight. A knight's ...

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... difference in their traditions and values. After further research it is clearly evident that as Europe and Japan are separated by great distance and had no contact with one another for a great many years. This explains the difference in culture and values in the art of warfare. People are deceived through the historical documents as they only look at the similarities between the warriors. Although both may seem similar but in the end the differences are shown through their regional and cultural perspective. It all depends on the individual and their cultural beliefs. Even though we have hypothesized the differences; however their real code and morals are reflected by their culture. The code of the samurai reflected his beliefs and his traditional values in contrast to the code of knight who reflected his loyalty towards his lord and the laws in which he grew up in.