Ronin: Did you mean...?

The ronin attack the principal gate of Kira's mansion, by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), Act XI, Scene 2 of the Chushingura.

The samurai (also bushi) were a class of warriors that arose in the 10th century in Japan and which performed military service until the 19th century. Elite and highly-trained soldiers adept at using both the bow and sword, the samurai were...

The Edo period refers to the years from 1603 until 1868 when the Tokugawa family ruled Japan. The era is named after the city of Edo, modern-day Tokyo, where the Tokugawa shogunate had its government. It is also sometimes referred to as the...

Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1646-1709) governed Japan as the fifth shogun of the Edo period (1603-1876). He has often been ridiculed as the 'dog shogun' because of the laws he enacted to protect the lives of animals. Economically, however, the period...

Kanadehon Chushingura (A Treasury of Loyalty of Loyal Retainers or The Story of the Forty-Seven Samurai) is the most popular play in the history of Japanese theatre, first performed in 1748. It is a work of fiction, but the details of the...

The story of the forty-seven samurai is a well-known tale not only in Japan but also around the world. There are many different versions but the plot always revolves around a group of warriors carrying out a vendetta in order to get revenge...

This video details the historic site of a Yayoi village in Japan believed to be one of the first (if not the first) Yayoi period village in Japan dating to 300 BCE.

At Kotohiragu Shrine a small shrine in Tokyo, they have a small festival with a small parade of the Shichifukujin, the Seven Lucky Gods of Japan. Hatsu Konpira is the shrine's first fair of the new year so the parade of the seven lucky gods...

Feudal Japan Medieval Regent Figurehead Shinto Clan Court Zen Buddhism Daimyo Samurai Shogun Bushido Ronin Wako Kana system Za Kamikaze