A samurai with his
sword and
armor, photographed by
Felice Beato
c. 1860. The samurai, records of which date back to the early 10th-century Kokin Wakashū, were the military nobility of
medieval and
early-modern Japan. As Japan modernized during the
Meiji period beginning in the late 1860s, the samurai lost much of their power, and the status was ultimately dissolved. However,
samurai values remain common in Japanese society.Photograph:
Felice Beato