Samurai were not just men; The real face of a samurai in the British Museum

According to ISNA, the samurai exhibition at the British Museum is going to challenge the samurai myths. The exhibit explores a world beyond the armored warriors and epic duels made famous by the noble, sword-wielding heroes of Akira Kurosawa’s classic films and video games. A large part of samurai mythology, even the word “samurai” itself, was created long after their heyday.

The samurai exhibition, which opens in February, will show that, contrary to popular belief as a male-dominated warrior sect, the samurai included trained women, administrators and even warriors.

“Rosina Buckland”, the main curator of the exhibition, said in an interview with the “Guardian” newspaper:

This is the first exhibition that takes a serious look at these myths. Most of the previous exhibitions, as I sometimes jokingly call them, have been about “boy toys”, namely weapons. There have been exhibitions about samurai arts in Japan, but our goal is to show that much of what we believe about samurai is misunderstanding or based on myth.

He recalled that the British Museum had previously organized two exhibitions about samurai swords and explained:

Swords are important, but they are by no means the whole story. This exhibition will be much bigger than anything that has been attempted before; In this exhibition, I want to address how people’s view of samurai has been limited to men in armor with swords in hand, when this is only a small part of their centuries-long history.

Samurais; They were not just warriors

Buckland continued:

The samurai were warriors in the beginning, but there was a balance between the military, literary, and artistic aspects, and that’s a big part of the story. Rediscovering the role of female samurai upends centuries of gender mythmaking and challenges the overly masculine image of samurai still present in movies, anime, and video games.

The samurai originated as mercenaries for the imperial court in the 9th century AD and became powerful and fearsome warriors in the Middle Ages. From the 11th century onwards, they gained political power, and during the long peace after 1615, they became government officials, scholars and patrons of the arts. By the end of the 19th century and with the modernization of Japan, their hereditary status was abolished.

The Samurai exhibition features over 280 works, many of which are being seen in the UK for the first time. Also, the rich collection of the British Museum, which is considered one of the largest collections outside of Japan, will also be used. Due to their delicacy, this collection usually cannot be displayed permanently.

Along with weapons and armor, paintings, woodblock prints, books, clothes and ceramics are also displayed.

Buckland stated that because the samurai were a privileged class, the best and highest quality objects were made for them; said:

The type of clothes of male and female samurai also distinguished them from other classes of society. The most important sign of men was that they were allowed to carry two swords.

Among the prominent works that will be exhibited for the first time is a magnificent armor that was recently purchased by the British Museum. The hat itself and its golden badge, which is shaped like lily leaves and covered with gold leaf, made its owner both special and terrifying.

Buckland said:

Such armor was recycled and remade over the centuries with the stronger parts of the old armor being retained and the more delicate parts, such as the silk sleeves, being remade. Even off the battlefield, armor was a sign of social status.

In one of these works, the oldest part dates back to 1519, while other details were added in the early 19th century.

This exhibition will show that the samurai lived for centuries in a time of peace and thus had plenty of opportunity to pursue their artistic and intellectual interests. The artworks on display cover a variety of subjects, including a cute cat painting by the wife of a samurai lord, to detailed and poetic botanical studies.

Among the works, there is also a fire-extinguishing coat that women wore while serving in Edo Castle.

In the wooden city of Edo, which is called Tokyo today, there were so many fires that people called them “Edo flowers”. The coat’s blue motifs, including tasseled anchors and water waves, symbolize protection against flames.

High-ranking samurai were responsible for announcing the fire alarm, directing the fire extinguishing operation and monitoring the evacuation process.

Noting that the word “samurai” is increasingly used in Japan today, Buckland explained:

It is difficult to determine exactly when foreigners started using this word. This issue goes back a long time. But in Japanese, there are other words to refer to warriors or members of the military class. In fact, samurai literally means something like a subordinate or a subordinate, and has a negative charge in principle, which is why it was not used in the Japanese language itself for a long time. In ancient times, the common word for a warrior was “musha” and in later times, when the samurai dominated everything, they were called “bushi”. To some extent, the Japanese have adopted Western perceptions of the samurai, as this image is useful for the tourism industry.

The “Samurai” exhibition will be held at the British Museum from February 3 to May 4, 2026.