Samurai warriors had several privileges. They were allowed to wear two swords - a long one and a short one. Commoners were not allowed to wear any weapons at all. At a certain period samurai warriors were even allowed to behead a commoner who had offended them. Peasants on the other hand were expected to abide by the instructions or orders given by the Samurai.
Powerful feudal lords had ravaged Japan in a series of civil wars lasting for roughly 100 years. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi could finally unify Japan, he introduced a series of reforms thus changing the life of the samurai class. He made the samurai live permanently in castles. Until then they were farming their own land during peacetime. It was like the change from an army of draftees to an army of professionals. To finance the system, Toyotomi Hideyoshi introduced a rice taxation system under which every samurai warrior received a certain amount of rice depending on his rank.
The samurai warriors had an ethic code of behavior called bushido, meaning "way of the warrior". The central point of the bushido was complete loyalty towards the lord, the daimyo.
Belonging to the Japanese samurai class was a hereditary membership.
-Justin Ong
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