At the British Museum in London, a major exhibition is devoted to the samurai, one of the most enduring and misunderstood figures in Japanese history. The show spans more than a thousand years of political, social and cultural developments, moving beyond the iconic image of the armoured warrior to reveal the complexity of a class that profoundly shaped Japan’s past. The exhibition traces the emergence of the bushi from the medieval period, when the samurai rose as a military elite in the service of powerful clans, through to the long era of peace of the Edo Period. During this time their role changed radically: from fighters they became administrators, officials, scholars and guardians of a social order based on ethical codes and ritual practices. The exhibition highlights this transformation, showing how samurai identity was the result of continual adaptation rather than a fixed and unchanging tradition. Through a wide range of objects, including armour, helmets, weapons, clothing, textiles, ceremonial artefacts and works of art, the exhibition explores the daily life of the samurai and their relationship with power, culture and self-representation. The armour, often assembled from elements dating to different periods, reveals a history shaped by inheritance, reuse and symbolism rather than purely by military function. Alongside these objects, less familiar aspects emerge, linked to aesthetic taste, collecting, and the samurai’s role as patrons and producers of culture. A significant section is devoted to the presence of women within the samurai class. Far from being an exclusively male world, the exhibition shows how women held active roles, from managing estates to armed defence, contributing to the continuity of families and power structures. This perspective broadens the understanding of a society far more complex than traditional narratives suggest. The exhibition also addresses the modern construction of the samurai myth. Values such as honour, discipline and loyalty, often condensed in the concept of bushidō, are examined as historical products, reshaped and simplified especially between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The exhibition links history with its global reception, showing how cinema, literature, fashion and popular culture have helped to fix a powerful but partial image of the samurai. Without resorting to spectacle, the exhibition offers a critical and well-documented reading of a figure that continues to exert a strong global fascination. At the British Museum, the samurai emerge not as timeless icons, but as protagonists of a complex history marked by political, social and cultural change.
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