This is a pair of traditional Japanese style "Warrior Pants" pants made exclusively for Mystic Clothing customers. The fabric is 100% cotton making these pants extremely comfortable and with the stylish calligraphy image adorning the front, these pants exude a powerful presence of style and refinement. Also important to note is that the manufacture of these pants (and other our other shirts and pants in this style) makes their garments with thick (at times) hand-loomed cotton that is REALLY comfortable as well as long lasting. The manufacturer is a friend of ours and runs a small but detailed operation wherein quality is considered more important than quantity. Every piece has been passed through a rigorous inspection process by their QC team which really does a great job of maintaining a high standard. If you like Asian clothing, we now have a large assortment to choose from in our store right now.

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More about Japanese Samurai

Samurai was a term for the military nobility in pre-industrial Japan. The word 'samurai' is deduced from the archaic Japanese verb 'samorau', changed to 'saburau' , meaning 'to serve'; a samurai is the servant of a lord.

It is believed that mounted warriors, archers, and foot-soldiers in the sixth century may have formed a proto-samurai. Following a disastrous military engagement with Tang China and Silla, Japan underwent widespread reforms. A single of the most noticeable was that of the Taika Reform, issued by Prince Naka no O-e (Emperor Tenji) in 646 AD. This edict introduced Chinese cultural practices and administrative techniques all through the Japanese aristocracy and bureaucracy. As part of the Yo-ro- Code, and the later Taiho- Code, of 702 AD, the population was required to report regularly for census, which was used as a precursor for national conscription. With an understanding of how the population was distributed, Emperor Mommu introduced the law whereby 1 in 3-4 adult males were drafted into the national military. These soldiers were required to supply their own weapons, and in return were exempted from duties and taxes.

In the early Heian period, the late 8th and early 9th centuries, Emperor Kammu sought to consolidate and expand his rule in northern Honshu-, but the armies he sent to conquer the rebellious Emishi lacked motivation and discipline, and were unable to prevail. Emperor Kammu introduced the title of Seiitaishogun or shogun, and began to rely on the powerful regional clans to conquer the Emishi. Skilled in mounted combat and archery (kyudo, ??), these clan warriors became the emperor's preferred tool for putting down rebellions. Although these warriors could have been educated, at this time (7th to 9th century) the Imperial court officials considered them to be little more than barbarians.

Ultimately, Emperor Kammu disbanded his army, and from this time the emperor's power gradually declined . While the emperor was still the ruler, powerful clans around Kyoto assumed positions as ministers, and their relatives paid for positions as magistrates. To amass wealth and repay their debts, magistrates not seldom imposed heavy taxes, resulting in many farmers becoming landless. As the threat of robbery rose, the clans began recruiting these exiles in the Kanto plains. Because of their intense training in the martial arts, they proved to be effective guards. Small numbers would accompany tax collectors and, merely by their presence, deter thieves and bandits from attacking. They were saburai, armed retainers, yet their advantage of being the sole armed party speedily became apparent. Through protective agreements and political marriages, they accumulated political power, eventually surpassing the traditional aristocracy.

Some clans were originally formed by farmers who had taken up arms to protect themselves from the imperial magistrates sent to govern their lands and collect taxes. These clans formed alliances to protect themselves against more powerful clans, and by the mid-Heian period they had adopted characteristic Japanese armor and weapons, and laid the foundations of Bushido, their ethical code.

After the 11th century, samurai were expected to be cultured and literate, and they lived up to the ancient saying "Bun Bu Ryo Do" (lit. literary arts, military arts, both ways) or "The pen and the sword in accord." An early term for warrior, "Uruwashii", was written with a kanji that combined the characters for literary study ("bun" ?) and military arts ("bu" ?), and is mentioned in the Heike Monogatari (late 12th century). The Heike Monogatari makes reference to the educated poet-swordsman ideal in its mention of Taira no Tadanori's death:

"Pals and foes alike wet their sleeves with tears and said, 'What a pity! Tadanori was a fantastic general, pre-eminent in the arts of both sword and poetry.' "

According to William Scott Wilson in his book Ideals of the Samurai: "The warriors in the Heike Monogatari served as models for the educated warriors of later generations, and the ideals depicted by them were not assumed to be beyond reach. Rather, these ideals were vigorously pursued in the upper echelons of warrior society and recommended as the proper form of the Japanese man of arms. With the Heike Monogatari, the image of the Japanese warrior in literature came to its full maturity." Wilson then translates the writings of many warriors who mention the Heike Monogatari as an example for their men to follow.

Originally these warriors were merely mercenaries in the employ of the emperor and noble clans (kuge, ??), but slowly they gathered enough power to usurp the aristocracy and establish the first samurai-dominated government.

As regional clans gathered manpower and resources and struck alliances with each other, they formed a hierarchy centered around a toryo, or chief. This chief was typically a distant relative of the emperor, and a lesser member of one of 3 noble families (the Fujiwara, Minamoto, or the Taira). Though originally sent to provincial areas for a fixed four year term as a magistrate, the toryo declined to return to the capital when their terms ended, and their sons inherited their positions and continued to lead the clans in putting down rebellions all through Japan during the center and later Heian period.

Because of their rising military and economic power, the clans ultimately became a freshly force in the politics of the court. Their involvement in the Ho-gen Rebellion in the late Heian period consolidated their power, and finally pitted the rival Minamoto and the Taira clans against each other, in the Heiji Rebellion of 1160. Emerging victorious, Taira no Kiyomori became an imperial advisor, the first warrior to attain such a position, and eventually seized control of the central government, establishing the 1st samurai-dominated government and relegating the emperor to figurehead status. However, the Taira clan was still completely conservative in comparison with its eventual successor, the Minamoto, and instead of expanding or strengthening its military might, the Taira clan had its women marry emperors and attempted to exercise control through the emperor.

The Taira and the Minamoto clashed again in 1180, beginning the Gempei War which ended in 1185. The victorious Minamoto no Yoritomo established the superiority of the samurai over the aristocracy. In 1190 he visited Kyoto and in 1192 became Seii Taishogun, establishing the Kamakura Shogunate or Kamakura Bakufu. Instead of ruling from Kyoto, he set up the Shogunate in Kamakura, near his base of power. "Bakufu" means tent government, taken from the encampments the soldiers would live in, in accordance with the Bakufu's status as a military government.

Over time, powerful samurai clans became warrior nobility (buke), who were only nominally under the court aristocracy. When the samurai began to adopt aristocratic pastimes indulge in calligraphy, poetry and music, some court aristocrats in turn began to adopt samurai customs. In spite of various machinations and brief periods of rule by various emperors, real power was this moment in the hands of the shogun and the samurai.

Various samurai clans struggled for power over the Kamakura and Ashikaga Shogunates.

Zen Buddhism spread among samurai in the 13th century and helped to shape their standards of conduct, particularly overcoming fear of death and killing, but among the general populace Pure Land Buddhism was favored.

In 1274, the Yuan Dynasty (Mongol Empire) sent a force of some 40,000 men and 900 ships to invade Japan in northern Kyu-shu-. Japan mustered a mere 10,000 Samurai to meet this threat. The invading army was harassed by major thunderstorms throughout the invasion, which aided the defenders by inflicting heavy casualties. The Yuan army was eventually recalled and the invasion called off. This invasion was noteworthy because the Mongol invaders used little, exploding bombs, which was favorable the 1st appearance of bombs and gun powder in Japan.

The Japanese defenders recognized the possibility of a renewed invasion, and began construction of a fantastic, stone barrier around Hakata Bay in 1276. Completed in 1277, this wall stretched for 20 kilometers around the border of the bay. This would later serve as a strong defensive point against the Mongols. The Mongols attempted to settle matters in a diplomatic way from 1275 to 1279. Each envoy that was sent to Japan was executed, and this time set the stage for a single of the almost all famous engagements in Japanese history.

In 1281, a Yuan army of 140,000 men with 4,400 ships was mustered for a renewed invasion of Japan. Northern Kyu-shu- was defended by a Japanese army of 40,000 men. The Mongol army was still on its ships arranging for the landing operation when a typhoon hit north Kyu-shu- island. The casualties and damage inflicted by the typhoon, followed by the Japanese defense of the Hakata Bay barrier, resulted in the Mongols again recalling their armies.

The thunderstorms of 1274 and the typhoon of 1281 helped the Samurai defenders of Japan repel the Mongol invaders despite being vastly outnumbered. These winds became known as kami-no-kaze, which literally translates as "wind of the gods." This is regularly given a simplified translation as "divine wind." The kami-no-kaze lent credence to the Japanese belief that their lands were indeed divine and under supernatural protection.

In the 14th century, a blacksmith called Masamune developed a two-layer structure of soft and hard steel for make use of in swords. This structure gave bountiful improved cutting power and endurance, and the production technique led to Japanese swords (katana) being recognized as some of the almost all potent hand weapons of pre-industrial East Asia. A lot swords made using this technique were exported across the East China Sea, a few making their way as far as India.

Issues of inheritance caused family infighting as primogeniture became normal, in contrast to the division of succession designated by law before the 14th century. To sidestep infighting, invasion of neighboring samurai's territories was normal and bickering among samurai was a constant problem for the Kamakura and Ashikaga Shogunates.

The Sengoku jidai ("warring-states period") was marked by the loosening of samurai culture with people born into other social strata sometimes making names for themselves as warriors and thus becoming de facto samurai. In this turbulent period, bushido ethics became influential factors in controlling and maintaining public order.

Japanese war tactics and technologies improved rapidly in the 15th and 16th century. Apply of big numbers of infantry called ashigaru ("light-foot", due to their light armour), formed of humble warriors or ordinary the population with Naga