From medieval beginnings, the samurai have inspired art, fiction and films, from shōgun to star wars.. The samurai (also bushi) were a class of warriors that arose in the 10th century in japan and which performed military service until the 19th century.
The term samurai was originally used to denote the aristocratic warriors, but it came to apply to all the members of the warrior class that rose to power in.. The samurai used a range of weapons, however their main original weapon was the sword, known as chokuto.