The term "samurai" comes from the Japanese word saburau, meaning "to serve," and was first used in A.D. 702 to describe mid-to-low-ranking court administrators and, later, armed imperial guards.

This module focuses on Japan’s medieval period, including the Kamakura (1185-1333), the Muromachi (1336-1573), and the Momoyama (1573-1603) shogunates. Photograph ...

MINAMISOMA, Fukushima -- Decades-long rules banning the participation of most women in the traditional Soma Nomaoi festival held annually in and around this northeast Japan city are being debated ...

OTSU--A 30-meter-long stone wall and a moat were unearthed at the site of the castle belonging to the 16th-century samurai general who betrayed ... the verge of unifying Japan.