Samurai is a warrior class in Japan mostly associated with upper or middle class. Term is firstly started to be used by Japanese military. It was near 790 AD. They mostly used to keep safe their masters and in some periods, they are used by governments. They were skilled in using arrow, bow and spear. Also they had a special sword which is called as Samurai Sword then. Ninjas were also the warriors which can be hire by poor people. They were the warriors solving the social problems and economic problems in the community. How many differences are there between Ninja and Samurai warriors?
Main difference between Samurai and Ninja warriors is their class in the community. Samurai warriors are often called as high class warriors. Their wear style was different than other Japanese military service. They were used by rich people or community managers first but then governments used them and they took the way to be mafia members. On the other hand, Ninjas were popular to solve social problems like money problems or other social conflicts. It was not possible to hire a Samurai by a poor people but Ninjas were possible to be hired. They were not loyal to their hirers like Samurais for a long time and it was only possible to hire them for solving a problem.
Ninjas and Samurai’s were skilled in different combat and weapon types. A samurai was the master of arrows, bows and spears. Also after B.C, they started to use special sword which is known as Samurai sword. Samurai was the perfect warrior on the hand to hand fight. Ninjas mostly used their unique weapons like Ninja Star. Samurais were mostly attacking in big groups and were not using the methods like sneaking. Ninjas used special techniques to kill their enemies. Their main technique was sneaking and attacking. With these abilities, Ninjas are used for espionage works in their period.
Samurai and Ninja wore different suites. A samurai was used by upper class and they were full of wealthy symbols and armor. There were metal plates on their head, legs and arms. Ninjas were wearing a special dress called as Ninja-yoroi. It was a black dress covering whole body. Samurais were well-known warriors by community and they don’t need to be hidden but Ninjas had to be hidden because of their secret missions. Because of these dressing styles, Samurais were slower than Ninjas in the combat.
When a Samurai is killed, it was possible to see that his owner or friends search the killer because they live in groups but if a Ninja is killed, no one searches its past. It was a tradition that when a ninja is killed, no one was opening his face because of his identity, children and wife. Both classes were rarely married. It was possible to see that some upper class master Samurai’s were getting retired after 60 years old but it was not possible for Ninjas.
Samurai and Ninja combat culture combined in the Modern Martial arts. Especially Samurai culture’s combat systems affected the Modern Martial Arts.
It’s rare that a Samurai became a legend on the community but there are many Ninjas succeeded to be a legendary warrior. Some of the legendary Ninjas in the Japan culture are Kumawakamaru, Yagyū Muneyoshi, Hattori Hanzō and Ishikawa Goemon. Especially Hattori Hanzō became the worldwide popular Ninja master and it’s used as a character in many Hollywood and Japan movies. Especially Kill Bill movie of Quentin Tarantino used the Hattori Hanzo character as a hero.
