The Samurai Encyclopedia - by Constantine Nomikos Vaporis (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A captivating and comprehensive guide to Japan's elite class of warriors--revised and updated with over 70 color photographs!

The Samurai played a leading role in Japanese society for centuries, and this is the first encyclopedia to showcase the fascinating history and culture of these enigmatic warriors. With a new foreword by Samurai scholar and martial arts expert Alexander Bennet and over 70 new color photographs, this newly designed edition offers the most comprehensive and enticing collection of Samurai information available today.

This book contains 171 highly detailed alphabetical entries and essays on a broad variety of intriguing topics, including the following:

• Samurai weapons and armor, including the fearsome katana sword
• Famous Samurai including Miyamoto Musashi, Japan's greatest swordsman; Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate; and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a unifier of Japan and notorious persecutor of Christians in the 16th century
• The Battle of Sekigahara, the largest battle ever to take place in Japan, and the Boshin War, which led to the fall of the shogunate and restoration of imperial power
• The Bushido code--the legendary Samurai code of chivalry and honor

The new foreword by renowned Samurai historian Alexander Bennett provides expert insights into the lives and philosophy of the Samurai. Also included are many informative sidebars, suggestions for further reading, a selection of primary sources, and over 125 illustrations.

Review Quotes

"...an excellent reference book that tries to separate the mythology of the samurai from the historical samurai." --San Francisco Book Review

"Constantine Nomikos Vaporis has written an interesting collection of short encyclopedia-style essays about samurai in Edo period Japan for general readers." --World History Encyclopedia

"The Samurai played a leading role in Japanese society for centuries, and this is the first encyclopedia to showcase the fascinating history and culture of these enigmatic warriors." --University of Maryland newsletter

"Nearly 30 pages of primary source documents offer excerpts or full text...An extensive index and selected bibliography aid ease of use and further study, and illustrations and portraits bring the text to life....Highly recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates through faculty." --L.K. Miller, formerly, Western Kentucky University Libraries

"Reference materials on the elite Japanese warriors with a legendary code of individual honor and pride are few and far between.... This comprehensive collection of information on the history of the Samurai will be a welcome addition to academic and public libraries." --Maren Ostergard, Booklist

"This reference work by a cutting-edge academic is exceptional. As a single-authored encyclopedia with entries of uniform quality and lots of rare photographs, it fills a glaring educational need among students and general readers. Vaporis vividly conveys what life was like for samurai in the period 1568 to 1871. His breadth, judiciousness, and reliability of factual coverage, as well as his concise, enjoyable style, are superb for popularizing without watering down the material in a way that specialists will find enlightening." --Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi, Emeritus Professor of History, York University

"Vaporis has accomplished what no scholar has before: a thorough, reliable encyclopedia of samurai culture and history useful for students, scholars, and casual readers alike. A classic that won't be surpassed anytime soon." --Professor Michael Wert, Marquette University

"Vaporis has assembled an enormous amount of information---much of it heretofore unavailable in English--and presented it in an engaging and accessible format... I recommend it enthusiastically."--Karl Friday (Saitama University) review in Monumenta Nipponica

About the Author

Constantine Nomikos Vaporis is a professor of history at the University of Maryland, Baltimore where he teaches Japanese and East Asian History. He has received prestigious research fellowships including a Fulbright Scholar's Award and an NEH grant. His books include Breaking Barriers: Travel and the State in Early Modern Japan and Tour of Duty: Samurai, Military Service in Edo and the Culture of Early Modern Japan. He recently collaborated with TedEd to produce an educational animated short film entitled "A Day in the Life of a Teenage Samurai."

Alexander Bennett is a professor of Japanese history and Budo theory at Kansai University. He co-founded and continues to publish Kendo World, the first English-language journal dedicated to Kendo. He holds black belts in several martial disciplines including Kendo Kyoshi 7-dan, Iaido 5-dan, and Naginata 5-dan. His published works include The Complete Musashi: The Book of Five Rings and Other Works and Hagakure: The Secret Wisdom of the Samurai.