Samurai or bushi were members of the warrior class in Japan. Originally provincial warriors who served the Kuge and imperial court in the late 12th century, they eventually came to play a major political role until their abolition in the late 1870s during the Meiji era.
Bushidō is a moral code concerning samurai attitudes, behavior and lifestyle, formalized in the Edo period (1603–1868). There are multiple types of bushido which evolved significantly through history. Contemporary forms of bushido are still used in the social and economic organization of Japan. Bushido is also used as an overarching term for all the codes, practices, philosophies and principles of samurai culture. It is loosely analogous to the European concept of chivalry, but there are major differences.
Jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", it refers to stories that take place before the Meiji Restoration of 1868.
The term makibishi refers to the Japanese version of the caltrop. The tool (igadama) is a sharp spiked object that was used in feudal Japan to slow down pursuers and also was used in the defense of samurai fortifications.
Yasuke was a man of African origin who served as a samurai to the Japanese daimyō Oda Nobunaga between 1581 and 1582, during the Sengoku period, until Nobunaga's death in the Honnō-ji Incident.
Jonathan Maberry is an American suspense author, anthology editor, comic book writer, magazine feature writer, playwright, content creator and writing teacher/lecturer. He was named one of the Today's Top Ten Horror Writers.
Jason Sizemore is an American writer and editor based in Lexington, Kentucky. He is the owner and managing editor of Apex Publications.
Cherie Priest is an American novelist and blogger living in Seattle, Washington.
Thomas Piccirilli was an American novelist, short story writer, editor, and poet, known for his writing in the crime, mystery, and horror genres.
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is a worldwide non-profit organization of professional writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the interests of horror and dark fantasy writers.
Chanbara (チャンバラ), also commonly spelled "chambara", meaning "sword fighting" films, denotes the Japanese film genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to Western and swashbuckler films. Chanbara is a sub-category of jidaigeki, which equates to period drama. Jidaigeki may refer to a story set in a historical period, though not necessarily dealing with a samurai character or depicting swordplay.
Lisa Morton is an American horror author and screenwriter.
A horror fiction magazine is a magazine that publishes primarily horror fiction with the main purpose of frightening the reader. Horror magazines can be in print, on the internet, or both.
Kiuchi Sōgorō(木内 惣五郎), also known as Sakura Sōgorō(佐倉 惣五郎)(1605 – September 1653) was a legendary Japanese farmer whose real family name was Kiuchi. He is said to have appealed directly to the shōgun in 1652 when he was serving as a headman of one of the villages in the Sakura Domain. In the appeal he requested the shōgun to help ease the peasants' burden of heavy taxes and bad crops. But since direct appeals were illegal in those days, he was arrested. It is widely believed that he was executed (crucified) along with his sons in 1653 by the daimyō of his feudal domain. However, no evidence for the existence of the incident has been found, although a farmer named Sōgorō was found listed on the record of the village. The legend of Sakura Sōgorō has been made into numerous stories and plays of kabuki, Jōruri, and so on. In 1851 the play was first staged at Nakamura-za. He is enshrined in Sōgo-reidō of Tōshōji temple in Narita city. He was praised by Fukuzawa Yukichi and in the Freedom and People's Rights Movement and is still admired by many as gimin. Every year on 2 September, there are all-night gatherings in memory of Sōgo-sama at the Sōgo Reidō Sanctuary in Narita.
Maurice Broaddus is an American author who has published fiction across a number of genres including young adult, horror, fantasy and science fiction. Among his books are The Knights of Breton Court urban fantasy trilogy from Angry Robot, the steampunk novel Pimp My Airship from Apex Publications, and the young adult novel The Usual Suspects from HarperCollins. His Afrofuturist space trilogy Astra Black will be released by Tor Books beginning in March, 2022. He has also published dozens of short stories in magazines such as Asimov's Science Fiction, Black Static, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Weird Tales along with anthologies including Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda, The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy and Sunspot Jungle.
Usman T. Malik is a Pakistani speculative fiction author. His short fiction has been published in magazines and books such as The Apex Book of World SF, Nightmare, Strange Horizons, Black Static, and in a number of "year's best" anthologies. He is the first Pakistani to win the Bram Stoker Award for Short Fiction (2014) and has won the British Fantasy Award (2016). He has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award (2016), nominated again for the Stoker Award (2018), has twice been a finalist for the Nebula Award, and has been nominated for multiple Locus Awards.
Yasuke is a Japanese-American original net animation (ONA) series loosely based on the historical figure of the same name, an African warrior who served under Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga during the Sengoku period of samurai conflict in 16th century Japan. Created by LeSean Thomas and animated by Japanese animation studio MAPPA, the series stars Lakeith Stanfield as the titular character. The series was released on Netflix on April 29, 2021.
Assassin's Creed Shadows is an upcoming action role-playing game developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft, set to release in November 2024. The game is the fourteenth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series and the successor to 2023's Assassin's Creed Mirage, as well as the first title to be included in the Assassin's Creed: Infinity platform.
Thomas Lockley is an associate professor of the College of Law of Nihon University, and a visiting researcher for the SOAS University of London. His research in the humanities and social sciences centers on education and history, with a particular emphasis on Japanese history. He is the author of African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan.
