The word samurai (earlier saburai; derived from samurau/saburau, “to serve”, “to wait on”) refers today in general to members of the warrior class in early modern Japan. Until the Heian period (794-1192), saburai were servants of the nobles at the imperial court. Only in the centuries after that did the word acquire an increasing military connotation. In early modern Japanese literature, bushi was the usual term for members of the warrior caste (it is fami…