The true story of a mysterious Japanese samurai

Their playbook for managing state affairs was based on Chinese philosophy, primarily the ideas of Confucius. “In Neo-Confucian thought, you have to have a balance between military power and cultural skill,” says Buckland. The result was increased investment in soft power in the incense-filled court rooms.

Trustees of the British Museum

Besides being skilled in the art of war, samurai became familiar with the arts of painting, poetry, musical performance, theater, and tea ceremonies. The fan depicting orchids, painted by a 19th-century samurai artist, is one of the most beautiful and unexpected items in the exhibition.

Shōgun, a Disney/FX series currently in production on its second season, provides a fictional account of one of the turning points in samurai history. In the 16th century, a clan leader, Tokugawa Ieyasu (portrayed by the fictional Yoshi Toranaga in the series), established a government that was so successful that it lasted for 250 years.

This meant that there were no longer major battles within Japan, and samurai took on new roles. Instead of organizing the battlefield, they now run the country. “It’s the ministers, the legislators, the tax collectors,” says Buckland. They took up jobs that spread throughout the court, “down to being guards at the castle gates.”