From Boy to Man: The Life of a Samurai
             Becoming a Samurai is a selective process that begins as an infant growing into
             a man and forming into a warrior. The traditional Samurai warrior first
             appeared in 646A.D. It lasted until 1867A.D. The word "Samurai" is taken from
             the verb samurau, which means, "to serve". The word, Samurai, was used in the
             early Middle Ages in Japan to indicate the soldiers on guard duty at the
             emperor's palace. The Samurai made up a leading class in Japanese society. The
             Samurai consisted of about 6% of the population. The Samurai went through a
             grueling training process. They were trained in "the way of the bow and horse".
             They were skilled archers who fought on horseback. The Samurai were Japan's
             central source of power. It was continuous for hundreds of years. Towards the
             1800s, the Samurai's power began to decline. They were without jobs, homes, and
             even their most prized possession, the sword. They had to sell all their
             possessions to make enough money to feed themselves each day. Poverty had
             struck the Samurai and Japan as a whole. The reason behind this is that buying
             weapons and making armor for Japan's warriors was costly. Enough to put Japan
             into debt. Then the powerful force of the westerners came onto Japan's soil.
             They introduced a new religion to Japan, Christianity. Christianity was a
             strange new religion for them. Soon Christian banners and large wooden crosses
             began appearing on the walls. Shinto, Japan's main religion started to fall and
             Christianity began to rise. This marked the end of the Samurai's military role
             in Japan. The Samurai era eventually died out. The Samurai's life is an
             enduring process of training, praying, and protecting from birth until death.
             In Japan, the idea that a baby had been born was kept a close secret, even
             though the neighborhood knew about it. The reason was, many babies had died at
             birth or...