While most people are familiar with the samurai as the dangerous Japanese fighters, few people realize that while originated in 900 A.D., they continued their way of life in to the early 1900s.  After Japan opened up its ports, photographers were lucky enough to capture some stunning portraits of the Samurai in the 1860's and 1870's.  These photos were then hand-colored.  This collection comes courtesy of the Universal History Archive and Getty Images. 

 

A proud samurai displays his fighting armor in 1881

A group of samurai men pose in full warrior garb in 1900.  This studio would be the place where many of the following photos of these brave warriors were taken.

 

Here's an earlier photo of three warriors in armor in 1880, twenty years before the photo above

One of the earlier photos of two samurai warriors in training gear in 1865.  It's amazing to think that a world away, we were in the middle of the Civil War fighting with weapons that were ages more modern.

 

Another photo from 1865 captures two samurai in what was called firefighter dress.

An elder samurai poses in 1864.  Talk about an amazing photo:  killer sword at the ready in the left hand and a delicate fan in the right.

 

Another interesting photo showing a samurai warrior with a fan in his right hand.

Samurai warrior in 1867.  We haven't been able to uncover the purpose of his headdress.  Please write to us if you know the purpose it served.

 

While we had young bugle boys in the U.S. Army at the time, the samurai had a similar idea, but they used horns fashioned from large conch shells found on the shore. 

Another one of our favorite photos, this 1877 portrait shows a young samurai in fighting armor with the well-known pulled-back hair knot.  

 

This photo may be a bit over-colored, but it is valuable to get a sense of what the highest-honored samurai wore.  Here you see a combination of fighting gear with fine silk robes.  We can also get a better look at their weaponry in this photo.  Notice the long bows and quivers in the back right and the metal helmet on the left. 

If you liked this photo collection, hit "share" below to pass it on to friends...

 

 

 

Next Article