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The Meiji Restoration of 1868 took power from the warlords that had been the de facto rulers of Japan and consolidated it under the Emperor Meiji. With the Restoration came many changes, including the creation of a modern, western-style, conscripted army in 1873. The famous Samurai, who despite making up only 10% of the Japanese population, and who wielded a tremendous amount of power, lost their right to be the nation's only armed force, and eventually, even their right to wear a sword in public.
In honour of these noble warriors, Bored Panda has collected this list of coloured Samurai photographs, all taken between 1863 and 1900, in the twilight years of the Samurai's reign. As it's unlikely that any of you are Samurai, this list is closed, but you can still vote on your favourite photo!
More info: Amazon.com (h/t: demilked, fubiz)
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#1
LoriDuchrow 9 years ago
I didn't know there were samurai women. I looked it up and this is a fun tidbit that I found: With their husbands in combat almost continuously, 16th century samurai women provided for the defense of their homes and children. Their wartime roles included washing and preparing the decapitated bloody heads of the enemy, which were presented to the victorious generals. Like their samurai husbands, personal honor was paramount for samurai women. They carried small daggers and were always prepared to die to maintain their honor and family name. http://www.pbs.org/empires/japan/tokaido_6.html
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#3
ElainaAllen-Velando 9 years ago
He looks ill..face is a tad emaciated. Otherwise a wonderful photo.
#5
GonçaloMartins 9 years ago
"Beware of an old man in a profession where men usually die young."
#8
BeluaqSoul 9 years ago
Imagining how fast a samurai moved without those heavy attire. Must be awesomely fast
#14
Kenshin Tomoshima 9 years ago
I doubt you could do any better. In fact, i challenge you to colorize a b&w photo and come up with results that don't look sad, sloppy and amateur next to this.
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SusannaVesna 9 years ago
I wish they did not attempt to colour the photos! Leaving it in its vintage grey would have been good enough.
AmmieHarrison 9 years ago
The color was done contemporary to the time period, which was on a tintype because they did not have color film. It was not done in the present day.
Paul Archer 9 years ago
The Japanese hand colourists were revered as some of the finest artists in the land as they could bring to life a black and white photograph. Sadly, when colour film came along they were out of a job almost overnight. I am trying to revitalise the art which can be seen on my FB page Paul Archer.
Esther Fuerster 9 years ago
The apparent stoicism. The picture is brilliant. It's fascinating to think that it took a split second to unleash a set of finest skills aimed at killing a person.
Marty BlackEagle-Carl 9 years ago
very good for coloring done about 150 years ago. (before color film). and surviving this long.
BarnabyBurten-Shaw 9 years ago
I don't think it's a horrible colouring job... It's authentic photo colouring from the time as those who are familiar with early photo colouring techniques will know... I think it adds a certain undefineable charm!
Laurie Patton 9 years ago
Your comments can be knowledgeable without being critical.
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S M 5 years ago
It was done at the time of the photo and was the best they had a the time. By today’s standards, it’s not very good, but it was good for back then and if it wasn’t coloured, what it really looked like would be lost to us now.
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JaclinSullivan-Scholey 9 years ago
I have enjoyed these pictures and am thankful to have been able to view them they were an awesome people with much honour - I am sorry that so many had nothing but negative foolish responses to these ancient pictures. Thank You for sharing them.
#18
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What do you think ?
-- 9 years ago
They still exist (descendants of the original Iga and Kōga clans), but they nowadays give tours in their old home compounds which are loaded with traps and escape passages
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LaniO'Donnell 9 years ago
Beautiful and interesting to look at it. Still, these photos were staged for a Western audience, and many of the details such as the tattoo were painted on after the fact (and are not in fact tattooed on the models). I think this speaks more to Western perspectives of Samurai during the early Meiji period as opposed to real samurai culture at this point. But again, I do like the aesthetic.
BarnabyBurten-Shaw 9 years ago
I disagree... I don't know why you should imagine these photographs were staged principally for a 'western audience'... And tattoos were indeed, during certain periods of samurai history, very much a part of samurai culture, and ceromonial practice.
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JeanneDeaux 9 years ago
These pictures were beautiful but Csomai Zsuzsanna's comments were the most interesting part of the article as she knows quite a lot about samurais.
Arty 9 years ago
sorry, though it was some kind of modern recolouring, apparently it's not.
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Ben Fletcher 7 years ago
Wonderful photos and most likely Yokohama studio portraits of the 1880s and 1890s for Western tourists at the time. Photographs prior to the Meiji Restoration are fairly rare as Japan was closed to the West prior and photography had only recently been introduced to Japan. You can view more at www.photosofjapan.com if you are interested and yes the tattoos are real, just hand-coloured to bring the albumen prints to life :) samurai2-5...084158.jpg 
melonbar monster 8 years ago
Chinese, Korean term for Japan is Wa(倭). Slightly derogatory term for Japanese in Korean is wae-nom = short bastards.
melonbar monster 8 years ago
Slightly derogatory Korean term for Japanese was/is "wae nom" = short bastards.
Aley 9 years ago
Can someone educate me on the types of clothes and armor they wore please? How could one maneuver in all the metal?
-- 9 years ago
Actually the metal prevented samurai from making certain movements like bending the elbow a certain way
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-- 9 years ago
They still exist (descendants of the original Iga and Kōga clans), but they nowadays give tours in their old home compounds which are loaded with traps and escape passages
Load More Replies... LaniO'Donnell 9 years ago
Beautiful and interesting to look at it. Still, these photos were staged for a Western audience, and many of the details such as the tattoo were painted on after the fact (and are not in fact tattooed on the models). I think this speaks more to Western perspectives of Samurai during the early Meiji period as opposed to real samurai culture at this point. But again, I do like the aesthetic.
BarnabyBurten-Shaw 9 years ago
I disagree... I don't know why you should imagine these photographs were staged principally for a 'western audience'... And tattoos were indeed, during certain periods of samurai history, very much a part of samurai culture, and ceromonial practice.
Load More Replies... JeanneDeaux 9 years ago
These pictures were beautiful but Csomai Zsuzsanna's comments were the most interesting part of the article as she knows quite a lot about samurais.
Arty 9 years ago
sorry, though it was some kind of modern recolouring, apparently it's not.
Load More Replies... Ben Fletcher 7 years ago
Wonderful photos and most likely Yokohama studio portraits of the 1880s and 1890s for Western tourists at the time. Photographs prior to the Meiji Restoration are fairly rare as Japan was closed to the West prior and photography had only recently been introduced to Japan. You can view more at www.photosofjapan.com if you are interested and yes the tattoos are real, just hand-coloured to bring the albumen prints to life :) samurai2-5...084158.jpg
melonbar monster 8 years ago
Chinese, Korean term for Japan is Wa(倭). Slightly derogatory term for Japanese in Korean is wae-nom = short bastards.
melonbar monster 8 years ago
Slightly derogatory Korean term for Japanese was/is "wae nom" = short bastards.
Aley 9 years ago
Can someone educate me on the types of clothes and armor they wore please? How could one maneuver in all the metal?
-- 9 years ago
Actually the metal prevented samurai from making certain movements like bending the elbow a certain way
Load More Replies... 
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