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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)

#1

The Last Samurai

UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE Report

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lduchrow27 avatar
LoriDuchrow
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8 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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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    #2

    The Last Samurai

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    dariab_1 avatar
    DariaB
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    8 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Looks like a Yakuza, with these tatoos. Maybe there's a connection between the samurai and yakuza heritage in Japan. Just a guess.

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    #8

    The Last Samurai

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    BeluaqSoul
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    8 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Imagining how fast a samurai moved without those heavy attire. Must be awesomely fast

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    #15

    The Last Samurai

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    jacleenmoira avatar
    JaclinSullivan-Scholey
    Community Member
    8 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    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.

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    #18

    The Last Samurai

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    MythiCat
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    8 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This type of colorization was typical for the period. Keep in mind how recent full color photography is...even when I was growing up in the 70's we still had a b&w camera (and TV) just like all of our neighbors, and that's about 50-80 yrs after these pictures were taken!

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    #19

    The Last Samurai

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    joseph_54 avatar
    Joseph
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    8 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Lol did you not read into this at all? These are not the original images. These photos were colored by hand. The original images are black & white.

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