Calligraphy for the Japanese Word Samurai in Kanji Coffee Mug

Samurai (侍) is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau. In both countries the terms were nominalised to mean "those who serve in close attendance to the nobility," the pronunciation in Japanese changing to saburai. According to Wilson, an early reference to the word "samurai" appears in the Kokin Wakashū (905–914), the first imperial anthology of poems, completed in the first part of the 10th century. Image reproduction rights can be found in the link near the bottom of this description. Sign up to Mr. Rebates for FREE and save 12% on any zazzle order in addition to a $5.00 sign up bonus All Rights Reserved; without: prejudice, recourse or notice (U.C.C. 1-308) Image Reproduction Rights: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Samurai-shodo.svg Samurai saburau saburai "martial arts" Bushido Kendo "the way of the sword" "Samurai-shodo" bushi Kanji "Kanji for Samurai"