The samurai were originally an entourage serving the highest dignitaries in Japan, but also the bodyguard of the emperors. In the Western world, the term generally extends to Japan's feudal "knighthood" before the Meiji era (1868-1912) and from its origins. It is assumed that samurai made up about 10% of Japan's population in the 16th and 17th centuries. It is often assumed that samurai appeared in the history of the Land of the Rising Sun in the 8th century AD - and lasted until 1871! The basis of the samurai's weapons was his sword (Japanese: katana) and a short sword (Japanese: wakizashi), which was also used to commit ritual suicide, i.e. seppuku, if the samurai found that he had broken the bushido code. In addition, samurai were trained to fight with a spear (yari), a specific Japanese pole weapon called naginata, or in archery (Japanese: yumi). It is worth adding that the samurai were educated in the spirit of indisputable submission to the will of their superior and in contempt for death.
Ninja (other names: shinobi or shinobi-no mono) are Japanese warriors who appeared in the 12th-13th centuries and functioned until the 19th century. They mainly performed espionage tasks and attacks on important enemy characters. They often served as mercenaries and hitmen. Each ninja underwent relatively long training, which included learning the techniques of camouflage, stealth, small sabotage, martial arts and the use of weapons. It is sometimes assumed that the techniques of ninja warriors were passed down from generation to generation within one family. Ninja used a very wide range of offensive weapons. A common sword was called a ninja-to, which was shorter than the samurai katana and was of much inferior quality. Nor was he worshiped as much as a katana. Rather, it was seen as a "working tool" that could easily be replaced when worn. Other ninja fighting tools include: tessen (a fan with metal inserts used for throwing and hand-to-hand combat), tanto (a specific dagger), tetsu-bishi (small, sharp-pointed pieces of metal that ninja throws during retreat) or chigiriki (a stick with a chain with a heavy, usually metal, ball at the end).