Rōnin

A rōnin (浪人) or rounin was a samurai with no lord or master during the feudal period (1185–1868) of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege.

In modern Japanese usage, the term also describes a salaryman who is "between employers" or a secondary school graduate who has not yet been admitted to university.

Etymology
The word rōnin literally means "wave man". The term originated in the Nara and Heian periods, when it referred to a serf who had fled or deserted his master's land. It then came to be used for a samurai who had no master. (Hence, the term "wave man" illustrating one who is socially adrift.)

Status
According to the Bushido Shoshinshu (the Code of the Samurai), a samurai was supposed to commit seppuku (also "hara kiri" — ritual suicide) upon the loss of his master. One who chose not to honor the code was "on his own" and was meant to suffer great shame. The undesirability of rōnin status was mainly a discrimination imposed by other samurai and by daimyo, the feudal lords.

Like other samurai, rōnin wore their two swords. Rōnin used a variety of other weapons as well. Some rōnin — usually those who lacked money — would carry a bō (staff around 5 to 6 ft) or jō (smaller staff or walking stick around 3 to 5 ft) or a yumi (bow). Most weapons would reflect the ryū or martial arts school they came from, if they were students.

During the Edo period, with the shogunate's rigid class system and laws, the number of rōnin greatly increased. Confiscation of fiefs during the rule of the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu resulted in an especially large increase of rōnin. During previous ages, samurai were able to move between masters and even between occupations. They would also marry between classes. However, during the Edo period, samurai were restricted, and were above all forbidden to become employed by another master without their previous master's permission.

Because the former samurai could not legally take up a new trade, or because of pride were loath to do so, many rōnin looked for other ways to make a living with their swords. Those rōnin who desired steady, legal employment became mercenaries that guarded trade caravans, or bodyguards for wealthy merchants. Many other rōnin became criminals, operating as bandits and highwaymen, or joining organized crime in towns and cities. Rōnin were known to operate, or serve as hired muscle for gangs that ran gambling rings, brothels, protection rackets, and other similar activities. Many were petty thieves and muggers. The criminal segment gave the rōnin of the Edo period a persistent reputation of disgrace, with the image of thugs, bullies, cutthroats, and wandering vagrants.

History
In the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, when warriors held lands that they occupied, a rōnin was a warrior who had lost his lands. During these periods, as small-scale wars frequently occurred throughout Japan, the daimyo needed to augment their armies, so rōnin had opportunities to serve new masters. Also, some rōnin joined in bands, engaging in robbery and uprisings.

Especially in the Sengoku period, daimyo needed additional fighting men, and even if one's master had perished, a rōnin was able to serve a new lord. In contrast to the later Edo period, the bond between the lord and the samurai was loose, and some samurai who were dissatisfied with their treatment left their masters and sought new lords. Many warriors served a succession of masters, and some even became daimyo. As an example, Tōdō Takatora served ten lords. Additionally, the division of the population into classes had not yet taken place, so it was possible to change one's occupation from warrior to merchant or farmer, or the reverse. Saitō Dōsan was one merchant who rose through the warrior ranks to become a daimyo.

As Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified progressively larger parts of the country, daimyo found it unnecessary to recruit new soldiers. Next, the Battle of Sekigahara (AD 1600) resulted in the confiscation or reduction of the fiefs of large numbers of daimyo on the losing side; in consequence, many samurai became rōnin. As many as a hundred thousand rōnin joined forces with Toyotomi Hideyori and fought at the Siege of Osaka. In the ensuing years of peace, there was less need to maintain expensive standing armies, and many surviving rōnin turned to farming or became townspeople. A few, such as Yamada Nagamasa, sought adventure overseas as mercenaries. Still, the majority lived in poverty as rōnin. Under the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu, their number approached half a million.

Initially, the shogunate viewed them as dangerous, and banished them from the cities or restricted the quarters where they could live. They also prohibited serving new masters. As rōnin found themselves with fewer and fewer options, they joined in the Keian Uprising (AD 1651). This forced the shogunate to rethink its policy. It relaxed restrictions on daimyo inheritance, resulting in fewer confiscations of fiefs; and it permitted rōnin to join new masters.

Not having the status or power of employed samurai, rōnin were often disreputable and festive, and the group was a target of humiliation or satire. It was undesirable to be a rōnin, as it meant being without a stipend or farm. As an indication of the humiliation felt by samurai who became rōnin, Lord Redesdale recorded that a rōnin killed himself at the graves of the Forty-Seven Rōnin. He left a note saying that he had tried to enter the service of the daimyo of the Chōshū Domain, but was refused. Wanting to serve no other master, and hating being a rōnin, he had decided to kill himself.

On the other hand, the famous 18th-century writer Kyokutei Bakin renounced his allegiance to Matsudaira Nobunari, in whose service Bakin's samurai father had spent his life. Bakin became voluntarily a rōnin, and eventually spent his time writing books (many of them about samurai) and engaging in festivities.

Notable rōnin

 * Forty-seven Rōnin
 * Kyokutei Bakin
 * Miyamoto Musashi
 * Sakamoto Ryōma
 * Yamada Nagamasa

Portrayals in media
Thousands of modern works of Japanese fiction set in the Edo period cast characters who are rōnin. They are often portrayed as yōjimbo (bodyguards) or as watari-kashi (mercenary fighters). Another stereotypical occupation for fictional rōnin is the umbrella-maker.

Anime
The ronin Jin is a major character and protagonist in the popular Japanese anime Samurai Champloo.

Ruroni Kenshin Which was a popular Graphic Novel as well as a popular Animated series was about a Young ronin who was escaping his past and hindrance as an assassin in the Bakumatsu war. His past carries the name Hitokiri Battōsai which was loosely translated to mean "Man slayer". He also carries a sword with a reverse blade known as a sakabatou which he carried to protect and never to kill.

Television
Person Of Interest - In the Season 1 episode Wolf and Cub, Reese is referred to as a Ronin and a lot of wandering samurai references are made throughout the show.

Film
Ronin are often depicted in the jidaigeki of Akira Kurosawa, in particular Yojimbo, Sanjuro and the film Seven Samurai

The 1998 film Ronin portrays former Special Forces and intelligence operatives who find themselves unemployed at the end of the Cold War. Devoid of purpose, they become high-paid mercenaries. There is also a comparison of the characters to the Forty-seven ronin.

The 2013 film The Wolverine portrays the superhero Wolverine as a Ronin, "a samurai without a master".

Comics & manga

 * The character Miyamoto Usagi, himself based on famed swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, is the lead character in the comic book Usagi Yojimbo, a term literally translating to "Rabbit Bodyguard". True to the name, Usagi often takes work as a bodyguard, and works for various lords, most notably Lord Noriyuki, and teams with other Samurai, bounty hunters, and the like.

Literature

 * The ronin Takanobu features prominently in The Sign of the Chrysanthemum, a children's novel by Katherine Paterson.

Video games

 * In the video game Saints Row 2, the Ronin are "Yakuza"-style figures with traits from the Bōsōzoku, who believed in maintaining honor and tradition.
 * In the video game Battle Realms, the Ronin are third tier units of the Serpent clan. They carry two swords and curse the place of their death when they are about to die.


 * In the video game Way of the Samurai, the main character Kenji is a Ronin who wanders the village of Rokkotsu Pass, creating his own destiny.


 * In the video game Total War: Shogun 2, Ronin are units available to certain factions who do not use regular Samurai although they are identical in appearance.