Why Did Samurai Use Masks? How Many Types Existed? What do they mean?

There were many different types of samurai masks, some demonic, some divine, some grotuesque, some with more coverage, but they all served a very similar purpose. Let's find out what it was.

Samurai were the military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan.
In Japanese, they are usually referred to as bushi or buke.
By the end of the 12th century, samurai became almost entirely synonymous with bushi, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class. The samurai were usually associated with a clan and their lord, and were trained as officers in military tactics and grand strategy. While the samurai numbered less than 10% of then Japan's population, their teachings can still be found today in both everyday life and in modern Japanese martial arts.
As aristocrats for centuries, samurai developed their own cultures that influenced Japanese culture as a whole. The culture associated with the samurai such as the tea ceremony, monochrome ink painting, rock gardens and poetry were adopted by warrior patrons throughout the centuries 1200–1600. These practices were adapted from the Chinese arts.
In general, samurai, aristocrats, and priests had a very high literacy rate in kanji. Recent studies have shown that literacy in kanji among other groups in society was somewhat higher than previously understood.
Some samurai had buke bunko, or "warrior library", a personal library that held texts on strategy, the science of warfare, and other documents that would have proved useful during the warring era of feudal Japan. One such library held 20,000 volumes. The upper class had Kuge bunko, or "family libraries", that held classics, Buddhist sacred texts, family histories, as well as genealogical records.
A samurai was usually named by combining one kanji from his father or grandfather and one new kanji. Samurai normally used only a small part of their total name.

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#Metatron #Samurai #Masks

[libertyprime]

Can never underestimate the value of looking super badass

[markhorton]

If your opponent is scared you can intimidate him. If your opponent is angry you can bait him into exposing himself. If your opponent is calm you had better be at your best because he is.

[dominikajducic]

Why I would wear the mempo in battle:

20% protection
30% psychological effect
*50% cool factor*

[Funger-_-]

"have the drip and outdrip your enemy, and you can win a thousend battles"
-sun tzu, the art of war

[PeterMasalski]

The mask activates the "Ghost Stance" but only after decapitating an enemy..

[tylerhamar]

"The things I do for you nobleones!" Raph, our friend, though we all appreciate you donning your armor, we all know you love to wear it!

[aryanjadhav]

Metatron: samurai
Shadiversity: knights
Skallgrim: vikings
For honor confirmed

[HebaruSan]

If a samurai isn't one of the main characters, you can put a mask on his face so the audience doesn't get distracted. And as a bonus, you can swap out that actor as needed!

[PingOnThis]

Why did Samurai use demon masks? Because they're fucking cool.

[chimiganja]

"Give a man a mask, and he'll become his true self"

[notmyrealname]

I made a ceramic samurai mask a long time ago in high school. Some staff and students were concerned, believing it was satanic. It was amusing. My mom accidentally broke it some years later. Cool video as always.

[RazorbackX]

Another psychological effect I see is that the mask disguises exhaustion to a certain degree. The unmoving stoic mask just subcontiously makes it look as if the samurai is just not getting tired. And exhaustion is a important part of combat psychology.

[TheDevilMethod]

I would wear it to look cool. Thats most important... very sad you don't talked about that XD

[BlackJordanAirForce]

Remember kids, always choose fashion over function. Cause ain't nobody gon care if you got 400 defense, but look like a damn Rubik's Cube.

[fraggzbN]

I once drank a bottle of Stock 84 to confuse my enemies. Woke up the next day without trousers and someone drew a fake moustache in my face. Seems like I survived one hell of a battle.

[KenNakajima]

I love that this Samurai says "Mamma Mia!"

[gihan]

i feel it also gives the wearer a superhuman feeling of morale and security, since he knows the enemy cannot read his expression easily, but also because he feels he's safer than without the mask.

[naughtyhieroglyph]

There was an experiment a while ago by the va, where veterans with ptsd made masks as a means to express their trauma. I have since wondered if the ancient war masks were how the ancient warrior coped with their emotional burdens from war.

[michelebattaggia]

"mamma mia" is a Japanese expression. It means "I'll die with honor"

[AyubuKK]

I always thought the masks also had the effect of making them feel more confident because together they would look like a group of armed monsters. Like it made them feel more fierce, warrior-like, and gave them a morale boost.