The exhibition will run at the museum from the 3rd February until the 4th May 2026.
Iron, silk, wool, leather, gold and lacquer, Japan,
1519 (helmet) , 1696 (armour) and 1800s (textiles). Purchase made possible by the JTI Japanese
Acquisition Fund. © The Trustees of the British Museum
The British Museum has announced a major new exhibition tracing the history of samurai over the past 1,000 years and exploring how their image and myth was created.
Taking visitors from the medieval period to the present day, the samurai have been fabricated, idealised and adapted for many purposes, both within Japan and beyond.
This exhibition will feature around 280 objects and digital media from the collection and from 29 national and international lenders, Samurai reveals the many identities of Japan’s warrior class across the centuries.
Known in Japan as musha or bushi, the samurai were engaged in protracted warfare and gained political dominance from the 1100s. During a long era of peace from 1615, they moved away from the battlefield to serve as government officials, scholars, and patrons of the arts, with women making up half of the samurai class. But by the late 19th century their hereditary status had been abolished, and the myth of bushidō – promoting patriotism and self-sacrifice – was promoted.
Many of the items that will feature in the exhibition will be on display for the first time including a suit of samurai armour, newly acquired by the Museum. Its prestigious helmet and golden standard, shaped like iris leaves, were designed to make the wearer both identifiable and fearsome.
As well as arms and armour, the show will also include: paintings, woodblock prints, books, clothing, ceramics, photographs, and examples of film, television, manga, video games and contemporary art.
Among the highlights on display will include: a vermilion red, woman’s firefighting jacket and hood on loan from the John C. Weber Collection, worn by women serving within Edo Castle. Fires were so common in the wooden city of Edo (present-day Tokyo) that they were known as the ‘flowers of Edo’, and this jacket’s watery motifs of tasselled anchors and waves evoke protection against the flames. Meanwhile, a rare portrait of Itō Mancio by Domenico Tintoretto from Fondazione Trivulzio, Milan depicts a 13-year-old samurai who led an embassy to the Vatican in 1582.
The exhibition aims to offer a story of myth and memory as well as tradition and reinvention, while highlighting how national identities are shaped through culture, storytelling and global exchange.
Dr Rosina Buckland, Asahi Shimbun Curator: Japanese Collections, said: ‘The samurai dominated Japan’s history for centuries, but the reality of their lives was often quite different from popular understanding. This is the first exhibition to interrogate the myth, right through to the present day. It will introduce visitors to Japan’s rich cultural history by exploring the samurai’s multiple roles and the ways they represented themselves and have been shown by others. Due to the light-sensitive nature of Japanese art, this is a rare opportunity to see beautiful works from the Museum’s collection, as well as many works on loan never displayed before in the UK.’
To book tickets visit: https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/samurai