* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Samurai (British Museum Exhibition, 2026)
「サムライ」展（大英博物館、2026年）
A special exhibition held at the British Museum's Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery from 3 February to 4 May 2026, bringing together around 280 objects from the museum's own holdings and 29 external lenders to examine samurai material culture — arms, armor, and swords — alongside the modern invention and reinvention of the "samurai" image.
Description
Overview
Samurai was a special exhibition held by the British Museum in London from 3 February to 4 May 2026 in the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery. Rosina Buckland, curator responsible for the Japanese collection, planned it as lead curator, and the catalogue was published as a co-authored work with historian Oleg Benesch. The exhibition consisted of about 280 works drawn from the museum's own collection and from 29 lenders in Japan and abroad.
Contents
The display presented armour and Japanese swords actually used by samurai, not merely as instruments of killing but as objects embodying status, ritual and aesthetic sensibility. These included a newly acquired armour that combines a helmet dated 1519 and armour dated 1696 with 19th-century components and is fitted with a gold, iris-leaf-shaped sashimono, as well as daishō (a pair of katana and wakizashi), and jinbaori. The exhibition also adopted a multi-perspective structure that included viewpoints beyond the samurai, such as an Edo-period firefighting jacket (hikeshi-banten) made for women, and a portrait of Itō Mancio, a member of the Tenshō embassy that departed for Europe in 1582, painted by Domenico Tintoretto (1585).
Theme: The Evolution of the "Samurai" Image
The central argument of the exhibition is that the image of the samurai has been repeatedly reconstructed and reinvented in each era, from the medieval warfare period through the peace of the Edo period to the abolition of the samurai class in the Meiji period, and on to contemporary popular culture. The exhibition also covered the use of the samurai image for propaganda, as exemplified by a booklet from Nazi Germany that promoted ties between Germany and Japan. It further presented the overseas reception of samurai imagery, including a Darth Vader costume from Star Wars and display areas for the games Nioh 3 and Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Reception
The exhibition attracted great attention before its opening and was highly acclaimed and popular after it opened. Numerous British and American media outlets covered it. Challenging the conventional image of samurai as male warriors, it presented scholarly findings that from 1615 (Genna enbu) onward, half of the samurai class was made up of women, and it was praised as an exhibition that re-examines the conventional image of the samurai.
See authentic Japanese swords
See authentic Japanese swordsRelated Content
Seven Samurai
Film七人の侍
Akira Kurosawa's 1954 enduring masterpiece, one of the most influential works in the history of world cinema. Set in the late Sengoku period, its story of seven masterless samurai gathered to protect a village from bandits vividly depicts the social role of the samurai and the practical side of the sword. It is a monumental work that made Japanese swordcraft known to the world, and it influenced countless films, including The Magnificent Seven, Star Wars, and Mad Max.
Nioh 2
Video Game仁王2
A Sengoku-period action RPG released in 2020, developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo Games. As a prequel to the earlier "Nioh," it stars a half-yokai protagonist with yokai blood, who crosses swords with demons while encountering real Sengoku-period warlords.
Lupin III (Goemon Ishikawa & Zantetsuken)
Anime & Mangaルパン三世（石川五ェ門・斬鉄剣）
A franchise created by Monkey Punch in 1967 that has spread worldwide as a long-running anime series. The Zantetsuken sword carried by Goemon Ishikawa XIII—capable of cutting through anything—became an iconic symbol of Japanese swords in pop culture. Ranked 3rd in a 2025 anime sword popularity poll.
Nobunaga's Ambition
Game信長の野望
A historical simulation game series developed and sold by Koei Tecmo Games since 1983. It is a national-favorite series in which players control Sengoku daimyo, including Oda Nobunaga, in pursuit of unifying the country. Depending on the title, famous swords also appear as items, making it a historical game series that touches on the bond between Japanese swords and warlords.
This page is intended to introduce Japanese sword culture and is not affiliated with any of the works mentioned.