Paragons of virtue, exemplars of honour, beacons of integrity and masters of warfare - the knights of the east. This is what we generally picture when we think of the infamous Samurai. While it is an attractive view of these legendary warriors, it is nevertheless quite a misleading one. In this video, we shall do our best to correct this, and cover the even more fascinating roles and perceptions of the samurai in Japanese society from the earliest days all the way to the modern day.