A Riding Bushi: The Heian era 794-1185Japan’s new warrior class arose around a thousand years ago, during the Heian era. At that time, the capital was Heiankyo, now Kyoto, and warriors were called buke or bushi, warrior gentleman. The word Samurai stems from the verb samurau/saburau - to serve. Warrior families called themselves bushi while others called them the Samurai, and the first Samurai were cavalrymen armed with bows and arrows.
