ABSTRACT
Japan’s famous warrior order arose during the early part of the Heian period (794-1185), as part of a generalized trend toward the privatization of government functions. Its genesis was a shift in imperial court military policy that began in the middle decades of the eighth century: bit by bit, the government ceased trying to draft and drill the population at large and concentrated instead on co-opting the privately acquired skills of martially talented elites, through a series of new military posts and titles that legitimized the use of the personal martial resources of this group on behalf of the state. In essence, the court moved from a conscripted, publicly trained military force to one composed of privately trained, privately equipped professional mercenaries. As it happened, government interest in the martial talents of provincial elites and lower-ranked court nobles dovetailed with growing private demands for these same resources spawned by competition for wealth and influence among the premier houses of the court. This fusion of state and private needs opened new opportunities for advancement to young men with military talent. The greater such opportunities became, the more enthusiastically and the more seriously such young men committed themselves to the profession of arms. The result was the gradual emergence of the bushi, an order of professional fighting men in the countryside and the capital.
