Samurai

Immerse students into the world of the samurai in this new exhibition, designed by Museums Victoria with over 100 objects from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller collection.

Known by many names, samurai were the stuff of legends, even to themselves. But behind the warrior image were real people living within the complex and changing society of Japan. Across nearly eight centuries, the samurai continually reinvented what it meant to be a warrior. They raised families, commissioned art, nurtured spirituality and unleashed violence in a world shaped by beauty and brutality, ritual and duty, hierarchy and the struggle for power.

Moving through atmospheric worlds, from mystical mountains to the spectacle and chaos of the battlefield, this exhibition will take students beyond the familiar image of the warrior.

Samurai: More than a warrior brings to life over 800 hundred years of Japanese history and culture, through the story of the samurai.

Students will experience 

• Immersive environments and reconstructions 

• Interactive, hands-on experiences  

• Incredible artefacts and objects, including full suits of armour

Students will learn

• Who the samurai were and how they became Japan’s ruling warrior class 

• About samurai identity and practices  

• About the birth of the Shogun and how this shaped Japan 

• About the spiritual world, including different belief systems, the supernatural and natural world 

Students will be provided

• A booklet to guide and prompt discussion and reflection through the exhibition.  

Students will need

• Please bring a pencil in order to complete activities in the booklet. 

Hero image: Photograph by Brad Flowers. © The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum, Dallas.