Visitors to the British Museum's highly popular samurai exhibition probably thought they were looking at a national symbol made in Japan.Yet, if they scratched beneath the surface, they would have found that the well-known image of the warrior figure had been shaped by centuries of overseas influence, whether that be through religion, technology, literature or movies.The samurai have gone on to symbolize and shape global perceptions of Japan."The samurai are uniquely Japanese, but not purely Japanese. They didn't develop in a vacuum," said Oleg Benesch, professor of modern history at the Un…READ FULL ARTICLE
