{"product_id":"samurai","title":"Samurai","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe samurai is a universally compelling icon, embodying courage, honour, self-sacrifice and loyalty. However, many samurai tropes derive from imaginative fiction and have been reinterpreted across the world over hundreds of years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOriginating in Japan as armoured mercenaries, during peacetime samurai evolved into government functionaries who aspired to the elegance of courtiers and sponsored learning and the arts. Their tastes set the standard for society and upheld the strong and virtuous warrior in the popular imagination through commissions of armour, weaponry, portraits, games,clothing,hanging scrolls and folding screens.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis fascinating book demonstrates that the samurai contributed to their own myth-making, revealing that although their function was abolished 150 years ago, their image continues to inspire a vast range of artists, filmmakers, fashion designers and writers today. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hachette UK Distribution Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56899538518389,"sku":"9780714137018","price":45.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0263\/6460\/8590\/files\/1e1bd4ef-76ad-494b-9359-14af1a53df05.jpg?v=1773420717","url":"https:\/\/shop.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk\/products\/samurai","provider":"National Museums Liverpool","version":"1.0","type":"link"}