Samurai or ninja?

Answer 1

The samurai were the upper crust of society from the late 12th century to the mid 19th century. They fought face to face and scorned trickery. They prided themselves on their lineage and fighting prowess. They were motivated by glory and personal honor. In the face of defeat that would lead to disgrace, they would commit seppeku or ritual suicide.

The ninja came from the lower class thus one of the reasons they were despised. They were motivated by a pay check - money was considered beneath contempt by the samurai class. Whereas samurai would follow one lord, the ninja were up for hire by anyone yet another reason they were despised by the samurai class.

The fighting prowess of the ninja was not so important to them as the samurai. They weren't out to win fights for their own glory. This is why they resorted to trickery. the mission was more important than winning some fight. They were assassins, spies, and saboteurs - not fighting machines. A samurai expecting a straight fight from a ninja would soon find blinding powder in his eyes and/or a poison-tipped shuriken in his flesh.

Ninja were far more clever than the bullheaded overly-proud samurai. In a fair fight, they'd probably lose to a samurai but they hardly ever gave into temptation to do so.

Here's a short vid of a brief Ninja demonstration in Iga, the homeplace of many Ninja in Old Japan. You can see how they relied on tricky and misdirection to fool their opponents:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIEnsOZXKOM

Anyway, though my handle is samurai I could easily be a ninja in diguise as a samurai.

I like the ninja because they were clever and more practical. Plus black goes with everything.

Answer 2

The formal social structures of ancient Japan, under which the samurai labored, gave him enourmous freedom, while at the same time, limiting his ability to fully apply the rules of war. The warrior's code is great for doing battle with an enemy who adheres to the same principals, but it's actually quite lousy when trying to fight someone to whom honor and correctness in battle are simply hindrances to the main goal: victory.

Thus, although despised by many samurai as a perversion of the warrior's code, the ninja were a tool of the shogunates by which the necessities of battle (stealth, infiltration, acquiring information, assasination) could be accomplished without besmirching the code that bound samurai from participating in such acts.

In some ways, it was a lose-lose situation. A samurai could never truly appreciate the fact that the warrior's code could be convienences of a lord, applied or discarded at whim, with honor a tool of manipulation. On the other hand, because ninjas didnt/couldn't aspire to the same level of honor as a samurai (ninja were often part of the pariah class) their service was both appreciated and despised at the same time, oftentime regulated to notice only within the clan itself.

In many ways, the ninja is the samurai's shadow, so the only question is a personal one: do you prefer to stand in the light or fade with the darkness.

Answer 3

Samurai were leaders of ninjas, but since ninjas are so cool they ahve the best show ever:
Ninja Warrior

So Ninjas win at life

Answer 4

Ooh....tough one....
I'd have to go with ninjas. Samurai were great and all, but ninjas were clever. They would try to blend in with the crowd instead of standing out like a samurai would.

Answer 5

i could say the two...i'm partial to the two Samurai(Shogun) and Ninja!! This are a number of the anime that i've got relish watching!! Samurai: Rorouni Kenshin Samurai Seven Samurai Champloo Ninja: Naruto Basilisk Himawari

Answer 6

Ninja !!They can sneak up on the samurai and the samurai won't know what hit them !! OR WOULD THEY?????

Answer 7

Ninja.....Samurai don't have the moves that ninjas do.

Answer 8

Samurai for they're honor, ninja for they're stealth, hard choice.

Answer 9

ninja's martial art Ninjitsu was made to counteract the Samurai martial art Jui-jitsu as it was them they were usually sent to kill. So I'd say Ninja.

Answer 10

Definitely Samurai, they are honorable and respected.