The aspect of Samurai and the Knight is one of the few similarities that existed between medieval Japan and Europe although both the Samurai and Knights had some important differences in characteristics as a result of social and cultural backgrounds. The samurai were Japan warriors serving at the service of the emperor while the Knights were from Europe at the service of the king.
The induction of a boy to be a Knight or Samurai started at a tender age of seven when a boy left his parent to go and live his uncle. The early life and training of a knight involved learning good manners, attending to ladies and learning to ride a horse until he was fourteen years when he sought to become an apprentice in knighthood. Here, he helped his master put on his battle armor, learned how to handle weapons and how to fight. At the age of twenty one, the boy was now a knight, dubbed by his uncle.
Swords were the most valuable items to a Samurai warrior; the most treasured sword was called Katana and used to be put in a leather sheath known as Saya. He also carried another sword called Wakizashi among many more weapons which a samurai was expected to carry when training and when going to a battle. On the other hand, Horse was the most treasured and expensive asset of a knight. A knight owned many horses but the most important was the war horse known as Destrier. The horses were also used during hunting. Both Knight and Samurai often fought on the horseback.
Both the samurai and the Knights fought for their deep believes. The samurai fought for the honor inspired by the Shinto religion also known as Shintoism, and the Japan’s emperor while the Knights fought for Christ and for the crown. It would be correct to say that the knight fought for God while the Samurai fought for man. Knights gave honor to God as part of a their long history of Judeo-Christian tradition which lead to life while the samurai gave honor to their dead ancestor, hanging on to false assurance of Buddhism which lead to death
Most of the samurais were never received formal education and thus were considered illiterate while their counterparts in Europe, the Knights commanded a lot of respect due to the vast knowledge they processed.
Both the Samurai and the knights held high position in the society and served the nobles. They were rewarded with money and land for their service to the noble and winning battles against the enemies. Upon becoming a knight or a samurai, celebrations were held to crown the young men as Samurai and knights. It is important to note that both had code of honor with the Samurai code of honor known as Bushido while Fealty was the code of honor for the knight.