浪人ronin
Quick definition:A ronin was a samurai without a lord or master, wandering Japan, often as a mercenary or traveller, and the figure of the lone swordsman is a popular hero in anime and manga.
Meaning
Ronin means wave person, and it refers to a samurai who had lost his lord or his place in a domain. Without a master, a ronin had no regular income or position, and might wander, take work as a bodyguard, teach, or seek a new lord. The word later came to be used for anyone between positions, such as a student who has failed to enter university.
Many ronin appear in fiction as lone swordsmen with a code of honour, travelling from town to town and helping people in trouble. Their independence makes them appealing heroes, and their loss of status gives them a sense of loneliness or regret. Stories often explore how they live between duty and freedom.
Anime and manga use ronin in historical series and in settings that borrow from samurai tales, such as science fiction and fantasy. A hero may be called ronin by others as an insult or a mark of pride. Fans often see the ronin as a classic archetype, similar to the wandering gunfighter of Western stories.
Origin:Ronin is made of ro, meaning wave, and nin, meaning person, so it literally means wave person, suggesting someone drifting like a wave with no fixed place. The term originally described people who had left their home domain, and later came to describe masterless samurai. In modern Japanese it also describes students waiting to retake exams.
Example:A lone swordsman in a worn travelling cloak arrives at a village that is being harassed by bandits. He has no lord and no money, but he agrees to help in exchange for a meal and a place to sleep, and the villagers slowly realise how skilled he is.
Did you know?The Forty-seven Ronin, a famous true story from the early eighteenth century, tells of samurai who lost their lord and then avenged him. It has been retold in plays, films, books and anime, and it is regarded as one of Japan's best-known tales of loyalty.
