In feudal Japan to early modern Japan (1185âÂÂ1868), a rà Ânin ( ; , , 'drifter' or 'wandering man', ) was a samurai who had no lord or master and in some cases, had also severed all links with his family or clan. A samurai became a rà Ânin upon the death of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or legal privilege.
In modern Japanese, the term is usually used to describe a salaryman who is unemployed or a secondary school graduate who has not yet been admitted to university.
The word rà Ânin is usually translated to 'drifter' or 'wanderer'; however, per kanji, means "wave" as on the water, as well as "unrestrained, dissolute", while means "person". It is an idiomatic expression for 'vagrant' or 'wanderer', someone who does not belong to one place. The term originated in the Nara and Heian periods, when it referred to a serf who had fled or deserted his master's land. It later came to be used for a samurai who had no master. In medieval times, the ronin were depicted as the shadows of samurai, master-less and not honorable.
According to the Bushido Shoshinshu (the "Code of the Warrior"), a samurai was supposed to commit seppuku (also harakiri, "belly cutting", a form of ritual suicide) upon the loss of his master. One who chose not to honor the code was "on his own" and was meant to suffer great shame. The undesirability of rà Ânin status was mainly a discrimination imposed by other samurai and by daimyà Â, the feudal lords.
As with other samurai, rà Ânin were armed with two swords. Rà Ânin used a variety of other weapons as well. Some rà ÂninâÂÂusually those who lacked moneyâÂÂwould carry a bà  (staff around ) or jà  (smaller staff or walking stick around ) or a yumi (bow). Most weapons would reflect the ryà « (martial arts school) from which they came if they were students.
During the Edo period, with the shogunate's rigid class system and laws, the number of rà Ânin greatly increased; confiscation of fiefs during the rule of the third Tokugawa shà Âgun Iemitsu resulted in an especially large increase of their number. During previous ages, samurai were able to move between masters and even between occupations. They could also marry between classes. However, during the Edo period, samurai were restricted, and wereâÂÂabove allâÂÂforbidden to become employed by another master without their previous master's permission.
Because the former samurai could not legally take up a new trade, or because of pride were loath to do so, many rà Ânin looked for other ways to make a living with their swords. Those rà Ânin who desired steady, legal employment became mercenaries that guarded trade caravans, or bodyguards for wealthy merchants. Many other rà Ânin became criminals, operating as bandits and highwaymen, or joining organized crime in towns and cities. Rà Ânin were known to operate or serve as hired muscle for gangs that ran gambling rings, brothels, protection rackets, and similar activities. Many were petty thieves and muggers. The criminal segment gave the rà Ânin of the Edo period a persistent reputation of disgrace, with an image of thugs, bullies, cutthroats, and wandering vagrants. After the abolition of the Samurai, some of the ronin continued with their thuggery and their mercenary work and activities, such as participating in the infamous assassination of Korean Empress Myeongseong of the Joseon Dynasty in 1895, the Eulmi Incident.
Until the Sengoku period, peasants accounted for the majority of daimyà  armies, so they accounted for the majority of ronin.
Especially in the Sengoku period, daimyà  needed additional fighting men, and even if a master had perished, his rà Ânin was able to serve new lords. In contrast to the later Edo period, the bond between the lord and the vassal was loose, and some vassals who were dissatisfied with their treatment left their masters and sought new lords. Many warriors served a succession of masters, and some even became daimyà Â. As an example, Tà Âdà  Takatora served ten lords. Additionally, the division of the population into classes had not yet taken place, so it was possible to change one's occupation from warrior to merchant or farmer, or the reverse. Saità  Dà Âsan was one merchant who rose through the warrior ranks to become a daimyà Â.
As Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified progressively more significant parts of the country, daimyà  found it unnecessary to recruit new soldiers. The Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 resulted in the confiscation or reduction of the fiefs of large numbers of daimyà  on the losing side; consequently, many samurai became rà Ânin. As many as a hundred thousand rà Ânin joined forces with Toyotomi Hideyori and fought at the Siege of Osaka. In the ensuing years of peace, there was less need to maintain expensive standing armies, and many surviving rà Ânin turned to farms or became townspeople. A few, such as Yamada Nagamasa, sought adventure overseas as mercenaries. Still, the majority lived in poverty as rà Ânin. Their number approached half a million under the third Tokugawa shà Âgun Iemitsu.
Initially, the shogunate viewed them as dangerous and banished them from the cities or restricted the quarters where they could live. They also prohibited serving new masters. As rà Ânin found fewer options, they joined in the Keian Uprising of 1651. This forced the shogunate to rethink its policy. It relaxed restrictions on daimyà  inheritance, resulting in fewer confiscations of fiefs, and it permitted rà Ânin to join new masters.
Not having the status or power of employed samurai, rà Ânin were often disreputable and festive, the group targeted humiliation or satire. It was undesirable to be a rà Ânin, as it meant being without a stipend or land. As an indication of the shame felt by samurai who became rà Ânin, Lord Redesdale recorded that a rà Ânin killed himself at the graves of the forty-seven rà Ânin. He left a note saying that he had tried to enter the service of the daimyà  of Chà Âshà « Domain but was refused. He killed himself, wanting to serve no other master and hating being a rà Ânin. On the other hand, the famous 18th-century writer Kyokutei Bakin renounced his allegiance to Matsudaira Nobunari, in whose service Bakin's samurai father had spent his life. Bakin voluntarily became a rà Ânin, and eventually spent his time writing books (many of them about samurai) and engaging in festivities.
In the 19th century, Emperor Meiji abolished the samurai class and any status the ronin had died with them.
Numerous modern works of Japanese fiction set in the Edo period cast characters who are rà Ânin. Ronin Jin from Samurai Champloo being one