AmeriKaur, your mostly right on everything you said on the Samurai, and educated on the subject 
Only thing I disagree with is the Samurai having no "religion". They didn't have a religion in the sense that we do today, but they certainly had a method of attaining peace of mind. Each individual warrior concentrated on only his one particular aspect of war (bow and arrow, the sword, etc.). In order to complete concentration, the Samurai would meditate and attain complete calmness before war, to gain no fear. The aspect thats different than Sikhi, is that we use meditation and paht to attain peace of mind and complete calmness everywhere in our life, not just at war.
And secondly, the Samurai were not really a caste, but from an onlooker it can be seen that way. Remember when your looking its different than how it actually is...many people think Sikhs are the warrior caste of Hindus, and that we are born not raised..even "Sikhs" believe this. There's numerous stories on how the Samurai took in orphan boys and raised them up to be warriors, even ones that grew up and were labelled as Samurai. But, it can be seen as a caste, just as it can be seen as not...its all how you intrepret what a "caste" actually is, and how to go on maintaing it.
The biggest difference I'd say is that the Samurai's complete philosophy, whether it be "religion or caste", is completely tied around the battlefield, whereas Sikhi is for everyday life.
Wow, as for visiting Japan, thats awesome. I wish I could do it, especially at the time where the original culture was still around. Seems like now, everyone wants to become "American", so when you go to different places...feels like your at home, just with a dirtier atmosphere :\
Oh yeah, I will look for that article if I can find it. I remember reading it a long time ago...I'll see if I can dig it up.
