Much of Japan’s history included the samurai, a warrior class of skilled fighters who came to play a major political role. In the 1860s, the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, along with societal changes in Japan, led to samurai falling from grace and losing much of their status and privileges. In the 1870s, samurai were officially and legally abolished as a class. The carrying of swords in public was banned, a right that once belonged solely to the samurai.

Luckily, photographers were able to capture what true samurai really looked like just before the warrior class became a relic of the past. Check out these photographs of Japan’s last samurai at the end of an era.