Most of the samurai were literate, while most of the knights were not.
Explanation:
Despite its resemblance to the European professional soldier of the medieval period, it would be a mistake to simply describe the samurai as a Japanese knight. The samurai was in many different ways from the knight of Medieval Europe. Whereas knight training emphasized martial skills, a samurai had to be a man of culture as well. The samurai studied poetry, calligraphy, plastic arts and others, as well as combat techniques. Another fundamental difference is to be found in the concept of honor. The concept of samurai honor does not include the duty of chivalry to defend women and the weaker members of society. The idealization of the woman who was defended in medieval European literature was unknown to the Japanese samurai. In addition, there was also no Christian church in Japan to give the samurai a greater, spiritual cause. Although most samurai were adherents of Zen Buddhism, they lacked the religious sense of mission that their European counterparts possessed.
