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, meaning "way of the warrior," is a Japanese code of conduct and a way of life, loosely analogous to the European concept of chivalry. Bushido developed between the 11th to 14th centuries as set forth by numerous translated documents dating from the 12th to 16th centuries (as mentioned below). According to the Japanese dictionary Shogakukan Kokugo Daijiten, "Bushido is defined as a unique philosophy (ronri) that spread through the warrior class from the Muromachi (chusei) period."

The core tenets of Bushido date from as early as the 12th century as demonstrated by the earliest translations of Japanese literature and warrior house codes. Bushido became formalized into Japanese feudal law under the Tokugawa Shogunate into Japanese Feudal Law.

Inazo Nitobe, in his book Bushido: The Soul of Japan, described it in this way. "...Bushido, then, is the code of moral principles which the samurai were required or instructed to observe... More frequently it is a code unuttered and unwritten... It was an organic growth of decades and centuries of military career."

Historical Development

Early history

There is evidence of Bushido in Early literature to suggest that the stylings of Bushido have existed in the Japanese literature from the earliest recorded literary history of Japan.

The Kojiki is Japan's oldest extant book. Written in 712 AD, it contains passages about Yamato Takeru, the son of the Emperor Keiko. It provides an early indication of the values and literary self-image of the bushido ideal, including references to the use and admiration of the sword by Japanese warriors. Yamato Takeru may be considered the rough ideal of the Japanese warrior to come. He is sincere and loyal, slicing up his father's enemies "like melons," unbending and yet not unfeeling, as can be seen in his laments for lost wives and homeland, and in his willingness to combat the enemy alone. Most important, his portrayal in the Kojiki shows the ideal of harmonizing the literary with the martial may have been an early trait of Japanese civilization, appealing to the Japanese long before its introduction from Confucian China.

This early conceptualising of a Japanese self-image of the ideal warrior can further be found in the Shoku Nihongi, an Early History of Japan written in the year 797. A section of the book covering the year 723 A.D.is notable for an early use of the term "bushi" in Japanese literature and a reference to the educated warrior-poet ideal. The term "bushi" entered the Japanese vocabulary with the general introduction of Chinese literature and added to the indigenous words, "tsuwamono" and "mononofu".

In The Kokinshu (early 10th century), the first imperial anthology of poems, there is an early reference to "Saburau"--originally a verb meaning "to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society." In Japanese, the pronunciation would become "saburai". By the end of the 12th century, samurai became synonymous with bushi almost entirely and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class.

History 13th to 16th Centuries

From the Literature of the 13th to 16th Centuries there exists an abundance of literary references to the ideals of Bushido.

Written in 1371 AD, The Heike Monogatari chronicles the struggle between the Minamoto and Taira clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century, a conflict known as the Genpei War. Clearly depicted throughout the Heike Monogatari is the ideal of the cultivated warrior. The warriors in the Heike Monogatari served as models for the educated warriors of later generations, and the ideals depicted by them were not assumed to be beyond reach. Rather, these ideals were vigorously pursued in the upper echelons of warrior society and recommended as the proper form of the Japanese man of arms.

Other examples of the evolution (though it has been suggested constancy) in the Literature of the 13th to 16th Centuries included:

This period of early development of Bushido, as depicted in these various writings and house codes, already includes the concepts of an all encompassing loyalty to their master, filial piety, reverence to the Emperor. It indicates the need for both compassion for those of a lower station, and for the preservation of their name. Early Bushido literature further enforces the requirement to coduct themselves with calmness, fairness, justice, and politeness. The relationship between learning and the way of the warrior is clearly articulated, one being a natural partner to the other. Finding a proper death in battle, for the cause of their lord, also features strongly in this early history.

History 17th to 19th Centuries

Although Japan enjoyed a period of peace during the Sakoku ("Closed country") period from the 17th to the mid-19th century, the samurai class remained and continued to play a center role in the policing of the country. It has been suggested that this period of relative peace led to the refinement and formalism of Bushido can be traced back through the era of feudal Japan, or the Edo Period. Literature of the 17th to 19th Century contains many examples of the philosophy of Bushido. This includes:

There are many examples of Bushido-in-action of this period. One such was Torii Mototada, whose decision to stand guard over Fushimi Castle in August 1600 against vastly numerically superior forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi as an act of loyalty and honour to Tokugawa Ieyasu despite almost certain death. He cited Bushido as his reason for doing so and encouraged Tokugawa to flee with the main force of his army. In a moving last statement addressed to his son Tadamasa, Torii described how his family has served the Tokugawa for generations and how his own brother has been killed in battle. In the letter, Torii stated that he considered it an honor to die first so that he might give courage to the rest of the Tokugawa warriors. He requested that his son raise his siblings to serve the Tokugawa Clan "In both ascent and decline" and to remain humble desiring neither lordship nor monetary reward.

In 1622, the Daimyo Kuroda Nagamasa (1568-1623) would emphasize the balance of the arts of peace (Confucian learning and literature) with the arts of war, and encourages fairness and sympathy toward the other three classes of people in his writings of the Literature of the 17th to 19th Century. This work extolls the requirement to avoid self-interest in terms of government, and whilst contemplating all aspects of military strategy, this is to be utilised for the purpose of pacification rather than waging war per se.

In the late 16th century, the feudal lord Nabeshima Naoshige (1538-1618 A.D.) would write a set of wall inscriptions for his followers. Historians describe the wall inscriptions as "Everyday wisdom, rather than house laws proper". Lord Nabeshima's written works also include a mention of bushido:

"Bushido is in being crazy to die. Fifty or more could not kill one such a man"

In 1645, the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi wrote his famous book Go Rin No Sho (The Book of Five Rings), one of the classical (and most read) works on Japanese military philosophy. Musashi fought in more than 60 duels from the ages of 13 to 29, he was never defeated. Unlike many authors of other works relating to Bushido, Miyamoto Musashi was a ronin, and thus served no lord. Noted for his style of wielding two swords at once, Musashi fought his last sword match in his early thirties. After the age of thirty, he dedicated his life to teaching martial arts and fine arts. Musashi became a designer of castle towns and the Zen temple gardens within them. In addition to being a swordsman and strategist, he became one of Japan's most respected ink wash painters (suibokuga). His fine paintings are coveted items in museums and in private collections in Japan. Musashi was considered the ultimate Renaissance man, excelling in calligraphy, sculpture, metallurgy, poetry, tea ceremony, Noh drama, and carpentry. Musashi's last request, before passing away in 1645 AD, was to be buried in full armor and bearing his sword, guarding the Tokaido road to Edo (present day Tokyo).

One of the most famous of stories that has come to represent the Way of the Warrior, is that of the 47 Ronin, occurring in the start of the 18th century. In this story the 47 retainers of the Asano Takuminokami Naganori, daimyo of Ako Castle, embarked on an epic vendetta of revenge against their disgraced lord. The vendetta was aimed at Kira Kozukenosuke whom had humiliated the Asano, resulting in him attacking Kira within the Edo Castle - a capital offence requiring seppuku. The warriors of Ako decided upon a quest for revenge, in which they would undertake the life or ronin to enable them to spy and then finally strike against Kira. The quest took some two years, and ended in the capture of Kira Kozukenosuke, who was offered the same knife with which the Ako lord had committed seppuku with, but was finally beheaded when he failed to do so. In the end, the 47 ronin were were put to death, but such was the reverence for their dedication to their lord, they remain national heros.

The status of the samurai was abolished after the Meiji Restoration, but the former samurai continued to play a key role in the industrialization of Japan and its traditions remain alive today, seen in cultural features as mundane as the outfit worn by Japanese firefighters.

History of the 20th Century

Bushido ethics enjoyed a revival during World War II as a way to build up Japanese fighting spirit. It was particularly reinforced among the fighting forces as a means of portraying the value of self-sacrifice and loyalty, and reached its apotheosis with the self-sacrifice of the kamikaze pilots. The re-emergence of Bushido has also symbolised the excesses and brutality of at least some Japanese soldiers. The degree of indoctrination within the Japanese armed forces during World War II has however, been disputed.

Bushido ethics

Bushido expanded and formalized the earlier code of the samurai, and stressed frugality, loyalty, mastery of martial arts, and honor to the death. Under the Bushido ideal, if a samurai failed to uphold his honor he could regain it by performing seppuku (ritual suicide).

In an excerpt from his book "Samurai: The World of the Warrior", historian Stephen Turnbull describes the role of Seppuku in feudal Japan:

''"Seppuku is a more correct expression for an act of suicide performed by the process of cutting open the abdomen. Seppuku is better known in the West as hara kiri (belly-cutting), and is a concept so alien to the European tradition that it is one of the few words from the world of the samurai to have entered foreign languages without a need for translation. Seppuku was commonly performed using a dagger. It could take place with preparation and ritual in the privacy of one’s home, or speedily in a quiet corner of a battlefield while one’s comrades kept the enemy at bay.

In the world of the warrior, seppuku was a deed of bravery that was admirable in a samurai who knew he was defeated, disgraced, or mortally wounded. It meant that he could end his days with his transgressions wiped away and with his reputation not merely intact but actually enhanced. The cutting of the abdomen released the samurai’s spirit in the most dramatic fashion, but it was an extremely painful and unpleasant way to die, and sometimes the samurai who was performing the act asked a loyal comrade to cut off his head at the moment of agony."''

Bushido was widely practiced and it is surprising how uniform the samurai code remained over time, crossing over all geographic and socio-economic backgrounds of the samurai. The samurai represented a wide populace numbering between 7 to 10% of the Japanese population, and the first Meiji era census at the end of the 19th century counted 1,282,000 members of the "high samurais", allowed to ride a horse, and 492,000 members of the "low samurai", allowed to wear two swords but not to ride a horse, in a country of about 25 million."Japan. A historical survey" Mikiso Hane.

Seven virtues associated with bushido

-Translations from: Random House's Japanese-English, English-Japanese Dictionary

Others that are sometimes added to these:

  • 忠 - Chū - Preservation of ethics
  • 孝 - Kō - Filial piety
  • 智 - Chi - Wisdom
  • 悌 - Tei - Care for the aged

Major figures associated with bushido

See also

Further reading

  • William Scott Wilson, Ideals of the Samurai: Writings of Japanese Warriors (Kodansha, 1982) ISBN 0897500814

  • John Allyn, "Forty-Seven Ronin Story" ISBN 0804801967

  • The Message Of Master Gokurakuji--Hojo Shigetoki (1198A.D.-1261A.D.) *

  • Sunset of The Samurai--The True Story of Saigo Takamori Military History Magazine *

  • Onoda, Hiroo, No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War. Trans. Charles S. Terry. (New York, Kodansha International Ltd, 1974) ISBN 1557506639 *

External links and further reading

  • Bushido--the Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe (1905)'' (ISBN 080483413X) —

  • Budoshoshinshu - The Code of The Warrior by Daidoji Yuzan (ISBN 0897500962) —

  • Hagakure-The Book of the Samurai By Tsunetomo Yamamoto'' (ISBN 4770011067 paperback, ISBN 4770029160 hardcover) — Complete text online: The Hagakure Kikigaki

Feudal Japan | Japanese terms | Military history of Japan | Warrior code

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Bushido".

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