Product Description

Now illustrated with authentic black and white photographs, this reprint of the 1899 original is perhaps the most complete study of samurai life. Exhaustively researched using original documents.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #481277 in Books
• Published on: 1975-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

Customer Reviews

A great book, very informative and detailed
Inazo Nitobe takes the time to explain the concept of Bushido in great detail while including Western examples to enable the reader to have a greater understanding of his meaning. He presents the book in various categories, ranging from the origins of Bushido, the training and positioning of women, from the education of a samurai to the gruesome details of the Hara-kiri or seppuku (ritual suicide). This book is a must for anyone who wishes to understand Bushido, the mentality of the samurai, and the unique mindset of the Asian-especially the Japanese-way of thinking. Other books which I heartily recommend are: A Book of Five Rings-by Miyamoto Musashi, Hagakure-by Tsunetomo Yamamoto, The Code of the Samurai-by Daidoji Yuzan (translated by A.L. Sadler), Runaway Horses-by Yukio Mishima and Legends of the Samurai-by Hiraoki Sato

A fantastic introduction to the way of the warrior
Bushido is literally translated "warrior path" and this book explains that path in to-the-point detail.

the whole book is filled with inspiring quotes, practical advice and a good look at what a feudal samurai had to be. Some other things are explained, such as suppuku (ritual suicide), honor, commitment and more.

For those interested in the martial arts, Japanese history and fighting cultures... this is an excellent book. It is well combined with "The Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi, "The Art of War" By Sun Tzu, "The Tao te Ching" by Lao Tzu and "budoshoshinshu" by Daidoji Yuzan.

Historically informative, but not spiritually enlightening
This was undoubtedly one of the most informative books on the subject of Bushido I've read, but there are very particular issues I have with it. First, the source of these issues perhaps lies in the author: though he is Japanese, there is no doubt in my mind from the reading that he is a Western thinker, of staunch Christian upbringing. Though he is an excellent historian, he is by no means a bushi, nor is he in any way an Eastern thinker (much of bushido derives from Japanese Zen Buddhism).

What this leads to is typically insensitive, Eurocentric judgements of the way of life of the warriors of feudal Japan. For instance, I found very distasteful his treatment of young, "hot-headed" bushi rushing to commit seppuku, ritualized honorable suicide, without supposedly proper motivation. To have treated this matter and other such topics with full understanding and sensitivity, the author would have had to be a warrior, himself. Evidently, he was not. Had he been, fundamental concepts such as honor and duty would have wholly changed his point of view.

Further, though his points are made with great attention to historical detail, he tends to emphasize denial of the self and other aspects of discipline, whereas a historian who was also a modern warrior would have emphasized, among other things, the intertwining of life and death. These things that lie at the heart of bushi would have explained, for instance, seppuku far better.

Ultimately, the decision to read this book should be based on what the reader wants. If he or she seeks a straight-forward explanation of the tenents of bushido with little else, the overall excellent history presented in this book should be quite sufficient. If the reader wants, however, a more spiritual treatise delving into the philosophical origins of bushido, for the benefit of modern bushi, this book falls short.