Bushido

If there is one aspect of Japan more frequently misunderstood than all others it is the concept of Bushido – the so called Way of the Warrior.

Made famous in dozens of films, comic books and novels, Bushido to most non-Japanese is essentially a code of ethics by which the samurai population of old lived their lives.

The problem is – this was never the case!

Only one significant non-fiction publication detailing examples of valour deemed ideal in the samurai ever really made waves – Hagakure by Tsunetomo Yamamoto, and even that was limited to viewing by the clan in which Yamamoto served.

The now globally famous book, Bushido (1899 – 1900) was an early 20th Century attempt by Inazo Nitobe (1862 – 1933) to put into words and explain to the non-Japanese trying to understand the nation, the mentality of the masses. In doing so, perhaps intentionally, perhaps not, Nitobe fails to differentiate between the samurai and the average man in the street.

Given the glamour and prestige heaped upon the shoulders of the samurai class over the centuries, and the tendency of so many today to claim lineage from a samurai clan, it often comes as a surprise to learn that only around 6 or 7% of all Japanese are estimated to have been classed of samurai rank. Six or seven percent!

Greater still is the surprise learning that the better samurai, in the eyes of these bearers of two swords themselves, even if not the movie directors and anime artists, is the individual capable of avoiding the need to draw his sword in solving a problem; his sword drawing, foe slaying counterpart a lesser man in samurai eyes.

Think about that, comprehend it, and you are part way to understanding the code of Bushido.