A review of Bushido : The Soul of Japan

Kongbrailatpam Rajeshwar Sharma *

Front cover of Bushido: The Soul of Japan :: Source - Wikipedia / "Hearn 92.40.10, Houghton Library, Harvard University"

Recently when I thought about the decadent state of Manipuri society, I remembered reading a small book called Bushido :The Soul of Japan. While discussing about knights and chivalry, the book was recommended to us by Miss Noel Dunn who taught us American literature at St Joseph’s College, Darjeeling.

She not only talked about chivalry but also about the high moral standard that the knights maintained in England as well as in Japan during the Middle Ages. At the same time, she also wanted her students to know about feudalism in Japan as much as about the moral principles which were taught to the Samurai warriors of Japan. The Samurai warriors were required to learn and practice the rules of the moral code in battles as well as in their day-to-day lives.

Bushido : The Soul of Japan, according to Michi-yo Nakamoto, “changed how the Nation (Japan) was perceived around the world.” It was first published by the author in 1900 in the United States. Not only did the book become very popular among the Americans, but it also became an international bestseller.

Even President Roosevelt had read Bushido : The Soul of Japan. In the tenth edition of the book, Inazo Nitobe wrote, “Exceedingly flattering is the news that has reached me from official sources, that President Roosevelt has done it undeserved honor by reading it and distributing several dozens of copies among his friends.”

The circumstance under which Bushido : The Soul of Japan was written is quite interesting. Inazo Ni-tobe was a Harvard scholar, agricultural economist, educator and a diplomat. He served as Under-Secretary General of the League of Nations from 1919 to 1929. As a diplomat he had many Westerners as his friends and colleagues, sometimes he was asked particularly by colleagues and his American wife Mary to explain the moral values that underpin the Japanese culture.

“The direct inception of this little book is due to the frequent queries put by my wife as to the reasons why such and such ideas and customs prevail in Japan”, wrote Inazo Nitobe in his “little book” Bushido, according to Inazo Nitobe, literally means “Military (Bu)-Knight (Shi)-Ways (Do).”

In other words, it is the “Precepts of Knighthood” or the code of moral principles which the knights were taught and required to practice not only in battles but also in everyday life.

To put it in the author’s words, Bushido is “the ways which fighting nobles should observe in their daily life as well as in their vocation.” Although Bushido looks similar to chivalry, the Japanese word ‘Bushido’ is used rather than the word ‘chivalry’ because, according to its author Inazo Nitobe, it “must wear the badge of its singularity on its face.”

It is an unwritten code of moral principles “possessing all the more the powerful sanction of veritable deed, and of a law written on the fleshy tablets of the heart.” Although when the practice of Bushido exactly began is not known, the origin of it can be traced back to the rise of feudalism in Japan in the 12th century AD. “Only as it attains consciousness in the feudal age, its origin, in respect to time, may be identified with feudalism” writes its author Inazo Nitobe.

During this period a “professional class of warriors” known as Samurai came into prominence. Literally the word Samurai means “guards or attendants.” However it used to refer to those men of noble birth who were assigned with the task of guarding the Imperial Court. A set of moral principles evolved from their illustrious service. In the long run, this set of moral principles soon came to be known as Bushido.

The Samurai warriors can be traced back to the days of the Heian period during which campaigns were carried out to subdue the Emishi people, the natives of the Tohoku region in Japan. At the same time, wealthy landowners began to hire more and more Samurai warriors to protect themselves. Soon they became formidable and independent of the Imperial Government.

Minamoto Yoritomo of the Minamoto landowner-warrior clan overthrew the lmperial Government and established a military Government in 1192. Eventually the Samurai warriors ruled over Japan for the next seven hundred years.

What is significant about Bushido : The Soul of Japan is that the book provides the readers an insight into the moral values that the Samurai warriors cherished. In his book, Inazo Nitobe emphasizes eight virtues of the Samurai warriors. They are Rectitude or Justice, Courage, Benevolence or Mercy, Politeness, Honesty or Sincerity, Honour, Loyalty and Character or Self-control.

Because of these eight virtues, the Samurai warriors are exalted and emulated all over the world. Even movies are made based on the virtues of the Samurai. Hollywood movie, “The Last Samurai”, is about Katsu-moto, a rebel Samurai who fights against those who are corrupting the traditional values of Japan. A Samurai warrior has been a model for physical prowess as well as moral rectitude.

To a Samurai warrior, honour and self-respect are more valuable than his life. Death was not fearful to him. Hara-Kiri was performed to show their indomitable courage, and to preserve their honour and self-respect.

It is a glorified suicide committed by cutting (Kiri=to cut) his belly (Hara=belly) with a special sword used only by the Samurai warriors. It is a ritual based on one of the principles of their moral code that an honorable death is far worthier than to live a disgraceful life. It was particularly performed by a defeated Samurai warrior.

Not only was Hara-Kiri performed only by the defeated Samurai, but it was also performed by those who committed mistakes in order to take responsibility. Even today politicians in Japan who are alleged to have committed bribery are believed to have committed suicide or Hara-Kiri. On 28th May, 2007, Toshikatsu Matsuoka, a Japanese Minister who was involved in a corruption case, committed suicide.

Before his suicide, he was severely criticized in the press for his lack of accountability. It was believed that the Minister performed Hara-Kiri to take responsibility for the corruption case. In contrast, no Minister in Manipur or in India has come forward so far to take responsibility for their failure to contain the sixteen-month long violence in Manipur let alone perform Hara-Kiri.

Bushido : The Soul of Japan is the book where one can see justice and courage are as precious as self respect and honor are. The Samurai warriors were instructed to have a strong sense of justice. And they were also instructed to have courage so that they should be able to carry out justice, for there is no justice without courage. Injustice reigns supreme where there are cowards.

Bushido is also enshrined with loyalty, politeness, truthfulness and benevolence without which the Samurai warriors would not have been exalted and emulated. These moral values of the Samurai are shared by all in Japan. “

(The) spirit of Bushido permeated all social classes” wrote Inazo Nitobe. Subsequently it enabled the Japanese to defeat their bigger, powerful neighbors during the Second World War, and to emerge as an economic powerhouse of the 20th century.

Bushido : The Soul of Japan is the gem that emanates a ray of hope for every decadent society. It is more than a book of moral principles. It can unleash the latent power in every one of us provided that one follows and practices the principles of Bushido.

The main aim of the Boy Scouts scheme was “to revive some of the rules of the knights of old, which did so much for the moral tone of our race, just as…Bushido…has done, and is still doing, for Japan” wrote Robert Baden-Powell, founder of Boy Scouts. It is high time every Manipuri learned and practiced the moral principles of the Samurai warriors.