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"Chivalry is a flower no less indigenous to the soil of Japan than
cherry blossom" are the opening words to Inazo Nitobe's Bushido:
The Soul of Japan. It was 1900 and Inazo, a Japanese academic
living in the USA, had been prompted to write the book after an
American professor had wondered how the Japanese imparted moral
education on their children if schools didn't offer any religious
instruction. The answer, Inazo realised, was through Bushido.
Bushido is the chivalric code of moral principles that the Samurai
followed: rectitude, courage, benevolence, respect, honesty, honour
and loyalty. Influenced by Confucianism, Shinto and Zen Buddhism,
it tempers the violence of a warrior with wisdom and serenity.
Alongside Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Machiavelli's The Prince,
Inazo's book has become influential among military and corporate
leaders looking for ways to manage their people and overcome their
opponents. Beautifully produced in traditional Chinese binding and
with a timeless design, Bushido Illustrated: The Soul of Japan
includes the classic Inazo Nitobe text with a new introduction and
colourful illustrations throughout. It will appeal to anyone
interested in leadership, the code of the Samurai and Japanese
culture.
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
This volume collects together essays and lectures given by the
author from 1922-1927 to a variety of international audiences.
Together they illuminate essential aspects of the Japanese
mentality and way of life, particularly in social, religious and
linguistic aspects.
Each a best-selling title in its own right, these three classic Far
Eastern texts are about much more than war and being a warrior,
including ideas of leadership, virtue and disciple which remain
relevant to conduct in business and in life today, and giving them
a much broader appeal.
This volume collects together essays and lectures given by the
author from 1922-1927 to a variety of international audiences.
Together they illuminate essential aspects of the Japanese
mentality and way of life, particularly in social, religious and
linguistic aspects.
'What Japan was she owed to the samurai. They were not only the
flower of the nation, but its root as well.' Inazo Nitobe's book,
the most influential ever written on Bushido, or the samurai Way of
the Warrior, argues that the philosophy of Bushido is the true key
to understanding 'the soul of Japan'. One of twenty new books in
the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection
showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our
world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets,
satirists to Zen Buddhists.
A century ago, when Japan was transforming itself from an isolated
feudal society into a modern nation, a Japanese educator queried
about the ethos of his people composed this seminal work, which
with his numerous other writings in English made him the best,
known Japanese writer in the West during his lifetime.
He found in Bushido, the Way of the Warrior, the sources of the
virtues most admired by his people: rectitude, courage,
benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty and
self-control. His approach to his task was eclectic and
far-reaching. On the one hand, he delved into the indigenous
traditions, into Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism and the moral
guidelines handed down over hundreds of years by Japan's samurai
and sages. On the other hand, he sought similarities and contrasts
by citing not only Western philosophers and statesmen, but also the
shapers of European and American thought and civilization going
back to the Romans, the Greeks and Biblical times.
This book is a classic to which generations of scholars and laymen
alike have long referred for insights into the character of the
Japanese people. And all of its many readers in the past have been
amply rewarded, as will be all those who turn to its pages in the
next and future decades.
Honor: Samurai Philosophy of Life - The Essential Samurai
Collection is comprised of three of the most influential books on
the Samurai philosophy of honor and life. The Book of Five Rings by
Miyamoto Musashi is a text on kenjutsu and the martial arts in
general, written by the samurai warrior Miyamoto Musashi circa
1645. It is considered a classic treatise on military strategy,
much like Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Chanakya's Arthashastra.
There have been various translations made over the years, and it
enjoys an audience considerably broader than only that of martial
artists: for instance, some business leaders find its discussion of
conflict and taking the advantage to be relevant to their work. The
modern-day Hy h Niten Ichi-ry employs it as a manual of technique
and philosophy. Hagakure: The Way of the Samurai is a practical and
spiritual guide for a warrior, drawn from a collection of
commentaries by the samurai Yamamoto Tsunetomo, former retainer to
Nabeshima Mitsushige, the third ruler of what is now the Saga
prefecture in Japan. Tsuramoto Tashiro compiled these commentaries
from his conversations with Tsunetomo from 1709 to 1716; however,
it was not published until many years after. Hagakure is also known
as the The Book of the Samurai, Analects of Nabeshima or the
Hagakure Analects. Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe is,
along with the classic text Hagakure by Tsunetomo Yamamoto, a study
of the way of the samurai. A best-seller in its day, it was read by
many influential foreigners, among them President Theodore
Roosevelt, President John F. Kennedy and Robert Baden-Powell. It
may well have shaped Baden-Powell's ideas on the Boy Scout movement
he founded.
BUSHIDO - THE SOUL OF JAPAN BY INAZO NITOBE DECEMBER, 1904 PREFACE
About ten years ago, while spending a few days under the hospitable
roof of the distinguished Belgian jurist, the lamented M. de
Laveleye, our conversation turned, during one of our rambles, to
the subject of religion." Do you mean to say," asked the venerable
professor," that you have no religious instruction in your
schools?" On my replying in the negative he suddenly halted in
astonishment, and in a voice which I shall not easily forget, he
repeated" No religion ! . How do you impart moral education ?" The
question stunned me at the time. I could give no ready answer, for
the moral precepts I learned in my childhood days, were not given
in schools and not until I began to analyze the different elements
that formed my notions of right and wrong, did I find that it was
Bushido that breathed them into my nostrils. 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. In my attempts to give satisfactory replies to M. de
Laveleye and to my wife, I found that without understanding
Feudalism and Bushido, the moral ideas of present Japan are a
sealed volume. Taking advantage of enforced idleness on account of
long illness, I put down in the order now presented to the public
some of the answers given in our household conversation. They
consist mainly of what I was taught and told in my youthful days,
when Feudalism was still in force. Between Lafcaclio Hearn and Mrs.
Hugh Fraser on one side and Sir Ernest Satow and Professor
Chamberlain on the other, it is indeed discouraging to write
anything Japanese in English. Theonly advantage I have over them is
that I can assume the attitude of a personal defendant, while these
distin Pronounced Boti-shte-doh'. In putting Japanese words and
names into English, Hepburn's rule is followed, that the vowels
should be used as in European languages, and the consonants as in
English. guished writers are at best solicitors and attorneys. I
have often thought," Had I their gift of language, I would present
the cause of Japan in more eloquent terms!" But one who speaks in a
borrowed tongue should be thankful if he can just make himself
intelligible. All through the discourse I have tried to illustrate
whatever points I have made with parallel examples from European
history and literature, believing that these will aid in bringing
the subject nearer to the comprehension of foreign readers. Should
any of my allusions to religious subjects and to religious workers
be thought slighting, I trust my attitude towards Christianity
itself will not be questioned. It is with ecclesiastical methods
and with the forms which obscure the teachings of Christ, and not
with the teachings themselves, that I have little sympathy. I
believe in the religion taught by Him and handed down to us in the
New Testament, as well as in the law written in the heart. Further,
I believe that God hath made a testament which may be called "old"
with every people and nation, Gentile or Jew, Christian or Heathen.
As to the rest of my theology, I need not impose upon the patience
of the public. In concluding this preface, I wish to express my
thanks to my friend Anna C. Hartshorne for many valuable
suggestions and for the characteristically Japanese design made by
her for the cover of this book. - INAZONITOBE. Malvern, Pa.,
Twelfth Month,
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