Bushido: The Soul of Japan

'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.

'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.

Inazo Nitobe's Bushido the Soul of Japan is a classic work on a warrior culture. Nitobe examines the moral and ethical qualities which make a Samurai -- such as rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty, and self-control. Other chapters are devoted to the education and training of Samurai, their weapons, and Bushido as a philosophy and system of ethics. A short but powerful book, Bushido the Soul of Japan is considered essential reading for military historians and students of strategy.

Bushido: The Soul of Japan is a book written by Inazo Nitobe exploring the way of the samurai. Bushido: The Soul of Japan is, along with the classic text Hagakure by Tsunetomo Yamamoto (1659-1719), 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, the founder of the Boy Scouts. 1] Nitobe originally wrote Bushido: The Soul of Japan in English (1899), in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The book was not translated into Japanese until it had been popular in the English-speaking world for several years. As Japan underwent deep transformations of its traditional lifestyle while becoming a modern nation, Nitobe engaged in an inquiry into the ethos of his nation, and the result of his meditations was this seminal work. A fine stylist in English, he wrote many books in that language, which earned him a place among the best known Japanese writers of his age. He found in Bushido, the Way of the Warrior, the sources of the eight virtues most admired by his people: rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty and self-control. He also delved into the other indigenous traditions of Japan, such as Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism and the moral guidelines handed down over hundreds of years by Japan's samurai and sages. In addition, 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 citation needed] times. He found a close resemblance between the samurai ethos of what he called Bushido and the spirit of medieval chivalry and the ethos of ancient Greece, as observed in books such as the Iliad of Homer.

Bushido: The Soul of Japan is a book written by Inazo Nitobe exploring the way of the samurai. Bushido: The Soul of Japan is, along with the classic text Hagakure by Tsunetomo Yamamoto (1659-1719), 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, the founder of the Boy Scouts. 1] Nitobe originally wrote Bushido: The Soul of Japan in English (1899), in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The book was not translated into Japanese until it had been popular in the English-speaking world for several years. As Japan underwent deep transformations of its traditional lifestyle while becoming a modern nation, Nitobe engaged in an inquiry into the ethos of his nation, and the result of his meditations was this seminal work. A fine stylist in English, he wrote many books in that language, which earned him a place among the best known Japanese writers of his age. He found in Bushido, the Way of the Warrior, the sources of the eight virtues most admired by his people: rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty and self-control. He also delved into the other indigenous traditions of Japan, such as Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism and the moral guidelines handed down over hundreds of years by Japan's samurai and sages. In addition, 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 citation needed] times. He found a close resemblance between the samurai ethos of what he called Bushido and the spirit of medieval chivalry and the ethos of ancient Greece, as observed in books such as the Iliad of Homer.

Inazo Nitobe's Bushido the Soul of Japan is a classic work on a warrior culture. Nitobe examines the moral and ethical qualities which make a Samurai -- such as rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty, and self-control. Other chapters are devoted to the education and training of Samurai, their weapons, and Bushido as a philosophy and system of ethics. A short but powerful book, Bushido the Soul of Japan is considered essential reading for military historians and students of strategy.

Nitobe Inazō (September 1, 1862 - October 15, 1933) was a Japanese agricultural economist, author, educator, diplomat, politician, and Christian during the pre-World War II period. Nitobe was born in Morioka, Mutsu Province (present-day Iwate Prefecture). His father Nitobe Jūjirō was a retainer to the local daimyō of the Nanbu clan. His grandfather is Nitobe Tsutō. His great-grandfather is Nitobe Denzō ja] (Koretami). His one of cousin is Nitobe Inao ja]. His infant name was Inanosuke. Nitobe left Morioka for Tokyo in 1871 to become the heir to his uncle, Ōta Tokitoshi, and adopted the name Ōta Inazō. He later reverted to Nitobe when his an older brother Nitobe Shichirō died. Nitobe was a prolific writer. He published many scholarly books as well as books for general readers. He also contributed hundreds of articles to popular magazines and newspapers. Nitobe, however, is perhaps most famous in the west for his work Bushido: The Soul of Japan (1900), which was one of the first major works on samurai ethics and Japanese culture written originally in English for Western readers (The book was subsequently translated into Japanese and many other languages). Although sometimes criticized as portraying the samurai in terms so Western as to take away some of their actual meaning, this book nonetheless was a pioneering work of its kind. The reception and impact of Bushido: The Soul of Japan were quite different in Japan and the West, however, with Japanese scholars such as Inoue Tetsujirō and Tsuda Sokichi criticizing or dismissing the book. It was not until the 1980s that Bushido: The Soul of Japan reached the height of its popularity in Japan, and is now the most widely available work on the subject of bushido. In the West, Bushido: The Soul of Japan has been a best-seller since the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, and has been translated into dozens of languages. Nitobe's writings are now available in Nitobe Inazō Zenshū (the Complete Works of Inazo Nitobe), a 25-volume set from Kyobunkan, 1969-2001. His English and other western language work are collected in the 5 volume Works of Inazo Nitobe, The University of Tokyo Press, 1972. (wikipedia.org)