Hagakure Bushido

, originally uploaded by furyu_man18.

"The way of the Samurai is found in death", a famous phrase from Hagakure. Through reading the book of Hagakure I found that the author repeatedly encouraged samurai to choose death without hesitation in order to save their honor. Is this teaching no longer useful or just a fanatic idea in today’s world? "The way of the Samurai is found in death", a famous phrase from Hagakure, has always caused a controversy. Some interpret it as mere fanaticism. Actually, during military era in Japan, these words were used for bolstering military propaganda. The reasons for their desperate fighting were found in this phrase and adopted as the true Japanese brave men. But I don’t think it's is a good idea to focus on just one phrase of a book to comprehend the meaning of an entire book. Moreover this teaching of the book was born about 300 years ago in the feudal era. Through reading this book, I've found that the teachings of Hagakure can be interpreted in significantly many ways. The following are the keys to understanding the true meaning of the phrase "The way of the Samurai is found in death”, a guiding principle of Hagakure Bushido. “You behave as if your own body were already dead." "It is important to be resolute beforehand.” The things to be done that require deep considerations beforehand are many.”The way of the samurai is morning after morning, the practice of death; considering whether death will be here or there; imagining the most subtle way of dying; and focusing one’s mind firmly on death. "A master sword man said ;I don’t know the way to defeat others but the way to defeat my self.""The way of the samurai is all about taking desperate measures in desperate times. Ten men or more cannot kill such a desperate man."etc How do you feel about those aphorisms? In my opinion, these teachings must be concerned with how to deal with your fear of death. In other words, overcoming your fear of death lets you have a significantly different view of life. From this viewpoint you can see what is important or not so important immediately. You won’t hesitate to do what is crucial because you can see clearly what you are doing at any moment in time from this viewpoint.




The History of Hagakure

After Nabeshima Mtushige ‘s passing, Tsunetome Yamamoto became a Buddhist priest and taught the way of samurai throughout the rest of his life. On September 10th, 1716, Yamamoto’s utterances, as recorded by a young samurai, were made into a book.　When Hagakure was written, 100 years had passed since the end of warriors’ era (around AD 1600), so the roles of samurai had changed to that of being officers instead of warriors. How should the spirit of the samurai be reflected during that time? "It is understandable that since their vitality was strong they were generally rough and went about running amuck. These days rowdiness is nonexistent because man’s vitality has weakened. Vitality has fallen behind, but man’s character has improved. Valor is yet a different thing. Although men have become gentle these days because of the lack of vitality, this does not mean that they are inferior in being crazy to die. That has nothing to do with vitality."



Kill or Be Killed
Actually, there is much encouragement for violence expressed through quite a few brutal expressions such as “behead him”, “cut him down”, “execute him”, “off with his head”, “cut off his head”, “kill or be killed”, and so on…But it is not surprising because Bushi is a warrior indeed.


"Takagi Akifusa turned against the Ritsuzoji clan, pleaded with Maeda Iyo kami Iesada for assistance, and was sheltered by him. Akifusa was a warrior of matchless valor and was an accomplished and agile swordsman. His retainers were Ingzaemon and Fudozaemon, stalwarts in no way inferior, and they left Akifusa’s side neither day nor night. Thus it happened that a request was sent from Lord Takanobu to Iesada to kill Akifusa. At one point, when Akifusa was seated on the veranda having Ingazaemon wash his feet, Iesada came running up behind and struck off his head. Before his head fell, Akifusa drew out his short sword and turned to strike, but cut off Ingazaemon’s head. The two heads fell into the washbasin together. Then, Akifusa’s head rose into the midst of those present. This was the sort of magical power that he consistently had."
"Yamamoto Kichiemon was ordered by his farther Jinemon to cut down a dog at the age of five, and at the age of fifteen he was made to execute a criminal. Everyone, by the time they were fourteen or fifteen, was ordered to behead someone without fail. When lord Katsushige was young, he was ordered by Lord Naoshige to practice killing with a sword. It is said that at that time he was made to cut down more than ten men successively."

Philosophy
The teachings of Hagakure were strongly influenced by Zen Buddhism and Confucianism.
"It is a good viewpoint to see the world as a dream. When you have something like a nightmare, you will wake up and tell yourself that it was only a dream. It is said that the world we live in is not at all different from this.” “When something out of the ordinary happens, it is ridiculous to say that it is a mystery or a portent of something to come. Eclipses of the sun and moon, comets, clouds that flutter like flags, snow in the fifth month, lightning in the twelfth month, and so on, are all things that occur every fifty or one hundred years. They occur according to the evolution of Yin and Yang. The fact that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west would be a mystery too, if it were not an everyday occurrence. Furthermore, the fact that something bad always happens in the world when strange phenomenas occur is due to people seeing something like fluttering clouds and thinking that something is going to happen. Mysteries are born initially in the minds of people. The occurrence of mysteries is always by word of mouth."


Liberal thoughts
Despite having strict class systems during the feudal era, Hagakure preaches liberal thoughts regarding the equality of people.
"To feel that a person from a typical family cannot do the same work as a person from a prestigious family, or that a man who has heretofore been only a foot soldier should not be allowed to become a leader, is entirely wrong thinking. As for a person who has risen from humble beginnings, his value should be prized and especially respected, even more so than that of person who was born into his class."

Everyday life
Profound teachings concerning everyday life must be useful in helping everyone live in a decent way.


"It is unfitting that one be ignorant of the history and origins of his clan and its retainers. But there are times when extensive knowledge becomes a hindrance. One should use discretion. Knowing the circumstances can be an obstruction in everyday affairs, too. One should use discretion."



"When faced with a crisis, if one puts some spittle on his earlobe and exhales deeply through his nose, he will overcome anything at hand. This is a secret matter. Furthermore, when experiencing a rush of blood to the head, if one put spittle on the upper part of one’s ear, it will soon go away."

I quoted above "phrases" from The Book of the Samurai by Yamamoto Tsunetomo Translated by William Scott Wilson

The meanings of Hagakure in our days
The teachings of Hagakure still keep shining to the present day. Nowadays, people in Japan have been enjoying various lifestyles and freedoms. There are a lot of alternatives for many things such as careers, marriage, hobbies, etc. We seem to be able to choose and change our lifestyles. Fairly large amounts of information, services and opportunities surround us. Our materialistic society urges us to be self-centered. In such times, Hagakure teaches us what we have forgotten and lost, such as single-mindedness or loyalty to something significant.

When the teachings of Hagakure were dictated, Tokugawa and the Nabeshima government prohibited the standard practice among retainers of committing seppuku shortly after the deaths of their lords. But Yamamoto strongly urged retainers who had owed much to their lords to disregard the prohibition. Probably, it might have sounded too old fashioned, unrealistic or annoying to samurai who had become bureaucratic. He might have wanted to encourage samurai of that time to rediscover and preserve the true spirit of samurai.

I believe the title of Hagakure, “shadows of leaves,” implies death in life. From an angle of death, Yamamoto Jocho might have tried to shed light on how to live as a samurai.

horrible buns: a story of Rakugo;饅頭怖い

horrible buns: a story of Rakugo;饅頭怖い, originally uploaded by furyu_man18.

“There is nothing in the world which makes me scared ." a man is boasting himself.
No body believes it, however.　
So he finely admits " To tell the truth. I 'm frightened of sweet buns, I can't stop trembling myself just seeing a sweet bun indeed. "

When he is sleeping, the others put many buns on him in order to scare him.
Upon waking up, he starts screaming and eating them one after another !!
Finely he has eaten all buns and he says　"Oh I remember that hot tea is another thing I 'm scared."

horrible buns: a story of Rakugo;饅頭怖い

horrible buns: a story of Rakugo;饅頭怖い, originally uploaded by furyu_man18.

“There is nothing in the world which makes me scared ." a man is boasting himself.
No body believes it, however.　
So he finely admits " To tell the truth. I 'm frightened of sweet buns, I can't stop trembling myself just seeing a sweet bun indeed. "

When he is sleeping, the others put many buns on him in order to scare him.
Upon waking up, he starts screaming and eating them one after another !!
Finely he has eaten all buns and he says　"Oh I remember that hot tea is another thing I 'm scared."

Okawauchi-yama Mountain

Okawauchi-yama Mountain, originally uploaded by furyu_man18.

Ookawauchi-Yama is a site in Imari for porcelains called "Nabshima". At this site, more than 30 ceramics manufacturers display their works. Okawachiyama has three main charms I believe.
First off, needless to say, you can enjoy seeing beautiful ceramics at the shops around Okawachiyama.
Secondly, you can learn about the history and culture that surrounds the traditionally significant ceramics.

Lastly, you can appreciate the beautiful landscape that looks like some kind of black and white drawing; the small town including traditional Japanese houses is surrounded by an exotic ragged mountain.


You can comfortably and leisurely walk and enjoy seeing ceramics shops directly managed by potters who live around the small town.

You can appreciate the rich nature that varies from season to season and the significant culture of the area while taking a walk around the park.

The site is in a natural setting and has a strong cultural atmosphere. Imari-yaki was only produced for Lord Nabeshima who dominated the area around present-day Saga prefecture during the E-do era. There was a gate that prevented craftsmen from escaping this site to maintain the secrecy of these special ceramic techniques.

The tombs for unknown craftsmen;the tombs in this picture are worshiped by local people as “Muen Botoke referring to the spirits which don’t have descendants to worship. Actually, many craftsmen who used to work in Okawachyama, were forcedly brought to Japan from Korea as a result of the aggressive war led by Hideyoshi Toyotomi in 1592, and “Buroku, Keicho no Eki” in 1597.The craftsmen were uprooted from their families and homeland.So after their death, no relatives could take care of their spirits.In Japan, there is a custom to worship “Muen Botoke” voluntarily by communities. Thanks to the skills and contributions of the Korean craftsmen, various manufacturing industries have taken root in this area of Japan

Fashion of Traditional Ceramics;Imari wares are old craft works indeed. However, one potter claimed that potters have to keep in mind the trends in people’s preferences just as the fashion industry does from year to year when they design pictures or the shapes of ceramics. He said that it is very challenging to strike a balance between adopting new designs and preserving traditional ones.

“Satorare“

an early summer day, originally uploaded by furyu_man18.

“Satorare“ is one of the Japanese movies I like most. In Japanese, the word, Satorare means that thoughts are being noticed or realized by others. How would you feel if others could read your thoughts?

Satorares are rare in human society, having special abilities with the potential to bring enormous profits to their state and people. Therefore, their state protects them from cradle to grave as a national project. Also, all Satorares’ thoughts are automatically transmitted to people’s minds. In other words, they have the inability to tell lies. But Satorares don’t realize this fact. Actually, people are banned from directly or indirectly revealing this fact to Satorares. It can be easily imagined that Satorares would go crazy if they knew this fact.

One day a plane crashes, killing all passengers except for a boy. The rescued boy turns out to be a Satorare. Rescue team members can hear his voice in their minds. Since then, he is raised by his grandmother who is the only relative living in his hometown after the passing of his parents in the plane crash. All residents in the town seem to be growing tired of hearing his thoughts every day, but the town is highly dependent on the funding provided by the national government for the purpose of creating ideal circumstances in the town for the Satorare. Many security guards are secretly monitoring and protecting the Satorare 24 hours, 7 days a week.

The boy's dream is to become a medical doctor in order to help improve the lives of people. He has been wondering for years why he was the only survivor from the terrible plane crash. And he has come to the self-realization that his life must have some meaning. Actually, his role in life becomes that of a highly gifted doctor but this leads to serious problems. Consider the consequences if all of a doctor’s thoughts are conveyed to his or her patients... Furthermore, the national project team has been putting pressure on him to become a medical researcher instead of just a medical doctor; expecting great inventions from him to promote national economic interests.

Let me briefly tell you about the most touching scene involving the main character. He is finally permitted to perform surgery after it is discovered that his grandmother has been suffering from a malignant tumor. During his grandmother's operation, all residents are carefully paying attention to his thoughts, which reveal his memories and his deep love toward his grandmother. ”I’m sorry grandma …“ he is mourning again and again. "I’m sorry, I had not even noticed your bad condition. Even though you had been by my side and taken care of me every day. I’m sorry, I’m very sorry …. I’ll find a cure for you…” The operation seems to be successful in its late stages but he finds other tumors that have already spread to other organs. At that moment everyone has come to realize that it’s too late. Every time I am reminded of this scene, I can't help being moved to tears.

Well, this movie demonstrates how difficult it is for us to remain honest in this information intensive age we live in. Being honest won’t pay off in many cases. Honest people are always vulnerable to false and bad information. We have to be tactful to live well in a sense. We have to tell many lies to others or even ourselves either consciously or unconsciously to spend an easy life. At the same time, we have to be sceptical of others or about many things to protect ourselves from bad intentions. We have to be careful not to reveal too much of our private information to people.

However, as the last part of this movie shows, the Satorare has changed the minds of people sharing such thoughts, because everyone listening to his sincere feelings toward his grandmother has developed empathy for him. At the moment, they have accepted the annoying aspects of their coexistence with the Satorare. Ultimately, I’d say being honest is the only way to acquire trust and love from others. Being honest from the start has the potential to make others honest as well, even though you may end up getting hurt…I like these kinds of people very much who can’t help being honest…They deserve to be loved definitely.

Hinamatsuri

Hinamatsuri, originally uploaded by furyu_man18.

Hinamatsuri, or the doll festival, is an annual event which is held on March 3rd. At this time, people pray for the health, good growth and happy marriage of girls. Hina dolls, or kimono clad dolls, are displayed on stages in people's houses.




These dolls are fashioned in the image of the ancient aristocratic people in Japan. Hina dolls originated from ancient China, where people used to throw dolls into rivers. The dolls were believed to protect girls from evil spirits by intercepting and absorbing these evil spirits. During the Saga Hinamatsuri festival, a lot of traditional dolls are exhibited at historically significant spots. Japanese lanterns painted with images of Hina dolls are placed in the Matsubara River running alongside the Saga Shrine by parents and their daughters accompanied by traditional Japanese music

Placebos

Two weeks ago, I gave a blood-pressure gauge to my parents and a couple of days ago, my mother came to my place to express her thanks. She said to me, “Thanks to the device, my blood pressure has surely been decreasing. I’ve been using it more than three times a day.” I immediately replied, ”Oh no! That isn’t a machine for reducing your blood pressure.” She frowned and said, “I wasn’t born yesterday. I know what you are saying…
but that's true…

The next day, I told this episode to the drugstore owner who sold the blood-pressure gauge to me. He said, “Hmmm, that’s interesting. It reminds me of the so-called bathroom scale effect. Well, just stepping on a bathroom scale everyday can have a positive effect on the weight loss of someone. This is called the placebo effect.”



Many medical products and supplements seem to rely heavily on the placebo effect. Consumers consider the quality, reputation, and advertising of these products as important factors in their purchasing decisions. In general, it can be said that our mind-sets and personal situations have a strong influence on our health.


Things are not so simple, however. In fact we can’t expect too much from the placebo effect. For instance, in the past, Chinese soaps and substances derived from special seaweeds sold like hotcakes in Japan because many people believed that these things made them slender. Actually, people began to feel fed up and frustrated with these products. As a result, the Chinese soap boom faded away before long; apparently the soap in itself had no effect on a person’s ability to slim down.



Our perceptions and senses can be swayed by our own psychological conditions. An experiment demonstrated the fact that two samples of the same water can be perceived differently by a person under certain circumstances. Water in a bottle with “bless you” written on it was perceived to be sweeter than the same water in a bottle with nothing written on it.




It seems to me that we don’t always need scientific truths. In other words, truths can deceive us in various ways. There is a Japanese saying which goes, “believers will be saved.”


Here is the Amadeus effect: Mozart’s compositions make you smarter. It is often said that examinees must listen to Mozart before taking tests. The frequency of his musical works is believed to stimulate our brains to operate at optimum efficiency. Do you believe this? Surely your answer must be YES!