Hagakure Bushido

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"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.