Bushido Code Of Honor Quotes

The Idealization of Bushido in The Hidden Blade The ancient code of honor that the samurai supposedly lived and died by was called Bushido. It emphasized eight important virtues that all samurai must live by. These virtues include Rectitude/justice, courage, benevolence/mercy, politeness, honesty/sincerity, honor, loyalty, and character/self-control. Any failure to follow these virtues resulted in the need to commit seppuku or Hara-kiri, which was honorable suicide. The Hidden Blade demonstrates the cultural influences of Bushido on feudal samurai. However, Bushido is only an idealized translation of ideals of the samurai. The popular understanding of the Bushido code that was, in fact an idealization of the samurai

This includes saving Kie from mistreatment and assassinating Hori to reclaim the Hazama’s honor. Even though Bushido emphasizes loyalty to one’s rulers it also demands honor, justice, and loyalty. Chief Retainer Hori demonstrated that he no longer followed the Bushido code so Katagiri removed a corrupted official. (The Hidden Blade) Bushido is the ancient code of honor for the samurai and it emphasizes eight virtues. First, Rectitude/justice which is, “Rectitude is one’s power to decide upon a course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering; to die when to die is right, to strike when to strike is right.” (Mckay) Another definition is: “Rectitude is the bone that gives firmness and stature. Without bones the head cannot rest on top of the spine, nor hands move nor feet stand. (Mckay) So without Rectitude neither talent nor learning can make the human frame into a samurai.” Second, the samurai emphasized courage which is defined by as the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous. The third virtue is benevolence/mercy which is the ability of the samurai to show kindness and grace to others. Fourthly, the samurai was required to be polite, which means being conscious to the feelings of

Born in 1862, Nitobe would have been a baby when the samurai way ended. He moved to Tokyo at the age of nine and studied English and later on moved to Hokkaido where he studied at the Sappro Agricultural college. Upon finishing at Sappro he moved to America and attended John Hopkins University. (Inazo, New World Encyclopedia) After graduating, he wrote Bushido: The Soul of Japan, which was an attempt to romanticize the Japanese samurai. When the book was written Japan was modernizing to the western world, and Nitobe wrote Bushido in order to give westerners an idealized version of Japanese culture fused with western