Bushido

[12] Ideas of honor that led to bushido developed in response to the longstanding dishonorable behavior of samurai,[13] emerging stealth and espionage techniques,[12] and Zen Buddhist soldier tenets.

[22] One of the earliest known usages of bushido is in the extremely influential[23] late 16th century text The Military Mirror of Kai, where it was used to describe unwritten rules in a complex metaphorical way that commoners could purportedly not live up to.

[27] The term is a compound of bushi (武士, "warrior", literally 'military + man'), a Chinese-derived word first attested in Japanese in 712 with the on'yomi (Sino-Japanese reading), and dō (道, 'road, way').

[72][73]During the Muromachi period (1336–1573) the way of the warrior began to refine by inserting in their daily activities, alongside martial training, Zen meditation, painting (monochrome style), ikebana, the tea ceremony, poetry such as the death poem (written by samurai before suicidal missions or battles)[74] and literature.

[20] Carl Steenstrup noted that 13th- and 14th-century writings (gunki monogatari) "portrayed the bushi in their natural element, war, eulogizing such virtues as reckless bravery, fierce family pride, and selfless, at times senseless devotion of master and man".

On the other hand, the Heike recitations also propagated civic virtues: loyalty, steadfastness in adversity, and pride of family honor.The sayings of Sengoku-period retainers and warlords such as Katō Kiyomasa (1562–1611) and Nabeshima Naoshige were generally recorded or passed down to posterity around the turn of the 16th century when Japan had entered a period of relative peace.

[84] The bushidō literature of this time contains much thought relevant to a warrior class seeking more general application of martial principles and experience in peacetime, as well as reflection on the land's long history of war.

[citation needed] The literature of this time includes: The first mention of the term bushido is in the scriptures Koyo Gunkan (甲陽軍鑑) from Takeda-ryū (martial arts school), written around 1616 by samurai Kōsaka Masanobu (1527–1578).

[1] For example, it is a waste of talent when a bushido practitioner takes on administrative roles in government or financial affairs (e.g. dealings in rice, money, timber, or forest land).

[87]During the Genna era (1615–1624) of the Edo period and later, the concept of "the way of the gentleman" (Shidō) was newly established by the philosopher and strategist Yamaga Sokō (1622–1685) and others who tried to explain this value in the morality of the Confucian Cheng–Zhu school.

Devote yourself to training to master a way, avoid evil acts and thoughts, broaden perspectives with arts and knowledge about different professions, make objective judgments etc.

Dai said the samurai brutally exploited the class structure to abuse and kill people below them in the social order (and biasedly claimed the opposite for Chinese society as peace-loving).

According to Dai, after Confucianism became influential in the 17th century, it brought ideas of benevolence and humanity that pacified the cruel samurai and set Japan upon the course to become a modern and civilized society.

Dai blamed the problems of modern Japan (post-Meiji restoration) due to the loss of samurai virtues when the former merchant class gained power and large corporations started to steer government policy.

"[1] Tokugawa-era rōnin, scholar and strategist Yamaga Sokō (1622–1685) wrote extensively on matters relating to bushidō, bukyō (a "warrior's creed"), and a more general shidō, a "way of gentlemen" intended for application to all stations of society.

Sokō attempts to codify a kind of "universal bushidō" with a special emphasis on "pure" Confucian values, (rejecting the mystical influences of Tao and Buddhism in Neo-Confucian orthodoxy), while at the same time calling for recognition of the singular and divine nature of Japan and Japanese culture.

[citation needed] The aging Yamamoto Tsunetomo's interpretation of bushidō is perhaps more illustrative of the philosophy refined by his unique station and experience, at once dutiful and defiant, ultimately incompatible with the laws of an emerging civil society.

[citation needed] According to the social psychologist Toshio Yamagishi (ja:山岸俊男, 1948–2018) "Bushido is the ideal human image formed mainly in the Edo period, in other words a virtue in the groupism world.

[100] The junshi suicide of General Nogi Maresuke and his wife on the death of Emperor Meiji earned praise as an example of opposition to the trend of decaying morals in Japan.

[109] It included 15 essays by senior generals and argued Japan defeated Russia in the Russo–Japanese War because bushido gave the Japanese superior willpower: they did not fear death, unlike the Russians who wanted to live.

[113] Arguments that the plans for the Battle of Leyte Gulf, involving all Japanese ships, would expose Japan to serious danger if they failed, were countered with the plea that the Navy be permitted to "bloom as flowers of death".

Those who did forfeited their honor and lost dignity and respect:[118] As Japan continued its modernization in the early 20th century, her armed forces became convinced that success in battle would be assured if Japanese soldiers, sailors, and airmen had the "spirit" of Bushido. ...

Consequently, when the Japanese murdered POWs by shooting, beheading, and drowning, these acts were excused since they involved the killing of men who had forfeited all rights to be treated with dignity or respect.

While civilian internees were certainly in a different category from POWs, it is reasonable to think that there was a "spill-over" effect from the tenets of Bushido.The practice of beheading captured soldiers and prisoners originates from samurai culture in the 14th century or earlier.

Composed in 2012, the empirical document "The Bushido Matrix for Couple Communication" identifies a methodology which can be employed by counseling agents to guide adults in self-reflection and share emotions with their partner.

Bushido's art taught soldiers the important secrets of life, how to raise children, how to dress, how to treat family and other people, how to cultivate personality, things related to finances.

Modern combat sports like kendo derive their philosophy from bushido; unlike other martial arts, prolonged contact or multiple hits tend to be disadvantaged in favor of simple, clean attacks on the body.

[21] Taira Shigesuke, Daidōji Yūzan wrote Bushido Shoshinshu (武道初心集) (pre-1730) which provides practical and moral instructions for samurai to improve personal, social and professional standards.

[21][131] Modern Western translation of documents related to bushidō began in the 1970s with Carl Steenstrup, who performed research into the ethical codes of famous samurai including Hōjō Sōun and Imagawa Sadayo.

Wilson's work also examined older Japanese writings unrelated to the warrior class: the Kojiki, Shoku Nihongi, the Kokin Wakashū and the Konjaku Monogatari, as well as the Chinese Classics (the Analects, the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, and the Mencius).