The Way of the Samurai
To many people, the word samurai conjures images of menacing masks, long blades, and elaborate armor. However, this classic text by Inazo Nitobe reveals the greater depths of samurai culture—they were not simply warriors but an aristocratic class who practiced literary and military arts in equal measure. Essential to this way of life was the samurai's moral code and the quality of bushido, roughly translated as chivalry. The Way of the Samurai provides an intriguing exploration of bushido and other valued qualities such as rectitude or justice, courage, politeness, veracity, honor, loyalty, and self-control. It also explores the Samurai's more violent traditions, such as the chilling act of hara-kiri or self-immolation. This mixture of chivalric principles with brutal warfare is fascinating. While many aspects of Samurai culture have disappeared, its principles still have resonance in modern Japanese society and around the globe. “Know thyself: But self-knowledge does not imply knowledge of the physical part of man, not his anatomy or his psycho-physics; knowledge was to be a moral kind, the introspection of our moral nature.” (The Way of the Samurai by Inazo Nitobe)
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About the Author
Inazo Nitobe (1862-1933): agriculturalist, scholar, Quaker, philosopher, statesman, educator.
Inazo Nitobe was educated at Sapporo Agricultural College, University of Tokyo, Johns Hopkins, and University of Halle (Germany). Early in his life he expressed the desire to be a “bridge over the Pacific” and he devoted much of his life to promoting trust and understanding between the United States and Japan.
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Main works in English of Inazo Nitobe held in the UBC Library
Bushido: the soul of Japan; an exposition of Japanese thought. With an introduction by William Elliot Griffis. Rutland, Vt.: C. E. Tuttle Co., [reprint 1969] E-version of Bushido from Project Gutenberg.
Reminiscences of childhood in the early days of modern Japan by Inazo Nitobe; with introduction and comments by Mary Patterson Elkinton Nitobé. Tokyo, Mazuren company, Ltd. 1934.
The Japanese nation, its land, its people, and its life, with special consideration to its relations with the United States. Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources [reprint 1973]
Western influences in modern Japan; a series of papers on cultural relations, by Inazo Nitobe and others. Chicago, Ill., The University of Chicago press [c1931]
The works of Inazo Nitobe. [Tokyo] University of Tokyo Press [1972]
Japan, some phases of her problems and development. New York, Scribner, 1931 [London Ernest Benn limited 1931].
Use and study of foreign languages in Japan. Geneva League of Nations. Undated.
Lectures on Japan; an outline of the development of the Japanese people and their culture, by Inazo Nitobé. [Tokyo, Kenkyusha, 1936] Chicago, Ill.: The University of Chicago Press, 1938.