Customer Reviews

Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read this book when it was near/below freezing outside; I sat on a metal bench. I read with such intensity, that I needed the cold to dedicate my mind to the words I was reading. I was often confused by the writings, where I would think about them in great detail until the message became clear. Each paragraph is very important. It is a short book, but it should take longer to read than the Bible. I read it in two weeks, thanks to the cold, but, still, I missed more than I can imagine. Should your eyes miss one word, or a single thought take you away, you need read the passage again and again. This book will change your perspective... change how you view life. It is VERY philosophical, if you concentrate on the reading. I recommend it to those who need change in their lives, those who feel powerless but especially those who feel they cannot control their thoughts. This book is about concentration, dedication and loyalty. This is an important piece of literature!

This book is great for the aspiring martial artist or even someone who just likes to learn about what feudal Japan was like through the eyes of one of it's warriors. Myself being a student of kenjutsu (Art of the Sword), could relate to a lot of what Yamamoto was saying, and apply it to my everyday life. This isn't a story with a beginning, middle, end and a plot, however it is more of an instructional book from a retired samurai to a younger samurai eager to learn. Yamamoto focuses on methods of how a samurai should act at all times and in different circumstances as well as recounting some stories of past samurai and daimyo (feudal lord). A good buy, definately.

The bulk of the reviews prior to my own do a great job of covering the books aspects. However, I wanted to make one point in regards to those who, after reading the book, were really impressed by it. If you enjoyed reading the book, also try and find a copy of "The Way of the Samurai Yukio Mishima on Hagakure in Modern Life" from a library or used book store. It is out of print for the time being, but if you can get ahold of a copy you will get even more out of Hagakure after reading this book. I was fortunate enough to obtain both books around the same time and this really fostered my interest in bushido and the samurai culture in a very profound way as well as lead me to discover Mishima's works and life in regards to the samurai ideals.

Hagakure offers an introduction to the much revered Samurai code of Bushido. Originally serving as a secret code of duty and honor, Bushido has become the cornerstone of the Japanese warrior spirit. The book is comprised of around 300 selected sayings of the seventeenth century Samurai turned monk, Yamamoto Tsunetomo. They vary in scope from social etiquette to dying with honor. Hagakure is a must own for anyone who truly wants to understand the history and motives of Samurai Bushido.

The Hagakure is a mixed bag for the average reader- some of the contents are life changing and pensive, while others seem very out of place. Overall, it provides an excellent view into the way of life that was the Samurai. It had a profound impact in my daily life, and I would like to absorb more after another time through it.

Deliberate before purchasing this book unless you are a hardcore Japan fetishist. I know that most of the reviews here are glowing and I am nonplussed by this because, frankly, this book is definitely way too esoteric for most.
Hagakure is a compilation of the selected musings of a 'retired' Samurai as recorded by a disciple or admirer who visited him in his post-retirement gig as a Buddhist monk. These selections pertain to the day to day comportment of a 'good' Samurai, sweeping statements about how things work, and examples of good 'Way.' As this was dictated during the late 1600's, you can imagine how otherworldly much of this information is, and frankly this is the book's main attraction: The total alterity of a supposed way of life of a discrete segment of the population of historical Japan.
If one reads enough books about subjects Japanese, one is bound to run into excerpts of this book being quoted say, or displayed as chapter headings. This is because the book has some really excellent 'sound bites' that beg to be used as such. Sadly, this nugget-like structure makes a linear reading of the book a bit of a bore.
Also, if one reads the text closely (assuming that the translator has done a good job, and I am not sure that I would concede this point), one is forced to realize that either the narrator is not a particularly deep-thinker or that the scribe to whom he spoke did only a fair job of capturing the essence of the narrator's speech. One needs only to have read, from Japan, Sei Shonagon's brilliant 'Pillow Book' or 'The Story of a Rogue,' as I believe it is called, for the contrast between these truly perceptive and insightful efforts and those found here to cast this book in a very poor light. I highly recommend an excellent book by Hiroaki Sato titled "Legends of the Samurai" where, incidentally, I believe that Yamamoto is quoted, as an alternative to this as a means of getting the Samurai perspective.

The Hagakure explains the Japanese warrior code (Bushido) simply and elegantly, and in a much more accessable manner than "The Book of the 5 Rings," considered THE authority on the subject. The observations, thoughts and reflections of the author reflect the Zen aspect of the samurai code ("a samurai should reflect daily and in the most graphic manner his demise"), as well as the strong Confucian influence on Japanese culture (the tale of his Master, Nabeshima Mitsushige, covering his face with his sleeve in order not to see his men flustered when a wounded boar lunged at a hunting party) in addition to the crisis of peace the samurai faced under the Tokugawa Shogunate (providing advice on how to practice severing heads on the condemned.)
All in all it was fascinating, and a marvelous "picture in time." I recommend this before reading Sun Tsu ("The Art of War") or Mushashi ("A Book of Five Rings.")

As my name says, I love Japan. This book is full of bits of knowledge from Yamamoto, which manifest itself to be principles of a good and obidient samurai. Though the book is full of these random quotes, I enjoy very few of them enough to quote them from the text. I haven't read the entire book yet, but I have given it 5 stars since it is an excellent way to learn about the samurai

The Hagakure has changed my life and the way I look at everything.

"Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai" was written by a samurai who never once fought in a battle and, being denied the "honorable" samurai death (ritual suicide) when his lord died, became a Buddhist monk for the last 20 years of his life and faded into historical obscurity. And yet, the book which is his legacy, a transcript of conversations collected over 7 years, grasps the heart of the samurai spirit so prevalent one hundred years before his time.

Less abstract than Miyamoto Musashi's famous "Book of Five Rings" - a similiar work by a famous swordsman and samurai who came about his enlightenment after a lifetime of hacking, killing and dueling; and less concerned with military/political tactics than Sun Tzu's "The Art of War", "Hagakure" espouses a mixture of Confucianism, Zen and fanatical personal loyalty and devotion to samurai duty and responsibility and provides an often fascinating look into the ideals of the samurai warrior.

For example, there is the popular warrior class obsessive focus on death. According to Tsunetomo, one's death should be fixed in one's thoughts upon waking and kept throughout the day. This allows one to serve his lord admirably without cowardice, attachment or distraction creeping in.
There is a stong anti-materialistic bent ("Both riches and honour will blemish a retainer...") as well as plenty of Confucianistic thought on proper social graces - from it being bad taste to yawn or sneeze in front of others (including how to repress or hide it) to how to carry a letter properly. Some of it seems laughable in today's Western culture. Yet, without battles to focus on, its as if Tsunetomo, unable to turn his passionate warrior's focus outward, brought it inward, or at leat to the little things in life.
There is also a Zen-like self-help bent - a serious perfectionism, which I feel probably drove Tsunetomo in everything he did. "Throughout your life advance daily, becoming more skillful than yesterday, more skillful than today. This is never ending."(pg. 27) He summarizes the synthesis of his self-discipline, his perfectionist drive, and the 3 schools of thought which influenced his life: warrior, Confucist and Buddhist:

"Never be oudone in the Way of the Samurai.

To be of good use to the master.

To be filial to my parents.

To manifest great compassion, and to act for the sake of Man."

Also check out "The Book of 5 Rings" by Musashi, the Samual B. Griffith translation of "The Art of War" and "Mastery" by George Leonard who uses Aikido as his metaphor for "the Way".