Bushido, The Soul Of Japan: With An Exposition Of Japanese Thought

Text extracted from opening pages of book: BUSHIDO THE SOUL OF JAPAN BY IHAIO NITOBfe, A. M, Ph. D. Author's Edition, Revised and Enlarged 13th EDITION TEIBI PUBLISHING 16 Gobancho, Tokyo 1908 copyrighted fn-America and JSn i rtd t edition if f r salt only fn COPYRIGHT REGISTERED BY INAZO NITOBE DECEMBER, 1904 TO MY BELOVED UNCLE TOKITOSHI OTA WHO TAUGHT ME TO REVERE THE PAST AND TO ADMIRE THE DEEDS OF THE SAMURAI I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE BOOK That way Over the mountain, which who stands upon, Is apt to doubt if it be indeed a road; While if he views it from the waste itself, Up goes the line there, plain from base to brow, Not vague, mistakable What's a break or two Seen from the unbroken desert either side? And then ( to bring in fresh philosophy) What if the breaks themselves should prove at last The most consummate of contrivances To train a man's eye, teach him what is faith? ROBERT BROWNING, Bishop Sfoitgrattfs Afology* There are, if I may so say, three powerful spirits, which have from lime to time, moved on the face of the waters, and given a predominant impulse to the moral sentiments and energies of mankind. These are the spirits of liberty, of reli gion, and of honor. HALLAM, Eurofc in Hit Middle Ages. Chivalry is itself the poetry of life. SCHLEGEL, Philosophy of History. PREFACE About ten years ago, while spending a few days under the hospitable roof of the distinguished Belgian jurist, the lamented M. de Laveleye, our conversation turned, during one of our rambles, to the subject of religion. Do you mean to say, asked the venerable professor, that you have no reli gious instruction in your schools ? On my replying in the negative he suddenly halted in astonishment, and ina voice which I shall not easily forget, he repeated No religion How do you impart moral education ? J> The question stunned me at the time. I could give no ready answer, for the moral precepts I learned in my childhood days, were not given in schools; and not until I began to analyze the different elements that formed my notions of right and wrong, did I find that it was Bushido that breathed them into my nostrils. The direct inception of this little book is due to the frequent queries put by my wife as to the reasons why such and such ideas and customs prevail in Japan. In my attempts to give satisfactory replies to M. cle Laveleye and to my wife, I found that without understanding Feudalism and Bushido, * the moral ideas of present Japan are a sealed volume. Taking advantage of enforced idleness on account of long illness, I put down in the order now presented to the public some of the answers given in our household conver sation. They consist mainly of what I was taught and told in my youthful days, when Feudalism was still in force. Between Lafcadio Hearn and Mrs. Hugh Fraser on one side and Sir Ernest Satow and Professor Chamberlain on the other, it is indeed discouraging to write anything Japa nese in English. The only advantage I have over them is that I can assume the attitude of a personal defendant, while these distin-* Pronounced Bot-sliee-dolt '. In putting Japanese words and names into English, Hepburn's rule is followed, that the vowels should be used as in European languages, and the consonants as in English. vi guished writers are at best solicitors and attorneys. I have often thought, Had I their gift of language, I would present the cause of Japan in more eloquentterms But one who speaks in a borrowed tongue should be thankful if he can just make himself intelligible. All through the discourse I have tried to illustrate whatever points I have made with parallel examples from European history and literature, believing that these will aid in bringing the subject nearer to the com prehension of foreign readers. Should any of my allusions to religious subjects and to religious workers be thought slighting, I trust my attitude towards Chris tianity itself will not be questioned. It is with ecclesiastical methods and with t