The samurai philosophy traces back to Zen Buddhism which implies the idea of the existence of a single ideal sword that gave birth to the entire dual world with its innumerable doubts.
The Concept of “Bushido”
“Budoseshinshu” – “The Samurai Code” (translated as “The Way of the Warrior”) – was written as a guide for the Japanese who chose a military life. The book’s author is Taira Shigesuke, the Confucian monk and military historian. Following that, it took five centuries of military rule to finally develop the standards of the Bushido samurai philosophy. It included the model of the samurai’s irreproachable conduct, moral and practical guidance; historically appropriate personal, social and professional standards of warrior’s conduct.
The word “bushido” includes 3 hieroglyphs. The word “bushi” is the only one in the Japanese language that most accurately describes the concept and essence of a warrior. The first hieroglyph “bu” means “military”/“soldierly”, its root means “to stop”. And the second character is a short form of how a spear is designated. An ancient Chinese source contains a detailed interpretation that says that “bu” forbids violence, “stops the spear”.
In Japanese, the hieroglyph “shi” means “a soldiery”, “a warrior”, “a noble person”. Initially, the word was used to describe people who had certain skills and were high on the social scale but willing to take up arms if necessary. It appears that “bushi” is a person who secures peace by both purely non-aggressive methods, with art, and with a sword.
The last character – “do” – means “a path”. This is the most important concept for many oriental teachings that combines seemingly incompatible qualities – “bu” and “bun” as “the ideal person”.
Bushido Postulates
The requirements of the code were quite clearly stated by Daidoji Yuzan. They are the following:
- true courage means that one must live when it is rightful and die when it is rightful;
- one must go to his death being clearly aware of this;
- one must weigh his every word and ask himself whether his words are true or not;
- one must be moderate in eating and avoid self-permissiveness;
- one must remember about death in his everyday life;
- one must respect the rule “Parents are the tree trunk and children are its branches”;
- one must always be loyal to his master;
- one must take on enemy spears and arrows with no fear;
- faithfulness, courage and justice are the samurai’s main virtues;
- if one loses a war, he has to proudly say his name and die with a smile, with no humiliating haste.
The Samurai Philosophy
The true spiritual meaning of the “Bushido” samurai code and samurai philosophy can be stated as follows: “A warrior must live knowing that he may die at any time, and he should appreciate every moment of his life as it may turn out to be the last one.” Only the one who is ready to die can see the world in all its glory and devote all his time to helping his neighbors and himself. Only when you realize you can see all of this for the last time, you will look at the world with love and notice the things that ordinary people do not see in their busy lives. The warrior feels the sun warms him with its rays, rustling of leaves and beautiful birdsongs. He sees how a leaf, that has come off the branch, swirling, falls into a runlet and rapidly floats away downstream. That is why a lot of samurai became poets, and many of them customarily left their dying poems. A lot of samurai were also interested in theater, fine arts and calligraphy.
See also
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Okayama Castle
According to a number of accounts, the earliest fortifications on the site of present-day Okayama Castle appeared as early as the 14th century and were built by the Nawa clan. The Asahigawa River was used as a natural defensive barrier, protecting one side of the fortifications.
In the early 16th century, the Kanamitsu clan constructed a new castle here, which at the time was known as Ishiyama. In 1573, it came under the control of the Ukita clan, after which Ukita Naoie (1529–1582) launched large-scale reconstruction efforts. He did not live to see the work completed, and construction was continued by his son Hideie. -
Nagahama Castle
Hashiba, later known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, received Odani Castle and the surrounding lands from Oda Nobunaga after the defeat of the Azai clan. However, Odani Castle was located high in the mountains, which made it poorly suited for the effective administration of the territory. For this reason, in 1575 Hideyoshi began constructing a new castle in the village of Imahama on the shore of Lake Biwa. Taking the character naga from Nobunaga’s name, he renamed both the village and the new castle Nagahama.
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Kokura Castle
Kokura Castle is traditionally considered to have been founded by Hosokawa Tadaoki (1563–1645), although by the time the Hosokawa clan came to control these lands, the fortification had already existed since at least 1569 and was most likely built by members of the Mori clan.
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Ikeda Castle
In 1334, Ikeda Noriyoshi built a small fort on this site, which over time was repeatedly expanded and rebuilt. During the Ōnin War of 1467–1477, the Ikeda clan supported the Western Coalition. As a result, Ikeda Castle was attacked and captured by the forces of the Eastern Coalition, but it was soon recaptured, allowing it to avoid serious destruction.
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Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle
Aizu-Wakamatsu is the most powerful and at the same time the oldest castle in the Tōhoku region in the north of Honshu Island. Its history begins in the 14th century and is closely connected with the Ashina clan, whose members claimed descent from the legendary Taira family.
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Maruoka Castle
Maruoka Castle is located in the central part of the former city of Maruoka, which is now part of the city of Sakai. This area lies in the northeastern part of Fukui Prefecture. The castle was built on the bank of the Kuzuryu River, on the side opposite Fukui City, which once served as the administrative center of the former Echizen Province. Thanks to its location, Maruoka held significant strategic importance, as it controlled two major routes at once: the Hokurikudo highway leading from Kaga Province and the Mino Kaido road connecting these lands with Mino Province.
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Marugame Castle
Marugame is part of the so-called “Authentic Dozen,” a group of twelve castles whose donjons have survived to the present day without major reconstructions since the Edo period.
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Iyo Matsuyama Castle
Historically, the center of Iyo Province—corresponding to today’s Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku—was the city of Imabari, while the Matsuyama area was regarded as an agricultural hinterland with broad plains and low hills. During the Muromachi period, the central part of the province was governed by the Kano clan from Yuzuki Castle. With the onset of the Sengoku period, however, this clan lost its former influence and was forced to survive in the shadow of the more powerful Mori and Chōsokabe clans. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s forces conquered Shikoku in 1587, the northern part of Iyo Province was granted to Fukushima Masanori, one of the so-called “Seven Spears of Shizugatake.” In 1595, Masanori was transferred to Kiyosu Castle, and the lands around Matsuyama were given to another of the Seven Spears, Katō Yoshiaki, who received Masaki Castle and an income of 60,000 koku of rice.
