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Hagakure: Book of the Samurai
" Book of the Samurai" is a classic text on bushido, the samurai way of life, written in the early 18th century by Yamamoto Tsunetomo. This influential work comprises a series of short essays and aphorisms that Tsunetomo dictated to a younger samurai over a seven-year period. "Hagakure," which translates to "In the Shadow of Leaves" or "Hidden by the Leaves," provides insights into the samurai mindset and philosophy, emphasizing loyalty, honor, and personal integrity. It delves into various aspects of a samurai's life, including morality, death, and the importance of living with a sense of urgency and resolve. The book is known for its sometimes paradoxical and enigmatic advice, reflecting the complexities of samurai culture and the era's societal norms. "Hagakure" has had a significant impact on both Japanese culture and the understanding of samurai principles worldwide, becoming an essential text for those interested in Japanese history, martial arts, and samurai philosophy.
104 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 2, 2024
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Yamamoto Tsunetomo
38 books180 followersYamamoto Tsunetomo (山本 常朝), also read Yamamoto Jōchō (June 11, 1659 – November 30, 1719), was a samurai of the Saga Domain in Hizen Province under his lord Nabeshima Mitsushige.
For thirty years Yamamoto devoted his life to the service of his lord and clan. When Nabeshima died in 1700, Yamamoto did not choose to follow his master in death in junshi because the master had expressed a dislike of the practice in his life. After some disagreements with Nabeshima's successor, Yamamoto renounced the world and retired to a hermitage in the mountains. Later in life (between 1709 and 1716), he narrated many of his thoughts to a fellow samurai, Tashiro Tsuramoto. Many of these aphorisms concerned his lord's father and grandfather Naoshige and the failing ways of the samurai caste. These commentaries were compiled and published in 1716 under the title of Hagakure, a word that can be translated as either In the Shadow of Leaves or Hidden Leaves.
The Hagakure was not widely known during the years following Tsunetomo's death, but by the 1930s it had become one of the most famous representatives of bushido taught in Japan. In 2011 a manga/comic book version was published Hagakure: The Manga Edition, translated by William Scott Wilson, adapted by Sean Michael Wilson and Chie Kutsuwada.
Tsunetomo believed that becoming one with death in one's thoughts, even in life, was the highest attainment of purity and focus. He felt that a resolution to die gives rise to a higher state of life, infused with beauty and grace beyond the reach of those concerned with self-preservation. Some viewed him as a man of immediate action due to some of his quotes, and in the Hagakure he criticized the carefully planned Akō vendetta of the Forty-seven rōnin (a major event in his lifetime) for its delayed response.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo is also known as Yamamoto Jōchō, the name he took after retiring and becoming a monk.
For thirty years Yamamoto devoted his life to the service of his lord and clan. When Nabeshima died in 1700, Yamamoto did not choose to follow his master in death in junshi because the master had expressed a dislike of the practice in his life. After some disagreements with Nabeshima's successor, Yamamoto renounced the world and retired to a hermitage in the mountains. Later in life (between 1709 and 1716), he narrated many of his thoughts to a fellow samurai, Tashiro Tsuramoto. Many of these aphorisms concerned his lord's father and grandfather Naoshige and the failing ways of the samurai caste. These commentaries were compiled and published in 1716 under the title of Hagakure, a word that can be translated as either In the Shadow of Leaves or Hidden Leaves.
The Hagakure was not widely known during the years following Tsunetomo's death, but by the 1930s it had become one of the most famous representatives of bushido taught in Japan. In 2011 a manga/comic book version was published Hagakure: The Manga Edition, translated by William Scott Wilson, adapted by Sean Michael Wilson and Chie Kutsuwada.
Tsunetomo believed that becoming one with death in one's thoughts, even in life, was the highest attainment of purity and focus. He felt that a resolution to die gives rise to a higher state of life, infused with beauty and grace beyond the reach of those concerned with self-preservation. Some viewed him as a man of immediate action due to some of his quotes, and in the Hagakure he criticized the carefully planned Akō vendetta of the Forty-seven rōnin (a major event in his lifetime) for its delayed response.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo is also known as Yamamoto Jōchō, the name he took after retiring and becoming a monk.
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October 15, 2025
The Rice Harvest and Hagakure – The Secret Wisdom of the Samurai by Yamatomo Tsunemoto, translated by Alexander Bennett
8 out of 10 as personal experience, but probably 10 out of 10 for the multitudes that extract the essence from it
In his classic, outstanding Outliers, one of the most influential - perhaps second in recognition only to Nobel Prize Winner Daniel Kahneman – psychologists in the world, Malcolm Gladwell http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/o... talks about his famous formula – 10,000 hours of practice, training, exercise over ten years, which means three hours every day, will get you to the top of the world, if a few other conditions are met- but he also takes a look at the Asian culture, its immense success, the differences with the West – such as languages that are better suitable for quick thinking – to say ninety seven, the French take a considerable time – quatre vingt dix sept – never mind the time it takes to compute this with some equally hard to say figure, while the Chinese will do that in less time, more efficiently – and then we find an extraordinary, fundamental notion…
The Asians, Chinese, Japanese, ostensibly the Samurai – though the latter have ostensibly not worked in the field, their honor was in fighting, beheading, doing sacrifice and looked at laborers in the fields with contempt and if made to work there would resolve to commit seppuku – have been influenced dramatically by the Rice culture – which gave rise to the statement or saying that ‘if one rises before 5 in the morning, 360 days of the year, the family will be rich”…for this type of plant requires continuous attention and work, if they put just a little too much water or too little, the crop is compromised, and in contrast the wheat harvest does not need such painful, continuous involvement…
Indeed, in the West, where populations relied on wheat and maize, they will be in the fields from spring through to autumn, but in winter, they will not be required to attend to fields that will be covered with snow and this will explain a major, quintessential difference between the East and the West, in the former they have lives much more concentrated - some might argue obsessed with – on work, while the West, with major variations in attitude of course – from say the serious Nordics versus the gregarious, Dolce Far Niente Mediterranean – will be much more relaxed and look with misapprehension at the Dragon mothers, the Asians that have a solution to most problems – throw more work into them…
There are other major rifts and culture differences – the West is focused on the individual, the liberties, rights, benefits, welfare of the single entity, while in the East they are placing the community at the center, it is the core of the philosophy and it is believed that the rights of one pale – perhaps we can go as far as to say that they simply vanish in some societies – when placed next to, or against the interest of the community, society in general…hence the easy ride that the communists may get in China, where the ruling dictators appear to get nationalism to overrule other concerns…in recent times, more and more Chinese attack viciously – for the time being only virtually, in cyberspace Alhamdulillah – those that they feel have criticized China, its society, system and therefore they feel in their ever rising pride and arrogance that those foreigners have insulted the country and they then get into boycotts, demonstrations, then their party is putting whole countries on the black list…Australia is there now, for asking questions regarding the pandemic, how it originated and what the communists did…
Finally, some words about Hagakure and Samurai…first and most important take from this guide, self-help book, historical dictionary, short stories – or is it flash stories – collection is that now I can see that Kill Bill one and two are not gruesome, horror cinematic stories, but just reflections of the Samurai philosophy and they are quite lame in the number of slayed victims, if we look at the list of endless killings, sacrifices, acts of honor which involve the ritual seppuku that are there in the Samurai code of Honor, Their Secret Wisdom seemingly being to kill as many as it is possible for the honor of the master and self – associated intricately – and the glory of the ultimate warrior – as exemplified by The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise and Ghost Dog with Forest Whitaker, in the Western perspective on the samurai and/or the Quentin Tarrantino and Uma Thurman blood bath in the aforementioned Kill Bill 1 and 2.
Some flash stories will prompt revulsion in the Woke People, but probably awe and admiration in a Trump aka stupid crowd, keen to take horns and samurai swords for their next insurrection against the Lizard people, lasers from space and who knows what other goddamn enormity they come up with in the meantime – a few examples – this honorable man sees that the house of his master is on fire and the lord is concerned of a valuable document that will perish, thus, the valiant servant walks into certain death – that is after all the Mantra that we all recognize, The seppuku, kamikaze, hara-kiri tradition of committing suicide for what they saw as their honor and glory, a duty unquestionable even in the most absurd circumstances – and then they find his charred body later, with blood pouring from stomach, for he had committed seppuku, hiding the parchment to his body to save it from the fire…oh my god!
There is the story of the wife wanting to die in the fire that has engulfed her home, for when asked about her escape, she says my master is not home and it is not suitable to abandon my home in his absence – clearly extremist thinking, reminding one of sati, the tradition of the burning widows in India – then there is the practice of having men – or is it boys – as young as fourteen training their skills in fight – or ostensibly as future samurai – by…beheading the condemned to death, which was a very frequent act, apparently, and there are other terrifying, flash stories included for those who delight in horror stories – indeed, in the first paragraphs the fact that the cruelty of the tradition has been highlighted and there are many of those who criticize this tradition – the under signed will in fact recommend Ikigai
Samurai and their alleged Wisdom might be pervasive, but this reader will actually recommend Ikigai – there is an opus on the subject that I look forward to reading, if conditions are right, Insha’Allah – a Japanese concept which is at the core of the splendid statistics of a country that has more centenarians than any other land, something explained by their insistence on Being Active into their old-young age, a diet that has little meat, some particular potatoes and very little to trace back to the Samurai and their wisdom…so hooray for Ikigai and forget the Samurai and their sages could be the conclusion…
8 out of 10 as personal experience, but probably 10 out of 10 for the multitudes that extract the essence from it
In his classic, outstanding Outliers, one of the most influential - perhaps second in recognition only to Nobel Prize Winner Daniel Kahneman – psychologists in the world, Malcolm Gladwell http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/o... talks about his famous formula – 10,000 hours of practice, training, exercise over ten years, which means three hours every day, will get you to the top of the world, if a few other conditions are met- but he also takes a look at the Asian culture, its immense success, the differences with the West – such as languages that are better suitable for quick thinking – to say ninety seven, the French take a considerable time – quatre vingt dix sept – never mind the time it takes to compute this with some equally hard to say figure, while the Chinese will do that in less time, more efficiently – and then we find an extraordinary, fundamental notion…
The Asians, Chinese, Japanese, ostensibly the Samurai – though the latter have ostensibly not worked in the field, their honor was in fighting, beheading, doing sacrifice and looked at laborers in the fields with contempt and if made to work there would resolve to commit seppuku – have been influenced dramatically by the Rice culture – which gave rise to the statement or saying that ‘if one rises before 5 in the morning, 360 days of the year, the family will be rich”…for this type of plant requires continuous attention and work, if they put just a little too much water or too little, the crop is compromised, and in contrast the wheat harvest does not need such painful, continuous involvement…
Indeed, in the West, where populations relied on wheat and maize, they will be in the fields from spring through to autumn, but in winter, they will not be required to attend to fields that will be covered with snow and this will explain a major, quintessential difference between the East and the West, in the former they have lives much more concentrated - some might argue obsessed with – on work, while the West, with major variations in attitude of course – from say the serious Nordics versus the gregarious, Dolce Far Niente Mediterranean – will be much more relaxed and look with misapprehension at the Dragon mothers, the Asians that have a solution to most problems – throw more work into them…
There are other major rifts and culture differences – the West is focused on the individual, the liberties, rights, benefits, welfare of the single entity, while in the East they are placing the community at the center, it is the core of the philosophy and it is believed that the rights of one pale – perhaps we can go as far as to say that they simply vanish in some societies – when placed next to, or against the interest of the community, society in general…hence the easy ride that the communists may get in China, where the ruling dictators appear to get nationalism to overrule other concerns…in recent times, more and more Chinese attack viciously – for the time being only virtually, in cyberspace Alhamdulillah – those that they feel have criticized China, its society, system and therefore they feel in their ever rising pride and arrogance that those foreigners have insulted the country and they then get into boycotts, demonstrations, then their party is putting whole countries on the black list…Australia is there now, for asking questions regarding the pandemic, how it originated and what the communists did…
Finally, some words about Hagakure and Samurai…first and most important take from this guide, self-help book, historical dictionary, short stories – or is it flash stories – collection is that now I can see that Kill Bill one and two are not gruesome, horror cinematic stories, but just reflections of the Samurai philosophy and they are quite lame in the number of slayed victims, if we look at the list of endless killings, sacrifices, acts of honor which involve the ritual seppuku that are there in the Samurai code of Honor, Their Secret Wisdom seemingly being to kill as many as it is possible for the honor of the master and self – associated intricately – and the glory of the ultimate warrior – as exemplified by The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise and Ghost Dog with Forest Whitaker, in the Western perspective on the samurai and/or the Quentin Tarrantino and Uma Thurman blood bath in the aforementioned Kill Bill 1 and 2.
Some flash stories will prompt revulsion in the Woke People, but probably awe and admiration in a Trump aka stupid crowd, keen to take horns and samurai swords for their next insurrection against the Lizard people, lasers from space and who knows what other goddamn enormity they come up with in the meantime – a few examples – this honorable man sees that the house of his master is on fire and the lord is concerned of a valuable document that will perish, thus, the valiant servant walks into certain death – that is after all the Mantra that we all recognize, The seppuku, kamikaze, hara-kiri tradition of committing suicide for what they saw as their honor and glory, a duty unquestionable even in the most absurd circumstances – and then they find his charred body later, with blood pouring from stomach, for he had committed seppuku, hiding the parchment to his body to save it from the fire…oh my god!
There is the story of the wife wanting to die in the fire that has engulfed her home, for when asked about her escape, she says my master is not home and it is not suitable to abandon my home in his absence – clearly extremist thinking, reminding one of sati, the tradition of the burning widows in India – then there is the practice of having men – or is it boys – as young as fourteen training their skills in fight – or ostensibly as future samurai – by…beheading the condemned to death, which was a very frequent act, apparently, and there are other terrifying, flash stories included for those who delight in horror stories – indeed, in the first paragraphs the fact that the cruelty of the tradition has been highlighted and there are many of those who criticize this tradition – the under signed will in fact recommend Ikigai
Samurai and their alleged Wisdom might be pervasive, but this reader will actually recommend Ikigai – there is an opus on the subject that I look forward to reading, if conditions are right, Insha’Allah – a Japanese concept which is at the core of the splendid statistics of a country that has more centenarians than any other land, something explained by their insistence on Being Active into their old-young age, a diet that has little meat, some particular potatoes and very little to trace back to the Samurai and their wisdom…so hooray for Ikigai and forget the Samurai and their sages could be the conclusion…
Displaying 1 of 1 review