Hagakure: The Book of the Samauri

by Tsunetomo Yamamoto, William Scott Wilson

Overview

Hagakure ("In the Shadow of Leaves") is a manual for the samurai classes consisting of a series of short anecdotes and reflections that give both insight and instruction-in the philosophy and code of behavior that foster the true spirit of Bushido-the Way of the Warrior. It is not a book of philosophy as most would understand the word: it is a collection of thoughts and sayings recorded over a period of seven years, and as such covers a wide variety of subjects, often in no particular sequence.
The work represents an attitude far removed from our modern pragmatism and materialism, and possesses an intuitive rather than rational appeal in its assertion that Bushido is a Way of Dying, and that only a samurai retainer prepared and willing to die at any moment can be totally true to his lord. While Hagakure was for many years a secret text known only to the warrior vassals of the Hizen fief to which the author belonged, it later came to be recognized as a classic exposition of samurai thought and came to influence many subsequent generations, including Yukio Mishima.
This translation offers 300 selections that constitute the core texts of the 1,300 present in the original.
Hagakure was featured prominently in the film Ghost Dog, by Jim Jarmusch.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9784770029164
Publisher:	Kodansha USA Publishing
Publication date:	08/28/2002
Series:	Way of the Warrior Series
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 5.50(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

YAMAMOTO TSUNETOMO [1659-1719] was a samurai retainer of the Nabeshima Clan, Lords of Hizen province, who became a Buddhist monk in 1700 after the Shogunate government prohibited the practice of tsuifuku: suicide of a retainer on the death of his lord. The book was dictated to a younger samurai during the author's seclusion over a seven year period.

WILLIAM SCOTT WILSON, the translator, was born in 1944 and grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As an undergraduate student at Dartmouth College in 1966, he was invited by a friend to join a three-month kayak trip up the coast of Japan from Shimonoseki to Tokyo. This eye-opening journey, beautifully documented in National Geographic, spurred Wilson's fascination with the culture and history of Japan.

After receiving a B.A. degree in political science from Dartmouth, Wilson earned a second B.A. in Japanese language and literature from the Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies in Monterey, California, then undertook extensive research on Edo-period (1603-1868) philosophy at the Aichi Prefectural University, in Nagoya, Japan.

Wilson completed his first translation, Hagakure, while living in an old farmhouse deep in the Japanese countryside. Hagakure saw publication in 1979, the same year Wilson completed an M.A. in Japanese language and literature at the University of Washington. Wilson's other translations include The Book of Five Rings, The Life-Giving Sword, The Unfettered Mind, the Eiji Yoshikawa novel Taiko, and Ideals of the Samurai, which has been used as a college textbook on Japanese history and thought. Two decades after its initial publication, Hagakure was prominently featured in the Jim Jarmusch film Ghost Dog.

Wilson currently lives in Miami, Florida.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	7
	Introduction	9
	From the 1st Chapter	17
	From the 2nd Chapter	65
	From the 3rd Chapter	89
	From the 4th Chapter	91
	From the 6th Chapter	93
	From the 7th Chapter	99
	From the 8th Chapter	111
	From the 9th Chapter	128
	From the 10th Chapter	137
	From the 11th Chapter	153
	Late Night Idle Talk	167
	Notes	170
	Names, Places and Words	174
	Bibliography	179

What People are Saying About This

Jim Jarmusch

HAGAKURE became a kind of magical discovery for me, and ‘hidden under its leaves’ were some important gifts.

Editorial Reviews

Yamamoto brought together three temperaments: loyalty to his master, a literary sensibility, and the enlightenment of Zen.

Choice

A Classic of Japanese thought...Poetic, robust...a feast of aphorisms and martial anecdotes.

New York Review of Books

The most influential of all samurai treatises ever written.—Prof. Ivan Morris

East West Journal