PROVISIONAL TRANSLATION(March 2019)
Only significant errors of English in the translation
have been corrected––the content will be checkedagainst the original Japanese for accuracy at a later
date.

BushidōKōgakkan University Lecture Series No. 128

KANNO Kakumyō

Introduction
Hello, thank you for the introduction. My name is Kanno Kakumyō. 1 I am not a stranger here––
this is actually the second time for me to give a speech at Kōgakkan University. It was in 1979 that
I presented my research for the first time at a conference on the Japanese history of ideas. I vividly
remember my impression at that time and wrote about Kokugakuin University and Kōgakkan
University at the end of my book titled Shintō no gyakushū. I was impressed by the atmosphere of
Kōgakkan during my visit. This time, after walking around the campus, I felt that the atmosphereremains unchanged. This is not flattery. You will immediately know what I mean if you visit any
university in Tokyo. Somehow, people rush here and there, and the air is not so nice. The
atmosphere is completely different from that at Kōgakkan. I think students are fortunate to be able
to study in such a wonderful environment.
Today, I will speak about Bushidō. The subtitle is “on the strength of the Japanese.” This is anambitious title, but I will try to make my speech understandable as much as possible. As I would
like to show relevant primary sources about Bushidō, I have attached them to handouts. They areancient documents; thus, they might be difficult. However, please feel relaxed, as I won’t call upon
you and ask to read them. You won't be tested later, either.
The way of living called “michi (way)”
I’ll begin my speech here by mentioning that I wrote my conclusion at the beginning of the handout.
When I talk about Bushidō, I always state as my conclusion that both strength and kindness are
identical. In the past when I talked about it, a student approached me saying that such a phrase“without strength, one cannot be kind” is found in a comic. Indeed, it is often the case thatsomething contained in comics points to something important. We should not regard an ordinary
thing lightly; thus, although it is embarrassing to me, I wrote in the handout that “without strength,
one cannot be kind.” You can find a similar phrase in a poster made by the Japan Self-Defense
Forces, meaning that it is essentially the same sentiment. Even if the meaning sounds simple, unless
we take time to think about it, it won't be so easy to understand that this phrase can be important
to us in life. Thus, I would like to delve into such an aspect. In short, my point is that an ordinary
matter is, in fact, very deep and precious. And I would like to mention one more thing. I often talkabout Bushidō for those who work at the Japan Self-Defense Forces or police officers. As many men
1 THE AUTHOR is professor of Shintō Department in the Faculty of Letters at Kōgakkan University. This lecture
was originally published in Japanese in Kanno Kakumyō, Bushidō (2011).

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are present at such venues, I always end up talking from the viewpoint of men. Recently, more
women are active than before at the Japan Self-Defense Forces, and I would like to point out thatwomen played a significant role in Bushidō. In other words, as mentioned in number two in thehandout, both men and women have their own unique importance. These two concepts of strengthand kindness are the ultimate ideals, and I will now talk about them in regards to Bushidō.
The term Bushidō is a word that we are not sure if we correctly grasp its meaning or not, butwhen we divide this word into two parts, it consists of “bushi” and “dō.” Therefore, we canunderstand what Bushidō is by exploring what bushi is and what dō means. Between these twoparts, bushi is easier to grasp. That is because the bushi, or warrior, actually existed in the past.
Anyone can easily have an image of bushi, who carries a sword and goes to war. In a word, bushi
is a Japanese historical warrior. In this sense, bushi is easily understood. What is difficult to graso
is the word “michi (path)” means. First, I will speak more about the “path” and invite you to think
about what Bushidō means to the Japanese society today.
An Era in Which Strength Has Been Lost
As written in number one in the handout, what kind of the era is the present age that we live in? I
think that there are various ways to approach this question, but if we think about it based on thetheme of Bushidō, it can be said that the present age is an era in which strength has been lost. In
the world of politics, we often hear the words such as peace stupor (heiwa boke) or peace-at-any-rate.
In other words, in the present age, the value of strength has been lost in every aspect of society.
Although I am not sure there are that many actual cases, when we look at a negative aspect ofpresent society such as bullying or abuse, there have been problems with adults abusing smallchildren or weak people. Why does that happen? Of course, there must be various reasons.
However, what can be intuitively said is that a man who bullies or abuses others simply lacks
strength. You may not quite get what I mean. For example, when young parents cannot sleep
because of a baby’s crying at night. If parents hit their baby just because of that, they do not havemuch perseverance. In the old days, people would not have minded, even if they did not get much
sleep overnight. If you cannot stand because you cannot sleep for several hours, you do not havestrength. If you are strong enough to be able to take care of other people without eating or sleeping
for three days, you won’t lose your temper. The fact that you easily lose your temper means thatyou are physically weak. In this sense, strength is lost today. Incapability of endurance signifies lackof strength. The terms related to morality signifying such strength include nintai (endurance),
kokkishin (endurance of unpleasant things or overcome yourself), shinbō, kannin, and konjō. This moral
terminology is perhaps not very appealing. In the old days, a person who could endure was said to
be attractive and very popular. Today, just because one is enduring, it does not necessarily meanthat one will be popular. Perseverance is a moral trait that can be obtained by strength of mentallyand physically enduring something and overcoming it. The fact that this kind of morality is not
popular means that strength is not valued much in Japan today. People rather appreciate kindness
and a mild nature, which are the opposites of strength. Having said that, a situation can change.
In the past, a nice guy was popular in comics and movies, while recently, fierce looking men seemto be popular. However, overall, it can be said that values relating to strength tend to be disregarded.
Therefore, it is often said that morality is lost today, but this cannot be true. Without morality, one
cannot live. Men would end up becoming animals. No matter what happens, human beings sustain
morality. What was lost is the “strength” to manifest morality.
“Strength” Supporting Morals
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Both in the East and West, basic principles of morality are love and kindness. To choose one, it islove. Love to care for others is a fundamental principle of morality, which is common in the world.
In either case, between Kantian ethics and Christianity, love is primary. In Confucianism, thehighest morality is jin, or love. In any form of morality, kindness to care for others is fundamental,
but in order to do it, you are required to obtain strength to some extent. When you would like tobe kind to others, you need strength to act on it. You need to have power to take care of others. Or,
you need to have some spare feelings in order to serve others while putting your own things aside.
This kind of strength has been lost in Japan. Thus, it might happen that people cannot actuallytake actions despite their kind feelings.
In the handout, the phrase sokuin no kokoro (a sense of compassion) appears. It is the essential
feature of all types of virtue according to the theory of morals in the East. “Sokuin no kokoro” isconsidered to be the perfect virtue. In short, the source of great compassion to love and treat otherswith care is called “sokuin no kokoro.” In Confucianism, if one enlarges virtue based on “sokuin
no kokoro,” one can become a great king. Furthermore, any human being has “sokuin no kokoro.”
There is a saying in a Chinese text titled The Discourse of Mencius. “Sokuin no kokoro” signifies that
one gets a start when a small child toddles along and is going to stumble. In this example, there isa well near a spot where a small child is walking around, and when the child is going to stumble,
anyone becomes alert and feels sorry for the child. This feeling signifies “sokuin no kokoro.”
Anyone must have this kind of feeling. When you can feel like this toward not only a small childbut also those who you do not like, you are a great person of character. This is understandable
teaching. What should be noted here is that “sokuin no kokoro” is basically affection, and suchfundamental affection is explained as feelings such as “cute” or “pity.” In other words, it isimportant that Mencius regarded the affectionate feeling of a big and strong person toward a small
and weak person as the foundation of all forms of affection. We know that anyone has such feelings.
For example, we see something small and cute mascot hanging from a naughty boy’s mobile phone
and feel such. He keeps it because the small mascot is cute. Unless he found it cute, he would nothang it to his mobile. Thus, everyone has the same feeling as his. Otherwise, Disneyland would not
make it as a business. As everyone has a soft spot for cuteness, they can make money off of it. Suchfeelings are evoked toward someone who is smaller and weaker than oneself. Another way of saying
it is that you get a cute feeling because you are bigger and stronger than an object. In short, thereason why you can feel such affection is because you are bigger and stronger than that person. For
instance, when a sumo wrestler plays sumo with a small child, he easily throws the child with one
hand or swings him. Needless to say, it is the action of treating the child affectionately, and no one
thinks it is bullying. It is the basic form of treating someone affectionately. If the sumo wrestler
were not strong, he would end up hurting him. He can swing the child or throw him without hurting
him because he is overwhelmingly strong. Strength is the premise to treat others affectionately andkindly. Strength is such a virtue. Today gentleness is often emphasized, but if you are vulnerable
and weak, you cannot be kind. The theory of morals today does not affirm that you can be kindby being strong first. I think this is a large fault about morality of contemporary society.
The Pathology of Contemporary Society
Next, we move on to the topic of personality. This topic suggests a fundamental problem ofcontemporary society. This is true anywhere in the world, but modern society has been establishedwithout valuing individual personality. Individual uniqueness or personality is not useful at all insuch a social system where we live our life. Roughly speaking, a man has his own uniqueness while3

a woman has her own uniqueness; however, when you count money at bank, such a thing does notmatter. If one can operate a computer and accurately calculate, no matter who does it, the result
is same. The system of industry today has been made based on things that anyone can do. This
attitude is necessary to increase productivity and efficiency and to make things rationally in large
quantities. The industrial society is a society which is created based on fantasy that anyone canbecome anything.
Society before industrialization, which was like the society of the Edo period in case of Japan,
consisted of the combination of each person’s different roles; male adults had their own roles; maleelderly and female elderly had their own roles, children had their own roles. However, in the society
today, anyone can do anything, and no one is regarded as a unique individual. In the past, it was
not like that. A society in the old days acknowledged different roles and sustained harmony as awhole. There was a role that could be played only by children. Division of roles, which can be stillfound in festivals, existed in the past. This was the case of not only Japan but also of Europe. For
example, in the story of Heidi, a girl of the Alps, a boy called Peter appears. He had a sheepdog drivea flock of sheep to the pasture. This was a boy’s job, which an adult should not do. Children had
their own work.
However, after the Industrial Revolution had taken place, producing goods in huge quantities atfactories began to control the economy and a life of human beings. What was critical at that time
was the fact that if there were no one to work at a factory, a new industry was not possible. In thesociety before the Industrial Revolution, everyone had their own roles; a farmer was a farmer for
many generations; a grandfather did his work while a grandmother conducted rituals at home. All
kinds of work was performed by different people, and the society was solid. Under such a situation,even if a factory had been established in a village, no one would have been available to work at the
new industry, as people such as farmers, shepherds, or artisans would not have changed their
hereditary work. What actually happened was that a way of thinking in society changed. This iscalled individualism with the ideas of freedom and equality in the modern era. Equality meansthat anyone can work at a factory; it is okay for anyone to work there. Freedom means that a
shepherd does not have to continue to be a shepherd but can become whatever else; he can become
whatever wants to be. In other words, it means freedom to choose an occupation, and without this,industrialized society cannot be sustained. To this day, the society has been sustained in this way.
My point is that the thought that everyone can become whatever they want to be sounds great as
if it values individuality and assures everyone’s freedom and the equal relationships among them,but in reality, it never highly regards an individual’s uniqueness at all. The fact that all are the samemeans that anyone can be replaced with anyone; if a person quits, another person can be hired;
one can leave a company and do the same kind of work at another company. Freedom and equality
merely mean this, and it has nothing to do with valuing an individual’s uniqueness. When some ofyou start hunting for a job, you will probably understand what I mean. If you try to look for acompany which suits your uniqueness and characteristics, you will face tremendous difficulty infinding it. It is natural you should face that kind of difficulty because a manual of job hunting
emphasizes the importance of uniqueness and advises you to emphasize your characteristics during
a job interview. However, when you look for information about a company, you get the information
about what the company does, potentiality of growth, and salary. Basically, any company is moreor less same. What I mean is that in the end, what any company looks for is the same kind of ability
to calculate and understand things to some extent. In a word, individuality is not considered at all.
Especially, men’s nature and women’s nature, which I will talk about, are not required by thisindustrialized society. Therefore, modern education does not try to foster such nature. In general,
as modern education was established in order to produce laborer of industrial work, it would be4

just enough for people to develop a certain level of calculation ability and language competence.
As long as everyone has the same calculating capacity, when a company hires many employees, thework can be done well. The purpose of the modern education is to make students graduate fromschool with the same calculating capacity. That is why the result of the modern education isassessed by numerical figures. An individual’s uniqueness cannot be valued by numerical figures.
Yet, in the first place, it is not the object of assessment in the modern educational system.
What I would like to assert is that “nature” is important and that we can get a clue of how to
manifest our “nature” in the way of living in the society before modernization. One of the clues
for this is Bushidō. It was not only with bushidō, but no matter whether they were farmers or not,everyone in the old days lived in a society that valued their “nature.” They used to live a life in thatway. I will speak more about it.
The definition of “michi (path)”
Now we enter into the subject of a way of life called “michi” (path or way). Before the modern era,
people in Japan lived a life different from that of contemporary society, which can be described in
the words of that time as “michi.”For example, artisans had the “michi” of artisans; farmers had the “michi” of farmers;
merchants had the “michi” of merchants; warriors had the “michi” of warriors. It was not justlimited to work; “michi” was the central form of living like that men had the path of men andwomen had the path of women. I call it a form of truth, because anyone wishes to live a true life
when they think about how to live. No one wants to live a false and deceitful life. What is a true
way of living? It is difficult to concretely answer it, but I can express it in the form of an equation;
namely, A=A. This is a way of thinking in European philosophy. The absolute truth takes the form
of A=A. This works. For example, if I say, “This is a paper cup,” its proposition is that A=B. “This”
signifies “A,” while “a paper cup” signifies “B.” Then, if we ask a question whether this A=B istrue or not, it is not necessarily true. For, it is okay to say, “This is paper,” or “This is rubbish.” If
one uses it to cover someone’s mouth and kill that person, it can be said that “This is a weapon.”In other words, when you answer in the form of A=B, it is not necessarily the case that it is a rightanswer. In short, it is not the truth. The absolute correct answer would be that “This is this,” i.e.,“A=A.” This is true. The truth takes such a form; however, this does not make us fully understanda true way of living. We understand the equation, but it is empty. It provides us something useful.
When we get something useful from something like this, how could we understand a true way ofliving?
In my idea, suppose we have a true self who thinks about how we should live or who believes ina
true life, then when a true self or ideal self becomes equal to the present self, it can be said that ourtrue way of living is achieved. It might not be 100% like A=A, but we might be able to closely
approach to it. If you try to live your life in a way to manifest your nature 100%, which would
equal to present yourself, you can come infinitely near the true way of living.
In fact, people in the old days referred to a way of living to make oneself equal to the ideal self
as “michi.” A way of living called “michi” is one that aims to bring out ones true self and tries tomake it happen. To provide a concrete example, Bushidō is a way of living to make oneself equal
to bushi. One who thought he could manifest his nature by being a bushi tried to make himself
equal to bushi. Such a way of living is called Bushidō. There are many ways like this. For example,
Sadō (so-called tea ceremony). This does not mean that one tries to become tea. This is a way ofliving to become a person who can make tea in the proper way. Yet, we are not sure about becoming
someone who can make tea in a proper way. It is difficult to understand it in general. Compared5

to it, Bushidō is easier to understand. It is the way of making oneself equal to bushi. This is Bushidō,
and anyone can get an image of bushi. Thus, when we explain characteristics of Japan to foreigners,
it is useful to refer to Bushidō.
Please note that a way of living called “michi” is not limited to Bushidō. If one lives a life withintention to become a great merchant of Osaka, it is the “michi” of merchants. “Michi” is a wayof living that all the Japanese people have pursued without realization or awareness, and the typicaland most understandable example is Bushidō.
Virtue is the Michi of Heaven
As I am speaking for the audience of the university, let us look at an original manuscript. During
the Edo period, the term michi became widely popular. Anything was explained with this term. For
example, a way of becoming popular at a red-light district was called a michi. Anything wascompared to michi during that period. The term michi that became popular during the Edo period
was originally brought from Confucianism. How was the meaning of the term michi understood atthat time? The basic definition of the term michi is found in a sentence of one of the Four ChineseClassics, the Doctrine of the Mean. The people of the Edo period thought that this definition was thefundamental explanation of michi: “Virtue is the way of Heaven. To make it virtue is the way of ahuman being.” Japanese people still like to use a set of Chinese characters using that of “virtue”
to this day. The quoted sentence is one of the sources for that. What does virtue mean? The peopleof the Edo period understood the term based on the commentary of the doctrines of Zhu Xi. Zhu
Xi explained the term virtue appearing in chapter 16 of the Doctrine of the Mean as “shinjitsu mubō.”Simply speaking, “mubō” means that it is not haphazardness. What does it mean the sentence“Virtue is the way of Heaven”? In the sky, the sun moves; the moon moves. It rains; the seasonschange. Heaven signifies the entire movements of astronomical and meteorological phenomena.
When we observe the movements of Heaven, we understand that the movements are nothaphazard. The sun always rises in the east. It never happens that the sun rises and immediately
sets or that the sun secretly rises in the west. The sun moves from the east to the west. Without
telling the sun to rise in the east, it always rises in the east. Whichever day it is like tomorrow or the
day after tomorrow, the sun rises in the east. This is the meaning of “Virtue is the way of Heaven.”
Heaven is not haphazard. It has immutable laws. Heaven is virtue itself. This is the meaning of thefirst part of the sentence quoted. The second part of the sentence has the transitive verb “make it
virtue.” If you leave it as it is, it would turn out to be something not virtue. That is why you haveto try to make it virtue. If you do not use exertion, it becomes haphazard. This is how humanbeings should lead their lives and this is the meaning of “To make it virtue is the way of a humanbeing.”The phrase “shinjitsu mubō” can be interpreted in a usual expression as “identical,” “it is always
same and stable.” In other words, it is always A=A, which is the basic meaning of virtue. The sun
is always virtue. Without using exertion or command, it is always same and virtue. No one doubts
if the sun may not rise tomorrow. Heaven is virtue itself. This is the way of Heaven. How about
us? A person, who always gets up at seven in the morning, may occasionally oversleep and get up
late. A person, who promised that he would come tomorrow, may not come. In the case of humanbeings, in order to be unchangeable and stable, we cannot be that way without making effort. Thiseffort means “To make it virtue.” Heaven does not use exertion or it is not compelled, but it cansustain the sameness. Therefore, Heaven is the way itself. However, we have to master virtue. Thisis the way of human beings.

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“Gi (Justice)” to Value Being the Same
If we apply the concept of virtue to a way of living, the virtue signifies the state of matching oneself
with the ideal self; i.e., realization of michi. It is not so easy to precisely make the two things identical.
It happens that what you have been pursuing up to today could be ruined by losing concentration
at any moment. Thus, human beings never reach the point of end or completion but have to keep
making efforts in order to match oneself with the ideal self throughout the entire life. This is theway of those who “make it virtue.” Even if you have been using exertion for your entire life,
momentary carelessness could destroy it. However, if one makes efforts without giving up, one canmatch oneself with the ideal self. Such an image of endless endeavor is found in michi. In a Buddhist
term, it is “shōjin (devotion to the pursuit of one’s faith).” A way of living or michi is characterizedby identifying who you are and what you want to be. Let me give you an example of the artisan’snature. An artisan is an example of michi because he is particular about producing the same qualityof goods. When artisan who had grown old made something, he began losing his strength. Then,even if it looked fine as a piece of work, if he would find subtle differences compared to the things
he used to create before, and he would discard it, saying, “it is rubbish.” For, it is not equal to thequality of what he used to make. Artisans go great length to create products. Similarly, in the worldof bushi, there is a term “gi (justice).”“Gi” is one of the virtues specific to bushi. It means that they make strenuous efforts to be a bushi.
“Gi” originally denotes right and has a meaning difficult to understand in Confucianism. But, inthe world of bushi, “gi” is basically used as an antonym of “ri 利.” Whereas there are various
arguments about “gi” in Confucianism, the usage is simple in the world of bushi. The “gi” of “gishi”
is what the Akō rōshi (the lord-less samurai of Akō domain) were called, which gives us anunderstandable image of “gi.” Saying that this “gi” is quite misunderstood; many people think thatsacrificingr oneself for righteousness is “gi.” But it is a big mistake.
Bushi’s work is fighting. They receive reward for fighting. The reward matches their work, or inshort, both reward and work are identical, which is the original meaning of “gi” to bushi. “Ri” is,on the other hand, opposite to it; what is done would not match what is obtained. For instance, thecost price of goods never corresponds to the selling price. However, in the case of bushi, toward
the achievements such as “I was the first rider in a charge” or “I defeated a leader of the opponents,”
the bushi was rewarded a horse or a castle. In other words, bushi lived their life by receiving
appropriate rewards for their achievements of work. Their achievements were themselves; thus,
they wanted to be correctly evaluated. They were particular about it. That is why they protested
when they had negative evaluation. They asserted that they had worked hard. We have an image
that bushi were humble, but they explicitly said what they believed they should say. They got angry
saying, “Where are your eyes?” Conversely, if a bushi received reward despite his mediocre work,
he found it against his conscience. Bushi valued that their work quality and ability matched theirreward, which was their “gi.”In general, in the world of bushi, fighting and receipt of reward was how it fiunctioned. The
estimation between work and reward was approximately standardized; thus, when bushi received
a one thousand koku crop from his lord, he had to work to match it. The issue was the case whenbushi received something that could not be returned by fighting at a battle. What would it be? It
would be the same today. There is something that cannot be replaced with money. It is “feelings.”
What would you do when you feel something deep like a great favor or a debt of gratitude towards
someone? When a bushi had such feelings, he returned the debt of gratitude to his lord bysacrificing himself. By doing that, he tried to make the accounts balance. Regarding whatever it
was, they tried to pursue their duty by any means to match their reward. Bushi’s “gi” is close to the7term richigi (steadfast in affection or allegiance). It is the same as artisan’s nature. If an artisan is notcontent with what he has made, he declines an offer and money. To stick to one’s discipline is thebasis of the world of michi. In the case of bushi, they go to great lengths an even give up their life.
Bushi die if they cannot pay off completely. People in general would not understand why theyvalued michi so much. To us, bushi seemed to rush to death. But, it was not always the case thatevery bushi rushed to death. As for Akō rōshi, it was only a handful of samurai who died, and it
was not that every Akō rōshi died. As samurai of Akō domain was dismissed, many of samurai ofAkō domain received pay and left. However, such samurai were not criticized at that time because
it was natural that they did. What are those samurai who sacrificed themselves? Only those samurai,
who were connected to their feudal lord mentally, got together and died. Bushi, who felt that theirlord personally cared for them or gave some words to him, had a debt of gratitude and settled itby sacrificing himself. This is the way of living for bushi.
The way of living for bushi takes the equation of 1=1. On the other hand, the way of living ofvaluing “ri” would be 1=1.1 or 1=1.2. The part of 0.1 is, needless to say, profit. Bushi do not negate
such a way of living. Merchants live like that. Bushi acknowledge such a way, but bushi never lead
their life like that. They distinguish their way of living from that of merchants. Additionally, there
are another group of people who lead a life of 1=1.1 or 1.2. As Takeda Shingen stated, it is theway of living of women. Women also lead their life like 1=1.1 or 1.2. The added part is the factthat women apply make-up. The part of make-up is 0.1 or 0.2. During the period of the Warring
States (ca. 15th to 16th centuries), women could not survive without getting a strong man’s protection.
Their simplest way to get a strong man was an attractive appearance. Bushi should not follow sucha way of living of women. In short, bushi should not live such a life that they try to keep theirappearance attractive and depend on others. A bushi’s way of life is also called “a way of men.”
Nowadays, men also apply make-up, though. Bushi also occasionally wore beautiful attire, but they
did it to observe the proprieties at a formal ceremony or to plot. They never kept their appearance
beautiful for the sake of appearance.
What is Bushidō?
Let us get into the essence of Bushidō. What we have understood so far is that Bushidō signifies a
way of living in an attempt to become an ideal bushi. Needless to say, no bushi wants to become abad bushi, and any bushi wants to become an ideal bushi. The critical question is what a reallysplendid bushi would be like. Bushidō is the combination of wisdom, sense of value, and virtue,
which bushi obtain though seeking for what the ideal bushi is. In other words, it is the thought
produced from the site where bushi actually makes effort to become a great bushi. In fact, what is
produced from the site is one of the features of michi. This is the opposite of the present education,
which I will not address here. When we think about the ideal bushi, he must be strong in the firstplace. As a bushi fights, it is pointless if he is weak. No matter what, a bushi has to be strong. It is
the real sense of strength, not fine-sounding talk. In short, a bushi actually fights hand to hand,crosses swords, and tries to defeat his opponent covered with mud and blood. It is not the strength
imagined in mind or mental strength, but physical strength to knock an opponent down. In thissense, Bushidō is the thought, which cannot be followed by those who do not fight. Thus, critics
would not be able to truly understand it. You may wonder why I am talking about it. In fact, during
the period of Warring States, it was a monk’s role in explaining brave bushi who died in battle.
I sometimes encounter a president of a company, saying that “I run a company with the spirit ofBushidō.” I appreciate such a spirit, but if he actually observed Bushidō, it would be a disaster. If
he has a rival company, he would send his employees to burn it down at night and take the enemy’s
8heads. This would be the way to follow Bushidō. The battle that a president of company says is amere metaphor. If the president says that he educates his employees based on Bushidō, once sales
drop off, he has to make his employees perform seppuku. In the case of bushi, it was not unusualthat he had to commit hara-kiri if his clothes were worn sloppily. Such a real scene is a world very
different from that of the general populace. What kind of scene would it be? I quote from the booktitled Asakura sōtekiwaki to describe such a scene. For your information, there is a manga titled“Sengoku taishōki” in Young Magazine. This is a useful resource, and I recommend reading it. In theearly part of this manga, the figure Asakura Sōteki appeared. He was a general, who served asmusha bugyō (magistrate of warriors) of the Asakura family of Echizen and a commander in the
open battle until the age of seventy. The following sentence is quoted from the book documenting
what he said: “What matters most for warriors is to win a battle even if they are called dogs or
beasts.” Its surface meaning is that “The aim of battle is to win no matter if warriors are called
dogs or beasts.” Needless to say, this sentence is easily misunderstood. The reason why people today
misunderstand this is that it is getting difficult for them to imagine such a bloody battle scene.
Mistakenly, bushi are regarded as those who believe that winning a battle no matter how nasty ways
they adopt is their priority and who are not morally respectful. It is true that there are such kind ofbushi. However, it is not what Asakura Sōteki wanted to convey. It is interpreted in the opposite
way. In fact, most books on Bushidō today mistakenly interpret his words. The reason is because
people today think about such a matter while staying safe. From the standpoint of someone whodoes not have to worry about any threatening situation of life, they criticize others in a superiormanner. They do so because it is the behavior of people living in the present age. Needless to say,
if you approach Bushidō from such a standpoint, you will never understand it at all. If you do notthink by situating yourself in the worst conditions such as facing the risk of being killed,
experiencing the abolishment of your house, being defeated, losing a battle, and conducting harakiri, etc., you would never be able to understand the idea of Bushidō. Unless you imagine the worst
situation, there is no point of thinking about Bushidō. Thus, the sentence quoted does not meanthat it is fine if you win no matter what you do, but it means that without reading the sentence withyour mindset of losing a battle, the real meaning cannot be grasped. In other words, what that
sentence tries to indicate is that you cannot say anything once you are defeated, no matter how
shrewd your opponent is. You need to be aware that you live in such a severe environment. Howfair you would be or how nasty your opponent would be, you would have no chance to defend
yourself once you are defeated. In short, the sentence means that you must win in the first place inorder to fulfill your justice.
Of course, there is a nasty fellow in the world of bushi, but everyone knows that such a fellow
cannot survive in the end. For, it applies especially to the period of Warring States, and a battle is
not a one-time incident. It lasts for one’s entire life. The deceitful way or a way to counterplot
might work once. However, it never works the second time. People today regard a battle as a onetime match or game. For example, at the final match of the Olympics, if a judge does not notice
your deceitful act and raises a flag of winning, the game is over right there. But in the case of bushi,
even if a game is over, the next game will come. A person who is defeated remembers your deceit;
thus, he is careful not to be tricked again. This continues without end, which is the world of bushi.
In such a world, a bushi knows that the way of living like dogs and beasts would not help him tosurvive. If a bushi adopts such a way, he would lose trust from people, and no one would take hisside as people think that he would likely betray them. While stating this, Asakura Sōteki asserted
that what is most important to a general is not to tell a lie.
From the words of Takeda Shingen: “If a bushi is grabbed by the lapels, would not it be a
moment he should draw his sword? Without such spirit, it would not be a fight of bushi, but that9

of a child or merchant” (Kōyō gunkan, vol.17). He said this when judgment was delivered at the court.
What happened was that his two retainers had a fight. One of the two grabbed the other by thelapels, and the two started to punch each other. Which one is guilty? When it was a question ofwhich one should be punished, Takeda Shingen commanded them to both be put to death. His
reason was that both of them did not draw their swords. Shingen stated that the fact that they did
not draw their swords meant that they fought without risking their lives, which is not bushi’s fighting.
According to Shingen, at the moment when a bushi is grabbed by his lapels, he should draw hissword. Such spirit is called “wakisashi gokoro.” A bushi without “wakisashi gokoro” would not bea real bushi. It would be a fight of a child or merchant, and such a fight in which one of the twowould not be killed is not bushi’s fight. By Shingen’s command, one was executed by crucifixion
with his head upside down toward the ground while the other had his nose sliced off as an
exemplary punishment and was executed by crucifixion. It was Shingen’s reason that if he kept
them alive, the Bushidō of the Takeda family would collapse. The thought like this, which was
produced at the bloody and real scene, is not found in the modern theory of Bushidō. As for
Nitobe’s Bushidō, people in general regard it as Bushidō, but it is not Bushidō at all. In my view,
Nitobe also did not really believe that it was Bushidō. He asserted the story of Japanese important
morality by borrowing the name of Bushidō. Saying that, when we talk about characteristics ofJapan to foreigners, explanation that it originates in Bushidō makes them understood instantly. It
is very convenient to mention Bushidō for explaining something about Japan. But, actually, Nitobe’s
Bushidō is not about the moral of bushi but general morality of the Edo period. Nitobe wanted toclaim to foreigners that the higher level of morality, which is as profound as Christianity, existed inJapan. That is why he brought Bushidō. However, the real Bushidō is fighters’ morality that isclearly expressed by the spirit of “wakisashi gokoro.”
Fighters’ Morality
Let us move on to the next topic. As I have explained, Bushidō is the morality produced from thebattle scene which basically values strength. If we change our viewpoint, it can be said as follows.
A bushi holds different kinds of morality and aesthetics, which are all related to strength. None ofthem is related to weakness. I will give you just two examples among many.
The first example is “isagiyosa (decisiveness; graciousness; dignity),” which is a bushi’s aesthetics.
However, this is also misunderstood today that to rush into death for any reason is bushi’s aesthetics.
Especially after WWII, this misconception has spread: Japanese soldiers and bushi waste their life,
and this is beautified as “isagiyoi.” This is unfairly mistaken; they never waste their life for any
reason or beautify their death. Bushi go to a battle field and sustain their family. In short, they fightto survive. None of the bushi fight in order to die. Even if a famous passage of Hagakure says “Ihave discovered [that bushidō] is to die,” it is followed by the statement “human beings want tolive.” That is natural. I won’t proceed to explain why “isagiyosa” has been misunderstood as it
would take more space than I have here.
What does “isagiyosa” really mean? The term “isagiyosa” is often compared to the beauty ofcherry blossoms at the time of dropping. There is an expression that “The cherry among flowers,
the samurai among men.” This is the saying, established by the Edo period. Originally, there arethree points: “Hinoki is the best among trees, cherry blossom is the best among flowers, andsamurai is the best among people.” This saying indicates an ideal of Japanese people. Hinoki
endures severe weather of wind and snow and never loses the color of green for thousand years.
This exemplifies the nature of integrity and consistency, which is the metaphor of hinoki. The mostbeautiful flower is a cherry without doubt. If it is compared to men, it takes the image of samurai
10

or bushi. What is the beauty of “isagiyosa” that the cherry blossom manifests? Whereas everyone
in Japan likes the cherry blossom so much, Chinese and European people do not think it sobeautiful. What a person usually regards as beautiful differs, depending on culture and people, but
the Japanese bushi love the cherry blossom for some reason. In Europe, the image of beautiful
flower would be a rose or lily, while in China, a peony or orchid. Japanese people love cherry
blossoms. What is so beautiful to the Japanese people about cherry blossoms? It is not the case thateach petal of the cherry blossom is gorgeous. Each flower is small, and its color is not so vivid.
However, the beauty of the cherry blossom can be instantly grasped once you go on a flowerviewing excursion. As for flower viewing, it gets very crowed at the particular moment. The best
time for flower viewing is very short. The time when cherry blossoms are in full bloom and begin
to fall is said to be the best time to see. In short, the beauty of the cherry blossoms is that two things
happen at the same time; they are in full bloom and yet they start falling. If the cherry blossoms
are not falling at all even if they are in full bloom, it would make us feel something is missing. If
the cherry blossoms remain fresh without falling for a long time, no one would go to see it. On theother hand, if buds begin to fall before blooming, no one would go to see it, either. The Japanesepeople would not appreciate it if the cherry blossoms do not fall. “Isagiyosa” indicates the beauty
that at the very moment of being in full bloom, the cherry blossoms begin to fall while being
scattered by the wind. This is the beauty of the correspondence of the timing. If we compare thisto the case of bushi’s hara-kiri, it is stupid to immediately perform hara-kiri when his deed has notbeen judged as a fault. On the other hand, even when all evidence indicates that he is guilty, but
he still resists to conduct hara-kiri, it is disgraceful. On the contrary, at the very moment when abushi is shown all evidence suggesting his guilt, he swiftly performs hara-kiri, saying, “I amdefeated.” This is “isagiyosa.” Grasping the timing and taking an action in harmony is perceived
as beauty, which is perceived as “isagiyosa.”
As you may know by now, there is a TV program in Japan that people watch just to enjoy a
moment of “isagiyosa.” One typical program is “Mitokōmon.” For what do people watch this?
Every story line is same. While a place and settings change, the role of villains remains same; onesays to the other, “what a devil you are.” A girl’s father is taken away by villains. The plot is moreor less same for every episode. Yet, why does this program constantly maintain certain viewing
rating? If there would have no scene that Mitokōmon (former vice-general of Mito domain) pulls
out the seal of the shogun family, no one would watch it. Viewers keep the TV on in order to see
this scene. If he pulls out the seal as soon as villains appear during the first part of the program,
nobody would watch it. Mitokōmon also thinks well. At the beginning, instead, he tells his retainers
to teach a lesson first to the villains. The problem would be immediately solved if he showed theseal to the villains before teaching them a lesson, though. He waits for a perfect timing and shows
the seal saying, “That’s enough.” If Mitokōmon makes villains get beaten up until the end without
saying, “That’s enough,” it would become a Hollywood movie. Mitokōmon shows the seal at thebest timing, and all villains lower their head. This is beautiful. This is the highlight of each episode.
When villains can lower their head at the very moment they see the seal, they have the beauty of“isagiyosa.” Conversely, if villains draw their sword upon seeing the seal and resist again, viewers
feel that they are really bad men.
There is another example of a TV program titled “Tōyama no Kin-san” I am not sure if it isstill shown or not. His famous line is “Take a good look at this shower of cherry blossoms” asshowing his tattoo of a flurry of cherry blossoms. It won’t work at all if a magistrate appears rightat the beginning as showing his tattoo of a flurry of cherry blossoms. On the other hand, to end
an episode by getting a judgement without showing it is too realistic and does not work either. All
viewers know the plot. Like “Mitokōmon,” there is a villain, who takes a cut. That is all. The scene
11everyone watches is the moment when the magistrate shows his tattoo of a flurry of cherry
blossoms and says, “Take a good look at this shower of cherry blossoms” as taking a swaggering
pose. Everyone waits for this very moment.
A bushi perceives beauty by grasping the right timing. This is the basic sense that combatants
hold. It can be said to be their instinct. To put it another way, a bushi values “isagiyosa” because itis the motion related to strength. A strong motion means that it never misses the timing. People
who practice martial arts would understand that strength is not enough; catching the timing is also
important. A truly strong bushi or a person who has powerful skills feels that a motion catching theright timing is beautiful. It is beautiful to grasp the timing and perform skills. Combatants who
have such an instinct making them feel like a falling the cherry blossom at the right timing isbeautiful. This is applicable to an actual scene of battle. It is cowardly to fire a gun when yourenemy is still very far away. On the other hand, if you cannot fire a gun when enemy comes very
close to you, this would be either undecidable or dull. Either way, he is not a strong fighter. The
strongest fighter grasps the moment when he should shoot a gun and actually shoots his gun. No
matter it is too early or too late, a motion that catches the timing is a strong combatants’ correct
motion. I think that the feeling of beauty toward this lies in a fundamental of aesthetics valuing“isagiyosa.”
A concept that “the samurai glories in honorable poverty” is also based on the combatants’ senseof beauty. I won’t go into this due to the limit of space. What I would like to say is that the bushi’s
aesthetics and sense of values are all produced from their actual situation where they develop theirstrength. This strength can be obtained through getting wisdom such as military arts, tactics andstrategy. In the world of bushi, anyone go through the physical training and learn military arts.
Therefore, a question of how one can be one step ahead of others is raised. The answer of bushi
to this question is something related to mentality, spirit, or virtue. In addition to physical ability
and knowledge, a bushi values the total power integrated with mental strength and calls it “kiryō.”
It can be said that bushi discovered that what is the most important element of the total power is
not just muscular strength or tactics but the quality of ones inner self.
Ideal Bushi
A bushi explores what a really strong bushi would be like. Such an ideal bushi has been called a“bushi who knows pathos of things” or “compassionate bushi” or “bushi of bunbu ryōdō (bushi who
is familiar with “bun” of scholarship and “bu” of the martial arts).” These three basically mean
the same thing, and “a bushi who knows the pathos of things” and “a compassionate bushi” do notmean that they are weak. They are strong and have such attributes. A weak bushi is out of thequestion. An ideal bushi has physical strength and inner power. Japanese military of the Showa
period told soldiers to be “a military man with elegance and practicality,” and “elegance” means“pathos of things” or “compassion” or “bun (scholarship)” of bunbu ryōdō. All these indicate thesame thing, and as bunbu ryōdō is easy to understand, I will explain it.
The Meaning of Bunbu Ryōdō
The term bunbu ryōdō is also misunderstood today because of modern society. People use it to signify“be successful at both study and sports.” In this context, “bun” indicates that one is good at English
or mathematics, but this is not correct at all. I think that this misunderstanding was caused byapplying the Western classifications such as “a pen and sword” or “wisdom and power” to “bunbu.”
The original meaning in the Eastern tradition of “bunbu” is not that. For, it is kind of power that12

one is good at English or mathematics. If one is good at mathematics, he can create missiles. If one
is good at English, it will be an advantage for diplomatic negotiation.” Thus, this is a kind of power.
However, “bun” is something different, which has nothing to with power. What is the original
meaning of “bun”? I will quote a phrase from the Analects of Confucius “reigaku seibatsu.” You
understand that “seibatsu” corresponds to “bu.” The other part “reigaku” corresponds to “bun.”“Gaku” of “reigaku” signifies music, and according to eastern tradition, arts and rituals areclassified as one category and called “bun.” Writing poems, creating waka poetry, performing
stylized dance, and rituals to enshrine deities, which are useless to make money, are called “bun.”
For your better understanding, what court nobles used to do is “bun.” For example, Hikaru Genji
did not do any useful things but made waka poetry, played a zither, etc., which is “bun.” On theother hand, “bu” is what the samurai family did. This is the image. According to the Japanesetradition, the thought that both “bun” and “bu,” i.e., “bunbu” should be mastered was highly
valued. “Bunbu” originated in the emperor’s tradition; he made samurai and court nobles mastereach skill.
What is an easier way to grasp “bun”? It is like sentiment or taste in an expression from themodern day; education in good taste. Among mental education, moral education, and physicaleducation, “bun” falls into moral education. Or among classifications of intellect, emotion, andvolition, it falls into emotion. It is often said the importance of ability for sentiment, but whether“bun” is there or not separates between real valor and violence. A Confucian scholar of the Edo
period, Muro Kyūsō, who served the eighth Shogun, stated that compassion and pathos are
required to obtain real valor. His lord was a famous wild shogun, and Muro Kyūsō was a Confucianof a militant group. Such a scholar stated that. His statement is famous and quoted in many books
about bushi.
Valor Associated with Tears
This is a story about the lord of castle, Tokudaiji from Sano, who served Sōshū Hōjō. Tokudaiji
was a retainer of Odawara Hōjō, and his full name is Tokudaiji Ryōhaku. He was a brave general,and this story is about him not about a weak general. This strong general one day invited a biwaplaying monk and made him narrate The Tale of the Heike. There is a folk performing art that abiwa-playing monk plays a biwa while narrating the story about the Heike. One day, Tokudaiji
invited such a monk and tried to listen to the Tale of the Heike. He requested the monk play aparticular scene as he wanted to listen to a sad story. The monk said yes and began to narrate thescene of the Battle of Ujigawa River for the vanguard. This is a very valiant scene in which
Kajiwara Sōta and Sasaki Shirō competed with each other for the role of vanguard by trying tocross the river and to land faster than the other party. When the monk finished playing the scene,
Tokudaiji cried and dropped his tears like rain drops. He requested to play another sad scene. Thistime, the monk narrated the story about a fan as a mark of Nasu Yoichi Munetaka. This story issometimes included in textbooks for junior high schools and it is a very famous scene. It was
decided that if the Genji family hit the mark of a fan, they would win. If not, the Heike would win.
They discussed who should be chosen to try to hit the mark, and Nasu Yoichi was selected andgreatly hit the mark. Tokudaiji dropped his tears here in the middle of a story. Later, Tokudaiji
asked his retainers if the story of the Heike clan was great or not. They said that it was great but
there was one thing they did not understand; two songs are about the brave warriors, and although
there was no sad scene, the lord was crying; why so? Tokudaiji was surprised to hear that and said
to them, “Up to this moment, I have thought that you are brave enough to entrust my life, but I
am very disappointed to hear your words.” I will explain you why Tokudaiji said such. Please think13

well about the story of Sasaki’s battle for the vanguard. Sasaki Shirō received the wonderful horsethat Minamoto no Yoritomo cherished the most. He rode on that horse and fought for the vanguard.
He got the horse that Yoritomo did not give even to his own younger brother; thus, he went to thebattlefield with his determination that if he had lost the battle of vanguard, he would not comeback alive. You should imagine how that feeling is like. If it is not pathos, then what would it be?
The Tale of the Heike does not include such things even a word. It does not write about getting agreat horse and things such like a modern novel. The scene in question simply depicts that Sasaki
Shirō bravely made his horse run fast. From this scene, Tokudaiji stated that we should imagine
Sasaki’s feeling that he would not return alive if he had lost. In fact, whether one has the ability toimagine like this suggests if one has “bun” or not. It is same as the story of Nasu Yoichi, and themonk narrates saying, “Imagine his feeling. There is no other path which is more pathetic than thepath of bushi. Why is so? It is because a bushi always faces death. Therefore, no matter how bravea scene you watch is, death is always by a bushi’s side, and you should be able to imagine their
feeling to face it. The Tale of the Heike suggests that bushi who do not understand it are not qualified
to be bushi. Tokudaiji said to his retainers, “I always set my mind to get ready for death, so when I
imagine their feelings, I cannot help but dropping tears. If you think that they are not pathetic,
your so-called valor is merely power. You do not have real valor but power, and I cannot entrust
my life to bushi of mere power.” His retainers had no words to respond to him at all. As Tokudaijisaid, what brings tears is real valor. Tokudaiji was a strong general and not a well-rounded characterin a general sense. He was a rough bushi like an ogre. “Bu” is a path of wildness, and virtue andcompassion look opposite to it. But it is not true. As a saying “if it is not produced by virtue, it won’t
be true valor” suggests, true valor should be combined with virtue and compassion; i.e., “a person
should have compassion and heart to imagine pathos.”Let us think about the meanings of “bun,” “generosity,” or “pathos.” All these terms mean thesame thing, and in today’s expression, this indicates the ability to deeply understand other’s feelings,
nuances of things, and taste. This ability of “bun” has been thought to be taught by women; i.e.,
mothers in the world of bushi. How this was taught was through narrating poetry and stories. It issaid that “bun” is mastered by something not practical such as literature and arts.
Women and Yamatodamashī (Japanese spirit)
As one of traditional roles of women, there is a role to sustain the mental aspect of the household.
As for the ability to sustain the mental domain such as virtue and feelings, women have been passing
them down. To put it in Shinto terms, things relating to tamashī (soul) have been sustained by women.
To teach and nurture is also women’s work. Therefore, it is women’s work to sustain arts andreligious tradition at home. What men do is to teach practical things such as hunting, knowledge,
etc. Things like pathos and compassion can be said to fall into the mental part in comparison withphysical or intellectual power. This mental power has been expressed as tamashī as a Japanese term.
Yamatodamasī does not merely refer to a spirit of valor. Originally, valor based on the heart tounderstand pathos used to be called Yamato damasī. Women sustained it and passed down frommother to son or from wife to husband. Thus, a bushi of a traditional family received a wife froma family of court nobles. This is not merely for showing off but obtaining the power of “bun” fromcourt nobles who upheld high culture. Especially, it was believed that a bushi who would become
a commander needed it. This system of education is delivered by arts such as music and narratives
not only in Japan but also in foreign countries. Origuchi Shinobu called it kansen kyōiku (education
to spread). A soul embedded in waka poetry nurtures the heart and it spreads. The idea that awoman nurtures a man’s soul is common with the concept that women protect warriors found in14

the world. An example from overseas is the goddess Minerva, while a Japanese example is the story
of Yamatohime no mikoto’s Kusanagi no Tsurugi (Sword of Kusanagi). I think the fact that Batakosan appears in the animation of Anpan-man is the same thing.
The masculine nature is power, which is symbolized by the sword in Japanese mythology. In
contrast, the feminine nature is the soul, which is symbolized as a mirror. These two should be
paired: power and soul; sword and mirror. The emperor possesses both of them, which is of Japan’sfoundation.
Strength and kindness
Now I have reached the conclusion of my talk. After all, why can the bushi who understands thepathos of things be said to be the strongest bushi? One of the reasons is that a person who has
deep feelings can understand other’s feelings; thus, he can attract others. If a a bushi grasps his
retainers’ heart, he has the advantage of being loved by them. However, I will tell you what isessential. Not limited to the world of bushi, in the domain of warriors in the world, what kind of
person is strongest, officially speaking, is one who is not afraid of death. Between two men who
have the same physical ability, which one would be stronger is one who is not afraid of death. In
an extreme situation, one who is not afraid of death is the strongest. A famous passage of Hagakure“The way of the samurai is found in death” originally mean it. Concretely speaking, the meaningof not being afraid of death is whether he can go to a dangerous battle field or not. What isnecessary to go to such a battle field is to discard various things or giving them up. When discarding
and giving up precious things, there is nothing to regret. Therefore, he can put all his heart andsoul into it. Bushi thought that they can manifest his power because he discarded his precious things.
The feeling of preciousness is objective; because the sense of appreciation is perceived, precious
things exist. The fact that a person discarded precious things means that he had had precious things.
The fact that he had precious things means that he had heart to feel the precious things. For
example, in the case of giving up his wife and children and getting ready to die at a battle field, if
he had not loved them, giving them up would not empower him. Such a man must give up his lordand run away. In other words, a man who can give up something and go to a battlefield is such aman who has heart to appreciate things. When such a person, who can taste things, appreciateemotions, and deeply feel other’s sentiments, gives up his precious things and throws them away,
he can become the strongest bushi. The depth of heart to feel pathos can be compared to strength.
At least, bushi thought like that. There is an expression “All brave bushi do not hesitate to cry.”This indicates that the thought of “kindness and strength is one” is the essence of Bushidō.
Furthermore, there was a system that both each man and woman nurture such kindness andstrength by manifesting their own ability; the combination of each role functions as the education
for bushi. A man’s nature and a woman’s nature, which can be symbolized and paired up as asword and a mirror, the educational system of bushi of Japan, and this has been the ideal of
education. I think that the mental ability to support strength is “tamashī (soul)” or Yamato damasī.
If we draw a picture of an ideal Japanese person who has obtained kindness and strength, what
would it be like? In the end, let me quote a Confucian scholar, Satō Issai, whom Saigō Takamori
respected the most. I hope you will deeply appreciate it: “He looks cold, but his back looks warm.
He is fair; there is no space for personal matters.” This means that his face looks cold, i.e., he must
look fierce; however, his invisible back looks warm. Inside, his heart is fair and selfless; thus, he is
not selfish at all. Otherwise, he would not be able to make a right judgement. Saying that, hissincerity exists in his gut. This is Bushidō, or an image of an ideal man to the Japanese people in
the word of “michi.” I think that this was the ideal image integrating kindness and strength into15

one that Japanese people used to hold.
Although I could talk about only part of it, I hope that it will be a clue for you to think about the
future of Japan by learning tradition of the past. I appreciate that you kindly listened to my speech.
Questions and responses
Facilitator: “Thank you very much for your lecture, Professor Kanno. I would like to ask theaudience members if you have any questions or not.”“My name is Matsuura. Thank you very much for your lecture, Professor Kanno. I listened to yourlecture with much interest. I would like to ask you a question. About two kinds of Bushidō: that ofthe period of Warring States when actual battles were conducted and that of the Edo period whenbattles existed only in memory, I would like you to explain the aspects of continuity and change.
Also, I would like you to explain how both aspects were passed down by education.”
Professor Kanno: “I think it is a very important question. Indeed, during the Edo period, there was
no war for more than two hundred years. However, despite the absence of wars, the fact that
Bushidō was passed down can be verified. It is because of this that bushi could make war in thelast days of the Tokugawa shogunate. For example, the Shinsengumi (shogunate police and militaryforce located in Kyoto and dedicated to suppressing anti-shogunate activities) was formed. The
Satsuma and Chōshū Alliance took up swords again. This happened since the Battle of Sekigahara.
They could do that because each feudal clan passed down the spirit of bushi. There were two waysof passing it down. One was to learn lessons from history. During the Edo period, Confucianism
was introduced, and the ideal of bushi was explained in the concepts of Confucianism. For example,
when the ideal of bushi was explained with the terms of “gi” or “michi,” cases about what his own
feudal clan actually did at which war. Many feudal clans tried not to forget the source-based history
by evaluating whether this was “gi” or this was a good deed or bad deed. A representative feudalclan was Hagakure bushidō of Saga. Hagakure called the history of the feudal domain of Saga as
kokugaku (study of Japanese classical literature). In short, it was the education of history. On theother hand, there were feudal clans who could not do that. For, there were some feudal domainsthat were newly created during the Edo period. For example, Aizu and Mito. These feudal domains
did not have any records of battles during the period of Warring States; thus, they could not adopt
a way to pass them down. While like the Mōri family, there were feudal clans who passed downsomething like what was conducted in the Battle of Sekigahara, those feudal clans who could not
do it explained it with the thought or explained it in the context of religion and myths. Aizu andMito compared themselves to Yamato takeru no mikoto as Aizu followed Shinto and from theposition of relations in the case of Mito. I think that in such a way, two approaches are possible.
Needless to say, constant training of martial arts and military arts was basically required. However,theoretically, one methodology is to make a myth, and the other was to learn the source-based
history. In my opinion, this is a basic method to pass down tradition in any world. Would it beenough?”“Thank you very much.”
Facilitator: “Are there other questions?”“Could you please interpret a concept of ‘the samurai glories in honorable poverty’?’”Professor Kanno: “‘The samurai glories in honorable poverty’ is usually interpreted that althoughbushi are poor and hungry, they are ostentatious and too proud; thus, they pretend to be full.” The16

explanation such as ostentatious or hating to lose is the interpretation from the viewpoint ofmerchants, which largely different from the world of bushi. Bushi, unlike today’s Self Defense
Forces, were armed at all hours. If today’s Self Defense Forces did it, it would be a problem because
they cannot take their machine gun. On the other hand, if bushi did not keep their sword at all
hours even while taking a bath, they were punished. In short, they were always in the combat-ready.
When those who are in the combat-ready usually walk in a town, they assume that theiracquaintances are on their side. However, they regard people whom they do not know as theirenemy in their life. When they are always at the battle field, people around them are assumed tobe either their supporters or enemy. If they do not like that, it would be very dangerous. Under
such a situation, when they are cut off from the supply of food, no one would say it in loud voice,which could be heard by an outside enemy, that there is no rice in the castle. People, who assume
surrounding people to be their enemy and live, naturally do not show their disadvantageous plansto others. It is a principle of information management of warriors. Therefore, according to a storyof the period of Warring States, while the enemy cut off the supply of food and observe if water
was shortage or not, the other party pretended to have water and intentionally showed how they
fixed rice and washed horses. Or they did a merrymaking every day and pretended to have a lotof rice. In short, this shows a warrior’s fundamental principle not to show disadvantageous plans.
Similarly, reticence shows a warrior’s attribute to try not to leak his information and to try to listen
to others as much as possible. Dignity is the same. Surrounded by enemies, a bushi observes whatis the weak point of the enemy. Under such a condition, if a button is loosened without knowing,
and others point it out, as a warrior, he lost his point. In short, one did not notice one’s own weak
point but others noticed it. Satsuma was a strict feudal domain, and due to the mere untidiness of
the attire, a bushi is commanded to conduct hara-kiri. The reason is cowardice and carelessness.
The surface of skin is covered with armor. If he is cut down, he would die; thus, the attire is partof armor. It is not permissible to keep armor broken. There is a novel in which an untidy bushi
appears, but this is completely false. In reality, if a bushi comes out with ragged clothes, he would
be commanded to conduct hara-kiri right away. I digressed from the main point, but in short, “thesamurai glories in honorable poverty” is the modification, which took place without one’s
knowledge, of a warrior’s basic principle of information management and a strong bushi’s
discipline.
Facilitator: “As time has passed longer than planned, this lecture is ended here. Professor Kanno,
thank you very much. The first special lecture of the Kogakkan University has been completed.
There will be the second and third one, so we hope you will be back to listen to it. Please safely
return home.”

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