THE CORE OF BUSHIDO

THE CORE OF BUSHIDŌ

If we wish to find the core of Bushido, we must I think, look at it in its historical context.  To do that, I would like to use a metaphor, first put forward by Nitobé Inazo in his book on Bushidō, worn as it may be; I think it is still viable.  Certainly, we do not need all the flowery rhetoric or the cryptic European references of Nitobé to grasp what is truly simple.

If we think of Bushidō as the sakura, the cherry blossom, and think of how plants live, our search may become clearer.  Japan, of course, is the soil and without the proper soil, no plant can flourish.  Some will whither and die quickly, others will struggle over a long time, trying to survive, but never growing beyond some stunted weed.  Japan, more than anywhere in the world, was the right “soil” for Bushidō.’  The seeds came to Japan long ago from China, who in many ways is the “Mother of Japan”.  The seeds came in the form of Confucius and then his disciple Mencius.  If one wishes to understand Bushidō, then look to the seeds themselves:  Analects by Confucius and simply The Mencius.  Along with these two great fathers came Wang Yang-ming and Lao Tse; thus, the great seeds of Asian thought came riding across the sea to eventually take root in Japan.

The sakura, like any plant, not only needs soil, it needs nourishment and Shintō was just such nutrition for Bushidō.  Native to Japan, growing out of the sea with the land, it was there waiting to embrace Bushidō and to give it all that it could.  Perhaps the greatest gifts of Shintō were its sense of patriotism, loyalty, reverence for ancestors, and the love of family and parents, which from its birth, lay at the very heart of Bushidō, as it does today.  Look in any dojo and you will see the character of Shintō present:  from the walls to the etiquette of those who practice there.

Seeds, soil, nourishment, are fine but our analogy still lacks something.  The sakura needs sun and rain which was supplied in abundance by first Buddhism and later its refinement of Zen, which went directly to the growth and development of the samurai character – the Samurai Spirit, and provided for the growth and development of Bushidō on the most personal of levels.

Bushidō was exclusive only to Japan.  Despite Nitobé’s analogies to European chivalry, they are as different as night and day.  Bushidō could only have existed in Japan.  It was so destined.