Ideals of the Samurai: Writings of Japanese Warriors Book

Some of the best literature I have ever read, none of it ever intended for publication. Wilson does an excellent job translating twelve selections of samurai writings from various clans and times. For each he provides a page of background information to put it in context with the political and military circumstances of the time.

What you find are twelve warriors with strikingly different personalities, sentiments, and codes to live by. Note: the "Way of the Samurai" was not codified into a single set of universal precepts, though attempts were made after this era; each of these men defines and describes in his own translated words what he believes is the proper attitude and behavior of a samurai, some of which are in direct conflict with each other. For example, Imagawa Sadayo states, "Cormorant fishing and falconing are pleasures that uselessly destroy life. They are forbidden"; he spent his last years as a monk practicing Buddhism after a long successful military career. Kato Kiyomasa, in contrast, urged his men, "If one should want diversions, he should make them such outdoor pastimes as falconing, deer hunting and wrestling"; he worked his way up as the son of a blacksmith the the second most powerful man in Japan, insisting on uncompromising toughness and even forbidding dancing under penalty of death.

This book is a good for anyone interest in Japanese culture, military matters, the samurai especially, or interesting personalities in general.