Reviews for The Code of the Warrior: Daidoji Yuzan

The average rating for The Code of the Warrior: Daidoji Yuzan based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2007-08-25 00:00:00 Clarke Dilks While the content of this book is the same as "Budo Shoshinshu" I recommended above and I prefer the other translation, this one was the first book I ran into and got me very interested to use it as the primary focus for my dissertation. I agree with the official web site of Columbia University's Bushido Page that did a review on all three translation of the same book, Budo Shoshinshu, that the version by William Scott Wilson is perhaps the most comprehensive. Why? 1) Wilson's version comes with complete introduction that reflects intensive research 2) Wilson's translation is more complete since it contains the details like the ending poem, etc., which this one omits and actually I personally believes it holds the key, and; 3) this translation "promises" that you will understand the Japanese after you read it. Well, it over-simplifies things. Wilson is more practical and realistic. More Japanese, even. He invites us to "think" and contemplate along as we read. However, you will likely find this version by Thomas Cleary on sales everywhere more than Wilson's at bookstores near you because it's a more recent translation than Wilson's. Therefore, if you're going to spend money on only *one* version of the book, don't get this one! Get Wilson's instead! Trust me, I'm doing a dissertation on *this* book! :-)

Review # 2 was written on 2010-04-11 00:00:00 Charles D. Spar In the days of the Samurai, if a warrior lived long enough to retire, they wrote what they learned down for future generations to learn from. They wrote for the youth just starting out. This is one of those books, a primer of how to act - from waking up, going thru the day, and going to sleep. In many cases these books were a kind of "gentlemans primer".