Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

If one had to choose a single text to be stranded on an island with, then you could find no better work than this. The more I read this book the higher up my 'ranking' it goes, to the point where it has toppled Mencius:Mencius (D.C.Lau translation) of the top spot and pushed Confucius:The Analects (D.C.Lau translation) into third place. Congratulations HA GA KU RE!
I appreciate that the title 'The Book of the Samurai' is fairly cheesy, and riding on the back of Tom's 'Last Samurai' (a highly admirable film, incidentally) one is inclined to feel that there is some wobbly 'Samurai Bandwagon' rolling into town and the party had best be avoided, but not so. HA GA KU RE (hidden by the leaves) is a work of immense beauty and wisdom, a rare breed indeed. A book penned around 1700 that is as relevant to your life today as any 'healing' or 'self-help' book will ever be, only MORE so. What HA GA KU RE truly delivers is not hippy-dippy fake compassion and moral guidance based upon the lowest common denominator. What it offers is a 6 O'clock roll call awoken by a cold shower and a mirror shoved in your sleepy face so that you can see yourself all puffed up in the morning and your hair standing on end. You are NOT beautiful, you simply ARE.
Page after page this book is filled to the brim with startlingly obvious and brilliantly simple maxims, ideas, quotations and distilled wisdom that will offer a torch-light to anyone out their who is lost and looking to get back to the Way. The truth be told, whether you approach this book from a Bushido perspective, a historical perspective, a Zen perspective or a Cha No Yuu perspective, your cannot help but feel honoured to be reading such an insightful text. And whichever is your chosen Way one thing is sure, it will bring together a number of other areas of your life, or your interest in things Japanese, polish them all up and give them a whole new lease of life.

N.B. I think that due credit must be given to William Scott Wilson for his perfect translation

'Zen Flesh, Zen bones' for those with a dark side ! (12/19 people found this helpful)

Buy the 2000/2001 reprint edition of the paperback as it has
included the illustrations and calligraphy, etc that are in the
hardback version. The cover is very slightly different too, the
Samurai symbol is bigger and nearer the bottom of the cover.

Anyway, I really like this book. If you like pearls of Oriental
wisdom buy this, if it's too disturbing, buy Zen flesh, Zen bones!

You can pick up Hagakure for ten seconds at any time and read a
two or three line segment which might shock you, make you laugh
or even give you one of those 'enlightened/profound' feelings.

Some nice quotes, but generally just wacky. (24/33 people found this helpful)

Anyone interested in Japanese feudalism and the arts
risen from it, not to mention WWII should read this
book, or at least read it on-line as it's available
in it's entirety on several sites.
Those who have seen the film Ghost Dog will have already
'read' the best quotes from the book, as there are some
delightfully quirky quotes in there.
Personally what I find most distasteful about hagakure
is that it is negatively Confucian. The Samurai's be all
and end-all is to serve and die. Not so glamorous !
Also an over-obsession with ritual suicide throughout.
Remember the author was a retired member of the Samurai
class, not a warrior. His only killings were performing
executions. This book is a lament about the decline of
true Bushido (from the author's perspective), and hence
it is a book that was used to foster self sacrifice during
WWII. Also interesting is the mentions of Shodo: initiation
into male homosexuality which most samurai practiced, and
is conveniently glossed over by the macho 'martial' folks.
All in all recommended as the most 'different' Samurai book.

Face death with dignity (14/15 people found this helpful)

The beauty of this book is the fact that it can be picked up and opened at any page and you will find a paragraph or event that will captivate you and urge you to read on, discovering an insight to the bottled up world of feudal Japan, from the sacred code of the Samuari to the work of an ordinary peasent.

As you make your way through the book you can easily relate some of the events to your own everyday encounters with the world (with exempt to cutting down passers by over seemingly minor reasons), this is a book that dosent try to educate or be something its not but is naturally bursting with politeness and touching to read.

This book has great meaning to me as it helped my way of thinking. Do not hesitate buy this book, you wont regret it.

One of my favourite books (23/24 people found this helpful)

Despite being written 300 years ago in Japan, this book contains so much wisdom and insight that can be successfully applied to modern life. It is very easy to read because it is made up of short passages usually only a paragraph long, so it is excellent to read a few pages at a time for a little inspiration. The stories are sometimes funny, and frequently confusing and illogical to the western mind which makes it a great read. This book is a great insight into the philosophy and mindset of the samurai. I would recommend it to anyone, and it makes a great gift.

Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Reader Reviews:

Ignore the cheesy title... (28/40 people found this helpful)

'Zen Flesh, Zen bones' for those with a dark side ! (12/19 people found this helpful)

Some nice quotes, but generally just wacky. (24/33 people found this helpful)

Face death with dignity (14/15 people found this helpful)

One of my favourite books (23/24 people found this helpful)

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