Study of Inazo Nitobe's Bushido

However, starting in 1853, American Commodore Matthew C. Perry succeeded in steaming into japanese harbors with his fleet. This show of force brought post the inevitable necessity for closer involvement with the West. Once they had do the decision to do so, the people of japan moved quick into the new(a) age. More than any some other Asian civilization, Japan was able to adapt well to Westernization. Kenneth B. Pyle speculates on the reasons:

Why did Japan alone among non-Western countries make a

rapid handing over to industrial ball club? . . . Scholars

found the answer by pointing to the unique ethnic

tradition of its leadership. The disposition of bushido--

the warrior's work out--inspired elements of the samurai

class to selfless devotion to their nation, led others

to invest . . . in the new national banks, and so

fueled Japan's industrialization (86).

Bushido defined the centering that Japanese enculturation worked. It also made possible a rapid adaptation to new viewpoints and ways of doing things. The period of the Meiji Restoration, in particular during the final decades of the nineteenth century, was marked by radical cultural reforms throughout Japanese society, with the full blessing of the emperor.

However, the character of Japan's culture remained a mystery to Westerners. To outsiders, the Japanese seemed sometimes to be an unnecessarily cruel, unemotional, and not devoutly religious people. Practices such as rite suicide and the exacting tea ceremony looked

Bushido prepared Japan for its dramatic entry into the modern industrial world in a way no other Eastern culture was prepared. The Soul of Japan, mysterious to Westerners, further was able to embrace the ways of the West. Nitobe's book freezes the moment of transition in a remarkable historical snapshot.

Next comes the tenet of veracity. Bushido dictates that an individual who tells a falsehood is considered weak and dishonorable. However, bushido recognizes different levels of equity and prizes courtesy over veracity. Being polite, in other words, is to a greater extent than acceptable than telling the strict, literal truth.

The samurai, Japan's warrior class, originally formulated bushido as a guide to ethical conduct.

The nation as a whole eventually embraced bushido principles as the ideal for behavior in all situations. According to Nitobe, bushido's roots lie in the quiet down trust in fate of Zen Buddhism, the placid public opinion of Shintoism in the inherent goodness of humanity, and the proverbs and teachings of Confucius. From this solid base, the samurai created a enactment stronger than its individual parts; Kita Ikki writes, "Though the teachings of Confucianism and Buddhism have been followed, these have been transcended" (Tsunoda 284). Nitobe emphasizes that familiarity for the sake of facts is abhorrent to the Japanese, while a thorough collar of the wisdom of Confucius is essential.

Nitobe spells out the essential elements of bushido, starting with rectitude, or justice, "the about cogent precept in the code of the samurai. Nothing is more loathesome to him that underhand dealings and crooked undertakings" (23). This is the root of all Japanese behavior. Balance and fairness form the blueprint for all other ways of acting.

the military spirit, traditional chivalry as of the old

The code of bushido explains Japan's ambivalence toward the commerce that Perry's arrival hastened. For the Japanese, money and power were a dangerous combination s
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