A review by zaisgraph
The Way of the Samurai by Inazō Nitobe

challenging dark informative slow-paced

4.0

Wow, so this book was written before World War 2. In many ways, this is beautiful and tragic at the same time. One of the main teachings here is to follow the leader (representative of heaven) or unalive yourself if you disagree. This is rather extreme, buttttt many things here are. Some do not make sense to me but are rather pretty like removing your hat or folding up your umbrella when you can't share em with your companion to join in their sacrifice of getting toasted by the sun. I also enjoyed the gift giving stuff. I mean this book is a must read if you enjoy Japanese fiction. You'll get loads of context!! It is quite obvious that the echoes of Bushido are still present in Japan. Given the decline of the country (with xenophobia, racism , disappearing work force etc) I totally see it as a hindrance. Mr. Nitobe compiled very compelling stuff and gave plenty of examples to show how the practices are not so different from Western philosophical/religious stuff. Also that these things festered because of Japan's isolation and late disbandment of feudalism. 4 stars.

Forgot to add that there's a couple of very graphic scenes of suicide here. Might be difficult to read for some.