Introduction
‘Hagakure’ is one of the most controversial works on Bushidō dictated by Yamamoto Tsunetomo, former retainer of lord Nabeshima Mitsushige (1632–1700) to his disciple Tashiro Tsuramoto between 1709 and 1716. The title literally means “Dictations given hidden by leaves”, and the work itself is the collection of approximately 1,300 vignettes divided into 11 parts. In these, Yamamoto Tsunetomo, a.k.a. Yamamoto Jōchō in his later days, expressed his views about what it was to be the true samurai.
There are few editions of this book in print today, and the one I studied was translated by the prominent swordsman and scholar Alexander Bennett. This is the most complete of all translations and, as his other works, this one is thoroughly annotated with numerous footnotes and has extensive Introduction discussing the Hagakure phenomenon, its historical context, content and essence. Let me try to express my own view on the work as well.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo
The author of Hagakure was born in 1659 to Yamamoto Jin’uemon Shigezumi, a retainer of the Saga Domain in Hizen Province. His father was 70 years old when he was born, and the child was so weak that it was believed that he would not live past the age of 12. However, Yamamoto Tsunetomo, according to his own words, was so eager to become the loyal retainer himself, that he started to forge his own body at young age and managed to overcome illness and imperfections. Since 1667 Tsunetomo serves lord Nabeshima Mitsushige in various capacities.
The loyalty and devotion to the lord is one of the main themes of Hagakure. When Nabeshima Mitsushige died in 1700, Tsunetomo’s wish was to follow his lord and commit the act of junshi, or self-immolation. However, junshi was prohibited at that time in the Nabeshima Domain, and Tsunetomo decided instead to take the Holy Orders and become a reclusive monk by the new name Yamamoto Jōchō in a hermitage in Kurotsuchibaru. There he lived until 1719, having conversations with Tashiro Tsuramoto who had recorded what would later become Hagakure. Although Jōchō himself was against of its publication, Hagakure, nevertheless, found its way to publicity.
Context and Content
Yamamoto Tsunetomo lived in the period of peace under Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1867). This was the time when the warrior class of samurai tried to find new reason for their existence. In Tsunetomo’s opinion, his contemporaries were far inferior to the samurai of the warring past. In his words, they mostly “talk of money, about profit and loss, their household financial problems, taste in fashion, and idle chatter of sex” (1–63). Instead, he understands the reason for samurai’s existence in their honour and absolute loyalty to their lord. In that, Tsunetomo places life of the samurai below these abstract categories. This leads to one of the main controversies of Hagakure.
On Death
The main theme of Hagakure is expressed in one phrase: “The way of the warrior is to be found in dying”. This idea is difficult to accept for the normal person of our days, however it shouldn’t be viewed separate from the historical context of the 18th century Japan. The purpose of samurai’s life was viewed as ultimate service to his lord, and ‘dying’ in this context never meant to be a meaningless suicide but rather death for the sake of glory, either samurai’s himself or his lord.
This spirit was used during the World War II by the Japanese commanders who resurrected Hagakure from the obscurity to boost patriotism among soldiers and encourage them to fight until death for the sake of the ultimate Lord — the Emperor. The effect was so strong that the Japanese suicide warriors — the kamikaze — terrified enemy soldiers more that any other weapon of WWII. For that reason, the war-time edition of Hagakure (pictured) was prohibited in Japan after its surrender, and the ultimate Lord of all Japanese people — the Emperor — was forced to denounce his divine ancestry.
On Samurai Training
Yamamoto Tsunetomo argued that the main and the only training the samurai should be devoted to, was martial arts training, even in the peace time. He called that the ‘single-minded purpose’ (ichinen). Contrary to some other authors of that time, Tsunetomo considered training in non-martial practices as a waste of time. These practices include tea ceremony and various other arts like calligraphy and so forth. He argued, that more martial arts training is always better for the samurai, than less martial plus some none-martial arts training. This follows from the purpose of samurai’s life as being the best possible servant to his lord, and in this occupation martial arts are what expected from the samurai to master on the first place.
At the same time, Tsunetomo emphasised the importance of possession of good taste and manners. Samurai must always be neatly dressed and able to speak and write politely and with dignity. Needless to say, Tsunetomo discourages samurais from frivolous activities like visiting geisha houses and excessive drinking of sake.
On Relationships
Like ancient greeks, Yamamoto Tsunetomo proclaims homosexual relations as the ultimate form of love: “At a recent gathering I declared that the highest form of devotion is ‘secret love’ (shinobi-koi)” (2–2). Better still, if this love is towards the samurai’s lord, because it would strengthen the devotion to him and hence, you guess it, the willingness to die at the right moment. It is called ‘secret’ because samurai must not open his feelings to the lord who, more often than not, would be heterosexual and married on some noble woman.
Regarding other family relationships, there are very strict rules, how to tread various kind of relatives. For example, elder brother who inherits the estate, must be treater with more respect than younger brother who inherits nothing. Accordingly, elder son of the elder brother must be treated with more respect than his other sons or sons of other brothers. Regarding own children, sons are viewed as much more valuable than daughters, who, as Tsunetomo convinced, would sooner or later betray. Only the elder daughter is special, however no reason is given why. Parents and grandparents are sacred.
Conclusion
Across 1,300 vignettes Yamamoto Tsunetomo discusses much more different topics than can be given in this short overview. It is always best to read from the source rather than to read about something from the review. Hagakure is so vast and complex that any reviewer will unavoidably emphasise topics that are close to him and omit the others.
Looking from the angle of my interest, Bushidō, I found Hagakure to be heavily biased on just one aspect of it: the duty of loyalty (chūgi, see my previous reflections on ‘Bushido’ by Inazō Nitobe). Tsunetomo’s motto is given in the preface titled ‘Idle Talk in the Dead of Night’.
I will never fall behind others in pursuing the Way of the warrior.
I will always be ready to serve my lord.
I will honor my parents.
I will serve compassionately for the benefit of others.
The last phrase also hints on another virtue of Bushidō: benevolence (jin). However, there is little about it in the main text.
Nevertheless, Hagakure has its place among the famous works on Bushidō. It tells us a lot about samurai culture of the 18th century and the ideals that some of them promoted, and many followed. However, the one should always keep in mind the context and never study the content separate from it.
