The Last Warrior

Samurai Culture

Samurai Philosophy

The ideal samurai were expected to lead austere, disciplined lives, dedicated to their lords and the perfection of the martial arts and their character. They were expected to be capable of bringing the same finesse to the tea ceremony, calligraphy, and poetry as they would to the removal of an enemy's head in battle. They gave complete loyalty to their daimyo (feudal landlord) in his private army, and received land, position, status, and money in return.

Precepts of the Samurai (samurai no kokoroe), a modern variation on a historical philosophy:

Glossary of Terms

bushido - the way of the warrior; completely philosophy about an upright, honorable way of life; a way of life considered long, sttep, full of numerous difficulties, travelled as a means of self-cultivation and leading ultimately to self perfection

fudoshin - immovable mind, calm spirit - major goal of samurai; mental state that enables a man to meet any situation with composure

giri - duty and honor

daimyo - feudal lord, landowner, position of power second only to the shogun

shogun - member of the samurai class, who through war, political intrigue, and/or inheritance, has risen himself to a position of military ruling power over all of Japan, second only to the Emperor (who holds that position by "divine" right). The period of reign of that particular military ruler and his decendants is referred to as a "shogunate".

ronin - samurai who owes loyalty to no superior, who has lost the lord to which he has sworn fielty, typically by the death of that lord; a ronin had more freedom and the right to express his opinions compared to one in service to a daimyo; basically an unemployed samurai without a source of protection or income

Hakama - divide skirt-pants worn by samurai

zanshin - ability of the samurai to sense danger, trained into him from his youth by teachers that would sneak up on him until his senses were acutely developed

Saigo made eizoku suru - persist to the end

Ki - spirit, energy, inner strength

Ki ken tai ichi - spirit, sword, body as one

seppuku - ritualistic suicide - honorable death, preferable to allowing the samurai to be shamed by being taken prisoner and beheaded by his enemies

seishin tanren - hard spiritual training in martial arts

satsujen no ken - the sword that kills

katsujin no ken - the sword that gives life

Samurai Warrior

Meijin, or Master

Philosophy: Learning and knowledge are meant to be forgotten. However well a man may be trained in the art of iaijutsu or kenjutsu, the swordsman can never be the master of his technical knowledge unless all his psychical hindrances are removed and he can keep his mind in a state of emptiness (mu), purged even of technique. The entire body should then be capable of displaying for the first time, and to its full extent, all the art acquired by the training of several years. The body will move automatically, with no conscious effort on the part of the swordsman himself. When this level is realized, with all the training thrown to the winds, with a mind perfectly unaware of its own workings, the art of swordsmanship attains its perfection and one who achieves it is called a meijin (master).

The meijin is a technician whose ability goes far beyond that of simple physical expertise. His essence is a spiritual one. He is a living example of an ordered, disciplined life. He continues to make great demands on himself and never omits daily training. He is recognized by the aura of tranquility that surrounds him. He possesses fudoshin, or "immovable mind," a mental state that enables him to meet any situation with composure.

Death Before Dishonor

Death for the samurai was not something to be feared. As warriors, they devoted themselves to fighting, and when death came it was expected that they face it with courage and strength. Rather than allow himself to be shamed by being taken prisoner and beheaded by his enemies, the tradition arose among the samurai of disembowelling himself with his own sword. Known as seppuku -- a more dignified form of the expression "hara-kiri" or "cutting of the belly", the practice was used to prevent the humiliation of capture by an enemy, to perform the act of kanshi (a form of remonstration to a superior), or to carry out a death sentence imposed by the authorities.

Seppuku could only be performed correctly by a man of great courage, thereby distinguishing the man as a member of the military elite. The stomach, or hara, is thought by the Japanese as the physical and spiritual center of the body, thus the natural place to cut to cause death. To avoid prolonging the man's pain, he was aided by another known as a kaishaku, whose role was to behead the performer as the act was completed, or if it seemed that the performer's courage might falter at a critical moment. The kaishaku had to be a skilled swordsman, for he was expected to not sever the neck completely, but to leave the head attached to the body by an uncut section beneath the chin so the performer's death would be distinguished from an ordinary execution. The doomed man inserting a dagger into his stomach with both hands, then drew it across from left to right, before finally twisting the knife at the other side and drawing it up to the solar plexus by following the lower rib. This done, he withdrew the dagger, laid it down, then bent forward for his head to be cut off. Not a sound is to be heard from the man, as a reflection of honor and courage, or anyone else at the ceremony, out of respect.

In 1968, a seppuku ceremony was witnessed by Lord Redesdale, a British diplomat in Japan. In his memoirs, "Tales of Old Japan," Lord Redesdale gives a detailed account of the incident:

"Slowly, and with great dignity, the condemned man mounted on to the raised floor, prostrated himself before the high alter twice, and seated himself before the felt carpet with his back to the high altar, the kaishaku crouching on his left-hand side. One of the three attendant officers then came forward, bearing a stand...on which lay the dirk. This he handed to the condemned man, who received it reverently, raising it to his head with both hands, and placed it in front of himself. The condemned man allowed his upper garments to slip down to his girdle and remained naked to the waist. Carefully, according to custom, he tucked his sleeves under his knees to prevent himself from falling backwards, for a noble Japanese gentleman should die falling forwards. Deliberately, with a steady hand, he took the dirk that lay before him; he looked at it wistfully, almost affectionately; for a moment he seemed to collect his thoughts for the last time, and then, stabbing himself deeply below the waist on the left-hand side, he drew the dirk slowly across to the right side, and, turning it in the wound, gave a slight cut upwards.

"During this sickeningly painful operation, he never moved a muscle of his face. When he drew out the dirk, he leaned forward and stretched out his neck; an expression of pain for the first time crossed his face, but he uttered no sound. At that moment, the kaishaku, who had been keenly watching his every movement, sprang to his feet, poised his sword for a second in the air; there was a flash, a heavy, ugly thud, a crashing fall; with one blow the head had been severed from the condemned man's body. A silence followed, broken only by the hideous noise of the blood throbbing out of the inert heap before us, which but a moment before had been a brave and chivalrous man."

The End of the Samurai

The beginning of the end came in 1867, when the last shogunate fell and a new government was formed under the emperor. Thus began the Meiji era. The Emperor's "Five Articles Oath" in 1868 began dismantling the samurai as an entire class. The day of the samurai, their swords, and their privileges as nobles came to an end when the emperor took away their right and historical prerogative of wearing swords. Henceforth the right to carry a sword was restricted to policemen and soldiers. This was a calamity for the samurai, not only taking away their source of identity and pride, but cutting off their livelihood as a military class. Widespread povety resulted.

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