Asian Studies

The Hagakure and Musuis Story are (at least) two related literature that talks about the Samurai.  The Hagakure was written sometime around the beginning of the 18th century by a retainer of the Nabeshima clan, Yamamoto Tsunetomo in collaboration with another samurai by the name of Tsuramoto Tashiro while Musuis Story was wrtitten around the 19th century by Kokichi Katsu, a samurai living around that century.  From these accounts, it can be surmised that the samurai had to adapt to the changing times as the period the authors lived in, the Tokugawa period, was a time of peace and stability and therefore, it was essential to make adjustments lest they become an anachronism in the years to come.

The samurai was an individual who essentially belonged to a distinct class (bushi) during Japans feudal period.  As a social class, they were the most powerful and this was demonstrated when they united the country though at times they were also the ones who tried to tear it apart as rival lords (daimyo) sought to gain power until the Tokugawa clan finally prevailed and brought permanent unity in Japan.  At closer glance, a samurai was not a mere occupation, it was a way of life to those who professed it.  What makes a samurai different was that he possessed a special kind of attitude that others in the different classes could not emulate and this was what made the samurai truly elite, next to the feudal lords and even the emperor himself.

The Hagakure was essentially a chronicle of the wars fought during the time but it was also more of a treatise or an admonition to Yamamotos contemporaries on how they should conduct themselves as samurai whether on the field of battle of outside of it.  What one may find peculiar about this work was that Yamamoto lived in a time when there were no more major battles fought nor were there any opportunities for him to live up to the ways   of the warrior one might expect, which was fighting.  Yet as a retainer, there were still samurai traits Yamamoto adhered to and applied in his duty as retainer to his lord.  From the first chapter, Yamamoto promptly emphasized that the way of the samurai is the way of death. This is something straight out of the code all samurai adhered to   the Bushido, or Way of the Warrior, something which Yamamoto was well versed in and knew by heart.  Yamamoto stressed the need to adhere to the code even though it may sound morbid from the point he made that  the way of the samurai is found in death (17).   By keeping this (death) in mind at all times, this would enabled one to perform ones duties with ease as well as live a healthy and lasting life, not to mention improve ones character.  For the samurai, fighting was an avocation and the idea of death was something they had to expect and accept because it happens.  By conditioning themselves to accept death, it would enable them to be effective and proficient in what they did but best of all, it took away fear in the heat of battle.  Furthermore, Yamamoto also emphasized that the samurai must be loyal to his lord at all times.  A samurai must serve his lord without any question and without hesitation for to do so leaves room for doubt and manifests a lack of faith which would be unbecoming of a samurai and make one lose the edge.  Furthermore, to waver in ones commitment or follow commands would be a sign of cowardice (20-23).

If one were to look at Katsus life in Musuis Story, this was a complete opposite of the things Yamamoto mentioned earlier from the way he lived his life. In his autobiography, Katsu was making confession that he did not adhere strictly to the samurai ways.  He indulged in just about every known vice and his favorite was frequenting the pleasure quarters at Yoshiwara where he would indulge in drinking binges and the company of hostesses who would provide men pleasure they would not get from their wives.  He liked it so much that he would steal money to keep going there (44-46).  From here, one might think Katsu never was a samurai because of his behavior.  But he was not the only one to appear to be committing transgressions.  In one instance, he narrated how he was into the business of buying and selling swords.  This was very unusual for a samurai since the sword (katana) was regarded as something sacred to them and more precious than their own lives.  They would not let others touch their sword, let alone their scabbard lest they incur the wrath of the aggrieved samurai and be challenged to a duel nor would they allow themselves to be separated from their weapon except in death.  This is because to a samurai, his sword is the embodiment of his soul and it is more than just a weapon or an accessory in his person.  Typically, a samurai would get a sword from a swordsmith, not a merchant or from another samurai who sells his sword rather than pass it on (96-97).

In another account, he related how he attended a fencing competition where the proper rules of etiquette in the past were no longer observed such as the master and student sitting together in the same room and where a visiting master would be received and attended by students of a host school and formally welcomed upon arriving. In Katsus words,  Nowadays, anything goes (98).  One impression people know about of the samurai is that they were highly disciplined individuals adhering to the code of Bushido.  Loyal to their lords, fearless in battle and value honor more than their own life that defined how they should live and Katsus revelation and admission would give one a shock because this is something no one expects from a samurai.

One must be wondering why would the samurai appear to be turning decadent around the 19th century when ones impression of the samurai would be an elite class in society and when one would define elite, these are members of a society with a special attitude that made them stand above the rest.  The samurai by the start of the Tokugawa era were hardly the same kind of samurai before the rise of the Tokugawas.  It may appear that while the Tokugawa shogunate may have brought unity to Japan, it appeared to have an adverse effect on the way of life of the samurai.  The unification of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate brought in peace after centuries of constant fighting between lords for supremacy.

With peace and order brought in, one may wonder what would become of the samurai whose way of life was dedicated to fighting and dying for their lord.  This was the effect peace brought to the samurai.  They no longer had wars to fight because it was normally through wars that would provide them the opportunity to apply the code of Bushido.  The challenge now for the seemingly disenfranchised samurai was what could they do when there were no more wars to fight.  For some, if not most, it made the samurai contemptuous towards those outside their caste.  Where he would profess loyalty and commitment to his lords, he would show contempt and arrogance to the lower classes and regard their lives as nothing.  The laws of the Tokugawas made the samurai a virtual law enforcer where he would be free to kill any commoner who would show disrespect to them.  In trying to understand why they behave this way, it could be surmised that the samurai was exposed to an elaborate unwritten code of formalities where his ability to act freely was limited (cited in Westbrook and Ratti, 1973, pp.95-96).

Others would be disenfranchised and would become ronin, a samurai without a lord to serve, traveling the length and breadth of Japan, looking for fights to enhance ones skills or learn or offer services to people who needed protection.  Katsus case fell close to this although he was not a ronin.  He was very low in the ranks and it was unfortunate that there were no opportunities for him to rise up as there were no wars.  In order for him to survive, he had to indulge in illegal businesses which normally would bring dishonor to him and his family but this was not the case.  As for Yamamoto, upon retirement, he became a Buddhist monk and it was from here that he decided to write down Hagakure.  It can be inferred that he may have noticed the changes going on in Japan and was afraid that the samurai might lose their relevance or decline to the point they might fade away into obscurity and be forgotten.  The Hagakure served to remind those who still held on to the samurai tradition to remain faithful to the code of Bushido despite the changing times.  By the time Japan reopened its doors to the west in the middle of the 19th century and embraced modernization, the samurai class did not exactly become extinct, but survived as several families were able to adapt and took on new roles in the new Japanese society.

In conclusion, it can be surmised that the samurai had to change in order to adapt to the changing times.  To stubbornly hold on to their ways would make them an anachronism or in the case of Katsu,  rot.   There were some warrior clans who did try to adapt to the changing times.  In the absence of war, it was the development of the martial spirit through martial arts that appeared as one of the solutions for the samurai to adapt. Notable samurai families opened up school and taught their distinct brand of fighting.  This enabled these samurai families to survive the reopening of Japan and its eventual modernization.  The Satsuma revolt of 1867 also provided evidence on what the consequences were had they not embraced change.  Although the samurai class no longer existed, their legacy lives on, not only in the schools of martial arts, but a part of them still live on in the Japanese psyche which is stoicism and loyalty.  This is probably the only trace of what is left of the samurai class in Japan.