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{{Short description|Moral code of the samurai}}
{{Italic title|reason=[[:Category:Japanese words and phrases]]}}
{{About|the Japanese concept of chivalry}}
{{pp-pc}}
{{Lead too short|date=January 2025}}
[[File:Koboto Santaro, a Japanese military commander Wellcome V0037661.jpg|thumb|A samurai in [[Japanese armour|his armor]] in the 1860s. [[Hand-colouring of photographs|Hand-colored photograph]] by [[Felice Beato]]]]

{{nihongo|'''''Bushidō'''''|[[wiktionary:武士道|武士道]]||{{IPA|ja|bɯ.ɕiꜜ.doː}}<ref>{{cite book|script-title=ja:NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典|publisher=NHK Publishing|editor=NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute|date=24 May 2016|language=ja}}</ref>}} is a purported  [[samurai]] [[moral code]] concerning samurai attitudes, behavior and lifestyle.<ref name="nippon-bushido">{{cite web |author=Kasaya Kazuhiko |date=June 12, 2019 |title=Bushidō: An Ethical and Spiritual Foundation in Japan |url=https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g00665/bushido-an-ethical-and-spiritual-foundation-in-japan.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191108042249/https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g00665/bushido-an-ethical-and-spiritual-foundation-in-japan.html |archive-date=8 November 2019 |website=Nippon.com}}</ref><ref name="cleary"/><ref name="jisho-bushido">{{Cite web|url=https://jisho.org/word/武士道|title=Jisho.org|access-date=2020-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327193435/https://jisho.org/word/%E6%AD%A6%E5%A3%AB%E9%81%93|archive-date=2018-03-27|url-status=live}}</ref> Its origins date back to the [[Kamakura period]], but it was formalized in the [[Edo period]] (1603–1868). There are multiple types of bushido which evolved significantly through history.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/><ref name="cleary"/><ref name="shoshinshu"/> Contemporary forms of bushido are still used in the social and economic organization of Japan.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> ''Bushido'' is also used as an overarching term for all the codes, practices, philosophies and principles of samurai culture.<ref name="thecollector"/><ref name="pambianchi"/><ref name="newman"/> It is loosely analogous to the [[Europe]]an concept of [[chivalry]], but with some major differences.<ref name="bushido-soul">{{Cite book |last=Nitobe |first=Inazō |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12096 |title=Bushido, The Soul of Japan |publisher=Kodansha International |year=2010 |isbn=9784770050113 |page=81 |author-link=Nitobe Inazō}}</ref><ref name="thecollector"/>

== Origin ==
The concept of a samurai code or codes was developed and refined centuries before the Edo period in the Kamakura period.<ref name=":0" /> Such ideas formalized earlier moral values and ethics, most commonly stressing a combination of sincerity, frugality, loyalty, [[martial arts]] mastery, honour until death,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2023-02-14 |title=Bushido |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bushido |access-date=2023-03-04 |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref> "bravery", and "loyalty to the samurai's lord."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Pearson |first1=Patricia O'Connell |title=World History: Our Human Story |last2=Holdren |first2=John |date=May 2021 |publisher=Sheridan Kentucky |isbn=978-1-60153-123-0 |location=Versailles, Kentucky |pages=296}}</ref> Bushido proper developed between the 16th and 20th centuries, but this was debated by pundits who believed they were building on a legacy dating back to the 10th century.

The term bushido itself is "rarely attested in pre-modern literature",<ref>"The Zen of Japanese Nationalism", by Robert H. Sharf, in ''Curators of the Buddha'', edited by Donald Lopez, p. 111</ref> but a code of honor did exist among the writing elite and [[historian]]s who were generally disgusted enough at the dishonorable activity of some fighters such as [[Ninja|shinobi]] as to rarely mention them.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Grabianowski |first=Ed |date=2004-04-14 |title=The Origins of Espionage |url=https://people.howstuffworks.com/ninja1.htm |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=[[HowStuffWorks]] |language=en-us}}</ref> Ideas of honor that led to bushido developed in response to the longstanding dishonorable behavior of samurai,<ref name=":63">{{Cite web |last=Mancini |first=Mark |date=2020-02-11 |title=What's the Difference Between a Samurai and a Ninja? |url=https://people.howstuffworks.com/ninja-samurai-difference.htm |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=[[HowStuffWorks]] |language=en-us}}</ref> emerging stealth and espionage techniques,<ref name=":6" /> and Zen Buddhist [[soldier]] tenets.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Clements |first=Jonathan |title=A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shogun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun |publisher=[[Tuttle Publishing]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-4-8053-1389-3 |location=North Clarendon, Vermont |pages=107, 109}}</ref>

The relative peace in Japan during the [[Kamakura period]] favored ideas of honor in battle, expressed in customs such as announcing one's family name and/or lineages before fighting, attempting to limit fights among warrior nobles to horseback archery or sword<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crothers |first=Wayne |date=2014-07-01 |title=Bushido: Way of the Samurai |url=https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/bushido-way-of-the-samurai/ |access-date=2024-04-18 |publisher=[[National Gallery of Victoria]] |language=en-AU |publication-place=Melbourne}}</ref> duels<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bender |first=Mark |title=Part 1: Introduction |url=http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/bender4/eall131/EAHReadings/module02/m02japanese.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205070151/http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/bender4/eall131/EAHReadings/module02/m02japanese.html |archive-date=2013-12-05 |publisher=[[Ohio State University]]}}</ref> with no subterfuge or trickery, and conducting oneself like a legendary character or renowned hero (tales of daring were popular in the Kamakura period<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |date=1998-07-20 |title=Kamakura period |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Kamakura-period |access-date=2023-05-22 |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref>).<ref name=":322" /><ref name=":44">{{Cite book |last=Clements |first=Jonathan |title=A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shogun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun |publisher=[[Tuttle Publishing]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-4-8053-1389-3 |location=North Clarendon, Vermont |pages=16, 97–100, 102–103}}</ref> Pre-bushido honor codes during this time were also contributed to by commoners, who sometimes took on similar roles to samurai<ref name=":63" /> and often used their family names as introductions to fighting despite not being noble.<ref name=":44" /> However, even during the relatively small family and land quarrels of this time, as well as duels thought to be honorable, warriors often disregarded these norms of combat and the announcement of family names or lineages was mostly a way to brag and assert a right to fight and/or gain whatever a faction was looking for after a fight.<ref name=":322" /><ref name=":44" /> Outright bragging was also known to happen.<ref name=":6" /> These already tenuous codes of honor were weakened when the Japanese, expecting the invading Mongols to be laid-back with their combat, humiliatingly sent an [[Envoy (title)|envoy]] that fired a [[noisemaker]] arrow to officially commence the start of what the Japanese assumed would be a series of small duels and skirmishes.<ref name=":44" /> Additionally, Mongols usually cut swathes through soldiers that attempted to announce their lineages before facing them.<ref name=":322" /> Despite ultimately winning against the Mongols, these honor norms, along with the [[shogun]]ate, were weakened enough to cause endemic division that led to the end of the Kamakura period and the court wars of the [[Nanboku-chō period]].

Born from [[Edo neo-Confucianism|Neo-Confucianism]] during times of peace in the Edo period and following Confucian texts, while also being influenced by [[Shinto]] and [[Japanese Zen|Zen Buddhism]], it balanced violence with the [[Therapy|therapeutic]] ideals of wisdom and peace accepted at the time. It was developed further during the [[Muromachi period]] (1336–1573) and formally defined and applied in law by [[Tokugawa shogunate]]s in the Edo period.<ref name="EnciclopediaTreccani" />

There is no strict definition, and interpretations of the code have varied over time.<ref name="samurai-spirit" /> Bushido has undergone many changes throughout Japanese history, and various Japanese clans interpreted it in their own way until the 19th century, enough for it to be most often a series of unwritten oral expectations that could be described as different codes, with further variations likely existing in the same warrior noble house, rather than a single code.<ref name=":62">{{Cite web |last1=Grabianowski |first1=Ed |last2=Pollette |first2=Chris |date=2022-06-10 |title=How Samurai Work |url=https://people.howstuffworks.com/samurai.htm |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=[[HowStuffWorks]] |language=en-us}}</ref>

One of the earliest known usages of bushido is in the extremely influential<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wert |first=Michael |date=2014-11-01 |title='The Military Mirror of Kai': Swordsmanship and a Medieval Text in Early Modern Japan |url=https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1180&context=hist_fac |website=Raynor Memorial Libraries |publisher=[[Marquette University]] |pages=407, 409}}</ref> late 16th century text ''The Military Mirror of Kai'', where it was used to describe unwritten rules in a complex metaphorical way that commoners could purportedly not live up to.<ref name=":322">{{Cite book |last=Wert |first=Michael |title=Samurai: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-068510-2 |location=Oxford |publication-date=2021-02-01 |pages=16, 35, 36–37, 84 |language=en-GB |oclc=1202732830}}</ref>

Another early use of the written term is in the [[Kōyō Gunkan]] in 1616 by [[Kōsaka Masanobu]]. In 1685, the [[ukiyo-e]] book {{nihongo|''Kokon Bushidō ezukushi''|古今武士道絵つくし|"Images of Bushidō Through the Ages"}} by artist [[Hishikawa Moronobu]] included the term and artwork of samurai with simple descriptions meant for children.<ref name="nippon-bushido" /> In 1642, the {{nihongo|''Kashoki''|可笑記|"Amusing Notes"}} was written by samurai Saito Chikamori and included moral precepts which explained the theoretical aspects of bushido.<ref name="nippon-bushido" /><ref name="showa-women-uni" /> It was written with accessible [[kana]] and intended for commoners, not warriors.<ref name="nippon-bushido" /> It was very popular, demonstrating that the idea of bushido had spread among the population.<ref name="nippon-bushido" /> The Kashoki shows that moral values were present in bushido by 1642.<ref name="nippon-bushido" />{{Explain|date=March 2023}}

The term, bushido, came into common international usage with the 1899 publication of [[Nitobe Inazō]]'s ''[[Bushido: The Soul of Japan]]'' which was read by many influential western people.<ref name="Frost2010">{{cite book|author=Dennis J. Frost|title=Seeing Stars: Sports Celebrity, Identity, and Body Culture in Modern Japan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tWWlxcyzCPYC&pg=PA53|year=2010|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-05610-7|pages=53–54}}</ref> In ''Bushido'' (1899), Nitobe wrote:

<blockquote>Bushidō, then, is the code of moral principles which the [[samurai]] were required or instructed to observe...More frequently it is a code unuttered and unwritten...It was an organic growth of decades and centuries of military career. In order to become a samurai this code has to be mastered.<ref name="bushido-soul" /></blockquote>

In ''Feudal and Modern Japan'' (1896), historian Arthur May Knapp wrote:

<blockquote>The samurai of thirty years ago had behind him a thousand years of training in the law of honor, obedience, duty, and self-sacrifice&nbsp;... It was not needed to create or establish them. As a child he had but to be instructed, as indeed he was from his earliest years, in the etiquette of [[self-immolation]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/feudalmodernjapa01knapuoft/page/66/mode/2up |title=Feudal and Modern Japan |author=Arthur May Knapp |page=66 |year=1896 |access-date=2024-04-22 }}</ref></blockquote>

== Etymology ==
[[File:Bushido.jpg|thumb|upright=.5|Bushidō – The Way of the Warrior. Written in Japanese [[kanji]].]]
{{nihongo||[[wikt:武士道#Japanese|武士道]]|Bushidō}} is a Japanese word that literally means 'warrior way'.  It is first attested in the 1616 work {{nihongo||甲陽軍鑑|[[Kōyō Gunkan]]}}, a military chronicle recording the exploits of the [[Takeda clan]].<ref name="KDJ"><span class="book">'''1988''', <cite>{{lang|ja|国語大辞典（新装版）}} (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition)</cite> (in Japanese), [[w:Tōkyō|Tōkyō]]: [[w:Shogakukan|Shogakukan]]</span></ref>  The term is a compound of {{nihongo||[[wikt:武士#Japanese|武士]]|bushi|extra='warrior', literally 'military + man'}}, a Chinese-derived word first attested in Japanese in 712 with the [[Kanji#On'yomi (Sino-Japanese reading)|''on'yomi'']] (Sino-Japanese reading), and {{nihongo||[[wikt:道#Japanese|道]]|dō|extra='road, way'}}.<ref name="KDJ"/><ref name="DJS"><span class="book">'''1995''', <cite>{{lang|ja|大辞泉}} (''[[w:Daijisen|Daijisen]]'')</cite> (in Japanese), [[w:Tōkyō|Tōkyō]]: [[w:Shogakukan|Shogakukan]], {{ISBN|4-09-501211-0}}</span></ref><ref name="DJR"><span class="book">'''2006''', <cite>{{lang|ja|大辞林}} (''[[w:Daijirin|Daijirin]]'')</cite>, Third Edition (in Japanese), [[w:Tōkyō|Tōkyō]]: [[w:Sanseidō|Sanseidō]], {{ISBN|4-385-13905-9}}</span></ref>  In modern usage, ''bushi'' is often used as a synonym for ''samurai'';<ref name="KDJ"/><ref name="DJS"/><ref name="DJR"/> however, historical sources make it clear that ''bushi'' and ''samurai'' were distinct concepts, with the former referring to [[soldier]]s or [[warrior]]s and the latter referring instead to a kind of hereditary [[nobility]].<ref>'''1603''', ''[[Nippo Jisho]]'' ("Japanese-Portuguese Dictionary").  [https://books.google.com/books?id=TFJAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA214 Entry for ''saburai''], the then-current pronunciation of modern ''samurai''.  Accessed 2022-06-06.</ref><ref>'''1603''', ''[[Nippo Jisho]]'' ("Japanese-Portuguese Dictionary").  [https://books.google.com/books?id=TFJAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA28 Entry for ''buxi''], the then-current romanization of modern ''bushi''.  Accessed 2022-06-06.</ref>

In the early 17th century, the term {{nihongo||武士道|bushidō}} with its ''on'yomi'' reading was used alongside the synonymous alternative form {{nihongo||武士の道}}, read using native Japanese vocabulary ([[Kanji#Kun'yomi (native reading)|''kun'yomi'']]) as ''mono no fu no michi''.<ref name="KDJ"/><ref name="DJS"/> Another important term is {{nihongo||武士気質|bushi katagi|extra=literally 'warrior temperament'}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://jisho.org/word/武士気質 |website=Jissho.org |title=Samurai Spirit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129122754/https://jisho.org/word/%E6%AD%A6%E5%A3%AB%E6%B0%97%E8%B3%AA |archive-date=January 29, 2018 |access-date=June 14, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Usage ==
For centuries, the samurai adhered to multiple types of the code of which the interpretations varied per samurai clan and per member of the military nobility.<ref name="thecollector"/><ref name="nippon-bushido"/><ref name="cleary"/> This encompassed morality, their role in society, and how to live a life with honor and virtue. The samurai had some common values, but they did not have a single definition or path that all samurai were required to abide. The samurai were as practical on the battlefield as any other warriors.<ref>[[David "Race" Bannon]], "The Dawn of the Samurai: Warrior Legends in Japanese History", Asian Pacific Quarterly, Vol 26, No 2 (1994): 38–47.</ref> These concepts, codes and ideals were ingrained in the samurai since they rose to power in the [[Kamakura period]] (1185–1333).<ref name="kawakami"/><ref name="heilbrunn"/><ref name="EnciclopediaTreccani"/> At certain eras, there were prevalent rules and unwritten customs such as the "Way of the Bow and the Horse" (弓馬の道, kyūba no michi) since the 12th century and, in the [[Edo period]], the code of the samurai was formalized with specific virtues and laws by the ruling [[Tokugawa Shogunate]].<ref name="nippon-bushido" /> Notable samurai, such as [[Miyamoto Musashi]] (1584–1645) and [[Yamamoto Tsunetomo]] (1659–1719).,<ref name="musashi-five-rings"/> wrote extensively about their interpretations of bushido. In the 1870s, the [[Meiji restoration]] abolished the samurai class and they were transferred to professional, military and business classes.<ref>{{cite journal| author=Harry D. Harootunian |title=The Economic Rehabilitation of the Samurai in the Early Meiji Period |journal= Journal of Asian Studies |date=19 April 1960 |pages=433–444 |doi=10.2307/2943582|volume= 19|issue=4|jstor=2943582 |s2cid=154948569 |url=http://www.bakumatsu.ru/lib/The_Economic_Rehabilitation_of_the_Samurai_in_the_Early_Meiji_Period.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118062121/http://www.bakumatsu.ru/lib/The_Economic_Rehabilitation_of_the_Samurai_in_the_Early_Meiji_Period.pdf |archive-date=November 18, 2017}}</ref> However, the former samurai and their descendants continued to be influential in Japanese society because they occupied important positions. Bushido has continued to exist in various types. Additional concepts and ideas were added to bushido so that it could evolve with the times. It was used in the [[Armed Forces of the Empire of Japan]] and symbolically by the successor [[Japan Self-Defense Forces]]. In the [[Taisho]] period, bushido was advocated as the way of the merchant.<ref name="Odagiri & Goto"/> It can be dormant for years and revived during geopolitical instability. Centuries of rule by the samurai class has left a deep impact on Japanese society. Thus various forms are still used today in e.g. Japanese culture, business, martial arts and communication.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/><ref name="teng-hui"/><ref name="communication 301"/><ref name="samurai-spirit"/><ref name="BunrakuMTV"/>

===Myth and reality===
Bushido is often described as a specific moral code that all members of the [[samurai]] class were obligated to follow. However, historically, the samurai adhered to multiple warrior codes and the interpretations varied per samurai clan, individuals and eras.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/><ref name="cleary"/><ref name="shoshinshu"/><ref name="ikegami"/><ref name="thecollector"/> These codes and philosophies changed dramatically during the different eras. The earliest proto-bushido type existed since the [[Kamakura period]] (1185).<ref name="kawakami"/><ref name="heilbrunn"/><ref name="EnciclopediaTreccani"/> The degrees of devotion and interpretations varied between individuals.<ref name="thecollector">{{cite web |title=Bushido: The Samurai Code of Honor |date=January 27, 2022 |author=Michael Smathers |url=https://www.thecollector.com/bushido-code-samurai-warriors/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429000217/https://www.thecollector.com/bushido-code-samurai-warriors/ |archive-date=April 29, 2022}}</ref> Since at least the [[Sengoku period]], samurai didn't have compunction to use certain weapons.<ref name="thecollector"/> Retreating from battles did occur if it was unwinnable while others chose to fight till the end.<ref name="thecollector"/> Samurai did not actively seek an honorable death.<ref name="thecollector"/> However, it was honorable to die in the service of a [[daimyo]] only while furthering the daimyo's cause.<ref name="thecollector"/>

Samurai had dark customs, the most notable: ''[[Kiri-sute gomen]]'' was the right to strike lower class who dishonored them.<ref name="thecollector"/> ''[[Seppuku]]'' was ritual suicide, to die honorably or restore one's honor.<ref name="thecollector"/><ref name="pun"/> ''[[Tsujigiri]]'' (crossroads killing) to attack a human opponent to test a weapon or skill became rampant in the early Edo period until a ban was issued.<ref name="thecollector"/><ref name=weblio1>{{cite web |url=https://www.weblio.jp/content/辻斬り |website=Weblio |title=つじ-ぎり【×辻斬り】|date=May 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720125456/http://www.weblio.jp/content/辻斬り |archive-date= July 20, 2017}}</ref> The exact frequency of tsujigiri is unknown and it was never officially condoned by any samurai clan.<ref>{{ubl|{{Cite journal|last=Sand|first=Jordan|title=Tsujigiri: Mary Midgley's Misleading Essay, "Trying Out One's New Sword"|date=January 2019 |url=https://www.academia.edu/40029018|journal=Academia.edu|language=en}}|{{cite book |last=Midgley |first=Mary  |author-link=Mary Midgley |date=1981 |title=Trying Out One's New Sword }}}}</ref> However, it and other types of samurai-committed murder did happen enough to become a point of complaint among Europeans.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |date=2019-07-05 |title=Samurai |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Samurai/ |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=[[World History Encyclopedia]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":42">{{Cite book |last=Clements |first=Jonathan |title=A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shogun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun |publisher=[[Tuttle Publishing]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-4-8053-1389-3 |location=North Clarendon, Vermont |pages=152–153}}</ref>

Samurai did ''head collection'' with a ritual to beautify severed heads of worthy rivals and put on display.<ref name="Gaskin, Carol 2004">Gaskin, Carol; Hawkins, Vince. Breve historia de los samuráis (Juan Antonio Cebrián, trad.). London. Nowtilus S.L., 2004. Print. {{ISBN|8-49763-140-4}}. pg. 56.</ref> The samurai applied various cruel punishments on criminals. The most common capital punishments up until the [[Meiji Restoration]] were (in order of severity): decapitation, decapitation with disgraceful exposure of head post-death, [[crucifixion]] (for e.g. [[parricide]]), and [[death by burning]] with incendiaries.<ref name="pun" /> Members of the samurai class had the privilege to perform [[hara-kiri]] (suicide disemboweling).<ref name="pun" /> If it was not lethal then a friend or relation performed decapitation (kaishaku).<ref name="pun">{{cite web |title=Felice Beato Execution 1868 (ca) |website= Luminous Lint |url=http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/vexhibit/_PHOTOGRAPHER_Felice__Beato_Japan_01/6/28/35155412931703564320/ |date=June 28, 2001 |archive-date=August 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814063418/http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/vexhibit/_PHOTOGRAPHER_Felice__Beato_Japan_01/6/28/35155412931703564320/ }}</ref> In 1597, [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] ordered the prosecution of [[26 Martyrs of Japan]].<ref name="martyrs1">{{cite web|title=Martyrs List|url=http://www1.bbiq.jp/martyrs/ListEngl.html|publisher=Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum|access-date=2010-01-10|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100214135648/http://www1.bbiq.jp/martyrs/ListEngl.html|archive-date=2010-02-14}}</ref> They were tortured, mutilated, paraded through villages and executed by [[crucifixion]], tied to crosses on a hill and impaled by lances (spears).<ref name="Aleteia">{{cite web |title=Saint of the Day: St. Paul Miki and Companions |date= 6 February 2022|url=https://aleteia.org/daily-prayer/sunday-february-6/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814065118/https://aleteia.org/daily-prayer/sunday-february-6/ |archive-date=August 14, 2022}}</ref> In the 17th century, the [[Tokugawa Shogunate]] executed over 400 Christians ([[Martyrs of Japan]]) for being more loyal to their faith than the Shogunate.<ref name="martyrs1" /> The capital punishments were beheading, crucifixion, [[death by burning]] and {{nihongo||穴吊るし|[[Ana-tsurushi]]|lit. "hole hanging"}}.

Bushido has been described as Japanese [[chivalry]],<ref name="thecollector" /> and samurai in general have been described as being like [[Western world|Western]] [[knight]]s.<ref>Nitobe Inazō, Bushido: The Warrior's Code (Ohara Publications, 1979), p. 14. Bushido is available on the Internet as a Google book and as part of Project Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12096</ref> There are notable similarities and differences depending on which bushido type is compared with chivalry. [[Christianity]] had a modifying influence on the virtues of chivalry,<ref>{{harvp|Keen|2005|p=56}}</ref> whereas bushido was influenced by [[Japanese Zen|Zen Buddhism]], [[Shinto]], and [[Edo neo-Confucianism|Confucianism]].<ref name="britannica" /><ref name="nippon-bushido" /><ref name="britannica-groups" /> Bushido is commonly associated with the moral norms of Nitobe Inazō's ''[[Bushido: The Soul of Japan]]'' (1900), because his book popularized the term bushido internationally. However, it is a romanticized interpretation of bushido which differs from other historical literature by samurai. Thus, the morals defined by Nitobe do not represent all of bushido. Some researchers claim that chivalric bushido as defined by Nitobe (a.k.a. Meiji Bushido) was invented in the 19th century. However, there is a plethora of historical literature about Japanese warrior codes, practices, philosophies since the [[Kamakura period]]. These types can be categorized by era into Sengoku, Edo, Meiji and Contemporary Bushido.<ref name="nippon-bushido" /><ref name="xavier" /><ref name="musashi-five-rings" /><ref name="shoshinshu" /><ref name="britannica" /><ref name="Samurai" /><ref name="samurai-spirit" /><ref name="teng-hui" /> Therefore the term ''bushido'' can be used as an ''overarching term'' for all the codes, practices, philosophies and principles of samurai culture.<ref name="thecollector"/><ref name="pambianchi">{{cite web |title= Bushido: Military and Modern Socio-Cultural Significance |author=Jayson Gold-Pambianchi |website=Studocu |date=September 14, 2018 |url=https://www.studocu.com/in/document/andhra-university/foundation-of-physical-education/bushido-wayof-the-warrior-for-life-skills/20901231 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220133512/https://www.studocu.com/in/document/andhra-university/foundation-of-physical-education/bushido-wayof-the-warrior-for-life-skills/20901231 |archive-date=Feb 20, 2024 |quote="Despite John Newman’s blunt terminology in reference to the Hagakure, he interprets Bushido as characterized by a diverse range of practices, not comprehended through one overarching set of principles"}}</ref><ref name="newman">{{cite book |title=Bushido the Way of the Warrior Paperback |last1=Newman |first1=John |publisher=Magna Books |page=157 |year=1989|isbn=1854220306}}</ref>

Chinese politician [[Dai Jitao]] acknowledged the historical legitimacy of bushido and said it originated as a theory of a social order, but it had evolved considerably.{{r|riben-lun|p=14-15.}} In the [[Tokugawa period]], bushido was used to describe an ethical theory and it became a religious concept based on [[Shinto]].{{r|riben-lun|p=14-15.}} In the Meiji period, bushido absorbed European ideals and formed the foundation of Japan's political ethics.{{r|riben-lun|p=14-15.}} Chinese writer [[Zhou Zuoren]] supported the historical legitimacy, although it was thought to be altered and corrupted in the modern period.

== Historical development ==
The values that became bushido evolved significantly over the centuries to the present.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/>{{r|riben-lun|p=14-15.}}<ref name="britannica-groups">{{cite web|title=Samurai groups and farming villages|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan/Samurai-groups-and-farming-villages|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017205525/https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan/Samurai-groups-and-farming-villages|archive-date=October 17, 2020|website=Britannica.com}}</ref><ref name="bushido-martial-arts"/> These first appeared as unwritten customs in the 12th century with [[shogun]] [[Minamoto Yoritomo]].<ref name="yoritomo">{{cite journal|author1=Shin'ichi, Saeki|date=2008|title=Figures du samouraï dans l'histoire japonaise: Depuis Le Dit des Heiké jusqu'au Bushidô|url=https://www.cairn.info/article.php?ID_ARTICLE=ANNA_634_0877|volume=4|pages=877–894|journal=Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales}}</ref> The written term ''bushido'' first appears in the [[Koyo Gunkan]] of roughly circa 1616, an account of the military exploits of the [[Takeda clan]].<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> Bushido evolved from being totally devoted to valor in battle into refined types that were more related to moral integrity.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/><ref name="britannica-groups"/> The samurai had different types of bushido in each era in [[Japanese history|history]], reflecting changing requirements on the battlefield and in society.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/><ref name="britannica-groups"/> The era name should be used to describe the type of bushido.

=== Heian period ===
The first predecessor to bushido was the class morality system of the [[Heian period]].<ref name=":5" />

=== {{anchor|Heian-Kamakura (794-1333)}}Kamakura period ===
[[File:Koyo-Gunkan-Book-Cover-by-Kosaka-Masanobu-1616.png|thumb|upright|left|[[Koyo Gunkan]] by [[Kosaka Masanobu]] (1616)]]
The first proper Japanese central government was established around the year 700. Japan was ruled by the [[Emperor of Japan|Emperor]] (Tennō) with bureaucratic support of the aristocracy. They gradually lost control of their armed servants, the samurai. By the mid-12th century, the samurai class had seized control. The samurai (bushi) ruled Japan with the [[shogun]] (将軍) as the overlord until the mid 19th century. The shogun was originally the Emperor's military deputy. After the [[Genpei War]] (1180–1185), [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] usurped power from the civil aristocracy by establishing a military government called the [[bakufu]] situated in [[Kamakura]] since 1192.<ref name="nussbaum459"/> The Emperor and his court became [[figurehead]]s.<ref name="nussbaum459">[[Louis-Frédéric|Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric]]. (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA459 "''Kamakura-jidai''"] in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459.</ref><ref>"...not only was the Heian system of '''imperial-aristocratic rule''' still vigorous during the twelfth century, but also it remained the essential framework within which the bakufu, during its lifetime, was obliged to operate. In this sense, the Heian pattern of government survived into the fourteenth century – to be destroyed with the '''Kama-kura bakufu''' rather than by it." Warrior Rule in Japan, page 1. Cambridge University Press.</ref>

[[File:Minamoto_no_Yoritomo.jpg|thumb|upright|Shogun [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] (1147–1199)]]
The appearance of bushido is linked to that of feudal Japan and the first [[shogun]] at the time of [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]] (1147–1199) in the 12th century. The own moral dimension bushido gradually appears in the warrior culture and landmark in stories and military treaties only from the 14th and 15th century.<ref name="yoritomo" /> Thus is noted a permanence of the modern representation of its antiquity in Japanese culture and its diffusion.

In the 10th and 11th century, there was the ''Way of the Man-At-Arms'' (Tsuwamon no michi), and the ''Way of the Bow and Arrows'' (Kyûsen / kyûya no Michi).<ref>{{harvnb|Shin'ichi|Souyri|2017|pp=63–64}}</ref> At the time of the [[Genpei War|Genpei War (1180–1185)]], it was called ''"Way of the Bow and the Horse"'' (弓馬の道, kyūba no michi)<ref name="nippon-bushido" /> because of the major importance of this style of combat for the warriors of the time, and because it was considered a traditional method, that of the oldest samurai heroes, such as [[Prince Shōtoku]], [[Minamoto no Yorimitsu]] and [[Minamoto no Yoshiie]] (Hachimantarō). According to [[Louis Frédéric]], the kyūba no michi appeared around the 10th century as a set of rules and unwritten customs that samurai were expected to comply.<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3186148 ''Encyclopaedia of Asian civilizations'']</ref> There was also ''"Yumiya toru mi no narai"'' (customs for those who draw the bow).<ref name="nippon-bushido" /> This shows there was an emerging sense of ideal warrior behavior that evolved from daily training and warfare experience.<ref name="britannica-groups" />

{{Blockquote|text=Towards the 10th and 11th centuries we began to use expressions such as the way of the man-at-arms (Tsuwamon no michi), the way of the bow and arrows (Kyûsen / kyûya no Michi), the way of the bow and the horse (Kyûba no Michi). These expressions refer to practices which are the ancestors of the way of the warrior (bushidô) but they did not then imply any relation whatsoever to a morality. These were only practices focused on training for real combat and which therefore had to do with the samurai ways of life in the broad sense.<ref>{{harvnb|Shin'ichi|Souyri|2017}}</ref> }}

{{Blockquote|text=The world of warriors which developed […] in the medieval period (12th – 16th century) was […] placed under the domination of the Buddhist religion […]. Buddhism makes the prohibition of killing living beings one of its main principles. […] Faced with death, some samurai thought they had inherited bad karma […] others knew they were doing evil. The Buddhist notion of impermanence (Mujo) tended to express a certain meaning to the fragility of existence, […]. Beliefs in the pure land of Buddha Amida […] allowed some warriors to hope for an Amidist paradise […]. Zen Buddhism with its doctrine of the oneness between life and death was also appreciated by many samurai […]. The world of medieval warriors remained a universe still largely dominated by the supernatural, and the belief in particular, in the tormented souls of warriors fallen in combat (who) returned almost obsessively in the dreams of the living. This idea also ensured the success of the Noh theater.<ref>{{harvnb|Shin'ichi|Souyri|2017|pp=20–21}}</ref> }}

''[[The Tale of the Heike]]'' depicts an idealized story of the [[Genpei War]] (1180–1185) with a struggle between two powerful samurai clans, the [[Minamoto clan|Minamoto]] and the [[Taira clan|Taira]]. Clearly depicted throughout the epic is the ideal of the cultivated warrior.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Flashing Steel: Mastering Eishin-Ryu Swordsmanship, 2nd edition|last1=Shimabukuro|first1=Masayuki|last2=Pellman|first2=Leonard|publisher=Blue Snake Books|year=2007|isbn=9781583941973|location=Berkeley, CA|page=2}}</ref> During the early modern era, these ideals were vigorously pursued in the upper echelons of warrior society and recommended as the proper form of the Japanese man of arms.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} The influence of Shinto, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism on bushido's early development instilled among those who live by the code a religious respect for it.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/japanese_religions | title=Japanese Religions }}</ref>

Many early literary works of Japan talk of warriors, but the term ''bushidō'' does not appear in text until the Edo period.<ref>"The Zen of Japanese Nationalism," by Robert H. Sharf, in ''Curators of the Buddha'', edited by Donald Lopez, p. 111</ref> The code which would become bushido was conceptualized during the late-[[Kamakura period]] (1185–1333) in Japan.<ref name="kawakami">{{cite journal |last1=Kawakami |first1=Tasuke |title=Bushidō in its Formative Period |journal=The Annals of the Hitotsubashi Academy |date=1952 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=65–83 |jstor=43751264 }}</ref> Since the days of the [[Kamakura shogunate]], the "way of the warrior" has been an integral part of Japanese culture.<ref name="heilbrunn">Department of Asian Art. "Kamakura and Nanbokucho Periods (1185–1392)." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–.</ref><ref name="EnciclopediaTreccani" /> Scholars generally regard pre-modern Japan as a "warrior nation" since the medieval period.<ref name="warrior-nation">{{cite news |title=Imperial Japan saw itself as a 'warrior nation' – and the idea lingers today |date=22 December 2017|publisher=The Conversation |access-date=25 August 2019 |url=http://theconversation.com/imperial-japan-saw-itself-as-a-warrior-nation-and-the-idea-lingers-today-87289 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428112755/http://theconversation.com/imperial-japan-saw-itself-as-a-warrior-nation-and-the-idea-lingers-today-87289 |archive-date=April 28, 2019}}</ref> The samurai were role models for society since medieval times. In accordance with [[Confucianism]], one of their duties was to serve as a role model for society. They balanced their martial arts skills with peaceful accomplishments such as literature, poetry and the [[Japanese tea ceremony|tea ceremony]].<ref>{{cite book | author=Virginia Schomp | title =Japan in the Days of the Samurai (Cultures of the Past) | publisher =Benchmark Books| year =1998| page = 59 | isbn =0761403043 }}</ref> Such as the medieval Japanese proverb ''[[Hana wa sakuragi, hito wa bushi]]'' ({{langx|ja|花は桜木人は武士}}, literally "the [best] blossom is the cherry blossom; the [best] man is the warrior").<ref>{{cite book | editor=Daniel Crump Buchanan| title =Japanese Proverbs and Sayings| url=https://archive.org/details/japaneseproverbs00buch| url-access=registration| publisher =University of Oklahoma Press| year =1965| page =[https://archive.org/details/japaneseproverbs00buch/page/119 119]| isbn =0806110821}}</ref> In 1843 Nakamura said: {{blockquote|Our nation is a nation of arms. The land to the west [China] is a nation of letters. Nations of letters value the pen. Nations of arms value the sword. That's the way it has been from the beginning... Our country and theirs are separated from one another by hundreds of miles, our customs are completely different, the temperaments of our people are dissimilar – so how could we possibly share the same Way? (Nakamura 1843 cited in Watanabe 2012: 285).<ref>Nakamura, M. Shoburon (1843), In Vol. 6 of ''Bushido Zensho'', ed., Inoue Tetsujiro, Saeki Ariyoshi, Ueki Naoichiro, and Kokusho Kankokai, 1998.</ref><ref>Watanabe, H. A History of Japanese Political Thought, 1600–1901. Translated by David Noble. LTCB International Library Trust, International House of Japan, 2012.</ref>}}

=== {{anchor|Muromachi-Azuchi (1336-1603)}}Muromachi-Azuchi (1336–1603) ===
During the [[Muromachi period]] (1336–1573), the way of the warrior began to ''refine'' by inserting in their daily activities, alongside martial training, [[Japanese Zen|Zen]] meditation, [[Japanese painting|painting]] (monochrome style), [[ikebana]], the [[Japanese tea ceremony|tea ceremony]], [[Japanese poetry|poetry]] such as the [[death poem]] (written by samurai before suicidal missions or battles)<ref>Mayumi Ito, ''Japanese Tokko Soldiers and Their Jisei''</ref> and [[Japanese literature|literature]].<ref name="EnciclopediaTreccani" />

[[Carl Steenstrup]] noted that 13th- and 14th-century writings (''[[gunki monogatari]]'') "portrayed the ''bushi'' in their natural element, war, eulogizing such virtues as reckless bravery, fierce family pride, and selfless, at times senseless devotion of master and man".<ref name="carl-biwahoshi"<ref/>

{{blockquote|Every farmer was basically also a warrior until [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi|Hideyoshi]] confiscated weapons through a nation-wide "sword-hunt" in 1588. Every [[ashigaru]] had his first lessons on the mentality of war from the [[biwa hōshi]]. On the other hand, the Heike recitations also propagated civic virtues: loyalty, steadfastness in adversity, and pride of family honor.|[[Carl Steenstrup]]<ref name="carl-biwahoshi"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Steenstrup |first1=Carl |title=Notes on the Gunki or Military Tales: Contributions to the Study of the Impact of War on Folk Literature in Premodern Japan |journal=Comparative Civilizations Review |date=1 April 1980 |volume=4 |issue=4 |id={{ProQuest|1311892267}} |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/ccr/vol4/iss4/2/ }}</ref>}} 
[[File:Katō_Kiyomasa.jpg|thumb|Daimyo [[Katō Kiyomasa]]]]
The sayings of [[Sengoku period|Sengoku-period]] retainers and warlords such as [[Katō Kiyomasa]] (1562–1611) and [[Nabeshima Naoshige]] were generally recorded or passed down to posterity around the turn of the 16th century when Japan had entered a period of relative peace. In a handbook addressed to "all ''samurai'', regardless of rank", Katō states:

{{blockquote|If a man does not investigate into the matter of ''bushidō'' daily, it will be difficult for him to die a brave and manly death. Thus, it is essential to engrave this business of the warrior into one's mind well.|Katō Kiyomasa"<ref name="Wilson"/>}}

Katō was a ferocious warrior who banned even recitation of poetry, stating:

{{blockquote|One should put forth great effort in matters of learning. One should read books concerning military matters, and direct his attention exclusively to the virtues of loyalty and filial piety....Having been born into the house of a warrior, one's intentions should be to grasp [[Daishō|the long and the short swords]] and to die."|Katō Kiyomasa<ref name="Wilson">William Scott Wilson, Ideals of the Samurai: Writings of Japanese Warriors ([[Kodansha]], 1982) {{ISBN|0-89750-081-4}}</ref>{{clarify|reason=does the word ''bushidō'' appear in the original Japanese text?|date=February 2018}}}}[[Nabeshima Naoshige]] (1538–1618) says similarly, that it is shameful for any man to die without having risked his life in battle, regardless of rank, and that "''bushidō'' is in being crazy to die. Fifty or more could not kill one such a man. However, Naoshige also suggests that "everyone should personally know exertion as it is known in the lower classes".<ref name="Wilson" />

By the mid-16th century, several of Japan's most powerful warlords began to vie for supremacy over territories amidst the Kyoto government's waning power. With Kyoto's capture by the warlord [[Oda Nobunaga]] in 1573, the [[Muromachi period]] concluded.<ref name="kawakami"/>

In 1551 CE, one of the [[List of Westerners who visited Japan before 1868|first western people to visit Japan]] was the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] [[missionary]] [[Francis Xavier]]. The description of Francis shows that [[honor]], [[weaponry]] and [[warfare]] were valued of utmost importance in Japanese culture.<ref name="xavier">{{cite journal | last =Pacheco  | first =Diego  | title =Xavier and Tanegashima  | journal = [[Monumenta Nipponica]] | volume =29  | date =Winter 1974  | issue =4  | pages =477–480  | jstor =  2383897| doi =10.2307/2383897 }}</ref> {{blockquote|The Japanese are very ambitious of honors and distinctions, and think themselves superior to all nations in military glory and valor. They prize and honor all that has to do with war, and all such things, and there is nothing of which they are so proud as of weapons adorned with gold and silver. They always wear swords and daggers both in and out of the house, and when they go to sleep they hang them at the bed's head. In short, they value arms more than any people I have ever seen. They are excellent archers, and usually fight on foot, though there is no lack of horses in the country. They are very polite to each other, but not to foreigners, whom they utterly despise. They spend their means on arms, bodily adornment, and on a number of attendants, and do not in the least care to save money. They are, in short, a very warlike people, and engaged in continual wars among themselves; the most powerful in arms bearing the most extensive sway. They have all one sovereign, although for one hundred and fifty years past the princes have ceased to obey him, and this is the cause of their perpetual feuds.<ref>{{cite letter | first = Francis  | last = Xavier | recipient = Society of Jesus at Goa | subject = Letter from Japan, to the Society of Jesus at Goa, 1552 | language = en | date = 1552 | type = letter | url = https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1552xavier4.asp | access-date = 17 June 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Coleridge |first= Henry James |year=1872 |orig-year= 1876|title= The life and letters of St. Francis Xavier |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=gbJSAAAAcAAJ&q=bibliogroup:%22The+Life+and+Letters+of+St.+Francis+Xavier%22|volume=1 |edition=2nd|location= London|publisher= Burns and Oates |publication-date=1872 |pages= 331–350 |access-date= 17 June 2019}} [https://archive.org/details/lifelettersofstf01coleuoft Alt URL]</ref>}}

The practice of decapitating and collecting enemy heads is an example of honor in samurai culture.<ref name="Gaskin, Carol 2004"/><ref name="headhunters">{{cite web |website=YouTube |publisher=Smithsonian Channel |title=A Samurai's Collection of Human Heads |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfDOG2AJvTU |date=March 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118233925/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfDOG2AJvTU |archive-date=January 18, 2015}}</ref> The severed heads were shown to a general as evidence that they killed wanted opponents and to collect rewards.<ref name="headhunters"/> More heads meant higher prestige, honor and rewards.<ref name="headhunters"/> A beautification ritual of the severed heads called ''[[Ohaguro]]'' was performed.<ref name="Turnbull, Stephen 2004. pg. 231">Turnbull, Stephen. Samurai The Story of Japan's Great Warriors. London. Prc Publishing Ltd, 2004. Print. pg. 231.</ref><ref name="Gaskin, Carol 2004"/> Prestigious heads were arranged on a table and presented in front of the warriors.<ref name="Gaskin, Carol 2004"/><ref name="headhunters"/> All heads were identified and marked to prevent mistakes.<ref name="headhunters"/> The guards were left and right of the general and cited spells to transfix demonic spirits of the enemy.<ref name="headhunters"/> Then a samurai said his own name, lifted a box to show and describe the severed head.<ref name="headhunters"/> The general inspected the trophy heads while holding a fan so that the dead could not recognize his face.<ref name="headhunters"/> If the claimed head was correct then the samurai received a payment otherwise he was dismissed.<ref name="headhunters"/><ref name="Gaskin, Carol 2004"/>

Despite the war-torn culmination of this era and the birth of the Edo period, Samurai codes of conduct continued to extend beyond the realms of warfare. Forms of bushido-related [[Zen Buddhism]] and [[Confucianism]] also emerged during this period.<ref name="Tasuke_78">Tasuke, p. 78</ref> A Samurai adhering to bushido-like codes was expected to live a just and ethical social life; honoring the practices of the gentry in the absence of military campaigns.<ref name="Tasuke_78" />

=== Edo (1603–1868) ===
[[File:Miyamoto Musashi killing a giant nue.jpg|thumb|upright| [[Miyamoto Musashi]] killing a giant creature, from [[The Book of Five Rings]]]]
[[File:Kashoki-Amusing-Notes-by-Saito-Chikamori-Bushido-1642.png|thumb|Kashoki (Amusing Notes) by Saito Chikamori (1642)]]
[[File:Nabeshima-Secretary-Hagakure-The-Analects-Bushido-Book.png|thumb|upright|Nabeshima Secretary, [[Hagakure]] The Anelects]]
[[File:Kokon-Bushido-Ezukushi-(Bushido-Through-The-Ages-Book).png|thumb|upright|Book cover of ''Kokon Bushido Ezukushi'' (''Bushido Through the Ages'') by artist [[Hishikawa Moronobu]] (1685)]] 
Japan enjoyed two and a half centuries of relative peace during the [[Edo period]] (1600 to the mid-19th century). Japan didn't have domestic or international conflict. These peaceful times in Tokugawa society enabled bushido to be refined from a focus on ''valor in battle'' to more ''moral integrity''.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/>

The [[Tokugawa shogunate]] (1603–1867) codified aspects of the Samurai warrior values and formalized them into parts of the Japanese feudal law.<ref name="tokugawa-law">{{Cite web |url=http://www.samuraimaster.com/tokugawa-shogunate/ |title=Tokugawa shogunate |access-date=2017-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612174244/https://www.samuraimaster.com/tokugawa-shogunate/ |archive-date=2018-06-12 |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition to the "house codes" issued in the context of the fiefdoms (han) and texts that described the right behavior of a warrior (such as the Hagakure), the first [[Buke shohatto]] (Laws for the Military Houses, 武家諸法度) was issued by the government in 1615, which prescribed to the lords of the fiefdoms ([[daimyo]]) and the samurai warrior aristocracy responsibilities and activities, the rules of conduct, simple and decent clothing, the correct supply in case of official visits, etc.<ref name="EnciclopediaTreccani">{{cite web |website=Treccani |title=Bushido |access-date=January 21, 2018 |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/bushido_(Dizionario-di-Storia)-(Enciclopedia-Italiana)/ |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030001558/https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/bushido_%28Dizionario-di-Storia%29-%28Enciclopedia-Italiana%29/}}</ref> The edicts were reissued in 1629, and in 1635, by the third shogun [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]]. The new edicts made clear the shogunate's authority and its desire to assert control.<ref>{{Cite book|editor-last=Hall|editor-first=John Whitney|title=The Cambridge history of Japan Vol. 4: Early Modern Japan|date=1988|publisher=Cambridge University Press|others=James L. McClain|isbn=0-521-22352-0|location=Cambridge, UK|oclc=17483588}}</ref> The swordsmanship skills of the samurai developed into character-building martial arts.<ref name="samurai-spirit"/>

During this period, the ''samurai'' class played a central role in the policing and administration of the country.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ikegami |first1=Eiko |title=Bonds of civility : aesthetic networks and the political origins of Japanese culture |last2=池上 |first2=英子. |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-80942-8 |location=Cambridge, UK |pages=157 |oclc=54774925}}</ref> The [[bushidō literature|''bushidō'' literature]] of this time contains much thought relevant to a warrior class seeking more general application of martial principles and experience in peacetime, as well as reflection on the land's long history of war.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} The literature of this time includes:

* ''Shoke no Hyōjō'' by Ogasawara Sakuun (1621)<ref name="nippon-bushido"/>
* ''Budo Shōshinshu'' (武道初心集) by Taira Shigesuke, [[Daidōji Yūzan]] (1639–1730)<ref name="shoshinshu"/>
*''[[Hagakure]]'' as related by [[Yamamoto Tsunetomo]] to [[Tsuramoto Tashiro]].
* [[Bugei Juhappan]] (武芸十八般)
* [[A Book of Five Rings]] by [[Miyamoto Musashi]]

The first mention of the term ''bushido'' is in the scriptures [[Koyo Gunkan]] (甲陽軍鑑) from Takeda-ryū (martial arts school), written around 1616 by samurai [[Kōsaka Masanobu]] (1527–1578).<ref name="nippon-bushido" /> It consists of 20 scrolls that mention bushido over 30 times.<ref name="nippon-bushido" /> It contains the history of the [[Takeda family]] and their military tactics.<ref name="Turnbull">{{Cite book|last=Turnbull|first=Stephen|title=Battles of the Samurai|publisher=Arms and Armour Press|year=1987|isbn=0853688265|page=41}}</ref> The Koyo Gunkan describes valor and exploits in battle.<ref name="nippon-bushido" /> For example, it is a waste of talent when a bushido practitioner takes on administrative roles in government or financial affairs (e.g. dealings in rice, money, timber, or forest land). It emphasizes that bushido lies only in "becoming as a spear" on the battlefield.<ref name="nippon-bushido" /> The scrolls were widely disseminated as a martial arts instruction manual by the samurai class and helped to popularize the term.<ref name="nippon-bushido" />

In [[Koyo Gunkan]] (1616), bushido is a survival technique for individual fighters, and it aims to make the development of the self and the clan troupe advantageous by raising the samurai name. He also affirms that he seeks a lord who praises himself for wandering, as reflected in Tōdō Takatora (1556–1630)'s deceased memoir that "A samurai cannot be called a samurai until he has changed his lords seven times." Also, as symbolized by [[Asakura Norikage]] (1477–1555), "The warrior may be called a beast or a dog; the main thing is winning." As symbolized by Asakura Norikage, it is essential to win the battle even with the slander of cowardice. The feature is that it also contains the cold-hearted philosophy. These are mainly related to the way of life as a samurai, and they are the teachings of each family, and they are also equivalent to the treatment of vassals.

Dr. Hiroko Willcock (senior lecturer at [[Griffith University]], Australia) explained ''Koyo Gunkan is the earliest comprehensive extant work that provides a notion of bushido as a samurai ethos and the value system of the samurai tradition.''<ref name="hiroko">{{cite book |last=Willcock |first=Hiroko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6rfYAAAAMAAJ&q=koyo+gunkan+bushido |title=The Japanese Political Thought of Uchimura Kanzō (1861–1930): Synthesizing Bushidō, Christianity, Nationalism, and Liberalism |publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0773451513 |location=[[Lewiston, New York]] |quote=Koyo gunkan is the earliest comprehensive extant work that provides a notion of Bushido as a samurai ethos and the value system of the samurai tradition.}}</ref> However, it does not have a set of principles regarded as "true" or "false", but rather varying perceptions widely regarded as formidable throughout different centuries. Emphasized by Thomas Cleary, {{blockquote|Confucianism, Buddhism, and Shinto were each represented by a variety of schools, and elements of all three were commonly combined in Japanese culture and customs. As the embodiment of Samurai culture, bushido is correspondingly diverse, drawing selectively on elements of all these traditions to articulate the ethos and discipline of the warrior.<ref>Thomas Cleary, ''Samurai Wisdom: Lessons from Japan's Warrior Culture; Five Classic Texts on Bushido''. Vermont: Tuttle Publishing, 2009. 28</ref>}}

During the [[Genna]] era (1615–1624) of the [[Edo period]] and later, the concept of "the way of the gentleman" (Shidō) was newly established by the [[philosopher]] and [[strategist]] [[Yamaga Sokō]] (1622–1685) and others who tried to explain this value in the [[morality]] of the [[Confucian]] [[Cheng–Zhu school]]. For the first time, Confucian ethics (such as Honor and Humanity", "filial piety") became the norm required by samurai.<ref>{{cite book| author=多田顕  |editor=永安幸正 |title=武士道の倫理 山鹿素行の場合 |date=2006 |isbn=978-4892055126 |publisher=麗澤大学出版会 |trans-title="Ethics of Samurai Road, In the Case of Motoyuki Yamaka |language=ja}}</ref> Yamaga Sokō was widely viewed as the "Sage of Bushidō" in early twentieth-century Japan.{{r|riben-lun|p=8-9, 12, 31-32, 86.}}

Martial arts scholar Ogasawara Sakuun compiled 20 scrolls called Shoke no Hyōjō about the military arts in 1621.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> Therein bushido is described as iji (willpower).<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> The scrolls describe the essence of bushido as the strength to not yield to rewards or power, but adhere to personal convictions that dominate one's inner principles.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/>

In 1642, the {{nihongo|''Kashoki''|可笑記|"Amusing Notes"}} was written by samurai ''Saitō Chikamori'' (斎藤親盛, 1603–1674) (ex-vassal of the [[Mogami clan]] from [[Yamagata Domain]]) and published.<ref name="nippon-bushido" /><ref name="showa-women-uni">Showa Women's University Professor Akio Fukasawa (昭和女子大教授・深沢秋男)</ref> Chikamori's pen name was Nyoraishi (如儡子). The kashoki are 5 scrolls with wide-ranging content, including samurai knowledge with moral precepts,<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> the knowledge of ordinary people, the teachings of Confucian Buddhism, and narrative ones. It has moral precepts which explain theoretical aspects of bushido.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> The 5th scroll has an important definition that was made by a samurai:<ref name="nippon-bushido" /> Thus the first known description of morality in bushido and the ''bushido spirit'' was the Kashoki.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/>

{{blockquote|The essence of Bushidō is: do not lie, do not be insincere, do not be obsequious, do not be superficial, do not be greedy, do not be rude, do not be boastful, do not be arrogant, do not slander, do not be unfaithful, be on good terms with comrades, do not be overly concerned with events, show concern for one another, be compassionate, with a strong sense of duty. Being a good samurai takes more than merely a willingness to lay down one's life.|5th scroll of the Kashoki by Saitō Chikamori (1642)<ref name="nippon-bushido"/>}}

The kashoki was important with promulgating the ''bushido spirit'' among the [[commoner|common population]].<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> Thus it was written for [[commoners]], not warriors.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> Its accessibility made it very popular, because it was written in [[kana]] (hiragana and katakana) rather than [[kanji]] which can be read by people with [[elementary school]] reading skills.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> There were many editions which had major influence on the behavior of commoners such as adults, adolescents, women and generations.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/>

Master swordsman [[Miyamoto Musashi]]'s life exemplifies bushido.<ref name="musashi-five-rings"/> Musashi (1584–1645) wrote [[The Book of Five Rings]] (Gorin no Sho) around 1643.<ref name="musashi-five-rings"/> It consists of five volumes (Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Void). The Book of Earth describes the general framework of bushidō.<ref name="musashi-five-rings">{{cite web |website=Nippon.com |url=https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g00689/master-swordsman-miyamoto-musashi-the-man-behind-the-book-of-five-rings.html |title=Master Swordsman Miyamoto Musashi: The Man Behind The Book of Five Rings |date= July 25, 2019 |author=Uozumi Takashi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305121209/https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g00689/master-swordsman-miyamoto-musashi-the-man-behind-the-book-of-five-rings.html |archive-date=March 5, 2020}}</ref> For example: apply skills in any situation, always carry two swords, learn how to effectively use the lance, [[naginata]], bow and arrow, and guns. A daimyo should know the strength of his troops and how to properly deploy them. Devote yourself to training to master a way, avoid evil acts and thoughts, broaden perspectives with arts and knowledge about different professions, make objective judgments etc.<ref name="musashi-five-rings"/>

In 1685, the [[ukiyo-e]] book {{nihongo|''Kokon Bushidō ezukushi''|古今武士道絵つくし|"Images of Bushidō Through the Ages"}} by artist [[Hishikawa Moronobu]] (1618–1694) was published.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> It features heroic popular tales of samurai warriors with simple descriptions per artwork.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> The title includes the word ''bushido'' and it was meant for children which shows that it had spread among the general population.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/>

The Chinese politician [[Dai Jitao]] (1891–1949) attended [[Nihon University]]'s law program in 1907. He was fluent in [[Japanese language|Japanese]] and learned about bushido. Dai criticized the supposedly violent nature of the traditional Japanese ''feudal class'' structure before the [[Meiji (era)|Meiji period]]. Dai said the samurai brutally exploited the class structure to abuse and kill people below them in the social order (and biasedly claimed the opposite for Chinese society as peace-loving). According to Dai, after Confucianism became influential in the 17th century, it brought ideas of benevolence and humanity that pacified the cruel samurai and set Japan upon the course to become a modern and civilized society. Dai also appreciated aspects of the samurai. For example Dai said: Japan continued to benefit from their spirit of self-sacrifice, selfless loyalty, and—after Confucianism was introduced—compassion. Dai blamed the problems of modern Japan (post-Meiji restoration) due to the loss of samurai virtues when the former merchant class gained power and large corporations started to steer government policy.<ref name="lu-yan-2004">Lu Yan (2004). Re-Understanding Japan: Chinese Perspectives 1895–1945. Page= 87-9. Honolulu, University of Hawai'i Press.</ref> Dai said after the samurai class was heavily influenced by Confucian ideals of compassion, their bushido became essentially a "life of blood and tears", because they selflessly shed blood for their lords and cried tears of compassion for farmers and other lower class people.{{r|riben-lun|p=16.}}

The ''[[Hagakure]]'' contains many sayings attributed to [[Sengoku period|Sengoku-period]] retainer [[Nabeshima Naoshige]] (1537–1619) regarding ''bushidō'' related philosophy early in the 18th century by [[Yamamoto Tsunetomo]] (1659–1719), a former [[retainer (medieval)|retainer]] to Naoshige's grandson, [[Nabeshima Mitsushige]]. The [[Hagakure]] was compiled in the early 18th century, but was kept as a kind of "secret teaching" of the [[Nabeshima clan]] until the end of the Tokugawa ''bakufu'' (1867).<ref name="Samurai">"The Samurai Series: The Book of Five Rings, Hagakure -The Way of the Samurai & Bushido – The Soul of Japan" ELPN Press (November, 2006) {{ISBN|1-934255-01-7}}</ref>  His saying, "''I have found the way of the warrior is death''", was a summation of the focus on honour and reputation over all else that ''bushidō'' codified.<ref>Meirion and Susie Harries, ''Soldiers of the Sun:  The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army'' p 7 {{ISBN|0-394-56935-0}}</ref> This is occasionally misinterpreted that bushido is a code of death. The true meaning is by having a constant consciousness of death, people can achieve a state of freedom that transcends life and death, whereby "''it is possible to perfectly fulfill one's calling as a warrior.''"<ref name="nippon-bushido"/>

Tokugawa-era [[rōnin]], scholar and strategist [[Yamaga Sokō]] (1622–1685) wrote extensively on matters relating to ''bushidō'', ''bukyō'' (a "warrior's creed"), and a more general ''shidō'', a "way of gentlemen" intended for application to all stations of society. Sokō attempts to codify a kind of "universal ''bushidō''" with a special emphasis on "pure" [[Confucian]] values, (rejecting the mystical influences of Tao and Buddhism in Neo-Confucian orthodoxy), while at the same time calling for recognition of the singular and divine nature of Japan and Japanese culture. These radical concepts—including ultimate devotion to the Emperor, regardless of rank or clan—put him at odds with the reigning shogunate. He was exiled to the [[Akō Domain|Akō domain]], (the future setting of the [[Forty-seven rōnin|47 Rōnin incident]]), and his works were not widely read until the rise of nationalism in the early 20th century.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}
[[File:Oishi Yoshio Gishi Seppuku No Zu Painting.png|thumb|Painting of [[Ōishi Yoshio]] committing [[seppuku]], 1703]]
The aging Yamamoto Tsunetomo's interpretation of ''bushidō'' is perhaps more illustrative of the philosophy refined by his unique station and experience, at once dutiful and defiant, ultimately incompatible with the laws of an emerging civil society. Of the 47 ''rōnin''—to this day, generally regarded as exemplars of ''bushidō''—Tsunetomo felt they were remiss in hatching such a wily, delayed plot for revenge, and had been over-concerned with the success of their undertaking. Instead, Tsunetomo felt true ''samurai'' should act without hesitation to fulfill their duties, without regard for success or failure.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

This romantic sentiment is of course expressed by warriors throughout history, though it may run counter to the art of war itself. This ambivalence is found in the heart of ''bushidō'', and perhaps all such "[[warrior]] codes". Some combination of traditional ''bushidō''<nowiki/>'s organic contradictions and more "universal" or "progressive" formulations (like those of Yamaga Sokō) would inform Japan's disastrous military ambitions in the 20th century.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

According to the social psychologist Toshio Yamagishi ([[:ja:山岸俊男]], 1948–2018) "Bushido is the ideal human image formed mainly in the Edo period, in other words a virtue in the groupism world."<ref name="toshio"/> It was the perfect person that fitted the ideal control of the samurai administration in the Edo period.<ref name="toshio">{{cite book |title=「日本人」という、うそ: 武士道精神は日本を復活させるか (ちくま文庫) Paperback Bunko – October 7, 2015 |via=Amazon |date=October 2015 |isbn=978-4480433046 |publication-date=October 7, 2015 |publisher=Chikuma Shobō}}</ref>

=== {{anchor|Meiji-Showa (1868-1945)}}Meiji-Showa (1868–1945) ===
[[File:Samurai-in-Armour-by-Kusakabe-Kimbei.png|thumb|Three samurai with different weapons, the one on the left has a [[yumi]], in the center a [[katana]] and on the right a [[yari]]]]
 
Recent scholarship in both Japan and abroad has focused on differences between the samurai caste and the bushido theories that developed in modern Japan. Bushido evolved considerably over time. Bushido in the prewar period emphasized the role of the emperor and placed greater value on the imperial virtues of loyalty and self-sacrifice than many Tokugawa-era interpretations.<ref name="ikegami">Eiko Ikegami. ''The Taming of the Samurai: Honorific Individualism and the Making of Modern Japan.'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995.</ref>

[[File:Houghton Hearn 92.40.10 - Bushido cover.jpg|thumb|upright|Cover of ''[[Bushido: The Soul of Japan]]'', 1900]]
Prominent scholars{{who|date=March 2021}} consider the bushido prevalent since the [[Meiji (era)|Meiji era]] to be a simplification of the attributes of samurai.<ref>Kanno Kakumyō, Bushidō no gyakushū (Kōdansha, 2004), p. 11.</ref> Samurai originally fought for personal matters and the honor of their family and clan. When Japan was unified, the role of samurai included public administrative responsibilities, such as public order preservation, judicial responsibility, infrastructure maintenance, disaster recovery, farmland development, healthcare administration and industrial promotion.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/>

The samurai class was abolished in the 1870s and the role of those in it grew more bureaucratic, focusing on the formation of a modern nation-state. With the diminishing of social classes, some values were transferred to the whole population, such as loyalty to the emperor.<ref name="EnciclopediaTreccani"/> The author [[Yukio Mishima]] asserted that "invasionism or militarism had nothing to do with bushidō from the outset." According to Mishima, a man of bushido is someone who has a firm sense of self-respect, takes responsibility for his actions and sacrifices himself to embody that responsibility.

[[Dai Jitao]] credited the samurai with sole responsibility for the [[Meiji Restoration]], which enabled Japan's modernization, while the populace merely allowed it to happen.<ref name="riben-lun">Dai Jitao (2011). Riben lun. Beijing, Guangming Ribao Chuban She. Page= 46</ref> Dai argued that Japanese combative tendency and militarism were purely founded in Japan's socio-religious superstitions centered on the notion of divine authority.{{r|riben-lun|p=33.}} It did not exist in Chinese or Indian thought.{{r|riben-lun|p=33.}}

Bushido was used as a propaganda tool by the government and military, who doctored it to suit their needs.<ref>[[Karl Friday]]. ''Bushidō or Bull? A Medieval Historian's Perspective on the Imperial Army and the Japanese Warrior Tradition.'' The History Teacher, Volume 27, Number 3, May 1994, pages 339–349.[http://ejmas.com/jalt/jaltart_friday_0301.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215170025/http://ejmas.com/jalt/jaltart_friday_0301.htm|date=2010-12-15}}</ref> The original [[Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors]] of 1882 uses the word ''hōkoku'' (報国), signifying the idea of indebtedness to one's nation because of one's birth. Such debt must be repaid through physical or mental exertion. This idea did not exist in earlier bushido.

Chinese writer [[Zhou Zuoren]] regarded the bushido promoted by the military as a corruption of a noble and ancient tradition.<ref name="Kaori"/> He discussed the act of [[seppuku]] and the importance of old samurai practices in his 1935 essay series, "Riben guankui". He named the story of the [[Forty-seven rōnin]] of the Akō Domain, who were sentenced to seppuku after avenging their daimyo, and their legacy in the story [[Chūshingura]] (A Treasury of Loyal Retainers). He discussed the [[Sakai incident]], in which 20 samurai from Tosa Domain committed seppuku in 1868 for attacking French sailors. These examples were compared with the soft punishment given to the soldiers who assassinated Prime Minister [[Inukai Tsuyoshi]] in 1932. Zhou condemned them for not taking responsibility by committing suicide like traditional samurai.<ref name="Kaori">{{cite book|author=Hatakeyama Kaori |date=2013 |title=Chūgoku ni okeru Nihon rikai no issokumen—'Bushidō'wo megutte |publisher=Kyōto Sangyō Daigaku ronshū: jinbun kagaku keiretsu, no. 46: 326.}}</ref> In 1936, Zhou wrote about the loss of humanity and empathy of traditional bushido during the deterioration of the Second World War. He pointed to the samurai novel{{specify|date=March 2021}} by [[Jun'ichirō Tanizaki]] as an example where victors of a battle treated enemy corpses with dignity.{{r|lu-yan-2004|p=227.}}

Bushido regained popularity and became intertwined with Japan's nationalist expression in the mid-1800s in response to Britain's invasion of China in the [[First Opium War]]. Xenophobia toward Westerners rose in Japan during the 1850s and 1860s which contributed to the perceived legitimacy of the imperial restoration. Use of "bushido" in text increased during this period and its concept was viewed with more positivity. While it disappeared during the 1870s, it reappeared in the 1880s to express the loss of traditional values during the rapid introduction of Western civilization and a renewed sense of urgency to defend Japanese traditions.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bushido et les conférences de Yamaoka Tesshu|publisher=Tokyo Koyûkan|location=Tokyo|year=1902}}</ref> The [[First Sino-Japanese War|victory of Japan over China in 1895]] restored a feeling of pride in bushido, which was considered the "origin of military success."<ref>{{cite book|title=Bushido shi jûkô|publisher=Tokyo Meguro Shoten|location=Tokyo|year=1927}}</ref>

The researcher Oleg Benesch argued that the concept of modern bushido changed throughout the modern era as a response to foreign stimuli in the 1880s, such as the English concept of the gentleman. [[Nitobe Inazō]]'s bushido interpretations followed a similar trajectory, though he was following earlier trends. This relatively pacifistic bushido was hijacked and adapted by militarists and the government from the early 1900s as nationalism increased around the time of the [[Russo-Japanese War|Russo–Japanese War]].<ref>Oleg Benesch. ''[https://www.amazon.com/Inventing-Way-Samurai-Nationalism-Internationalism/dp/0198754256/ Inventing the Way of the Samurai: Nationalism, Internationalism, and Bushido in Modern Japan.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018140338/https://www.amazon.com/Inventing-Way-Samurai-Nationalism-Internationalism/dp/0198754256 |date=2016-10-18 }}'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. {{ISBN|0198706626}}, {{ISBN|9780198706625}}</ref>

The entrepreneur [[Fukuzawa Yukichi]] appreciated bushido and emphasized that maintaining the morale of scholars is the essence of eternal life.<ref>[http://www.aozora.jp/misc/cards/000296/files/02yasegamanno_setsu.pdf 瘠我慢の説] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116153346/http://www.aozora.jp/misc/cards/000296/files/02yasegamanno_setsu.pdf |date=2014-01-16 }}</ref><ref name="mysteries-exposed">[http://www.peacehall.com/forum/lishi/486.shtml 许介鳞：日本「武士道」揭谜 (Japanese "Bushido" the mysteries exposed)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112045722/http://www.peacehall.com/forum/lishi/486.shtml |date=2014-01-12 }}</ref> Nitoto Inazuke submitted his book, ''Bushido'', to [[Emperor Meiji]] and stated, "Bushido is prosperous here, assists Komo, and promotes the national style, so that the public will return to the patriotic virtues of loyal ministers." He wrote that bushido has slightly different requirements for men and women. For women, bushido means guarding their chastity, educating their children, supporting their husbands and maintaining their families.<ref>[http://www.peacehall.com/forum/lishi/486.shtml 许介鳞：日本「武士道」揭谜] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112045722/http://www.peacehall.com/forum/lishi/486.shtml |date=2014-01-12 }}</ref>

The ''[[junshi]]'' suicide of [[Nogi Maresuke|General Nogi Maresuke]] and his wife on the death of Emperor Meiji earned praise as an example of opposition to the trend of decaying morals in Japan. It also earned criticism from those who believed that aspect of bushido should not be revived.<ref>[[Herbert P. Bix]], ''[[Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan]]'' p 42-3 {{ISBN|0-06-019314-X}}</ref>

After the Meiji Restoration, the martial arts etiquette represented by [[Ogasawara-ryū]] (小笠原流) popularized training.<ref>[http://www.ogasawararyu-reihou.com/outline/history.html Ogasawara Ritual Law]</ref> Bushido-influenced martial arts and education corresponded with nationalistic ideals prevalent prior to 1941. Honoring tradition through bushido-inspired martial skills enabled society to remain interconnected, harnessing society's reverence of ancestral practices for national strength.<ref name="Patterson 14">{{harvnb|Patterson|2008|p=14}}</ref> According to researcher William R. Patterson, "The martial arts were seen as a way not to maintain ancient martial techniques but instead to preserve a traditional value system, Bushido, that could be used to nurture national spirit. In the midst of modernization the Japanese were struggling to hold onto some traditions that were uniquely Japanese and that could unify them as countrymen."<ref name="Patterson 14"/> For example, [[Kanō Jigorō]] argued, "Because judo developed based on the martial arts of the past, if the martial arts practitioners of the past had things that are of value, those who practice judo should pass all those things on. Among these, the samurai spirit should be celebrated even in today's society."{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

During interbellum and Second World War [[Shōwa (1926–1989)|Shōwa Japan]], bushido was pressed into use for militarism<ref>"[http://www.wanpela.com/holdouts/history.html No Surrender: Background History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718134723/http://www.wanpela.com/holdouts/history.html |date=2011-07-18 }}"</ref> [[Japanese propaganda during World War II#Bushido|to present war as purifying, and death a duty]].<ref>David Powers, "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/japan_no_surrender_01.shtml Japan: No Surrender in World War Two] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929201011/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/japan_no_surrender_01.shtml |date=2019-09-29 }}"</ref> Bushido was pitched as revitalizing traditional values and "transcending the modern".<ref>[[John W. Dower]], ''War Without Mercy:  Race & Power in the Pacific War'' p1 {{ISBN|0-394-50030-X}}</ref> Bushido would provide a spiritual shield to let soldiers fight to the end.<ref>[[Richard Overy]], ''Why the Allies Won'' p 6 {{ISBN|0-393-03925-0}}</ref> When giving orders, [[General Hideki Tojo]] routinely slapped the faces of the men under his command, saying face-slapping was a "means of training" men who came from families that were not part of the samurai caste, and for whom bushido was not second nature.<ref>{{cite book |last=Browne |first=Courtney |year=1998 |title=Tojo The Last Banzai |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=Boston |isbn=0306808447 |page=40|ref= {{sfnRef|Browne}} }}</ref> Tojo wrote a chapter in the book ''Hijōji kokumin zenshū'' (''Essays in time of national emergency'') which the Army Ministry published in March 1934. It called for Japan to become a totalitarian "national defense state".{{sfn|Bix|p=277}} It included 15 essays by senior generals and argued Japan defeated Russia in the Russo–Japanese War because bushido gave the Japanese superior willpower: they did not fear death, unlike the Russians who wanted to live.<ref>{{cite book | last = Bix | first = Herbert P. | author-link = Herbert P. Bix | date = September 4, 2001 | title = Hirohito and the making of modern Japan | publisher = HarperCollins | isbn = 978-0-06-093130-8 | page=277 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zjmVltzm1kYC | access-date = November 11, 2011 | ref = {{sfnRef|Bix}}}}</ref>

[[File:USS Bunker Hill hit by two Kamikazes.jpg|thumb|When the aircraft carrier {{USS|Bunker Hill|CV-17|6}} was hit by two ''[[kamikaze]]s'' on 11 May 1945, 389 personnel were killed or went missing and 264 were wounded.<ref>[http://www.navsource.net/archives/02/17.htm Bunker Hill CV-17], NavSource Online: Aircraft Carrier Photo Archive</ref>]]
As the Second World War turned, the spirit of bushido was invoked to urge that all depended on the firm and united soul of the nation.{{sfn|Hoyt|1986|p=334}} When Japan lost the [[Battle of Attu]], the government attempted to paint the more than two thousand Japanese deaths as an inspirational epic for the fighting spirit of the nation.<ref>[[John Toland (author)|John Toland]], ''[[The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936-1945]]'' p 444 Random House New York 1970</ref>  Arguments that the plans for the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]], involving all Japanese ships, would expose Japan to serious danger if they failed, were countered with the plea that the Navy be permitted to "bloom as flowers of death".<ref>John Toland, ''The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936–1945'' p 539 Random House New York 1970</ref> The Japanese believed that indoctrination in bushido would give them the edge as the Japanese longed to die for the emperor, while the Americans were afraid to die. However, superior American pilot training and airplanes meant the Japanese were outclassed by the Americans.<ref>{{cite book |last=Willmott |first=H.P. |year=1984 |title=June 1944 |publisher=Blandford Press |location=Poole, United Kingdom |isbn=0-7137-1446-8 |page=213 |ref={{sfnRef|Willmott}} |url=https://archive.org/details/june194400will}}</ref> The first proposals of [[Kamikaze|organized suicide attacks]] met resistance. While bushido called for a warrior to be always aware of death, they were not to view it as the sole end. However, desperation brought about acceptance{{sfn|Hoyt|1986|p=356}} and such attacks were acclaimed as the true spirit of bushido.{{sfn|Hoyt|1986|p=360}}

Bushido regarded surrender as cowardly. Those who did forfeited their honor and lost dignity and respect:<ref name="borch">{{cite book |last1=Borch |first1=Fred |title=Military Trials of War Criminals in the Netherlands East Indies 1946–1949 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sn8yDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0191082955 |pages=31–32 |access-date=2019-01-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128213146/https://books.google.com/books?id=sn8yDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 |archive-date=2020-01-28 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{blockquote|As Japan continued its modernization in the early 20th century, her armed forces became convinced that success in battle would be assured if Japanese soldiers, sailors, and airmen had the "spirit" of ''Bushido''.{{nbsp}}... The result was that the ''Bushido'' code of behavior "was inculcated into the Japanese soldier as part of his basic training". Each soldier was indoctrinated to accept that it was the greatest honor to die for the Emperor and it was cowardly to surrender to the enemy.{{nbsp}}... ''Bushido'' therefore explains why the Japanese in the [[Netherlands East Indies|NEI]] so mistreated POWs in their custody. Those who had surrendered to the Japanese—regardless of how courageously or honorably they had fought—merited nothing but contempt; they had forfeited all honor and literally deserved nothing. Consequently, when the Japanese murdered POWs by shooting, beheading, and drowning, these acts were excused since they involved the killing of men who had forfeited all rights to be treated with dignity or respect. While civilian internees were certainly in a different category from POWs, it is reasonable to think that there was a "spill-over" effect from the tenets of ''Bushido''.| [[Fred Borch]], ''Military Trials of War Criminals in the Netherlands East Indies 1946–1949''}}

The practice of beheading captured soldiers and prisoners originates from samurai culture in the 14th century or earlier.<ref name="Gaskin, Carol 2004"/><ref name="headhunters"/> Japanese propaganda claimed prisoners of war captured during the Second World War denied mistreatment, and declared they were treated well by virtue of bushido generosity.{{sfn|Hoyt|1986|p=256}} Broadcast interviews with prisoners were described as not propaganda and voluntarily given based on such sympathy for the enemy that only bushido could inspire.{{sfn|Hoyt|1986|p=257}}

During the Second World War, many Japanese infantry were trapped on [[Guam]], surrounded by Allied forces and low on supplies.{{sfn|Dixon|Gilda|Bulgrin|2012|p=110}} Despite being outnumbered and in horrific conditions, many soldiers refused to surrender. Nitobe Inazō wrote, "They continued to honor the Bushido code, believing that to rush into the thick of battle and to be slain in it, is easy enough{{nbsp}}... but, it is true courage to live when it is right to live, and to die only when it is right to die".<ref name="Nitobi 2006">Nitobe, Inazō. 2006 ''Bushido: The Soul of Japan''. Stepney, Australia: Axiom Publishing.</ref><ref name="dixon 113">{{harvnb|Dixon|Gilda|Bulgrin|2012|p=113}}</ref>

== Contemporary bushido ==
Bushido is still present in the social and economic organization of Japan.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> The samurai spirit and the virtues can still be found in Japanese society.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/> Notable Japanese consider bushido an important part of their culture.<ref name="gackt"/>

===Business===
Bushido affects myriad aspects in Japanese society and culture. In addition to impacts on military performance, media, entertainment, martial arts, medicine and social work, the bushido code has catalyzed corporate behavior. It is the mode of thought which historically structured the capitalist activity in the 20th century. Business relations, the close relationship between the individual and the group to which he or she belongs, the notions of trust, respect and harmony within the Japanese business world are based on bushido. Therefore, this is at the origin of the [[:fr:Harmonie industrielle|industrial harmony]] ([[:ja:労使協調]]) ideology of modern Japan. It allowed the country to become, with the [[Japanese economic miracle]], the economic leader of Asia in the post-war years of the 1950-1960s. {{Citation needed|reason=even with a citation this is making a huge and debatable causal claim|date=May 2025}}

The industrialist [[Eiichi Shibusawa]] preached bushido as necessary for future times, and the spirit of Japanese business from the Meiji era to the [[Taishō|Taishō Democracy]] was advocated, which became the backbone necessary for Japanese management.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bushido according to Shibusawa Eiichi: The Analects and Business and Samurais in the World|publisher=Amazon.com |year=2017}}</ref>

Shinya Fujimura examines Samurai ethics in the academic article The Samurai Ethics: A Paradigm for Corporate Behavior. Bushido principles indicate that rapid economic growth does not have to be a goal of modern existence.{{sfn|Fujimura|2011|p=212}} Relatedly, economic contentment is attainable regardless of hegemonic gross-domestic product statistics.{{sfn|Fujimura|2011|p=213}} In Fujimura's words, "The tradition permeates the country's corporate culture and has informed many of its social developments".{{sfn|Fujimura|2011|p=214}} Fujimura states egalitarian principles practiced by the Samurai have permeated through modern business society and culture. Principles like Honorable Poverty, "Seihin," encourage those with power and resources to share their wealth, directly influencing national success.{{sfn|Fujimura|2011|p=214}} Bushido also provides enterprises with social meaning. Eloquently described by Fujimura, "The moral purpose that bushido articulates transcends booms and busts ... it is often said that a Japanese company is like a family, with executives caring about employees and employees showing respect to executives. Bushido, then, is part of the basis for a sense of national identity and belonging—an ideal that says the Japanese are one people, in it together.{{sfn|Fujimura|2011|p=215}}

In [[Taiwan]], there continued to be positive views of bushido.<ref name="teng-book"/> Such as late ROC president [[Lee Teng-hui]] (1923–2020) admired traditional Japanese values and bushido influenced him.<ref name="teng-hui">{{cite web |title=Tokyo governor tearful when paying respects to late Taiwan president |publisher=Taiwan News |author=Huang Tzu-ti |url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3981828 |date=August 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810060755/https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3981828 |archive-date=August 10, 2020}}</ref> In [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Japanese Taiwan]], Teng-hui learned [[kendo]] in school and he was deeply influenced by bushido and the Japanese ''Bushido spirit'', which had a significant impact on his future life.<ref name=pdo201011030b>{{cite news |script-title=zh:再發"參拜靖國神社"論 李登輝媚日情結大起底 3 November 2010 |date=3 November 2010 |access-date=1 October 2012 |url=http://tw.news.chinayes.com/Content/20101103/kccs09xiiw6ps_2.shtml |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130102102812/http://tw.news.chinayes.com/Content/20101103/kccs09xiiw6ps_2.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 January 2013 |work=[[People's Daily]] |publisher=兩岸網 }}</ref> He wrote the 2003 Japanese book ''"Bushido" Precis: What is Noblesse oblige?'' which strived to boost Japan's morale during the [[Lost Decades|economic stagnation]] by appealing to Japan's warrior spirit.<ref name="teng-book">{{cite book |title=「武士道」解題〔小学館文庫〕: ノーブレス・オブリージュとは ("Bushidō" kaidai : nōburesu oburīju to wa)| author=[[Lee Teng-hui]]|date=April 6, 2006 |publisher= Shogakukan (小学館)| id={{ASIN|4094057927|country=jp}}}}</ref>

===Communication===
In utilization of bushido's seven virtues, the Samurai code has been renewed to contribute towards development of communication skills between adult Japanese couples. Composed in 2012, the empirical document "The Bushido Matrix for Couple Communication" identifies a methodology which can be employed by counseling agents to guide adults in self-reflection and share emotions with their partner. This activity centers on the "Bushido Matrix Worksheet" (BMW).<ref>{{harvnb|Li|Lin|Ginsburg|Eckstein|2012|p=299}}</ref> The authors accentuate, "practicing Bushido virtues can ultimately enhance intra- and interpersonal relationship, beginning with personal awareness and extending to couple awareness.<ref name="communication 301">{{harvnb|Li|Lin|Ginsburg|Eckstein|2012|p=301}}</ref> When utilizing the matrix, a couple is asked to identify one of the seven virtues and apply it to their past and current perceptions surrounding its prevalence in their lives.<ref name="communication 301"/> If individuals identify their relationship to be absent that specific virtue, they may now ponder of its inclusion for their benevolence.<ref name="communication 302">{{harvnb|Li|Lin|Ginsburg|Eckstein|2012|p=302}}</ref>

===Martial arts===
[[File:Sensei_iaido-rework.jpg|thumb|[[Iaido]] sensei Haruna Matsuo]]
The bushido spirit exists in Japanese martial arts.<ref name="samurai-spirit"/> Modern bushido focuses more on self-defense, fighting, sports, tournaments and just physical fitness training. While all of these things are important to the martial arts, a much more important thing is missing, which is personal development. Bushido's art taught soldiers the important secrets of life, how to raise children, how to dress, how to treat family and other people, how to cultivate personality, things related to finances. All of these things are important to be a respected soldier. Although modern bushido is guided by eight virtues{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}, that alone is not enough. Bushido not only taught one how to become a soldier, but all the stages of life. The warrior described by bushido is not a profession but a way of life. It is not necessary to be in the army to be a soldier. The term "warrior" refers to a person who is fighting for something, not necessarily physically. Man is a true warrior because of what is in his heart, mind, and soul. {{citation needed|date=May 2025}} Everything else is just tools in the creation to make it perfect. Bushido is a way of life that means living in every moment, honorably and honestly. All this is of great importance in the life of a soldier, both now and in the past.<ref>Sanders, B., 2012. ''Modern Bushido: Living a Life of Excellence.''{{page needed|date=April 2021}}</ref>

In the book ''Kata – The true essence of Budo martial arts?'', Simon Dodd and David Brown state that ''bushido spiritualism'' led the martial art 'Bujutsu' to evolve into modern '[[Budō]]' (武道).<ref name="bushido-martial-arts">{{cite journal |last1=Dodd |first1=Simon Alexander |last2=Brown |first2=David |title=Kata – The true essence of Budo martial arts? |journal=Revista de Artes Marciales Asiáticas |date=25 June 2016 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=32–47 |doi=10.18002/rama.v11i1.3693 |doi-access=free |hdl=10612/16432 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> For their analysis, they review the Kamakura period to reiterate the influence bushido held in martial arts evolution.<ref name="bushido-martial-arts"/> They distinctly state, "For clarity any reference to bushido is in relation to bujutsu within the Kamakura to pre-Meiji restoration period (pre-1868), and any links to budo are referring to the modern form of the martial arts."<ref name="bushido-martial-arts"/> To supplement this affirmation Dodd and Brown discuss the variance between the meaning behind Bujutsu and Budo. According to Todd and Brown Budo is a redevelopment of traditional [[Kamakura period]] martial arts principles; Budo defines the ''way of the warrior'' through roots in religious ethics and philosophy. The martial art form's translation binds it to Confucian and Buddhist concepts of bushido:<ref name="bushido-martial-arts"/>

<blockquote>Respected karate-ka Kousaku Yokota explains how Bujutsu could be considered the "art of fighting or killing" and encompasses a 'win at all costs' mentality required for battlefield survival (Yokota, 2010, p. 185). Conversely, Budo could be considered the "art of living or life" and enables a practitioner to live "honestly and righteously or at least with principles". Expanding on both these points, Deshimaru (1982, p. 11; p. 46) reports that the ideogram for bu means to "the cease the struggle" and that "in Budo the point is...to find peace and mastery of the self"<ref name="bushido-martial-arts"/></blockquote>

[[Iaidō]], in its transmission and its practice, is the martial art which takes up, in its entirety, bushido by the etiquette, the code of honor, the dress, the carrying of the sword and the fight against oneself rather than against the opponent. Modern combat sports like [[kendo]] derive their philosophy from bushido; unlike other martial arts, prolonged contact or multiple hits tend to be disadvantaged in favor of simple, clean attacks on the body. Bushido has also inspired the code of honor for disciplines such as [[aikijutsu]], [[aikido]], [[aikibudo]], [[judo]], [[jujitsu]], [[Kyudo]], or the [[chanbara]].

[[Kendo]] has the bushido spirit as epitomized by the motto ''Ken Zen Ichi Nyo'' (lit. "the sword and Zen are one") (剣 禅 一 如).<ref name="samurai-spirit"/> The philosopher [[Tetsuro Watsuji]] (1889–1960) wrote that kendo involves raising a struggle to a life-transcending level by freeing oneself from an attachment to life.<ref name="samurai-spirit"/>  Kendo inculcates moral instruction through strict adherence to a code of etiquette.<ref name="samurai-spirit"/> There are kamidana (miniature Shinto shrine) in the dojo.<ref name="samurai-spirit"/> The basic attitude in Kendo is noble by shunning base feelings and the aim is conquering the self.<ref name="samurai-spirit"/>

===Way of life===
There are people who use bushido as a way of life. For example, the Japanese music artist [[Gackt]] said that his philosophical way of life is similar to bushido.<ref name="BunrakuMTV"/><ref name="gackt"/> In 2011, during interviews about his martial arts action movie [[Bunraku (film)|Bunraku]] (2010) he said: {{blockquote|Being Japanese, bushido is my roots, and is an important part of my country's culture. I believe it is my role to share this beautiful culture with the world. Bushido is a big part of me personally as well as in my professional career.<ref name="gackt">{{Cite web| url=http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-79430-interview-with-gackt.html| title=Interview with GACKT| date=September 28, 2011| publisher=JaME World| access-date=February 9, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216071205/http://www.jame-world.com/us/articles-79430-interview-with-gackt.html| archive-date=February 16, 2016| url-status=live}}</ref>...Bushido is also the core of how I think, feel, and live so I felt this was a great opportunity for me to express to the world what "Bushido" really means.<ref name="BunrakuMTV">{{cite web| url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2440090/gackt-bunraku/| title=Gackt Speaks In This Exclusive 'Bunraku' Clip And Interview!| author=Josh Wigler| date=September 29, 2011| publisher=MTV| access-date=February 9, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315123628/http://www.mtv.com/news/2440090/gackt-bunraku/| archive-date=March 15, 2016| url-status=dead}}</ref>|[[Gackt]]}} Other notable people who used bushido in life include Chinese leader [[Chiang Kai-shek]], who adopted Bushido during his education in Japan.<ref name="edizionicafoscari"/>

In October 2011, Spain's [[Princess of Asturias Awards|Prince of Asturias Award for Concord]] was given to the heroes of the [[Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster]] aka the [[Fukushima 50]].<ref name="samurai-spirit"/> They were praised for their conduct which "embodied the values most deeply rooted in Japanese society" and "courage and exemplary behaviour" with self-sacrifice.<ref name="samurai-spirit"/> This was described by the media as "samurai spirit".<ref name="samurai-spirit">{{cite web |url=https://www.nippon.com/en/column/g00009/ |author=Hosoda Haruko |title=Samurai Spirit Still Animates Japan |website=Nippon |date=December 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111232856/https://www.nippon.com/en/column/g00009/ |archive-date=November 11, 2018}}</ref>

===Japan Self-Defense Forces===
[[File:JGSDF_22nd_Inf._official.jpg|thumb|JSDF soldiers during a training exercise]]
The [[Japan Self-Defense Forces]] (JSDF) are the successor of the [[Armed Forces of the Empire of Japan]] which existed from 1868 till 1947.<ref>"One can date the 'restoration' of imperial rule from the edict of 3 January 1868." {{Cite book | last =Jansen, Marius B. | title =The Making of Modern Japan | publisher =Harvard University Press | year =2000 | location =Cambridge}} p. 334.</ref> The JSDF was officially established with the Self-Defense Forces Act in 1954 (Act No. 165 of 1954).<ref name="Defendingjapan.wordpress.com">{{cite web |url=http://defendingjapan.wordpress.com/tag/japan-self-defense-force/ |title=Japan Self-Defense Force &#124; Defending Japan |publisher=Defendingjapan.wordpress.com |access-date=2014-08-03 |archive-date=16 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216123929/https://defendingjapan.wordpress.com/tag/japan-self-defense-force/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It is primarily used for national defense due to limitations of [[Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution]]. Bushido is only used symbolically for example with names for combat exercises such as Exercise Bushido Guardian (2019).<ref name="bushido-guardian">{{cite web |title=Exercise Bushido Guardian comes to an end |author=Louis Dillon |date= October 14, 2019 |url=https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/air-sea-lift/4941-exercise-bushido-guardian-comes-to-an-end |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101021200/https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/air-sea-lift/4941-exercise-bushido-guardian-comes-to-an-end |archive-date=January 1, 2021}}</ref> There are supporters and opposition for introducing bushido to the JSDF.

====Supporters====
Since 2000, numerous general officers proclaimed the importance of bushido with lectures.<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> Bushido is useful for uniting troops with slogans such as "bravery" "discipline" and "honesty".<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/>
[[Takashi Araya]] is an author, martial artist and [[Japan Ground Self-Defense Force|JGSDF]] veteran (1982–2008) who established the first special forces of the [[Japan Self-Defense Forces|JSDF]].<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> Araya wrote the 2015 book ''To those who Fight: Japan's Cause and Bushido''.<ref name="araya"/> He describes the essence of bushido which was created over a thousand years, and stresses the importance of training soldiers with bushido.<ref name="araya"/> He argues the purpose of Japanese martial arts is not to kill other people, but to cleanse their evil spirits and open the way for coexistence and co-prosperity.<ref name="araya"/> He says by training soldiers with bushido they can become the strongest fighting special forces.<ref name="araya"/> He wants JSDF members to inherit bushido to be brave and live dignifiedly.<ref name="araya"/> By using the action philosophy of bushido, they can become not only strong technologically, but also spiritually.<ref name="araya">{{cite book |author=Takashi Araya (荒谷 卓) |title=戦う者たちへ (日本の大義と武士道) |date=August 31, 2015 |publisher=並木書房 |isbn= 978-4-89063-332-6 }}{{page needed|date=April 2021}}</ref>

====Opposition====
Some critics say that excessive praise of bushido could repeat the mistakes of the former Imperial Armed Forces.<ref name="jsdf-bushido">{{cite web |title=自衛隊よ、武士道に入れあげていると破滅するぞ (Self-Defense Forces, if you put it in Bushido, it will be ruined) |url=https://jbpress.ismedia.jp/articles/-/49356 |author=Naosuke Heya (部谷 直亮) |date=March 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529032720/http://jbpress.ismedia.jp/articles/-/49356 |archive-date=May 29, 2019}}</ref> The old Japanese military officer training of the [[Imperial Japanese Army|IJA]] emphasized courage under fire (assault) instead of scientific ability.<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> This created close solidarity between the soldiers and officers, but the officers lacked the skills that the soldiers had.<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> Japanese troops put high significance on dying bravely and spiritual value instead of long-term endurance.<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> This resulted in "an inclination toward spirituality that ignores reality."<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> This [[ethos]] exists in the JSDF. By having officers act like soldiers to earn their loyalty with the courage of bushido, it causes sleep-deprivation.<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> It's disputed whether it has significance for modern-warfare such as [[space warfare]] and [[cyberwarfare]].<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/>

There was a case of a [[National Police Reserve]] (1950–1954) member who committed [[seppuku]] to apologize for being unable to become an ideal soldier.<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> Another example was a young squadron commander who failed an exercise due to repeating to attack rather than change tactics.<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> The pre-war [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] researcher Alexander Chiralfi said the Japanese mindset was subjective and had no interest in academically analysing unrelated maritime issues.<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> Subjective and short-sighted discussions don't yield wise strategies.<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> The ideal image of executives should change according to the times and strategic environment.<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> Thus, feudal bushido may not fit in a modern strategic environment and culture.<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> Critics argue that the Meiji Army defeated the [[Military of the Qing dynasty|Qing]] and the [[Imperial Russian Army]], not because of bushido, but because it was a professional military organization.<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> Therefore, Bushido should not become the values of the whole [[JSDF]].<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/> Rather the ideal image of JSDF executives should be defined to achieve national interests.<ref name="jsdf-bushido"/>

== Bushido types and tenets ==
Multiple bushido types have existed through history. The code varied due to influences such as [[Japanese Zen|Zen Buddhism]], Shinto, Confucianism as well as changes in society and on the battlefield.<ref name="britannica"/><ref name="nippon-bushido"/><ref name="britannica-groups"/> The consistent ideal is martial spirit, including athletic, military skills and valor: fearlessness toward the enemy in battle.<ref name="britannica"/><ref name="nippon-bushido"/> Bushido is a path that the samurai of each era pursued for their entire existence.

===Sengoku bushido===
* Period: Muromachi-Azuchi (Sengoku period) (1336–1603)
* Representative and important figures: [[Takeda Shingen]], [[Uesugi Kenshin]], [[Oda Nobunaga]], [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]], [[Katō Kiyomasa]], [[Nabeshima Naoshige]]

During this era the [[daimyo]] expanded their territory by force and strategy. Battles occurred frequently in various places. The purpose was to expand one's power. The killing of the enemy in a battle led to evaluation.
Certain daimyos wrote about moral codes with influence from [[Japanese Zen|Zen Buddhism]] and Confucianism. There was not yet a strong attachment to moral values (apart from honor) in samurai society. Honor, weaponry and warfare were valued of utmost importance in Japanese culture.<ref name="xavier"/> Low priority was placed on monetary savings.<ref name="xavier"/>

====Tenets====
* Honor<ref name="xavier"/>
* Warfare<ref name="xavier"/>
* Weapon mastery<ref name="xavier"/><ref name="musashi-five-rings"/>
* Martial arts<ref name="britannica"/><ref name="nippon-bushido"/>
* Valor in battle<ref name="nippon-bushido" />
* Early moral codes

===Edo bushido===
* Period: Early to late Edo (1603–1868)
* Representative and important figures: [[Kōsaka Masanobu]], [[Saito Chikamori]], [[Yamaga Soko]], [[Daidoji Tomoyama]], [[Yagyu Munenori]], [[Yamaoka Tesshu]], [[Miyamoto Musashi]], [[Yamamoto Tsunetomo]], [[Hishikawa Moronobu]]

After the chaotic Sengoku period, politics were carried out in orderly fashion, and peace was maintained. The samurai could no longer obtain merit on the battlefield. They found more significance of the samurai's existence in areas other than battle. As per Confucianism, it was valued to work for morals and the public, not for personal reasons. In addition, there were many martial arts who included religious boundaries such as Buddhism and Shinto.

A famous example is a passage in the ''[[Hagakure]]'': "Bushido is realised in the presence of death. In the case of having to choose between life and death you should choose death. There is no other reasoning. Move on with determination." It can be difficult to interpret, but it was radical at the time. That appeared in the Taihei era of the Edo period. The oral tradition of the [[Saga Domain]] feudal lord [[Nabeshima Mitsushige]], [[Yamamoto Tsunetomo]], is the main subject. There are many expressions that criticize the samurai who are associated with Confucianism and Buddhism that were popular at the time. There are many works that guide the art of treatment while describing the spirit of the samurai of the Sengoku period.

====Tenets====
''Bushidō'' expanded and formalized the earlier code of the ''samurai'', and stressed sincerity, frugality, loyalty, mastery of [[martial arts]], and [[honor|honour]] to the death. Under the ''bushidō'' ideal, if a ''samurai'' failed to uphold his honor he could only regain it by performing ''[[seppuku]]'' (ritual [[suicide]]).<ref name="britannica">{{Cite news |title=Bushido |language=en |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bushido |url-status=live |access-date=2017-08-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801172446/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bushido |archive-date=2017-08-01}}</ref> The core of bushido consists of a combination of teachings from Japan's three main philosophical traditions: 1. [[Buddhism in Japan|Buddhist]] precepts of serenity, stoicism, and non-attachment to life. 2. [[Shinto]] notions of fidelity and patriotism, and 3. [[Edo neo-Confucianism|Confucian]] morality.<ref name="samurai-spirit"/> People imbued with {{nihongo|bushi katagi|武士気質|extra=lit. "samurai spirit"}} can serenely carry out their work in the face of any adversity, and have the willpower to master themselves.<ref name="samurai-spirit"/> Taira Shigesuke, [[Daidōji Yūzan]] wrote ''Bushido Shoshinshu'' (武道初心集) (pre-1730) which provides practical and moral instructions for samurai to improve personal, social and professional standards.<ref name="shoshinshu">{{cite book |title=The Code of the Samurai: A Modern Translation of the Bushido Shoshinshu of Taira Shigesuke |author= Oscar Ratti, Thomas Cleary |date= 15 September 1999 |publisher= Tuttle |isbn=0804831904 }}</ref>

In an excerpt from his book ''Samurai: The World of the Warrior'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ospreysamurai.com/samurai_death02.htm|title=ospreysamurai.com|website=www.ospreysamurai.com|access-date=2006-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060315180151/http://www.ospreysamurai.com/samurai_death02.htm|archive-date=2006-03-15|url-status=usurped}}</ref> historian [[Stephen Turnbull (historian)|Stephen Turnbull]] describes the role of seppuku in feudal Japan:

<blockquote>In the world of the warrior, seppuku was a deed of bravery that was admirable in a samurai who knew he was defeated, disgraced, or mortally wounded. It meant that he could end his days with his transgressions wiped away and with his reputation not merely intact but actually enhanced. The cutting of the abdomen released the samurai's spirit in the most dramatic fashion, but it was an extremely painful and unpleasant way to die, and sometimes the samurai who was performing the act asked a loyal comrade to cut off his head at the moment of agony.</blockquote>

''Bushidō'' varied dramatically over time, and across the geographic and socio-economic backgrounds of the ''samurai'', who represented somewhere between 5% and 10% of the Japanese population.<ref name="cleary">Cleary, Thomas ''Training the Samurai Mind: A Bushido Sourcebook'' Shambhala (May 2008) {{ISBN|1-59030-572-8}}</ref> The first [[Meiji era|Meiji-era]] census at the end of the 19th century counted 1,282,000 members of the "high ''samurai''", allowed to ride a horse, and 492,000 members of the "low samurai", allowed to [[Daishō|wear two swords]] but not to ride a horse, in a country of about 25 million.<ref>Mikiso Hane ''Modern Japan: A Historical Survey, Third Edition'' Westview Press (January 2001) {{ISBN|0-8133-3756-9}}</ref>

Some versions of ''bushidō'' include compassion for those of lower station, and for the preservation of one's name.<ref name="Wilson"/> Early ''bushidō'' literature further enforces the requirement to conduct oneself with calmness, fairness, justice, and propriety.<ref name="Wilson"/> The relationship between learning and the way of the warrior is clearly articulated, one being a natural partner to the other.<ref name="Wilson"/>

Other pundits pontificating on the warrior philosophy covered methods of raising children, appearance, and grooming, but all of this may be seen as part of one's constant preparation for death—to die a good death with one's honor intact, the ultimate aim in a life lived according to ''bushidō''. Indeed, a "good death" is its own reward, and by no means assurance of "future rewards" in the [[afterlife]]. Some ''samurai'', though certainly not all (e.g., [[Amakusa Shirō]]), have throughout history held such aims or beliefs in disdain, or expressed the awareness that their station—as it involves killing—precludes such reward, especially in [[Buddhism]]. Japanese beliefs surrounding the ''samurai'' and the afterlife are complex and often contradictory, while the soul of a noble warrior suffering in hell or as a lingering spirit occasionally appears in Japanese art and literature, so does the idea of a warrior being reborn upon a [[lotus throne]] in paradise<ref>Zeami Motokiyo "Atsumori"</ref>

The essence of bushido was defined by Saitō Chikamori as:<ref name="nippon-bushido"/><ref name="britannica"/>
*Sincerity – do not lie, do not be insincere, do not be superficial
*Responsibility – do not be obsequious
*Frugality – do not be greedy<ref name="nippon-bushido"/>
*Politeness – do not be rude, do not slander
*Modesty – do not be boastful, do not be arrogant
*Loyalty – do not be unfaithful
*Harmony – be on good terms with comrades
*Tranquility – do not be overly concerned with events
*Compassion – show concern for one another, be compassionate, with a strong sense of duty.

===Meiji bushido===
* Period: [[Meiji period|Meiji]] to mid Showa (1868–1945).
* Representative and important figures: [[Nitobe Inazō]], [[Yukio Mishima]], [[Kanō Jigorō]], Kanno Kakumyō, [[Eiichi Shibusawa]], [[Fukuzawa Yukichi]]

Meiji bushido added absolute subservience to the will of the Emperor<ref name="thecollector"/> with an emphasis on loyalty and self-sacrifice.<ref name="ikegami"/> The book ''[[Bushido: The Soul of Japan]]'' by [[Nitobe Inazō]] popularized bushido internationally during the Meiji era. However, the morals that he described are romanticized interpretations and do not represent all of bushido through history.

In the [[Taishō]] era, bushido as the way of the merchant was advocated by industrialist [[Shibusawa Eiichi]] (1840–1931), known as the "father of Japanese capitalism".<ref name="Odagiri & Goto">{{cite book |last = Odagiri |first = Hiroyuki |title = Technology and Industrial Development in Japan |publisher = Oxford University Press |year = 1996 |isbn = 978-0-19-828802-2 |pages = 72–73}}</ref> Shibusawa was also a warrior who learned [[Shindō Munen-ryū]] and [[Hokushin Ittō-ryū]]. He spent some time as a vassal of [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]], and since the Meiji era, he was a businessman and involved in the establishment of hundreds of corporations.
In his book "Theory and Arithmetic" (論語と算盤), he advocated the word "samurai business talent" (士魂商才). He linked the spirit of the samurai (bushido with the influence of Confucianism) to economic activity and denied immoral merchants for self-interest.

===={{anchor|Eight virtues}}Eight virtues of bushido (as defined by [[Nitobe Inazō]])====

As mentioned above, historically there was no unified code, which varied from clan to clan, but the so-called ''bushidō'' code was typified by eight [[virtue]]s according to [[Nitobe Inazō]], while he was in the United States, under obvious influence of western chivalry notions <ref name="samurai-archive">{{cite web |title=Nitobe Inazo |website=SamuraiWiki - Samurai Archives |url=https://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Nitobe_Inazo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911150917/https://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Nitobe_Inazo |archive-date=September 11, 2017}}</ref> in the [[Meiji Period]] (1900):<ref name="bushido-soul"/> Nitobe defined bushido as "the ways which fighting nobles should observe in their daily life as in their vocation."<ref name="samurai-spirit"/>

*{{Nihongo|[[Righteousness]]|[[wiktionary:義|義]]|gi}}
Be acutely honest throughout your dealings with all people. Believe in justice, not from other people, but from yourself. To the true warrior, all points of view are deeply considered regarding honesty, justice and integrity. Warriors make a full commitment to their decisions.
*{{Nihongo|[[Hero]]ic [[Courage]]|[[wiktionary:勇気|勇]]|yū}}
Hiding like a turtle in a shell is not living at all. A true warrior must have heroic courage. It is absolutely risky. It is living life completely, fully and wonderfully. Heroic courage is not blind. It is intelligent and strong.
*{{Nihongo|[[Charity (practice)|Benevolence]], [[Compassion]]|[[wiktionary:仁|仁]]|jin}}
Through intense training and hard work the true warrior becomes quick and strong. They are not as most people. They develop a power that must be used for good. They have compassion. They help their fellow men at every opportunity. If an opportunity does not arise, they go out of their way to find one.
*{{Nihongo|[[Respect]]|[[wiktionary:礼|礼]]|rei}}
True warriors have no reason to be cruel. They do not need to prove their strength. Warriors are not only respected for their strength in battle, but also by their dealings with others. The true strength of a warrior becomes apparent during difficult times.
*{{Nihongo|[[Honesty]]|[[wiktionary:誠|誠]]|makoto}}
When warriors say that they will perform an action, it is as good as done. Nothing will stop them from completing what they say they will do. They do not have to 'give their word'. They do not have to 'promise'. Speaking and doing are the same action.
*{{Nihongo|[[Honour]]|[[wiktionary:名誉|名誉]]|meiyo}}
Warriors have only one judge of honor and character, and this is themselves. Decisions they make and how these decisions are carried out are a reflection of who they truly are. You cannot hide from yourself.
*{{Nihongo|[[Duty]] and [[Loyalty]]|[[wiktionary:忠義|忠義]]|chūgi}}
Warriors are responsible for everything that they have done and everything that they have said and all of the consequences that follow. They are immensely loyal to all of those in their care. To everyone that they are responsible for, they remain fiercely true.
*{{Nihongo|[[Self-control|Self-Control]]|[[wiktionary:自制|自制]]|jisei}}

==== Associated virtues ====
* {{Nihongo|[[Filial piety]]|[[wiktionary:孝|孝]]|kō}}
* {{Nihongo|[[Wisdom]]|[[wiktionary:智|智]]|chi}}
* {{Nihongo|[[Fraternity]]|[[wiktionary:悌|悌]]|tei}}
* {{Nihongo|[[Duty]]|[[wiktionary:義理|義理]]|giri}} ([[Giri (Japanese)]])

===Contemporary bushido===
* Period: 1950–Present
* Representative and important figures: [[Chiang Kai-shek]],<ref name="edizionicafoscari">{{cite journal |url=http://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/media/pdf/books/978-88-6969-127-0/978-88-6969-127-0-ch-01.pdf |doi=10.14277/6969-126-3/SV-4-1 |title=Chiang Kai-shek's Study in Japan in His Memories |journal= |year=2017 |access-date=24 July 2018 |archive-date=25 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033322/http://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/media/pdf/books/978-88-6969-127-0/978-88-6969-127-0-ch-01.pdf |url-status=live |last1=Yamada |first1=Tatsuo |publisher=Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia}}</ref> [[Gackt]], [[Fukushima 50]]

Bushido continues to exist in various forms in for example business, communication, martial arts and as a way of life.<ref name="nippon-bushido"/><ref name="communication 301"/><ref name="bushido-martial-arts"/><ref name="BunrakuMTV"/><ref name="gackt"/><ref name="teng-hui"/> This is also called the bushido spirit.<ref name="samurai-spirit"/><ref name=pdo201011030b/>

== Modern translations ==
Modern Western translation of documents related to ''bushidō'' began in the 1970s with [[Carl Steenstrup]], who performed research into the ethical codes of famous ''samurai'' including [[Hōjō Sōun]] and [[Imagawa Sadayo]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://monumenta.cc.sophia.ac.jp/aboutMN.html|title=''Monumenta Nipponica''|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080215193758/http://monumenta.cc.sophia.ac.jp/aboutMN.html|archive-date=2008-02-15}}</ref>

Primary research into ''bushidō'' was later conducted by [[William Scott Wilson]] in his 1982 text ''Ideals of the Samurai: Writings of Japanese Warriors''. The writings span hundreds of years, family lineage, geography, social class and writing style—yet share a common set of values. Wilson's work also examined older Japanese writings unrelated to the warrior class: the [[Kojiki]], [[Shoku Nihongi]], the [[Kokin Wakashū]] and the [[Konjaku Monogatari]], as well as the Chinese Classics (the [[Analects]], the [[Great Learning]], the [[Doctrine of the Mean]], and the [[Mencius]]).

In May 2008, [[Thomas Cleary]] translated a collection of 22 writings on ''bushidō'' by warriors, scholars, political advisers, and educators, spanning 500 years from the 14th to the 19th centuries. Titled ''Training the Samurai Mind: A Bushido Sourcebook,'' it gave an insider's view of the samurai world: "the moral and psychological development of the warrior, the ethical standards they were meant to uphold, their training in both martial arts and strategy, and the enormous role that the traditions of [[Shintoism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Confucianism]], and [[Taoism]] had in influencing samurai ideals".

== In literature ==
{{Main|Samurai in Japanese literature}}
Examples of important Japanese literature related to bushido from the 12th to the 21st century:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Author
!English title
!Japanese title
!Date
|-
|[[Hōjō Shigetoki (born 1198)|Hōjō Shigetoki]]
|The Message of Master Gokurakuji
|
|1198–1261
|-
|Ogasawara Sakuun
|Shoke no Hyōjō
|
|1621
|-
|[[Shiba Yoshimasa]]
|The Chikubashō
|
|1350–1410
|-
|[[Imagawa Sadayo]]
|The Regulations of Imagawa Ryoshun
|
|1325–1420
|-
|[[Asakura Toshikage]]
|The Seventeen-Article Injunction of Asakura Toshikage
|
|1428–1481
|-
|[[Hōjō Sōun]]
|The Twenty-One Precepts Of Hōjō Sōun
|
|1432–1519
|-
|[[Asakura Norikage]]
|The Recorded Words Of Asakura Soteki
|
|1474–1555
|-
|[[Takeda Shingen]]
|The Iwamizudera Monogatari
|
|1521–1573
|-
|[[Takeda Nobushige]] 
|Opinions In Ninety-Nine Articles 
|
|1525–1561
|-
|[[Torii Mototada]]
|The Last Statement of Torii Mototada
|
|1539–1600
|-
|[[Nabeshima Naoshige]] 
|Lord Nabeshima's Wall Inscriptions 
|
|1538–1618
|-
|[[Katō Kiyomasa]]
|The Precepts of Kato Kiyomasa
|
|1562–1611
|-
|[[Kōsaka Masanobu]] 
|[[Kōyō Gunkan]]
|甲陽軍鑑
|1616
|-
|[[Kuroda Nagamasa]]
|Notes On Regulations
|
|1568–1623
|-
|[[Saitō Chikamori]]
|Kashoki 
|可笑記
|1642
|-
|[[Miyamoto Musashi]]
|[[The Book of Five Rings]]
|五輪書
|1645
|-
|[[Hishikawa Moronobu]]
|Kokon Bushido Ezukushi (Bushido Through The Ages)
|古今武士道絵つくし
|1685
|-
|[[Yamamoto Tsunetomo]] and [[Tsuramoto Tashiro]]
|[[Hagakure]]
|'''葉隠'''
|1716
|-
|Taira Shigesuke, [[Daidōji Yūzan]] 
|Bushido Shoshinshu
|武道初心集
|Before 1730
|-
|[[Hideki Tojo]] & senior generals
|Hijōji Kokumin Zenshū (Essays in Time of National Emergency) 
|非常時國民全集
|1934
|-
|[[Takashi Araya]]
|To those who Fight: Japan's Cause and Bushido
|戦う者たちへ (日本の大義と武士道) 
|2015
|}

== Major figures associated with bushido ==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Asano Naganori]]
*[[Imagawa Ryōshun]]
*[[Katō Kiyomasa]]
*[[Sakanoue no Tamuramaro]]
*[[Honda Tadakatsu]]
*[[Tokugawa Ieyasu]]
*[[Torii Mototada]]
*[[Sasaki Kojirō]]
*[[Saigō Takamori]]
*[[Yamaga Sokō]]
*[[Yamamoto Tsunetomo]]
*[[Yamaoka Tesshū]]
*[[Yukio Mishima]]
*[[Hijikata Toshizō]]
*[[Kosaka Masanobu]]
*[[Miyamoto Musashi]]
*[[Nitobe Inazo]]
*[[Kusunoki Masashige]]
*[[Gichin Funakoshi]]
*[[Kanō Jigorō]]
*[[Dom Justo Takayama]]
*[[Morihei Ueshiba]]
*[[Takeda Sōkaku]]
*[[Hideki Tojo]]

{{div col end}}

== See also ==
*[[Budō]]
*[[Hagakure]]
*[[Hana wa sakuragi, hito wa bushi]]
*[[Japanese martial arts]]
*''[[The Unfettered Mind]]''
*[[Japanese Zen]]
*''[[Zen at War]]''
*[[Prussian virtues]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite journal |first1=Body |last1= Dixon |first2=Laura|last2=Gilda |first3=Lon| last3=Bulgrin |title=The Archaeology of World War II Japanese Stragglers on the Island of Guam and the Bushido Code |journal=[[Asian Perspectives]] |number=1 |date=2012|volume= 51 |pages= 110–127 |doi= 10.1353/asi.2012.0000 |hdl= 10125/36660 |s2cid= 162216662 |hdl-access=free }}
* {{cite book |first1=Edwin P |last1=Hoyt | author-link=Edwin Palmer Hoyt |isbn=0070306125 |title=Japan's War: The Great Pacific Conflict, 1853-1952 |date=1986 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |url=https://archive.org/details/japanswargreatpa0000hoyt}}
* {{cite journal |journal=Family Journal |title=The Bushido Matrix for Couple Communication |number=3 |volume=20 |pages=299–305 |date=2012 |last1=Li |first1= Chi-Sing |first2=Yu-Fen |last2=Lin |first3=Phil |last3=Ginsburg |first4=Daniel|last4=Eckstein |doi=10.1177/1066480712449142 |s2cid=145112346 |issn=1066-4807}}
* {{cite journal |journal=Journal of Asian Martial Arts |volume =17|number=3 |date=2008|title=Bushido's Role in the Growth of Pre-World War II Japanese Nationalism |first1=William R |last1=Patterson}}
* {{cite journal |first1=Shinya|last1=Fujimura |title=The Samurai Ethics: A Paradigm for Corporate Behavior |journal= Harvard Kennedy School Review  |volume=11 |pages=212–215 |date=2011}}
* {{cite book |last=Keen |first=Maurice Keen |year=2005 |title=Chivalry |location=New Haven, CT |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] }}
* {{cite book |last1=Shin'ichi |first1=Saeki |last2=Souyri |first2=Pierre-François |title=Samouraïs : du dit des heiké à l'intention du bushido |date=2017|language=French |publisher=Arkhê |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-918682-29-5}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|2}}
* William Scott Wilson, ''Ideals of the Samurai: Writings of Japanese Warriors'' (Kodansha, 1982) {{ISBN|0-89750-081-4}}
* [https://www.amazon.com/dp/1590305728 Training the Samurai Mind: A Bushido Sourcebook] by Thomas Cleary 288 pages Shambhala (May 13, 2008) {{ISBN|1-59030-572-8}} {{ISBN|978-1590305720}}
* Katsumata Shizuo with Martin Collcutt, "The Development of Sengoku Law," in Hall, Nagahara, and Yamamura (eds.), Japan Before Tokugawa: Political Consolidation and Economic Growth (1981), chapter 3.
* K. A. Grossberg & N. Kanamoto 1981, The Laws of the Muromachi Bakufu: Kemmu Shikimoku (1336) and Muromachi Bakufu Tsuikaho, MN Monographs (Sophia UP)
* Hall, John C. "Japanese Feudal Laws: the Magisterial Code of the Hojo Power Holders (1232) ." [[Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan]] 2nd ser. 34 (1906)
* "Japanese Feudal laws: The Ashikaga Code." [[Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan]] 1st ser. 36 (1908):
* John Allyn, ''"Forty-Seven Ronin Story"'' {{ISBN|0-8048-0196-7}}
* [[Imagawa Ryoshun]], ''The Regulations of Imagawa Ryoshun (1412 A.D.)'' [[s:Imagawa Ryoshun|Imagawa_Ryoshun]]
* [[Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale]], ''[[s:Final Statement of the 47 Ronin|Final_Statement_of_the_47_Ronin]] (1701 A.D.)''
* ''The Message Of Master Gokurakuji — Hōjō Shigetoki (1198A.D.-1261A.D.)'' [[s:Hojo shigetoki|Hojo_shigetoki]]
* Onoda, Hiroo, ''[http://www.trivia-library.com/b/history-of-survivor-hiroo-onoda-the-last-samurai-part-1.htm No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091935/http://www.trivia-library.com/b/history-of-survivor-hiroo-onoda-the-last-samurai-part-1.htm |date=2007-09-29 }}'' Trans. Charles S. Terry. (New York, Kodansha International Ltd, 1974) {{ISBN|1-55750-663-9}}
* ''Code of the Samurai: A Modern Translation of the Bushido Shoshinshu of Taira Shigesuke'' by Oscar Ratti, Thomas Cleary {{ISBN|0804831904}}, (September 15, 1999) {{Cite book |title=Code of the Samurai: A Modern Translation of the Bushido Shoshinshu of Taira Shigesuke |isbn=0804831904 |last1=Cleary |first1=Thomas |last2=Ratti |first2=Oscar |date=15 September 1999 |publisher=Tuttle }}
* [https://www.amazon.com/dp/9004104534 A History of Law in Japan Until 1868] by [[Dr. Carl Steenstrup|Carl Steenstrup]]; Brill Academic Publishers;second edition (1996) {{ISBN|90-04-10453-4}}
* ''Budoshoshinshu – The Code of The Warrior'' by [[Daidōji Yūzan]] ({{ISBN|0-89750-096-2}})
* ''Hagakure-The Book of the Samurai'' By Tsunetomo Yamamoto ({{ISBN|4-7700-1106-7}} paperback, {{ISBN|4-7700-2916-0}} hardcover)
* ''Go Rin No Sho'' – [https://web.archive.org/web/20060220004601/http://www.nhk.or.jp/kumamoto/musashi/images/musashi_poster.jpg Miyamoto Musashi] (1645) ({{ISBN|4-7700-2801-6}} hardback, {{ISBN|4-7700-2844-X}} hardback Japan only)
* ''[http://www.samuraimaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/TheUnfetteredMind.pdf The Unfettered Mind – Writings of the Zen Master to the Sword master] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142159/http://www.samuraimaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/TheUnfetteredMind.pdf |date=2018-06-12 }}'' by [[Takuan Sōhō]] (Musashi's mentor) ({{ISBN|0-87011-851-X}})
* ''The Religion of the Samurai'' (1913 original text), by Kaiten Nukariya, 2007 reprint by ELPN Press {{ISBN|0-9773400-7-4}}
* ''Tales of Old Japan'' by [[Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale|Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford]] (1871) reprinted 1910
* Osprey, "Elite and Warrior Series" Assorted. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060315180114/http://www.ospreysamurai.com/]}} 
* Stephen Turnbull, "Samurai Warfare" (London, 1996), [[Cassell & Co]] {{ISBN|1-85409-280-4}}
* [[Lee Teng-hui]], former [[President of the Republic of China]], "武士道解題 做人的根本 蕭志強譯" in Chinese，前衛, "「武士道」解題―ノーブレス・オブリージュとは" in Japanese，小学館，(2003), {{ISBN|4-09-387370-4}}
*{{cite book | author=Alexander Bennett | title=Bushido and the Art of Living: An Inquiry into Samurai Values | location=Tokyo | publisher=Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture | year=2017 | url=https://www.jpicinternational.com/books/philosophyandreligion/001812.html | ref=none }}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050216191125/http://home.att.net/~hofhine/Samurai.html Sakujiro Yokoyama's Account of a Samurai Sword Duel]''
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20031231014646/http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20021215a1.htm Death Before Dishonor]'' By Masaru Fujimoto — Special to The Japan Times: Dec. 15, 2002
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090306180335/http://www.kodansha-intl.com/books/html/en/9784770029423.html An interview with William Scott Wilson about Bushidō]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050413003324/http://mcel.pacificu.edu/as/students/bushido/bindex.html Bushidō Website]: a good definition of bushidō, including [https://web.archive.org/web/20050829074806/http://mcel.pacificu.edu/as/students/bushido/bcreed.html The Samurai Creed]
* ''[http://www.historynet.com/satsuma-rebellion-satsuma-clan-samurai-against-the-imperial-japanese-army.htm Sunset of the Samurai]--The True Story of Saigo Takamori'' Military History Magazine
* [http://www.williamscottwilson.net/ The website of William Scott Wilson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305073148/http://williamscottwilson.net/ |date=2009-03-05 }} A 2005 recipient of the Japanese Government's Japan's Foreign Minister's Commendation, [[William Scott Wilson]] was honored for his research on Samurai and Bushidō.
* [https://www.amazon.com/dp/070070132X Hojo Shigetoki (1198–1261)and His Role in the History of Political and Ethical Ideas in Japan] by [[Dr. Carl Steenstrup|Carl Steenstrup]]; Curzon Press (1979){{ISBN|0-7007-0132-X}}

{{Japanese social terms}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bushido}}
[[Category:Bushido| ]]
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[[Category:Military history of Japan]]
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[[Category:Samurai|*]]
[[Category:17th-century neologisms]]
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