{"id":1541,"date":"2024-11-19T23:12:11","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T14:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/budobooks.jp\/?p=1541"},"modified":"2024-11-19T23:50:58","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T14:50:58","slug":"finding-life-in-the-shadow-of-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/budobooks.jp\/?p=1541","title":{"rendered":"Budo Beat 5: Finding Life in the Shadow of Death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The \u201cBudo Beat\u201d Blog features a collection of short reflections, musings, and anecdotes on a wide range of budo topics by Professor Alex Bennett<\/a>, a seasoned budo scholar and practitioner. Dive into digestible and diverse discussions on all things budo\u2014from the philosophy and history to the practice and culture that shape the martial Way.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s this book I can\u2019t stop thinking about. I mean, really<\/em> thinking about. It wasn\u2019t always like this. In fact, I used to loathe it. But fate, in one of its more whimsical turns, brought us together. Several years ago, I found myself bound by contract to translate it for Tuttle. And at first, let me tell you, it was nothing short of a trial. A relentless, teeth-gritting exercise in frustration. It didn\u2019t make sense\u2014so much of it seemed utterly lost in translation. It felt as though the very structure of the thing was conspiring against me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tried and I tried, but it was like paddling upstream in a murky river. Nothing seemed to stick. But then\u2014out of nowhere\u2014something happened. A peculiar series of dreams, clearly spurred by stress, broke into my slumber. They were most peculiar. A cantankerous old Japanese geezer\u2014Yamamoto J\u014dch\u014d, he called himself\u2014waltzed right into my dream, rude as anything, and began belittling me for the mess I was making of his words. He mocked me mercilessly for my clumsy translation, as if I were some bumbling fool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I don\u2019t want to get bogged down in the weirdness of it all\u2014because it was truly bizarre\u2014but these \u2018little\u2019 intrusions in my psyche every night set the stage for a revelation. A shift in the way I approached the book. Instead of trying to force J\u014dch\u014d’s words into neat little boxes of translation, I decided to listen. Really listen. As if I were sitting at the feet of my budo teachers, hearing their rambling, disjointed thoughts. I just let it all wash over me. And with that new mindset, something changed. I started to read between the lines\u2014no longer just translating<\/em> the words, but feeling their pulse, their rhythm. I began to appreciate the book for what it truly is\u2014a treasure, raw and unrefined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what book am I talking about, you ask? I\u2019m sure most of you have already figured it out. Hagakure<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hagakure<\/em>, meaning \u201cHidden by Leaves,\u201d has gained near-mythic status as a misunderstood gospel on \u2018bushido\u2019, the samurai\u2019s code. Completed in 1716, it unfolds across 11 books with over 1,300 vignettes and musings that bring to life the Saga (Nabeshima) domain\u2019s spirit in Kyushu. The first two books capture the thoughts of Yamamoto J\u014dch\u014d, a mid-level samurai devoted to Lord Nabeshima Mitsushige, recorded by his fellow clansman Tashiro Tsuramoto. Later sections dive into the tales of the Nabeshima clan, critiques of rival samurai, and a gallery of samurai life.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Yamamoto J\u014dch\u014d’s humble grave at the Ry\u016b’unji Temple in Saga.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The passages vary in intensity and clarity. Some are short, slicing through ambiguity with a clean edge, while others are tangled, hard to untwine without grasping the era\u2019s unique, peace-time dilemmas for samurai. Hagakure<\/em> exposes the raw, conflicted life of a Nabeshima retainer, celebrating his victories and grappling with the elusive principles of honour and loyalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is no romantic tale\u2014it\u2019s gritty, at times violent, even sensual, as it reveals the fierce devotion of warriors for their lords, what J\u014dch\u014d (Tsunetomo) calls a \u201chidden love,\u201d a loyalty that\u2019s much more than an oath. J\u014dch\u014d\u2019s passion for his lord was so all-consuming he wished to die alongside him, though the practice of junshi (ritual suicide to follow one\u2019s lord in death) was by then banned. So, he retreated to the life of a monk, where, in solitude, Tsuramoto recorded his testament over about a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading Hagakure<\/em> is like riding a rollercoaster through the essence\/madness of a samurai\u2014reflective passages give way to passionate rants about the warrior\u2019s ideal frame of mind. Rather than a tidy lecture on \u2018bushido\u2019, the text plunges readers into an emotional whirlpool that veers between dark depths and moments of serenity. Look close, and there\u2019s even a sly grin here and there, a humour so dry it might slip by unnoticed. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most famous line, \u201cThe way of the warrior is to be found in dying,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> hits the book\u2019s central chord: a warrior\u2019s ultimate duty is absolute loyalty, even at the cost of life. During World War II, this line resonated in the ears of kamikaze pilots, many of whom clutched copies of Hagakure as they soared towards certain death. I know this for a fact as I talked with Odachi Kazuo-sensei<\/strong><\/a> about the book, and he admitted he had his own copy in his flying jacket pocket ready to get himself in the right frame of mind to die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the war, the book faced harsh judgment for promoting extreme sacrifice, cast as a blueprint for militaristic fanaticism that urged young men toward oblivion in service to emperor and country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But is that really all there is to it? My years translating Hagakure<\/em> unveiled a deeper dimension. J\u014dch\u014d\u2019s obsession with death was not simply about courting the end but rather a path to a richer life. My approach was to read his words in their own historical light, without trying to twist them into a modern shape. Through its contradictions, Hagakure<\/em> reveals a worldview where life and death aren\u2019t opposites but interwoven. J\u014dch\u014d\u2019s paradox is this: only by embracing death can a warrior truly live, free from ego and all its snares, and, in doing so, find genuine purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re looking for a straightforward guide to strategy like Musashi’s Book of Five Rings<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, you won\u2019t find it in Hagakure<\/em>. Nor will it double as a manual for martial techniques. What it does offer, however, is something much more elusive\u2014a window into the samurai soul. It shines a flickering light on the values that shaped these warriors, unravelling in many ways the very essence of Japanese martial arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I\u2019m well aware of the \u201cbushido never existed\u2014it\u2019s all a myth\u201d crowd. They\u2019ll scoff at such sentiment, and frankly, I couldn\u2019t care less. Now and then, I\u2019ll write up a few articles to make my case\u2014articles on things like sutemi<\/em>, zanshin<\/em>, and other concepts important to budo that can be traced so neatly within the pages of Hagakure<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case, it\u2019s not the sort of book that promises world-shattering wisdom, but it does ask something far more profound: to confront your own mortality head-on, to face the fleeting nature of life without flinching. That was the main message for the samurai warriors it was actually written for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beneath its contradictions, Hagakure<\/em> holds a fundamental truth. The paradox at its heart is simple yet profound: only by coming to terms with the certainty of death\u2014both in thought and in spirit\u2014can we find meaning and depth that makes life worth living. Let\u2019s simplify that. Life is too bloody precious a thing to waste, and there’s nothing like a taste of death to make you realise what you’ve got.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I still have a massive amount of Hagakure<\/em> content that I\u2019ve never published. Over time, I\u2019ll toss a few pieces your way in this blog. It\u2019s all there\u2014just waiting to be uncovered.<\/p>\n\n\n

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