BUSHIDO: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

現在、武士道に関する本を執筆中です。これはその中からの抜粋ですが、まだ推敲中ですのでその旨、ご了承下さい。

PREFACE: Because Bushido has tended to become an obscure subject to many modern Japanese people, perhaps being forced aside in favor of "Americanization" or "Globalization", the question has come up here several times "What is Bushido?" We could probably write a great volume here but this is not quite the place and a major work on the topic is in progress. Instead, we offer this very brief introduction in the hopes that it might begin to answer that question and stimulate discussion, thought, and study.

BUSHIDO: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION Bushido, meaning “Way of the Warrior” is a code of conduct, a way of thought, as well as a way of life which had existed for centuries and which is part of what makes Japan unique among nations and cultures, and which is part of what makes being Japanese unique as well. It originates from the moral code of the Samurai and stresses such things as loyalty, frugality, mastery of Budo and most importantly, honor. Bushido took “root” or began to develop as early as the 9th Century, although much of the formal literature about Bushido does not begin to appear until the 17th Century. So, one could define Bushido as a unique philosophy or ronri that began to spread through the warrior class In the Muomachi (chusei) Period.

As Nitobe Inazo stated in his book Bushido: The Soul of Japan, it is a code of moral principles that Samurai were instructed to and expected to observe. More often than not, Bushido is a code which has been largely unwritten (not written as a unified code until much of it was adopted into the Japanese Feudal Law under the Tokugawa Shogunate) but rather in a number of various writings. Much of Bushido was taught verbally, directly from sensei to pupil, from father (or grandfather) to child. It has always been a living thing: growing and evolving over the centuries and continues to evolve to this very day, although often pushed aside in favor of “Americanization” or Globalization. There is however a strong and every growing feeling among Japanese, old and young alike, that a return to the core principles of Bushido is perhaps needed in order to preserve and protect the unique Japanese culture.

In keeping with the simplicity of Zen, which itself has had a tremendous influence on Japanese culture (and Bushido itself): Bushido is being Japanese. -Tokugawa

字数の関係で日本文と英文は対応していません。 世の中がグローバル化するにつれ、日本人は増々アメリカナイズされ、武士道精神は過去の遺物として、脇に押しやられています。 さて、武士道は何かという質問が私のもとに時々寄せられますが、今はその問いに対する入り口程度の回答でご勘弁願います。 武士道は立ち居振る舞いから考え方に至るまで、日本人を日本人たらしめている教えです。 もともとは、侍の守るべき道徳でした。忠誠心、質素倹約、武道修行など侍のための心得です。 9世紀ごろに生まれたこの思想は17世紀に入るまでは正式な書物としては世にでていません。 武士道は室町時代に武士階級を通じて世に広まっていった哲学であるといえます。 新渡戸稲造は武士道の副題に「日本の心」とつけています。 それは武士の守るべき道徳律です。 その教えが統一されたのは、家康の時代、封建法の中に組み入れられるようになってからです。 武士道の教えは口伝えで先生から生徒へ、親から子へと伝わりました。 その教えは、人から人に伝わり、育まれ、進化し、現代まで伝わっている生きた教えです。 日本人はアメリカナイズされつつあるとはいえ、今の日本には武士道精神が必要であると強く感じている人たちがいます。日本を見失わないためにも、それが必要です。 禅の思想(侘び、寂び)は日本文化に多大な影響を与え、私たちの中に深く浸透しています。 武士道も同じです。
.
.
Copyright 2007 by Hayato Tokugawa, Aoi Tokugawa, Sekishinkan Tokugawa Dojo