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Samurai And Bushido Code In World War II

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Samurai And Bushido Code In World War II
In current society, with the development of Japanese soft power, the increasing number of people begin to know and understand Japanese cultures such as samurai and its ethos bushido. However, some people argue that bushido is a narrow nationalism and it also opposes the peace. Therefore, in this essay will discuss the history of samurai and bushido code and will also illustrate the impact of bushido code in the World War Second.
There is no doubt that Japan was an isolated island in the world and Japan was a society based on sword fighting, which created a unique system in the world. From the 12th to 19th centuries, Japan had a feudal system with four various classes (Turnbull, 2003). The highest class was the samurai class, which consisted …show more content…
Basically, bushido is the way of the warrior and how a warrior lives his life. In this code, there are several virtues of the samurai. Firstly, bushido not only illustrates the material morality but also the personal morality, which is the strongest virtue of bushido. “Morality is one’s power to decide upon a course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering; to die when to die is right, to strike when to strike is right” (Louis & Ito, 2008). Secondly, courage is the spirit of daring and bearing. Courage is an extra morality and is vital when having the correct morals. In addition, regarding benevolence, samurais who had both the physical and legal power to kill and destroy enemies were also reserved their power of benevolence and mercy. In terms of respect, this system was based on Chinese Confucianism and Japanese samurai adopted respect in this system and samurai did not need a written contract for working as that would be rude to doubt their honesty. Finally, regarding honour and loyalty, samurais lived and died by their honour and during the samurai times, loyalty was vital thought than life itself for samurai warriors (Louis & Ito,
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