The Spirit of the Samurai

Blog #4 Bushido, Giri, The Japanese Ie System, and Omiai.

The spirit of the samurai, or bushido, was an integral part of Feudal Japan. Out of a 4-class system, the samurai were ranked the highest, with the others being farmers, artisans, and tradesmen. The object of bushido refers to not only the skills of the samurai, but also the spirit; "a strong sense of personal honor, devotion to duty, and the courage, if required, to sacrifice one's life in battle or in ritual" (Page 42). One of the most important, if not most important aspects of bushido, is the application and reference to en Buddhism. The sense of enlightenment given by this way of thinking can be attributed to a feeling of mushin or "no-mind"; an unconsciousness that one is completely aware of, much like a lucid dream.

"The state of no-mind unites the body with the spirit" and by practicing this, the samurais were able to overcome their fear of death. Bushido was influenced mainly by Confucianism and the four principles which included humanism, faithfulness, respect for social norms, and wisdom. These four principles sound much like the idea of being modest and showing restraint internally. To one samurai, Yamamoto, "bushido means the determined will to die" and by believing in this, one must live admirably and honorably to maintain a glory and everlasting good name after death.

In modern times, the idea of bushido and the devotion to one's work led to eventual work-overload and can lead to death (karoshi).

Caring for others through the ways of self-sacrifice in order to repay a debt of gratitude is the idea of giri. Although there is no literal translation in English, this helps us understand it's concept. In today's world, returning something for goodwill is the equivalent. "If you receive a present from someone, you should return something which is of equal value" (Page 97).

As mentioned in a previous blog post, the Japanese Ie system is a rather traditional way of home life;

a) a building that is used as a residence
b) a family or hosuehold
c) a groupd that consists fo a family according to the old Japanese civil code
d) the family line that descends frmo one's ancestors and will continue to in the future.

Based on the Ie system, the head of the household was given "privileged treatment and was normally served by other family members". The (his) meals were richer, was welcomed when he came home, and the seat had to be higher at the table. Basically, the woman's position was much lower than that of the man, because it was believed that women were inferior to men. They were also the sole proprietors to bearing children.

Arranged marriages is no foreign concept to anyone, however, it seems to be more of a traditional way of keeping a lifelong partner. Since the ie system was very centralized to one controlling household male, the decisions for the children were usually made by him. Because the ie system was so prevalent in the Japanese way of life, the way of omiai is still followed to this day, because it seems to be fairly successful.