Way Of The Samurai
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The original Hagakurecontains the teachings of the samurai-turned-priest Jocho Yamamoto (1659-1719), and was for generations preserved as moral and practical instructions for daimyoand samuraiof Saga Han, a large domain in northwestern Kyushu. It later became known all over Japan, and during the Second World War Jocho's precept 'I found that the Way of the Samurai is death', became a slogan to spur on Kamikaze pilots.
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But the Hagakureis not only about death. In this, his adaptation and interpretation of it, Yukio Mishima deals with its teachings on action, subjectivity, strength of character, passion and love, and delights in giving prolific examples of Jocho's practical advice from proper behavior at a drinking party to child rearing. In the Hagakure, the most important influence on his life - and his death - Mishima saw striking similarities between his criticisms of materialistic post-war Japan and Jocho's criticisms of the sumptuous decadence of his contemporaries; and it is this emphasis which gives it its immediacy.
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