Inazo Nitobe

“Chivalry is a flower no less indigenous to the soil of Japan than cherry blossom” are the opening words to Inazo Nitobe’s Bushido. It was 1900 and Inazo, a Japanese academic living in the USA, had been prompted to write the book after an American professor had wondered how the Japanese imparted moral education on their children if schools didn’t offer any religious instruction. The answer, Inazo realised, was through Bushido. Bushido is the chivalric code of moral principles that the Samurai followed: rectitude, courage, benevolence, respect, honesty, honour and loyalty. Influenced by Confucianism, Shinto and Zen Buddhism, it tempers the violence of a warrior with wisdom and serenity. Alongside Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and Machiavelli’s The Prince, Inazo’s book has become influential among military and corporate leaders looking for ways to manage their people and overcome their opponents. Beautifully produced in a handy pocket format, Bushido: The Code of the Samurai includes the classic Inazo Nitobe text with a new introduction and colourful illustrations throughout. It will appeal to anyone interested in leadership, the code of the Samurai and Japanese culture.

'What Japan was she owed to the samurai. They were not only the flower of the nation, but its root as well.' Inazo Nitobe's book, the most influential ever written on Bushido, or the samurai Way of the Warrior, argues that the philosophy of Bushido is the true key to understanding 'the soul of Japan'. One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.

Skutečně statečný muž je vždy klidný, nenechá se zaskočit, nic nenaruší vyrovnanost jeho ducha. V zápalu boje zachová klid. Zemětřesení jím neotřesou, směje se bouřím. Obdivujeme ho jako vskutku skvělého muže, jenž v zlověstné přítomnosti nebezpečí nebo smrti neztrácí rozvážnost, který v ohrožení života dokáže složit báseň. V komiksové verzi kultovní klasiky Bušidó ožívají tajemství života samurajů.