What was the Samurai code of Bushido really like?
Honor, loyalty, and the right to cut down a rude peasant.
The answer
Bushido ('the way of the warrior') was the ethical code governing Japan's samurai class, emphasizing loyalty, honor, martial skill, self-discipline, and a willingness to die for one's lord. However, the romanticized version most people know was largely codified in the 1899 book Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe, written to explain Japanese culture to Westerners. Historical samurai were often pragmatic warriors and bureaucrats, and ritual suicide (seppuku) was far rarer than popular culture suggests.
Source: Britannica
- Japan
- warriors
- culture
- medieval
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