Hagakure: the Book of the Samurai

Publisher Marketing: Living and dying with bravery and honor is at the heart of "Hagakure," a series of texts written by an eighteenth-century samurai, Yamamoto Tsunetomo. It is a window into the samurai mind, illuminating the concept of "bushido" (the Way of the Warrior), which dictated how samurai were expected to behave, conduct themselves, live, and die. While Hagakure was for many years a secret text known only to the warrior vassals of the Nabeshima clan to which the author belonged, it later came to be recognized as a classic exposition of samurai thought. The original "Hagakure" consists of over 1,300 short texts that Tsunetomo dictated to a younger samurai over a seven-year period. William Scott Wilson has selected and translated here three hundred of the most representative of those texts to create an accessible distillation of this guide for samurai. No other translator has so thoroughly and eruditely rendered this text into English. For this edition, Wilson has added a new introduction that casts "Hagakure" in a different light than ever before. Tsunetomo refers to bushido as "the Way of death," a description that has held a morbid fascination for readers and listeners over the years. But in Tsunetomo's time, bushido was a nuanced concept that related heavily to the Zen concept of "muga," the "death" of the ego. Wilson's revised introduction gives the historical and philosophical background for that more metaphorical reading of "Hagakure," and through this lens, the classic takes on a fresh and nuanced appeal. Contributor Bio:  Tsunetomo, Yamamoto Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659-1719) was a samurai retainer of the Saga clan before retiring to a hermitage near Saga Castle in Kyushu. This was brought about by his being legally prohibited in the 1660s from following his lord, Nabeshima Mitsushige, in death a samurai practice forbidden by the Tokugawa shogunate and the governing body of the Nabeshima fief. Contributor Bio:  Wilson, William Scott William Scott Wilson is the foremost translator into English of traditional Japanese texts on samurai culture. His bestselling books include The Book of Five Rings, The Unfettered Mind, and The Lone Samurai, a biography of the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi. Contributor Bio:  Gigante, Phil Phil Gigante is an APA Audie Award winner (The Dark Highlander, The Stainless Steel Rat, and The Watch That Ends the Night), and winner of over a dozen Audiofile Magazine Earphones Awards. He has narrated and directed more than 250 books, and was twice named a "Best Voice in Mystery and Suspense" by Audiofile Magazine. He has been named a Best Male Narrator in the categories of Romance, Science Fiction, Militaria, and Mystery/Suspense, as well as "Favorite Dual Narrator" (with Natalie Ross). Phil also works in film, TV and radio, and is the Producer/Director of Gigantic Productions theatre company. He makes his home in the Midwest. Contributor Bio:  Bond, Jim Bond is a producer and host of radio talk shows, with an extensive background in theatre and the musical stage.