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The Samurai Philosophy

In the book, Yamamoto describes a lot of incidents in which people become involved in killings because they feel that they have been humiliated by others. Many of them chose to kill rather than avoid conflict even though they paid for their violence with execution. Yamamoto indicates that even in the peaceful years when men's vitality was weakened, they could still be "crazy to die."1 He also points out that "The Way of the Samurai is found in death." To be more specific, Yamamoto says "not having attained our aim and continuing to live is cowardice" because he thinks that the ultimate goal of every Samurai should be death.3 Out of the two choices - "to live" or "to die," – Samurai should be determined to choose death. In later chapters, where he describes much fighting and conflict, he emphasizes the importance of preserving a Samuarai's pride and honor through death.
             Yamamoto recalls in one of his stories when Kyuzaemon's retainer accidentally avoided fighting and did not have to be investigated, he chose to get himself involved in the conflict when his companions were supposed to submit a statement for investigation. This is because he thought that his master would kill him for cowardice. In his words, he would rather die being blamed for having killed a man than die with a reputation for running away from a battle.4 The other example of a man who assisted his friends in killing after he heard that his friends were involved in a fight is also remarkable because it embodies the spirit of "fighting for honor to death." The man stated to the shogunate's official: "To shamelessly return home after seeing my friends struck down would surely have lengthened my life, but this too would be disregarding the Way."5 He would rather break the law and die than be negligent of his friends' crisis. Yamamoto also describes the wife who talked about the ideology of death and encouraged her husband to kill in order to avoid shame.


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