Hagakure: FINAL POST.

While reading Hagakure: The Book of The Samurai, found similarities with other works suck as the bible as well as Buddhist teachings. Text reflects ideas like choosing the middle path, calmness, work ethic, correct mindset, and many other virtues. Hagakure could be read as philosophical text as well as a strategic text. Many of the quotations may seem silly or just plain odd but when further examined, they are filled with symbolism. The text reflects some biblical teachings such as filial piety, or commandment number five "honor your father and mother.". Hagakure has been compared to chivalry because it includes rules of conduct and greatly emphasizes politeness and appearance.


One quote that i found most interesting was "If you can understand one affair, you will understand eight.". It means that in order to understand one affair one must understand every other affair linked with it, and that there is really no such thing as "one affair". If one understands one affair then it means that he or she understands eight (or plural).


When I finished reading The Book of The Samurai, i walked away with a more mature understanding of the samurai movies i know and love, and the pop culture that surrounds feudal japan. i will keep these quotes in mind and apply them to my own life or at least think about them in certain situations. like that is something i would actually do. When i was done reading the book, i knew it wasn't something that i could just read once and be done with. the lessons could be learned and re-learned. I am glad i chose this cultural work for my independent reading.

Hagakure- post 5

"Feeling deeply the difference between oneself and others, bearing ill will and falling out with other people---these things come from a heart that lacks compassion. if one wraps up everything with a heart of compassion, there will be no coming into conflict with people." (Yamamoto 83)

This quote reminds me of the beliefs of Buddhism, and for hat matter, all religions. this seems to be the most basic principle of most religions. it also seems ironic to me that this is a book of samurai conduct in life, but samurai are viewed as a person who fights. so i would thing tha they would settle things by fighting, but Yamamoto believed that in order to avoid conflict, one must have compassion and understanding. i think his is a really good belief. but i wonder if samurai actually kept this in mind.

-did samurai really hold this in mind while dealing with enemies?
--does a samurai have to fight?!

Hagakure- post 4

"It is good to carry some powdered rouge in one's sleeve. It may happen that when one is sobering up or waking from sleep, his complexion may be poor. At such a time it is good to take out and apply some powdered rouge." (Yamamoto 67)

At times while I read this book, or this compilation of thoughts and conduct rules, I think that some of these passages are kind of heinous and absurd. But i think that Hagakure is trying to prove that all things are of importance. One of them being appearance. It seems that this could mean many things. It could mean that if something bad happens one would need something to look good again or recover. this advice could be used in military strategy or business.

-Did Yamamoto mean for it to be literally interpreted?
-how can someone hold something in their sleeve?
does that mean its a ready surprise or a fast plan?

Hagakure- post 3

“It is good if all the above contain a quiet strength. Moreover, according to what the priest Ryozan heard when he was in the Kamigata area, when one is writing a letter, he should think the the recipient will hake it into a hanging scroll” ( Yamamoto 44)

this is a great saying! I cannot believe I have not heard it before. It seems like this is saying that should be used more often, as well as the idiom of the wall scroll. It speaks of giving things your best effort. This made me think because the text gave me good imagery. It seems like every culture has sayings and idioms that people can make use of for lessons or apply regularly

-being a samurai demands incredible discipline! Can the true samurai be attained?
-is the "quiet strength" the core of a samurai?

Hagakure- post 2

"It is bad taste to yawn in front of people. When one unexpectedly had to yawn, if he rubs his forehead in an upward direction, the sensation will stop. If that does not work, he can lick his lips while keeping his mouth closed, or simply hide it with his hand or sleeve in such a way that no one will know what he is doing. It is the same with sneezing. One will appear foolish. There are other things besides these about which a person should use care and training.” (Yamamoto 22)

So this is indeed a guidebook. A guide telling a samurai everything down to how to prevent a sneeze or a yawn. Conduct is extremely important to people and samurais back then. Politeness was important. It is obvious that only a samurai would read this, I think by now. Apparently making face is paramount or at least at the top of priorities. Maybe this book was written because Yamamoto wanted to see a change in samurai at the time and wanted to see a change.

Publish Post

He could have written it because that state of the samurai was not fit for him. But I doubt it.

- do those techniques really work?
- what kind of man wrote this? Was he a samurai?

Hagakure- post 1

"Although it stands to reason that a samurai should be mindful of the Way of the Samurai, it would seem that we are all negligent. Consequently, if someone were to ask, "What is the true meaning of the Way of the Samurai?" the person who would be able to answer promptly is rare. This is because it has not been established in one's mind beforehand. From this, one's unmindfullness of the Way can be known.
Negligence is an extreme thing" (Yamamoto 1)

These are the first lines in this book Hagakure, The Way of the Samurai. I have evaluated from this that Yamamoto wants people to know and be mindful of the Way (i think he was referring to the Tao which means the Path in Japanese). He thinks that the Way is extremely important and that if one should not know of the Way, that is would be negligence. I can tell that this book was not meant for westerners, because it doesn't go on to and explain to the reader what a samurai is! Maybe some Americans don't really know the significance. if a westerner were to pick this up not knowing what a samurai is, he or she may not know what it applies to. but i think that the point of the book, is that it applies to everything in life. so even thought someone doesn't know what a samurai is the book could still be useful

-Who read this book?
-is it standard literature for that time?
-could samurai= human? and thus fight= life?

post 6

"IT wasn't long before he had become a specialist in the field of distillation. he discovered--and his nose was of more use in the discovery than Baldini's rules and regulations--that the heat of fire played a significant role in the quantity of the distillate. Every plant, flower, every sort of wood, and every oil-yielding seed demanded a special procedure" (Suskind 100)

His nose is a tool that allows him to have superpowers, and almost be omniscient. in every element of his life, it helps him. he can see all and adapt. this part stood out to me because i realized that the world of smell can hole no secrets to him yet he has no smell of himself. every second of the novel he dives deeper and deeper. he breaks all rules.

-is he smell itself?
-why did the author choose for him to have no smell.

post 5

"From his youth on, he had been accustomed to people's passing him and taking no notice of him whatsoever, not out of contempt-as he once believed-but because they were quite unaware of his existence. there was no space surrounding him, no waves broke from him into the atmosphere, as with other people; he had not shadow. so to speak, to cast across another's face." (Suskind 153)

i can remember a simile that was once used in the beginning and consistently throughout the novel, comparing him to a flea that waited for the right time to act, emitting so smell and taking up no space. in the next paragraph it shows that for once he gains recognition among common folk. this is a large change because the character i had grown to know went through a big change at this point. he describes people moving out of the way from him. he had left his flea form and grown to something larger.

-the flea sucks blood, and jumps from place to place. was all this meant to be read in to this similie?
-Grenoulle has been gifted with power since birth. now that he has social power, what will he do with it?

post 4

"Behind the counter of light boxwood, however stood Baldini himself, old and stiff as a pillar in a silver-powdered wig and a blue coat adorned with gold frogs. A cloud of the frangipani with which he sprayed himself every morning enveloped him almost visibly, removing him to a hazy distance." (Suskind 46)

this is not the first time Baldini is mentioned, but the first time he is characterized. the description is really comical. infact i wonder if the book is a comedy! a lot of it is funny, and also shocking. i even doubt that a good perfumer wears a lot of perfume. this tells me already the he is not a very good one (it is later revealed that he is not. just simply using old family recipes). this may be setting Grenoulle up for out doing him in the future.

-how can i clasify story?
-will the main character show him off right away?

post 3

"And after he had smelled the last scent of her, he crouched beside her for a while, collecting himself, for he was brimful with her. he did not want to spill a drop of her scent. First he must he must seal his innermost compartments. Then he stood up and blew out the candle. " (Suskind 43)

The main character is a killer now. this is his first kill, assuming that there will be others who will die. He is insane. He seems to just be doing what he must. he was drawn to the scent of this girl and could not let it go. i think he killed her because he felt like he must in order smell her properly and so she couldn't escape. He found the best scent known to him yet and now he must kill the source. the end of the paragraph i thought was symbolic because blowing out the candle can mean ending a life.

-why must he kill?
-im not sure if i like or hate the character. how does the author make me feel this way?
-his cause is so important to him that the justification of murder is not even an issue to him. so does this mean he is insane?

post 2

"At age six he had comlpetely grasped his surroundings olfactorily. There was not an object in Madame Gaillard's house, no place along the northern reaches of the rue de Charonne, no persone, no stone, no tree, bush, or picket fence, no spot be it ever so small, that he did not know by smell, could be holding it's uniqueness firmly in his memory" (Suskind 26)

This author writes long sentences. In the plot so far it is revealed that the main character had supernatural senses. this scene gives an example of how he can recognize everything through smell. This ability gives him so much power within the story. It also makes others afraid of him. The setting we began with is now not a mystery because the main character can scope out everything through smell. The passage basically gives one of the themes.

- He knows all (omniscient of his surroundings and more). Is he human?
- He is feared. there is something about him that makes people not be able to stand him. He had no smell of his own. Paradox?? he sees all but no one can see him.

post 1

"She only wanted the pain to stop, she wanted to put this revolting birth behind her as quickly as possible. It was her fifth. She had effected all the others here at the fish booth, and all had been stillbirths or semi-still births, for the bloody meat that emerged had not differed greatly from the fish guts that lay there already, nor had lived much longer, and by evening the whole mess had been shoveled off and carted off to the graveyard or off to the river."(Suskind 5).

Holy crap. i chose this passage because it was the most appalling one so far. although there are some others that come close. this book is a shocker. and i do enjoy it. The above passage illustrates, o so pleasantly how the main character is born. In the worst way possible. It shows how gruesome life is. perhaps the author will use these images for contrast with nicer ones later on. The process in the passage seems like its nothing out of the ordinary. the way the scene is described seems matter of fact. which makes me cringe even more.

-How much does this impact the main character's future life?
-the story happens to follow the one child who lives. is there something special about him?