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Thread: Book of Bushido

  1. #1
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    Default Book of Bushido

    Recently I was given a book called Bushido. I have read other translations and I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on the value of this copy. It was originally written around 1900, and is a Bilingual Book with both japanese and english in the same book.


    Here is a link to the amazon reference.

    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...panbooksmagazi


    One of the things that intrigues me is that it was given to me by a japanese sensei, he did not make any statements about it other than read it. I am just beginning the book and find it very different than previous versions.

    Does anyone have any experience with this book or know anything about the origins of it?

    Mike
    Old Dragon

  2. #2
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    "by Inazo Nitobe, T. Suchi (Translator) "

    Translator?!

    Wasn't it originally written in English?

    ...then translated into French, Russian, German,...etc. and after becoming a smash abroad--translated into Japanese?

    Maybe that's why it's strange...
    Don J. Modesto
    Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
    ------------------------
    http://theaikidodojo.com/

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by don
    "by Inazo Nitobe, T. Suchi (Translator) "

    Translator?!

    Wasn't it originally written in English?

    ...then translated into French, Russian, German,...etc. and after becoming a smash abroad--translated into Japanese?

    Maybe that's why it's strange...


    This particular version was written around 1900...... I'm looking for verification of this particular version and some feed back on what people have thought about it.

    Mike
    Old Dragon

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    Quote Originally Posted by Old Dragon
    This particular version was written around 1900...... I'm looking for verification of this particular version and some feed back on what people have thought about it.

    Mike
    Well, translation is a bitch. Having it translated once, into Jpn, is bad enough, if unavoidable. Translating it from Jpn into Eng. is absurd, Monty Python stuff. Read the original if you want Nitobe's thoughts, the one you have (it was really translated back into Eng?!) if you're looking for another apologist (the tranlator-could be a very interesting exercise, like reading Takuan and then reading Suzuki's version...)

    Nitobe was an apologist. Of samurai lineage, I don't think he ever trained in anything. His take on bushido was creative and pretty much ahistorical and meant pretty much to square Jp with a Christian West (Nitobe was a Quaker). It was enormously influential, too. As to my opinion, should you really care, it was pleasant fluff. I think what was done with it was far more interesting than the thing itself.
    Don J. Modesto
    Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
    ------------------------
    http://theaikidodojo.com/

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    Default Bushido

    Yes... it defenitly sounded (the book) as an affirmation and conciliation of japanese tradition into modern christianized japan. Pleasurable reading though !! Many iteresting new english words for me !
    Francisco Esteves
    Sankyu, Aoinagi-ha Shito-Ryu Karate-do

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    Am I to assume that most people that have posted feel that it does not reflect the life style of the japanese warrior?

    could you define that a bit?

    Mike O'Leary
    Old Dragon

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    The book was written in English, by a Quaker. The original publication date was 1899.

    At EJMAS, see http://ejmas.com/tin/tinart_buchner2_0200.htm and http://ejmas.com/jalt/jaltart_hurst_0501.htm .

    At E-budo, see http://www.e-budo.com/forum/archive/...p/t-33835.html .

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