First of all, English is not my native language. Please consider this while reading my post.
I have been reading some of the old threads during the last days, mainly about the historicity and value of 'bushido' (I am talking about the 17th/18th century concept here, not the 20th century ideology). I was quite surprised to realise how negatively the Hagakure by Yamamoto Tsunetomo is generally perceived by historians and martial artists.
The main criticisms seem to be:
1 Yamamoto Tsunetomo was a hypocrite who dreamed about being a warrior and dying in battle, kind of a predecessor of the modern "keyboard warrior".
2 Many of his stories about the "warriors of old" are historically inaccurate and romanticized.
3 The Hagakure was anchronistic and excessively conservative even at the time it was written.
4 The ideology of the Hagakure was praised by japanese fascists and nazis.
I read the Hagakure (let me stress that it was only an abridged german translation) about half a year ago. Although it is by no means "a bible", I found some of its ideas fascinating and thought provoking.
Regarding criticism 1: I have never seen that ominous passage were he claims to be the ultimate warrior, he only claims to be a valuable retainer. He recalls stories of people who were, in his opinion, brave warriors, to illustrate what he perceives as proper ideals for a warrior class.
I basically agree with criticism 2, but I think we should consider that Yamamoto probably didn't have all the historical records at hand when he wrote his book, he just retold anecdotes he had heard.
3 might be basically true, but there are some passages which milden the nostalgic slant a bit. I was going to post a quote but I can't find it at the moment, maybe later.
Furthermore,conservatism is not necessarily right-wing in itself. I consider myself left-wing and liberal, but at the same time culturally conservative.
Regarding 4: Reductio ad Nazium
Why all this Hagakure-Bashing? One may or may not agree with the philosophical ideas of the Hagakure, but it should nonetheless be accepted as what it is and not equated with shido and ninja-kids.
I am looking forward to your responses and thoughts.