Though some scholars have criticized Nitobe’s work as romanticized yearning for a non-existent age of chivalry, there’s no question that his work builds on extraordinary thousand-year-old precepts of manhood that originated in chivalrous behavior on the part of some, though certainly not all, samurai. What today’s readers may find most enlightening about Bushido is the emphasis on compassion, benevolence, and the other non-martial qualities of true manliness. Here are Bushido’s Eight Virtues as explicated by Nitobe Inazo:
I. I. Rectitude
or Justice
Bushido refers not only to martial rectitude, but to personal rectitude: Rectitude or Justice is the strongest virtue of Bushido. A well-known samurai defines it this way: ‘Rectitude is one’s power to decide upon a course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering; to die when to die is right, to strike when to strike is right.’ Another speaks of it in the following terms: ‘Rectitude is the bone that gives firmness and stature. Without bones the head cannot rest on top of the spine, nor hands move or feet stand. So without Rectitude neither talent nor learning can make the human frame into a samurai.’
II. II. Courage
Bushido distinguishes between bravery and
courage: Courage is worthy of being counted among virtues only if it’s
exercised in the cause of Righteousness and Rectitude. In his Analects,
Confucius says: ‘Perceiving what is right and doing it not reveals a lack of Courage.’
In short, ‘Courage is doing what is right.’
III.
Benevolence or Mercy
A man invested with the power to command and the power to kill was expected to demonstrate equally extraordinary powers of benevolence and mercy: Love, magnanimity, affection for others, sympathy and pity, are traits of Benevolence, the highest attribute of the human soul. Both Confucius and Mencius often said the highest requirement of a ruler of men is Benevolence.
IV. Politeness
Discerning the difference between obsequiousness and politeness can be difficult for casual visitors to Japan, but for a true man, courtesy is rooted in benevolence: Courtesy and good manners have been noticed by every foreign tourist as distinctive Japanese traits. But Politeness should be the expression of a benevolent regard for the feelings of others; it’s a poor virtue if it’s motivated only by a fear of offending good taste. In its highest form Politeness approaches love.
V. Honesty
and Sincerity
True samurai, according to author Nitobe, disdained money, believing that “men must grudge money, for riches hinder wisdom.” Thus children of high-ranking samurai were raised to believe that talking about money showed poor taste, and that ignorance of the value of different coins showed good breeding: Bushido encouraged thrift, not for economical reasons so much as for the exercise of abstinence. Luxury was thought the greatest menace to manhood, and severe simplicity was required of the warrior class … the counting machine and abacus was abhorred.
VI. Honor
Though Bushido deals with the profession of soldiering, it is equally concerned with non-martial behavior: The sense of Honor, a vivid consciousness of personal dignity and worth, characterized the samurai. He was born and bred to value the duties and privileges of his profession. Fear of disgrace hung like a sword over the head of every samurai … To take offense at slight provocation was ridiculed as ‘short-tempered.’ As the popular adage put it: ‘True patience means bearing the unbearable.’
VII.
Loyalty
Economic reality has dealt a blow to organizational loyalty around the world. Nonetheless, true men remain loyal to those to whom they are indebted: Loyalty to a superior was the most distinctive virtue of the feudal era. Personal fidelity exists among all sorts of men: a gang of pickpockets swears allegiance to its leader. But only in the code of chivalrous Honor does Loyalty assume paramount importance.
VIII.
Character and Self-Control
Bushido teaches that men should behave according to an absolute moral standard, one that transcends logic. What’s right is right, and what’s wrong is wrong. The difference between good and bad and between right and wrong are givens, not arguments subject to discussion or justification, and a man should know the difference. Finally, it is a man’s obligation to teach his children moral standards through the model of his own behavior: The first objective of samurai education was to build up Character. The subtler faculties of prudence, intelligence, and dialectics were less important. Intellectual superiority was esteemed, but a samurai was essentially a man of action. No historian would argue that Hideyoshi personified the Eight Virtues of Bushido throughout his life. Like many great men, deep faults paralleled his towering gifts. Yet by choosing compassion over confrontation and benevolence over belligerence, he demonstrated ageless qualities of manliness. Today his lessons could not be timelier.
All these points stated are missing in Nigeria of today, our leaders focus only how to milks the treasury dry and prepares their wards to succeed where they left! Since I was a kid, there has been a term: Nigeria go better (Nigeria will better)! It is a message of hope majority of us all carry everyday, everywhere, but our leaders are telling us to go to hell!
The only time they will care about us is when Selection is around the corner, lots of empty promises as well as doling out some peanuts out of the money meant for the general populace as "means of dividends of democracy!"Our Democracy are designed to model the United states of America but what we have or what we are being permitted to enjoys are the pseudonym of America Democracy! Fascism, Autocracy, abuses of Fundamental Human Rights, Political Brigandage, etc. I am using this medium to urge the youths who are not ready to give up, let us all rise up and give our future a chance to breathe from the choking of Old demons that wants to strangulates us! This is one of the rallying points! God Bless our Motherland Nigeria! God Bless Africa! Peace to the world!Merry Christmas to you all!
Japanese Nitobe Inazo interprets the samurai code of behavior
Note: Information from wikipedia was dully used for this write-up
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