Hagakure

The Book of the Samurai

By: Yamamoto Tsunetomo, William Scott Wilson - translator

Narrated by: Brian Nishii

Living and dying with bravery and honor is at the heart of Hagakure, a series of texts written by an 18th-century samurai, Yamamoto Tsunetomo. It is a window into the samurai mind, illuminating the concept of bushido (the Way of the Warrior), which dictated how samurai were expected to behave, conduct themselves, live, and die. While Hagakure was for many years a secret text known only to the warrior vassals of the Nabeshima clan to which the author belonged, it later came to be recognized as a classic exposition of samurai thought. The original Hagakure consists of over 1,300 short texts that Tsunetomo dictated to a younger samurai over a seven-year period. William Scott Wilson has selected and translated here 300 of the most representative of those texts to create an accessible distillation of this guide for samurai. No other translator has so thoroughly and eruditely rendered this text into English.

For this edition, Wilson has added a new introduction that casts Hagakure in a different light than ever before. Tsunetomo refers to bushido as "the Way of death", a description that has held a morbid fascination for readers over the years. But in Tsunetomo's time, bushido was a nuanced concept that related heavily to the Zen concept of muga, the "death" of the ego. Wilson's revised introduction gives the historical and philosophical background for that more metaphorical reading of Hagakure, and through this lens, the classic takes on a fresh and nuanced appeal.

©1979, 2002, 2012 English translation by William Scott Wilson. Introduction by William Scott Wilson (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Familiarity with terminology needed

I admit to little knowledge of japanese terms. Some books are much harder to understand and follow in audio format. I have found that this book is one of those.

Amazingly performed, a look into Edo Japan

Brian Nishi gives a beautiful rendition of Hagakure, the book itself providing great Edo insight

Hagakure

The story felt like some drunk rambling to his peers in a bar in my opinion, and at times the performer was very hard to understand.

Very interesting!!!!!

The reader is great. The information, history, is amazing. Love it !! Definitely a good audible!!!

Great insight

I have the written text and have read many times. I purchased this as I have not had time to read much lately and have not been disappointed by the narrators performance.