The Way of the Samurai - Tapa dura

“I, and I alone, gave the order to fire on the foreigners at Kobe, and again as they tried to escape. For this crime I disembowel myself, and I beg you who are present to do me the honour of witnessing the act.”
– Taki Zenzaburo

Justice, courage, loyalty, self-control: the qualities essential to the Samurai warriors of Japan are those to which we all aspire. In this classic work, originally published as Bushido: The Soul of Japan, Inazo Nitobe explores the moral code of the Japanese warrior class, from the importance of politeness rituals to the ultimate chilling self-sacrifice: hara-kiri or suicide. Nitobe’s engaging text conjures up a world of chivalric principles and brutal warfare – a fading way of life, but one that has resonance in modern Japanese society and around the globe.

This beautifully illustrated edition contains an introduction by John Baldock, and exquisite images throughout.