Bushido

The book "Bushido" was written in English by the author in 1899 when he was recuperating in Pennsylvania, USA. He felt that foreigners knew very little about Japan's traditional Bushido, so he wrote it in English to introduce it to foreign countries. Since the author himself is a Japanese who received traditional Bushido education in his childhood, as the author said, when introducing the case, unlike other foreign Japanese researchers, he is at most a "defense lawyer" and "can adopt the attitude of the defendant." Indeed, we are reading about the various methods of Bushido that he systematically introduced. When I met him, I felt quite penetrating. At the same time, since the author wrote it to introduce it to foreign countries, the text quoted a large number of Western historical and literary allusions for comparison, so it is easier for foreign readers to read and understand. Because of this, this book aroused great interest from foreign readers as soon as it was published. According to the author's preface, the then US President Theodore Roosevelt not only read the book himself, but also gave it to his friends. The Japanese edition of this book alone was reprinted 10 times in the six years from 1900 to 1905. The book was also translated into many languages ​​and occupies an important position in the world's Japanese studies bibliography.