Hagakure - The Book of the Samurai
(Hidden by the Leaves / Hidden Leaves)
Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1700)
(Translated by William Scott Wilson)


Bravery and cowardice are not things which can be conjectured in times
of peace.  They are in different categories.
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It is good to carry some rouge in one's sleeve.  It may be that when one
is sobering up or waking from sleep, his complexion may be poor.
At such a time it is good to take out and apply some powdered rouge.
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There are times when a person gets carried away and talks on without
thinking too much. But this can be seen by observers when one's mind is
flippant and lacking truth.
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Even if one's head were to be cut off, he should be able to do one more
action with certainty. ... With martial valor, one should become like a
revengeful ghost and shows determination, though his head is cut off, he
shall not die.
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If you attach bags of cloves to your body, you will not be effected by
inclemency or colds.
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Furthermore, drinking a decoction of feces from a dappled horse is the
way to stop bleeding from an injury received by falling off a horse.
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If one were to say in a word what the condition of being a samurai is, its
basis lies in seriously devoting one's body and soul to one's master.
And if one is asked what to do beyond this, it would be to fit oneself inwardly
with intelligence, humanity and courage.  The combining of these three virtues
may seem unobtainable to the ordinary person, but it is easy.
Intelligence is nothing more than discussing things with others.  Limitless 
wisdom comes of this.  Humanity is something done for the sake of others,
simply comparing oneself with them and putting them in the fore.  Courage is
gritting one's teeth; it is simply doing that and pushing ahead, paying no
attention to the circumstances.  Anything that seems above these three is not
necessary to be known.
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It is said that much sake, self-pride and luxury are to be avoided by a
samurai.
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In the judgement of the elders, a samurai's obstinacy should be excessive.
A thing done with moderation may later be judged insufficient.  I have heard
that when one thinks he has gone too far, he will not have erred.  This sort
of rule should not be forgotten.
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When I was young, I kept a "Diary of Regret" and tried to record my mistakes
day by day, but there was never a day when I didn't have twenty or thirty
entries. As there was no end of it, I gave up.  Even today, when I think about
the days affairs after going to bed, there is never a single day where I do
not make some blunder in speaking or in some activity.  Living without mistakes
is truly impossible.  But this is something that people who live by cleverness
have no inclination to think about.
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If one is but secure at the foundation, he will not be pained by the
departure from minor details or affairs that are contrary to
expectation. But in the end, the details of a matter are important. The
right or wrong of one's way of doing thing is found are trivial matters.
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Furthermore, if you are slain in battle, you should be resolved to have your
corpse facing the enemy.
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A warrior should not say something faint hearted even casually.  He should
set his mind to this beforehand.  Even in trifling matters the depths of
one's heart can be seen.
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Being superior to others is nothing other than having people talk about your
affairs and listening to their opinions,  the general run of people settle for
their own opinions and thus never excel.  Having a discussion with a person is
the first step in excelling him.  A certain person discussed with me the
written materials at the clan office.  He is better than someone like me in
writing and researching.  In seeking correction from others, you excel them.
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In the words of the ancients, on should make his decisions within the space
of seven breaths.  Lord Takanobu said, "If discrimination is long, it will
spoil."  Lord Naoshige said, "When matters are done leisurely, seven out of
ten will turn out badly.  A warrior is a person who does things quickly
  When your mind is going hither and thither, discrimination will never be
brought to a conclusion.  With and intense, fresh and undelaying spirit, one
will make his judgements within the space of seven breaths.  It is a matter of
being determined and having the spirit to break right through to the other
side.
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When one's own attitude on courage is fixed in his heart, and when his
resolution is devoid of doubt, then when the time comes he will of necessity
be able to choose the right move.
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Lord Naoshige said, "The Way of the Samurai is in desperateness.  Ten men or
more cannot kill such a man.  Common sense will not accomplish great things.
Simply become insane and desperate
  "In the Way of the Samurai, if one uses discrimination, he will fall behind.
One needs neither loyalty nor devotion, but simply to become desperate in the
Way.  Loyalty and devotion are of themselves within desperation"
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The occurrence of mysteries is alway by word of mouth.
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Calculating people are contemptible.  The reason for this is that calculation
deals with loss and gain, and the loss and gain mind never stops.  Death is
considered loss and life is considered gain.  Thus, death is something that
such a person does not care for, and he is contemptible.
  Furthermore, scholars and their like are men who with wit and speech hide
their own true cowardice and greed.  People often misjudge this
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You cannot tell whether a person is good or bad by his vicissitudes in life.
Good and bad fortune are matters of fate.  Good and bad actions are Man's Way.
Retribution of good and evil is taught simply as a moral lesson.
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Training to speak properly can be done by correcting one's speech when at
home.
  Practice in letter writing goes to the extent of taking care in even
one-line letters.
  It is good if all of the above contain a quiet strength.  Moreover,
according to what the priest Ryozan heard when he was in the Kamigata area,
when one is writing a letter, he should think that the recipient will make it
into a hanging scroll.
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  ... you should practice diligently with the bamboo sword every day.  
  Superiority is not just a matter of secret techniques
  Also, in the instructions of a renga teacher, it was said that the day
before the poetry meeting on should calm his mind and look at a collection of
poems.  This is concentration on one's affair.  All professions should be done
with concentration.
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If there is something that must be done, it is better not to rely on others.
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There is something to be learned from a rainstorm.  When meeting with a sudden
shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road.  But doing such
things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet.  When you are
resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get
the same soaking.  This understanding extends to everything.
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To treat a person harshly is the way of middle-classed lackeys.
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Learning is a good thing.  But more often it leads to mistakes. ...
For the most part we admire of our own opinions and become fond of arguing.
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By inconsistency and frivolity we stray from the Way and show ourselves to be
beginners.  In this we do much harm.
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... One should be careful with menials and the like.
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Furthermore, during the last thirty years customs have changed; now when young
samurai get together, if there is not just talk about money matters, loss and
gain, secrets, clothing styles or matters of sex, there is no reason to gather
together at all.  Customs are going to pieces.  One can say that formerly when
a man reached the age of twenty or thirty, he did not carry despicable things
in his heart, and thus neither did such words appear.  If an elder unwittingly
said something of that sort, he thought it is as a sort of injury.  This new
custom probably appears because people attach importance to being beautiful
before society and to household finances.  What things a person should be able
to accomplish if he had no haughtiness concerning his place in society!
  It is a wretched thing that the young men of today are so contriving and so
proud of their material possessions.  Men with contriving hearts are lacking
in duty.  Lacking in duty, they will have no self respect.
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After reading books and the like it is best to burn them or throw them away.
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An affected laugh shows lack of self-respect in a man and lewdness in a woman.
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It is not good to settle into a set of opinions.  It is a mistake to put forth
effort and obtain some understanding and then stop at that.  At first putting
forth great effort to be sure that you have grasped the basics, then
practicing so that they may come to fruition is something that will never stop
for your whole lifetime.  Do not rely on following the degree of understanding
that you have discovered, but simply think, "This is not enough."
  One should search throughout his whole life best how to follow the Way.  And
he should study, setting his mind to work without putting thing off.  Within
this is the way.
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...
  Speaking of other people in this way is no different from an exchange between
low class spearmen.  It is vulgar.
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There are two things that will blemish a retainer, these are riches and honor.
But if one remains in strained circumstances he will not be marred.
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Even if it seems certain that you will lose, retaliate.  Neither wisdom nor
technique has a place in this.  A real man does not think of victory or
defeat.  He plunges recklessly towards and irrational death.  By doing this
you will awaken from your dreams.
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... That one's one district is unsophisticated and unpolished is a great
treasure.  Imitating another style is simply a sham.
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Among the maxims on Lord Naoshige's wall there was this one: "Matters of
great concern should be treated lightly."  Master Ittei commented, "Matters of
small concern should be treated seriously."  Among one's affairs there should
not be  more than two or three matters of what one would call great concern.
If these are deliberated upon during ordinary times, they can be understood.
Thinking about things previously and then handling them lightly when the time
comes is what it is all about.  To face an event and solve it lightly is
difficult if you are not resolved beforehand, and there will always uncertainty
in hitting you mark.  However, if the foundation is laid previously, you can
think of the saying "Matters of great concern should be treated lightly", as
your own basis for action.
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Through you life advance daily, becoming more skillful than yesterday, more
skillful than today.  This is never-ending.
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The saying, "Thought by thought we see our own mistakes," also means that the
highest Way is in discussion with others.  Listening to the old stories and
reading books are for the purpose of sloughing off one's own discrimination
and attaching oneself to that of the ancients.
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There is nothing that we should be so grateful for as the last line of the
poem that goes, "When you own heart asks."  It can probably be thought of in
the same way as the Nembutsu, and previously was on the lips of many people.
  Recently, people who are called "clever" adorn themselves with superficial
wisdom and only deceive others.  For this reason they are inferior to
dull-witted folk.  A dull-witted person is direct.  If one looks deeply into
his heart with the above phrase, there will be no hidden places.  It is a good
examiner.  One should be of the mind that, meeting this examiner, he will not
be embarrassed.
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All of man's work is a bloody business.  That fact, today, is considered
foolish, affairs are finished cleverly with words alone, and jobs that require
effort are avoided.  I would like young men to have some understanding of
this.
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It is bad taste to yawn in front of people.  When one unexpectedly has to
yawn, if he rubs his forehead in an upward direction, the sensation will stop.
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Because we do most things relying on our on sagacity we become
self-interested, turn out back on reason, and things do not turn out well. As
seen by other people this is sordid, weak, narrow and inefficient.  When one
is not capable of true intelligence, it is good to consult with someone of
good sense.  An advisor will fulfill the Way when he makes a decision by
selfless and frank intelligence because he is not personally involved.  This
way of doing things  will certainly be seen by others as being strongly
rooted.  It is, for example, like a large tree with many roots.  One man's
intelligence is like a tree that has been simply stuck in the ground.
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... But even a person who is good for nothing and exceedingly clumsy will be a
reliable retainer if only he has the determination to think earnestly of his
master.  Having only wisdom and talent is the lowest tier of usefulness.
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... One should think well then speak. ...
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Human life is a truly short affair.  It is better to live doing the things
that you like.  It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing
unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.  But it is
important to never tell this to young people as it is something that would be
harmful if incorrectly understood.
  Personally, I like to sleep.  And I intend to appropriately confine myself
more and more to my living quarters and pass my life away sleeping.
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... There is dignity in paucity of words. ...
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It is written that the priest Shungaku said, "In just refusing to retreat from
something one gains the strength of two men."  This is interesting.  Something
that is not done at that time and at that place will remain unfinished for a
lifetime.  At a time when it is difficult to complete matters with the
strength of a single man, one will bring it to a conclusion with the strength
of two.  If one thinks about it later, he will be negligent all his life.
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People with intelligence will use it to fashion both true and false and will
try to push through whatever they want with their clever reasoning.  This is
injury from intelligence.
  Nothing you do will have effect if you do not use truth.
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A person who knows but a little will put on and air of knowledge.  This is a
matter of inexperience.  When someone know something well, it will not be seen
in his manner.  This person is genteel.
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It is bad to carry even a good thing too far.  Even concerning things such as
Buddhism,  Buddhist sermons, and moral lessons, talking too much will bring
harm.
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The priest Keiho related that Lord Aki once said that martial valor is a
matter of becoming a fanatic.  I though that this was surprisingly in accord
with my own resolve and thereafter became more and more extreme in my
fanaticism.
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... Within the tedious talk of old folks are their meritorious deeds.
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When Lord Katsushige was young, he was instructed by his father, Lord
Naoshige, "For practice in cutting, execute some men who have been condemned
to death."  Thus, in the place that is now within the western gate, ten men
were lined up, and Katsushige continued to decapitated one after the other
until he had executed nine of them.  When he came to the tenth, he saw that
the man was young and healthy and said, "I'm tired of cutting now.  I'll spare
this man's life."  And the man was saved.
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Last year I went to the Kase Execution Grounds to try my hand at beheading,
and I found it to be an extremely good feeling.  To think it is unnerving is a
symptom of cowardice.
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It is said that every time Oki Hyobu's group gathered and after all their
affairs were finished he would say, "Young men should discipline themselves
rigorously in intention and courage.  This will be accomplished if only
courage is fixed in one's heart.  If one's sword is broken, he will strike
with his hands.  If his hands are cut off, he will press the enemy down with
his shoulders.  If his shoulders are cut away, he will bite through ten or
fifteen enemy necks with his teeth.  Courage is such a thing"
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Ikuno Oribe said, "If a retainer will just think about what he is to do for
the day at hand, he will be able to do anything.  If it is a single day's
work, one should be able to put up with it.  Tomorrow, too, is but another
single day."
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To calm one's mind, one swallows his saliva.  This is a secret matter.  When
one becomes angry, it is the same.  Putting spittle on one's forehead is also
good.  In the Yoshida school of archery, swallowing one's spittle is the
secret principle of the art.
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When one departs for the front, he should carry rice in a bag.  His underwear
should be made from the skin of a badger.  This way he will not have lice.  In
a long campaign, lice are troublesome.
...
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These are the teachings of Yamamoto Jin'emon:
  Singlemindedness is all powerful.
  Tether even a roasted chicken.
  Continue to spur a running horse.
  A man who will criticize you openly carries no connivance.
  A man exists for a generation, but his name lasts to the end of time.
  Money is a thing that will be there when asked for, a good man is not so
easily found.
  Walk with a real man one hundred yards and he'll tell you at least seven
lies.
  To ask when you already know is politeness.  To ask when you don't know is
the rule.
  Wrap your intentions in needles of pine.
  One should not open his mouth wide or yawn in front of another.  Do this
behind you fan or sleeve.
  A straw hat or helmet should be worn tilted toward the front.
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"... I only regret that I was unable to take out the genealogy, which is my
family's most precious treasure"
  The was one samurai amongst those attending him who said, "I will go in and
take it out."
  ...
  After the fire had been extinguished the master said, "Look for him remains,
what a pity!"
  Looking everywhere, they found his corpse in the garden adjacent to the
living area.  When they turned it over blood flowed from the stomach.  The man
had cut open his stomach and put the genealogy inside and it was not damaged
at all.  From this time I it was called the "Blood Genealogy".
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If you cut a face lengthwise, urinate on it, and trample on it with straw
sandals, it is said the skin will come off.  The was heard by the priest
Gyojaku when he was in Kyoto.  It is information to be treasured.
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A certain man said, "I know the shapes of Reason and of Woman." When asked
about this he replied, "Reason is four-cornered and will not move even in an
extreme situation.  Woman is round.  One can say that she does not distinguish
between good and evil or right and wrong and tumbles into any place at all.
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When faced with a crisis, if one puts some spittle on his earlobe and exhales
deeply through his nose, he will overcome anything at hand.  This is a secret
matter.  Furthermore, when experiencing a rush of blood to the head, if one
puts spittle on the upper part of one's ear, it will soon go away.
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...
  Dohaku's wife suffer some severed fingers.  Dohaku's wound was a severed
neck bone, and since only his throat remained intact, his head hung down in
front.  Now boosting his head up with his own hands, Dohaku went off to the
surgeon's.
  The surgeon's treatment was like this:  First he rubbed a mixture of pine
resin and oil on Dohaku's jaw and bound it in ramie.  He then attached a rope
to the top of his head and tied it to a beam, sewed the open wound shut, and
buried his body in rice so that he would not be able to move.
  ... In the end the bones mended, and he recovered without incident.
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Horie San'emon's misdeed was robbing the Nabeshima warehouse in Edo of its
money and fleeing to another province.  He was caught and confessed.  Thus is
was pronounced, "Because this is a grave crime he should be tortured to
death," and Nakano Daigaku was orderef to be the official who verified the
execution.  At first all the hairs on his body were burned off and his
fingernails were pulled out.  His tendons were then cut, he was bored with
drills and subjected to various other tortures.  Throughout, he did not flinch
once, nor did his face change color.  In the end his back was split, he was
boiled in soy sauce, and his body was bent back in two.
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Among the words spoken by great generals, there are some that were said
offhandedly.  One should not receive these words in the same manner, however.
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The essentials of speaking are not in speaking at all.  If you think that you
can finish something without speaking, finish it  without saying a single
word.  If there is something that cannot be accomplished without speaking,
one should speak with few words, in a way that will accord well with reason.
  To open one's mouth indiscriminately brings shame, and there are many times
when people will turn their backs on such a person.
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Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily.  Every day when
one's body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart
by arrows, rifles, spears and swords, being carried away by surging waves,
being thrown into the midst of a great fire, being struck by lightening, being
shaken to death by a great earthquake, falling from thousand foot cliffs,
dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of one's master.  And every
day without fail one should consider himself as dead.
  There is a saying of the elders' that goes, "Step from under the eaves and
you're a dead man.  Leave the gate and the enemy is waiting."  This is not a
matter of being careful.  It is to consider oneself as dead beforehand.
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  Never to be out done in the Way of the Samurai.
  To be of good use to the master.
  To be filial to my parents.
  To manifest great compassion, and to act for the sake of Man.
  If one dedicates these four vows to the gods and Buddhas every morning, he
will have the strength of two men and will never slip backward.  One must edge
forward like the inchworm, bit by bit.  The gods and Buddhas, too, first
started with a vow.