Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

A classic reimagined. Bushido Illustrated is a beautiful new version of a long beloved classic of Japanese literature. Filled with gorgeous woodblock paintings that will entice anyone to take a peak inside.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. Japan has become one of the countries I love and this just called to me. The pictures that were throughout the book helped me along the journey of the samurai and the ethics that they stuck to. I enjoyed learning the history behind Bushido. One of the things I did not know is that there were roles that women played. There was so much to learn from this that I had not heard or read before. It gave me a better understanding of the lifestyle of the samurai. It gave me a better appreciation for their honor and their sacrifice for their beliefs. I had only known what I had seen on tv or in the movies. I knew there had to be more to the ways of Bushido than I knew and find this book filled in a lot of the gaps of what I knew.

Bushido: The Soul of Japan was written by Inazo Nitobe in 1900, and can be described as an his attempt to explain Bushido, and really the character of the Japanese people to the Western world. To really understand this volume and not get bogged down with the archaic writing style and language or become overwhelmed with the author’s constant comparison of Bushido to chivalry and Christianity, the reader should first try to understand not only the author’s point of view at this time, but Japan’s place in the world at this point in history. In 1900, Japan had been “open” to the Western world for only a few decades, and Americans and Europeans really had no idea what the Japanese people were like because of our lack of interaction. In a few years, Japan would thrust itself onto the world stage by going to war with Russia, but now, Japan is still an unknown. Nitobe was born right at the time of the Meiji restoration to a high ranking samurai family. The Emperor Meiji wanted Japan to take it’s place among world leaders, so he sent the sons of Samurai to study abroad to learn from the world powers. Nitobe studied in both the US and Germany and while in the US he converted to Christianity. Once the reader understands where the author is coming from, the work is easier to digest.

This work was Nitobe’s way of explaining Japan and it’s people in a way that the Western societies of the day could easily understand. At that time, European upper classes were still following similar codes of conduct, and comparing them and pointing out similarities to their own Western cultures and Christianity helped Japan seem not so strange and unfamiliar. There is a history lesson here, but suffice to say, this work is an excellent mirror of what was happening in Japan at the time of its publication. Yes, the concepts of Bushido, and the samurai are outdated-you are as likely to see a Samurai strolling through Shinjuku as you would see a Knight riding the Tube in London, but the core values of both of these concepts, much like religious values that Nitobe references, can still be found in modern culture.

I also must mention the beautiful woodcut prints through out the book. Even in digital they are beautiful and the detail is amazing and lend so much to the history of Bushido.

In America we say “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”, and in Japan they say “the nail that sticks up gets knocked down”. Readers of history or those interested in Japanese culture will surely enjoy this, however, understand the work is over 100 years old and the writing style and vocabulary are a bit archaic, which in my opinion, lends to the overall aura of the novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Super wordy with unnecessary comparisons to Christianity all over the place (I'll be generous and choose to believe this is because Nitobe wrote this in the early 20th century for a Western audience and it is a product of it's time). That being said, the passages about Bushido itself were fascinating, and the artwork scattered throughout this version was a wonderful addition.

"Bushido" is a book well worth reading, even taking into accounts its shortcomings, and now more than ever in as beautiful an edition as this one.

First, it should be noted that I believe this book has to be analyzed on two levels: as Nitobe presents it and as a piece of history. As I will analyze Nitobe's work in a second, let's go first to the second level: "Bushido" offers a glimpse into a different era, where the understanding of social, international relations was very different from the one nowadays. It is a fascinating look on how some people in Japan were trying to offer a vision of themselves to the 'dominant' forces of the world, trying to be closer to them than to those 'other, less strong' nations. It reminds me of some of the readings I have come across through my research, on how some people believe that a part of Japan wanted to see themselves not as an Asian nation but as a Western (and by extension modern) one. Be it true or false those analysis, it can be said that Nitobe is one of those people.

And now let's get to the first point. "Bushido" as a work (yes, those lines are blurry, but bear with me). Inazo Nitobe was a very smart writer. He does a great job in getting his ideas through and creating, through his explanations and examples, a very particular look on what feudalistic, samurai Japan was like .Is it true what he says? It doesn't matter so much as what he is trying to do: selling an idea. Deep down, this is nothing more than a pamphlet, a very interesting one, but just a short work selling something. There are some ideas that will resonate with modern audiences more than others, but this romanticized analysis of samurai is really well done: messages about having a purpose, helping others, duties...

Of course, it is dated. Views on nations, gender relations (women learn to fight to teach their sons) and others, will not be seen as Western audiences saw them back when the work was created. It also suffers from rose-tinted glasses syndrome. Nitobe cherry-picks his stories to fit into the narrative he is creating: that samurai who killed himself for the code, that little child that was never to waver in his decision to be the 'perfect' samurai, even when facing death by ritualistic suicide: who cares that it might have been just one case in one thousand? Of course, romanticizing a group of people is not just something Nitobe does: the same happens with the knights in Europe (Nitobe goes back again and again towards that group to explain his samurai). It just shows how reality and how societies want to view reality and themselves are two different things. And for Japan it was important then, to offer a very specific view of themselves to the West, after so many years as a 'hermit' country.

So, if you want to understand better how an idea can be created, and how this idea can become a rulebook for some, at least on the surface, and if you want to better understand how and why some Japanese wanted to be seen under a very specific prism by rich and powerful nations, this is a work worth reading. And particularly in this edition, that has beautiful illustrations of samurai and feudalist life in Japan. One thing missing, though, that I would have liked: a commentary (even short) on Nitobe's work.

This is an amazing book. It is a philosophical, cultural, and historical look at the samurai class and the time they lived in. It was written at the turn of the 20th century by a professor, so there are multiple references to works and philosophers of that time that those not well versed in the literature of that time can miss. I did have to google a few names and things mentioned. Artfully interspersed among the work there are works of art, often the wood prints that Japan is famous for.
Bushido is the term for the moral code for how a samurai lives their life. It is not just about martial skills, but their morals and ethics; how they live every moment of their life. It is comparable to the chivalry seen in Western Europe. Bushido did not just stop with the Samurai however, many of the traits that the Samurai were to uphold could been seen throughout the country in all of the members of society, thus Nitobe’s subtitle The Soul of Japan. In each chapter as he shows how something like Politeness is something a Samurai must always live, he will also show how the everyday Japanese man and woman will, through small actions, still show politeness. The accompanying art is often a reflection of the theme and compliments it beautifully.
It is not an easy read, it is more for those who enjoy the type of historical and philosophical introspection that it is. But for those who do enjoy books like this it is a masterpiece and would outshine most books it’s put next to. Thank you to NetGalley and Amber Books Ltd for the copy of this book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Amber Books Ltd for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

This is going to be a rather strange review, as I did not finish this book, but NOT because it was bad.

No, this was all my due to my ignorance of Japanese culture and needing someone better versed in it to read this book with me and explain it. This book is incredibly dense and trying to read it on my own was causing me to have way more questions than answers and I was concerned that if I didn't truly understand what I was reading, I would walk away with some very mistaken ideas on Bushido and how it influenced Japanese culture and thought.

I do not want to unintentionally disrespect Japanese culture and thought by just plowing through this and assuming I now knew anything about Bushido and Japanese thought, so I need to re-visit this with someone more knowledgable about the topic so I can truly LEARN and not ASSUME.

That being said, this is a gorgeous book and has a lot in it. It just is a higher level than I am ready for at this time.

4, beautiful book with important things to impart, stars.

This book, written in 1910, is mainly of historical interest. It attempts to explain to a Western audience the main characteristics of bushido, the life of a samurai, and the role of women in this culture. To modern readers, many of these chapters will be dull and confusing, largely because we are not given an overall framework on which to pin these ideas.

The final chapters on the influence of Bushido and it recent past and future, really show up the age of the book. The author's Japan with the coming together of East and West and still with huge respect for the past and its traditions has changed remarkably, making this picture almost as alien to Japanese as to Western eyes.

Anice feature of the book is that it is beautifully illustrated with Japanese woodcuts and paintings.

What an incredible book! I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but I've really been blown away.

I need to start by saying this book isn't exactly for the casual reader. Written in the early 1900's, the language is as poetic as it is academic, and will be complicated to follow for anyone not used to this formal style.

It is an exploration of Bushido, also known as the way of the Samurai, but on a much deeper scale than many popular Western interpretations. The author takes us through the defining principles of Bushido, alongside a profound exploration of Western similarities, both cultural and spiritual.

The author does profess deep Christian beliefs, and this gets woven into his examination of the Japanese vs European culture at each stage. Sometimes it felt like he was apologising for any practices that might go against the grain of the Christian faith, which marred it a bit for me as my focus was the Japanese culture and belief system itself, rather than Western ideals. However, it was written so beautifully, it hardly mattered most of the time.

Once I'd gotten used to the flow of the language, I found it a fascinating read. Some of the chapters were more difficult to process than others, (the hara-kiri one for example) while some took me completely by surprise (fascinated by the chapter on women in the Bushido world and the teachings/expectations laid out for them)! The essential moral code and the unique perspective it brings to the Japanese culture even now (from my own outside perspective) is truly incredible.

It is a book I'd recommend dipping into if you're not used to it, as it can be quite heady. The chapters are well defined, and are complemented by 67 stunning traditional illustrations & paintings. The whole layout and design of the book is really a visual treat, and I'm very keen to get my hands on the Chinese cloth-bound hard copy!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me take a look at this stunning advance copy, and I'd highly recommend it for anyone with serious (perhaps more scholarly) interest in Bushido specifically, or in Japan's history and culture in general.

The Illustrated Bushido: The Soul of Japan is over 100 years old, and that does show in its approach to the topic, which exudes nostalgia rather than objective description. Nonetheless, the text still makes for interesting reading in the overview it offers of Bushido and Japanese moral and philosophical thought, complemented with pleasing illustrations. Perhaps a modern writer would tackle the topic in a different way, but the archaic thoughts and focus offer an appeal of their own in the way they highlight the methods through which the West was introduced to Japanese customs in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. This is a book that will certainly be of use to those interest in Japanese culture and history. It gets four stars from me.