"Hagakure" means
'Hidden among the leaves'
written by Jocho Yamamoto
originally transcribed by Tsuramoto Tashiro.
I'm unsure of how the different English versions arose, but the quotations used by Mishima are much superior to the version of Yamamoto Tsunetomo's feely available on the Net. If this translator is the same as the earlier one I don't know, but the internet one is called a second edition. There are some extracts very similar, as the ones quoted by Zam above.
There is real power in Jocho's words and attitude. Suspend your usual self's judgements and ideas - settle back and feel this man's sword of spirit:
"A man who earns a reputation for being skilled at a technical art is idiotic. Because of his foolishness in concentrating his energies on one thing, he has become good at it by refusing to think of anything else. Such a person is of no use at all."
"A calculating man is a coward, I say this because calculations all have to do with profit and loss. To die is a loss, to live a gain, so one decides not to die. Therefore one is a coward. Similarly a man of education camouflages with his intellect and eloquence the cowardice or greed that is his true nature. Many people do not realise this."
"The first thing a samurai says on any occasion is extremely important. He displays with one remark all the valour of the samurai. In times of peace it is language that manifests valour. Even in times of chaos and destruction, great bravery may be revealed in a single word. One might say this one word is a flower of the heart."
"In the last analysis the only thing that matters is the resolution of the moment. A samurai makes one resolution after another, until they add up to his whole life. Once he realises this, he need never feel impatient, he need seek nothing beyond the moment. He merely lives his life concentrating on his resolution. However people tend to forget this, and to imagine that something else of importance exists. Very few realise the truth.
Learning to follow one's resolution without error cannot be accomplished before the passage of many years. But after one has reached that stage of enlightenment, even if one does not consciously think about it one's resolution will never change. If one perfects a single resolution, one will be seldom confused. This is loyalty to one's beliefs."
"I thought about it along the way, and it occurred to me that human beings are extraordinary cleverly devised puppets. Though they are not dangling from strings, they can walk, jump, even speak - how skillfully they are made. But all the same, before the next Bon Festival they may die and come back to visit us as spirits. What a futile existence! People always seem to forget this."
"Someone once said, 'There are two kinds of pride, inner and outer'. A samurai who does not have both inward and outward pride is of no use. Pride may be compared to the blade of a sword, which must be sharpened and then replaced in its scabbard. From time to time it is drawn and raised to the level of one's eyebrows, wiped clean, and then replaced in its scabbard. If a samurai's sword is always drawn and he is constantly brandishing the naked blade, people will find him unapproachable, and he will have no friends. If on the other hand the sword is never drawn it will rust, the blade will become dull, and people will make light of him."
"When calling on a friend who has met with a personal disaster, what one says to him by way of encouragement is extremely important. He will be able to read one's real motives in these words. A true samurai must never seem to flag or lose heart. He must push on courageously as though sure to come out on top. Otherwise he is utterly useless. Here is the secret of encouraging a friend in trouble."
And lastly, what captures this whole Code of the Warrior:
"I discovered the way of the samurai is death. In a fifty-fifty life or death crisis, simply settle it by choosing immediate death. There is nothing complicated about it. Just brace yourself and proceed. Some say that to die without accomplishing one's mission is to die in vain, but this is the calculating, imitation samurai ethic of arrogant Osaka merchants. To make the correct choice in a fifty-fifty situation is nearly impossible. We would all prefer to live. And so it is quite natural in such a situation that one should find some excuse to living on. But one who chooses to go on living having failed in one's mission will be despised as a coward and a bungler. This is the precarious part. If one dies after having failed, it is a fanatic's death, death in vain. It is not however dishonorable. Such a death is in fact the Way of the Samurai. In order to be a perfect samurai, it is necessary to prepare oneself for death morning and evening day in day out. When a samurai is constantly prepared for death, he has mastered the Way of the Samurai, and he may unerringly devote his life to the service of his lord."
Only in the few blossoms lingering,
Still hidden among the leaves,
Do I seem to feel
The presence of her
For whom I secretly long.
After his retirement, Jocho called himself 'Eternal Morning, Sunrise Mountain'. He named his hut 'Eaves of the Morning Sun', where he lived in seclusion. Later he changed its name to "Hut of Long Religious Life'.
