Samurai Code

[Obsesija]

I remember watching most of "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai" a while ago. It was a movie about a hitman who lived by the self taught Samurai Code. Well this got me interested in the code, does anyone know what set of rules Samurais or some subgroup of Samurais lived by? Or where I could find a code online? Or if you just want to discuss anything Samurai related or something among those lines, that would be cool to. PS, wasn't sure if I posted this in the right place but it's considered philosophy I guess, right?

 

[LifeinthePond]

I can't think of any source material or literature to redirect you to, no.

I am curious though: since a movie peaked your interests in learning the ahem, way of the Samurai I was wondering why not further delve into it? That one is a bit modern for my taste. Sounds like a simple and lazy approach, but maybe you can have yourself a "classic Samurai movie" weekend and see where it takes you. It won't be real elaborate and informative but it will be entertaining.

It just so happens I am nerdy enough to assist you there. Tatsuya Nakadai
and Toshiro Mifune are two of the biggest actors/names in the genres. My favourite director being Akira Kurosawa. My favourite film being... The Sword of Doom, also starring both.

Also, I should correct myself - a more proper term than "Samurai movies" would be Jidaigeki. See: Jidaigeki - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Probably didn't help you much, but there you go.

 

[Nevyrmoore]

You'll want to look for bushidō, which means "Way of the Warrior". It is the code of conduct the samurai adhered to, and "emphasised virtues such as loyalty, honour, obedience, duty, filial piety, and self-sacrifice".

Note that it's most used in modern times, so ancient scripts that describe the code will rarely mention it by that name. A good starting point appears to be Hagakure, also known as The Book of the Samurai, Analects of Nabeshima or Hagakure Analects. It's "a practical and spiritual guide for a warrior, drawn from a collection of commentaries by the samurai Yamamoto Tsunetomo" and compiled by Tsuramoto Tashiro "from his conversations with Tsunetomo from 1709 to 1716".