{"id":29,"date":"2020-10-24T21:29:17","date_gmt":"2020-10-24T21:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transnationalhistory.net\/history\/?p=29"},"modified":"2020-10-24T21:55:29","modified_gmt":"2020-10-24T21:55:29","slug":"modern-japanese-bushido-an-invented-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transnationalhistory.net\/history\/2020\/10\/24\/modern-japanese-bushido-an-invented-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern Japanese bushid\u014d: An ‘invented tradition’?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Whilst reading the book Inventing the Way of the Samurai: Nationalism, internationalism and Bushid\u014d in Modern Japan<\/em> by Oleg Benesch, I was intrigued by his comments linking the ethic of bushid\u014d to the concept of \u2018invented tradition\u2019, coined by Eric Hobsbawm. I thought it would be interesting to analyse whether bushido was an \u2018invented tradition\u2019 by discussing how bushid\u014d was adopted into nationalistic discourse within Japan, in order to create a sense of national identity. Therefore, I will be discussing the modern rise of bushid\u014d as a Japanese ethic and whether we can approach this ethic as an \u2018invented tradition\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, what is bushid\u014d? The popular view across Japan holds that bushid\u014d or ‘the way of the warrior’ was a centuries-old code of conduct and honour embedded in the historical Samurai. However, it came to prominence as an ethic and was well integrated across Japanese society in the modern period. Therefore, Bushid\u014d has become categorised as the \u201csoul\u201d of the Japanese people. 1<\/a><\/sup> The concept of \u2018invented tradition\u2019 on the other hand has roots in the historical works of Eric Hobsbawm, whose works became influential during the 1960\u2019s. He argued that new nations which were forming at the end of the Nineteenth Century partook in the invention or re-appropriation of the past for a variety of end-goals. Hobsbawm argued that the concept of \u2018invented tradition\u2019 was a particularly contemporary development, because certain narratives were moulded to form an agenda for national renewal during the rise of the nation state. The notion of the \u2018invented tradition\u2019 is clear in the modern development of the nation and nationalism, as these traditions attempted to create a sense of unity by establishing a national identity. Eric Hobsbawm wrote that these traditions which \u201cappear or claim to be old are often quite recent in origin and sometimes invented\u201d. 2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is interesting to ponder whether bushid\u014d therefore can be recognised as an \u2018invented tradition\u2019. The formation of bushid\u014d into a national ethic was a modern phenomenon within Japan, as central symbols were borrowed from the historical samurai in order to forge a distinct national identity based on the reverence of \u201cthe way of the warrior\u201d. When reading the book\u00a0Inventing the Way of the Samurai: Nationalism, internationalism and Bushid\u014d in Modern Japan<\/em> by Oleg Benesch, the author discusses how bushid\u014d was embraced by Imperialist Japan as a cornerstone of loyalty to the state and was therefore utilised for progressive ends. For instance, it was senior military figures and those within the Japanese governmental sphere in the Twentieth Century who stimulated a form of bushido that emphasised obedience and honour, as it supported their ambitions to assert a more forceful foreign policy. This is evidenced by Oleg Benesch writing that those who created the modern concept of bushid\u014d were \u201cconcerned less with Japan\u2019s past than the nation\u2019s future\u201d,\u00a0as bushid\u014d became a useful tool for inspiring nationalistic devotion.\u00a03<\/a><\/sup> This highlights that bushid\u014d was originally promulgated as a traditional samurai ethic, and only later became a defining trait of Japanese national character.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The formation of bushid\u014d echoes the idea that \u201ccommunities often (consciously or unconsciously) partake in the invention and re-appropriation of the past for various ends\u201d. 4<\/a><\/sup>  Analysing the transformation of bushid\u014d shows that the majority of its legitimacy stems from its alleged historical roots. This is evidenced by the existence of a variety of differing interpretations of bushid\u014d, because \u201cmodern theorists often carefully selected aspects of earlier history, philosophy, and legend to support their specific bushid\u014d interpretations\u201d. 5<\/a><\/sup> For example, it is widely understood that the Meiji, Taish\u014d and Sh\u014dwa governments utilised and modified bushid\u014d as an ideology which helped to redirect devotion from feudal lords back to the emperor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this ambiguity has meant that bushid\u014d has been endorsed as a timeless \u2018way of the warrior\u2019 and, consequently, this tradition is adaptable due to the lack of an exact definition or historic origin. Yet still it is the perceived historical origin of bushid\u014d as a traditional ethic that has bestowed upon bushid\u014d an amalgamation of legitimacy but also suppleness which has allowed it to be adapted and interpreted across a variety of different time periods and situations. In this way, we can understand how bushid\u014d is viewed as an \u2018invented tradition\u2019 by historians who argue that the original concept of the \u2018way of the warrior\u2019 has been appropriated for Japanese nationalistic ends and to form a cohesive national identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

  1. Oleg Benesch, Inventing the Way of the Samurai: Nationalism, internationalism and Bushid\u014d in Modern Japan<\/em>, (Columbia, 2011), p.1. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  2. Eric Hobsbawm, Terence Ranger, The Invention of Tradition<\/em>, (Cambridge, 1983), p.1. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  3. Oleg Benesch,\u00a0Bushido: The Creation of Martial Ethic in Late Meiji Japan<\/em>, (Columbia, 2011), p.3. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  4. James Shields, \u201cReview: Inventing the Way of the Samurai: Nationalism, Internationalism and Bushid\u014d in Modern Japan\u201d, Journal of Japanese Studies<\/em>, Vol. 43 (2017), p.448. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li>
  5. Ibid., p.449. [↩<\/a>]<\/span><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Whilst reading the book Inventing the Way of the Samurai: Nationalism, internationalism and Bushid\u014d in Modern Japan by Oleg Benesch, I was intrigued by his comments linking the ethic of bushid\u014d to the concept of \u2018invented tradition\u2019, coined by Eric Hobsbawm. I thought it would be interesting to analyse whether bushido was an \u2018invented tradition\u2019 by … Continue reading “Modern Japanese bushid\u014d: An ‘invented tradition’?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transnationalhistory.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transnationalhistory.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transnationalhistory.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transnationalhistory.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transnationalhistory.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.transnationalhistory.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33,"href":"https:\/\/www.transnationalhistory.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29\/revisions\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transnationalhistory.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transnationalhistory.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transnationalhistory.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}