taigi-meibun ( 大義名分): As I wrote in Samurai Assassins, morals in Tokugawa society were largely based on the state ideology of Neo-Confucianism, which began to flourish in Japan under the Bakufu. Neo-Confucianism taught that harmony in society was maintained by the justice of taigi-meibun—the morally correct relationship between a benevolent superior and his obedient and loyal subordinates, such as between a daimyo and his samurai vassals.
Makoto (誠), which means “sincerity,” was a cardinal virtue of bushido, along with “loyalty” and “courage.” Adopted as a symbol by the leaders of the Shinsengumi, “the shogun’s last samurai corps” – connoting their loyalty to the Tokugawa Bakufu, the shogun’s government.
Key Japanese Words in Romulus Hillsborough’s Books: (1)
Key Japanese Words in Romulus Hillsborough’s Books: (2)
Romulus Hillsborough
For more about my books in English — including Samurai Revolution — visit my Books at a Glance page. Read about my forthcoming Samurai Swordsmen: The Definitive History of the Shinsengumi here.
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This is the first entry of a series of key Japanese words in my books. Each entry will include a brief definition as I understand it.
Bushido (武士道)
General definition: “Way of the warrior,” a direct translation by which bushido is widely referred to in English (“bushi” (武士) is a synonym of “samurai; “do” (道) is a suffix meaning “way”).
My brief definition: A moral philosophy partly based on Confucianism, whose cardinal virtues were loyalty, courage, and sincerity, developed throughout the peaceful 18th and 19th centuries, during which the samurai class, originally consisting of professional warriors, gradually lost its raison d’etre. Since there were no wars to fight, the samurai had plenty of time on their hands for philosophical and literary pursuits, including bushido, which was given new life as an actual “samurai code” during the violence and tumult of the final fifteen years of the Tokugawa Bakufu (1853-68), generally referred to as the Bakumatsu (to be defined in a separate entry).[1]
[1] Also see Samurai Revolution, Chapter 8: A Brief Discussion on Bushidō.
Samurai Swordsmen: The Definitive History of the Shinsengumi (Helion, 2026) is now in production.
For professional guidance on Bakumatsu–Meiji Restoration history, see Historical Consulting.
Explore my books at Books at a Glance.
Among my favorite Japanese writers is the prolific historical novelist Shiba Ryōtarō (1923 – 1996), whose masterpiece Ryōma ga Yuku immortalized Sakamoto Ryōma in the psyche of the Japanese people. Originally published in serial form in the national newspaper Sankei Shimbun in 1962, this epic of the life and times of Sakamoto Ryōma comprises eight paperback volumes in its current printed form. My other favorite books by Shiba include Moeyo-ken, which focuses on Hijikata Toshizō, vice commander of the Shinsengumi; Yotte Sōrō, whose protagonist, Yamauchi Yōdō, the flamboyant daimyo of Ryōma’s native Tosa, played an important role in this history; Hitokiri Izō, the haunting portrait of the notorious assassin Okada Izō; and Saigō no Shōgun, about the life and times of the brilliant last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu. Among these, Yotte Sōrō and Saigō no Shōgun have been published in English under the respective titles of Drunk as a Lord (Yōdō’s nom de plume was Geikaisuiko, “Drunken Lord of the Sea of Whales,” for the rich bounty of whales off the Tosa coast), and The Last Shogun: The Life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu.
I was introduced to Sakamoto Ryōma and the epic history of the Bakumatsu (i.e., the final fifteen years of the Tokugawa Shogunate: 1853 – 1868) through Ryōma ga Yuku, when a friend gave me a copy of Vol. 1, sometime around 1982. I owe my inspiration for my historical novel, Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai, to Shiba’s book.
The above photo from Ryōma Rekishikan, a museum in Ryōma’s hometown of Kochi, shows one of 27 scenes of wax figures, some historical others personal, from Ryōma’s life. The fourth scene on the tour depicts Ryōma’s birth in Kochi in 1835. Scene 26 shows the gruesome assassinations of Ryōma and his friend and cohort in the revolution, Nakaoka Shintarō, in Kyoto in 1867. The final scene, number 27, depicts four immortals, perhaps discussing the state of Japan and the world today: Shiba Ryōtarō sits opposite Ryōma, joined by Mitsubishi founder Iwasaki Yatarō (left) and Nakaoka.
Below is a photo of my personal set of Ryōma ga Yuku, the jackets long since worn out.
Samurai Swordsmen: The Definitive History of the Shinsengumi (Helion, 2026) is now in production.
For professional guidance on Bakumatsu–Meiji Restoration history, see Historical Consulting.
Explore my books at Books at a Glance.
Shinsengumi Commander Kondo Isami was a peasant by birth, a warrior by nature. He was a man of traditional values and a martial mind-set, whose black training robe was embroidered in white on the backside with a large human skull – a symbol of his resolve to die in battle whenever he entered the dojo. He had enlisted in the Roshi Corps [precursor to Shinsengumi] with aspirations of becoming a samurai in the service of the shogun. As leader of the shogun’s most lethal samurai corps he secured a vehicle into the top strata of the Tokugawa hierarchy and indeed historic immortality. (excerpt from Shinsengumi: The Shogun’s Last Samurai Corps, p. 22)
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