bushido / philosophy

[ono_doken]

any chaps here into philosophy ?, bushido or anything like that? -i'm gonna be trying for a commision this year (d'oh nearly forgot its 2004!!) and well I am into in a pretty big way (espically the bushido) but also like philosophy. Just an open ended question really -get to know what other potentials are into.

you all have a good crimbo / new yeas ? -lots of drinking / women hehe (just like most weekends really haha)

[mike_B]

No idea what this 'Bushido' is, but I am interested in Philosophy.

Infact so much so that i'm doing at uni starting in September. I'm also going for a commission, but have just done my RCB Briefing and waiting on the Main Board. I have Para POC soon.

I must say though, it is surprising the number of infantry officers who have done philosophy: The latest winner of the Marine officers' equivilent of the sword (no idea what it it's called) was won by a bloke who had just finished a philosophy degree at Cambridge, and then won the prize for the best philosophy student there for 5 years! Now he's what i call a winner. The former SAS officer and General Michael Rose gained a first from Oxford in PPE.

Just out of interest- how far into the application proccess are you?

[ono_doken]

yeah, i'm wanting to be a para also.... Bushido is the way of the warrior, the unwritten 'philosophy' followed by the samurai. Try and get hold of a copy of the 'hagakure' by yamamoto Tsunetomo.

I'm wanting to start a philosphy degree, but'll have to do it via open uni, and considering i'm hopefully gonna be starting this year, well maybe it'll have to wait!!!

[Sticky Blue]

another sore point perhaps but look back to pacific WW2, and the way the Japs treated prisioners...... at that point they were still very samurai based (look at Yamamoto, and the way he died, hand on tanto ready incase he survived the crash) they didnt consider being caught alive within the warrior spirit, and thus those who were not warriors did not deserve to be treated as such..

So are murder, slave labour, starvation rations, execution without trial etc part of the Bushido code?
The Bushido code may have been fine when they had Samuria runnig around Japan but I don't see it quite the same way that you do.

[lew]

There is a programme about all this samuri stuff some time this week or next week on UK Horizens...


lew

[ono_doken]

i dont expect people to, it was an example of why they treated prisioners the way they did. Each japanese soldier wanted to fight on to the very end, it was the politicians ie/emperor (they always get in the way!!!) who would not allow it. They still followed the bushido very closely at that point.

The prisioners were not treated as equals becasue in the eyes of the Japs they were not [they were tacken alive]. I should imagine that when you have been following the bushido all your life, you would gladly die for the emperor (ie/ kamikazie pilots),you would rather die than dishonour your family... it'd be pretty hard to treat somebody you see as a coward humainly.

I'm in no way agreeing that the way they acted was appropriate!! -unless you understand the concepts behind bushido I think it would be quite easy to misjudge some actions.

[Sticky Blue]

I think that the problem is that Bushido is not comprehensible to us in our society.

[ono_doken]

you have hit the nail on the head whit that mate. Our society is structured 100% differently from that of Japanese, even today. Terrible shame me thinks.... A society based on honour. rather than the mess you see today, with the juvies running riot etc etc.
Still it makes for a good foundation for ones life, taking into consideration differences in our laws etc......

[Tab]

I have read all this crap about the Japanese fighting to the end, but when the end came the certainly fought to avoid being hung as war criminals.

[Greg S]

The SS was based on the Samurai. Hitler didn't like the fact that Genreal Rommel wouldn't fight to the death in Africa - he wanted to move forces from Africa back into Europe.

In the end, the Africa Corps was destroyed just like the 6th in Russia. High German Command really were monkeys........

Superior British intelligence won the day...........

That said, Rommel was probably one of the best Genrals of World War 2.

[Sticky Blue]

Funny thing is that the bushido code does not cover women and children... why were so many innocent women and children slaughtered or starved to death in POW/Labour camps. That is NOT the way of the warrior.

[chunky from york]

How does the code of the warrior square with the murder, mutilation

and rape that was carried for years in China. Especially Nanking

Was it because they were seen as subhumans? we are back to Hitler and Stalin again.

Bushido has no place in the 21st Century, suggest you look at Zen instead, this you can practice and improve your life. But again it is difficult for Europeans.