JSNO Kwaidan Book Club will be meeting in June to discuss the book Hagakure: The Secret Wisdom of the Samurai by Yamamoto Tsunetomo, translated by Alexander Bennett. At the beginning of the year we read about geisha, and now it's time to learn about their counterpart, the samurai. This book is considered one of the most influential Japanese books on "bushido," the samurai warrior spirit. Prepare for an intense, educational, insightful read.
This event will be online via the JSNO Discord, follow the link: https://discord.gg/tBtmSWe.
(Discord is a VoIP and instant messaging social platform. Users have the ability to communicate with voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media and files in private chats or as part of communities called "servers").
*Please help support Tubby & Coo's Mid-City Book Shop (local New Orleans bookstore) by ordering your copy from their affiliate Bookshop site: https://bookshop.org/a/55/9784805311981.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
The Hagakure is one of the most influential of all Japanese texts--written nearly 300 years ago by Yamamoto Tsunetomo to summarize the very essence of the Japanese Samurai bushido ("warrior") spirit. Its influence has been felt throughout the world, and yet its existence is scarcely known to many Westerners. This is the first translation to include the complete first two books of the Hagakure and the most reliable and authentic passages contained within the third book; all other English translations published previously have been fragmentary and incomplete.
Alex Bennett's wholly new and highly readable translation of this essential work includes extensive footnotes that serve to fill in many cultural and historical gaps in the previous translations. This unique combination of readability and scholarship gives Hagakure: The Secret Wisdom of the Samurai a distinct advantage over all previous English editions.
*Book information found on Amazon.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Yamamoto Tsunetomo (山本 常朝), Buddhist monastic name Yamamoto Jōchō (June 11, 1659 – November 30, 1719), was a samurai of the Saga Domain in Hizen Province under his lord Nabeshima Mitsushige. He became a Zen Buddhist priest and relayed his experiences, memories, lessons, ideas, and aphorisms to the samurai Tashiro Tsuramoto, who compiled them under the title Hagakure.
*Author information found on Wikipedia.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR:
Alex Bennett was born in 1970 in Christchurch, New Zealand. He graduated from the University of Canterbury in 1994. He received his Doctoral degree from Kyoto University in 2001, and another from the University of Canterbury in 2012. After working at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, and then Teikyo University's Department of Japanese Culture, he is currently employed as a Professor at Kansai University's Division of International Affairs where he teaches Japanese history and society.
In terms of the martial arts, Alex is Vice President of the International Naginata Federation, International Committee member at the All Japan Kendo Federation, Director of the Japanese Academy of Budo, and also represents NZ Kendo as the Head Coach. He is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of "Kendo World", the world's only English language journal dedicated to Kendo, and holds the grades of Kendo Kyoshi 7-dan, Iaido 5-dan, Naginata 5-dan, Jukendo 5-dan, Tankendo 5-dan. He has competed successfully in international competitions in Naginata and Kendo, taking second place in the World Naginata Championships in July, 2011, and leading the NZ Kendo team to a top 8 placing at the World Kendo Championships in 2012.
When he is not training in the dojo, or tapping away on his keyboard, Alex enjoys a cold beer down at his local pub in Kyoto.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXrlZ_PH4X8
*Translator information found on Amazon.
