Against the Robots

I have just finished reading "The Mask of the Samurai", an essay by Aude Fieschi (Philippe Picquier Publishers). It is an educational, well-written book that presents the different facets of the Samurai throughout the Japanese Middle Ages up to his decline with the advent of modern Japan.

Tracing very well the great eras of this mythical warrior, restoring certain forgotten truths, not forgetting to debunk established facts worthy of a barroom discussion, it reviews the essentials of what constituted the identity of the Samurai.

Aude Fieschi relies on foundational texts (we increasingly forget the obvious importance of starting or returning to fundamental texts because we think we can invent anything all the time). Yamamoto Jōchō's Hagakure, or, closer to our time, Nitobe Inazo's Bushido: The Soul of Japan, to name just these two works, form the bedrock of Aude Fieschi's vast knowledge. A vast knowledge that she shares in simple and accessible language. A well-digested wealth of knowledge that doesn't boast about its own writing.

Aude Fieschi devotes particularly well-documented and insightful pages to the Samurai ethos and its numerous religious influences (Buddhism, Shintoism, and Confucianism, not to mention Christian samurai!). One might criticize the author for her apparent lack of enthusiasm for Christianity, which she only touches upon when discussing the Jesuits and the firearms they "brought with them." It's well known that Saint Francis Xavier arrived in Japan aboard a military ship. There's a misconception here—almost a Japanese one, in fact—in believing that the clergy were the vanguard of a European invasion. Later, she mentions the importance of Christianity, but without going much further than a reference to Shusaku Endo's masterpiece, Silence. In short, the samurai who converted to Christianity passed through under cover (see on this subject the excellent book by Tom Novak, The Way of the Christian Samurai).

It will be understood that The Mask of the Samurai is a very good book, very precise and didactic (this should not always be understood as a negative point).

I have just received a book that I have wanted for a very long time:

A veritable bible of Kyoto, this book is a vessel one embarks upon. Weighing over ten kilograms, it is brimming with illustrations, early photographs, and scholarly texts on Kyoto life through the centuries. An odyssey.