Chapter Four

“The Rite of Honorable Death: Warfare and the Samurai Sensibility. Honor as the Catalyst for Change”.

This chapter focuses on the Samurai’s unique mix of honour, death and warfare (95). Its focus on warfare makes for an interesting read. Personally, this is one of my favourite chapters as it gets to the root of what samurai are known for today. When you think of the Samurai, you probably imagine a mounted warrior, willing to go into battle while also having a high moral code. This simple picture is much more complex, and Ikegami describes these complexities using primary sources such as medieval war tales. 

In the first paragraph, Ikegami asserts that 

“of specific importance in this conjunction was a mental disposition that induced a samurai to risk his life for the sake of his reputation, particularly his military honor. This willingness to lose one’s life is clear evidence of the emergence of a new norm. The samurai ‘s honorific mentality and unique attitude toward death not only reflected their political economy, which enforced such an attitude, but, along with their professional military skills and technology (including the use of horses, bows, and swords), were vital force in helping the samurai to achieve political hegemony over the country” (95)

She does a good job of explaining and summarizing what the chapter will entail, first explaining the change in early medieval warfare, and then how this change in warfare caused samurais’ social status to evolve. One of the main reasons for this change is the growth of a public honor culture. 

Because of the vassal relationship between samurais and their lords, honor was a thing that needed to be witnessed in medieval Japan (99). She states, “Battle represented successive moments of tension through which the individual samurai’s commitment to honour was tested, and which opportunities to win official recognition of that honor”(99). This introduces why the Samurai collected heads and killed themselves to keep their honor or be revered as great warriors. One example Ikegami uses is a tale of a warrior that was unable to show a collection of heads, and had to file an official grievance with the Kamakura shogunate (99). He wanted to be recognised as the first warrior to face the Mongol invaders (99).  After months of arguing his case, he was rewarded and recognised for his honourable act. Ikegami uses this story to argue her point successfully. This story shows readers just how important recognition was to the samurai and how this shaped the honour culture. The use of stories such as this one shows just how far an individual would go to be recognised.

So, this chapter explains how death became permanent in Samurai honor culture. Ikegami’s use of historical stories supports her claims throughout the chapter. Personally, this is one of my favourite chapters throughout the book, as it adequately follows the thesis and is easy to understand. The use of primary sources gives it a reputable feel and allows the reader to understand society during the medieval period fully.

Ikegami, Eiko. The Taming of the Samurai. U.S.A: Harvard University Press, 1995.