bushi

Updated: June 22, 2025

History is silent as to the exact date when the term "bushi" came into use, but from a very early era its Japanese equivalent, "monono-fu," was applied to the guards of the sovereign's palace, and when great provincial magnates began, about the tenth century, to support a number of armed retainers, these gradually came to be distinguished as bushi.

F. (Frank) Brinkley - A History of the Japanese People : From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era

It was a refinement of self-destruction, and none could perform it without the utmost coolness of temper and composure of demeanor, and for these reasons it was particularly befitting the profession of bushi.

Inazo Nitobe - Bushido, the Soul of Japan

Hidehira received him with all hospitality, and as Mutsu was practically beyond the control of Kyoto, the Minamoto fugitive could lead there the life of a bushi, and openly study everything pertaining to military art.

F. (Frank) Brinkley - A History of the Japanese People : From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era

In the case of persons killed in fight, suitable successors to their domains will be selected from their kith and kin. With regard to Court officials and bushi down to temple priests and functionaries of Shinto shrines, any that come immediately to join the Imperial forces will be rewarded, in addition to being confirmed in the tenure of their original estates.

F. (Frank) Brinkley - A History of the Japanese People : From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era

It resulted that, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, gifted men of the despised grades sought in the cloister an arena for the exercise of their talents, and thus, while the bushi received no recruits, the commoners lost their better elements, and Buddhism became a stage for secular ambition.

F. (Frank) Brinkley - A History of the Japanese People : From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era

Whatever may be said about the soundness of his argument, these statements are amply verified in the part played by bushi in the social progress, as far as it went, of our Empire. How the spirit of Bushido permeated all social classes is also shown in the development of a certain order of men, known as otoko-daté, the natural leaders of democracy.

Inazo Nitobe - Bushido, the Soul of Japan

They had, indeed, a tolerable place of arms in the province of Kawachi, but in the end they succumbed to topographical disadvantages. In the fact that he possessed a number of sons, Go-Daigo had an advantage over his fourteen-year-old rival, Komyo, for these Imperial princes were sent out to various districts to stimulate the loyal efforts of local bushi.

F. (Frank) Brinkley - A History of the Japanese People : From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era

Prince Morinaga, wounded in several places, had resolved to make the castle his "death-pillow," when he was saved by one of those acts of heroic devotion so frequently recorded in the annals of the Japanese bushi. Murakami Yoshiteru insisted on donning the prince's armour and personating him so as to cover his retreat.

F. (Frank) Brinkley - A History of the Japanese People : From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era

It is recorded that on the first stage of this journey from Nagataka's residence to the mountain, the Emperor had to be carried on the back of Nagataka's brother, Nagashige, no palanquin being available. Very soon many bushi flocked to the Imperial standard and Funanoe was strongly entrenched.

F. (Frank) Brinkley - A History of the Japanese People : From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era

He now became as implacable an enemy as he had previously been a loyal friend. The fact is significant. Money as money was despised by the bushi of the Kamakura epoch. He was educated to despise it, and his nature prepared him to receive such education.

F. (Frank) Brinkley - A History of the Japanese People : From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era