Makoto Aoyama of the Tokyo-based Bushido Kyokai (武士道協会) (http://www.bushido.or.jp/index.html) posted on his Facebook page (October 27, 2015) some very interesting ideas about self-discipline and bushido, focusing on the concept of “hikyo” (卑怯), which means something like “petty cowardice” or “meanness.” Through my research over the past thirty years, I have become very interested in and attracted to bushido, “the way of the warrior.” One of Mr. Aoyama’s lines struck me:

多くの人が『卑怯』を他の人に向けて発信しますが、『卑怯』は自分自身を律する為の基軸とし、自分自身が卑怯を行わない事が大事で、他に強要するものではないと考えます。

My translation:

Many people use the word “hikyo” about others, but I think that “hikyo” is a standard by which to judge oneself; and what is important is that a person himself does not act cowardly [in the sense of hikyo] and not that he demands the same of others.

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