Mitogaku (水戸学): An ultra-nationalistic school of thought that originated in the Mito domain during the 17^th century. It has been translated by Marius Jansen (The Making of Modern Japan) as “Mito scholarship”; but from its union of mythology and religion with government and politics, and the fervor by which it was embraced by Imperial Loyalists throughout Japan, I think that “Mitoism” is a more suitable translation. Either way, it was the cornerstone of Imperial Loyalism and the foundation of the samurai revolution at the dawn of modern Japan, generally known the Meiji Restoration.

Key Japanese Words in Romulus Hillsborough’s Books: (1)

Key Japanese Words in Romulus Hillsborough’s Books: (2)

Key Japanese Words in Romulus Hillsborough’s Books: (3)

Key Japanese Words in Romulus Hillsborough’s Books (4)

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Read more about the philosophy behind the Meiji Restoration in Samurai Revolution.

Makoto (誠), which means “sincerity,” was a cardinal virtue of bushido, along with “loyalty” and “courage.” Adopted as a symbol by the leaders of the Shinsengumi, “the shogun’s last samurai corps” – connoting their loyalty to the Tokugawa Bakufu, the shogun’s government.

Key Japanese Words in Romulus Hillsborough’s Books: (1)

Key Japanese Words in Romulus Hillsborough’s Books: (2)

Giri　(義理): A uniquely Japanese sense of justice and integrity integral to bushido. Accounted to a great extent for the harmony in samurai society, and was an inherent element of both the aesthetics and the moral courage of the samurai caste (Samurai Revolution, Chapter 5).

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Read more about bushido and girl in Samurai Revolution.

This is the first entry of a series of key Japanese words in my books. Each entry will include a brief definition as I understand it.

Bushido (武士道)

General definition: “Way of the warrior,” a direct translation by which bushido is widely referred to in English (“bushi” (武士) is a synonym of “samurai; “do” (道) is a suffix meaning “way”).

My brief definition: A moral philosophy partly based on Confucianism, whose cardinal virtues were loyalty, courage, and sincerity, developed throughout the peaceful 18^th and 19^th centuries, during which the samurai class, originally consisting of professional warriors, gradually lost its raison d’etre. Since there were no wars to fight, the samurai had plenty of time on their hands for philosophical and literary pursuits, including bushido, which was given new life as an actual “samurai code” during the violence and tumult of the final fifteen years of the Tokugawa Bakufu (1853-68), generally referred to as the Bakumatsu (to be defined in a separate entry).[1]

[1] Also see Samurai Revolution, Chapter 8: A Brief Discussion on Bushidō.